MS NOW host Rachel Maddow said President Donald Trump wants the United States to be “like Russia” and is treating the White House as his personal palace, in comments Saturday during an appearance on the network’s “State of Play,” according to Breitbart.
Maddow, one of the network’s most prominent hosts and a longtime critic of Trump, framed her argument around what she described as the president’s approach to the office itself, suggesting he views the White House less as a public trust than as private property.
‘Not His Say So, It’s Our Say So’
Drawing a comparison to the norms of a rental agreement, Maddow said that no ordinary tenant would attach gilded fixtures to the walls of a residence or bring in heavy machinery to demolish a section of the building, but argued that Trump is behaving as though the White House belongs to him.
“He wants it to be as if this is his palace rather than the White House,” she said, per Breitbart’s account of the remarks.
She then broadened the critique to an accusation about the kind of country Trump wants, asserting he hopes to govern as a king — and countering that the decision rests not with him but with the American public.
“He wants this to be a country like Russia. He wants this to be a country in which he is a king. But it’s not his say so. It’s our say so,” Maddow said. “And the No Kings thing is not just a slogan, it’s a truth.”
The reference to “No Kings” invokes the language that has become a rallying phrase for protests against Trump’s governance, a slogan that opponents have used to argue the president is overstepping the bounds of his office.
Maddow Points to ‘Consistent’ Character — and Public Pushback
Maddow said she sees a through-line in Trump’s conduct dating back to the start of his political career, though she also expressed confidence in public resistance to it.
“I just feel like his character and his inclinations have been utterly consistent from the very beginning,” she said. “But I also think the American public’s reflexes against these things are pretty strong.”
Maddow went on to describe a set of impulses she attributes to the president — a desire to see political opponents threatened, the press maligned as an enemy, and reporters ejected — and argued that such attitudes are foreign to the country’s political traditions.
“So much as he’s kind of hoping for people to be baying for blood and, yeah, the enemy of the people and yeah, kick those reporters out,” she said, “I think outside what is a very vanishingly narrow slice of his base, the American people know instinctually and by habit or generations of sacrifice and centuries of living in it, that this is not an American way to conduct yourself in leadership.”
The remarks are the latest in a long-running back-and-forth between Trump and the media figures who cover him. Trump has frequently criticized individual hosts and news organizations by name, while his critics in the press have accused him of attempting to delegitimize independent journalism. The “enemy of the people” phrasing Maddow referenced has been a recurring feature of Trump’s public commentary about the news media.
The Broader Context of Criticism
Assessments of whether Trump has acted outside the norms of the presidency have been a central theme of opposition messaging throughout his time in politics, with critics contending that his public statements and personal conduct depart from accepted standards of leadership. Maddow’s specific claim — that Trump wants the country to resemble Russia — is an opinion about his motivations rather than a factual assertion about policy, and it is presented as such.
Supporters of the president have consistently rejected characterizations of him as authoritarian, arguing that his rhetoric is often misread and that his administration’s actions are within the legal authority of the office.
It is worth noting that the remarks were delivered during a weekend program on a network whose hosts frequently comment on the president, and they reflect that setting: an extended on-air commentary rather than a reported news development. Viewers and readers will weigh the statement alongside the president’s own words and record.
Source: www.breitbart.com — https://www.breitbart.com/clips/2026/09/20/maddow-trump-wants-this-to-be-a-country-like-russia/