He Realised He Doesn't Have to Abide by the US System' | Maggie Haberman on Trump & Executive Power

July 6, 2026 | Maggie Haberman, White House Correspondent for The New York Times and co-author of Regime Change: Inside The Imperial Presidency of Donald Trump, speaks to Newsnight about Donald Trump's return to the White House, his relationships with Elon Musk and world leaders and why the President "refuses to be shamed". Interview by Paddy O'Connell.

Wall St Power: Are Financial Élites a Good Fit for Trump's Cabinet? | SophieCo with William D. Cohan

In his bid for office, Donald Trump promised to take on Wall Street, reign in big corporations, and blasted the Clintons for their ties to big banks. But now that he’s in the White House, he’s filled his cabinet with Goldman Sachs officials, spurring fiery debate. How much power will Wall Street’s elite have over decision-making in the new Administration? And is that really a bad thing? We ask a former Chase and Merrill Lynch Wall Street banker, the bestselling author of Money and Power and the Price of Silence – William D. Cohan.

U.S. Sends Another Top Official To Saudi Arabia
NPR: The Obama administration is sending another official to Saudi Arabia to try to smooth over relations damaged by the so-called Arab Spring. The Saudis think the U.S. is being naive about the democracy movements and canceled recent plans for Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to visit. They hosted, but only briefly, Defense Secretary Robert Gates last week, and this week it is National Security Adviser Tom Donilon's turn. Analysts say it will be difficult for the U.S. to support democracy in the Middle East and keep this strategic alliance on track. Read the transcript » | Michele Kelemen | Tuesday, April 12, 2011

Obama’s Mistakes: Chancellor Merkel Visits the Debt President
SPIEGELONLINE INTERNATIONAL: The occupant of the White House may have changed recently. But the amount of ill-advised ideology coming from Washington has remained constant. Obama's list of economic errors is long -- and continues to grow.

The president may have changed, but the excesses of American politics have remained. Barack Obama and George W. Bush, it has become clear, are more similar than they might seem at first glance.

Ex-President Bush was nothing if not zealous in his worldwide campaign against terror, transgressing human rights and breaking international law along the way. Now, Obama is displaying the same zeal in his own war against the financial crisis -- and his weapon of choice is the money-printing machine. The rules the new American president is breaking are those which govern the economy. Nobody is being killed. But the strategy comes at a price -- and that price might be America's position as a global power.

In his fight against terrorism, Bush had the ideologue Dick Cheney at his side. "We must take the battle to the enemy," he said -- and sent out the bomber squadrons toward Iraq on the basis of mere suspicion. The result of the offensive is well known.

Obama's Cheney

Obama's Cheney is named Larry Summers. He is Obama's senior-most economic advisor, and like the former vice president, he is a man of conviction. The financial crisis may be large, but Summers' self-confidence is even larger. More importantly, President Barack Obama follows him like a dog does its master.

The crisis, Summers intoned last week at a conference of Deutsche Bank's Alfred Herrhausen Society in Washington, was caused by too much confidence, too much credit and too many debts. It was hard not to nod along in agreement.

But then Summers added that the way to bring about an end to the crisis was -- more confidence, more credit and more debt. And the nodding stopped. Experts and non-experts alike were perplexed. Even in an interview following the presentation, Summers was unable to supply an adequate explanation for how a crisis caused by frivolous lending was going to be solved through yet more frivolity. >>> Gabor Steingart | Thursday, June 25, 2009