President Donald Trump’s overtures to Russian dictator Vladimir Putin may reflect his hopes for life after the presidency, his biographer says.
Trump, 80, has delivered a string of wins for Putin, 74, this month while his relationship with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has reached one of its lowest points since he returned to office, drawing him closer to Moscow while pushing America further apart from its traditional European allies.
Trump on Friday struck a deal with Putin to lift congressionally approved sanctions against Russian oil companies, after allowing Russia to export diesel to the U.S.
Meanwhile, Ukrainian forces faced sustained restrictions on their use of Starshield, a military-grade version of Elon Musk’s Starlink satellite network that has become a critical tool in Ukraine’s defenses against Russian attacks. Several administration insiders told The Wall Street Journal on Wednesday that Trump had full knowledge of the reduction in Starshield service, though Trump has denied the claims.
“Who among us thought that we would see an American president side with the aggressor, side with Russia?” co-host Joanna Coles said during a live taping of the Inside Trump’s Head podcast at the Teragram Ballroom in Los Angeles on Tuesday.
Co-host Michael Wolff noted that Trump’s enduring coziness with Putin has fueled speculation throughout both of his presidencies that the Russian dictator might have dirt on him.
“But I actually think it’s actually larger than that,” Wolff said, floating a very different reason for Trump appearing to admire the Russian leader so much. “What Trump wants... perhaps more than anything, is money. I think Trump in his heart, in his head, wants to be an oligarch.”
The Trump biographer said that he recently asked a White House insider who is “very close” to Trump how much money the billionaire president hopes to cash in before leaving office.
“One of the interesting things... about the people around Trump is that they are actually very objective when they talk about him, because he is as foreign to them as Trump is to us,” Wolff said. “I mean, they’re being paid and... they have to fall in line and do all the things... that Trump demands of people. But, you know, they’re clear-eyed.”
Wolff alleged that the White House insider believed Trump was aiming for a $20 billion fortune by the time he leaves office, with deals in place that would allow him and his family to make $100 billion once he returns to Mar-a-Lago.
Trump has made significant headway toward that goal, with his estimated fortune reaching $7 billion in September—about $2.7 billion richer than when he returned to the political spotlight with his 2024 election victory, Forbes reported.
According to Wolff, the White House insider argued that for Trump “it really was about the money, that... being president was nice, but being an oligarch is forever.”
That is at “the root of Trump’s interest in and admiration for Putin, that Putin is the one world leader who has access to the most money with the least amount of regulation,” Wolff argued.
He suggested Trump’s rift with Ukraine stems from the country’s continued resistance to Putin’s invasion, which has “frustrated” the president’s desire to cut deals and partner with the Russian dictator.
Imagining Trump’s twisted point of view, Wolff said, “So I am now going to do everything possible. I only got two years left, everything possible to close down the Ukraine situation and make deals with Putin.”
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Trump’s communications director, Steven Cheung, has previously told the Daily Beast: “Michael Wolff is a lying sack of s--t and has been proven to be a fraud.”
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