"I Don't Think There's Any Precedent for It" — Anne Applebaum on Trump and Kleptocracy
Scott Galloway and Ed Elson talk with Anne Applebaum about her Atlantic piece arguing the US under Trump is sliding toward kleptocracy, where leaders use political power for personal financial gain.
The gist
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Applebaum defines kleptocracy as leaders holding both political and economic power and steering state policy to enrich themselves, as in Russia.
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Galloway cites an estimated $3 billion Trump family gain since the Trump coin launch; Applebaum says this has no precedent among presidents.
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Applebaum traces the slide to Citizens United, but says Trump differs from Pelosi-style trading through ongoing financial ties to Emirati and Saudi interests.
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Galloway says about 30 people made $700 to $800 million at the Trump coin launch, while about 80,000 retail investors lost several billion dollars.
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Applebaum recommends American Kleptocracy on money laundering, and says critics must, like Navalny, show people they are poorer because leaders are richer.
Anne Applebaum recommends it
"I've read a lot of books about money laundering. There have been some good ones in recent years. There's a good book called American Kleptocracy. There's a good book on Kleptopia. And almost all of them would be hard for laymen to grasp."
▶ Play at 10:15What they recommend · 1 pick
American Kleptocracy
Books
"I've read a lot of books about money laundering. There have been some good ones in recent years. There's a good book called American Kleptocracy. There's a good book on Kleptopi..."
Also mentioned
3:10
Tempus AI
· "Speaker Emerita Pelosi meeting with HHS and getting a sense they're considering using AI for payment..."
8:31
The Atlantic
· "I actually started collecting the kleptocracy stories. Some of them are in that article I wrote for the..."
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