Former White House insider says Donald Trump is 'jealous' of Vladimir Putin

No less than former US president Donald Trump has called the man responsible for so much death and destruction in Ukraine not only "savvy" but also "genius".

Mr Trump's comments, made shortly before Russian troops first crossed the border, shocked many people around the world, but not Miles Taylor.

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"[I'm] not even remotely surprised," he told 60 Minutes.

As a former chief of staff at the Department of Homeland Security, Taylor worked closely with Trump when he was president.

"When I worked in that administration, there was no one that Trump saw more like him around the world than autocrats," Taylor said.

"He would've rather been friends with Kim Jong-un in North Korea, President Xi [Jinping] in China and Vladimir Putin in Russia than any western democratic leader."

Taylor said Trump envied the dictators because he found himself "immensely disappointed" by the reality of holding the highest office in the United States.

"He didn't have the power that he thought he did. He couldn't just will things into existence," Taylor told 60 Minutes.

"He was jealous of Vladimir Putin and Xi in China because he wanted to be able to do what they could do, which was whatever they wanted."

According to Taylor, it's highly likely Trump will run in the next presidential election.

Respected political scientist Professor Thomas Homer Dixon agrees, and it's a prospect that concerns him greatly.

"There are many, many people watching the situation in the States now extremely worried," Dixon told reporter Liam Bartlett.

Despite more than 50 lawsuits challenging the 2020 result being thrown out due to a lack of evidence, millions of Americans remain convinced by Trump's claims Joe Biden fraudulently won the last election.

And with so many supporters now in tow, Dixon fears what could happen if Trump runs in 2024 but doesn't win.

"It's very likely that they will refuse to accept the result of any election in the future where their candidate doesn't win.

"You can't run a democracy when people are taking that kind of position."

Whatever the result, Dixon believes Trump is only interested in taking care of himself in the long run.

"If Trump is re-elected he will use his term to pursue two aims: vindication and vengeance," he said.