Roger Stone Paid $50K/Month to Lobby for Myanmar Junta

Is this corrupt influence-peddling or a hardheaded strategic move to counter China and Russia?
Roger Stone Paid $50K/Month to Lobby for Myanmar Junta
Above: Roger Stone speaks during Turning Point's annual AmericaFest conference in Phoenix on Dec. 21, 2025. Image credit: Olivier Touron/AFP/Getty Images

The Spin


Establishment-critical narrative

Stone taking $50,000 a month from Myanmar's military junta — a regime the U.N. has found responsible for crimes against humanity — is exactly the kind of corrupt "pay to play" influence-peddling that poisons Washington. Stone has spent decades lobbying for foreign despots, and this is just the latest chapter. A convicted felon selling access to the Trump administration on behalf of mass murderers is a moral and political disgrace.

Pro-establishment narrative

Sanctions and moral grandstanding have failed Myanmar for decades, handing China and Russia the strategic influence America abandoned. Engaging diplomatically with Myanmar isn't an endorsement of its government — it's a hardheaded move to secure critical minerals, stabilize a key region and keep adversaries from filling the vacuum. Walking away at this moment would be a strategic blunder that serves no American interest.


Metaculus Prediction


© 2026 Improve the News Foundation. All rights reserved.Version 7.6.4

© 2026 Improve the News Foundation.

All rights reserved.

Version 7.6.4