Power Play

It takes a brave — some may say reckless — leader to call a general election when trailing in the polls by 20 percent. With three weeks to go to polling day on July 4, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s gamble looks like it will backfire, possibly spectacularly so, with perilous consequences for the country's oldest political party, the Conservatives. For one of the most powerful members of his...

The conviction of Donald Trump in a criminal trial in New York has electrified the race for the White House. But will it make a difference to how the arguments will play out in the campaign — especially on what the contest means for the rest of the world? K.T. McFarland is a leading supporter of Trump’s campaign, a MAGA Republican who served as his deputy national security adviser. She’s an influe...

Ahead of the 80th anniversary of the D-Day landings, host Anne McElvoy asks Jane Hartley, United States ambassador to the United Kingdom, about the future of the transatlantic "special relationship." Hartley discussed the future of U.S.-U.K. relations in light of the International Criminal Court seeking an arrest warrant for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu; revealed her surprise at the s...

Host Anne McElvoy talks to Leonid Volkov, who was Alexei Navalny's long-serving chief of staff and campaign manager, about his mission to provide a democratic alternative to Russian President Vladimir Putin's regime in the Kremlin. They spoke on the stage at the Copenhagen Democracy Summit. The sudden death of Navalny, the most prominent opposition leader in Russia, sent shockwaves around the worl...

This week's edition of Power Play comes from the Copenhagen Democracy Summit, where host Anne McElvoy talks to President Zelenskyy’s closest aide, Andriy Yermak, and former NATO Secretary General, Anders Fogh Rasmussen.  As Russian forces advance on Kharkiv, delays in weapons deliveries from the U.S. and Europe are proving costly. Now the war has reached a critical moment for Zelenskyy's leadershi...

Among the business leaders, philanthropists and other luminaries attending this year's Milken Institute Global Conference in Los Angeles are politicians — looking to set the record straight, with an eye to future opportunities. Power Play host Anne McElvoy joined the Beverly Hills crowd — and talked to Kevin McCarthy, the first Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives to be ousted during a leg...

Elbridge Colby is a hot pick to be Donald Trump's national security adviser if the former president returns to the White House next year. It's a role which holds huge sway over America's position on the world stage. An influential voice in foreign policy circles in Washington, Colby leads the Marathon Initiative, a conservative think tank grappling with how America confronts an increasingly assert...

"America will always defend democracy in its hour of need. We tell our allies: we will stand with you. We tell our adversaries: don’t mess with us." The words of U.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer struck a rare note of bipartisanship as Congress finally approved a multi-billion dollar package of support to Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan.   For America’s allies, there was a collective sigh of re...

How will responses to the confrontation between Israel, its allies and Iran redefine the line that divides Donald Trump and Joe Biden? Host Anne McElvoy talks to Kim Darroch, the former British ambassador to Washington and former U.K. national security adviser, about the scenarios facing President Biden and what Trump might do if he returns to office. They also discuss the options available to Isr...

This week marked the grim six-month milestone since the Hamas terror attack on Israel and the ensuing counter-attack on Gaza, which has led to a mounting death toll and a humanitarian crisis that has divided world opinion. While President Joe Biden's White House struggles to help end the bloodshed, what would his opponent — Donald Trump — do differently if he were voted into office later this year...

In the wake of a devastating Islamist terror attack in Moscow, the dark arts of spreading disinformation are again in focus as Russia’s President Vladmir Putin pins blame for the assault on Ukraine. As a widening array of countries and malign actors spread fake news and analysis, real life consequences are all too clear. How can democracies like the United States and its allies confront informatio...

With the specter of a famine and a possible ground incursion of Rafah looming, Israel's allies are fretting. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken warned of an impending catastrophe in Gaza. Yet Benjamin Netanyahu says “no international pressure will stop Israel” from achieving its war aims.  The wars in the Middle East and Ukraine and uncertainty about who will be calling the shots in the White...

Now that Donald Trump is all but certain to lead his party into November’s presidential election in the U.S., it’s make up your mind time for Republicans – are they with him or not? One of them is a big gun in Floridan politics, the Mayor of Miami, Francis Suarez.  Suarez earned a national profile by briefly entering the race for the White House last year before dropping out as the Trump bandwagon...

From Maine to California, Super Tuesday is the biggest date in the calendar for the United States primary election — a third of delegates for the Republican and Democratic conventions have been chosen.  While Donald Trump didn’t quite manage a clean sweep, the former president looks all but certain to face Joe Biden in November — now that the only other contender for the Republican crown, Nikki Ha...

As European leaders gathered in Paris this week, there was a sense of foreboding about the war in Ukraine, and the death of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny is a further reminder of how far the Kremlin will go to suppress its foes. Nowhere is the threat posed by Russia felt more acutely than on Europe’s Eastern frontier — and especially in Estonia, home to a significant ethnic Russian popu...

From the Munich Security Conference, host Anne McElvoy speaks to U.S. Senator Ben Cardin, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and Celeste Wallander, U.S. assistant secretary of defense for international security affairs. News of the death of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny set the tone for the conference, where securocrats and world leaders gathered to discuss the mounting...

As security and defense chiefs descend on Bavaria this weekend for the annual Munich Security Conference, can anything be done to dampen down the geopolitical fires around the world?  On everyone's lips will be Donald Trump's latest campaign salvo, which has shaken confidence in America’s commitment to the Atlantic defense alliance. The wars in Gaza and Ukraine, along with the crisis in the Red Se...

The largest NATO exercise since the Cold War is underway in the North Atlantic. The most powerful military alliance on the planet is putting on a show of strength — hoping that the Kremlin is taking note. As Congress struggles to agree a new package of American support for Ukraine, can the rest of the alliance share the burden? In this week's edition of Power Play, host Anne McElvoy speaks to the...

As Donald Trump’s seemingly unstoppable campaign to win the Republican nomination gathers pace, most eyes in America and the world are moving to the more important contest — between him and Joe Biden.  Trump’s resurgence is causing jitters in the Biden camp. He has a small but consistent lead in national polls. Will Biden manage to keep hold of the electoral coalition that brought him to the White...

How much attention is Africa receiving as the world remains transfixed by wars in Europe, the Middle East, and as elections in the West loom? This week, host Anne McElvoy talks to the award-winning musician and activist Angélique Kidjo about her campaign to improve education for girls in Africa and to address the humanitarian needs of her native continent. They also discuss the U.K.'s attempts to...

The focus of the 2024 World Economic Forum at Davos was on rebuilding trust, with artificial intelligence top of the agenda. Since the roll out of AI-powered chat bots, AI has developed a major trust problem among the public. The majority of Americans said last year that the risks of AI outweigh the potential benefits, and in the EU, Europeans were overwhelmingly in favor of restrictions around it...

As the World Economic Forum draws to a close in Davos, Power Play rounds off the week with analysis of an eventful week in the Swiss Alps. Host Anne McElvoy brings together a top team of POLITICO's reporters: Alex Ward, national security reporter based in Washington; Nahal Toosi, senior foreign affairs correspondent; and Suzanne Lynch, author of POLITICO's Global Playbook, your must-read each morn...

In this episode, U.K. Foreign Secretary David Cameron sits down with Anne McElvoy at the World Economic Forum to discuss the Houthi attacks in the Red Sea, Britain's role in the Israel-Hamas war, as well as Russia's ongoing war in Ukraine — which he says is his "absolute number one priority." Cameron adds, "One thing we can do is demonstrate during the course of this year that Putin isn't winning....

Donald Trump's emphatic victory in the Iowa caucuses has been the talking point of many at the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos. Meanwhile, the accelerating pace of artificial intelligence is also never far from the lips of those attending this year's WEF. In today's edition of Power Play — continuing our special coverage of Davos — host Anne McElvoy explores these two prevailing themes. Anne t...

As the World Economic Forum gets underway in Davos, many of the world's most powerful business leaders, politicians and tech gurus — and even the odd veteran pop star — have arrived in the Swiss Alps hoping to set the agenda for the year ahead.  This week we present four episodes of Power Play with an array of interviews and analysis. Today, host Anne McElvoy brings together three of POLITICO's ke...