It may not be a surprise to you but it is a surprise to me because there are many other characters that he could be a fan of , he's literally giving Putin top billing here, right next to a picture of what seems to be him and his granddaughter.
What's next? Pol Pot? Stalin? Kim?
Kim wrote him beautiful letters, in Trump's own words, "and then we fell in love"
I really recommend you read Bob Woodward's four most recent books, starting with Fear[¹] . They give us a fascinating look into Trump's mind, and we get frank discussions from Trump and the people around him about how he not only idolizes strong men like Putin and Kim, but wishes he could be more like them if it weren't for the limits on his power and weak people around him (i.e. more feared/respected by his subordinates, able to command them with an iron fist, etc.).
[¹] The title of the book comes from Trump remarking to Woodward that "Real power is – I don’t even want to use the word – fear."
Well he certainly likes Kim
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/08/25/us/politics/trump-north-s...