You've been "following this closely for 3+ years" through the lens of a group of people (journalists) who have political views that are strongly in opposition to that leader. Of course they would tell you that he is unstable, that he is wreaking the country, and so on. Those journalists are even employed by companies that want access to large and powerful countries that dislike a US leader who isn't a pushover in trade negotiations. Given those facts, it would be shocking if you got a fair view of the matter.