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A weekly take on US politics and policies and how they affect the world.
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US President Donald Trump is falling into the same trap as his predecessor, Joe Biden, when he tries to convince Americans that they’re better off financially, argues YouTuber Brian Tyler Cohen. Cohen and Matt Duss, executive vice president at the Center for International Policy, join host Steve Clemons to dissect Trump’s State of the Union address and vision for the United States. One of Trump’s strengths is the weakness of his main opposition, the Democratic Party, argues Cohen, as the party acts “in a way that's completely untethered to how the vast majority of Democrats actually feel”.
At its peak, the BRICS coalition of economies – Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa – was seen as a serious attempt to move away from the United States dollar and the domination of Western economic institutions like the World Bank, Group of Seven (G7), and International Monetary Fund (IMF). But BRICS members have different political agendas, and new forces are at play, argues economist Jim O’Neill, a member of Britain's House of Lords. O’Neill, who coined the term "BRIC" 25 years ago, tells host Steve Clemons that the US's economic policies may be the driver of its own decline, coupled with the economic rise of China and India. Subscribe to our channel: http://bit.ly/AJSubscribe Follow us on X : https://twitter.com/AJEnglish Find us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/aljazeera Check our website: http://www.aljazeera.com/ Check out our Instagram page: https://www.instagram.com/aljazeeraenglish/ Download AJE Mobile App: https://aje.news/AJEMobile
The Republican Party currently controls the White House and both houses of Congress in the United States. But will that change in November? Among Republican voters, US President Donald Trump is still wildly popular, despite criticism over uneven economic conditions and brutal anti-immigration tactics. And within the Democratic Party establishment, there is no sign of a desire to shift towards a more progressive, less centrist platform – even as left-leaning Democratic Socialists make gains. Host Steve Clemons asks Republican strategist John Feehery and Amy Dacey, former chair of the Democratic National Committee, about Trumpism and the election prospects of both parties.
If the Trump administration adopts Israel’s “red lines” in the negotiations with Iran, the talks are doomed, argues Trita Parsi, executive vice president of the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft. Parsi tells host Steve Clemons that Iran is willing to reach a deal on its nuclear programme, as it did in 2015 with then-President Barack Obama. But a lot depends on “whether the US is willing to push back against Israel or not”. Israeli officials were “very upset” that the United States has so far chosen diplomacy over war, and demand that the US add new issues – especially Iran’s ballistic missiles – to the agenda. Subscribe to our channel: http://bit.ly/AJSubscribe Follow us on X : https://twitter.com/AJEnglish Find us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/aljazeera Check our website: http://www.aljazeera.com/ Check out our Instagram page: https://www.instagram.com/aljazeeraenglish/ Download AJE Mobile App: https://aje.news/AJEMobile
United States plans for Gaza amount to a “theme park of dispossession” for Palestinians, argues Drop Site News Middle East Editor Sharif Abdel Kouddous. Abdel Kouddous tells host Steve Clemons the draconian measures planned for the two million shell-shocked Palestinians in Gaza are an Orwellian labyrinth of biometrics, bureaucracy and “a lab for government surveillance” – all meant to drive them out. Noting that Israel hasn’t “gone past phase one” of any ceasefire agreement with an Arab country, Abdel Kouddous warns that Israel is establishing facts on the ground in Gaza – including 50 military bases – “which eventually become permanent”.
United States President Donald Trump realises “the rules-based international order” never existed, and he’s “willing to turn his back on that”, former Trump administration official Christian Whiton argues. Whiton tells Steve Clemons that US foreign policy remained fairly consistent over the past 80 years while Trump is happy to upset “the globalists and the establishment unity party in Washington - Republican and Democrat - and all the generals”. In Europe, the US would like to see more populist, anti-immigration governments, Whiton said, adding that Western societies should “cast aside” the idea that they are “inherently racist, a patriarchy [with] … a racist, imperialist history”.
1China’s domination of minerals - especially the copper needed for electrification, data centres, robots, cellphones and defence technology - is pushing the United States to ramp up its control of oil and minerals worldwide, argues Daniel Yergin, one of the world’s top experts in the economics of oil. In this episode, Yergin explains how Venezuela, Greenland, Iran, Russia and other issues are connected to the business of oil and the competition to control Earth's minerals. And while US President Donald Trump’s motives in Venezuela and Greenland are unclear, Yergin says one thing is certain: The US is desperate to achieve supply chain independence from China.
America First foreign policy means that the United States is becoming a country that opposes the rule of law, free trade and collective security, argues Ian Bremmer, president of the risk analysis firm Eurasia Group. Bremmer tells host Steve Clemons that the international system built by the US over decades “was going to reach a geopolitical bust” regardless of the advent of President Donald Trump. Washington’s decision to project power in Venezuela, coupled with rhetoric threatening Greenland, “makes the US more unreliable for its allies”, according to Bremmer, “and a much bigger driver of geopolitical risk on the global stage”.
The United States has realised it cannot keep “trying to police the whole world”, argues Victor Gao, the vice president of the Center for China and Globalization in Beijing. Gao tells host Steve Clemons that improved China-US relations are “inevitable” although he warns that some American policymakers still view China as the number one threat and Chinese officials “never underestimate what American neofascists will cook up next”. In this wide-ranging conversation, Gao maintains that Beijing has replaced Washington as the world’s champion of free trade and won’t allow the US to dominate the field of artificial intelligence.
Months after being attacked by the United States and Israel, Iran finds itself in the crosshairs again, with Israeli officials lobbying US President Donald Trump to address Tehran's ballistic missiles. Veteran Iranian diplomat Javad Zarif tells host Steve Clemons that "everybody lost any faith in diplomacy" after Israel and the US attacked Iran following five rounds of reconciliation talks between Washington and Tehran. Zarif added that Israel has historically thwarted every opportunity for reconciliation between Iran and the US, and that Trump's style of diplomacy is disastrous, as it creates "negotiations that end up in war".
Two months ago, United States President Donald Trump held an international gala to celebrate his 20-point plan for peace in Gaza, but his plan has been stuck in phase one since then. Bronwen Maddox, the director of Chatham House – one of the world’s leading think tanks – argues that while Trump’s ceasefire slowed the horrific Israeli bombing of Gaza, “that doesn't mean we've got a plan for the future". Maddox tells host Steve Clemons that Iran is weaker, but Israel’s campaign to destabilise its neighbours, such as Syria, is dragging the region into further conflict, not peace and prosperity.
After years of support from the United States for the Ukraine war to continue “as long as it takes”, the Trump administration is now pushing to end Europe’s war – quickly and imperfectly. While details are still under negotiation, they include issues such as ensuring Ukraine never joins NATO and Russia’s control over about 20 percent of Ukraine. To understand the implications for Europe, the US and their relations, host Steve Clemons speaks with Kurt Volker, Trump’s former special representative for Ukraine negotiations, and retired Colonel Heino Klinck, former director of US Army international affairs.
US diplomacy under President Donald Trump has a bigger chance of success because it focuses on transactional deals that “translate into improvements of people’s lives” instead of “theories about democracy, freedom and human rights”, argues Rwandan President Paul Kagame. Kagame, who has led Rwanda for more than 30 years, tells host Steve Clemons that he’s “never seen the level of focus, attention, energy and pressure” that the US president brought to the conflict between the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Rwanda, which led to the signing of a tentative deal between the two sides in Washington on December 4.
United States President Donald Trump insists he’s “created the greatest economy in the history of our country”, but to middle-class and poor Americans, argues economist Peter Atwater, the president sounds out of touch. Atwater tells host Steve Clemons that the economy has taken on a “K” shape, where the arrow pointing up indicates more wealth for the already rich, while the rest are pushed downward. Zohran Mamdani’s election as mayor of New York City earlier this month brought the US’s “affordability crisis” to the forefront, as more people wrestle with the rising cost of food, housing and basics – amid a “no hire” job market.
United States President Donald Trump “looks at Saudi Arabia like a piggy bank or an ATM machine” and that’s why the recent Saudi-US summit focused on deals instead of strategic regional issues, such as Sudan, Palestine, Iran and Syria, argues political scientist Gregory Gause, professor emeritus of international affairs at Texas A&M University. Gause tells host Steve Clemons that if Riyadh can seal a deal to house a joint AI data centre, “that's the best guarantee of US security.” He adds that China may be Saudi Arabia’s biggest customer but the US is Riyadh’s “preferred partner on security, AI, economics and defence cooperation”. Subscribe to our channel: http://bit.ly/AJSubscribe Follow us on X : https://twitter.com/AJEnglish Find us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/aljazeera Check our website: http://www.aljazeera.com/ Check out our Instagram page: https://www.instagram.com/aljazeeraenglish/ Download AJE Mobile App: https://aje.io/AJEMobile #aljazeera #aljazeeraenglish #aljazeeranewslive
After the capital of capitalism voted for socialism and Democrats in two states trounced Republicans, United States President Donald Trump is worried that he won’t be able to impose his domestic vision for the nation, Republican strategist John Feehery argues. Feehery tells host Steve Clemons that Trump needs to refocus his energy from foreign policy to the domestic concerns facing Americans, especially the cost of living. On Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani’s victory in New York City, Feehery says: “Republicans have to be careful because if he turns out to be popular, that could be something that Democrats decide to run on.”
The United States and China have declared a truce in the trade war launched by US President Donald Trump in April, argues Evan Medeiros, former US National Security Council director for China. Medeiros tells host Steve Clemons that the deal reached between Chinese President Xi Jinping and Trump resolves the urgent trade issues between the two sides - tariff rates, soya beans and rare earth minerals - but China “remains committed to ensuring that Russia doesn't lose” in Ukraine. The US has more than 200,000 soldiers surrounding China, Medeiros adds, but Washington knows that “nobody wants to choose between the US and China.”
Trump’s Gaza plan is in danger of going the way of the Oslo Accords, argues US journalist Chris Hedges: Never to be implemented beyond the first phase. Hedges tells host Steve Clemons that there are no guarantees that the US-brokered deal “will actually thwart the genocidal project that Israel is intending to carry out in Gaza and … the West Bank”. While a parade of US officials visited Israel to signify commitment to the ceasefire, Israel continued to restrict food and medicine to millions of Palestinians, and Israeli forces continued to occupy more than half of the Gaza Strip.
The US has forced Israel to end its war on Gaza, but now the challenge is “to be engaged every single day, several times a day” to make sure the ceasefire holds, says Israeli American activist Gershon Baskin, the cofounder of Alliance for Two States. Baskin tells host Steve Clemons that President Donald Trump was convinced by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that Israel could force the Palestinians to surrender, but over time, it became obvious that “Hamas will never surrender.” Baskin predicts “there will be an awakening in Israel that we can’t keep doing this ... military strategies don’t work any more.”
Arguing that some places in the United States – primarily those governed by Democratic officials – are rampantly crime-infested, President Donald Trump has been deploying military forces to cities from Los Angeles to Washington, DC. Former National Security Council official Kori Schake tells host Steve Clemons that Trump is trying to enlist the US military to get involved in his culture war issues, such as immigration and political dissent. She warns that US forces should be kept out of politics “so that the American public continues to have confidence and trust in the military”.
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This might be the dumbest general I have ever heard interviewed.