The Debate

Does the United States already face a constitutional crisis? At what point does a president’s "rule by decree" manner of governing take a centuries-old democracy into unchartered territory?

After one month back in office, the executive orders keep on coming. One of Donald Trump's latest states that only he and his attorney general – what we call here the US justice minister – can interpret what the law is for government bodies, even independent ones. Is the White House breaking down the firewall with the Federal Reserve, guarantor of the US dollar? What about a right to control oversight bodies like Wall Street's watchdog, the Securities and Exchange Commission?

Those who still have faith in the system insist that in the end, the courts will reject whatever's unconstitutional. But what if this White House ignores the courts? What if there is no effective pushback from lawmakers, who under the constitution still hold the power of the purse?

Trump has already pushed new boundaries by bringing in an unvetted private citizen to take an axe to what Elon Musk deems wasteful spending. For democracy to die, what if there is no need for a referendum or another January 6?  What if all it takes is cherry-picking which laws you decide to enforce and which institutions you decide to dismantle?

Produced by Rebecca Gnignati, Aurore Laborie, Elisa Amiri, Ilayda Habip.

Three years after Vladimir Putin's full-scale invasion of a sovereign state, what has he gained? The answer seems to be a path to normalisation with the United States and negotiations on Ukraine – without the Ukrainians or the Europeans. Instead, Donald Trump is sending his secretary of state and national security advisor to Saudi Arabia, along with fellow New York real estate mogul Steve Witkoff, who has swiftly pivoted into a Middle East envoy role. 

Meanwhile, Brussels is a long way from Riyadh. So why is retired General Keith Kellogg – touted as Trump's steady hand on Ukraine – meeting with EU leaders instead of leading the negotiations? We examine what lies at the heart of this potential deal with Putin. We also assess how far European powers progressed at Monday's emergency summit in Paris, hastily convened after US Vice President JD Vance delivered a stark warning to allies at the Munich Security Conference over the weekend. How much leverage do Europe and the Ukrainians have when the continent's main security guarantor seems more inclined to talk to Moscow?

Produced by François Picard, Rebecca Gnignati, Guillaume Gougeon and Ilayda Habip.

European leaders are meeting in Paris for emergency talks on Ukraine, following last week's call between US President Donald Trump and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin. With NATO's most powerful member sidelining its allies in negotiations with Russia, is the US still a reliable partner?

As the Trump administration follows through on its promise to engage with Moscow on its own terms, European leaders are scrambling to support Ukraine and rethink their defence strategy. We discuss the fallout from the Munich Security Conference, where the US vice president warned Europe that Washington would act unilaterally and criticised Germany's ruling party for refusing to govern with a far-right faction ahead of next Sunday's election.

We also examine Europe's military capabilities and deterrence. During the Cold War, that meant nuclear weapons. France and the UK have them, but is it enough to give Moscow pause?

Produced by François Picard, Alessandro Xenos, Guillaume Gougeon and Ilayda Habip.

How about that phone call? The US president has gone over the heads of the Ukrainians and the Europeans by promising talks "immediately" with Vladimir Putin, this on the same day that his new defence secretary told NATO counterparts that returning to Ukraine's borders of 2014 was "unrealistic". Donald Trump may not have forced a sit-down on Day One of his presidency, as he had boasted as a candidate, but here it comes.

What can Volodymyr Zelensky do or say as he meets in person with Pete Hegseth, Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference? The likes of France insist they'll continue to honour bilateral security agreements with Ukraine – with or without the United States.

But by keeping out Russia's neighbours in Europe, is this the beginning of the end of the NATO alliance that kept the peace on the continent throughout the Cold War? With Trump wanting the Europeans to finance Ukraine's reconstruction, what do they ask for in return? What leverage do they have?

Produced by Rebecca Gnignati, Juliette Laffont, Elisa Amiri, Ilayda Habip.

Remember the run-up to Inauguration Day in the US, when Donald Trump's envoy twisted arms to push a Gaza ceasefire over the line? How did we so quickly go to Trump not only doubling down on his plan to forcibly deport the entire Palestinian population of Gaza, but also telling visitors like the king of Jordan to take them in? We ask about the plan, the pushback to the plan and the whether that ultimatum to Hamas to free all its hostages by Saturday noon signals a return to all-out war. Israeli troops are certainly preparing.

More broadly, how much does Trump want to own this conflict? After all, this is a US president known for campaigning against forever wars. Already it seemed like Bashar al-Assad’s fall in Syria might signify a once-in-a-generation reshaping of the region's balance of power.

But now, what to make of the Trump factor?

Produced by Rebecca Gnignati, Juliette Laffont, Elisa Amiri, Ilayda Habip.

Is it down to the Digital Age? Not only has the world become a smaller place but now, more and more power’s concentrated in fewer and fewer hands. Elon Musk’s offer to buy the parent company of ChatGPT from Sam Altman’s OpenAI is the latest example of a whole new age, an age where a billionaire like Musk can also have one foot in government as he and Donald Trump arbitrarily purge the federal payroll.

Altman, who swiftly rejected Musk’s offer is here in Paris for the AI summit co-hosted by France and India. Are Silicon Valley tech titans to be courted or combatted at the dawn of an almighty scramble for the planet’s data and resources? Is it a battle for market share or a battle of values?

In writing global governance rules for AI, who defines what's public and what's private, what's free speech and what's censorship or stoking hate? And how much in common between those that are neither the US nor China in setting global standards that actually protect citizens rights and foster trust in these most turbulent times?

Produced by Rebecca Gnignati, Elisa Amiri, Ilayda Habip. 

As France and India co-host an AI summit in Paris, we ask if technology has advanced too far beyond our control and that any well-intentioned bid by world leaders to forge common rules and guidelines is too little, too late?  

Right now, it’s Silicon Valley that’s got the money to draw the best and the brightest and the cheap energy to power the bigger and bigger data centres needed for AI. With a new US administration that’s ready to start a trade war with all those in its path, how does the rest of the world defend privacy, shared natural resources – including strategic minerals mined in places like China and Africa?

And what to do about a digital age that so far seems to concentrate so much power and wealth in the hands of a few? More broadly, is the technology evolving faster than humanity can process its potentials and its dangers? We'll ask our panel.

Produced by François Picard, Rebecca Gnignati, Guillaume Gougeon and Ilayda Habip.

Does what goes for Greenland and Gaza also go for Ukraine? With the third anniversary of Russia's all-out invasion approaching and Kyiv on the back foot, allies are scrambling to figure out the "art of the deal" power plays of a US president they thought they already knew. Do you placate or push back when dealing with Donald Trump? Ukraine's president has been showing transactional flair by vaunting his country's rare minerals in exchange for protection from Vladimir Putin. Zelensky is now openly contemplating what Trump wants: direct negotiations with Moscow. We review terms and conditions and – on the day that France delivered its first Mirage jets to Kyiv – the degree of volatility that the coming weeks and months may bring for Ukraine and for a Europe that's still divided over whether to wean itself off its reliance on the United States for its own security.

Produced by François Picard, Rebecca Gnignati, Elisa Amiri, Ilayda Habip.

Donald Trump has told the world in the company of a beaming Binyamin Netanyahu that "the US will take over the Gaza Strip". Should we take at face value what he's selling as a grand development scheme and what critics denounce as a quixotic pipe dream that can only lead to the ethnic cleansing of the two million Palestinians who live in Gaza? 

How does one rebuild Gaza after destruction on a biblical scale? In the aftermath of past wars, Gulf states footed much of the bill. The money went to housing, but was also sometimes diverted by Hamas. We gauge regional reactions after Tuesday night's bombshell announcement out of Washington. 

And where in the short term does the promise of a US takeover leave the current ceasefire deal? Did Trump just torpedo his administration's own efforts? What's the next surprise going to be?

Produced by François Picard, Rebecca Gnignati, Guillaume Gougeon and Ilayda Habip.

One might assume that the new president of the United States has a pretty full in-tray. So at first glance, it was a bit of a surprise to hear Donald Trump lash out at South Africa, threatening to cut aid over its 2023 Employment Equity Act. There's obvious suspicion over who did the whispering in Trump's ear. South African-born Elon Musk has been locking horns with the ANC-led government of Cyril Ramaphosa over its refusal to sign onto SpaceX founder's Starlink broadband via satellite system. Musk calls post-Apartheid laws on Black empowerment "openly racist". Who wins this showdown? More broadly, are tech titans now dictating US foreign policy? How much power do they wield? And as the developing world goes online, who controls the personal information of citizens who log on?

Watch more'US driving South Africa and other Global South, non-aligned countries into the arms of China'

Produced by François Picard, Rebecca Gnignati, Elisa Amiri, Ilayda Habip.