Over the years I have written countless newspaper and magazine profiles. I have often asked in interviews: Whom do you admire? Who are your heroes? The answers people give are revealing—they illuminate what qualities people deem worthy of respect. You find out what matters to them. It says a lot about who they are.

This past week’s exchange of compliments between Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin, and Trump’s refusal to back away from his vigorously stated admiration of Putin, tell us pretty much all a reasonable person needs to know about Trump.