The Bulwark Podcast

Snapshot · The Bulwark Podcast

Bill Kristol: Trump Wants All-out Kleptocracy

Explore episode Jul 6, 2026

Where this was said

Putin-Grade Kleptocracy: America's New Reality

At 7:20 · chapter starts 6:40

The conversation deepens into a diagnosis of America's institutional decay. Miller argues that what Trump is doing — enriching himself, allowing his children to profit from inside information, using the presidency as a business franchise — is not uniquely American dysfunction but the standard operating procedure of countries without rule of law. He recounts Trump's rambling public defense of his children's conflicts of interest, essentially declaring they will have inside information on everything and that nobody needs to care. Kristol, not to be outdone, frames it historically: the founders used the word 'corruption' to describe exactly this kind of regime rot. His conclusion is stark — the US has probably already gone further than Orbán's Hungary and is now operating in territory that looks like Putin's Russia. The only corrective, as Miller notes, is for there to be a clear line drawn: this will not be allowed to stand.

Government
Should Democrats Impeach? The Strategic Dilemma

Bill Kristol: Trump Wants All-out Kleptocracy · Jul 6, 2026 Government

Impeachment is morally justified but strategically complicated — and Kristol and Miller spend real time wrestling with both sides. The risk: Democrats look like they only care about retribution. The opportunity: force Republicans to publicly defend the indefensible. The verdict is nuanced, but both agree the case is clear enough to make loudly.

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