Bulwark Takes - Bruce Springsteen Called Trump “Treasonous.” Trump Proved Him Right.

Episode Date: May 21, 2025

Will Saletan breaks down Bruce Springsteen criticism of Donald Trump at a concert, the hypocrisy of Trump’s response, and how Trump himself repeatedly trashed America and its leaders while abroad.

Hey, it's Will Salatin from The Bulwark. Guess who Donald Trump is fighting with now? Bruce Springsteen. Last week, Springsteen did a concert in England. And here's what he said about Trump. In my home, the America I love, the America I've written about, that has been a beacon of hope and liberty for 250 years is currently in the hands

of a corrupt, incompetent, and treasonous administration. Trump did not appreciate that. So on Friday, he posted this message. He suggested that Springsteen had committed treason by going, quote, to a foreign country to speak badly about the president of the United States. Trump said Springsteen should, quote, keep his mouth shut until he gets back into the country. That accusation from Trump is one of the most hypocritical lectures you will ever see. Because at that moment, Trump was flying back from a foreign country in which he himself had just trashed America and everything it stands for. Let me show you what he did.

This trip started out in Saudi Arabia. Trump stood up in front of an audience of Saudi ministers and business leaders. And here's what he said. We won a tremendous victory in November. We won all seven swing states, the popular vote by millions and millions of votes. The electoral college, we won by 312 to 226. Remember, this is a Saudi business audience. Trump is supposed to be talking about things they care about.

Instead, he's bragging about how many votes he got last year in our electoral college. In fact, several times during this trip, Trump made his audiences listen to a detailed account of exactly how many counties he won. Watch how bored they are. Very importantly, we won counties throughout the United States, 2,660 to 451. That's why when you look at a map, they're all red. So the whole country is red. Red stands for Republican. Red stands for Republican.

He's literally explaining the color of an American election night TV map to a foreign audience that could not care less. But Trump cares a lot because he wants people in other countries to know how badly he beat all the idiots in the United States. Check out what he said a couple of days later in Qatar, another Persian Gulf monarchy, about Joe Biden. We had a man that couldn't even stand up. It was so terrible, so terrible what he's done to our country. Biden was so bad, worst president we've ever had by far. There was never a president like this. This man was grossly incompetent. This is Trump doing exactly what he accused Springsteen of doing, criticizing an American president on foreign soil.

And Trump did the same thing at another speech in Saudi Arabia. Again, watch how bored the audience is as Trump goes on and on about Biden. Biden didn't do anything because he never did anything about anything. He had no capability, had no ability. And it wasn't just Biden. Trump also insulted other American presidents. Here he is in Qatar complaining about George W. Bush. We had a president that blew up half the Middle East and then he left.

That was it, you know. It was like spent $10 trillion on blowing up the Middle East and then he left. Just said, let's leave now. We're left with nothing. When Trump says we left Iraq with nothing, you know what he's talking about, right? He's talking about oil. Remember what he said last fall about taking the oil? It used to be you go to war to the victor, belong the spoils, right?

In other words, if you beat a country, you own that country, you take the oil. We go to war, we bomb the crap out of it, then we leave. You know, it's almost like, what are we doing? What's going on? We bombed the whole Middle East and then we left. What did we get? We got nothing. That's what really pisses Trump off about Iraq. It's not the people we left. What did we get? We got nothing. That's what really pisses Trump off about Iraq.

It's not the people we killed. It's that we spent all that money and we didn't take their oil. In fact, Trump says the same thing about Ukraine, that we've spent a lot of money there. And the only way it can make sense to him is if we make a profit by taking Ukraine's minerals. Here's how he explained it three weeks ago. Biden handed them $350 billion in between cash and military equipment. 350, we got nothing. And I felt very foolish being the head of a country where Europe gets their money back and it's a much smaller amount, and we get nothing.

So I went to them and said, look, we got to get rare earth. They have great rare earth, meaning certain minerals, materials. They have things that a lot of places don't have. It's a big asset that they have. And we made a deal today where we get, you know, much more in theory than the $350 billion. This is how Trump thinks about everything. He doesn't care about democracy or human rights or who invaded who.

All he cares about is money. Check out what he said on the last day of his trip in the United Arab Emirates. He's talking here about promises from Arab leaders to invest money in the United States. Think of it. This trip, I made 12 times the money that we're talking about. I made that money in a few days. I've always been good at the money. It's not about the money, it's about pressuring Putin, right? I know, but I've always been good with money. I make money. I made in four days, I made 12 times what we spent in Ukraine. So if America is just about money, what are we giving

up? What do we no longer stand for? The answer is principles, values, morals. We no longer care who the good guys are and who the bad guys are. Here's Trump speaking in front of Mohammed bin Salman, the Saudi crown prince's our job to look into the souls of foreign leaders and use U.S. policy to dispense justice for their sins. That's a super clear message. You can kill whoever you want and Trump won't just defend you. He will adore you. Watch what he said in that speech directly to the crown prince. I do. I like him a lot.

I like him too much. That's why we give so much, you know, too much. I like you too much. Great guy. Fellas, please get a room. Now, to be fair, Trump did speak out against one country during this trip, but it wasn't any of the monarchies he visited. It was the United States.

Trump told his audiences in these authoritarian countries that the American political system was fraudulent and corrupt. Here's what he said in Saudi Arabia about the 2020 U.S. presidential election. I believe we would have had it filled out had the election been called fairly, which it wasn't. It was a rigged election. And here's what Trump said in Qatar. We had a really successful first term. Then the election was rigged. Trump had nothing bad to say about the kings and princes and sheikhs who rule these countries by birth, not by the will of the people.

The only country he accused of betraying democracy was our country. And then here's what he said in the United Arab Emirates about American courts who dare to defy Trump's unconstitutional deportation policies. We will soon have a very safe country. We're getting people out. We need help from the courts. The courts are trying to think that they're taking privilege that they shouldn't have. Trump wants us to be more like the countries he visited. He wants to rule our country like a king. But that's not the most disgusting thing, he said on this trip. The most disgusting thing was this visit to an American military base in Qatar.

In this clip, you'll see him surrounded by American troops, and he doesn't thank them for serving our country. He thanks them for voting for him. Watch. Really, honestly, we had three unbelievable campaigns, and it's been an honor. And there's nobody been stronger than the military in terms of backing us, nobody. So I just want to thank you all very much. Great honor. Thank there's nobody been stronger than the military in terms of backing us. Nobody. So I just

want to thank you all very much. Great honor. Thank you very much. Remember, four years ago, Trump literally attempted a coup. And here he is telling American troops that their loyalty is to him. And he also told them that his political opponents in the United States are evil. The damage that that administration did to this country is legendary, allowing 21 million people through an open border where anybody could walk into the United States of America is something that will never be forgiven. Grossly incompetent and evil, bad people too, bad people. And what did those evil Americans do? According to Trump, they stole an election.

He told the troops that he actually won three elections, including the one that he says was rigged against him. Because as you know, we won three elections, okay? And some people want us to do a fourth. I don't know. We'll have to think about that. You saw the new hat. The hottest hat is it says,

Trump 2028. We're driving the left crazy when you see that. Donald Trump, who sent a mob to the Capitol to stay in power after he lost an election, is now telling American troops to join him in taunting his fellow Americans and threatening to stay in power for years and years and years, just like those kings and princes in the Persian Gulf. And when Trump came back from that trip, he did what those foreign autocrats do. He called for an investigation of his domestic opponents, not just Kamala Harris,

but the musicians who supported her in last year's election. On Monday, Trump posted this message demanding a, quote, major investigation of Springsteen on the completely false grounds that playing music at a Harris campaign rally was, quote, a major and illegal campaign contribution. And then today, Trump posted this fake video of him pretending to knock down Springsteen with a golf ball. Look, it's real clear what's going on here. Trump went to the Persian Gulf, sucked up to the autocrats for money, trashed America, renounced American values, came home, and now he's trying to gut our country and turn it into a monarchy just like those other countries. He's trying to destroy everything we stand for. And you know who gets it? Springsteen.

Here's what the boss, the real boss, said in that concert last week about Trump and the thugs who work for him. They have no concern or idea of what it means to be deeply American. You got that right. See you next time.