Power Play

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What Trump and Musk think they can learn from Argentina’s Javier Milei Feb 13, 2025

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Donald Trump may have ruffled feathers with his closest neighbors in recent weeks, but he has a willing ally in South America. Argentina’s President Javier Milei has become something of a hero in the MAGA movement for his populist style and radical economic reforms. Will the love affair outlast an era of tariff-wielding?

Host Anne McElvoy talks to Federico Sturzenegger, the former president of Argentina’s central bank and an economist at Harvard. He is now leading the Ministry of Deregulation and State Transformation under Milei.

They discuss whether the South American free-market experiment provides a catalyst for Trump’s vision for the United States' economy and the wider world, and whether Margaret Thatcher — elected as Britain's Conservative Party leader 50 years ago this week — is an inspiration for Milei.

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Larry Summers: How to deal with Trump's tariff threat Feb 06, 2025

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United States President Donald Trump has shown he means business when it comes to threatening a splurge of tariffs around the globe. Mexico and Canada agreed last-minute deals to temporarily avert tariffs, whereas China was not spared. Will the president's combative approach pay off?

Host Anne McElvoy talks to Larry Summers, former U.S. Treasury secretary under President Bill Clinton and economics professor at Harvard University. Summers is an outspoken critic of the Trump administration’s use of tariffs and offers candid advice to the European Union and the United Kingdom on how to respond to the threat of them.

They also discuss how American universities are dealing with the Trump administration's efforts to remove diversity and inclusion programs and whether campuses could face fresh protests this spring.

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Why DeepSeek has deepened the US-China AI rivalry Jan 30, 2025

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Donald Trump has made a blitz of announcements designed to boost the United States' tech industry. But then a new Chinese artificial intelligence model came along and caused a stir on Wall Street. Is this a new dawn or a fresh threat?

Host Anne McElvoy talks to one of Silicon Valley’s leading entrepreneurs, Reid Hoffman. Co-founder of LinkedIn, he’s invested in companies like Airbnb and Facebook and is now investing in AI startups. His new book is called "Superagency: What Could Possibly Go Right with Our AI Future."

How does his optimistic vision for the future square with the disruptive force of a world powered by AI — and one in which American and Chinese rivalry could have unforeseen consequences?

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Sponsored content: Davos marks a new era of collaboration on AI Jan 27, 2025

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The world has entered a new era of intelligence, as artificial intelligence technologies are being rapidly developed and adopted across industries and around the globe. So, it’s apropos that the theme of the 2025 World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, was “Collaboration in the Intelligent Age.” With the first provisions of the European Union’s AI Act set to roll out shortly after the forum wraps, conversations in Davos were buzzing around AI.

In an ever-changing global marketplace, collaborative development and effective governance are essential to building AI ecosystems that are transparent, ethically compliant and safe. On a special branded episode of Power Play, presented by IBM, POLITICO Focus contributor David Himmel explores what true collaboration looks like, the ways open AI systems are changing the game for businesses of all sizes and how industry leaders can work with governments to ensure a return on investment that benefits everyone.

Himmel speaks with Christina Montgomery, IBM’s chief privacy and trust officer and interim leader of government affairs. She talks about the need for access to open AI development, the importance of privacy and how diverse, global collaboration will help solve the questions and challenges we face in this new age of intelligence.

Power Play is a POLITICO original podcast series. This special branded episode from IBM was produced by POLITICO Focus.

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Davos 2025: What is Trump's plan for Ukraine? Jan 24, 2025

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This year’s annual jamboree in the Alps is drawing to a close. And the man who’s dominated the week — Donald Trump —spoke to the World Economic Forum. He’s hardly the centrist “Davos Man” but he had a message from Washington for the gathering.

In Power Play's final edition from the World Economic Forum in Davos, host Anne McElvoy talks to William Browder, financier and activist, who has been a leading campaigner against Vladimir Putin’s regime since his lawyer, Sergei Magnitsky, was arrested and died in custody in Russia 15 years ago. Does he think Trump can strike a deal with Putin to end the war in Ukraine?

Later, she talks to Suzanne Lynch, author of POLITICO’s Global Playbook, who steps away from her whirlwind of conversations to sum up the week’s events — and gossip — here in Davos.

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Davos 2025: Will Trump's 'golden age' pay off? Jan 23, 2025

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Is America headed for a new "golden age"? Or will Donald Trump’s promise falter? And where does that leave the quest for prosperity across the Atlantic? They're the questions on the lips of many economists, business leaders and politicians gathering at the World Economic Forum in Davos.

Host Anne McElvoy talks to two authorities on the United States and global economy: Ken Rogoff, professor at Harvard, chess grand master and former chief economist at the International Monetary Fund, and Huw van Steenis, who was a senior adviser to the former Bank of England Governor Mark Carney and is now vice chair at the consultancy Oliver Wyman.

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Davos 2025: Changing their minds on Trump — Anthony Scaramucci and Niall Ferguson Jan 22, 2025

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President Trump’s first 24 hours in the White House have certainly been the talking point here in Davos, as business leaders and politicians digest what the new era means for them and the rest of the world.

Continuing Power Play's daily coverage from the World Economic Forum in Davos, host Anne McElvoy talks to two figures who know how the President operates and who have changed their minds about him. Anthony Scaramucci was briefly the White House’s communications director in Donald Trump’s first administration before going on to campaign against him. Later, she talks to historian Niall Ferguson, senior fellow at Stanford and Harvard Universities and an authority on American and European political history. Previously a critic, he argues that Trump's second term ambitions should be taken seriously.

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Davos 2025: How different will the new Trump era be? Jan 21, 2025

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New United States President Donald Trump declared a "new golden age" for America in an inauguration speech that defiantly set out his vision for his next four years at the White House. Will he fulfill his promises and how different will this presidency be to his last?

Continuing Power Play's daily coverage of the World Economic Forum in Davos, host Anne McElvoy surveys the impact of the speech on U.S. politics and beyond. She talks to POLITICO's global editor-in-chief John Harris, who arrived in Switzerland from Washington just before the new president took his oath of office. She's also joined by Ryan Lizza, POLITICO's chief Washington correspondent and writer of the magazine, to chew over the speech and its reverberations around Washington.

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Davos 2025: Global elites prepare for Trump's new America Jan 20, 2025

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It’s that time of year! Thousands of business leaders, politicians, tech maestros and an array of hangers are about to descend on the Swiss Alps. As the 55th meeting of the annual World Economic Forum gets underway in Davos, many eyes will be on Washington D.C. when Donald Trump takes the presidential oath — and a new global era begins.

To open Power Play's daily coverage of Davos, host Anne McElvoy is joined by POLITICO's Jack Blanchard in Washington, where he starts today as the new managing editor of Playbook, and a doyen of Davos, Adrian Monck, who was Head of Communications for the World Economic Forum between 2009 and 2023. They discuss what to expect from Trump's inauguration and the diplomacy that goes on behind the scenes at the forum.

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The UN funding crisis: Tough choices on Ukraine and Gaza Jan 16, 2025

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The war in Ukraine is about to enter its fourth year. Will the incoming administration in Washington bring it to an end — and what will that mean for the millions of refugees inside the war-torn country and the territories Russia occupies?

Host Anne McElvoy talks to Tom Fletcher, United Nations undersecretary-general for humanitarian affairs and emergency relief coordinator, who has been in Ukraine to survey the toll the conflict has taken on the Ukrainian people and its infrastructure.

They also discuss the huge task facing the U.N. following a cease-fire in Gaza. As a former senior foreign policy adviser to three British prime ministers — Tony Blair, Gordon Brown and David Cameron — Fletcher has advice for Peter Mandelson, who is about to become Britain's next ambassador to the United States, on how to handle Donald Trump.

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