Michael McFaul: Trump’s Red Carpet & Putin’s Middle Finger

Impolitic with John Heilemann

Audacy | Puck

News, Politics

4.8 • 4.2K Ratings

🗓️ 22 August 2025

⏱️ 67 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

John welcomes Michael McFaul, former U.S. ambassador to Russia, back to the show to discuss the past week’s flurry of diplomatic efforts to bring an end to the war in Ukraine. McFaul analyzes the meeting between Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin in Alaska; the subsequent visit of Volodymyr Zelensky and a phalanx of European leaders to the White House; the signals emanating from Russia that Putin’s maximalist war aims remain unchanged; and the grim options facing Zelensky if the spate of summitry, as seems increasingly likely, results in nothing more than a return to the status quo ante. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	When you have a Pixel 10, you may get asked a few questions.
0:06.0	Like, what is that?
0:08.0	How did you do that?
0:10.0	And can we use your camera instead?
0:14.0	Ask more of your phone.
0:18.0	Google Pixel 10. Your trading strategy is how you interact with the markets.
0:24.6	So why let a rigid trading interface limit your potential?
0:27.6	Cracken Pro is more than just flexible.
0:29.6	It's an extension of your trading strategy.
0:32.6	Drag, drop, resize and expand every pixel.
0:35.6	Start with preset layouts, then move modules and widgets wherever you want them.
0:40.8	Pro is designed for you, buy you.
0:43.2	Head to pro.crakken.com and trade without tradeoffs.
0:46.3	Don't invest unless you're prepared to lose all the money you invest.
0:48.5	This is a high-risk investment and you should not expect to be protected if something goes wrong.
0:57.0	Aloha and Namaste everyone and welcome to Impolitic with John Heilman,
1:00.0	a puck and Odyssey joint featuring lively in-depth conversations with the people who
1:04.0	cruised the corridor's power in America, sculpting and shaping the ebb and flow of our politics
1:09.0	and culture. In the three and a half years since the war
1:14.4	between Russia and Ukraine started, there have been many weeks in which the battlefield tally,
1:22.0	the casualties, the lives lost, the armaments deployed, the bombs exploded have been greater than this past week.
1:30.6	But there's rarely been a week in which the action on the global diplomatic stage has been
	...

Transcript will be available on the free plan in 18 days. Upgrade to see the full transcript now.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Audacy | Puck, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of Audacy | Puck and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.