logo
episode-header-image
Feb 2025
14m 51s

Swamp Notes: Trump redefines America’s g...

Financial Times
About this episode
tail spinning
Up next
Jul 18
The Bethlehem Project: American identity after 250 years
The US celebrated its 250th anniversary this month during a very politically divided era. The FT’s Sonja Hutson went to a block party on Bethlehem, Pennsylvania’s main street to ask locals what they think it means to be an American in 2026. Do they feel like the country shares a ... Show More
19m 13s
Jul 17
Andy Burnham ghosts the UK business community
Netflix’s shares fell more than 8 per cent on Thursday despite as-expected earnings after the streaming giant forecast its worst revenue growth in three years, and incoming UK prime minister Andy Burnham is leaving phone calls from the country’s business community unanswered. Plu ... Show More
11m 13s
Jul 16
Is China’s economic slowdown here to stay?
Energy companies going public are raising money at their fastest pace this century and China’s growth rate is at its lowest in decades, according to the country’s latest GDP numbers. Plus, oil traders are worried that crude supplies are running low, and the US state department is ... Show More
10m 59s
Recommended Episodes
Oct 2025
Aid pro quo: Trump weaponises foreign help
After cancelling much of America’s international development funding, President Donald Trump is now using that money to boost friends, allies against China and buy goods and influence. Ukraine is striking Russia’s fuel infrastructure deep inside the country. And why JD Wetherspoo ... Show More
23m 32s
Oct 2025
Aid pro quo: Trump weaponises foreign help
After cancelling much of America’s international development funding, President Donald Trump is now using that money to boost friends, allies against China and buy goods and influence. Ukraine is striking Russia’s fuel infrastructure deep inside the country. And why JD Wetherspoo ... Show More
23m 32s
Feb 2025
The Demise of U.S.A.I.D. — and American Soft Power
<p><i>Warning: This episode contains strong language.</i><br /><br />As President Trump demolishes the government’s biggest provider of foreign aid, the United States Agency for International Development, he is ending a 60-year bipartisan consensus about the best way to keep Amer ... Show More
33m 52s
Jan 2025
Trump's New MAGA Deep State
<p>Tommy and Ben discuss Trump’s freeze on foreign aid and the deadly consequences of stopping programs like clearing unexploded bombing and HIV/AIDS treatment and prevention, Trump’s move to revoke security details for former officials like Anthony Fauci, Mike Pompeo, and John B ... Show More
1h 26m
Oct 2025
Roundup: A Trade War With Canada, Inflation Ticks Up, And The Shutdown Persists
This week in Washington, President Trump halted trade talks with Canada, announced a private donation to help pay the military and authorized new sanctions on Russian oil. We discuss these developments, as well as how Trump uses his carefully cultivated image.This episode: politi ... Show More
23m 59s
Aug 2025
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
Feb 2025
What’s behind Trump’s war on USAID?
USAID, America’s lead aid agency, could also be nearing its end, after US President Donald Trump ordered a halt to foreign aid. Trump said the agency was run by "lunatics", while billionaire Elon Musk called it "criminal".The US provides $72bn to 180 countries – but that aid has ... Show More
17m 29s
Jan 2025
Trump 2.0 Sparks Global Shake-Up & State Department Resignations
In his first week back in office, President Trump's strong arm is already making itself felt around the world — with the United States pulling out of the World Health Organization and Paris Climate Accords, imposing tariffs on China and the Americas, and pledging to end wars whil ... Show More
40m 33s
Nov 2024
Trump’s National Security Team Takes Shape
Tommy and Ben process Trump’s reelection and the role foreign policy played in the outcome, highlight some awkward reactions from global leaders, and walk through what we know about Trump’s choices for top positions like Secretary of State, National Security Advisor and CIA direc ... Show More
1h 27m