Is America still capitalist?

Today, Explained

Vox

Daily News, Politics, News

4.4 • 9.5K Ratings

🗓️ 19 August 2025

⏱️ 28 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

President Trump is threatening CEOs, nationalizing the steel industry, and demanding a cut of Nvidia's profits. There's a term for all that — and it's not "free-market." This episode was produced by Miles Bryan, edited by Jolie Myers, fact-checked by Laura Bullard, engineered by Andrea Kristinsdottir and Patrick Boyd, and hosted by Noel King. Listen to Today, Explained ad-free by becoming a Vox Member: vox.com/members. Transcript at vox.com/today-explained-podcast. President Trump addressing steelworkers at the US Steel Corporation Irvin Works facility in West Mifflin, PA. Photo by Rebecca Droke/Bloomberg via Getty Images. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Two years ago on Today Explained from Vox, we ran a series on Americans' deep and growing frustration with capitalism.
0:12.8	Everything comes with a price, even peace of mind. We wrestled with this longstanding idea that there is no alternative to capitalism, where many people
0:21.6	still land. But recently, a leader has come along and he has begun to question our system.
0:28.6	I don't think that we should have billionaires. No, it's not Zohran. It's Trump. President Trump
0:34.1	is making some of the most unfree market anti-capitalist moves in recent memory,
0:39.6	such as rating companies based on how loyal they are to his big, beautiful bill,
0:44.3	or talking about taking a 10% share in Intel.
0:47.7	Everything's computer.
0:49.1	Or pressuring Coke to change its formula, even though people like current Coke and happily pay green American dollars for it.
0:55.4	Coming up, are we even still capitalist?
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