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The United States will no longer play global policeman, and no one else wants the job. This is not a G-7 or a G-20 world. Welcome to the GZERO, a world made volatile by an intensifying international battle for power and influence. Every week on this podcast, Ian Bremmer will interview the world leaders and the thought leaders shaping our GZERO World.

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GZERO World podcast logo superimposed on a photo of Elon Musk looking at President Donald Trump in the Oval Office.

Where Trump-Musk bromance goes from here, with Semafor’s Ben Smith

Ian Bremmer and Semafor’s Ben Smith discuss how the Trump-Musk alliance imploded so spectacularly (and publicly) and if their relationship can survive the fallout.

It was an extraordinary public fight between two billionaires—President Donald Trump, the world’s most powerful man, and Elon Musk, the world’s richest. On a special bonus episode of the GZERO World Podcast, Ian Bremmer sits down with Semafor co-founder and editor-in-chief Ben Smith to talk about Trump and Musk’s messy breakup, what led to the explosive public fallout, and whether there’s any chance of reconciliation.


Though their feud appears to be cooling down, there’s still a lot at stake for both men: namely, Musk’s political funding for the GOP ahead of the 2026 midterms and billions in government contracts and subsidies for his companies, which Trump has threatened to cancel. In the battle between politicians and tech oligarchs, who holds more power? Will President Trump’s ability to punish his enemies in consequential ways have long-term consequences for Musk? And how does a fight like this change the nature of political journalism when everything is happening in real time in full view of the public? Smith and Bremmer break down the end of the bromance that has defined President Trump’s second term and where the administration’s relationship with Silicon Valley goes from here.

Subscribe to the GZERO World Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, or your preferred podcast platform, to receive new episodes as soon as they're published

More from GZERO World Podcast

World Cup politics, with the Financial Times' Simon Kuper

The World Cup arrives in North America this week, bringing with it billions of viewers, billions of dollars, and no shortage of political controversy. But according to Financial Times columnist Simon Kuper, none of that is new - the tournament has always reflected the world around it.

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The World Cup is the planet's biggest sporting event, and the most political one. This year, it will also be the most profitable spectacle of all time.... More >

The Supreme Court's biggest tests ahead, with Emily Bazelon

From birthright citizenship to the independence of federal agencies, the Supreme Court is poised to decide a series of cases that could redefine the balance of power in Washington. Yale legal scholar and New York Times Magazine staff writer Emily Bazelon joins Ian Bremmer to assess what's at stake and whether the judiciary remains an effective check on presidential authority.

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The Supreme Court is facing some of the biggest legal and political questions of the Trump era. Emily Bazelon joins Ian Bremmer to break down the rulings that could reshape executive power, voting... More >

Winners and losers of the Iran war, with Kori Schake



Operation Epic Fury may be over, but the Iran war is far from resolved. On this week's episode, American Enterprise Institute Kori Schake joins Ian Bremmer to discuss the conflict's global ripple effects.

With the Strait of Hormuz effectively closed to commercial shipping, the US finds itself in what Schake calls a Mexican standoff, unable to force Iran's hand without dramatic escalation, and unwilling to accept the humiliation of ceding control of one of the world's most critical waterways. Meanwhile, Washington's two biggest rivals are gaining ground. Russia is cashing in on higher oil prices at a moment when the Kremlin was under mounting financial pressure over Ukraine.

In Beijing, the Trump-Xi summit took place with the White House in a weakened position. The US needs China's help pressuring Iran, and Xi knows it. As Schake puts it: "It's an important measure of just how much President Trump has lost in starting the war in Iran and pursuing it in the way he has, that he's having to go appeal to China, America's most powerful potential adversary, for assistance in delivering us from a problem of our own creation."

The costs for US allies are adding up too. Partner countries are absorbing economic pain they had no hand in creating, with energy prices squeezing European economies. Schake also raises a harder structural question: with Patriot systems redirected from Europe to the Gulf and munitions stocks stretched thin, the war has laid bare the limits of the American defense industrial base, and what it means for the credibility of US commitments around the world..

Three months into the Iran war, the Strait of Hormuz is in a standoff and the geopolitical fallout is spreading fast. Kori Schake of the American Enterprise Institute breaks down with Ian Bremmer... More >

How AI is transforming warfare and the US military with Katrina Manson


Ian Bremmer sits with Bloomberg defense tech reporter Katrina Manson, who spent years reporting on Project Maven for her new book on the Pentagon's AI push.

The program launched in 2017 with a narrow mandate: use machine learning to process drone footage. It has since expanded into something far more ambitious. Autonomous weapons, drone swarming technology, and AI-assisted targeting are now central to how the Pentagon talks about modern warfare.

The tech rollout is fast, but not reliable. Algorithms fail when the battlefield changes. The targeting process is accelerating to the point where operators are clicking through AI recommendations with little ability to question them. Manson says the military knows about AI's vulnerability "to sycophancy, to escalation, to bias and hallucination," and has not yet found adequate solutions.

Bremmer and Manson also take on the US-China AI race, the IDF's use of AI in Gaza, and what the Anthropic contract dispute reveals about the fault lines between commercial AI ethics and military requirements.


Subscribe to the GZERO World with Ian Bremmer Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or your preferred podcast platform, to receive new episodes as soon as they're published.

Bloomberg reporter Katrina Manson joins Ian Bremmer to discuss Project Maven, the program that brought AI to the heart of US warfare, and the risks that come with it.... More >

GZERO Podcasts

The World Cup is the planet's biggest sporting event, and the most political one. This year, it will also be the most profitable spectacle of all time.... More >

Listen: What does global energy transition look like in a time of major geopolitical change, including rebalancing of trade? In this special episode of "Energized: The Future of Energy,” host JJ... More >

Creating artificial human retinas in zero gravity. Mining rare minerals on the moon. There seems to be no limit to what could be possible if we continue to take our more important industries to... More >

In this episode of GZERO Europe, Carl Bildt considers what the collapse of the joint French-German-Spanish fighter aircraft project means for European defense.... More >

In this episode of The Ripple Effect: Investing in Life Sciences, host Dan Riskin speaks with Patrick Horber, President of Novartis International, and David Gluckman, Vice Chairman of Investment... More >