Trump coddles up to Putin

This one comes on the heels of my last malaphor, both uttered by Joe Biden in the same speech.  See https://malaphors.com/2020/07/13/the-chinese-are-spending-multiple-billions-of-dollars-trying-to-own-the-technology-of-the-future-while-we-sit-with-our-thumb-in-our-ear/

This one appears near the end of the speech.  Here is the text:

The only thing that can tear America part, and I mean this sincerely, no foreign country, not the way he coddles up to, well, I shouldn’t even get into this, but coddles up to Putin and others. They can’t tear us apart.

This is a mashup of “cuddle up to” (get close to, ingratiate) and “coddle” (treat tenderly).  A big thanks to Frank King for hearing this one on Morning Joe!