The President’s Inbox

Climate Change Realism on Earth Day 2025, With Varun Sivaram

Varun Sivaram, senior fellow for energy and climate and Director of the Climate Realism Initiative at the Council, sits down with James M. Lindsay to discuss the state of the global environment and U.S. climate policies on the occasion of Earth Day 2025.

 

Mentioned on the Episode:

 

Varun Sivaram, Taming the Sun

 

Varun Sivaram, “We Need a Fresh Approach to Climate Policy. It’s Time for Climate Realism," CFR.org

 

“The Moral Assumptions Embedded in Economic Models of Climate Change,” The Economist

For an episode transcript and show notes, visit The President’s Inbox at: https://www.cfr.org/podcasts/tpi/climate-change-realism-earth-day-2025-varun-sivaram

Trump’s Plan for the Panama Canal, With Will Freeman

Will Freeman, fellow for Latin America studies at CFR, sits down with James M. Lindsay to discuss President Donald Trump’s calls for the United States to retake control of the Panama Canal.

 

Mentioned on the Episode:

 

Will Freeman, “A New Monroe Doctrine Is Unlikely to Work for the US in South America,” Financial Times

 

Will Freeman, “Securing the Panama Canal Requires Diplomacy,” Americas Quarterly

 

Donald J. Trump, “The Inaugural Address,” January 20, 2025

 

Donald J. Trump, “Truth Social Post,” December 21, 2024

For an episode transcript and show notes, visit The President’s Inbox at: https://www.cfr.org/podcasts/tpi/trumps-plan-panama-canal-will-freeman

Confronting the China Challenge, With Dmitri Alperovitch

Dmitri Alperovitch, co-founder and chairman of Silverado Policy Accelerator, co-founder and former chief technology officer of cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike, and author of World on the Brink: How America Can Beat China in the Race for the Twenty-First Century, sits down with James M. Lindsay to discuss the geopolitical rivalry between China and the United States, its impact on U.S. interests, and how the United States should respond.

 

Mentioned on the Episode:

 

Dmitri Alperovitch, World on the Brink: How America Can Beat China in the Race for the Twenty-First Century

 

Jeffrey Goldberg, "The Trump Administration Accidentally Texted Me Its War Plans," The Atlantic

 

Admiral Samuel Paparo, "USINDOPACOM Commander Adresses Honolulu Defense Forum," February 14, 2025.

 

For an episode transcript and show notes, visit The President’s Inbox at: https://www.cfr.org/podcasts/tpi/confronting-china-challenge-dmitri-alperovitch

Germany's Rearmament, With Sophia Besch

Sophia Besch, a senior fellow in the Europe Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, sits down with James M. Lindsay to discuss Germany’s ambitious rearmament plans amidst deepening concerns about the U.S. commitment to European security.

 

Mentioned on the Episode:

 

Sophia Besch, "A Zeitenwende for Germany's Defense Industry," U.S. Army War College Strategic Studies Institute

 

Sophia Besch and Erik Brown, "Who's Going to United Europe on Defense?" Carnegie Endowment for International Peace

 

Sophia Besch and Tara Varma, “A New Transatlantic Alliance Threatens the EU,” Carnegie Endowment for International Peace

For an episode transcript and show notes, visit The President’s Inbox at: https://www.cfr.org/podcasts/tpi/germanys-rearmament-sophia-besch

The New Era of Economic Warfare, With Edward Fishman

Edward Fishman, senior research scholar and adjunct professor at Columbia University and author of Chokepoints: American Power in an Age of Economic Warfare, sits down with James M. Lindsay to discuss the United States’ expanded use of financial and trade sanctions in recent years and whether they have enabled Washington to accomplish its foreign policy objectives.

 

Mentioned on the Episode: 

 

Edward Fishman, Chokepoints: American Power in an Age of Economic Warfare

For an episode transcript and show notes, visit The President’s Inbox at: https://www.cfr.org/podcasts/tpi/new-era-economic-warfare-edward-fishman

Conflict in Eastern Congo, With Mvemba Dizolele

Mvemba Dizolele, senior fellow and director of the Africa Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, sits down with James M. Lindsay to discuss the renewed fighting in the Eastern Congo that pits the M23 rebel group backed by Rwanda against the government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

 

Mentioned on the Episode: 

 

Mvemba Dizolele, Into Africa, Center for Strategic and International Studies

For an episode transcript and show notes, visit The President’s Inbox at: https://www.cfr.org/podcasts/tpi/conflict-eastern-congo-mvemba-dizolele

U.S. Space Policy, With Nina Armagno and Jane Harman

Nina Armagno, retired United States Space Force lieutenant general, and Jane Harman, former congresswoman and president emerita of the Wilson Center, sit down with James M. Lindsay to discuss the increasing importance of space as a commercial opportunity and strategic vulnerability for the United States.

 

Mentioned on the Episode: 

 

Council on Foreign Relations, Securing Space: A Plan for U.S. Action 

For an episode transcript and show notes, visit The President’s Inbox at: https://www.cfr.org/podcasts/tpi/us-space-policy-nina-armagno-jane-harman

Reporting from China, With Jane Perlez

Jane Perlez, a fellow at the Harvard Kennedy School’s Belfer Center and a longtime foreign correspondent for the New York Times, sits down with James M. Lindsay to discuss the decline of foreign reporting from Beijing and its consequences for U.S.-China relations.

 

Mentioned on the Episode: 

 

Jane Perlez and Rana Mitter, with Lingling Wei, “Journalists in China,” Face-Off: The U.S. vs. China

For an episode transcript and show notes, visit The President’s Inbox at: https://www.cfr.org/podcasts/tpi/reporting-china-jane-perlez

Trump’s Peace Plan for Ukraine, With Liana Fix and Charles A. Kupchan

Liana Fix, CFR fellow for Europe, and Charles A. Kupchan, CFR senior fellow and professor of international affairs at Georgetown University, sit down with James M. Lindsay on the third anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine to discuss Trump's evolving policy toward Ukraine.

 

Mentioned on the Episode: 

 

Scott Bessent, “Economic Partnership Will Protect the Ukrainian People and the US Taxpayer,” Financial Times

 

Heidi Crebo-Rediker, “The Art of a Good Deal: Ukraine’s Strategic Economic Opportunity for the United States,” CFR.org

 

Rush Doshi, “The Trump Administration’s China Challenge,” Foreign Affairs

 

Liana Fix, “Partners in Peacemaking: How the United States and Europe Can End the War in Ukraine," CFR.org 

 

Michael Froman and Charles A. Kupchan, “Supporting Ukraine Is in Trump’s Interest,” Project Syndicate 

For an episode transcript and show notes, visit The President’s Inbox at: https://www.cfr.org/podcasts/tpi/trumps-peace-plan-ukraine-liana-fix-charles-kupchan

Modi Meets Trump, With Tanvi Madan

Tanvi Madan, senior fellow in the Center for Asia Policy Studies at the Brookings Institution, sits down with James M. Lindsay to discuss the White House meeting between Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Donald Trump and what it says about current and future state of U.S.-India relations.

 

Mentioned on the Episode: 

 

Tanvi Madan, Fateful Triangle: How China Shaped US-India Relations During the Cold War

 

Tanvi Madan, “India Is Hoping for a Trump Bump,” Foreign Affairs

For an episode transcript and show notes, visit The President’s Inbox at: https://www.cfr.org/podcasts/tpi/modi-meets-trump-tanvi-madan