How the U.S. Gained Its Own 'Oligarchy'

Elon Musk, Mark Zuckerberg, and Jared Kushner are household names in the United States. Journalist and author Casey Michel describes them as part of a new oligarchy in the United States, aligned with President Donald Trump. In his new book, “The United States of Oligarchy,” Michel describes the history of oligarchy in the U.S. and how these oligarchs differ from past plutocrats with a transnational network of like-minded autocrats seeking to make inroads in Washington. As U.S. democracy erodes under Trump, these oligarchs — and their foreign counterparts — are eager to take advantage of a president who is unapologetically transactional, and who has monetized the office to a degree not seen before in American history.

Michel is the author of two previous books, American Kleptocracy and Foreign Agents. He is the director of the Combating Kleptocracy Program with the Human Rights Foundation. He writes regularly on authoritarianism and illicit wealth for outlets like The New York Times, Financial Times, and The Wall Street Journal. He lives in New York. Watch the video above, download it as a podcast, or read the transcript.

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