Podcast Summary: Bulwark Takes

Episode: Billionaire Sickos Cozy Up With Saudi Dictator at Trump Dinner

Date: November 20, 2025
Host: Tim Miller (“Tim O”)

Episode Overview

This episode of Bulwark Takes sees host Tim Miller delivering a sharp, scathing commentary on the recent Trump-hosted state dinner with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS) and America's top billionaires and corporate leaders. Tim dissects the social and political dynamics of the event, highlights the moral bankruptcy among elites cozying up to a notorious autocrat, and reflects on the implications of deepening Western-Saudi tech partnerships.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Visceral Rejection of the Event

• Tim reacts with disgust to images from the Trump-MBS dinner, describing physical revulsion:

  "If you're like me and you saw the images from the Trump state dinner with MBS and the American oligarchy, you were hunched over the toilet dry heaving this morning." (00:03)

• He underscores the grotesque spectacle of billionaires seeking proximity to a regime responsible for the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

2. Who's Who at the Dinner: The Guest List

• Tim runs down the list of tech and financial elites in attendance:

  • Mark Benioff (Salesforce CEO): Mocked for taking a selfie with Pam Bondi.
  • Elon Musk
  • Jensen Huang (Nvidia CEO)
  • Lisa Su (AMD CEO): Noted as the only female tech exec (until later correction).
  • Greg Brockman (OpenAI CEO)
  • Tim Cook (“Tim Apple”)
  • Palantir & Cisco CEOs
  • Crypto figures — especially Brian Armstrong (Coinbase CEO)
  • Other notables: Michael Dell, Stephen Schwarzman (Blackstone), Mary Barra (GM), William Clay Ford (Ford), Chevron execs, Albert Bourla (Pfizer), Bill Ackman, Josh Harris

• Quote:

  "Why do these people get invited to way better parties than I do? Why do they want to go to this?" (02:52)

• He repeatedly points out the contradiction of powerful American women executives aligning with a regime that represses women's rights.

3. Mocking the Motivation Behind Attendance

• Tim speculates on motivations:
  • Vanity and status: Selfie culture and chasing proximity to power.
  • Financial incentives: “Crypto guys” possibly making deals serving dodgy interests.
  • Vice signaling:

    "We're kind of out of an era where virtue signaling was important in corporate America and now we're to an era where vice signaling is important." (06:03)

• Contrasts his own (hypothetical) response to such an invitation:

  "I would have laughed in their face, like, no, I'm not going to go to a fucking state dinner with MBS." (01:48)

4. Saudi Ambitions and Corporate Greed

• Cites a Semaphore report that the Saudi sovereign wealth fund is planning massive AI investments with major U.S. tech firms.
  • Amazon, AMD, X.AI, Global AI all mentioned as likely partners for Saudi data centers (07:53).
• Tim questions the wisdom—and patriotism—of selling advanced AI tech to an authoritarian regime:

  "Do we want to intermingle it that closely with the Saudis? ... I think this is just a gold rush. And everybody has decided to put any sort of moral compunction or practical concerns to the side." (09:38)

5. Foreign Policy, Security, and American Values

• Argues that the rush to do business with Saudi Arabia undermines core American principles.
• Warns of the dangers in making a dictatorship "the world's third largest country for AI":

  "We want them to be the third largest, you know, power player when it comes to artificial super intelligence. Couldn't possibly imagine how that could go wrong." (08:15)

• Critiques both major political parties for enabling this realignment of interests.

6. Moral Rot Among the Elite & Cultural Backlash

• Tim encapsulates his disgust:

  "This morally vacuous, illiberal, Great Gatsby Botox selfie culture and the new Grand Trump Ballroom, where the worst dictators in the world buddy up with the Silicon Valley oligarchs and the AI elite and the crypto bros... I think the country is going to turn sour on that very fast." (11:01)

• Suggests the public is, or soon will be, deeply alienated from this elite "Gatsby" culture.
• Expresses his own political desire:

  "Running against these noxious, horrible people is something that I would support and that I think would have a lot of support within the country." (10:54)

7. Memorable, Cutting Moments

• On the grotesqueness of the event:

  "These people make me sick." (11:40)

• With acerbic sarcasm:

  "If a non-Trump White House wanted to invite me to a state dinner with a leader from a liberal democracy... sure, I'd go, yeah." (02:29)

• On MBS's rumored private life:

  "I'm not reporting this ... but he might be a hermaphrodite and also a murderer. It was quite a dinner." (12:07)

Notable Quotes with Timestamps

• "If you're like me...you were hunched over the toilet dry heaving this morning." – Tim Miller (00:03)
• "Why do these people get invited to way better parties than I do?" – Tim Miller (02:52)
• "We're to an era where vice signaling is important." – Tim Miller (06:03)
• "Couldn't possibly imagine how that could go wrong." – Tim Miller (08:15)
• "Everybody has decided to put any sort of moral compunction or practical concerns to the side." – Tim Miller (09:38)
• "This morally vacuous... Great Gatsby Botox selfie culture..." – Tim Miller (11:01)
• "These people make me sick." – Tim Miller (11:40)

Timestamps for Key Segments

• 00:00–02:29 — Host’s visceral reaction, the hypocrisy of elite attendance, and a comedic riff on state dinner invitations.
• 02:30–06:03 — Detailed rundown of the who’s-who guest list and speculation on motivations.
• 07:53–10:27 — Saudi AI deals; critique of unfettered tech partnerships with authoritarian regimes.
• 10:28–12:27 — Reflection on America’s loss of principles, calls for political opposition to the elites’ “Gatsby” culture.

Tone and Language

• The tone is unabashedly sarcastic, acerbic, and often darkly humorous.
• Strong moral indignation infuses the language, mixed with mockery of the elites’ vanity and hypocrisy.

Conclusion

A fiery solo rant, this episode is a moral indictment of American corporate and political elites for their willingness to cozy up to Saudi autocracy in pursuit of wealth, status, and business deals, even at the expense of American values and security. Tim Miller’s take is a mixture of incredulity, disgust, and biting satire—balancing detailed reporting on the individuals and deals involved with a passionate call for accountability from within the political and business classes.