Several of the world’s wealthiest men stood behind Donald Trump as he was inaugurated for a second term, contradicting his image as a populist president. This prompts the question, how much influence do the wealthy have on U.S. politics?

Democratic Sen. Chris Murphy joins FP Live to share his take on the state of U.S. democracy, and whether the United States is becoming more corrupt, to mark the launch of Foreign Policy’s latest print issue: “Billionaire Rule.”

Suggested reading (FP links are paywall-free): 

Spring 2025 Print Issue: Billionaire Rule

Jodi Vittori: Is America a Kleptocracy?

Adam Tooze: Elon Musk’s First Principles

James Crabtree: How Modi and Trump Treat Billionaires Differently

Priya Satia: The Deep Roots of Oligarchy

James Palmer: Did China Get Billionaires Right?

Andrew O’Donohue: The U.S. Judicial Crisis Is Uniquely Dangerous

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The Trump administration has dramatically shifted the United States’ long-standing relationship with Europe, pushing it to shore up its own defense. How is the continent grappling with these changes? And what does it mean for its policies, both foreign and domestic?

Suggested reading (FP links are paywall-free): 

Kishore Mahbubani: It’s Time for Europe to Do the Unthinkable

Transcript: The Speech That Stunned Europe

Edward Lucas: Comrade Trump

Ivo H. Daalder: It’s Time for a New Trans-Atlantic Bargain

Michael Hirsh: On Ukraine, Split the Difference Between Trump and Biden

Anchal Vohra: Europe’s Economic Decoupling From America Is Underway

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Geopolitical risk analyst Ian Bremmer joins FP Live to assess U.S. President Donald Trump’s first 50 days in office and how it is impacting the world.

Suggested reading (FP links are paywall-free):

Ravi Agrawal: Trump Is Ushering In a More Transactional World

Daniel C. Kurtzer and Aaron David Miller: Lessons from the Trump-Zelensky Confrontation

Howard W. French: Trump’s Plan for a Greatly Diminished America

Daniel W. Drezner: Does the Madman Theory Actually Work?

Stephen M. Walt: What I Got Wrong About Trump’s Second Term

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With so much of the focus in recent weeks on the Trump administration’s policies toward Europe, where does that leave the broader trajectory of the U.S.-China relationship? Expert and former Biden administration official Rush Doshi sits down with Ravi Agrawal to discuss.

Doshi is currently the C.V. Starr senior fellow for Asia studies and director of the China Strategy Initiative at the Council on Foreign Relations. 

Suggested reading (FP links are paywall-free):

Rush Doshi: Long Game: China’s Grand Strategy to Displace American Order

Lili Pike: Trump’s Europe Shock Creates an Opening for China

Lili Pike: Did Biden Get China Right?

James Crabtree: Trump Could Make China Great Again

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“I don’t give up on Trump. I do think that, for the wrong reasons, we can get him to do the right things” says former Human Rights Watch chief Kenneth Roth. Roth sits down with Ravi Agrawal to share his take on human rights today amid democratic backsliding, ongoing conflict, and a new U.S. administration on the world stage.

Roth led Human Rights Watch for nearly 30 years and is the author of Righting Wrongs: Three Decades on the Front Lines Battling Abusive Governments.

Suggested reading (FP links are paywall-free):

Transcript: Can the World Do Anything About Conflict in 2025?

Pankaj Mishra: How Gaza Shattered the West’s Mythology

Matthew M. Kavanagh and Luis Gil Abinader: Abolishing USAID Is Both Unconstitutional and Disastrous

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Finnish President Alexander Stubb sits down with Ravi Agrawal on the sidelines of the annual Munich Security Conference to discuss European security in Trump 2.0.

Suggested reading (FP links are paywall-free):

Transcript: Finland’s President: Trump’s Strategy ‘Is a Bit of a Seesaw’

Transcript: The Speech That Stunned Europe

C. Raja Mohan: India Sees Opportunities as Trump Jettisons the Western Order

James Crabtree: Trump Could Make China Great Again

Kishore Mahbubani: It’s Time for Europe to Do the Unthinkable

Kristi Raik: Europe’s 4 Different Ways of Handling Trump

Bojan Pancevski and Alexander Ward: Vance Wields Threat of Sanctions, Military Action to Push Putin Into Ukraine Deal

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How history will weigh the war in Gaza, with author Pankaj Mishra. Mishra recently previewed his new book on the subject with Foreign Policy, in a piece titled “How Gaza Shattered the West’s Mythology.” He shares more now with Ravi Agrawal.

Suggested reading (FP links are paywall-free):

Pankaj Mishra: The World After Gaza: A History

Pankaj Mishra: How Gaza Shattered the West’s Mythology

David E. Rosenberg: Why Gaza Is Israel’s Forever War

Ran Greenstein: Settler Colonialism Isn’t What You Think It Is

Howard W. French: Why Are We Ignoring Human Rights Criticism of Israel?

FP Contributors: What Trump’s Gaza Plan Means for the World

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U.S. President Donald Trump began his second term with rapid-fire proposals ranging from invading Greenland to imposing tariffs on top trading partners. How are these moves being viewed globally? FP Live host Ravi Agrawal is joined by three experts, spanning three continents, to learn more.

Nathalie Tocci serves as the director of the Italian think tank Istituto Affari Internazionali. Former Singaporean diplomat Kishore Mahbubani is an author and geopolitical analyst. And Ed Luce is a columnist for the Financial Times.

Suggested reading (FP links are paywall-free):

Ravi Agrawal: Trump is Ushering In a More Transactional World

Emma Ashford and Jennifer Kavanagh: Europe Isn’t Ready for Trump 2.0

Matthew M. Kavanagh and Luis Gil Abinader: Abolishing USAID Is Both Unconstitutional And Disastrous

Stephen M. Walt: What IR Theory Predicts About Trump 2.0

Edward Alden: Trump Will Be His Own Trade Czar

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At a White House press briefing on Tuesday, the Trump administration maintained that it would impose a 25 percent tariff on imports from Mexico and Canada on Feb. 1. This comes after announcing a 10 percent duty on China earlier in the week. Trade and capital expert Brad Setser is skeptical that it will follow through, though, saying that the economic ramifications of tariffs at that scale would be a “ pretty bloody big shock.” Setser sits down with host Ravi Agrawal to share more.

Suggested reading (FP links are paywall-free):

Aaron L. Friedberg: Tariffs Are a Scalpel, Not a Hammer

Wendy Cutler: How Trump Could Strike a Trade Deal With China

Keith Johnson: How to Read Trump’s Day-One Trade Actions

Scott Kennedy: Markets Are Underpricing the Possibility of a U.S.-China Economic War

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FP Live host Ravi Agrawal kicked off a lively discussion on the new frontiers of cybersecurity at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. He was joined by panelists Samir Saran, president of the Observer Research Foundation; Matthew Prince, co-founder and CEO of Cloudflare; Andrius Kubilius, European commissioner for defense and space; Joe Kaeser, chairman of Siemens Energy’s supervisory board; and Mirjana Spoljaric Egger, president of the International Committee of the Red Cross.

Suggested reading (FP links are paywall-free):

Minxin Pei: China’s Secret to Controlling the Internet

Rishi Iyengar: North Korea Does More Cyberspying Than You Think

Dmytro Kuleba: The Fight For Ukraine Is Forging a New World

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