Power Play

The President-elect's in-tray is filling up fast. Wars in Gaza, Ukraine and the fallen regime in Syria are among the many geopolitical shifts facing Donald Trump's new administration, alongside a spate of challenges at home. Is the United States — and the world — ready for Trump 2.0?  This week, Power Play brings you a trio of POLITICO insiders to reflect on Trump’s historic election win and what it will mean for those across the pond. Host Anne McElvoy is joined by Kate Day, POLITICO Europe's deputy editor-in-chief, and Alex Burns, head of news, who flew in from Washington. Their conversation was recorded in front of a live audience of Westminster’s movers and shakers at iNHouse in central London. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The toppling of the French prime minister has caused a massive headache for French President Emmanuel Macron just days before he receives U.S. President-elect Donald Trump in Paris. As one president returns to the world stage, could the other’s days be numbered? France is convulsed by crisis after its government suffered the humiliation of losing a no-confidence vote for the first time in over 60 years. Could Michel Barnier’s downfall hasten the demise of Emmanuel Macron and even trigger a financial crisis in the Eurozone’s second-largest economy? To chew over a dramatic week in Paris and its reverberations for France’s relations across Europe and with the U.S., host Anne McElvoy talks to Marion Solletty, POLITICO’s executive editor in France, and Alexandre Kouchner, political analyst and lecturer at the Sciences Po university. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

As Donald Trump puts the finishing touches to his new administration in Washington, the talk of the town continues to revolve around Elon Musk. The world’s richest man has the ear of the president-elect. How long will it last? Host Anne McElvoy talks to Democratic `Representative Ro Khanna, who represents a large swath of Silicon Valley. Even in prosperous parts of the Golden State, the Democrats lost ground to Donald Trump’s resurgent Republican Party, just as they did across the rest of the country. Can Khanna — part of the progressive wing of his party — help rebuild it after defeat, and does he hold out hope for his longtime acquaintance Musk as he takes on a new role to reduce the size of the federal government? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It’s been six years since a British prime minister met with Chinese leader Xi Jinping. Could Keir Starmer's encounter with the president at this week’s G20 lead to a thaw after years of frosty relations as the world prepares for a possible trade war when Donald Trump returns to the White House?  The quiet quads of Oxford University might seem a world apart from the high diplomacy on the other side of the globe. But China’s influence in Britain’s universities is far from remote — not least for a former senior politician hoping to lead one of the most powerful centers of learning in the world. Host Anne McElvoy talks to William Hague, the former British foreign secretary, who is front-runner to become the university’s next chancellor. Next week, tens of thousands of Oxford alumni and faculty members will decide who becomes the university's titular head, serving a full 10-year term.    Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices