S8 Ep257: IMPORTING THE MAFIA STATE: THE 2014 MOSCOW DINNER AND THE ROOTS OF TRUMP'S RUSSIAN ENTANGLEMENTS Colleague Craig Unger. Investigative journalist Craig Unger analyzes a pivotal February 2014 dinner in Moscow attended by Jared Kushner, Ivanka Trump, and pro

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John Batchelor

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🗓️ 29 December 2025

⏱️ 29 minutes

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IMPORTING THE MAFIA STATE: THE 2014 MOSCOW DINNER AND THE ROOTS OF TRUMP'S RUSSIAN ENTANGLEMENTS Colleague Craig Unger. Investigative journalist Craig Unger analyzes a pivotal February 2014 dinner in Moscow attended by Jared Kushner, Ivanka Trump, and prominent Russian oligarchs like Roman Abramovich and Viktor Vekselberg. Occurring just weeks before Russia's invasion of Crimea, Unger suggests this gathering exemplifies how Donald Trump has sought to replicate Vladimir Putin's "mafia state," where a "godfather" figure controls billionaire "capos." Unger argues that the Kremlin's leverage over Trump is primarily financial rather than sexual; Russian entities frequently rescued Trump from bankruptcy and laundered billions through his real estate ventures, such as the Trump SoHo. Consequently, figures like Kushner and Steve Witkoff—who attended the dinner and now act as envoys—are viewed by Moscow not as independent negotiators, but as known operators within a compromised infrastructure exported from Russia to the United States.

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0:00.0	In the casino, something as small as the roll of a dice or the spin of the slots holds the thrill of the unknown.
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0:27.9	com. Please gamble responsibly. This is John Batchel. I welcome my friend Craig Unger, the author
0:34.1	of American Compromat and House of Trump, House of Putin, among other
0:38.6	distinguished investigative reporter books, to take us to an event many years ago in Moscow
0:45.1	is February, Deep Winter, and at the Museum and Tolerance Center that supports Jewish people everywhere, there's a dinner hosted
0:59.7	by significant players in Moscow at that time. But there were visitors from America, Jared Kushner,
1:08.6	and his wife of Anka Trump.
1:18.1	That dinner, that moment, is a way of entering into the world that we live in now.
1:23.4	What is it that Mr. Trump knows about Moscow?
1:31.0	What is it that Moscow knows about President Trump that makes illogic of the investigations we're watching and makes questions again and again about why Mr. Trump is so easy on
1:38.6	Vladimir Putin? And if you don't believe that, you've never read American history.
1:45.8	Craig, a very good evening to you.
1:48.4	The handling of Vladimir Putin by Donald Trump as president is a mystery.
1:56.4	You can leap to the conclusion that Kremlin must have something on Trump.
2:00.7	But that's never adequate to the
2:02.4	on-again, off-again romance between these two men. Long distance, yes, but they've met, and they'll
2:09.8	meet again, we presume. That dinner is a piece of the answer for why Donald Trump approaches the Kremlin and Vladimir Putin so oddly.
2:22.7	What was that dinner's point?
2:25.3	Why were Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner present?
	...

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