The President’s Inbox

America at 250: The Lend-Lease Act, With Lynne Olson

Lynne Olson, acclaimed historian and author of Those Angry Days: Roosevelt, Lindbergh, and America’s Fight Over World War II, 1939–1941, sits down with James M. Lindsay to discuss the history of the Lend-Lease Act of 1941 and the domestic political struggles that shaped the United States’ entry into the Second World War.

 

To mark the 250th anniversary of the U.S. declaration of independence, CFR is dedicating a year-long series of articles, videos, podcasts, events, and special projects that will reflect on two and a half centuries of U.S. foreign policy. Featuring bipartisan voices and expert contributors, the series explores the evolution of America’s role in the world and the strategic challenges that lie ahead.

 

Mentioned on the Episode:

 

Winston Churchill, "Letter to President Franklin Delano Roosevelt," December 8, 1940

 

Council on Foreign Relations, The 10 Best and 10 Worst Decisions in U.S. Foreign Policy

 

Charles Lindbergh Testimony to the House Foreign Affairs Committee, January 23, 1941

 

Lynne Olson, Those Angry Days: Roosevelt, Lindbergh, and America’s Fight Over World War II, 1939-1941

 

Wendel Wilkie Testimony to the Senate Foreign Affairs Committee, February 10, 1941

 

For an episode transcript and show notes, visit The President’s Inbox at: https://www.cfr.org/podcasts/presidents-inbox/america-250-the-lend-lease-act

 

Opinions expressed on The President’s Inbox are solely those of the host or our guests, not of CFR, which takes no institutional positions on matters of policy.

SPECIAL EPISODE | Trump Chooses War With Iran, With Dalia Dassa Kaye

Dalia Dassa Kaye, senior fellow at the University of California, Los Angeles Burkle Center for International Relations, sits down with James M. Lindsay to discuss President Donald Trump's decision to launch a war against Iran, the prospects for regime change, and the consequences for the region.

 

Mentioned on the Episode:

 

Michael Birnbaum, John Hudson, Karen DeYoung, Natalie Allison, and Souad Mekhennet, “Push from Saudis, Israel, Helped Move Trump to Attack Iran,” Washington Post

 

Dalia Dassa Kaye, Enduring Hostility: The Making of America's Iran Policy

 

Zolan Kanno-Younge, David Sanger, and Tyler Pager, “Trump Says War Could Last Weeks and Offers Contradictory Visions of New Regime,” New York Times

 

Michael Scherer, “I Have Agreed to Talk,” The Atlantic

 

Donald Trump Truth Social Post, “HELP IS ON ITS WAY”

 

For an episode transcript and show notes, visit The President’s Inbox at: https://www.cfr.org/podcasts/presidents-inbox/trump-chooses-war-with-iran

Opinions expressed on The President’s Inbox are solely those of the host or our guests, not of CFR, which takes no institutional positions on matters of policy.

Cuba on the Brink, With Michael Bustamante

Michael Bustamante, Chair in Cuban and Cuban-American Studies at the University of Miami, sits down with James M. Lindsay to discuss the Trump administration’s maximum pressure campaign against Cuba.

 

Mentioned on the Episode:

 

Marc Caputo, “Exclusive: Rubio's Secret Squeeze on Raul Castro's Cuba,” Axios

 

For an episode transcript and show notes, visit The President’s Inbox at: https://www.cfr.org/podcasts/presidents-inbox/cuba-on-the-brink

 

Opinions expressed on The President’s Inbox are solely those of the host or our guests, not of CFR, which takes no institutional positions on matters of policy.

America at 250: Nixon Goes to China, With Jeremi Suri

Jeremi Suri, Mack Brown Distinguished Chair for Leadership in Global Affairs and Professor of Public Affairs and History at the University of Texas at Austin, sits down with James M. Lindsay to discuss President Richard Nixon's historic 1972 visit to China, which ushered in a new era of U.S.-Sino relations and altered the course of world politics.

 

To mark the 250th anniversary of the U.S. declaration of independence, CFR is dedicating a year-long series of articles, videos, podcasts, events, and special projects that will reflect on two and a half centuries of U.S. foreign policy. Featuring bipartisan voices and expert contributors, the series explores the evolution of America’s role in the world and the strategic challenges that lie ahead.

 

Mentioned on the Episode:

 

James M. Lindsay, The Ten Best and Ten Worst U.S. Foreign Policy Decisions, CFR.org

 

Richard Nixon, “Asia After Vietnam,” Foreign Affairs

 

Jeremi Suri, Henry Kissinger and the American Century

 

Jeremi Suri and Zachary Suri, Democracy of Hope

 

Jeremi Suri and Zachary Suri, This Is Democracy

 

For an episode transcript and show notes, visit The President’s Inbox at: https://www.cfr.org/podcasts/presidents-inbox/america-250-nixon-goes-to-china

Opinions expressed on The President’s Inbox are solely those of the host or our guests, not of CFR, which takes no institutional positions on matters of policy.

The New Saudi Strategy, With F. Gregory Gause III

F. Gregory Gause III, a leading scholar on Saudi Arabia and an associate fellow at the Middle East Institute, sits down with James M. Lindsay to discuss the evolution of U.S.-Saudi relations as Saudi Arabia navigates its role in a Middle East with a more assertive Israel, a weaker Iran, and a less predictable United States.

 

For an episode transcript and show notes, visit The President’s Inbox at: https://www.cfr.org/podcasts/presidents-inbox/the-new-saudi-strategy

Opinions expressed on The President’s Inbox are solely those of the host or our guests, not of CFR, which takes no institutional positions on matters of policy.

Canada Hedges Against the United States, With Jonathan Berkshire Miller

Jonathan Berkshire Miller, senior fellow at the Macdonald Laurier Institute, sits down with James M. Lindsay to discuss Canada's effort to diminish its vulnerability to U.S. economic threats and just how much middle powers like Canada can successfully hedge in a world of great power competition.

 

Mentioned on the Episode:

 

“Live From Davos: Exclusive Interview With Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent,” Human Events Daily with Jack Posobiec

 

Mark Carney, “Principled and Pragmatic: Canada’s Path,” Office of the Prime Minister of Canada

 

“Canada's Arctic Foreign Policy,” Government of Canada. Updated March 25, 2025

 

For an episode transcript and show notes, visit The President’s Inbox at: https://www.cfr.org/podcasts/presidents-inbox/canada-hedges-against-the-united-states

 

Opinions expressed on The President’s Inbox are solely those of the host or our guests, not of CFR, which takes no institutional positions on matters of policy.

Trump’s Greenland Ambitions, With Heather Conley and Rebecca Pincus

Heather Conley, nonresident senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, and Rebecca Pincus, senior fellow at the Foreign Policy Research Institute, sit down with James M. Lindsay to discuss how President Trump's desire to acquire Greenland has thrown the transatlantic relationship into its latest crisis. 

 

For an episode transcript and show notes, visit The President’s Inbox at: https://www.cfr.org/podcasts/presidents-inbox/trumps-greenland-ambitions

 

Opinions expressed on The President’s Inbox are solely those of the host or our guests, not of CFR, which takes no institutional positions on matters of policy.

America at 250: The Best and Worst U.S. Foreign Policy Decisions, With Mary Dudziak and Christopher Nichols

Mary Dudziak, Asa Griggs Candler Professor of Law at Emory University, and Christopher Nichols, Wayne Woodrow Hayes Chair in National Security Studies and Professor of History at the Ohio State University, sit down with James M. Lindsay to unpack a new CFR survey of historians on the best and worst foreign policy decisions in U.S. history.

 

To mark the 250th anniversary of the U.S. declaration of independence, CFR is dedicating a year-long series of articles, videos, podcasts, events, and special projects that will reflect on two and a half centuries of U.S. foreign policy. Featuring bipartisan voices and expert contributors, the series explores the evolution of America’s role in the world and the strategic challenges that lie ahead.

 

Mentioned on the Episode:

 

Christopher McKnight Nichols, Promise and Peril: America at the Dawn of a Global Age

 

Joshua Kurlantzick, A Great Place to Have a War

 

CFR.org, The Ten Best and Ten Worst U.S. Foreign Policy Decisions

 

For an episode transcript and show notes, visit The President’s Inbox at: https://www.cfr.org/podcasts/presidents-inbox/america-250-best-worst-us-foreign-policy-decisions

 

Opinions expressed on The President’s Inbox are solely those of the host or our guests, not of CFR, which takes no institutional positions on matters of policy.

Trump Foreign Policy at One Year, With Matthew Kroenig

Matthew Kroenig, Vice President and Senior Director of the Scowcroft Center for Strategy and Security at the Atlantic Council, sits down with James M. Lindsay to discuss how President Trump has approached foreign policy since returning to the Oval Office last January.

 

Mentioned on the Episode:

 

Matthew Kroenig, “To Get to Peace in Ukraine, Trump Should Play the Nuclear Card,” Foreign Policy

 

Matthew Kroenig, “Trump Has a Strategy for Venezuela,” Foreign Policy

 

Matthew Kroenig, “Trump Should Oust Maduro,” Foreign Policy

 

Matthew Kroenig, “Trump Was Right to Oust Maduro,” New York Times

 

Matthew Kroenig, “Two Cheers for the National Security Strategy,” Foreign Policy

 

For an episode transcript and show notes, visit The President’s Inbox at: https://www.cfr.org/podcasts/presidents-inbox/trump-foreign-policy-at-one-year-with-matthew-kroenig

 

Opinions expressed on The President’s Inbox are solely those of the host or our guests, not of CFR, which takes no institutional positions on matters of policy.

Washington’s Venezuela Strategy After Maduro, With Will Freeman

Will Freeman, fellow for Latin America studies at the Council, sits down with James M. Lindsay to discuss the consequences of the U.S. seizure of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.

 

Mentioned on the Episode:

 

Antonio Maria Delgado, ”The U.S. Gamble on Chavismo: How a Once-Unthinkable Pact Could Stabilize Venezuela,” Miami Herald

 

Will Freeman, “The Shock Waves of Venezuela: How Maduro’s Capture Could Transform Latin America,” Foreign Affairs

 

Jason Lange, ”A Third of Americans Support U.S. Strike on Venezuela, Reuters/Ipsos Poll Finds,” Reuters

 

For an episode transcript and show notes, visit The President’s Inbox at: https://www.cfr.org/podcasts/presidents-inbox/washingtons-venezuela-strategy-after-maduro-with-will-freeman 

Opinions expressed on The President’s Inbox are solely those of the host or our guests, not of CFR, which takes no institutional positions on matters of policy.