The Debate

Forget soft power. It's all about hard bargains. Donald Trump is making good on his campaign promise of tariffs and is starting with his closest neighbours. We ask if it's all a big made-for-reality-TV drama that ends at the negotiating table. He has already hit pause on tariffs for Mexico. How much has the world's most powerful nation decided to throw its weight around? We gauge reactions.

Trump turned heads at his inauguration when he referenced William McKinley, the tariff-loving turn-of-the-20th century predecessor to Theodore Roosevelt, who tested the powers of the presidency and went to war with Spain to assert dominance over the Americas and the South Pacific.

On that score, Trump's threats to annex Panama seem to be yielding results, with the Central American nation telling his secretary of state that it's ready to allow Panama's participation in China's Belt and Road infrastructure initiative to expire. Will it be enough to quell talk of land grabs?

Editor's note: Since this programme aired, the US has also agreed to pause tariffs on Canadian imports. 

Produced by Théophile Vareille, Rebecca Gnignati and Ilayda Habip. 

For exiled Syrians, this is their Berlin Wall moment—the doors to a homeland they thought they'd never see again are suddenly swinging open. The heady days following December 8 and the fall of Assad's seemingly immovable regime have brought an unexpected Christmas gift: a return to Damascus. But as the initial euphoria fades, clear-eyed Syrians know better than to declare "and they all lived happily ever after". The lessons of the Arab Spring loom large, and the challenges ahead are daunting. How to navigate a landscape shaped by heavily armed factions: sometimes allies, sometimes rivals?

What to do with thousands of Syrian civil servants and state security employees left unpaid since Assad’s fall?

And as the international community moves to lift sanctions, the bigger question remains: how to channel money and efforts toward rebuilding a Syria that is not just revived, but reimagined?

Produced by François Picard, Théophile Vareille, Guillaume Gougeon and Ilayda Habip.

On his first full day back in power, US President Donald Trump trumpeted a $500 billion plan to build giant data centres for artificial intelligence. The photo op put the rest of the world on notice: the billionaire tech bros of Silicon Valley reign supreme, with the full weight of the White House behind them. Fast forward to Monday and the record $590 billion drop in the market value of US chipmaker Nvidia. Spooking the markets is the announcement that a Chinese startup can operate its latest AI model 18 times cheaper than Sam Altman's GPT-4. Is DeepSeek for real? Why the sudden surprise? If it upends America's dominance of artificial intelligence, does that mean a democratisation of global information systems or a showdown between superpowers that ultimately decides who rules the world?

Produced by François Picard, Théophile Vareille, Elisa Amiri, Ilayda Habip.

Some 50 former inmates of the largest of the Nazi death camps at Auschwitz-Birkenau have made the trip to Poland for the 80th anniversary of the camp's liberation. How to process the collective folly of the industrial-scale mass extermination of 1 million Jews, along with 100,000 others, in the space of a few short years? The Holocaust shattered the belief that technology could only be synonymous with progress and on that score, the gas chambers serve as a cautionary tale.

How do citizens and nations remember the Holocaust in 2025? From the former Soviets whose forefathers liberated the camps, to nations at the other end of the globe untouched by World War II, what's the lesson?

The words "never again" ring hollow in today's world. An all-too-long list of genocides have unfolded since. How, then, to talk about it?

Produced by François Picard, Théophile Vareille, Elisa Amiri, Ilayda Habip.

With public coffers depleted and an ageing population putting pressure on social safety nets, how can Europe mobilise the financial resources necessary to meet its triple goals of a decarbonised economy, effective defence and technological competitiveness? FRANCE 24's Charles Pellegrin puts the question to his panel of guests at the World Economic Forum in Davos.

The EU's objectives are threefold:

• Completing the transition to a fully decarbonised economy in the face of global warming;
• Guaranteeing self-reliance in security in the face of Russian expansionism and US isolationism;
• Boosting European competitiveness in the tech sector to be able to fully rival the United States and China.

The cost of these goals was outlined in Mario Draghi's competitiveness report in September 2024: a whopping €800 billion. Achieving them would be no mean feat.

Watch moreCan Europe get its industrial groove back?

But public coffers are depleted and demographic decline is adding pressure on social safety nets. Capital and banking markets are shallow and fragmented. Yet on the other hand, private savings are at high levels.

So what can Europe do? Our panelists give us their take.

Read moreFull coverage of the World Economic Forum

In a crowded Paris metro car or at the counter of a bustling café, it’s easy to forget what loomed over us just five years ago. Yet, on the fifth anniversary of the first Covid-19 lockdown in Wuhan, China, the headlines tell a different story: Donald Trump, on his first day back in office, signing an order for the United States to withdraw from the World Health Organization. 

We’ll examine why the UN health body might lose its largest donor and discuss the grievances surrounding global health leadership. Are we dealing with fringe anti-vaccine groups—or a more profound dissatisfaction? 

And just as many who fell ill in the early days of the pandemic continue to battle long Covid, have the fear, isolation, and anxiety from lockdowns left a lasting mark on our politics? Five years on, Covid is barely part of the conversation. What crucial issues remain unresolved? 

Produced by François Picard, Rebecca Gnignati, Guillaume Gougeon and Annarosa Zampaglione.

Do they stand firm or bow to the pressure? Europe is facing a clear message: Donald Trump’s administration isn't just pushing liquefied natural gas exports. The US is demanding that the continent adjust to a new reality. From walking away from multilateral efforts on climate change and global tax standards, to charting its own course on regulating tech – especially artificial intelligence – Washington is making its priorities clear. 

Trump's domestic AI initiative showcases America's edge, leveraging deep pockets and abundant cheap energy to lead the digital transformation race. Meanwhile, Europe faces tough questions. Can its leaders muster the collective strength to protect their consensus-driven welfare model and chart their own path forward? Or will they be forced to follow the lead of the planet's most powerful nation? 

Produced by François Picard, Rebecca Gnignati, Guillaume Gougeon and Annarosa Zampaglione.

With a few strokes of the pen, it’s as if he never left. Or is it? On day one of his second term, Donald Trump pardoned nearly all those convicted in the January 6, 2021 assault on the Capitol. Has the 45th and now 47th president succeeded in rewriting the narrative?

His diehard supporters are cheering, hailing the pardoned as "hostages" of a political witch hunt and celebrating his promise of mass deportations targeting "criminal aliens". But can Trump keep his coalition intact? From populist voters to billionaire tech titans like Elon Musk, do their interests truly align? 

And in Washington, where his party controls Congress and the Supreme Court is stacked with his appointees, can the disrupter-in-chief truly crush his enemies and solidify his legacy?

Produced by François Picard, Rebecca Gnignati, Guillaume Gougeon and Annarosa Zampaglione.

It's a second coming and a very different Washington. Four years after his unseating at the ballot box and an insurrection that rattled the world's most powerful nation, a victorious Donald Trump returns to the White House with the promise of radical change. François Picard's panel of guests give us their take on his inaugural address and what we can expect from Trump 2.0.

Read moreTrump's inaugural address: The main takeaways

How should US allies deal with Donald Trump's return? His inauguration, featuring far-right figures, signals a US president-elect who's intent on shaking up alliances and settling scores. Critics warn he could hand concessions to leaders like Binyamin Netanyahu or Vladimir Putin to dismantle the Washington consensus. 

But early moves, like pressuring Israel towards a Gaza ceasefire, complicate the picture. Will Trump push Ukraine into a rushed deal that favours Moscow, scale back Europe's defence or take an entirely different approach?

For NATO allies, what does "America First" mean now, as Trump's far-right fanbase grows across Europe? 

Produced by François Picard, Théophile Vareille, Guillaume Gougeon and Ilayda Habip.