Is Donald Trump Creating the Conditions for Another World War?
The Political Scene | The New Yorker
The New Yorker
4.2 • 3.3K Ratings
🗓️ 9 January 2026
⏱️ 46 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
The Washington Roundtable discusses Donald Trump’s use of force in Venezuela, his desire to take over Greenland, and the historical echoes of the Administration’s new imperialist projects. The panel also considers Trump’s brand of “narcissistic unilateralism” and the increased risks of global conflict when foreign policy is based on one man’s whims. “Donald Trump wants to write his name into history,” the staff writer Susan B. Glasser says. “He wants every single person in the world to have to exchange their map for one of the United States that looks different, that looks bigger, and that everybody for all eternity will say, ‘Donald Trump did this.’ ”
This week’s reading:
- “Why Donald Trump Wants Greenland (and Everything Else),” by Susan B. Glasser
- “Minneapolis Grieves, Again,” by E. Tammy Kim
- “Mr. Mamdani’s (New) Neighborhood,” by Molly Fischer
- “The Aggressive Ambitions of Trump’s ‘Donroe Doctrine,’ ” by Robin Wright
- “What Will Become of Venezuela’s Political Prisoners?,” by Stephania Taladrid
- “J. D. Vance’s Notable Absence on Venezuela,” by Benjamin Wallace-Wells
- “The Dramatic Arraignment of Nicolás Maduro,” by Cristian Farias
- “The Former Trump Skeptics Getting Behind His War in Venezuela,” by Isaac Chotiner
- “Jack Smith’s Closing Argument,” by Ruth Marcus
- “Marjorie Taylor Greene’s Big Breakup,” by Charles Bethea
The Political Scene draws on the reporting and analysis found in The New Yorker for lively conversations about the big questions in American politics. Join the magazine’s writers and editors as they put into context the latest news—about elections, the economy, the White House, the Supreme Court, and much more. New episodes are available three times a week.
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| 0:00.0 | Welcome to the political scene from The New Yorker. |
| 0:07.2 | A weekly discussion about the big questions in American politics. |
| 0:10.7 | I'm Evan Osnos and I'm joined as ever by my colleagues Jane Mayer and Susan Glasser. |
| 0:16.4 | Hi, Jane and I, Susan. |
| 0:18.2 | Hey, it's so great to be together. |
| 0:19.8 | Good guys, so glad to see you. Happy New Year. |
| 0:24.9 | Today, it is barely a week into 2026, and we're facing a changed world. There's no other way to put it. |
| 0:31.5 | It's a world bound less than it was even one week ago by law and diplomacy than it is by the sheer force of one man's domination. |
| 0:40.8 | In Venezuela, the administration of Donald Trump has embarked on an adventure of lethal force with little concern for international law. |
| 0:49.3 | And on American soil, we've witnessed an extraordinary use of official force when an ice agent in Minnesota killed a woman in her car, a shooting that was widely documented on video, which drew plainly false defenses from the White House and immediate street protests from the public. |
| 1:07.0 | The history here looms heavily. Franklin Roosevelt in the days after Pearl Harbor warned, quote, |
| 1:13.4 | there is no such thing as security for the nation or any individual in a world ruled by the principles of gangsterism. |
| 1:23.1 | By contrast this week, Donald Trump told the New York Times that the only limit on his global power is, as he put it, quote, my own morality, my own mind. |
| 1:34.7 | It's the only thing that can stop me. |
| 1:37.8 | Asked why he needed new territories such as Greenland, he said, ownership is very important because that's what I feel is psychologically |
| 1:47.7 | needed for success, unquote. So in this episode, we're going to have a bracing conversation, I think |
| 1:56.1 | it's fair to say, about the scale and the impact of this moment. What's the spectrum of risks when so much rides |
| 2:03.9 | on the whims of one man? And where have we seen this before? What is history telling us about |
| 2:10.7 | where this just may be taking us? Jane, Trump has suggested in the days since the assault on Venezuela that the U.S. |
| 2:22.3 | could use our military to various effects in a whole range of other places, Greenland, |
| 2:27.3 | of course, but also Cuba, Colombia, even Mexico. There are a lot of questions swirling around. |
| 2:33.3 | And I'm wondering how you decide what to take |
... |
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