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The Political Scene | The New Yorker

The Oligarchs Are Fighting

The Political Scene | The New Yorker

WNYC Studios and The New Yorker

Politics, Obama, News, Wnyc, Washington, Barack, President, Lizza, Wickenden

4.23.3K Ratings

🗓️ 7 June 2025

⏱️ 34 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

The Washington Roundtable discusses the fallout from the messy rupture between Donald Trump and Elon Musk, how battles between maximalist rulers and the mega-wealthy have unfolded in history, and how this week’s fighting could portend a new, more combative phase of American oligarchy. They talk about America’s new Gilded Age, drawing on “The Haves and Have-Yachts: Dispatches on the Ultrarich,” a new book by Evan Osnos, just out this week.


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Transcript

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0:00.0

Welcome back to the political scene from The New Yorker, a weekly discussion about the big questions in American politics.

0:15.1

I'm Susan Glasser, and of course, I'm joined by my colleagues, Jane Mayer, and Evan Osnos.

0:21.0

Hi, Jane. Hi, Evan. Hey, Jane Mayer, and Evan Osnos. Hi, Jane.

0:22.1

Hi, Evan.

0:23.1

Hey, Susan.

0:23.8

Hey, Evan.

0:24.7

Good morning, guys.

0:26.1

Well, we knew the end was coming.

0:28.4

We just didn't know how very public and how very petty it would be.

0:34.1

But now we know.

0:35.5

The bromance between the president of the United States, Donald Trump,

0:39.5

and the world's richest man, Elon Musk, is officially over. Let's just say the ending was a long

0:46.2

time and coming, but when it did, it came with a bang, starting with Elon Musk railing against

0:52.4

Donald Trump's big, beautiful bill. and Trump's saying he was, quote,

0:56.8

very disappointed in Musk, and then threatening to cut all of Musk's government contracts.

1:04.1

The two have traded Barbes on their respective social media platforms, with Trump calling Musk crazy,

1:13.3

and Musk claiming that Trump's name has come up in the Jeffrey Epstein files. Within minutes, their feud had crossed on Wednesday from the

1:20.9

policy realm and into the deeply personal. But in today's show, we'll get into the larger

1:26.5

implications of the breakup of two of the

1:28.7

most powerful people in the world, even though we're trapped watching them beat each other up

1:34.3

like middle schoolers. It's fair to say, Washington has never seen a show like this. And we are

1:42.7

lucky this week because we have one of our own as the

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