A firestorm erupted in Washington after OPEC+ decided to slash global oil supply earlier this month.

Officials in the United States blamed Saudi Arabia and said they were reviewing whether the relationship with the kingdom still serves US interests. Saudi officials said their decision was purely economical, as the world faces a global recession.

But Democratic Party politicians said the timing was dubious – right before Americans head to the polls in the midterm elections.

Host Steve Clemons asks Saudi author Ali Shihabi and US policy expert Danielle Pletka about the next moves between Riyadh and Washington.

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After seven months of all-out war in Ukraine, there seems to be no quick end to the conflict.

Russia controls about 20 percent of the country, despite recent advances by the Ukrainian military, which is supported by Western intelligence gathering and weapons.

The United States is doubling down on the war effort, and so is Russia. Military reservists are being called up for duty, and President Vladimir Putin recently said he was “not bluffing” when he threatened to “make use of all weapon systems available” to defend his country.

Host Steve Clemons asks nuclear policy experts Kori Schake and Jon Wolfstahl about nuclear options and deterrence.

Is Donald Trump’s influence in his party waning?

In the Republican primary in Indiana, voters had to choose between two members of the US Congress.

The former president threw his weight behind Representative Mary Miller, who convinced voters that she was more pro-Trump than her opponent. She easily defeated Representative Rodney Davis in late June.

Congressman Davis tells host Steve Clemons that support for Trump is still strong in the country, and predicts that Republican candidates will wrest control of Congress from the Democratic Party this November.

While in Saudi Arabia last month, US President Joe Biden stressed that the United States was "not going anywhere" and wouldn’t "walk away and leave a vacuum to be filled by China, Russia, or Iran". But did his words reassure anyone?

High on his agenda was the prospect of a nuclear deal with Iran. But he expressed zero interest in resurrecting the Palestinian-Israeli peace process.

Council on Foreign Relations senior fellow Steven Cook tells host Steve Clemons that the US agenda for the Middle East has become severely diminished.

Has something changed in China-United States relations after repeated visits to Taiwan by US politicians in support of the island's self-rule?

China considers Taiwan to be part of its territory, and has halted bilateral talks with the US on everything from climate change to drug trafficking and military coordination.

Meanwhile, President Joe Biden has stalled any action on lifting trade sanctions imposed by his predecessor on Chinese imports.

So, do the world’s two biggest powers see themselves as "strategic partners" or "strategic enemies"?

China’s ambassador to the US, Qin Gang, tells host Steve Clemons that there is too much at stake to risk a total breakdown in relations.

For President Joe Biden, the centrepiece of his agenda - and legacy - is the Inflation Reduction Act, covering climate, healthcare and taxation in the United States.

The war within the Democratic Party – which had stalled all previous iterations of the bill – had to be put on hold to get it passed. Progressives were irked that they had to compromise on a tax hike on billionaires.

But is this legislation enough to prevent the Republican Party from regaining control of Congress during the midterm elections this November? Congressman Ro Khanna joins The Bottom Line for a wide-reaching conversation with host Steve Clemons.

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China announced plans to flex its muscles near Taiwan in response to a visit Nancy Pelosi, the speaker of the United States House of Representatives, made to the island.

For China, Taiwan is a breakaway province that must be “reunited” with the mainland. For Taiwanese leaders, it is a sovereign nation that wants to maintain its status quo.

The US policy is called “strategic ambiguity” – supporting Taiwan’s autonomy for now while being cautious not to anger China.

International relations expert Stephen Walt tells Steve Clemons that the interests of Beijing and Washington are too interdependent for either power to risk escalation.

Whose message is swaying American voters in the lead-up to the midterm elections later this year?

Republicans want to focus attention on crime, immigration and inflation. Recent polls indicate that former President Donald Trump would win against President Joe Biden if presidential elections were held today. This is despite the year-long efforts of a Democratic Party-led panel that has been investigating Trump’s involvement in the efforts to reverse his election loss in 2020.

Host Steve Clemons asks Democratic Congressman Brendan Boyle about the January 6 investigation, and his party’s prospects for holding onto power after November.

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In 2020, Dr Deborah Birx was appointed to lead the White House Coronavirus Response team.

At the same time, President Donald Trump was spreading misinformation and trying to convince Americans that he had everything "totally under control".

Two years later, the United States has more than 1 million deaths attributed to COVID-19.

Birx tells host Steve Clemons that she wrote her new book, Silent Invasion: The Untold Story of the Trump Administration, Covid-19, and Preventing the Next Pandemic Before It’s Too Late, because the US government is still not able to communicate effectively with its people when it comes to the coronavirus.

The United States is principally responsible for creating the crisis in Ukraine, according to University of Chicago political science professor John Mearsheimer, and it has no current interest in reaching a negotiated settlement now.

Mearsheimer sees US sanctions against Moscow as an attempt to knock Russia out of the ranks of the great powers.

The way he sees it, the US has declared war against Russia, in effect, but the Ukrainian people are doing the fighting.

Join host Steve Clemons for this wide-ranging conversation about how both sides consider themselves locked in an existential threat, with no way out.