No Mercy / No Malice: Criminal
Oct 31, 2026 · 16m
Summary
Scott Galloway argues that Donald Trump’s second term is eroding America’s institutional advantages by fostering an extractive system akin to Russia’s, where property rights and rule of law are compromised for personal gain. The episode details specific instances of corruption, including conflicts of interest in tech deals, gutting of regulatory agencies, and the forced sale of TikTok, which Galloway views as a betrayal of free markets.
Topics discussed
Intro: Machine Gods podcast promotion
Sponsor: Odoo all-in-one business software
Sponsor: WhatNot live shopping platform
Intro: Trump as criminal and entrepreneurial risk
Vanity projects and the Godfather analogy
Inclusive vs. extractive economic systems
Corruption, investment, and the Russian example
Rudershva: State policy and the Yukos case
Gutting legal institutions: DOJ and SEC
Conflicts of interest: Oracle, Nvidia, and Warner
Crypto regulation and Trump's financial gains
IRS cuts and the golden age for white collar crime
Documenting the scale of alleged corruption
Bipartisan corruption and congressional stock trading
Power reveals: Robert Caro's insight
The TikTok sale and betrayal of free markets
Sanctions waivers and aiding Russia and Iran
Foreign policy for sale and path to reckoning
Sponsor: Checkout.com banking license
Sponsor: Vanta trust and compliance platform
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