Source: The Nation
by Dave Zirin
“In summer 2016, Vanity Fair published the article, ‘How Tony Soprano Paved the Way for Donald Trump,’ which argues that the protagonist of the lauded television series The Sopranos explains the allure of Donald Trump. The article is written with a blasé air as if to say, ‘Trump may be a charming sociopath like Tony Soprano, but it’s not like he’s ever going to be president.’ It’s time to update the parallel for 2025. … the Tony Soprano presidency has reached an inevitable plot point: the ‘bust out.’ A bust out is when the mob seizes a business from an indebted civilian, bleeds its resources, bankrupts it, and then maybe burns it down for the insurance money. This entire country is now David Scatino’s sporting goods store in Paramus, New Jersey — a once-thriving place being consumed from the inside for the benefit of a corrupt few.” (10/30/25)
https://www.thenation.com/article/politics/donald-trump-tony-soprano-bust-out