Few things hurt worse than seeing your crush in the arms of someone else, especially when that someone else is your best friend. We’ve all been there, right?

So imagine how Donald Trump must feel seeing his crush, North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un, arm in arm and lovey-dovey with Russian dictator Vladimir Putin, the guy who’s spent millions and deployed armies of Russian bots to help Donnie in the past two presidential elections and is now doing it again.

I mean, it’s got to hurt.

Remember how glowingly Trump spoke of Kim several years ago? Remember the “love letters” they exchanged? It was such a sweet story. Elderly American man corresponds with Asian outcast half his age. Their relationship blossomed.

“And then we fell in love,” Trump gushed in 2018. “No, really — he wrote me beautiful letters, and they’re great letters.”

Then the long-distance pen pals met in Korea. Remember when they crossed the border together, first from the Demilitarized Zone into North Korea, then into South Korea? I mean, what could be more romantic than that? Top that, Hollywood!

But now Kim is in someone else’s arms. Did you see the embrace he shared with Putin when the Russian president arrived in North Korea last week? I saw sparks flying. And the rest of their whirlwind jaunt together through Pyongyang was equally as romantic: inspecting troops, petting and feeding white horses, lavishing each other with gifts. Kim gave Vlad two prized hunting dogs. Vlad gave Kim a luxury limo, which they drove off in, taking turns behind the wheel. What a first date, right? Tyrants in love can be a beautiful thing.

They saved the best for last. They issued a joint pledge of mutual support, which in dictator-speak is somewhere between going steady and getting engaged. Kim is giving Putin more weapons for his war of aggression on Ukraine. And Putin – coy suitor that he is – vaguely pledged cooperation on nuclear technology. (In other words, nuclear weapons, which to a world power wannabe like Kim is like waving a 3-carat diamond ring.)

This has got to be awful for poor Donald. I mean, he thought he’d get back in office and find more love letters from Kim. Now what’s he going to have to promise Kim to win him back from Putin? A hydrogen bomb?

And bad enough as it is for Trump to lose his lover to another authoritarian, imagine how hard it is when that Russian strongman who’s now courting Kim is Trump’s bestest world leader buddy.

Trump’s bromance with Putin is well-documented, if a bit one-sided. Trump worships Putin like a nerdy little freshman worships the star athlete who sits next to him. Did you see the look on Trump’s face when he and Putin met in person? He was starstruck.

Trump has often expressed his admiration for Putin. He’s complimented Putin for his strength and toughness. He’s called Putin “smart,” even said it was “genius” for him to attack Ukraine and try to take over the country.

No wonder Trump loves Putin. Putin is so eager to have Trump in the White House that he’s devoted Russia’s intelligence resources toward sowing misinformation to help Trump get elected commander in chief. (Have you ever asked yourself why the leader of Russia so desperately wants Trump to be president?) In 2016, Trump said, “Russia, if you’re listening, I hope you’re able to find the 30,000 emails that are missing.” That same day, the Russians made their first effort to hack Hillary Clinton’s personal email servers. For Trump, Russian assistance has been the gift that keeps on giving.

Sure, as Special Counsel Robert Mueller concluded, it’s not a crime that the Trump campaign welcomed help from its friends in Russia, but isn’t it dangerous for the president of the United States to be so beholden to Putin? Someday, isn’t Putin going to want something in return? Like the United States cutting off aid to Ukraine so Putin can conquer it, and then go after Moldova, and then Poland, and then who knows who else? And someday, when Putin decides that he wants to help his allies in Iran and Syria, what if Putin tells Trump to cut off aid to Israel? Who will Trump support?

Look, the alliance between North Korea and Russia is frightening enough. But the fact that the dictators of those two countries are leaders that Trump wants to emulate – that’s the real nightmare.

I don’t care if Donald Trump wants to pursue his friendship with Putin and Kim and form an unholy threesome. But if that ever should happen – for the sake of the United States and of the world – please don’t let Donald Trump be president of the United States when it does.

Syl Sobel (www.sylsobel.com) is an attorney, author, journalist, and former federal government executive.