From our US edition
Will America’s ground invasion of Iran begin in the early hours of tomorrow? Everybody knows, by now, that Trump likes to initiate action late on Fridays, after the markets close. And late last night, the so-called Pentagon Pizza Watch channel – which monitors late-night food orders from the Pentagon for evidence that something big is
33 min listen
Steven Crowder, host of Louder with Crowder, joins Freddy Gray to discuss the warring factions in the podcast world, worsened since Charlie Kirk’s assassination; the global leftwing alliance promoting communism in Cuba, whether Trump was wrong to attack Iran & why Mark Carney kowtowed to China.
From our US edition
On Friday night, Donald Trump announced that America was “very close to meeting our objectives as we consider winding down our great military efforts in the Middle East.” He even pinned the announcement to the top of his Truth Social account to make sure everyone realized he meant it. That did little to settle the markets over the
From our US edition
“Whoever rules the waves rules the world” – Alfred Thayer Mahan. Would Donald Trump have attacked Iran on February 28 if the Supreme Court had not ruled against his tariffs on February 20? The two issues may seem unrelated. Yet, as a fascinating piece by Captain John Konrad has pointed out, a closer inspection of Trump’s international
31 min listen
The attack on Iran is so wildly inconsistent with the wishes of his own base that it is likely to mark the end of Trumpism as a project. Freddy Gray is joined by Spectator columnist Christopher Caldwell to discuss Trumpism, JD Vance vs Marco Rubio, what’s left of the Republican party after Trump, and the
22 min listen
King Charles is due to travel to the US on a state visit to see President Donald Trump. Given the turbulence between Starmer and Trump over the war in Iran, some politicians such as Ed Davey have suggested the King should not go. Freddy Gray speaks to royal author and Daily Mail journalist Robert Hardman
30 min listen
Freddy Gray speaks to James D. Boys, author of the new book US grand strategy and the madman theory. He is also a senior research fellow at UCL. They discuss the origins of the madman theory – which applies insights from psychology to understand how your enemies think. James covers it from from Nixon to
30 min listen
Freddy Gray speaks to Roger Kimball, editor of the New Criterion and Spectator writer about Trump’s SAVE act – a bill to tackle voter integrity soon to be voted on in the Senate.
Remember Signalgate? It was quite the story, and worth revisiting now in light of Operation Epic Fury, the ongoing crisis in the Strait of Hormuz and its dire implications for the global economy. In March last year, Donald Trump’s then National Security Adviser, Mike Waltz, somehow added Jeffrey Goldberg, the editor-in-chief of the Atlantic, to a
‘Donald Trump is a complicated person with simple ideas,’ said Kellyanne Conway, the former White House senior counsellor. ‘Way too many politicians are the exact opposite.’ It’s a good way of understanding the 45th and 47th US President and his extraordinary success. His turbulent personality causes mayhem, yet his political aims have remained constant, straightforward
26 min listen
Trump has signalled that the Middle East war could be ‘over soon’ and pledged to lift sanctions after talks with Russian president Vladimir Putin. Freddy Gray is joined by Jacob Heilbrunn and Robert Bryce to discuss why Trump was potentially unprepared for Iran’s retaliation, what could come from the talks with Putin, and why Britain
The US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has said today will be the most intense day yet of American strikes on Iran. Over the weekend, Donald Trump claimed the war could soon be over – and suggested the US has already effectively won. He also took aim at Keir Starmer, accusing Britain of joining wars America
30 min listen
As the crisis in the Middle East has escalated, Donald Trump’s posturing has led many to question his strategy – and if he even has one. Geoffrey Cain, former foreign correspondent, expert on authoritarian regimes – and the author of this week’s cover piece in the Spectator, joins Freddy Gray to explain why Trump’s ultimate
From our US edition
“I’m very angry about this war,” said Gavin Newsom, the California Governor, on stage yesterday. Newsom has a memoir, Young Man in a Hurry, to plug, and a serious bid for the presidency in the offing. Like many other ambitious Democrats, he spies in Donald Trump’s new war an opportunity to cause grave damage to the
50 min listen
As the conflict in the Middle East escalates, what is Trump’s game plan? The Spectator’s cover piece this week, by Geoffrey Cain, argues that Trump’s ultimate target in this war is China; every dictator gone, weakens the Chinese regime. As Freddy Gray explains further on the podcast, Trump’s worldview is shaped by the events he grew up
45 min listen
Spectator World columnist – and Heritage Foundation fellow – Daniel McCarthy joins Freddy Gray to explain how Trump’s war with Iran could mark the end of an era, that of neoconservatism. For Daniel, there is no contradiction between Trump’s ‘America First’ policy and its overseas interventions: Trump is pursuing a version of hegemony that will
34 min listen
Today NATO forces intercepted an Iranian missile headed for Turkey. Whilst it remains unclear where that missile was intended to land, questions have emerged over whether President Erdogan can continue his strategy of geopolitical pragmatism. So far the Turkish leader has managed to appeal to China, Russia, Europe and the US. But will he be
When President George W. Bush invaded Mesopotamia in 2003, everybody laughed at Comical Ali, the bespectacled Iraqi information minister who kept insisting that the American ‘rats’ were doomed as Saddam Hussein’s regime collapsed around him. The world moved on. Iran is not Iraq, as President Donald Trump’s supporters are so fond of saying, and Bush-era
33 min listen
Freddy is joined by historian and former diplomat, Charlie Gammell. They discuss the situation in Iran, whether the US is heading for a decisive confrontation, and examine the regional consequences: proxy warfare, Gulf energy security, Pakistan’s delicate position, and migration pressures on Europe.
Twenty eight hours or so into the new war against Iran, and America’s Vice President J D Vance has yet to declare his support in public. His social media account on X, which is normally so lively, has been conspicuously silent for the last two days. He seems keen to position himself apart from the
