Sep 18, 2026 · 1h 2m

Private networks reshape Trump’s foreign policy

Anne Applebaum: Globalized MAGA Kleptocracy

The episode argues that informal power brokers and opaque deals are weakening diplomatic accountability while pushing America’s allies to hedge against U.S. instability.

3 key takeaways

1Trump-aligned networks are turning technology, energy, cryptocurrency, and soft power into instruments of ideological influence abroad.
2Greenland, Brazil, and Venezuela illustrate how private actors and opaque asset control can blur foreign policy with commercial interests.
3Pressure on Ukraine and escalating Russian operations are accelerating Europe’s search for security and economic relationships beyond Washington.

Don't miss

Applebaum’s account of Greenland as an influence operation shows private American actors using threats, proposed data centers, and political pressure to reshape another society.

The brief

Anne Applebaum and Tim Miller examine a foreign policy increasingly shaped by billionaires, corporate interests, informal envoys, and ideological networks rather than traditional diplomatic institutions.

From Greenland and Brazil to Venezuela, the conversation follows how pressure campaigns, private projects, and unaccountable control of assets turn foreign policy into a vehicle for influence and profit.

The episode links Russian connections around Trump allies to proposed Ukraine negotiations, arguing that prospective business deals can obscure the human consequences of occupation and surrender.

Applebaum describes Russia’s expanding drone and sabotage campaign while Europe, India, and other partners hedge against an America they no longer assume will remain reliable.

The central warning is that transactional alliances and MAGA nationalism are not merely changing Washington’s style; they are prompting allies to build alternatives beyond the United States.

Featuring

Anne Applebaum