Donald Trump just can't stop praising Vladimir Putin

(CNN) When someone tells you who they are, believe them the first time. Or in the case of Donald Trump, the 10th time.

At a campaign rally in Georgia over the weekend, the former President, again, praised Russian President Vladimir Putin

"The smartest one gets to the top," Trump told the crowd. "That didn't work so well recently in our country. But they ask me, 'Is Putin smart?' Yes, Putin was smart. And I actually thought he was going to be negotiating. I said, 'That's a hell of a way to negotiate, put 200,000 soldiers on the border.'"

Trump added that Putin made a "big mistake," but that "it looked like a great negotiation."

That all sounds a lot like what Trump has been saying about Putin almost since the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.