Bill Clinton takes veiled public shot at Trump's actions: 'Hard to make up'

Former President Bill Clinton, in remarks in New York opening the Clinton Global Initiative's 2026 summit on Tuesday, slammed the Trump administration's recent actions such as pushing for a triumphal arch as self-serving, while also offering some critique of the left wing of his own Democratic Party.

Clinton did not mention President Donald Trump by name, but his remarks were among the strongest critiques he has given in recent months of Trump's presidency.

"I suppose I could take my entire allotted time to discuss the self-evident wisdom of building an Arc de Triomphe in Washington to hold all our drones. Some of this stuff -- it's hard to make up," Clinton said towards the beginning of his remarks, referencing Trump's recent announcement that his planned triumphal arch would also serve as as a sniper and drone facility.

Discussing widening inequality and political division over the past decade, and saying he disagrees with the belief in "the politics of brute force," Clinton said, "I believe that on the 250th anniversary of this country, we can't have a politics driven by zero-sum thinking: in order for me to win, you have to lose."

He added, "Nevertheless, I do understand why so many leaders around the world have chosen this zero-sum approach. Think how richly they have been rewarded for it, in every sense of the word, and this payoff has been more apparent in the United States than any other country.

"Some days I can hardly believe what is happening in this country that I love so much," he said. "The people in charge have created one set of rules for themselves and another set for everyone else. They've weaponized government to settle personal scores, prosecute enemies, stamp out free speech. They've even made the federal government a new profit center for themselves and their allies. That violates the spirit and letter of the emolument clause of our Constitution."

Clinton also threw a critique of his own party's left wing, as democratic socialists and progressives have seen much success in primaries over the past year.

"So here we are at the 250th anniversary of our country, where there seems to be, at the right and left, dueling visions of socialism. Should it be socialism for everybody, or should it just be for the wealthy and well-connected?" he said.

Later, while discussing the Clinton Global Initiative's work and the broader context of America's 250th anniversary, Clinton brought up two events that made him feel more hopeful about the future: the outcry in Minnesota after federal agents shot two U.S. citizens during immigration enforcement, as well as the Supreme Court's denial, for now, of the Trump administration's proposed procedures that would have layered new restrictions on voting by mail.

Later, he brought up President Donald Trump's repeated attempts to add his name to the Kennedy Center, as well as the debate around it, as trivial compared to what really matters.

"I personally think that the way we've argued about what's going on at Kennedy Center and all that kind of stuff, I think we've been majoring in the minors. And I think -- do you really think a hundred years from now, anybody's going to care very much about who's names on what building? Isn't it more important what happens in the building and what happens outside the building?" he said.