Trump, Putin, and Genghis Khan: A Conversation With Fiona Hill

The Foreign Affairs Interview · May 7, 2026 · 1h 7m

Fiona Hill has spent her career trying to understand—and, in one case, advise— leaders with grandiose ambitions, high risk tolerance, and an unshakeable sense of themselves as world-historic figures. She has been a close observer of Vladimir Putin for decades, as a scholar and a member of the U.S. intelligence community. In Donald Trump’s first term, she was a senior member of the National Security Council before becoming a household name during Trump’s first impeachment, for testifying about his relationship with Putin and with Volodymyr Zelensky.

Now, Hill is watching as Trump and Putin, as…