Trump Isn’t Policing the World—He’s Looting It

Summary

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Episode Overview

Title: Trump Isn’t Policing the World—He’s Looting It
Host: Will Salatan (for The Bulwark)
Date: June 25, 2026

In this episode, Will Salatan critically examines the new foreign policy approach under Donald Trump, focusing on how Trump’s administration has shifted from traditional geopolitical strategy to overt profiteering through the U.S. military. Rather than "policing the world," Trump is openly leveraging military power for economic gain—specifically, by extracting resources and demanding direct payments from foreign nations.

Salatan walks listeners through recent examples from Ukraine, Venezuela, and potential plans for Iran, underscoring a transformation in American global leadership from defender of democracy to what he calls "the world’s most powerful criminal." Salatan supports his analysis with direct quotations from Trump along with reactions from administration officials.

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Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. Trump’s “Profiteering” Doctrine in Ukraine

• Shift from Aid to Extraction:

  • Trump criticized past U.S. military aid to Ukraine, including actions by Obama and Biden, and crowed about using U.S. leverage to extract rare earth minerals from Ukraine as a condition for aid.
  • Trump now sells, rather than gives, weapons to Ukraine and other allies, treating military support as a transaction.
  • Salatan’s Assessment:
    • "He thinks, how can I use power, especially military power, to make a profit?" (01:17)

• Notable Quote:

  • [00:59] Donald Trump:

    "As you know, Sleepy Joe Biden gave $350 billion to Ukraine and got nothing for it. I got rare earth back. I got, I think, value back far greater than that. But. And that's what he should have done."

2. Profiting from the Ukraine War

• Trump says the U.S. stands back from the war, instead acting as an arms dealer to Europe and Ukraine, benefiting financially.
• Host’s Critique:
  • "We are not in the business of helping democracies defend themselves. We are in the business of business." (02:03)
• Notable Quote:
  • [01:48] Donald Trump:

    "We have nothing to do with it. We sell weapons to them. We don't even give them..."

3. The Venezuela Invasion for Oil

• Turning Invasion into Profit:
  • In January, the Trump administration invaded Venezuela but made a deal with its authoritarian government to leave them in power in exchange for oil exports to the U.S.—boasting about making forty times more than the cost of the invasion.
• Notable Quotes:
  • [03:02] Donald Trump:

    "Venezuela, by the way, has been amazing. We are really having a great relationship with that country, taking out tremendous amounts of oil far, far more than that particular war costs."

  • [03:36] Donald Trump:

    "Did you ever hear of getting money back from the war by 42 times over? Right, Pete? Nobody, nobody does that."

  • [03:44] Will Salatan:

    "We are in the business of invasion for profit. We are pirates."

4. Plans to Occupy Iran’s Oil Infrastructure

• Carg Island as Next Target:

  • Trump has floated "taking" Carg Island—the heart of the Iranian oil industry—for U.S. profit, expressing uncertainty if "America has the stomach for it," but insisting it’s a massive economic opportunity.

• Notable Quotes:

  • [04:24] Donald Trump:

    "Look, my preference has always been take Carg Island...My preference would be that. I don't know that America has the stomach for it, to be honest with you. You're gonna make a fortune."

  • [04:47] Donald Trump (on Venezuela as a model):

    "Venezuela's worked out great for everybody. We've taken millions and millions of barrels of oil out of Venezuela..."

• Trump's Written Promise:

  • [04:59] Salatan recounting Trump on Truth Social:

    'We will be taking Carg island and other oil infrastructure points and assume total control of their oil and gas markets, much like we have with Venezuela.'

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• [00:59] Donald Trump:

  "I got rare earth back. I got, I think, value back far greater than that."

• [01:48] Donald Trump:

  "We have nothing to do with it. We sell weapons to them. We don't even give them..."

• [03:02] Donald Trump:

  "We are really having a great relationship with that country, taking out tremendous amounts of oil far, far more than that particular war costs."

• [03:36] Donald Trump:

  "Did you ever hear of getting money back from the war by 42 times over? Right, Pete?"

• [04:24] Donald Trump:

  "Look, my preference has always been take Carg Island..."

• [04:59] Trump (via Truth Social, read by Salatan):

  "We will be taking Carg island and other oil infrastructure points and assume total control of their oil and gas markets, much like we have with Venezuela."

• [03:44] Will Salatan:

  "We are in the business of invasion for profit. We are pirates."

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Timestamps for Important Segments

• 00:00 – 01:13: Introduction and Trump’s Ukraine policy shift
• 01:13 – 02:02: Trump’s rhetoric on selling vs giving weapons
• 03:02 – 03:36: The Venezuela invasion and profit calculation
• 03:36 – 03:44: Trump’s derision of past presidents & administration’s reaction
• 04:24 – 04:59: Plans for Iran: Carg Island statements and written pledges

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Episode Tone and Takeaway

Will Salatan’s tone is urgent, incredulous, and critical. He frames Trump’s foreign policy as a fundamental break from both American tradition and moral standards, characterizing it as outright looting conducted under a thin veneer of nationalism and dealmaking. The episode is meant as a warning about the consequences of reducing American diplomacy and military power to a for-profit venture, and it underscores how openly the administration boasts about these tactics.

If you want to understand how foreign policy has been repurposed into profit-seeking by military might—and the rhetoric now used to justify it—this episode synthesizes the latest, most troubling examples straight from the president’s mouth.

Transcript

[Will Salatan]

Hey, it's Will Salatan from the Bulwark. So if you are an American citizen, here's a question that you need to answer. Are you okay with your government using your military to steal money and resources from other countries? Are you okay with the United States of America becoming the world's most powerful criminal? Because what I'm going to show you today is that under Donald Trump, that is exactly what is happening. Let's start with a relatively mild form of profiteering. Ukraine. When Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022, we sent. The United States sent military aid to Ukraine. But when Trump took over last year, he decided that that was stupid, right? We had leverage over Ukraine because they desperately needed military aid. So Trump used that leverage to force Ukraine to give us a share of their minerals. And here's what he said about that earlier this year.

[Donald Trump]

As you know, Sleepy Joe Biden gave $350 billion to Ukraine and got nothing for it. I got rare earth back. I got, I think, value back far greater than that. But. And that's what he should have done.

[Will Salatan]

So Trump says he got more value back from Ukraine in minerals than we gave them weapons. In other words, we made a profit. And Trump says that. He says that's what Biden should have done. I mean, this is how Trump thinks about everything. He thinks, how can I use power, especially military power, to make a profit? Okay? And that is also why instead of giving weapons to Ukraine, Trump sells the weapons. Here's what he said last week about the war in Ukraine.

[Donald Trump]

We have nothing to do with it. We sell weapons to them. We don't even give them. Obama gave him $350 billion worth of weapons. Gave. Which was crazy. The European Union pays us full price for weapons.

[Will Salatan]

We have nothing to do with that war, says Trump. We don't really care about it. We are not in the business of helping democracies defend themselves. We are in the business of business. We're here to make a buck. So we'll sell weapons to Europe at full price, because under Trump, we're all about making money. So all of that started last year. We extorted Ukraine for minerals, and we started selling weapons to Europe to profit from the war. But then, then in January, Trump went further. He decided that we would invade another country, right? Russia invaded Ukraine. We invaded Venezuela. But Trump decided that instead of ousting the corrupt, authoritarian government of Venezuela, we would leave them in power in exchange for oil. Here he is this week on Monday bragging about it.

[Donald Trump]

Venezuela, by the way, has been amazing. We are really Having a great relationship with that country, taking out tremendous amounts of oil far, far more than that particular war costs.

[Will Salatan]

Many, many times, in fact, Trump says we've made a profit from that invasion. We've made a profit that is 40 times the amount that we spent on the invasion. And watch the reaction off to the side from Pete Hickseth, our so called Secretary of War, when Trump talks about how much money we made, where did

[Donald Trump]

you ever hear of getting money back from the war by 42 times over? Right, Pete? Nobody, nobody does that.

[Will Salatan]

Nobody does that, says Trump. He's ridiculing previous American presidents for not using our military to steal oil from other countries. And there is our Secretary of War standing there and nodding and smiling as our president brags about doing that. We are in the business of invasion for profit. We are pirates. And Trump is so happy, he's so happy with the money that we made in Venezuela that now he wants to do the same thing in Iran. Here's what he said two weeks ago about Carg island, which is the center of Iran's oil industry.

[Donald Trump]

Look, my preference has always been take Carg Island. That's been. Brian knows that. I spoke to him a long time ago. Lawrence knows it. I spoke to him a long time ago. I said my preference would be that I don't know that America has the stomach for it, to be honest with you. You're gonna make a fortune.

[Will Salatan]

Make a fortune, says Trump. We would make a fortune. And he said it would be just like Venezuela. This is a few seconds later in

[Donald Trump]

the same interview, but we did it with Venezuela. Venezuela's worked out great for everybody. We've taken millions and millions of barrels of oil out of Venezuela. We brought them to Houston and various other places.

[Will Salatan]

And just in case anybody thought that Trump was only speculating about taking the island and taking the oil, Trump posted this message on Truth Social. He wrote, quote, we will be taking Carg island and other oil infrastructure points and assume total control of their oil and gas markets, much like we have with Venezuela.