Trump

‘Liberation Day’ marked a real threat to the world, as it risked sparking a global trade war. On 2 April, Donald Trump announced the largest tariff hike since the Smoot–Hawley Tariff Act, 1930. This move reflected Trump’s views on international trade and the global economy: He sees trade as a zero-sum game that the US is losing, and, to him, tariffs are a way to help the American economy and public finances.

Trump demands that universities, including Columbia, where he has already succeeded, formally adopt and enforce the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) definition of antisemitism, which completely blurs the line between real dislike or hatred of Jews and criticism of Israeli state policy (for which there are currently many very valid reasons).

“War,” Hillman writes, “contains within it, in the broader sense, the word peace: peace as victory. This fusion of peace with military triumph reveals itself fully in prayers for peace, where—quietly and between the lines—one is really praying for victory in war.” Every war eventually comes to an end; more or less fortunately, more or less satisfactorily for the warring sides and their allies.

Priorities. Practically every ministry, every coalition, even every group sitting at a table in a pub has a whole list of them. But so as not to sound too self-deprecating, this is not just a problem in the Czech Republic. For three and a half years, we have been hearing that defense is our European priority. I would very much like to agree with that.

Are we witnessing the weakening of political parties? If that is the case, what are the effects of this phenomenon on democracy? Is there a market for centrist politics? Has the US turned populist? And what is the future for Argentina under President Javier Milei? Leszek Jazdzewski talks with Samuel Issacharoff, the Bonnie and Richard Reiss Professor of Constitutional Law at the NYU School of Law.

What game is President Donald Trump playing with Vladimir Putin? Is peace in Ukraine attainable? And what is the role of the EU in the negotiations, if any? Leszek Jazdzewski (Fundacja Liberte!) talks with Piotr Buras, the Head of ECFR\'s Warsaw office and a Senior Policy Fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations. 

Throughout President Trump’s two terms, he has made it a central focus to try and end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), a piece of legislation that has given hundreds of thousands the ability to stay in America. In his most recent attempt to attack the program, he has declared that various universities are breaking Title VI of the Civil Rights Act, which prohibits national origin discrimination, with DACA-only scholarships.

Donald Trump\'s trade policies are not just bad economics—they are an attack on individual freedom, global cooperation, and the principles that made America strong. Classical liberalism values free markets, open societies, and limited government interference in voluntary exchange. Trade is a cornerstone of this worldview. When two people—or two nations—exchange goods freely, both benefit. It is the essence of mutual gain.

What does Donald Trump understand about politics that others don’t? What is the impact of Trump\'s presidency on Europe (and the Polish political scene in particular)? And what should we expect from the forthcoming Polish presidential elections? Leszek Jazdzewski (Fundacja Liberte!) talks with Andrzej Bobiński, the Managing Director of Polityka Insight. 

Trump has shocked Europe with his bold and unrelenting desire to seize Greenland as a US territory. Still, it should come as an even greater shock how little Europe had paid attention to this crucial landmass in the stage of newly emerging global conflicts. The Arctic has not weighed heavily in international relationships. However, with the ice melting, new trade routes are opening, and rich resources are becoming more easily accessible.