Putin destroyed Russia’s independent press. Trump seems to want the same.

[Commentary] While no one is predicting car bombings or poisonings of American journalists, it’s not much of a stretch to see similarities between President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin’s attitude. Both leaders want a compliant press and are willing to take action toward getting it — some, of course, more extreme than others.

Russians, overwhelmingly, get their news from TV. “Imagine you have two dozen TV channels and it is all Fox News,” said former deputy energy minister Vladi­mir Milov, now a Putin critic. The tight control is effective: Putin has approval ratings of over 80 percent — ratings that Trump would, metaphorically speaking, kill for. Russia may not be the worst place in the world for journalists, but it is very bad nonetheless. Trump’s admiration for Putin becomes even more troubling when paired with his own moves to stamp out independent journalism through disparagement, denial of access, favoritism and blacklisting. “For Putin, there has been no greater obsession in controlling the culture than in controlling the media,” said Joel Simon, author and executive director of the Committee to Protect Journalists. For America under Trump, that’s a cautionary tale.