It's easy to read into his parroting of putin's talking points as deliberate, but I think it might just be "wannabe mobster" talk. If anything it's probably a little more nuanced than uncle vlad pulling the puppet strings, but they sure do seem awful friendly..
I think it's risky to ascribe any real agency or planning to trump. He's a very simple creature, and he wears his cravings and impulses on his sleeve. I'm much more worried about the thinking people operating in his chaotic wake.