Freddy Gray

Freddy Gray

Freddy Gray is deputy editor of The Spectator and the editor of the US edition. He hosts Americano on YouTube.

Thursday

Freddy Gray

Did Joe Biden’s presidency really happen?

Trees fall in forests, and forgotten statesmen make speeches. Last Saturday, Joe Biden gave his first post-presidential speech to something called National High School Model United Nations, which seems to be a conference for people who maybe don’t exist and nobody outside the room noticed. The event was, according to Philip Wegmann at RealClearPolitics, closed to the press, with no recording of Biden’s remarks made. It’s spooky. The 46th presidency only ended eight weeks ago and already Biden is a ghost. Donald Trump constantly evokes his name – the worst president ever, a catastrophe for this country etc. etc. – and yet the man himself has evanesced.

Biden
Freddy Gray

Ukraine is just one part of Trump’s Great Game

From our UK edition

Washington D.C. For Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin, it’s a case of today Ukraine, tomorrow the world. In their much-hyped telephone call this week, the Russian leader didn’t appear to give much away: a step towards a sort-of ceasefire, a prisoner swap and a few other bits and bobs. But Putin knows that Trump wants a lot more than just an agreement on the Donbas. Settling the most significant conflict in Europe since the second world war is merely a prelude to a much bigger deal in the Holy Land, a truly historic arrangement that could satisfy the Donald’s desire to be thought of as a peace legend. That’s why Trump sent Steve Witkoff, his special envoy to the Middle East, to Moscow to pre-negotiate with Putin last week.

Wednesday

Freddy Gray

Has Putin played Trump?

From our UK edition

24 min listen

Russia and Ukraine have launched air attacks on each other, hours after Vladimir Putin told Trump that Russia would stop targeting Ukrainian energy sites. Has Putin outplayed Trump? And will Trump regret bringing Europe's militaries back to life? Deputy and US editor Freddy Gray is joined by Americano regular and author Jacob Heilbrunn to discuss.

putin
Freddy Gray

Donald Trump, Putin and the Concert of Arabia

For Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin, it’s a case of “Today Ukraine, tomorrow the world.” In their much-hyped phone call this week, the Russian leader didn’t seem to give much away: a step toward a sort-of ceasefire, a prisoner swap, and a few other odds and ends. But Putin knows that Trump wants much more than just an agreement on the Donbas. Settling the most significant conflict in Europe since World War Two is merely a prelude to a much bigger deal in the Holy Land — a truly historic arrangement that could fulfill Trump’s desire to be seen as a legendary peacemaker. That’s why Trump sent Steve Witkoff, his special envoy to the Middle East, to Moscow last week to pre-negotiate with Putin.

Tuesday

Freddy Gray

Trump is giving Putin the opportunity to play nice

From our UK edition

Almost exactly seven years ago, on Monday 19 March 2018, Donald Trump decided he wanted to telephone Vladimir Putin to congratulate the Russian president on his re-election. The call was set up for the following day, though Trump’s then national security advisor H R McMaster ordered his team to give the President helpful note cards. The first said, in capitals: ‘DO NOT CONGRATULATE ON ELECTION WIN.’ Of course, Trump completely ignored the instruction and applauded Vladimir on his triumph. Trump also neglected to mention the Novichok poison attack on Sergei Skripal in Salisbury, England, which had taken place earlier that month – and which British intelligence officers had characterised as a Kremlin-ordered assassination attempt.

Thursday

Freddy Gray

What’s RFK Jr. really up to?

Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s program to Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) appears to be ahead of schedule. At the start of the month, the burger chain Steak ’n Shake announced that it would be frying its food in beef tallow rather than seed oils — and other major restaurant groups are following suit.This week, Kennedy, who hates seed oils and processed foods, rewarded Steak with an almighty PR stunt. He sat down with Fox News’s Sean Hannity to enjoy a burger (Hannity had two) at a branch in Florida. “People are raving about these French fries,” said JFK’s nephew. “They’re amazing,” Hannity agreed.It remains to be seen if the “RFK-ing” of fast food will achieve substantial results.

rfk

Wednesday

Freddy Gray

Can Trump survive a recession?

From our UK edition

27 min listen

Freddy Gray is joined by Fox News broadcaster Deroy Murdock to discuss Trump's America. They cover what could be the real reason behind Trump's tariffs, how concerned Americans should be about a recession, the Ukraine-Russia peace plan and what the Democrats can do to recover from the election defeat.

Tuesday

Freddy Gray

‘Gentle parenting’ & why therapy might be harming children

From our UK edition

26 min listen

Is mental health overdiagnosis harming children? Abigail Shrier, author of Bad Therapy: Why the Kids Aren’t Growing Up, joins Freddy Gray on the Americano show to discuss how mental health experts are potentially damaging children. Have our efforts to support our children backfired?

Thursday

Freddy Gray

China’s response to Trump’s tariffs marks a dramatic escalation

Might peace in Ukraine be prelude to an even more serious conflict between the United States of America and China? Is that a hysterical question? The deal-or-no-deal drama starring Donald Trump, Volodymyr Zelensky and European leaders has dominated the news in recent days, so much so that the latest clash between Washington and Beijing has gone all but unnoticed. Yet China’s official response to the Trump administration’s move to raise its tariffs on Chinese imports to 20 percent does appear to mark a dramatic escalation. "Exerting extreme pressure on China is the wrong target and the wrong calculation,’’ said China’s foreign ministry spokesperson Lin Jian. "If the US has other intentions and insists on a tariff war, trade war or any other war, China will fight to the end.

Freddy Gray

Is China serious about ‘war’ with America?

From our UK edition

48 min listen

Freddy Gray is joined with Michael Auslin who is an academic and historian at the Hoover Institute and author of the Substack 'THE PATOWMACK PACKET'. They discuss China's response to Trump's tariffs, whether China is serious about threats of war and how concerned Trump is about China's relationship with Russia.

Tuesday

Freddy Gray

How the ghost of Iraq haunts peace in Ukraine

From our UK edition

It’s great that JD Vance is all for free speech, though he does tend to shoot off his mouth in an off-putting way. He is, as Disraeli said of Gladstone, ‘a sophistical rhetorician, inebriated with the exuberance of his own verbosity.’ In an interview with Fox News’s Sean Hannity last night, the Vice President said: ‘If you want real security guarantees, if you want to actually ensure that Vladimir Putin does not invade Ukraine again, the very best security guarantee is to give Americans economic upside in the future of Ukraine. That is a way better security guarantee than 20,000 troops from some random country that has not fought a war in 30 or 40 years.

Freddy Gray

Does Zelensky have to go?

From our UK edition

31 min listen

Donald Trump announced last night he is suspending military aid to Ukraine until Zelensky is ‘ready for peace’. Following this, the Vice President JD Vance sparked further international outrage in a Fox News interview referring to Britain as ‘some random country that hasn’t fought a war in 30 or 40 years’. JD Vance has since come out saying that he was not referring to the UK or France in that interview - although critics can’t work out who else he could have been talking about.  Freddy Gray is joined by The Spectator’s Russia correspondent Owen Matthews to discuss whether the only way for there to be peace in Ukraine is for Zelensky to go, how far China and Russia’s relations have prospered since the war, and whether Trump will win a Nobel Peace Prize.

Friday

Freddy Gray

How successful was Keir Starmer’s visit to Washington?

From our UK edition

25 min listen

Freddy is joined by The Spectator World’s deputy US editor, Kate Andrews, and The Telegraph columnist, Tim Stanley, to talk about Keir Starmer’s much-anticipated meeting with Donald Trump in Washington. Across the board, it has been read as a success – at least domestically, that is. The victories include movement on the Ukraine backstop, some positive discussions around the UK avoiding tariffs, and a second state visit is on the horizon as well. The biggest win, though, was the number of compliments that the president gave Starmer, including – puzzlingly – about his accent. The Spectator World’s Ben Domenech secured an interview with Donald Trump after the Starmer meeting, in which he was similarly effusive about the PM: ‘I thought he was very good.

Freddy Gray

How Starmer won over the Donald

From our UK edition

14 min listen

Unbelievably, Keir Starmer arrives back from Washington today after a successful meeting with Donald Trump. In fact, it’s hard to see how it could have gone much better. Top of the list of victories: it looks like some headway was made in avoiding tariffs on the UK and, on Ukraine, the pair discussed the prime minister’s call for a security backstop for any deal. Starmer described that part of the talks as ‘productive’ and said that a ‘deal has to come first’. There will also be a second state visit for the President.  The greatest victory however is winning personal and effusive praise from the President. The Spectator’s sister magazine in the US was the first to get Trump’s reaction. The president told editor-at-large Ben Domenech: ‘I thought he was very good.

Thursday

Freddy Gray

The case for climate humanism

From our UK edition

28 min listen

Robert Bryce, an energy expert and author of The Question of Power, discusses the state of global energy, electric vehicles, and government policies both in the UK and America. Freddy and Robert look at how government subsidies and mandates have driven automakers toward unprofitable EV production, what is energy humanism, and how foreign interference has shaped climate policies over the past decade.

Freddy Gray

Chagos – the riviera of the Indian Ocean?

From our UK edition

Keir Starmer seemed on unusually good form as he arrived in Washington last night. He cracked quite a good joke about the United Kingdom’s new ambassador to the United States, Lord Mandelson. Maybe, just maybe, there’s a charismatic statesman lurking behind the Prime Minister’s dreary exterior. We shall see. At any rate, assuming no bizarre media blow ups in the coming hours, the odds are that the Trump-Starmer meeting today will prove to be a success. Despite his reputation, Trump tends to like people, especially British PMs (he tried and failed with Theresa May) and reports are that he responded well to his long first telephone call with Sir Keir last month.

Thursday

Freddy Gray

Is Trump right about Ukraine?

From our UK edition

24 min listen

Donald Trump attacked the Ukrainian President overnight, describing him as a 'dictator' and saying he's done a 'terrible job.' In return, Zelensky has accused Trump of 'living in a disinformation space.' The West has invested a huge amount of capital in the fight against Russia – and failed to secure peace. Is Trump using these offensive and odious methods in order to secure an end to the conflict? Is he the only person with the power to do so? Freddy Gray discusses with The Spectator's Russia correspondent Owen Matthews, and Sergey Radchenko, historian and author.

Freddy Gray

The cruellest thing about Trump vs Zelensky? Trump’s right

From our UK edition

And just like that, we are back in 2017. Donald Trump, the President of the United States, is posting ridiculous hyperbole on his socials and mouthing off from Mar-a-Lago, as he always has.In the last 24 hours, however, the global political and media classes have gone back to gnashing their teeth and wailing in the way they did in Trump’s first term. It’s disgraceful! It’s sub-literate! He’s Vladimir Putin’s puppet! He’s reckless and utterly out of control! And that, of course, is the point.Trump’s re-election proved that he is no aberration, so in 2025 the liberal, western world order has tried to come to terms with him. Western statesmen took turns to recognise his achievements, or his mandate, and to distance themselves from their past condemnations.

Wednesday

Freddy Gray

Was ‘free trade’ really working?

From our UK edition

29 min listen

Oren Cass, founder and chief economist of think-tank American Compass, sits down with Freddy Gray at the ARC conference in London. They react to the announcement by President Trump over the weekend of reciprocal tariffs: the decision by the US to match import duties levied by other countries.  What's the strategy behind Trump's decision? And what could the consequences be for American companies and for global trade? They also discuss the broad political consensus behind free trade in the US since the 1990s. Given the 'lived reality' that faced many American investors and companies - for example competing with Chinese Electric Vehicles - was the free trade really working anyway? Produced by Natasha Feroze and Patrick Gibbons.

Tuesday

Freddy Gray

Vance criticises Britain: is this a new era for free speech?

From our UK edition

15 min listen

The fallout continues from US vice-president J.D. Vance's speech at the Munich Security Conference. Criticising Europe over what he sees as the retreat of free speech, he singled out the case of Adam Smith-Connor in the UK as something that worries him about the direction that Britain is heading in. Smith-Connor was arrested in 2022 and prosecuted for breaching an abortion buffer-zone in Bournemouth. Freddy Gray speaks to Paul Coleman at the ARC conference in London. Paul is executive director of ADF International, a faith-based legal advocacy organisation that has been advocating for Smith-Connor. What is the truth behind abortion buffer-zones? Is this part of a wider 'censorship industrial complex'? And does Vance's criticism signal a new era of free speech?