The Bulwark Podcast

Quote · The Bulwark Podcast

Susan Glasser: Our Money-Grubbing President

Explore episode Jul 2, 2026

Where this was said

Trump's $2.2 Billion Payday: Corruption at an Unprecedented Scale

At 2:56 · chapter starts 1:53

Tim Miller leads with Trump's financial disclosures as the episode's central corruption story: at least $2.2 billion earned since returning to office, much of it from crypto ventures tied to the UAE investment fund. Susan Glasser frames it in historical terms: Trump is doing what he accused Hunter Biden of — trading on presidential access — but at a scale that adds many zeros. Hunter Biden's board seat at a Ukrainian energy company was an embarrassment worth millions; Trump's foreign-linked billions represent something categorically different. Glasser poses the key political question of the moment: is the country so inured to Trump's corruption that it no longer registers, or is this the issue that finally breaks his coalition? She notes that unlike essentially any predecessor, Trump has decided to openly monetize the presidency as if he is, in her words, 'a consequentialist maximalist' who believes no accountability will come.

Government
Qatar's $400M Plane and America's Taxpayer Tab

Susan Glasser: Our Money-Grubbing President · Jul 2, 2026 Government

Qatar gifted Trump a $400 million plane — a hand-me-down the emirate no longer wanted — and U.S. taxpayers then paid hundreds of millions more to upgrade it for presidential use. Trump plans to keep it personally via his presidential library. Meanwhile, Qatar is a key player in the Iran conflict and Hamas negotiations that Trump is actively managing.

Similar quotes