May 28, 2026 - Eli Clifton | Olga Lautman | Theodore Hamm

Added: 2026-06-02

[00:00:12]Hello and welcome to Background Briefing available 24/7 at backgroundbriefing.org.

[00:00:16]I'm Ian Masters and today we'll look into a number of stories and issues in the news. We'll begin with Trump threatening to blow up Oman, a US ally and important mediator, and assess how that is playing in the Gulf as intelligence sources indicate that Qatar and Bahrain are paying bribes to Iran so as not to be struck by their missiles or drones, which Kuwait and the UAE are not doing and they are getting hit.

[00:00:45]>> [snorts] >> Joining us is Eli Clifton, a senior advisor at the Quincy Institute and investigative journalist at large at Responsible Statecraft, who holds a master's degree from the London School of Economics.

[00:00:57]He is the author of the new book available for pre-order, Israel's Lobby: America in the Grip of a Foreign Power.

[00:01:05]Then we'll examine how the bully Trump is meek as a lamb when it comes to rolling over for Putin and speak with Olga Lautman, a non-resident senior fellow at the Center for European Policy Analysis, who is also the creator and co-host of the Kremlin File podcast series, which features expert discussions on the Kremlin's internal affairs, global operations, and tactics used from their hybrid warfare kit to destabilize Western democracy. She has a Substack newsletter covering Russia, Ukraine, Eastern and Central Europe with a focus on Russia's intelligence operations available at olgalautman.substack.com, where her latest articles include As Ukraine hits deeper into Russia, Putin retreats into isolation, and Trump moves to cut NATO bombers, submarines, and warships in major win for Russia.

[00:01:58]Then finally we'll speak with Zephyr Teachout, professor and chair of journalism and new media studies at St. Joseph's University in New York.

[00:02:06]He's the author of Bernie's Brooklyn, how growing up in the New Deal City shaped Bernie Sanders' politics.

[00:02:13]His articles about New York City politics and the 2025 mayor's race appeared in The Independent, Drop Site, and Jacobin.

[00:02:23]And his latest book is Run Zephyr Run, now out in an updated version, Meet Mayor Mondaire. The spectacular victory of a Democratic Socialist in New York City. And we'll discuss how a Democratic Socialist defeated the hatred, lies, and prejudices spewed by machine politicians to become mayor of New York City and even win over Donald Trump.

[00:02:47]And before we begin with Trump having bombed seven countries and started a war against Iran, while at home his ICE thugs terrorize and break up families, murdering American citizens in the process, the need to rid the country of the deeply unpopular Trump kakistocracy and his clown car cabinet could not be more urgent. But these crooks and criminals would do anything to stay in power as their billionaire buddies buy up the mainstream media and the mob boss intimidates Republican politicians. Only people power can beat money power and we need all hands on deck as we continue to do our part delivering a daily public service providing the facts and evidence to inform the majority of what they're up against and how to win back our country, our decency, and the respect of the community of nations. You can help save America's 250-year-old democracy by making a tax-deductible donation at backgroundbriefing.org/donate or at publictruthmedia.org and thank you.

[00:03:49]And joining us now is Eli Clifton who's a senior advisor at the Quincy Institute and investigative journalist at large at Responsible Statecraft, who holds a master's degree from London the London School of Economics and is the author of Israel's Lobby, America in the Grip of a Foreign Power, which is available for pre-order now. Welcome to Background Briefing, Eli Clifton.

[00:04:13]>> Thank you for having me.

[00:04:14]>> Well, thanks for joining us. And what do you make of the extraordinary threat that Trump made yesterday in a cabinet meeting, one of these bizarre North Korean style sycophantic round robins where everybody sitting at the table, all the various cabinet members praised the dear leader.

[00:04:34]But in the midst of it all, Trump said that, quote, "Oman will behave just like everybody else, or we'll have to blow them up." And this was in the response to uh the uh Iranian news reports coming out of Iran about the way that they see this memorandum of understanding, this so-called peace deal. Uh and Trump was of course uh tried to dismiss that outright, and particularly the notion that Iran and Oman could jointly monitor the Strait of Hormuz and presumably have some kind of a financial interest in a toll booth or whatever. So, that's what what Trump was responding to. But the idea that he would say it, "We're going to blow up an ally, one that's been helpful in as a mediator in various and previous negotiations." It's just mind-boggling. How's it playing in the Gulf? I'm sure they're not very happy about this.

[00:05:36]>> Well, I I mean I think they are clearly not very happy from from what I've what I've seen and and observed in in conversations with people there.

[00:05:43]Uh I I think however that it's really important to take that uh statement from Trump as uh I think you identified sort of, you know, the the individual pieces that led to him saying that, which was the concern that Oman would would would would basically participate with uh Iran in in operating an effective toll booth, as you put it, in in in in the Strait of Hormuz.

[00:06:05]However, I think the broader uh frustration that he was expressing and the reason he was willing to go so far, and that which uh certainly countries in the Gulf are observing as well, is that Donald Trump is in a very difficult situation. And it is largely of his own making. Where he knows that there is enormous pressure on countries in the Gulf, and the Iranians have been very good at putting this pressure on, getting these countries to start to show some daylight between their own policy making and that of the United States.

[00:06:32]And I might add, sort of de facto, with Benjamin Netanyahu and with Israel. They have uh time and again now been put in the situation of quite literally being bombed, not by the Americans, but by the Iranians, because of this uh you know, being being tied at the hip to to the US security umbrella, and uh and a US president who has gone along with a war that was clearly sort of promoted and largely engineered by Benjamin Netanyahu. So, I think that this frustration is showing that, you know, Donald Trump has made it very clear what he wants in a end to this war. He effectively wants the Iranians to give up uh their their nuclear program, to give up uh any enrichment for uh undetermined amount of time. Uh he wants the uh enriched uranium, which uh seems to be underneath several hundred feet of of a very heavy rock. And he wants the Iranians to to stop, you know, backing Hezbollah and and Hamas and its other regional proxies. Now, the Iranians, shockingly, are not interested in giving up every piece of leverage that they do have. And they they do see the American basing in countries in the region like the UAE, like Saudi Arabia, like Kuwait, as being uh potential points of leverage that they have. And they've shown the ability to strike these these sites and to do so largely at will, uh certainly having depleted the American uh missile interceptors. So, I I think that he's in a very tough spot here because the Iranians are prepared to come to the negotiating table. They are prepared to do a deal. But the Strait of Hormuz is something that they have held an enormous amount of leverage over. And there is an incentive, certainly for Oman and for other states in the region to start looking at ways to cooperate with Iran as Iran needs to certainly in whatever uh peace agreement does come out of this.

[00:08:17]It might be now, it might be in several months, it might be in a year. Uh Iran is going to look for methods of of raising funds to to effectively, what they call it, get war reparations. And tolling the Strait of Hormuz in conjunction with the Omanis is probably one of the more straightforward methods of getting it, aside from the full and complete sanctions relief that they also will be looking for.

[00:08:38]>> But this idiot we have as a president, he gave Iran that card, the Strait of Hormuz. They didn't have that card to play. It's a far more important card and more valuable card for them than the nuclear portfolio.

[00:08:54]>> Absolutely. And you know what I find to be so interesting is that it is no surprise, or it should have been no surprise, that the Iranians would play that card. They They had pretty much telegraphed that that's exactly how they would escalate.

[00:09:07]Or as it sometimes referred to sort of as as a as a lateral form of escalation would be to first close the Strait of Hormuz, then try to toll it, potentially attacking ships that are not willing to pay those tolls or that are trying to break the blockade. Uh but that they also would go after American bases in the region. That's also something that they had pretty broadly hinted that they would do.

[00:09:27]Now, apparently uh it does seems as if this administration was not fully prepared for this likelihood to occur, which it did. Uh and instead, they I mean, according to reporting that still coming out, listened to Netanyahu and the head of Mossad's presentation in the situation room where they said that the Iranian regime was on was on the verge of collapse, that there were minority groups who were prepared to I think religious minority groups who were prepared to effectively participate in a coup, and that only a quick round of bombing, a decapitation strike on the supreme leader, and the next thing you know is within a week there would be a new government that was friendly to Israel and friendly to the United States. And they chose to run with that analysis, it would seem, or to believe it, or Netanyahu or sorry, Donald Trump was swayed that this was somehow a persuasive argument, which ran against uh certainly the assessments of the intelligence agencies, and certainly Iran's own statements about how they would respond to being attacked in a manner which they had a year ago.

[00:10:26]>> Well, David Barnea, the head of Mossad, single-handedly destroyed the mystique of Mossad as a great intelligence agency, but I'm hearing reports from intel sources, Eli, that the Qataris and Bahrain are are privately paying bribes to Iran not to be hit by missiles and drones.

[00:10:50]I'm not sure about the Saudis or the Omanis, but apparently Kuwait and UAE are not paying, and they're getting hit.

[00:10:57]So, have you heard anything to that effect?

[00:11:00]>> I mean, I've I've certainly heard some of those rumors as well. If if I were in their situation, I think it makes a great deal uh because you know, you have to remember you know, that the the economies of these of these countries it's sort of twofold. One is in terms of the willingness of people to come and do business there and to engage in you know, the business of finance, but there's also the other critical infrastructure around energy. And a lot of that cannot be rebuilt so easily. You know, a lot of attention goes on to for instance, you know, the the Fairmont Hotel in Dubai being hit by a drone cuz that sort of a the the bubble of the image of Dubai as being somehow outside of the region or somehow not connected to world events or untouchable in whatever manner that might be.

[00:11:42]But there's another piece here which is that's an easy you know you can fix the Fairmont. You're not going to fix oil pipelines so quickly. You're not going to fix your refining capacity so quickly. And those are the things that you know the the Iranians have shown a willingness and a capability to hit. So I think for these countries this isn't just a short-term problem. This is something where they need to secure their critical energy infrastructure because that is the backbone of their economies and their own ability to sort of you know keep the air conditioning and the lights on.

[00:12:12]>> So where does this negotiation stand? As I mentioned in the beginning you know that Trump was upset with media reports coming out of Iran describing the MOU [clears throat] that they're working on which Trump dismissed.

[00:12:28]But you know who knows whether or not it's accurate or not but I mean some of the details seem to be completely impossible. One of which was in exchange for the US giving up pulling out of the naval blockade Iran would open up the Straits of Hormuz but they added that the United States not only has to pull out of the naval blockade but they have to evacuate their bases in the Middle East which is I think a non-starter. What do you know about What do you know about what's really on the table?

[00:13:04]>> Look I I I think we have a pretty good sense of what an agreement that could succeed would look like and indeed I think this is probably the likelihood of the agreement that at some point we will get. And it does involve yes the Strait of Hormuz needs to be opened. The Iranians are probably going to probably in conjunction with the Omanis be able to operate an effective toll booth though I'm sure they will find a different name for it something like you know the environmental protection or something a fee, that will in in turn, you know, generate an enormous amount of revenue for Iran.

[00:13:32]Iran will be looking for sanctions relief. I think Iran also is quite open to having a multi-year commitment to zero enrichment, and one that perhaps could be negotiated to be extended past that.

[00:13:46]But whether that's 5, 10, or 15 years, we've heard various numbers kicked around. I think the Iranians are open to such an agreement because to them, that means that they have not made a an open-ended commitment to zero enrichment and to giving up their nuclear program.

[00:14:03]They are simply saying for 5, 10, 15, whatever the the terms are, years, they will refrain from doing so. And certainly one that a period of time that would extend past the end of Donald Trump's term, so he can say that he brought the Iranians down to zero enrichment. And you know, he can claim that that that that he achieved what no other US president recent history has done.

[00:14:23]Another piece of that though that is probably going to be an element is that Iran has made it pretty clear that they want you know, the strikes on Hezbollah targets and Iranian Israeli strikes within Lebanon to come to an end as part of a deal. They want a regional element to this. And I think that's the piece where we ask well, what would it take to get this deal done? And the answer is simply it's not necessarily all tied up in the back and forth between Trump and Iran and Pakistani intermediaries. It also comes down to how hard is Donald Trump willing to press on the Israelis to end their war in Lebanon. And that is something that so far I think we've seen very little evidence that he's prepared to do. And I think the the Israelis are not inclined to end that war, certainly not to so Donald Trump can sign a peace deal with Iran. They do not want that deal. And I don't think they particularly want to withdraw from Lebanon either. Now, I think that Donald Trump does have leverage should he choose to use it against the Israelis.

[00:15:24]Uh but Donald Trump neither Donald Trump nor Joe Biden have chosen to exercise that leverage when faced with you know intransigence from from from Israel and from its Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. So I think probably the bigger question here isn't what would the terms of an agreement look like because I don't think those have really changed all that much. I'm sure there would need to be some negotiations about I agree I think the idea that all bases American bases in the region will be eliminated is probably not going to happen. But I think probably there I'm sure there would be some some terms about a proximity of US naval vessels to Iranian targets to Iranian coastline and an assurance that that the Americans are not going to be policing or interfering with the Strait of Hormuz. I think those would be the elements that probably go into such a deal. Again, I don't think that there's as much distance between the parties as has sometimes been played up. But I think that's missing a significant element here which is that the Israelis do not want such an agreement to come into come into effect.

[00:16:25]They are not looking to slow down their own adventurism in the region be that in Iran or in Lebanon.

[00:16:32]They are not looking to wind down the war in Gaza. They Netanyahu just announced trying to claim 70% of the territory in Gaza. I think that bringing the Israelis to heal is going to be the far greater challenge to to getting such a peace agreement in place.

[00:16:46]>> And Netanyahu's far-right minister Ben Gvir has said that the Israelis won't let the Americans make this deal.

[00:16:55]>> [laughter] >> Exactly and I think that's that's is very telling. You know and that yeah with all of the attention on the Iranian negotiators and the American negotiators we are missing a major piece here that the country that really got us into this war is very committed to continuing it to perpetuating it and to perpetuating their own destabilizing actions in the region.

[00:17:17]And so far there's been very little to suggest that the Trump administration is prepared to use leverage to try to bring that to an end.

[00:17:26]>> And what about the 12 billion dollars that apparently is frozen Iranian funds that the US has agreed to release? Now, we were just talking earlier about how I've been talking to Intel sources saying that Bahrain and paying bribes not to be hit by Iranian missiles and drones. And we don't know whether the Saudis are paying bribes. We do know that the Kuwaitis aren't and the UAE aren't and they're getting hit. So, what kind of money are the Iranians making both from bribes [laughter] and and from getting their frozen funds released by the United States?

[00:18:04]>> Well, I mean I I I I can't speculate at what the size of those bribes might be.

[00:18:08]I would assume they are considerable. I think probably the the major sources of revenue that they will be looking for at the end of this conflict in which I would be shocked if it is not in a peace agreement is their ability to derive revenues from tolls for ships passing the Strait of Hormuz as well as as you just pointed out the release of frozen assets. And I would add that I think that they will be expecting significant if not complete sanctions relief as part of such as part of a deal. The the bottom line here is that this is a good deal. The Americans should take it. It's a way to to wind down what has been a disastrous conflict in which you know, the costs that are going to be born and certainly on American consumers are only going to go up as the oil shocks finally start to hit Americans at the pump. It's not going to make the region safer to extend this conflict. And it was a mistake. It was a bad idea to get into this. But this is the best deal that's on the table right now. And again, I I I think that the terms of it they matter but I think the bigger question is when will the administration stand up to our ally the Israelis and say that you know, this is the deal and that they need to abide by the terms of it as well. Because until that happens, I I think we're kind of just, you know, quibbling over uh details. Because again, the the the structure of what the deal would be, kind of what the broad outlines of it are, I don't think they've really changed that much. I think the only thing that's changed it, and probably tilted it more toward the Iranians' favor, has been the decision by Trump and Netanyahu to start this war.

[00:19:33]>> So, just in the last couple of minutes, and Eli, given that both Secretary of State Rubio and Trump have emphasized how a toll booth on the Strait of Hormuz is completely unacceptable.

[00:19:47]Rubio has described it as piracy.

[00:19:50]So, how are they going to spin their way out of that if they back down on that that red line that they've already laid down?

[00:19:57]>> Well, I think that uh that the what they can do is they can say that they can declare victory. They can say that we've reached an agreement that's going to ensure that Iran is uh you know, not enriching any uranium for a uh certain period of time. Certainly no highly enriched uranium. A period of time that again, I think that that could be flexible. It could be extended. So, they can claim that this was the terms of bringing Iran down to uh a limit. They could claim that they have limited Iran's nuclear program for at least the rest of Trump's administration. They could claim that this is uh you know, a price to bring peace to the region. I think that there's a lot of positives you can spin out of this. Uh I think that you simply don't emphasize the Strait of Hormuz, the tolling of it. And again, my impression has been, and the the the the rumors I've heard is that the Iranians are quite flexible about how one might frame the fees that will be uh collected in in a likely peace agreement. It certainly would not be called a toll booth. It it would have some other term for it. Uh and again, I think the Omanis would in all likelihood be involved as well. So, it would not be just one country profiting off this of the thoroughfare in uh in the straits.

[00:21:01]>> Well, Eli Clifton, I thank you very much for joining us here today.

[00:21:04]>> Thank you very much for having me.

[00:21:06]>> And again, I have been speaking with Eli Clifton, who's a senior advisor at the Quincy Institute and investigative journalist at large at Responsible Statecraft, who holds a master's degree from the London School of Economics and is the author of the new book Israel's Lobby, America in the Grip of a Foreign Power, which is available for pre-order now.

[00:21:28]We're going to take a brief station break and back examining how the bully Trump is meek as a lamb when it comes to rolling over for Putin as he moves to cut NATO bombers, submarines, and warships in a major win for Russia.

[00:21:48]>> [music] [music] [music] >> And joining us now is Olga Lautman, who's a non-resident senior fellow at the Center for European Policy Analysis and the creator of and co-host of the Kremlin File podcast series which features expert discussions on the Kremlin's internal affairs, global operations, and tactics used from the hybrid warfare toolkit to destabilize Western democracies. She has a Substack newsletter covering Russia, Ukraine, Eastern and Central Europe with a focus on Russia's intelligence operations available at olgalautman.substack.com, where her latest articles include as Ukraine hits deep into Russia, Putin retreats into isolation and Trump moves to cut NATO bombers, submarines, and warships in major win for Russia.

[00:22:55]Welcome to Background Briefing, Olga Lautman.

[00:22:58]>> Hi, how are you?

[00:23:00]>> Well, thanks, Olga. And, obviously, uh Trump has this peculiar uh pet relationship with Putin. I mean, here he is threatening to blow up Oman, which is a an ally in in the Gulf.

[00:23:17]And he bullies all the other world leaders, and he struts around like a tough guy. But he's meek as a lamb when it comes to Putin.

[00:23:25]And now, as you pointed out in your article, "Trump Moves to Cut NATO Bomb Submarines and Warships in Major Win for Russia." He's literally, you know, taking the teeth out of NATO.

[00:23:38]And we don't know what goes on in these long phone conversations he has with Putin because there's no record of them.

[00:23:45]It which is completely unprecedented.

[00:23:48]So, to my mind, it's quite possible that in these hour-plus-long conversations that Trump has on a regular basis with Putin, he's probably he could well have told Putin, "Then I'm not going to stand by Article 5, you know?"

[00:24:03]What do we know? What's to stop him? All we know is that Putin is the one guy in terms of world leaders that Trump will not bully, but in fact bends over backwards to accommodate.

[00:24:19]>> No, absolutely. And you know what? I don't think that, you know, this is even a recent arrangement because we have to remember that Trump, first of all, he has had an issue and attacked NATO since the 1980s, um 1987 precisely when he came back from his Moscow trip. And suddenly, he, um you know, being very cheap for anyone who knew him in uh New York City and from, you know, all the uh uh articles and media and press attention he got here, everyone knew he was cheaper, yet he spent money taking out ads um to basically attack um our allies uh both Japan and NATO. And this is a real estate guy. I mean, he was a real estate, he was a playboy, known as a playboy in the city. And right after he came back from his Moscow trip, wasn't even 2 months and he took these ads out. Um, then he came into office in 2016 and you know, from there he has been attacking NATO um for as since he was in his first term.

[00:25:29]So, I don't think that they even had to have a basically, you know, explicit arrangement. I think that Trump attempted to leave NATO um the first term. Uh, clearly he doesn't have the power to leave NATO because, you know, we actually have a congressional uh law by Congress um and they would have to approve this. But, he can throw a wrench in. And um a few like a year and a half prior to Trump getting um back into power last year, I had actually written an article for uh CEPA warning that should Trump get into power, the first thing he will do is uh try to not take US out of NATO because he doesn't need to. He can just simply do exactly what he's doing now. Withdraw weapons, withdraw troops, uh attack NATO publicly. And we saw him threatening, you know, to invade Canada, which is a NATO founder, uh Greenland, which is covered by NATO uh Article 5. Um, and this is what he has done. And, you know, and this is at the same time happening as Russia's increasing its aggressions across Europe. It's drone incursions across European um capitals and whatnot. So, was there a particular arrangement, you know, like here I will do this by this date, who knows. I mean, we have the Alaska summit. We don't know what was discussed even there when they took a 10-minute ride, you know, in the Beast.

[00:27:04]Um and Russia came out of there automatically escalating against Europe um to a point that we haven't seen uh specifically first with Poland and then other NATO countries. Um so yeah, so this is where we are and then the latest basically has made NATO irrelevant at this point and um I think you all Europeans know that, you know, should Russia attack, um he will not uh you know, uh fulfill the US commitment to Article 5. And actually the US has said so last week or 2 weeks ago. They actually informed their NATO allies that if there is a crisis or war that we do not count on the United States.

[00:27:51]>> [snorts] >> So specifically, he went to Moscow on July the 4th of 1987.

[00:27:57]The lure it was a KGB arranged trip.

[00:28:01]>> [snorts] >> The lure the lure was for him to build a Trump Tower in Moscow. That's how they got him in there.

[00:28:09]There are reports and I've talked to some KGB people who knew were there at the time. They said that they got him in a honey trap. But whether or not that's provable, what is provable is the minute he got back to the United States, this cheapskate took out full-page ads in the Washington Post, the New York Times, and the Boston Globe extolling Russia and arguing that the US should get out of NATO.

[00:28:35]And but ever since then, he's been propped up by Russian money in his multiple bankruptcies. And the record is really clear back from his first term, he tried everything he could. The first thing he did, actually, was invite the Russian uh ambassador into the Oval Office without any press whatsoever.

[00:28:55]And we don't even know and we know that through that >> Actually, Russian press TASS, which has from Soviet Union been the historian of the cover for KGB agents and now FSB SVR agents. TASS is known for this and this was the only outlet that was allowed into the Oval Office and where we got the photos of Lavrov and Kislyak and Trump, you know, smiling and I actually never saw Trump smile prior to that point. Go ahead, sorry.

[00:29:28]>> Well, no, I was just saying that they also tried to make a back channel arrangement to communicate, which we don't quite know whether that worked out or not through Alfa Bank and through other things. So, it's pretty clear what the record is.

[00:29:43]The Mueller report got sidetracked by Bill Barr. The Senate Intelligence Committee made it pretty clear that there were deep ties and the Russians helped elect Trump.

[00:29:53]That nobody seemed to have ever read that.

[00:29:56]And Trump, of course, has targeted every Russian expert in the counterintelligence world, particularly the FBI, which is in charge of counterintelligence. I could go through the list, Danny McCabe, Bruce Ohr, Lisa Page, Peter Strzok, the recently the head of counterintelligence uh in New York was forced out.

[00:30:19]Kash Patel has closed down all counterintelligence investigations into Russia.

[00:30:24]What is going on, Olga?

[00:30:28]>> Well, this is exactly what it looks like. And the thing is what I don't understand is that for Americans, this is such a complex issue, whereas, you know, if you're in Eastern Europe, this is like another Tuesday.

[00:30:39]You you having a compromised president who you know, his loyalties lie with another country in this particular case from does a lot of favors for Russia.

[00:30:51]You named a few and I could continue on issuing oil waivers. So now the US is actively funding Russia's genocide in Ukraine by issuing oil waivers now already three times they've issued this extension for a month. So now three months and this is how Russia gets money to you know, fund their war in Ukraine.

[00:31:17]So in any other country in Ukraine there was you know, the former disgraced president Yanukovych who did exactly the same thing and then finally when the Ukrainian people rose during Euromaidan he fled to Russia.

[00:31:34]In Georgia right now, the country not the state, you have Ivanishvili who's the same exact thing. I mean he is also an oligarch who you know, is propped up by Russia and I mean I can go on and on and on. Kazakhstan, you know, you had Nazarbayev before Tokayev also now he's a little bit separating from Russia.

[00:31:57]In Armenia Pashinyan was for a long time, you know, a puppet of the Kremlin same thing now he's moving aside from it but it is you know, this is typical behavior there. Here I don't understand how after the first term, you know, there was no one was held accountable.

[00:32:16]this was a huge intelligence operation by Russia to put you know, someone at the highest level of power in the United States and arguably the world because the president is the most powerful position and you know, after 2020 it's like the United States you know, wanted to sweep everything under the rug and now we're paying the price where you have, you know, people like Manafort, Carter Page, and others who potentially will now get money for from the Justice Department, which I mean, honestly, it's sickening to even say this, you know, from the slush fund. Um And and I mean, they were rightfully convicted or questioned or investigated for collaborating or working with Russia. And imagine, not only did they not get prosecuted. Manafort did on tax evasion. I mean, that's a joke, you know, considering everything that he has done for the Kremlin over the past two decades.

[00:33:17]Um not only in US, but in in Ukraine and Kyrgyzstan and on and on.

[00:33:24]Um And now that someone like him potentially now the Justice Department will pay from this weaponization, you know, slush fund.

[00:33:33]Um And this is the consequence. No one was held accountable, and this is now we're in Trump 2.0. Now he feels emboldened.

[00:33:41]He doesn't have, you know, the John Boltons and, you know, the so-called adults in the room to to keep him from his worst impulses. And we're seeing it play out what he's doing not only to Europe. I mean, he is abandoning Europe and basically shifting the post-World War II order to prop up not only Russia, but China. I mean, he still hasn't met the obligations of a congressionally approved arms sale to Taiwan after his trip. I mean, he didn't even get on the plane, and he was already questioning whether he will send, you know, weapons to Taiwan, signaling to China basically go ahead and invade. Doing the same thing with Russia.

[00:34:27]>> So, what do you think's happening now with Belarus? Because Putin is pressuring Lukashenko to open a new front in the north and we know that even though Ukraine is doing well on the battlefield, surprisingly so, they have a manpower shortage. We also are learning from the head of the British equivalent of the NSA, GCHQ, that the Russians have have had about 500,000 dead in this war. So, you have to extrapolate out the wounded ratio to dead could be up to 2 million casualties. So, start with that one.

[00:35:10]First of all, what's going on with Belarus and two, are the Russians running out of manpower?

[00:35:17]>> All right. So, Belarus for starters, they were used because they were softly annexed, you know, prior to the full-scale invasion and Belarusian Belarusian territory was used to launch the full-scale invasion in 2022. We have had this chatter and movements, you know, since 2022 where Putin has been pushing Lukashenko to get the country involved in the war in Ukraine, even to send military there and whatnot. Lukashenko has resisted to that point because I mean, we all joke that if Belarusian soldiers cross Ukrainian border, they might turn around and start shooting at the Russians because there's really no love between the Belarusian people and the Russians. I mean, they were under occupation under the Soviet Union, they're under occupation now. I can tell you the last time there was chatter like this, I was, I believe, 2023 and I spoke with Ukrainian officials at the time. They were begging for a Belarusian involved so they can strike back. They know all the targets to hit, all the airway air runways and airports, everything to hit. Same thing now, Ukraine is at least bit worried.

[00:36:35]There's like a few hundred targets, you know, that has been prepared.

[00:36:40]Should Belarus enter, you know, especially in Ukraine, should Belarus enter, Ukrainians will take care of it particularly with drones. And I don't think anything changed in the Belorussian army and Lukashenka is scared, you know, to see those defections at a high rate. Belorussian territory would be worried though when it comes to Poland and Lithuania because Russia is looking to provoke an attack to test Article 5 with NATO and with Trump basically telling Europe that he is not going to, you know, that the US will not participate in Article 5 and assist and and participate and commit to their obligations. Russia, there is chatter that they are trying to potentially hit a NATO country. Whether it could be in, you know, the Baltics, it could be Finland, it could be any NATO country in order to try to like show that NATO is basically no longer exists. So, that's with the Belarus. As far as his soldiers, yes, the Defense Ministry, by the way, speaking of Britain, Russia basically again and this has received zero coverage in the US. Over the weekend they basically, for me, this is an assassination attempt. They jammed the GPS of the plane carrying UK's Defense Minister. And they have for 3 hours the plane was jammed. The pilots had to basically, you know, go back to old school days and try to manually uh, direct the plane and then, you know, land it safely. The defense minister is fine.

[00:38:27]Um, but they released a report that half a million, um, troops have died. I can tell you for Russia, you know, this is means nothing. For America, half a million, uh, you know, dead Americans, I mean, we cry over, rightfully so, over, you know, three, 10, 13. Uh, for Russia, the more that die, the more it shows like patriotism to the motherland and like literally, uh, nauseatingly, throughout the year, they celebrate Victory Day, you know, not just in May, um, but Victory Day all year and everything is centered around their defeat of the Nazis, which millions died. So, for them, the more that die, um, the more, um, you know, the more patriotic these people are. Also, um, there are two different mentalities, uh, because with the Russian military, I mean, if a Russian soldier gets wounded and is holding down his battalion, you know, the commander will shoot the, uh, soldier and kick him off in the ditch, so they could continue moving. In America, if an American soldier dies, they will do everything to risk everything to make sure to bring the body, retrieve it and bring it for proper burial.

[00:39:43]Um, and as far as manpower, I mean, uh, Russia is, you know, not only do they have, uh, like all the outer regions where they've been pulling, you know, people from Dagestan, um, uh, uh, uh, um, um, uh, and all the like Far East and all the regions, um, they've been pulling a lot of people from there, but they've also been importing a lot of Africans, North Koreans. We had, uh, probably like upwards of 15,000 North Korean soldiers.

[00:40:12]And now, the most dangerous, which again, something that no one's paying attention is a collaboration between China and Russia because right now, uh there was a report that came out that China was training Russian troops inside of China at the end of last year that they sent into Ukraine um to fight specifically with drones. And um last year um there was uh intelligence that uh Russia was training Chinese uh soldiers inside of Russian um military schools uh presumably for their invasion of Taiwan. So, that's something we need to keep an eye on, but bottom line, Russia's pulling from across the globe, whether the Middle East, Africa, North Korea. Um so, they're never going to have a shortage of manpower as far as that, you know, happens.

[00:41:05]>> Well, Olga >> of cannon fodder.

[00:41:07]>> Right. Olga, we've run out of time, but I thank you very much for joining us here today.

[00:41:12]>> Thank you so much. Thank you.

[00:41:15]>> And I've been speaking with Olga Lautman, who is a non-resident senior fellow at the Center for European Policy Analysis, who's also the creator and co-host of the Kremlin File podcast series, which features expert discussions on the Kremlin's internal affairs, global operations, and tactics used from their hybrid warfare toolkit to destabilize Western democracies. She has a Substack newsletter covering Russia, Ukraine, Eastern and Central Europe with a focus on Russia's intelligence operations, available at olgalautman.substack.com.

[00:41:45]Where her latest articles include As Ukraine hits deeper into Russia, Putin retreats into isolation, and Trump moves to cut NATO bomber's submarines and warships in major win for Russia.

[00:41:58]We're going to take a brief station break and back looking into how a democratic socialist defeated the hatred, lies, and prejudices spewed by machine politicians to become mayor of New York City, and even win over Donald Trump.

[00:42:13]>> Ach, ne me da sa >> [singing] [music] [music] [singing] [music] [singing] >> Welcome back. I'm Ian Masters and this is Background Briefing available 24/7 at backgroundbriefing.org and joining us now Theodore Hamm, professor and chair of journalism and new media studies at St. Joseph's University in New York.

[00:43:06]He's the author of Bernie's Brooklyn, how growing up in the New Deal City shaped Bernie Sanders' politics, and his articles about New York City politics and the 2025 mayor's race appeared in The Independent, Drops Out News, and Jacobin. And his latest book just out is Meet Mayor Mondaire, the spectacular victory of a Democratic Socialist in New York City. Welcome to Background Briefing, Theodore Hamm.

[00:43:34]>> Nice to be with you, Ian.

[00:43:35]>> Well, thanks for joining us, Ted, and you have really given us an inside seat uh in the whole Mondaire phenomenon, his inner circle, and the extraordinary win, not just for Mondaire, but for the Democratic Socialists of America and the and their New York chapter.

[00:43:56]So, how did you first gravitate to this really interesting politician who is probably one of the most talented politician, certainly since Obama. And what's particularly appealing about him is that he's got such a genial kind of presence.

[00:44:19]He smiles a lot.

[00:44:20]He's smart, sharp on his feet.

[00:44:23]And even he managed to win over Donald Trump. So, tell us about the Mondani magic.

[00:44:32]>> I think you're you've captured some of the key elements of it. I mean, he is just a unique presence, and a uniquely charismatic, very excellent communicator.

[00:44:43]As someone I know who was a speechwriter was telling me during the campaign, you know, the guy never says um. And if you really break it down and listen closely, you don't you don't hear that. So, I started following him through the his work in the New York City DSA, which I've been covering over the years for the Independent and New York City Activist newspaper. And he really stood out in in terms of his activism surrounding the Israel-Palestine issue even before October 7th. And then shortly after October 7th, six days after October 7th, he was arrested outside of the home Brooklyn Park Slope Brooklyn home of Chuck Schumer for civil disobedience, blocked block in the road, and he's at the time he warned of impending genocide in Gaza. And unfortunately, that was an accurate prediction. He was ahead of the curve in making that statement at the time.

[00:45:42]But so he was really becoming outspoken at that one year before he launched his campaign, and he became a target of the New York Post because of his activism surrounding Israel and Gaza. And you know, so he was really on a lot of activists' radars, people who follow this closely. but even when he launched his campaign in the fall of 2024, shortly before the re-election of Trump. And when he did that, you know, he he had some activist support, other handful of groups including Jewish Voice for Peace, an active pro-Gaza group that he'd been working closely with over the last few years.

[00:46:25]Even so, even so, people you know, they they didn't the mainstream media didn't give much of a chance. But when I when he did launch, he had an very dynamic ad which sort of set the stage for what was to to come in terms of his media output, social media, conventional media, and otherwise. And I showed that to my students in at St. Joseph's in Brooklyn where I teach, and you know, not necessarily politically active students, but they were all like, "Wow, this guy's cool." Yeah.

[00:46:57]>> [laughter] >> So, I could tell that he was appealing to uh younger voter potential voters. And you know, so I just was started following it closely, he came to my neighborhood where I live in South Brooklyn, Sunset Park. He came there for a fundraiser in January.

[00:47:15]Uh and I met him there, and you know, it just started to see the momentum really grow, and and that's when the publisher and I uh Colin Robinson of OR Books, we decided that we would embark on this project, and that uh we didn't think he was going to win at that back in when we started the project in in March of 2025, but we thought we saw he that he was doing well, and you know, maybe this would set the stage for subsequent campaigns. It could be sort of a handbook of how here's here's how to create your own stories through social media, and here's how to knock your campaign can knock on doors to get voters to rally behind you, and so on and so forth. You know, we thought that was at least going to set an example and then lo and behold this right about this time last year right after Memorial Day he just really blew up and he's now become an international superstar.

[00:48:08]>> Well, what's gratifying about him is that we're in an environment because of mega ugliness and hate that Trump represents and his followers exude what they're about is with all these things like the white replacement theories and all of this crazy stuff.

[00:48:28]They are trying to make us afraid of minorities in this country that they're the boogeyman, you know.

[00:48:34]And this guy is a minority who is attracting obviously a lot of other minorities but he's the opposite of somebody that you shouldn't be afraid of. This is somebody that you just can't help liking, you know? No wonder Trump doesn't know what to do with him. I mean how disarming is he? Do you think you know, I'm I'm sort of following Tyler Rico in Texas as well and Graham Platner and all these new faces that are emerging.

[00:49:04]But to me he is probably the most powerful in the sense. I mean we also did have you know, Barack Obama as president for two terms. So that ceiling the the the glass ceiling for women hadn't been broken. So to that extent Obama broke an important ceiling. But my feeling about Mondaire is that I've never seen a politician that's that skillful.

[00:49:29]And and it's not just about the optics.

[00:49:33]Uh the substance is there. He's actually getting things done.

[00:49:38]>> Sure. Well, he is I mean the the the disarming aspect of his smile. I I saw him explain that to an interviewer in New York City where he had told the same interviewer that in the past that he smile comes from his grandmother I believe who would encourage you know this is a way of disarming your potential critics right so you know there is a way in which he it can be used strategically but you know it's regardless it it certainly helps win people over and and also people several times you would see you'd see reporting of his meetings with powerful city business leaders and so on and they would say well you know I don't I disagree with this guy on socialism and many disagreed on Israel and so on but the guy's really a good listener and he's obviously very intelligent and he pays attention and all you know so he has a way of interacting with people that really can win over or at least you know placate to some extent obviously he's never going to fully placate some of his critics but in any case yes so he you know Trump his movement is based as you said it was based around division sowing hatred of various groups for earlier this year was really the focus on Somalis and so on so you you know and inevitably there's going to be more targets so what Momdani was doing really was just bringing people together and doing it in a way that I think he takes a cue from Bernie Sanders in that he continually comes back to his message right in that Bernie is good at staying on message whatever the issue might be it circles back to some sort of economic platform or program and that's really what Momdani was doing pushing an affordability agenda and so on that even when he was discussing group issues like for example trans rights he would still bring that around to affordability in in various ways right so no matter what issue he was talking about he was uniting people around this affordability agenda as he was calling it. And now that's sort of something that people like Platner, Talarico, and so on, that that who are not Democratic Socialists, but they're they're they're at they're pushing forward on economic bread and butter economic message uh taking their cues from Mondaire there, as well.

[00:52:03]>> Well, the other taboo that's that he's broken is and and Bernie before him, of course, uh did this as well is that, you know, the forbidden fruit in American politics going back through the Cold War has been the S-word, socialism. And of course, throughout the Cold War, communism and socialism were conflated. And [snorts] of course, the irony of history is that the communists were the ones that gave socialism a bad socialism a bad name in terms of the Soviet Union and the Communist Party of of China today, the um so that aside, it seems to me that the Democratic Socialists of America it's no longer uh such a a sort of lightning rod. I'm I mean I guess you still have some MAGA politicians talking about socialism and ranting in that kind of atavistic way, but I don't think it carries the weight it used to carry, certainly not in the Cold War.

[00:53:04]Where do you think the S-word stands today?

[00:53:08]Ted?

[00:53:09]>> Well, I I I think it's not just the MAGA politicians. I think it in New York City, I mean, the some of his opponents, Andrew Cuomo, long-standing Democratic powerhouse dynasty that, you know, he was trashing socialism on the when Mondaire was when he was squaring off against Mondaire. So was the former mayor mayor now, Eric Adams, a Democrat.

[00:53:34]And in 2016, in that in Bernie's first run, Hakeem Jeffries, now the leader of the Democrats in the Congress or in in in the House of Representatives, he was working for Hillary. And his argument against Bernie was that Bernie was a gun-loving socialist with zero foreign policy experience, right? So, that was his way of encapsulating his pro-Hillary stance. So, you know, so socialism has just been a as you know, something that they could use to to taint someone as extremist and so whatever might be. But now that's no longer working. And I you know, I think one of the main reasons we're seeing a more more and more people gravitate towards democratic socialism is the extreme concentrations of wealth, right?

[00:54:25]All this is playing out while Musk is on the verge of being a trillionaire and Bezos is got more money than anybody could possibly imagine. And so on.

[00:54:37]>> [laughter] >> And you know, they're wielding so much clout, these hand the handful of the oligarchs and so on. So, you know, I think people are realizing that we need to distribute wealth in ways that people can so that people can survive. You know, even Musk was saying that recently. So, it would in terms of the AI debate. But I think that's what that it Mondani came along at the right time and really in terms of advancing that message. And now we'll see if other how much it doesn't others pick up that torch and use use the term democratic socialism, but certainly in places like New York City now and handfuls other places across the country, you know, the DSA has candidates in number of places now. And so that's an advance, right? So, now we can we can include socialism as as one option in the political discussion or one one part one one solution to some of the problems that we're seeing.

[00:55:36]>> Well, of course, social democrats throughout Western Europe dominated politics for decades and still do in some cases. Why in America did they reverse that instead of social democrats say democratic socialist?

[00:55:53]>> Well, I think that term so it's just that term social democrat was never really part of US political language or it wasn't you know there were progressives back before in the early part and then there were new dealers and that new deal liberals and so on but and then who are effectively promoting social social democracy and that and it did take root in places like New York City.

[00:56:24]But you know I just that the term itself was never used in in to to any outside of academic circles maybe. But you know so I think when Bernie started pushing it in in the 19 and then that came out of the 1980s too the Democratic Socialists of America that's when they started.

[00:56:41]Michael Harrington who was a a great society figurehead war on poverty you know he was the main player in creating the DSA so you know and then the DSA has gone under it's changed over the years as well it's more radical now than it was then but you know so I I think they're pushing a a new a new language and and that's is is is taking root and it's still it will take time but certainly before mainstream democrats to embrace it or they they don't really want to embrace it it seems but they're they're going to be probably forced to in the coming years so you know I I think it's it it is it is it's a good question sort of what how the terminology when it came about and why that took root but I think what we're that's what we're seeing is that's what's hot now on the left.

[00:57:33]>> Right, but just going back to what you were saying earlier about Hakeem Jeffries shilling for Hillary, trashing Bernie.

[00:57:42][clears throat] My God, the verdict of history is is so sad when you think if Hillary had taken on Bernie as as her vice president, we would never have had Trump.

[00:57:55]And what a night what a nightmare [clears throat] that has been. So, just in the last minute, I want to ask you since we're offering up your book in support of Background Briefing and KPFK across Los Angeles and Southern California today, is there anything you can say to our audience why they need your book?

[00:58:13]>> I think the current version of the book Meet Mayor Mondani, which includes the previous version Run Zoran Run, that Run Zoran Run covered through the primary, so it stopped in midsummer of 2025. And then the current version Meet Mayor Mondani includes Run Zoran Run and then goes forward through the end of the the general election and then stops when Mondani takes office in early January. But the what the current edition does is show that, you know, Mondani built on his success in the primary, but now he needed to reach mainstream Democrats. So, the people who turn out in the in primaries obviously are more attentive, activist-oriented voters, but he doubled his total from the primary to the general election. So, he really needed to sell his agenda to more traditional liberal Democrats. And he succeeded in doing that and in various ways, but he never he never actually altered fundamentally altered his agenda. He wasn't not a political politician who said, "Okay, in the primary I'm going to uh inspire the base and then in the in the general [clears throat] I'm going to sort of move to the center."

[00:59:26]Uh with speak that's kind of something that Obama did actually back in 2008.

[00:59:29][laughter] But, um, in any he he stuck with his program, stuck with his agenda, and uh, made alliances that's uh, helped him push that agenda. And basically what I'm showing is that you know, when you offer voters something that's going to rally them, get excite them as opposed to offering them nothing. Cuomo was basically [snorts] saying at the end of the campaign, you know, what Mondaire is proposing is all BS and wasn't offering anything himself, right? So, he was just sour he was a bitter old guy who was throwing cold water on the young uh, newcomer's agenda, but pretending like everything was okay with the status quo or just you just need a better manager of the status quo and that kind of thing. So, it really was a um, you know, it's a generational shift, but it is an ideological shift and and it's something that can be replicated elsewhere when you have somebody who's actually proposing um, a substantive meaningful agenda like uh, um, Mondaire was doing and maybe we'll see some other copycats across the the nation this coming fall.

[01:00:39]>> Well, I thank you very much for joining us here today, Zephyr Teachout.

[01:00:43]>> I much much appreciate it. Thank you very much.

[01:00:46]>> And again, I've been speaking with Zephyr Teachout who's a professor and chair of journalism and new media studies at St. Joseph's University in New York. He's the author of Bernie's Brooklyn, how growing up in the New Deal City shaped Bernie Sanders politics, and his articles about New York City politics and the 2025 mayor's race appeared in The Independent, Dropside, and Jacobin.

[01:01:08]His latest book is Runs Mondaire Run, now out in an updated version, Meet Mondaire Jones, the spectacular the spectacular victory of a Democratic Socialist in New York City.

[01:01:22]And this has been Background Briefing.

[01:01:24]I'm Ian Masters and I'd like to thank producers Graham [music] Fitzgibbon and Asha Price. And if you've missed any of today's program and would like to explore our vast archives, you can visit us at backgroundbriefing.org [music] where we'll include extended interviews searchable by topic and have made it easy for you to sign up for daily email updates that provide links to resources, articles, and books discussed on the program. Also, you can find links there to subscribe wherever you get your podcast and we highly encourage your ratings and reviews on these platforms.

[01:01:54]You can find us on Twitter, Blue Sky, and Facebook at Ian Masters Media and our new social media managers Evan and Luke Saswood are also posting highlights [music] from the show on YouTube, TikTok, and Instagram at Ian Masters Media. So, please do help us reach more listeners by sharing this program with friends, family, and colleagues. And to help us sustain this program into the future and ensure it remains free to all, please take a moment to support us by going to backgroundbriefing.org/donate where your tax-deductible donations, large and small, keep us broadcasting.

[01:02:31]And I'll be back again tomorrow with another Background Briefing at backgroundbriefing.org.

[01:02:36]Bye for now.

[01:02:37]>> happened that half less night.

[01:02:41]Who will ever know how much in love they're so that dark night alone [music] in [singing] America.

[01:02:52]My quiet thoughts were singing something to me.

[01:02:57]An angel's song about the home of the brave in this land here [music] of the free.

[01:03:02]One time was now in America.

[01:03:09]Once more boys playing ball in the parking [music] lot.

[01:03:14]A A a teacher, and other became a cop.

[01:03:19]A cop spinning into the rain, making the last little one to say, "One more light goes [music] out in America."