Power Play

POLITICO

Taking listeners inside the minds of those who wield power.

  • 33 minutes 48 seconds
    Kamala Harris takes aim at Trump: Is history on her side?

    Kamala Harris' sudden elevation to likely Democrat nominee has transformed the race for the White House. As President Biden passed the baton, can she beat a resurgent Donald Trump?

    Host Anne McElvoy talks to the doyen of American constitutional experts, Philip Bobbitt, about the significance of the Biden transition to Harris. As Lyndon Baines Johnson's nephew, he has a personal connection with the last time a president stood aside — in 1968 — a year that rocked the Democratic Party.

    Later, she explores how this week has galvanized the race with John Harris, POLITICO's global editor-in-chief, and Ryan Lizza, host of POLITICO’s "Deep Dive" podcast and co-author of POLITICO Playbook.


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    25 July 2024, 4:01 am
  • 32 minutes 8 seconds
    Live at the RNC: Insiders decode the Trump and Vance show

    It's been an eventful few days at the 2024 Republican National Convention in Milwaukee. Donald Trump and his running mate, J.D. Vance, are preparing to take the stage for their set-piece speeches. How will they set the tone for the election campaign?

    Inside the convention center, host Anne McElvoy talks to Hogan Gidley, press secretary during Trump’s 2020 re-election campaign, about the key messages the former president will be hoping to land with voters in the battleground states that will determine the race.

    Later she's joined by POLITICO's A-Team to take the temperature of a dramatic week: John Harris, global editor-in-chief, and Eugene Daniels, POLITICO’s White House correspondent and co-author of POLITICO Playbook. Daniels has also just been appointed president of the White House Correspondents’ Association for 2024-25.


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    17 July 2024, 8:48 pm
  • 34 minutes 22 seconds
    Live at the RNC: Trump insider on the survivor and a new VP

    Reince Priebus is one the Republican Party's veteran power brokers. He served Donald Trump as his first White House chief of staff and chairs the host committee at this year's Republican National Convention in Milwaukee.

    As Republican delegates gather in the aftermath of a dramatic couple of days, host Anne McElvoy speaks to Priebus live on stage at the CNN-POLITICO Grill. They discuss the attempted assassination, its impact on the party and the significance of his choice of a vice presidential running mate.

    Later, Anne talks to POLITICO's Global Editor-in-Chief, John Harris, about the surreal atmosphere at the convention and what it means for the race for the White House.


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    15 July 2024, 8:31 pm
  • 25 minutes 41 seconds
    Starmer at NATO summit: departing general issues sobering advice

    Fresh from his landslide victory, Britain’s new Prime Minister, Keir Starmer, has flown to Washington to join other leaders of NATO countries as they meet for the alliance’s 75th anniversary summit.

    As the war in Ukraine takes another ugly turn following a week of heavy Russian bombardment, can NATO turn the tide of the losses? Host Anne McElvoy talks to General Patrick Sanders, who has recently left his role as head of the British Army, about the challenges facing NATO, why the UK needs to increase its defense budget and the new government's proposed defense pact with the EU.

    They also discuss his proposal for military service, which caused a storm earlier in the year and at the recent general election, as well as mental health in the military.


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    11 July 2024, 4:01 am
  • 33 minutes 58 seconds
    Keir’s here: Starmer wants to change Britain and its standing in the world

    It's all change in the U.K. Labour's historic landslide election victory beckons a different kind of leadership for Britain on the world stage after 14 years of Conservative rule.

    Keir Starmer, who stepped into his new job as PM, will have little time to define his approach to the wars in Ukraine, the Middle East and contend with a more assertive China. Host Anne McElvoy talks to Jonathan Powell, who was Tony Blair's long-serving chief of staff in Downing Street and former diplomat, about how the new prime minister is likely to forge key relationships around the world.

    She's also joined by POLITICO's editor-at-large in Washington, Matt Kaminksi and POLITICO Europe’s editor-in-chief, Jamil Anderlini to discuss what Starmer’s victory means for the U.K's European and transatlantic relations.


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    5 July 2024, 5:27 pm
  • 21 minutes 55 seconds
    Never say never: Sanna Marin's warning to Europe on tech, populism and her career ambitions

    The recent shift to the right in the European Parliament election doesn't bode well for the continent's dwindling band of social democratic leaders, one of the most prominent of whom, former Finnish PM Sanna Marin, was shown the door by voters last year.

    Finland is a country of renewed prominence due to its proximity to Putin's Russia — which led Marin to apply to join NATO, ending decades of Finnish neutrality. Host Anne McElvoy talks to Marin about Putin’s war in Ukraine, her warning that Europe needs to do more to meet the challenges posed by big tech, and why the continent needs more female leaders. Marin also leaves the door open to returning to elected politics, with a "never say never" mantra.

    The conversation was recorded in front of a live audience at the recent Copenhagen Democracy Summit, which took place before the European election.


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    27 June 2024, 4:01 am
  • 31 minutes 56 seconds
    Shut up and listen: The election 'fixer' has some advice for Biden, Macron and Sunak

    Election fever is gripping both sides of the North Atlantic. As Britain heads into the final weeks of a long election campaign, French voters face a snap parliamentary election. The Biden-Trump race for the White House draws ever closer. One man who knows about how to run a campaign is Jim Messina — known in Washington as "the fixer."

    Messina is the mastermind behind President Obama's re-election campaign in 2012 and David Cameron's surprise victory for Britain's Conservatives in 2015. In this week's edition, host Anne McElvoy asks him what advice he would give to President Biden as he prepares for the first televised debate with Donald Trump next week — and to Rishi Sunak, who's leading the Conservatives to what may be an historic defeat in the U.K.

    Messina says parties on both sides of the pond need to "shut up and listen to voters" about their concerns on immigration and the economy. "Voters are so much smarter than anyone gives them credit for," he tells McElvoy. "If you have bad ingredients, you're not gonna make a perfect cake," he adds — saying that a disciplined campaign can only achieve so much.


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    20 June 2024, 4:01 am
  • 23 minutes 52 seconds
    Don’t abandon the center, warns UK Chancellor

    It takes a brave — some may say reckless — leader to call a general election when trailing in the polls by 20 percent.

    With three weeks to go to polling day on July 4, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s gamble looks like it will backfire, possibly spectacularly so, with perilous consequences for the country's oldest political party, the Conservatives. For one of the most powerful members of his Cabinet, the Chancellor — Britain's top finance minister — Jeremy Hunt, it means a fight for his political life.

    Host Anne McElvoy joins him on the campaign trail in his Surrey constituency, a place which used to be rock solid territory for the Conservatives. Hunt concedes that voters feel "battered" by the cost of living crisis and "quite understandably hold the guys at the top to account."

    Anne is also joined by POLITICO's deputy U.K. editor Rosa Prince for her reflections on the state of the campaign and Hunt's warning that a vote for Nigel Farage's Reform UK party could mean an "even bigger majority for Labour."


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    13 June 2024, 4:01 am
  • 31 minutes 30 seconds
    Trump's plan to end the Ukraine war: Bankrupt Putin's regime

    The conviction of Donald Trump in a criminal trial in New York has electrified the race for the White House. But will it make a difference to how the arguments will play out in the campaign — especially on what the contest means for the rest of the world?

    K.T. McFarland is a leading supporter of Trump’s campaign, a MAGA Republican who served as his deputy national security adviser. She’s an influential voice on defense and foreign policy in Republican circles. Host Anne McElvoy talks to McFarland about how she thinks Trump could resolve the war in Ukraine and his plans to bring Putin's regime to its knees by weaponizing the price of oil.

    A veteran of the first Reagan administration, McFarland reflects on the former president’s legacy 20 years after his death and the state of the Atlantic alliance 80 years on since the D-Day landings in Normandy.


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    6 June 2024, 4:01 am
  • 32 minutes 58 seconds
    As the Rafah crisis deepens, could Gaza war threaten the US-UK relationship?

    Ahead of the 80th anniversary of the D-Day landings, host Anne McElvoy asks Jane Hartley, United States ambassador to the United Kingdom, about the future of the transatlantic "special relationship."

    Hartley discussed the future of U.S.-U.K. relations in light of the International Criminal Court seeking an arrest warrant for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu; revealed her surprise at the snap U.K. election called for July 4; and as a close ally of President Biden, explains why his age is an asset, not a problem. 


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    30 May 2024, 4:01 am
  • 19 minutes 23 seconds
    Navalny’s fight for a democratic Russia survives, insists key ally

    Host Anne McElvoy talks to Leonid Volkov, who was Alexei Navalny's long-serving chief of staff and campaign manager, about his mission to provide a democratic alternative to Russian President Vladimir Putin's regime in the Kremlin. They spoke on the stage at the Copenhagen Democracy Summit.

    The sudden death of Navalny, the most prominent opposition leader in Russia, sent shockwaves around the world earlier this year. He died in suspicious circumstances while being held in an arctic prison colony. Many campaigners, including his widow and closest associates, will not rest until they get answers about what happened.


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    23 May 2024, 4:01 am
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