Podcast: American democracy is in danger, warns Ben Rhodes

It’s been a year since President Trump returned to office, this time with fewer constraints, a better understanding of how government works, and a much more muscular view of US foreign policy. This week on the GZERO World Podcast, Harvard’s Stephen Walt joins Ian Bremmer to help answer a simple question with complicated answers: what kind of presidency is he building this time around?

Over the past year, we’ve seen a dramatic expansion of presidential power and a rewriting of America's role in the world. There’s been a retreat from multilateral institutions, targeting of long-standing allies, and a view of global politics where great powers dominate, and weaker ones fall in line. It’s a big departure from 80 years of the postwar order America spent building and leading. How much more will change by the time he leaves office?

“A lot of the things that Trump has done are not surprising in terms of where he's trying to take things. People knew he was going to get tough on tariffs. They knew he was going to be harsh on Europe,” Walt says, “I'm surprised not by the direction things have gone, but by the speed and scope by which things have changed.”