Trump Dances Across Asia

Tommy and Ben discuss President Trump’s visit to Asia: the weird dancing, his meetings with the new prime minister of Japan and Chinese President Xi Jinping, and his annoying victory laps when Trump “solves” problems he himself created. They also unpack two recent examples of blatant government corruption, including Trump’s pardon of a crypto billionaire and an Army contract to purchase drones from a company “advised” by Donald Trump Jr. Then they discuss the “next generation” of the Pentagon press corps (one filled with MAGA sycophants), a rebel group’s capture of a major city in Sudan and how the UAE is fueling the Sudanese civil war, more US strikes against alleged drug traffickers in the Pacific, Israeli Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu’s announcement that he has ordered “forceful strikes” on Hamas and what it means for the Gaza ceasefire agreement, a legislative election win for President Javier Milei in Argentina, an anti-tariff ad in Canada that invoked Ronald Reagan, and Katy Perry and former Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau making their relationship official. Then Tommy speaks with former US Ambassador to Russia Michael McFaul about his new book Autocrats vs. Democrats: China, Russia, America, and the New Global Disorder.

For a closed-captioned version of this episode, click here. For a transcript of this episode, please email [email protected] and include the name of the podcast.