All part of his "Art of the Deal".
To be honest, I had my doubts about him early on in the 2016 campaign where he had made several confusing (complimentary) statements regarding Putin and Russia. However, ever since the VP debate in Oct 2016, where Pence made absolutely no bones about it, I've had no doubt in my mind that his admin is going to be (very) tough on Russia and other major dangerous foes.
In fact, his actions over the past couple years have greatly exceeded even my best expectations back then. Great leaders like this don't come along very often. He's practically undone most of the damage caused by the Saboteur-In-Chief former president. He's hugely restored and built back our military. He's reversed most of the especially dangerous deals made by the Obama-Biden-Hillary admin, including Obama's promised and delivered "flexibility" on missile defense, his traitorous New Start nuclear treaty with Russia, and the Putin-loving Iran and mega cash deal.
So, no worries or concerns of any kind from me!
maybe Obama just liked baseball. This uproar over Cuba after Fidel won is puzzling when we glad hand far worse countries.