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Stopping Trump’s Slush Fund—Plus, the Transformations of Bill Gates

Rob Weissman of Public Citizen explains some of the key lawsuits challenging Trump, and Ben Tarnoff traces Bill Gates from software to philanthropy to the world of Jeffrey Epstein.

Jon Wiener

May 27, 2026

US President Donald Trump delivers a speech about the economy at Rockland Community College Fieldhouse in Suffern, New York.(Brendan Smialowski / AFP via Getty Images)

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Stopping Trump’s Slush Fund, plus the Transformations of Bill Gates / Start Making Sense
byThe Nation Magazine

Trump’s Billion Dollar Ballroom is a familiar kind of corruption, but his slush fund to pay the insurrectionists and paramilitary groups that commit violence in his name is an unprecedented attack on democracy. Rob Weissman of Public Citizen explains, and also talks about the immense, and immnsely unpopular, proposed Arc d’Trump.

Also: Bill Gates was once the country’s youngest billionaire and the first billionaire to come from tech. Then he became the most hated man in America; then the biggest philanthropist, and the world’s most admired man. Then we learned of his ties to Jeffrey Epstein. Ben Tarnoff explains how all happened.

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On this episode of Start Making Sense, Rob Weissman of Public Citizen explains some of the key lawsuits challenging Trump, and Ben Tarnoff traces Bill Gates from software to philanthropy to the world of Jeffrey Epstein.

Trump’s billion-dollar ballroom is a familiar kind of corruption, but his slush fund to pay the insurrectionists and paramilitary groups that commit violence in his name is an unprecedented attack on democracy. Rob Weissman of Public Citizen explains, and also talks about the immense, and immensely unpopular, proposed Arc d’Trump.

Also: Bill Gates was once the country’s youngest billionaire and the first billionaire to come from tech. Then he became the most hated man in America, then the biggest philanthropist, and the world’s most admired man. Then we learned of his ties to Jeffrey Epstein. Ben Tarnoff explains how all happened.

Subscribe to The Nation to support all of our podcasts: thenation.com/subscribe.

The Nation Podcasts

Here's where to find podcasts from The Nation. Political talk without the boring parts, featuring the writers, activists and artists who shape the news, from a progressive perspective.

How Abdul El-Sayed Can Win Michigan, Plus an Election Protection Test Case / Start Making Sense
byThe Nation Magazine

The Michigan Democratic senate primary provided a test of the power of AIPAC and big money. John Nichols has our analysis.

Also: a rehearsal for the election protection groups: the California sherriff who seized 650,000 ballots from November’s referendum, claiming he needed to recount them. Zach Roth of Democracy Docket will explain how the Chad Bianco case provides a test of one key Republican strategy for holding on to the House after the midterms.

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Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

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Jon WienerTwitterJon Wiener is a contributing editor of The Nation and co-author (with Mike Davis) of Set the Night on Fire: L.A. in the Sixties.


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