IHIP News: 🚨 Trump Making DEATHBED Confessions As He's LOSING ALL POWER! Blue Tsunami INCOMING!

Joining us on I hit news is Timothy. David Snyder, a historian specializing. in the history of Central and Eastern. Europe and the Soviet Union. He is a. leading scholar on the nature of tyranny. and authoritarianism. That all seems. rather appropriate right now and is the. author of several acclaimed books. including on tyranny and on freedom. Welcome to I hit news. >> Glad to be with you. This is our we. you've been on before. My listeners. absolutely love you and this is our. first time in person. There's so much to.

discuss and I read recently that. Vladimir Zelensky is giving up on the. United States. The Ukraine Ukraine has stopped trying. to win Trump over and is actively. pivoting away from the US and seeking. new military partners speaking bluntly. about American unreliability and. planning for a European security. architecture without Washington. What is. your take on that? Well, it's it's a symptom of larger.

American mistakes. I mean, we can talk. about Ukraine, but what the Ukrainians. have to do is a result of what Americans. are failing to do. Americans are. neglecting their traditional allies and. mocking them and marginalizing them. Americans are not attending to the most. important conflict which is going on in. the world right now, which is the. Russo-Ukrainian War. Americans not only. denigrate their allies, but they make it. impossible for their allies to plan. So, I've had a lot of conversations not just. in Ukraine, but around Europe and nobody.

wants to leave the United States behind. It's not anybody's first choice or. second choice or third choice or fourth. choice, but we're making it impossible. for people to deal with us. Now, from. the Ukrainian side, they've got a war to win. They have. serious things to do. They can't afford. to rely on people who they can't trust. or who are unpredictable. So, I mean, I. wouldn't take this to mean that there. aren't going to be any. Ukrainian-American interactions. There. are Ukrainian-American interactions in. Ukraine, in the Middle East, and in.

other places, but I do take it to mean. that the Ukrainians are saying something. which pretty much everybody else thinks, which is that if you're going to be a. secure in a world in which the US is. choosing to decline. and thereby allowing Russia and China to. be more powerful than they have to be, you've got to find new partners to get. along with. All right. So, you recently wrote on. your Substack a great piece titled the. next coup attempt. Obviously, we're all. incredibly worried about this, and he is. hyper-fixated on the military and has.

proposed a massive budget uh for next. year. Um and we see that he is already. flexed his muscle with uh Homeland. Security and ICE. Mhm. Is his next. takeover within the military? And you. see Hegseth firing, not promoting. people. Obviously, this is very. worrisome. Yeah, I mean, I think the way to feel. about this is not to be worried as you. watch things unfold, but to recognize.

there's a standard set of moves that. somebody like Trump is going to make to. try to stay in power. And if we. recognize that, yeah, these things are. coming in some version, then we're not. surprised by them, and surprise is a is. the biggest excuse to do nothing, right? And so, we can't let them have the. element of surprise, which is why it's. important to talk about the kinds of. things that you're raising. So, number. one, Trump is a person who. has said over and over again that he. doesn't want to leave power. Um and. there's no sign that Mr. Trump cares. about anything at all besides staying in.

power. Zero evidence of that, lots of. evidence that's all that's all he cares. about. Number two, as you say, he's been. creating an effective effectively a. secret police in the form of ICE, and. then he and Hegseth talk all the time. about a Department of War, and the war. that they seem to have in mind is a war. against American citizens. Then you have. to add to that that there's an election. coming up which the president's party is. likely to lose I think by just historic. margins. And then we're also fighting a war.

abroad which creates the the possibility. for generating some kind of pretext. All of this is clear. The question is are we ready for it, right? So it's not a matter of like. worrying about whether Trump's going to. go for something. He's going to go for. something and the the real question is. can we name the possibilities ahead of. time and be ready for those. possibilities because if you can name. them and be ready for them, you can also. rule them out. None of these things. should work. The US military doesn't. have any interest in intervening. ICE is. incredibly unpopular and people in many.

states in the union already have good. methods of of checking ICE. People want. there to be free and fair and fair. elections in November. And if there's. some kind of terrorist stunt, that can. be called out in advance and turned. against the president. So I mean I don't. see him as somebody who's powerful. I. see him as somebody who's weak, who's. looking at a standard set of. authoritarian tricks. Fight a war. abroad, try to use your military at. home, fake some kind of terrorist thing, you know, create generate some.

artificial state of emergency. Yeah, he's going to do some combination of. those things, but there's no reason they. should work and they should be turned. against him. There's already been some. reporting, I think it was yesterday or. perhaps Sunday from the Wall Street. Journal, that in the Pentagon, when they. are making plans for the war in Iran, they are implicitly leaving him out. because he's so volatile and moody and. these are my words, not theirs, hysterical about the war. And so if we.

think about Trump as he campaigned on, we have to take out the enemy from. within. He campaigned on an anti, you. know, half of the population sentiment. And he has people in his cabinet that. echo these things like Stephen Miller, J.D. Vance, and others. How do you think, because the nature of. our elections are localized, you know, it goes from state down to city, down to. county, down to little precinct. >> Yeah. How much does that protect us.

from what he has planned? Because I. agree with you, he is going to try. absolutely everything. He's still. hyper-focused. on 2020 and trying to disprove that, which we all know was a free and fair. election. Yeah, I mean, his the the the the recent. rationale he's been giving is that he. should be allowed to stay in power. forever because they stole an election. from him once. And of course, no one. stole an election from him. He lost it. by by huge margins. And uh and and so,

that's just one more expression of his. basic view, which is regardless of the. votes, he should be staying in power. forever. I I think your point's a good one, that. whatever his plan is, it has to be. centralized. It has to go from. Washington, D.C. outwards. And um I I. also take your point. that the kinds of things that he would. want to do are not only difficult, but. wildly unpopular, right? ICE is wildly. unpopular. The idea of using the.

Department of Defense inside the United. States is wildly unpopular, including. inside the Department of Defense. But I. think these majorities, this strong. feeling, has to be expressed in a way. besides just like polling or what we. know, it has to be expressed in the form. of local organization, protests, generating an atmosphere where it's. absolutely clear in advance that these. kinds of things can't work. In other. words, all these protest actions that we. see are not just a matter of.

demonstrating opposition or articulating. a better vision of the future, they're. also a form of deterrence. If there's. mass mobilization potential across the. United States, as for example, the No. Kings protests show that there are, that. makes it much less plausible that. there'll be an attempt to do anything on. the scale the nation. And if there is. such an attempt, it makes it much less. likely that it will work. And I think he. even, you know, I say that Trump is. entering his deathbed confession era. with his advanced, you know, age and he.

just starts to kind of tattling on. himself and he has been saying, "Everybody Nobody understands it. I'm. talking to psychologists about it, but. everybody says that whoever isn't in. power, that party wins in the midterms. Nobody can explain it even though I'm so. popular and the country's, you know, absolute fire right now." So, somebody's. in his ear telling him, like, "This is. going to be a blue tsunami." And I think. something that has helped democracy. worldwide, as painful as it is for all. of us to sit through this right now, the. gaslighting, the abuse, watching our.

citizens get shot, senseless wars, the. lying, the corruption in the Oval Office. is horrible. But, it has shown on a global stage, particularly in Europe that was kind of. trending to this far right. There seems. to be a backlash. You see the prime. minister of Spain with absolute moral. clarity in Europe. You see what happened. in Hungary. And I think it's pretty. fascinating growing I grew up in a. deeply red state and a lot all of the. Republicans I know are very the founders.

and the Constitution national security. and we're the Republican Party. And then. you find out they're all getting. inspiration from a two-bit dictator. named Viktor Orbán in Hungary. And I. thought that's just really fascinating. and it's come to light that Orbán was. funneling. taxpayer money that the Hungarians paid. into CPAC. And then now he has taken a. massive humiliating loss and he was.

endorsed by JD Vance and Netanyahu. and Putin. And this is to me such a. great sign. Can you speak to this and. how important this case was for kind of. the epicenter of the MAGA movement and. now it's been dismantled? Yeah. Now, this is These are These are great points. that you're making and I'm just going to. emphasize them. The first is that the. American far right is not the American. far right. I mean, people who are in it might think.

it's American, but the organization, the. money, the ideas are largely Russian and. Hungarian ideas. And the people like. Trump and Vance, the president and vice. president of the United States, they. regard Orban and Putin as their. teachers. And this is why they cared so much about. Orban, the former Hungarian prime. minister or the outgoing Hungarian prime. minister. Orban was there before they. were. Orban was prime minister when. Vance was in high school in the. Cincinnati exurbs. Um, they can't Vance, as you say, went.

to Budapest and told Hungarians how God. wanted them to vote, which of course is. I think shameful on any number of levels. and, you know, metaphysically and. morally very troubling. But they did it. for a reason, which is that Budapest. under Orban. for the last decade or more has been the. main node, the central node in a network. which shares money, which shares ideas, um, and which. generates personal relationships. So, things that we think are American, not.

just Trump and Vance, um, who I don't. think, you know, in any political sense. are American, but but institutions like. the Heritage Foundation, which is. supposed to be a conservative American. think tank, it's funded by Hungary. CPAC, which is supposed to be a. conservative political action committee. in America, it's funded by Hungary. And. Hungary was a central node of something. where the money and a lot of the. inspiration came from Russia. These are individual facts and there are.

many others that point to the general. conclusion that the American far right. is cosmopolitan. It's international or. to use the word they don't like, it's. global, right? They They are taking. their stuff from other people. Our. oligarchs or the people carry water for. our oligarchs are much closer to the. oligarchs and the water carriers for. oligarchs in Moscow and in Budapest than. they are to their own people. Much much. closer and that's the basic structural. reality of all this and if you start.

from the premise that a Trump or a Vance. cares more about an Orbán or a Putin. than they do about Americans, all of a. sudden our foreign and domestic policy. will seem much clearer, right? Cuz. starting from the premise that they care. about America or Americans gets you. nowhere. That That premise is wrong. So. this is significant because it reveals. the things you're talking about. It. helps us to pull the veil aside and see. what's really going on, but also it's. significant because for a Trump or for a. Vance. Orbán was a sign that their kind of.

politics was going to go on forever. That all you had to do was wrap yourself. in the flag, steal money from people and. you could just do this indefinitely, right? But Orbán had done it for a long. time and then he got absolutely cooked. in the elections. Constitutional. majority on the other side, absolute. landslide against him um and in. conditions where the elections were. rigged in his favor, right? And so the. Hungarians managed to climb up that. hill. They managed to win that election.

and that shows a Trump and a Vance who. think that like okay, there's no. alternative. This is just the way. history's going to be. Right-wing. oligarchs like us are going to be in. power forever. It's a body blow to them. because it turns out that's not true. That you can lose elections and you can. lose them big. So that's the importance, but then if you're thinking about being. the opposition in the United States, there are lessons here. Number one, the. Hungarians didn't just wait for election. day, right? They weren't just like. people say things like let's just get. through to November. No, no, no, no, no. They were organized on a national scale. and on a local scale for 2 years. The.

second thing, which is incredibly. important to see, is that in Hungary. the person who won the elections um. uh Peter Magyar, he was able to make. this connection, which I think people. here really have to make, between uh. affordability, which is a word I hate, and democracy. Um you you have to be. able to say, "The reason why your. everyday life, your standard of living, the reason why this is going wrong is. this. That the when when people take a. democracy and they turn it into an. autocracy, when they centralize power,

when they privilege privilege their. wealthy buddies, when they're corrupt, that that thing, when democracy gets. weaker, um that is what makes you poor. That is what makes the economy fail. That's what takes social mobility away. from your kids. And that that is true, right? Like that is a message which is. useful, but it's also true. And the. Hungarian opposition was able to bring. that together. They were able to say, "These scandals around the president and. his friend, all this wealth accum-. friends, all this accumulation, all of. this all of this shuffling away of money. that should have been yours into other.

goals, all of that is what has made the. economy tank and has made your lives. worse." And that message was correct, and they won on that message. I think. that's a lesson for Americans. And I. also found it fascinating that it was so. rigged against him that he was unable to. appear on television. Oh, yeah. And so. so if you'll um provide some information. to my listeners about how they Victor. Orban is so penetrated into media, all.

forms of business, and government, the. same way that Magyar is doing that here, judges, the judiciary, the media. And. since he won, the new prime minister, the incoming prime minister, he has. appeared on what is state or Orban owned. controlled media, and said he was going. to shut it down. I believe that that's. what he said, and I thought that was. really um victorious Mhm. to. see the Hungarians campaign against a. rigged system where LGBTQ+ and.

immigrants were scapegoated much like. they're being scapegoated here, and. fight for democracy, and then this whole. oligarchy oligarchical system where they. control everything that we see. I. thought that was just really fascinating. that he then finally appeared on state. television. Will you tell us about that? Yeah, I mean there's a really basic. important point here, which is that when. you're trying to build up a system, you. try to control the media. And this is. what the Trump people are doing. They.

They have They have their own buddies in. charge of ever more media organizations. The media organizations are themselves. consolidating. Local news is dying, right? This is exactly the formula that. was pioneered in Russia and in Hungary. And by the way, this is no accident. Orban is their daddy. Like they learned. from Hungary. This They're copying from. Hungary. They didn't think of this stuff. themselves. Project 2025 is basically. like it's what Hungary did with a few. footnotes, right? This is all copied. from a Hungarian model. So, this is the.

path towards it. And so, when you see, oh, um. Trump's wealthy friends are going to. take over national networks. When you. This news is like it's not just a piece, like it is the puzzle. That is how you. try to consolidate power. But, as you. say, even as that is happening, if you. pay attention to independent media as. Hungarians did, if you let independent. media inform you about the oligarchical. scandals as Hungarians did, and if you. turn the independent media information.

into popular understanding about how you. have to have a big win in election to. transform the system, you can actually. get over this. So, your point is really. good. They They It was a rigged. election. It They were This is what. political scientists call competitive. authoritarianism. And that's where we. are, too. It's not as difficult as it. was in Hungary, but that's where we are, too. The election in November will not. be entirely fair. People will have to go. uphill, but you can get up that hill. And then the other part of what you say, which is so important, is that when you. get up that hill, and you're on that.

hill, and you've won, you have to say. that you've won. And you got to do. things consistent with winning, like. Magyar is doing, like saying, "Okay, now. I'm going to completely clear out the. state media. It's not going to be like. it was before. I want everybody to. resign. And by the way, if you committed. crimes, you're going to be prosecuted. Oh, and incidentally, I don't want any. more foreign influence in my country. I. don't want the Russian influence. I. don't want any of this American. influence. We're going to run things our. own way." So, that is that's also a. message that I think maybe some. Democratic politicians need to hear, that.

this election in November, it isn't just. some normal election where you talk. about affordability, you get a majority, and you keep on going. You have to tell. people that there're going to be. consequences to what they're doing now, right? In the next 6 months, people are. going to continue to commit crimes, and. the worst crime would be trying to rig. the November election. We have to try to. deter as much of that as possible, and. one way to do that is to say, "Look, you. know, we're going to win this thing big, and when we do, if you committed crimes. along the way, there're going to be. investigations of that.". Okay, I think you have the key to.

uh a lot of Democratic messaging in. {quote} {unquote} middle America, where. I my experience and expertise reigns. And it is this notion where people are. America first. And they feel like vote when they vote. Republican, that that is a patriotic. thing to do. There is this overwhelming. feeling in red states that the. Republican Party is more patriotic. And really the facts on the ground is.

that the Republican Party has been taken. over by these far-right. Russians, Hungarians, et cetera, and. oligarchs. And if you look into the that. was fascinating in one of the Epstein. file drops that Peter Thiel was. messaging with. Jeffrey Epstein about Brexit and how. happy they were about that and what a. huge win that was. And I think it's just an incredible. message for Democrats. They're going to.

have to run on anti-corruption which the. incoming Prime Minister did. They're. going to run on affordability which. we've seen success in politicians doing. that in the United States. And they're going to have to. to run on some component of America our. identity because Trump has really. blurred. what that is where it's the enemy from. within and I think that your. facts on the ground about Heritage. Foundation and the Republican Party. looking to.

these anti-democratic. dictators for inspiration is a damning. indictment on the MAGA movement. >> Mhm. Yeah, I hope you're right. I mean it's. been true for a long time. I wrote a. book called Road to Unfreedom which was. a history of the 2010s where this was. the major theme that the the the the. authoritarianism that was emerging in. the United States was largely a recycled. version of techniques that had first. been used in Russia and then in Hungary. and elsewhere in Europe. And yeah, I.

mean I'm I'm not a politician so other. people will find better ways to say this. but there is literally nothing American. about Trump. It's all copied. It's all. copied and some of it is borrowed, right? Like it it's borrowed in the. sense of borrowed money. We we've you. know, Project 2025 was built up by an. association of think tanks some of which. were funded by other countries, right? So the program that's being used to. dismantle the American government was. funded by other. countries. Um and you're right that has.

to somehow break through. And this you're and you know, I'm from. Ohio. You're totally right of course. There's a There's a There's a reflex. which is like that R on the ballot is. the thing which, you know, that's the. more American thing to do. Not even have. to look at the candidate, just like look. for the R's on the ballot. And that just hasn't been true No. for a. really long time. And this. administration in particular, it's. governing on behalf of proximate. oligarchs, and some of them are American.

and some of them are not American, and. some of them are people who are American. citizens, but whose interests are. largely abroad. Um and this is just the. way that it is. And that has to somehow. get through. I I I agree with you. Like. and the. And I think it's an illusion that can be. broken. You know, Trump is a guy who's. He literally wraps himself in the flag, which I mean, I find like that's not how. the Boy Scouts taught me you were. supposed to treat the flag. And he's. somebody who now like associates himself.

with Jesus. Like he's pushing these. things. to a degree where I hope it becomes. impossible, right? Where it somehow at. some point it breaks. Um but but yeah, you're you're right. I. mean, we're be the the Republican Party. has reached this kind of extreme where. it talks about the country all the time, but the policies, whether foreign or. domestic, just don't have anything to do. with the interests of Americans. I completely agree. Okay, when I follow. you, I follow you on social media, which.

you should too, listener. You always. have it in in the facts on the ground. can be devastating, like everything that. we're talking about. But as in Hungary, it's not hopeless. And what I really like about following. you is you give us the unvarnished. facts, what's happening here, but also. the power of democracy, the power of. cooperation in organizing protests. So. will you speak with, you know, your vast. knowledge on this of how when we feel so.

hopeless and we feel like we might want. to not pay attention to the news or. descend into denialism. How right now heading into this these. midterms, how important it is for my. listeners and other listeners and. Americans at large to stay engaged and. stay focused and that this is not FUBAR. completely that we can come back and. fight this. Yeah, no, that's a great. question cuz I think. I mean Americans have different. historical experiences with our country. and they come from different places but.

there are a lot of folks who. who tend to think okay, it was going all. right and now it's not going all right. So what am I going to do? It's all it's. all on me and that's where the mistake. begins. Like it's not. it's not all on you. So the question. like what can I do? The answer is you. can do a little bit, right? Because if. you think it's all on you, then of. course it seems hopeless but it's not. You just have to do your little bit and. you have to do your little bit with. other people. Because if you do it with. other people, then you don't feel. hopeless because suddenly you're around. people who are maybe better organized.

than you or more courageous. And but. just being with them makes you feel. better. And that's part of the key to. protesting. That's one of the reasons. why you do protest is that you realize. oh, there are dozens, hundreds, thousands, tens of thousands, hundreds. of thousands. Oh look, millions of. people who feel similarly and that. breaks that breaks that dark spell of. feeling alone and that's really. important because. all of this, the Orban version, the. Putin version, the Trump version, it all depends ultimately on breaking. democracy by breaking the people, right?

Democracy is the people ruling but if. we're all alone, if we all feel. lonely, not just solitary but lonely. If. we all feel like no one really. understands us, what can we do? Then. we're not the people anymore. And if. we're not the people anymore, then yeah, we can be manipulated by media, by. social media, by charismatic. politicians. Our. our worst sides are there to be. manipulated. But when we're together, when we organize, when we protest, then. our better side start to emerge. Then we.

seem more like a people. Then we can. only defend ourselves, we can start to. think about what a better future would. look like. So what you're talking about. is really, really important. Whether it. is. making sure you vote yourself, registering people to vote, creating. conditions where it's easier for other. people to vote, whether it's local. organizing in a way which is not even. directly political, but just keeps you. involved and engaged. Um whether it's. going to protests, all of these things. help to create a sense that you're not. alone, that your actions actually make a. difference, and they do, right? And this.

is I know it's funny that everybody's. talking about Hungary so much. We East. European specialists are, you know, having our little moment here, but. Hungary really does show that you can. not only win, you can win when the deck. is stacked against you, and you can win. big when the deck is stacked against. you. And that's, you know, that's a but. you can it doesn't happen on its own. It. happens when people realize that it's. possible and do the things that are. necessary along the way. But we can do. that. And just final question. Um. I think that there's going to be a lot.

of Americans that are scared to go to. the polls because um Trump and Stephen. Miller via um ICE uh have shown that. they will flex their muscle and they are. now talking about using ICE officers at. the polling places. Historically, has. Putin ever done anything like this, or. ban? What can you speak to any fears. people have about, you know, voter. intimidation, voter suppression acts by.

an armed government agency at the polls? I mean, you're from the South, right? We. don't have to look. to other countries for this. There's. just a little a long tradition in the. United States of. police officers at the polls looking at. African Americans and saying, you know, "What are you What are you doing here, son?" Or yeah, but or, you know, yeah, or the KKK and voter intimidation. I. mean, don't have to look abroad for this. kind of thing. It's unfortunately. an American tradition, and it's an. American tradition which can be. which can be, um, overcome. I mean, it's.

go to the polls with with other people. Recognize that ICE has no legal. authority to actually do anything to you. at the polls. If you're an American. citizen, they can't do a single thing to. you. Most of this is bluff. There will. be some There will be some unpleasant. stuff which can be overcome. It's It's It's sad to say, but people. have had to overcome this kind of thing. before, right? There are many, many. Americans, especially African Americans, who have had to deal with this kind of. thing for a long time, right? And the.

rest of us can deal with it, too. And if. we feel scared, then let's go to the. polls with other people. Let's make it a. point to make a plan with other people. to go to the polls. But, I do take your. international point. We have to. recognize that that that what the recent. international precedents are. Hungary in Hungary in '26, Poland in. '23. In all of these cases, there was a. certain amount of intimidation. And in. all of these cases, people were. nevertheless able to come together and. get an overwhelming result and change.

the status quo. So, it's like the things. we were talking about the at the. beginning, like the more like the the. possibility of some fake terrorism thing. or trying to use the war to distract. attention or maybe All these things are. predictable. They're like they're speed. bumps on the road. We know they're. there, and we can get over them. I would. say that what I take from this is MAGA. is laser-focused on trying to dismantle. democracy, but they're incompetent and. copycats. So, we know what their. playbook is. We, the people, need to be.

laser-focused on preserving democracy. and fighting for our rights to move. forward and win because, you know, it is pretty embarrassing for. them that they're not even original in. their dismantling of democracy. Timothy, I want to thank you so much for coming. on and um I was at dinner with our. mutual friend Ruth Ben-Ghiat the other. night and I told her I think I can speak. for my audience and for myself. in the face of the administration like.

uh belittling educational institutions. and universities and experts, there is a. thirst for knowledge in what you're. doing. So, thank you for making yourself. available to the American public so all. of us can get free education. and learn more to fight for democracy. Truly, it's a gift that you and Ruth and. Jason Stanley are giving all of us that. we can educate ourselves every day from. these, you know, scholars in the world. So, thank you so much for everything. you're doing. It helps so much and.

everybody has such a thirst for this. type of knowledge right now. All right. Well, thanks thanks for your great. preparation. Thanks for making it so. easy. Really enjoyed talking.