logo
episode-header-image
Dec 2024
15m 39s

Swamp Notes: Europe in the age of Americ...

Financial Times
About this episode

Europe has been able to predictably lean on the US for decades. But Donald Trump used tariffs and other economic threats to test those assumptions in his first term, and he looks set to do so again. The FT’s EU correspondent Andy Bounds and US climate correspondent Aime Williams join to discuss how the EU is preparing (again) for a more confrontational America. 


Mentioned in this podcast:

EU strikes blockbuster trade deal with Mercosur

EU commissioner pitches ‘Europe first’ in response to Donald Trump

Sign up for the FT’s Swamp Notes newsletter here


Questions about US politics for next week’s Swamp Notes? Email them to ethan.plotkin@ft.com


Swamp Notes is produced by Ethan Plotkin, Sonja Hutson, Lauren Fedor and Marc Filippino. Topher Forhecz is the FT’s executive producer. The FT’s global head of audio is Cheryl Brumley. Special thanks to Pierre Nicholson. 


Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com



Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Up next
Today
Quantitative easing is under the microscope
Donald Trump has said Israel and Hamas have agreed the first step in his plan for a Gaza ceasefire, and Washington wants its companies exempt from EU climate rules. Plus, Chinese customs agents are going after a wide range of US semiconductor tech, and central bankers around the ... Show More
10m 46s
Yesterday
Carmakers are falling back in love with petrol
A UBS fund has 30 per cent of its portfolio tied to the failed First Brands Group, and carmakers across much of the world are scaling back on electric vehicle plans. Plus, international investors are returning to China’s start-up scene, in addition to assets across emerging marke ... Show More
11m 25s
Oct 7
OpenAI’s circular deals
EU governments have agreed to limit the travel of Russian diplomats, analysts are worried about a flurry of circular AI deals, and France lost another prime minister after less than a month in office. Plus, why the weaker dollar is helping big US exporters, while domestic-focused ... Show More
10m 53s
Recommended Episodes
Aug 8
Introducing Swamp Notes: The real cost of gutting USAID
Political Fix is on a break this week. In its absence, we're taking the opportunity to introduce you to its sister podcast, Swamp Notes, the weekly US politics podcast from the Financial Times. Six months after the Trump administration gutted the US Agency for International Devel ... Show More
19m 4s
Aug 25
How Asia is coping with Trump’s tariffs. With Mari Pangestu
President Donald Trump thinks that Asia's goods exports are automatically America's loss and as part of his ‘reciprocal’ tariff policy, he has imposed some of the highest import taxes on goods from south-east Asia. So what does this mean for the region? And are Trump's policies p ... Show More
28m 36s
Aug 18
Trump, Zelensky, European Leaders Optimistic After White House Talks
P.M. Edition for Aug. 18. President Trump appeared optimistic in White House talks with President Zelensky and European leaders on ending the Russia-Ukraine war. WSJ national security reporter Lara Seligman reports on what the leaders discussed. WSJ’s Corinne Ramey explains why a ... Show More
14m 28s
Apr 2025
Are US tariffs just the beginning? With Abraham Newman
As Donald Trump declares a trade war on the rest of the world, it’s time to learn about a field of economic research known as “weaponised interdependence”. The bad news is that the US president’s weapon of choice – imposing tariffs on goods imports – is a fairly outdated tool of ... Show More
31m 33s
Aug 22
DOJ Releases Ghislaine Maxwell Interview Transcript
P.M. Edition for Aug. 22. The Justice Department has released interview transcripts of Jeffrey Epstein associate Ghislaine Maxwell. And U.S. stocks surged after Fed Chair Jerome Powell signaled rate cuts are coming. WSJ’s chief economic correspondent Nick Timiraos discusses if Po ... Show More
14m 17s
Aug 19
Zelensky Survives Second Oval Office Meeting
European leaders raced to Washington to show their support for President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine as he met with President Trump on Monday.It was their first face-to-face meeting at the White House since their disastrous blowup in the Oval Office in February.Michael Schwirtz ... Show More
30m 24s
Sep 18
The Trump vs Jimmy Kimmel fallout + Alan Jones' charges downgraded
Donald Trump’s war on the media has just escalated, with the Jimmy Kimmel Show cancelled after the late-night night host made comments about the US President’s reaction to the assassination of Charlie Kirk. President Trump today also banned Australia’s ABC from attending a news c ... Show More
16m 32s
Aug 29
Limping through the Trump era: Can Europe lead again?
From a picturesque mountain resort in Austria, at the European Forum Alpbach, host Sarah Wheaton unpacks fresh threats by the U.S. to hit countries with tariffs over their digital rules — drawing instant reactions from the European Commission’s Sabine Weyand and Nobel laureate Jo ... Show More
36m 55s
Sep 19
Trump Cancels Kimmel
Caving to a pressure campaign from Donald Trump's FCC, Disney pulls Jimmy Kimmel's show off the air. Jon and Dan are joined by newly minted Crooked contributor Alex Wagner to discuss Trump's attacks on Kimmel and his new lawsuit against The New York Times, the impending takeover ... Show More
1h 15m
Apr 2025
Why is Trump at War With Harvard University?
In today’s episode, we cover Trump’s freeze on Harvard University funding, JD Vance’s comments on a UK-US trade deal, Ecuador’s election, and Sudan’s civil war updates.Watch TLDR’s latest videos here:https://youtu.be/aV388-Ik4wI?si=ApYB5IU-Q5vHcCPuhttps://youtu.be/RmH-R19AsIU?si= ... Show More
6m 34s