What Next | Can Trump Bully Russia?

Slate News

Slate Podcasts

News, News Commentary, Politics

4.6 • 6K Ratings

🗓️ 17 July 2025

⏱️ 28 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

For years, Donald Trump was often the only Western leader with anything nice to say about Vladimir Putin.But with Russia and Ukraine still fighting six months into his term, their friendship is on the rocks. Are we seeing a temporary spat – or a real policy shift? Guest: Michael McFaul, U.S. ambassador to Russia 2012-2014, author of the upcoming book “Autocrats vs. Democrats: China, Russia, America, and the New Global Disorder.” Want more What Next? Subscribe to Slate Plus to access ad-free listening to the whole What Next family and across all your favorite Slate podcasts. Subscribe today on Apple Podcasts by clicking “Try Free” at the top of our show page. Sign up now at slate.com/whatnextplus to get access wherever you listen. Podcast production by Ethan Oberman, Elena Schwartz, Paige Osburn, Anna Phillips, Madeline Ducharme, and Rob Gunther. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	Oh, that's my prime delivery.
0:01.6	What, already?
0:02.7	Only one thing can match the buzz of Prime's fast delivery.
0:06.2	And that's the buzz of Prime's entertainment.
0:09.0	What are we watching?
0:09.7	Heads of state, that new action comedy with Idris Elber as the Prime Minister,
0:13.3	John Sina as the president, and Prianka Chopra Jonas,
0:15.9	as their only hope.
0:17.0	It looks like a blast.
0:18.3	From fast delivery to explosive entertainment, it's on Prime. For only
0:23.0	899 a month, join now. Content includes limited ads, subscription or to renews. For more information,
0:28.2	go to amazon.com.com.com. U.K. slash prime. Ready to launch your business? Get started with the
0:32.6	commerce platform made for entrepreneurs. Shopify is specially designed to help you start, run and grow your business
0:39.0	with easy customizable themes that let you build your brand, marketing tools that get your
0:43.7	products out there. Integrated shipping solutions that actually save you time, from startups to scale
0:48.8	ups, online, in person and on the go. Shopify is made for entrepreneurs like you.
0:58.7	Sign up for your $1 a month trial at Shopify.com slash setup.
1:05.9	Just a heads up, there is some quick, strong language in this episode. So here are a few words that President Donald Trump has used to describe Vladimir Putin over the years.
1:19.0	He's called him a genius. He's called him very savvy. He's even called him a peacekeeper.
1:26.0	But earlier this week, Trump gathered the White House press corps and the head of NATO in the Oval Office to use some very different vocabulary for the president of Russia.
1:38.1	Okay, thank you very much.
1:40.6	This is Monday.
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

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

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