European leaders met twice this week to discuss a plan to protect Ukraine — without US leadership. The rift between Brussels and Washington has grown as US president Donald Trump paused military aid to Ukraine and stopped intelligence sharing. As Germany and the EU discuss a new set of defence stimulus plans, special guest Gideon Rachman, the FT’s chief foreign policy commentator, is on to discuss possible outcomes.

Mentioned in this podcast:

Rachman Review podcast

Trump is sowing the seeds of an anti-American alliance

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Swamp Notes is produced by Katya Kumkova. Topher Forhecz is the FT’s executive producer. The FT’s global head of audio is Cheryl Brumley. Special thanks to Pierre Nicholson.

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Donald Trump’s crypto project made at least $350mn from the launch of his memecoin, and FT markets columnist Katie Martin unpacks the week in markets. The European Central Bank cut interest rates to 2.5 per cent yesterday, plus EU leaders held an emergency summit to talk about defence spending and support for Ukraine.

Mentioned in this podcast:

Donald Trump’s crypto project netted $350mn from presidential memecoin

ECB cuts interest rate to 2.5%

US stocks struggle as ‘America First’ bets backfire

Global bond sell-off deepens as Germany jolts markets

The FT News Briefing is produced by Fiona Symon, Sonja Hutson, Kasia Broussalian, Ethan Plotkin, Lulu Smyth, and Marc Filippino. Additional help from Breen Turner, Sam Giovinco, Peter Barber, Michael Lello, David da Silva and Gavin Kallmann. Our engineer is Joseph Salcedo. Topher Forhecz is the FT’s executive producer. The FT’s global head of audio is Cheryl Brumley. The show’s theme song is by Metaphor Music.

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

US President Donald Trump has handed carmakers a one-month reprieve on tariffs on imports from Mexico and Canada, and we look at how a few billionaire elites struck a multibillion-dollar port deal within weeks. German borrowing costs surged by the most in 28 years on Wednesday, and the Liberal party in Canada will hold a leadership vote this weekend to replace Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

Mentioned in this podcast:

Donald Trump hands carmakers one-month reprieve from tariffs

German borrowing costs soar by most since 1997 on ‘historic’ debt deal

Donald Trump revives Canada’s Liberals in electoral turnaround

The billionaire elite who answered Donald Trump’s call on Panama Canal

The FT News Briefing is produced by Fiona Symon, Sonja Hutson, Kasia Broussalian, Ethan Plotkin, Lulu Smyth, and Marc Filippino. Additional help from Breen Turner, Sam Giovinco, Peter Barber, Michael Lello, David da Silva and Gavin Kallmann. Our engineer is Joseph Salcedo. Topher Forhecz is the FT’s executive producer. The FT’s global head of audio is Cheryl Brumley. The show’s theme song is by Metaphor Music.

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.