What do Kara Swisher and Scott Galloway think of Trump pausing Russia sanctions?

Scott Galloway called the move part of what he sees as the administration's most damaging decision, a deliberate abandonment of Ukraine. He argued a planned Trump, Putin and Xi Jinping summit without Volodymyr Zelensky means Ukraine is being negotiated over, and that the US is walking away from a winning ally. Kara Swisher said it feeds the idea that Trump is Putin's puppet and suggested the Trump family may hope to profit from rebuilding Ukraine.

• Trump's order put on hold sanctions from a bipartisan law the Senate passed 86 to 11.
• Republicans including Ted Cruz, Thom Tillis and Nikki Haley publicly criticised the waiver.
• Galloway said Europe has stepped up and that backing Ukraine also warns China against moving on Taiwan.

▸In their words

“If Zelensky isn't at the table, it means that Ukraine's on the menu.” Scott Galloway · at 26:32 — open in the transcript →

Source: our own transcription of the episode. The full conversation is on Pivot (2026-10-20). Read the whole episode summary →

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