Swamp Notes

As the conflict between Israel and Iran enters its second week, US President Donald Trump is openly considering bombing the Islamic republic. If he does, he runs the risk of angering a faction in his coalition that has long derided US military intervention overseas. The FT’s Edward Luce and Guy Chazan unpack the conservative power players and Maga influencers who now find themselves on opposite si...

US President Donald Trump deployed federal troops to quell protests in Los Angeles the same week of a massive military parade in Washington, DC. How might this change the relationship between the country and its military? James Politi, the FT’s Washington bureau chief, and Chris Mirasola, law professor at the University of Houston, break down how the administration is defending its growing comfort...

US President Donald Trump doubled tariffs on steel to 50 per cent this week. He’s also allowing Japan’s Nippon to buy the US Steel Corporation. The moves are meant to bring back manufacturing to America’s steel industry. But will they? FT senior trade writer Alan Beattie and Zehra Munir, the FT’s industrial reporter, discuss whether Trump can make good on a popular promise.  Mentioned in this...

In a special six-part series of The Economics Show, Martin Wolf, the FT’s chief economics commentator, and Nobel Prize-winning economist Paul Krugman discuss the economic events reshaping the world in the wake of US President Donald Trump’s election.  Subscribe and listen to this series on The Economics Show on Apple Podcasts , Spotify , Pocket Casts or wherever you listen to podcasts. ...

Republicans are often known as the party of fiscal responsibility. This week, Swamp Notes unravels the US House of Representatives’ “big, beautiful” bill and its uncertain path forward in the Senate. Edward Luce, US national editor and columnist, and James Politi, Washington bureau chief, explain what made congressional Republicans go all in on big spending, tax cuts and more debt.  Subscribe...

This week, Swamp Notes goes to London for a live recording. Katie Martin, host of the Unhedged podcast, and Chris Giles, author of the FT’s Central Banks newsletter, discuss what Trump’s next few months might be like. Have markets truly recovered from the “liberation day” shock? What happens after the 90-day tariff pause is over? Our guests weigh in.  Mentioned in this podcast: Read the lates...

Within the space of one week, US President Donald Trump endorsed tax increases for America’s top earners and promised to slash drug prices by up to 70 per cent. It’s a platform that echoes former presidential candidate Bernie Sanders and others on the political left. So why are we hearing it from Trump, and why now? FT’s Washington bureau chief James Politi and global business columnist Rana Foroo...

Introducing Swamp Notes, the FT's US politics chat show. Every Saturday, host Marc Filippino talks to reporters in Washington as well as the FT's veteran US political commentators and a cast of expert guests to explain what the latest moves in the Capitol mean for the economy, business and for people in America — and beyond. Subscribe and listen for incisive analysis, on-the-ground insights and a...