A former New York Times columnist thinks the United States needs to go through a purging to get rid of the MAGA movement.
Paul Krugman, the former NYT columnist and Nobel Prize-winning economist, posted a new video to his YouTube channel on Sunday where he railed against Donald Trump and his larger Make America Great Again movement. He concluded that Trump not only needs to be defanged, but that the country needs a “de-MAGAfication” much like Germany did with the Nazis.
“We need to, obviously, we need to defang Trump as much as possible and make sure that neither he nor anybody who follows in his footsteps has power after the next two elections,” Krugman said. “But beyond that, we really need to do a thorough purging of the United States. We need a de-MAGAfication, and that is, you know, I am not going over the top by using a word that is very similar to the de-nazification that we pursued successfully after World War II in Germany.”
He added: “It’s not just the MAGA ideology, but the whole structure of hugely unequal power, hugely unequal wealth that made this horrific moment possible. It’s not going to be easy, and maybe it’s not going to be doable, but we have to try because this is an absolute – this is a nightmare.”
Krugman and Trump have crossed swords in the past. Back in August 2025, the president fired off an attack on Krugman after the economist wrote a story about Trump’s tariffs criticizing them and calling “most” of them “clearly illegal.” Trump did not like the attack.
“Paul Krugman of the New York Times has been predicting Doom and Gloom ever since my great election success in 2016,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “In other words, he has been wrong for YEARS, as ALL markets have been hitting new HIGHS, and are now higher than ever before. People stayed out of the “BEST MARKET IN HISTOY” [sic] because of this Trump Deranged BUM. Sue them!”
That has not stopped Krugman from speaking his mind. He ended his YouTube video warning that the MAGA threat could extend beyond Trump unless they act on it soon.
“If we don’t do something beyond just getting rid of Trump, it’s going to happen again,” Krugman concluded.
