He did tell the Germans (and others) that they needed to get off Russian oil and that not doing so put them in a bad spot in dealing with Russia. They laughed it off.
Don't get me wrong, here. The guy was a terrible president, and is an even worse human being. But people are complex and so is foreign policy.
The simplistic way to look at Trump and Russia is to say that Trump was a fan and therefore an enabler of Puitn. The more nuanced (and I think more accurate) way to see it was that Trump, as a wannabe strongman himself, had an unhealthy respect for Putin's way of being. But also, and again as a wannabe strongman, would have loved nothing more than an opportunity to kick the shit out of Putin and establish himself as king of the hill. And Putin, as a real strongman himself who understood how strongmen operate, wasn't particularly interested in messing with that. All the while, Germany et al played lip service to how terrible Putin was, but continued to play ball with him and had no intention to ever get in a fight with him... something that Putin, as a strongman, also understood and used to his advantage.
Since we're on a fight forum, think of it this way. Fighter 1 is the champ and is a killer in the cage and an anti-social animal outside. Fighter 2 is a not so skilled wannabe champion with extremely heavy hands in the cage and an anti-social asshole outside. Fighter 2, naturally, envies Fighter 1 and wants to be him, and therefore wants to fight him. Fighter 1, naturally, wants no part of Fighter 2. Too unpredictable, too dangerous.
In the meantime, Germany is that girl who talks shit about both Fighters and how they represent toxic masculinity... but jumps at any opportunity she gets to fuck them.
