The global geopolitical scenario is seemingly bracing for a fundamental shift, with US President Donald Trump brokering peace between Ukraine and Russia. While the US administration has decided to mend its ties with Russia, and Trump appears to side with Vladimir Putin, tensions have been simmering between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Russia, leading to a war of words. What’s next in US-Russia relations? Experts debate.
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00:00Evening and welcome. The global geopolitical order changing faster than at any point in time
00:07in recent history. And to try and make sense of all the changes that are taking place in the
00:12United States, in Russia, in China, in Europe and in India, I'll be joined on the news track tonight,
00:18live and exclusive, by one of the world's leading risk gurus, Ian Bremmer, a man who's heard very
00:24carefully in world capitals. He'll be sharing all the insights he's picked up over the last
00:29several weeks when we speak to him on the news track this evening.
00:40War and peace.
00:45Trade and tariffs.
00:50Leaders anxious, world on edge.
00:53Disruptor Trump shakes up geopolitics.
01:04All eyes on Trump-Zelensky meet.
01:10Can the US and Ukraine hammer out a deal?
01:17A new world order in the making, big focus on news track.
01:24Donald Trump has called Zelensky a clown, a dictator and now he's all set to meet Ukrainian
01:30President Vladimir Zelensky. The crucial meeting will take place in Washington DC.
01:35The two leaders are expected to sign a critical minerals deal but more importantly,
01:40can Trump push Zelensky into some kind of a peace deal with Russia?
01:44That's the question the world is looking out for tonight.
01:54After three years of Russia-Ukraine war, all eyes are on Ukrainian President
02:04Vladimir Zelensky's meeting with US President Donald Trump.
02:09The meeting is expected to finalize a landmark economic agreement, including a deal on Ukraine's
02:15rare earth minerals. An investment fund would also be set up for Ukraine's reconstruction.
02:23Zelensky in turn is seeking security guarantees from the US to protect Ukraine against future
02:29Russian aggression. However, Trump has been non-committal about providing such guarantees,
02:35suggesting that Europe should take on this role.
02:38Trump has been fiercely critical of Zelensky as he has appended Washington's policy
02:43on the war and ended a campaign to isolate Russia.
02:47The visit comes amid tensions between the two leaders when President Trump called Zelensky
02:52a comedian and an unpopular dictator.
03:23Did I say that? I can't believe I said that. Next question.
03:28Zelensky had earlier offered to resign in exchange for Ukrainian NATO membership,
03:33but Trump asked him to forget about joining NATO.
03:52The
04:14Trump has initiated direct talks with Russia aiming to end the conflict.
04:18He spoke to Vladimir Putin on February 12.
04:41The meeting between Trump and Zelensky is a critical moment in the ongoing conflict,
04:45with significant implications for Ukraine's future security and economic stability.
05:45Washington's perspective and prism at this moment given all that's happening in the world right now?
06:46Of course, more American military componentry and hardware.
06:49They want a closer technology relationship with India.
06:52They want India to be more aligned with American technology firms and standards.
06:57Also, you know that Prime Minister Modi has been willing to reduce
07:04tariffs to get more reciprocal with the United States.
07:07Trump has appreciated that.
07:08They've also been willing to take some illegal immigrants from the United States back into India.
07:14Trump has appreciated that.
07:15This isn't going to be easy.
07:17Every country, even friendly ones, are going to find that Trump is going to drive a hard bargain,
07:22especially when it comes to economics and trade.
07:24But I think that Modi's India is probably in as good a position as anyone else,
07:29certainly any major economy.
07:31The Saudis, the Emiratis, the Israelis, they have stronger relations with Trump.
07:36But of the big economies in the world, India is in the best position.
07:39It's interesting that you say it because a lot of the optics from an Indian perspective
07:43haven't been all that ideal.
07:45The fact that on the day that Prime Minister Modi was in Washington, D.C.,
07:49President Trump did that big press conference literally hours before he met him,
07:52where he targeted India by name.
07:56And there was no state dinner, unlike the last time when he went to meet President Biden.
07:59And even repeatedly, he seems to be attacking India on the question of trade.
08:04These immigrants coming back, I'm sure you followed,
08:06because they've been shackled, their turban's taken off,
08:09it's become a big political issue back home.
08:11So looked at particularly from a political prism, the optics haven't been very good.
08:15So it's interesting that you're saying that the relationship is as good as can be,
08:18because from an Indian opposition perspective,
08:20they're saying, just look at how badly India is being treated.
08:24I accept all of that, Rahul.
08:26And of course, specifically the optics around the illegal detainees going back in shackles,
08:32which was also an issue for Colombia, some other countries,
08:36that's been figured out with transit through third countries.
08:40But you're right, that Trump is not treating
08:43any countries around the world very easily right now.
08:46I mean, it's as good as can be, doesn't mean as warm as you'd like.
08:51Trump, of course, is surrounded by loyalists in his cabinet.
08:56Everyone's telling him how brilliant he is, what a genius he is.
08:59No one's pushing back.
09:00He has the House, he has the Senate.
09:03The Republicans in both are lining up and they're supporting all of his candidates.
09:08They're not voting against even if they're incapable.
09:11America is in a much stronger position.
09:13Trump's much more convinced he's right.
09:15So I agree with you, Rahul, that it has been a bumpier road for India than in the first Trump
09:21term, but compared to any other country, you look at Canada or Mexico, you look at the European Union,
09:29you look at, you know, certainly China or smaller countries like Panama and Denmark,
09:36which are really taking it in the chin right now.
09:40No one would argue that Trump and Modi are best friends.
09:44Trump sees Modi as a carrier of right-wing, nationalist, populist sentiment that is part
09:53of a Trump wave that he sees, including leaders like Giorgio Maloney from Italy,
10:00like Viktor Orban from Hungary, like Javier Millet from Argentina, like Nayib Bukele
10:07from El Salvador.
10:08And of course, in that regard, India is the largest, the most successful country,
10:13both in terms of economic growth and the popularity of its prime minister,
10:19that is aligned ideologically with Trump, that, you know, is in a sense a purveyor of Trumpism.
10:25And Modi certainly leaned into that when the two men met face to face.
10:31But this is a less transactional Trump.
10:34It's a more revolutionary Trump.
10:37It's a more predatory Trump because he's more confident, because he has fewer checks and
10:42balances, and also because he has Elon Musk around him that's capable of executing policy
10:51in an unprecedented way.
10:52There was no one like that in Trump's first term.
10:56So again, I accept that from India's perspective, this doesn't look easy.
11:03What are you hearing about that bilateral trade agreement between Washington and Delhi?
11:08Talks are supposed to finish by fall.
11:10That's a very tight deadline, given that they've gone through two terms negotiating the agreement.
11:14Nothing came off it.
11:16How do you think talks are likely to go?
11:18And he's spoken of retaliatory tariffs being implemented from the 1st of April.
11:22Is that just a negotiating tactic and a threat?
11:25Or do you think he'll push through?
11:26And if so, in what form and shape?
11:29I do think that when you're talking about friends, the retaliatory framework is meant
11:35to get them to the table with a better deal, with offering more, with lowering your own
11:43tariffs, with opening your own market, with buying more defense equipment from the U.S.,
11:51with engaging in a more integrated fashion on technology.
11:55It's like what Trump is doing on Mexico and Canada.
11:58You'll remember he declared there were going to be 25 percent tariffs across the board.
12:03And then the day before, he had phone calls with the leaders of both countries.
12:06Then he kicked the can down the road.
12:08Now he's doing it again with the date of March 4th.
12:11Pretty much everyone expects that there will be a similar dynamic in play.
12:16So this is very different from what Trump did on China,
12:19where he announced 10 percent tariffs and there wasn't a phone call.
12:22There was an intention to impose 10 percent tariffs.
12:24And he did.
12:25Now he announced another 10 by March 4th.
12:28And I expect that those additional 10 will be implemented.
12:31In other words, this is a negotiating pattern,
12:34as opposed to a punitive set of measures that will be implemented no matter what.
12:41You know, you've mentioned twice over that Trump wants India to buy more weapons.
12:45But from an Indian lens, Ian, the Biden administration promised to sell G404 engines
12:52for the Indian light combat aircraft.
12:54And then the procurement and the delivery of those engines got delayed so much so that
12:59our air force now is publicly speaking.
13:02Very rarely does the air chief speak publicly,
13:04saying that we don't have the kind of fighter planes we need because it's all got held up.
13:09So a lot of Indians, including me, would be very, very unsuspicious
13:13of America delivering on its promises on weapons.
13:16And we've seen that between Biden and Trump.
13:17Things can change so dramatically.
13:19How can a country like India trust the United States to come through on its promises
13:22on sophisticated technology and weapons?
13:25Yeah, I would say, you know, trust is fine, but verification is required.
13:31I mean, one of the biggest problems of Trump's policy orientation
13:35is that if you're going to go away from rule of law and you're going to implement
13:39law of the jungle, where the strong do what they will and the weak suffer what they must,
13:44you've got to be able to implement that over a period of time.
13:48I mean, the reason why that policy has worked for China is because
13:51the Chinese Communist Party has been in power for generations
13:55because Xi Jinping is a leader for life,
13:58because if she says something domestically, it goes through.
14:02None of those things are true in the United States.
14:04Every four years you get a new president.
14:07And what the Americans said one time around will change,
14:10whether it's the Iranian nuclear deal and JCPOA,
14:14or whether it's support for Ukraine, no matter what, for as long as it takes,
14:19whether it's the Paris climate accord, whether it's the World Health Organization.
14:23And so it's very challenging.
14:25I mean, if Trump is saying, here's the way it's going to go, there's a new sheriff.
14:29But you know that there are going to be legal and judicial challenges
14:33against Trump and his executive orders.
14:35And maybe some of them will pass and maybe some of them won't.
14:38You know that in two years time, the Democrats may well take over the House
14:42and Trump's ability to legislate is going to be dramatically constrained.
14:45You know that Trump is 78 years old.
14:47He might not be there even for four years.
14:49And if he is, after Trump is gone, it's going to be a completely new way of doing business.
14:53I mean, the fact is that in a representative democracy
14:57with a new president every four years and checks and balances, even if they erode,
15:02the Americans are much better off with consistent alliances,
15:07with participation and membership in U.S.-led multilateral organizations,
15:12you know, with kind of rules of the road, with rule of law.
15:15It's better for the United States.
15:16It's worse for China.
15:18And the United States is unwinding a series of rules that they think aren't as good for them
15:24that allow other countries to take advantage of them.
15:27Yeah, they're doing that.
15:28But the fact is, it's just going to be very hard for the United States
15:32to convince these countries, including India,
15:35that when you do a deal with the Americans, it's going to stand up longer than this one presidency.
15:43Let's speak for a moment about President Trump and Xi Jinping,
15:47because he talks of respect.
15:49He talks of knowing Xi well.
15:51And yet, in terms of policy actions, he's doubled the tariffs from 10 to 20 against China.
15:56So it seems as if he's talking a soft talk, but walking the hard road.
16:00What do you make of what's going on between China and the United States?
16:06I think that Trump is always potentially interested in a deal,
16:11even if you're an authoritarian leader.
16:13We see it with Putin.
16:14We see it with Kim Jong Un.
16:16It's even possible with the Iranians.
16:19But I am very skeptical that the U.S. and China can get to a deal this time around.
16:25First point is, Trump sees that the Chinese never implemented
16:29on the deal that he struck with the Chinese during his first term.
16:33So, I mean, that makes him skeptical, first of all.
16:39Secondly, when deep sea came out, there were a lot of people around Trump,
16:44most particularly Howard Lutnick, the Secretary of Commerce,
16:47who's very involved in semiconductors, that were surprised and angered
16:54and see China as a very critical competitor
16:57that the Americans should be containing, should not be fostering a deal.
17:01So I think that there is a lot of advice from the economic team
17:06and from the national security team that Trump should be decoupling actively from China
17:12and he should be convincing American allies that they need to join the Americans or else.
17:17And you increasingly hear Trump's officials talking privately about a tariff wall,
17:23that American allies will have to align completely with the United States on critical minerals,
17:30rare earths, steel, aluminum, semiconductors, you name it,
17:34and keep the Chinese out of their supply chains
17:37or else the Americans will implement a tariff wall against those countries.
17:42So creating a U.S.-led bloc, all of this means that the U.S.-China relationship,
17:47which had been comparatively well managed in the last year and a half of the Biden administration,
17:55is going to head towards confrontation in relatively short order.
17:59I'm quite pessimistic about the future of U.S.-China,
18:02which again is one of the reasons I believe that ultimately
18:06India is going to have an easier time of it with the Trump administration.
18:10What form and shape does this confrontation take?
18:12You're saying that relations are likely to get worse because so far,
18:15Xi Jinping has been very balanced and nuanced in his response,
18:19even publicly cautioning and kind of developing domestic public opinion,
18:24not wanting to up the ante.
18:25He's being very mature.
18:27But what form and shape do you think this confrontation can take?
18:30Well, I mean, I don't see it as the Chinese will take over Taiwan.
18:35I do think the Chinese will test the Americans more militarily in the South China Sea
18:41and around Taiwan, as we've seen with the recent unannounced live fire exercises,
18:46which are unprecedented, not because they're intending an invasion,
18:50but they want to see how much Trump really cares about defending allies
18:54that are halfway around the world.
18:56Or is it more like Ukraine?
18:56But Trump seems vindicated he doesn't care at all.
18:59Well, Trump has said very different things on this issue on different days.
19:03So I think we don't know.
19:05And more importantly, the Chinese don't know.
19:07And they want to see what the Americans would actually do.
19:10But more broadly, what do you think they're going to focus?
19:13That's where your specialization comes to the fore, predicting probability,
19:18assessing what might happen if China were to push harder on Taiwan.
19:22What is President Trump likely to do here?
19:24That's right.
19:25Well, again, I think that the reason why China is going to do it is because nobody knows.
19:32You've got people around Trump that aren't very influential.
19:36They're not principals like Margot Rubio,
19:39the Secretary of State, Mike Waltz, the National Security Advisor.
19:41They're very hawkish on China, very hawkish on Taiwan.
19:45And indeed, you know, Margot Rubio has been sanctioned by the Chinese government.
19:50First time a Secretary of State has ever been sanctioned by China.
19:53If it were up to them, their response would be immediate and direct.
19:57But it's not up to them.
19:59They're going to defer completely to Trump.
20:01They're not even going to voice privately any opposition.
20:05So we're going to see what Trump is up to.
20:09And I think that's extremely interesting.
20:11I wouldn't want to predict what Trump is going to do on that issue
20:14as the Chinese test the U.S.
20:17It's like talking about Ukraine.
20:19Is he going to do a critical minerals deal or not?
20:21Is he going to walk away from the Ukrainians or not?
20:23Is he going to provide security guarantees or not?
20:25The Ukrainians are going to find that out in a few hours
20:27and Trump might change his mind in a week.
20:29Same with the Europeans.
20:30A lot will depend on how much the Europeans bring to the table.
20:33On Taiwan, a lot will depend on how much the Japanese, the South Koreans,
20:37the Australians bring to the table.
20:39So we're not in a position to make a strong call on that.
20:42What we are in a position to say is that the Americans are going to push very hard
20:48to ensure that there is a trade bloc that keeps the Chinese out.
20:53They will press American companies to invest more in the U.S.
20:57and take more out of China.
20:58They will press allies that are sending Chinese goods
21:01through their countries into the United States to stop doing that.
21:05And China is going to be very uncomfortable with that.
21:07At the same time, Rahul, the United States has now shut down 90% of all USAID programs.
21:14Historically, the U.S. has actually been responsible
21:17for 40% of the world's global humanitarian assistance.
21:22They're now cutting it off.
21:23That's the global South.
21:24That's Africa.
21:25That's Asia.
21:26These are countries that China dominates the trade relationship,
21:30but the Americans have a counterbalance because they give so much more aid.
21:35This is going to provide a big opportunity for the Chinese to have a lot more influence
21:39on the ground in countries that historically have been much more skeptical of China.
21:44I think you'll see the same thing if the Americans break from the Europeans
21:48and do a deal with Russia.
21:49I mean, the Americans are hoping that they can get the Russians away from China.
21:53That's not going to work, but they might push the Europeans more towards China.
21:57So China's response to the United States is not just,
22:01should not just be perceived as an increasing tit for tat in escalation with the Americans.
22:08It should also be perceived as the Chinese assertively looking to assert themselves,
22:13insert themselves into a vacuum geopolitically that is being left by American unilateralism
22:19and lack of interest in maintaining a leadership role that they had played over the past decades.
22:26You're speaking of a tariff wall that Trump wants to impose.
22:30That has consequences for American consumers as well.
22:32We're already seeing consumer sentiment in the United States slide.
22:37The moment this starts showing up in inflation numbers,
22:39when does that start hitting Trump politically and costing him so much that it hurts?
22:45Well, his approval rates have already gone down a little bit.
22:48And some of it is because of inflation, the cost of eggs,
22:52which has nothing to do with Trump policy.
22:54It has to do with avian flu.
22:56But still, you know, it gives you some sense of what might happen
23:01as inflation ticks up because of Trump policies like tariffs
23:06and like the deportation of lots of illegal immigrants.
23:10There's also been some backlash because Trump is firing so many people from the U.S. government.
23:17And, you know, Republicans work for the U.S. government, too.
23:19They're not happy about that.
23:20They like small government.
23:22They like efficiency, but not if you take away any money from them.
23:26But I think because Trump is surrounded by an economic team
23:30that is not not going to give him any bad news.
23:34They just tell him how brilliant he is no matter what.
23:37And they're much weaker.
23:39Howard Lutnick is the strongest of that group
23:42in terms of personal access to Trump and friendship.
23:45But he's a hype man.
23:48He's not someone who's going to sit down and tell Trump,
23:50look, here's how you need to change this policy to be successful.
23:53He's not Robert Lighthizer, who had that position of influence in the first term.
23:59He's not even he's not Jared Kushner.
24:02Certainly he's not Steve Mnuchin.
24:04So it's a much weaker team.
24:06And Trump is much more convinced that he's right.
24:09So I don't think and of course, he's not going to run again.
24:13And so I don't think that even if the markets start to go down on the back of Trump policies,
24:19I don't think that will have the same impact in containing or limiting his willingness to tariff
24:27that it clearly did in the first term.
24:30So for all of those people, including in India, that are hoping that if suddenly the bloom is
24:37off the roads with the U.S. economy, that Trump is immediately going to pivot,
24:41I wouldn't be so confident about that.
24:44You know, you were at the Munich Security Conference,
24:46saw the kind of panic there was amongst European leaders
24:49after they heard from the American vice president.
24:52How do you think Europe is likely to respond over the next several weeks
24:57to what they're hearing from President Trump?
24:59It suddenly seems that Trump is more interested in being pals with America's
25:04adversaries than he is in maintaining friendships with strategic allies.
25:09Well, the meeting yesterday with the British prime minister went pretty well.
25:14The meeting on Monday with Emmanuel Macron went pretty well.
25:17I expect the meeting shortly with President Zelensky from Ukraine is going to go pretty well.
25:22So, I mean, if the Munich Security Conference was the low point,
25:26we've ticked up a bit over the past week and a half.
25:31Having said that, only some of this is about Ukraine.
25:35Only some of this is about NATO.
25:37Some of it is about democracy and the fact that the Europeans don't believe
25:41that America is a functional democracy.
25:43They think that Trump is tearing it down.
25:45And they also think that Trump and Vance and Elon are pointing a gun to their heads
25:51because the Trump administration doesn't support the European Union.
25:54They want it to disband.
25:56They want leaders like the AFD, the Alternatives for Deutschland.
26:00They want the Reform Party in Britain.
26:02They want the National Rally Party in France.
26:06They want those parties to win.
26:07They think that the Europeans are one electoral cycle behind the United States
26:12in electing populist, nationalist, Euro-skeptic parties
26:16that will unwind the EU and be supportive of Trump.
26:20And if you're the Europeans, you see that as directly adversarial.
26:24You see the Russians as having a gun to your head in terms of national security.
26:29And you have the Americans with a gun to your head in terms of democracy and rule of law.
26:34And that means that the Europeans have to do a lot more
26:37to ensure that they can defend themselves and act independently.
26:43The real question, they take it seriously, but can they do enough?
26:47Can they spend enough?
26:48Can they defend themselves?
26:50Are they willing to put regulations that are serious on, for example,
26:54Twitter X and other American social media?
26:58What are they willing to do?
26:59And here, the Europeans, of course, are divided.
27:03They're weak.
27:04They're economically very fiscally constrained.
27:07So I'm skeptical that they're going to be in a position to do very much.
27:13And so it might well be that the most important legacy of Trump geopolitically
27:19is not a rapprochement with Russia.
27:22It might be the destruction of the European Union.
27:25If we look ahead to 2028, 2029,
27:28that might well be Trump's longest geopolitical legacy.
27:34What's going on between Trump and Vladimir Putin?
27:37Many Democrat leaders are convinced that Vladimir Putin has something on Trump
27:41which makes Trump dance to his tunes.
27:43Now, that sounds outlandish and quite difficult to believe.
27:46But in the manner in which Trump turned turtle on Ukraine,
27:49completely changing America's position from being the strongest supporter
27:54to voting against Ukraine and the United Nations,
27:59how do you reconcile what Trump has been doing with Vladimir Putin,
28:04whom he's treating like a dear friend and potential ally?
28:08Well, Trump wants to end the war.
28:11And you'll remember that at the end of Trump's first term with Afghanistan,
28:16he wanted to end the war.
28:18He did a deal with the Taliban where he made a lot of concessions to them,
28:23an enemy of the U.S. that no other American president would have made.
28:27And he made those concessions over the heads of American allies in Europe,
28:33in Eurasia, and in the Middle East
28:35that had been fighting side by side with the Americans for 20 years in Afghanistan.
28:40Trump didn't care, wasn't interested in coordinating.
28:42Now, of course, the stakes are a lot higher with Russia and with Europe and with Ukraine
28:48than they were in the war in Afghanistan.
28:51But I think you will find that Trump's general orientation
28:56towards that negotiation was actually very analogous.
28:59So that it shouldn't surprise us.
29:02Also, you know, Trump understands that individual European leaders don't like him,
29:06don't respect him, laugh about him behind his back.
29:10He really can't stand that.
29:12And, you know, he remembers when he met with Putin, you know, in his first term,
29:18Putin was someone that was willing to treat him, you know, with greater respect.
29:22And maybe that shouldn't matter as an American president,
29:25who's most importantly supposed to be representing
29:28the long-term national interest of the American people.
29:30But Trump, who has an enormous ego and really holds a grudge if you treat him badly.
29:36Think about how he responded to Obama at the White House Correspondents' Dinner.
29:40And he's never forgotten that.
29:41I think that matters.
29:43So I think if you put those things together, you get a reasonable explanation.
29:47It's impossible to imagine that Putin has anything on Trump,
29:51because if he had something on Trump, why didn't they use it in the first term?
29:55When Trump actually had a harder line on Russia than Obama.
29:59I mean, Trump was the one that provided the javelin anti-tank missiles.
30:04Obama thought it was too risky.
30:05Trump was the one that increased sanctions on Russian oligarchs that were close to Putin.
30:10So I think it's completely conspiracy theory that has no evidence to it,
30:16actually contradicts evidence to argue that Trump somehow is indebted to Putin
30:24or is being extorted by Putin.
30:26I think that that's silly.
30:28And also, Trump's position on Ukraine has evolved pretty substantially in the last 96 hours.
30:35How does that even happen?
30:39He calls him a dictator, then wants to do a deal.
30:42How is that war between Russia and Ukraine likely to end?
30:45And what would Mr. Zelensky be thinking of Trump at the moment?
30:49Because he seems to, at one step, call him a hopeless dictator who's lost all popularity
30:54in the other side, is willing to cut a deal.
30:56Where does that war potentially end and in what fashion?
30:59That's right.
31:00And he backed off of the dictator comment just yesterday.
31:03So again, I think anyone that's telling you they know where the war is going to end
31:08is clearly smoking something because they haven't been watching how willing Trump is
31:15to change his position on the basis of how he thinks these individual leaders are treating him.
31:21I think that Trump is potentially interested in seeing how much the Europeans are capable
31:26of doing.
31:27That if they stand up a large number of troops on the ground in Ukraine in the aftermath
31:33of a ceasefire, Trump would be willing to push the Russians harder to accept those troops.
31:38And maybe the U.S. would offer a security backstop.
31:43And he would do it because Trump could then say legitimately that,
31:46I got the Europeans to take a leadership role when Biden was never able to.
31:51But if the Europeans are incapable of doing that,
31:53then he's much more likely to sign a harder bargain for Zelensky over his head
32:00directly with Putin that will include a much broader set of agreements, diplomatic re-engagement,
32:07economic re-engagement, reduction of sanctions, restarting arms control talks with the Russians.
32:13And again, I mean, this is all very much in play right now.
32:16No one should argue they know where this war is going to go.
32:19I think it's very likely we'll get a ceasefire.
32:22But on what terms and will the Europeans be satisfied with it?
32:26Can the Ukrainians go along and maintain their present governance model?
32:31All of those things are very uncertain presently.
32:34Before we end, how coherent is Trump 2.0 looking from your lens?
32:39Is there cohesion between Elon Musk and Donald Trump?
32:43He's been invited to important cabinet meetings.
32:45Is that the way it's likely to stay or are you counting down to a blow up?
32:50Elon Musk is by far the most powerful person in the United States after Trump.
32:55He activates Trump.
32:56Trump said last week, I want you even more aggressive.
32:59I want you doing more.
33:01Trump has always been very good at managing relationships with people that are wealthier
33:05than he is, more powerful than he is.
33:07And Elon is that by a factor of 10, maybe more.
33:12And so the fact that Elon, I mean, Trump is 78 years old.
33:15He was shot in the head, almost assassinated a few months ago.
33:18He tells his friends, I don't have much time and not even four years, might have only two
33:23years if the Democrats take the House during midterms, which is certainly plausible.
33:27And, you know, again, his health, we don't know where that will be as a 78 year old man.
33:32We know that there are other people out there that are certainly, you know,
33:35want to do harm to Trump.
33:36So he wants to move as fast as possible.
33:39And Elon is the guy that singularly allows Trump to accomplish that.
33:44This relationship is incredibly strong.
33:46In my view, it's only getting stronger.
33:48But we're seeing from some American government departments a pushback against Elon Musk's
33:53emails, the Department of Defense, Department of State writing back saying don't respond to
33:58what Elon Musk is doing.
33:59So will that pushback gain momentum or will Musk push back against this pushback and just
34:04push his way through?
34:06As you saw, Elon was giving a speech at Cabinet and Trump was completely supporting him.
34:12Most of the Cabinet officials went along with him.
34:16The couple that did not were not getting into public fights with him.
34:19They were just saying, you know, these are places where clearances and classification
34:24is important.
34:26They wanted to ensure that you didn't have employees that were responding to Elon and,
34:32you know, suddenly taking classified material and making it exposed not only to somebody
34:38that doesn't necessarily have the right to use those clearances in other ways and also
34:47potentially exposing that information to being collected by adversaries like Russia and China.
34:53You will continue to see internal pushback because Elon is powerful.
34:56He has access.
34:57He's moving fast and breaking things, which works in Silicon Valley, does not work in
35:02the U.S. government.
35:03But Trump is completely aligned with it.
35:05So the pushback you are talking about, not 1% of that is coming from Trump himself, and
35:10he is the only voice that matters here.
35:12Some of your answers have felt like I was watching an episode of Saturday Night Live,
35:16but this is very, very serious and far from being any laughing matter.
35:19Hang tight.
35:20Does it feel surreal?
35:21Does it feel like you're living in some ways in a fiction novel, which is playing itself
35:26out?
35:28Truth has always been stranger than fiction, my friend.
35:32And the fact is, this is deadly serious for Americans and for people all over the world.
35:38And I consider it an obligation to do everything I can to be on top of this as it's changing
35:44in world-changing ways every day and trying to make sure that people have the best understanding
35:49of that they possibly can.
35:50We in India are only watching from the sidelines.
35:52You, Ian, are right in the middle of what's happening, the law of the jungle taking over.
35:57Hang tight.
35:57Stay strong.
35:58For joining us, thank you very much.
35:59Good to see you around.
37:00masks and PPE kits were unused, leading to shortage of supplies.
37:05Only 1,357 hospital beds were added against the 32,000 promised.
37:12Only three hospitals were completed, leading to a cost overrun of over 3,000 crore rupees
37:17in hospital projects.
37:198,000 posts for healthcare workers lay vacant, triggering a shortage of healthcare staff.
37:2658% to 93% of funds for maternal and child health lay unused, while 15 government plots
37:33for hospitals worth over 600 lakh rupees is unused.
37:37Mohalla clinics and Ayush dispensaries were also found to lack basic infrastructure like
37:43toilets, power backups and check-up tables.
37:46The wait time for surgeries at two government hospitals varied between two to 12 months.
37:51Critical hospital infrastructure like ICUs and operating theatres in two super speciality
37:57hospitals lay idle.
37:59Accident and trauma services ambulances also lacked life-saving equipment.
38:51Lied in the health structure.
38:52We did see some of the information that came in that still suggests that even oxygen facilities
38:59lack in some of the hospitals in the national capital.
39:02This report has finally been tabled.
39:04It will be taken up for discussion today and in the next day of the session.
39:08Then it will be sent to the public actions committee.
39:13But the most shocking revelation in the CAG report is the lack of crucial health
39:17infrastructure in the capital.
39:20Out of 27 hospitals, there are no intensive care units in 14 hospitals, no blood banks
39:27in 16 hospitals, no oxygen supply in eight hospitals, no ambulance services in 12 hospitals
39:33and no mortuary in 15 hospitals.
39:48For the second day in a row, a face-off erupted outside the assembly once again between leader
40:07of opposition Adishi and the police over Aam Aadmi Party MLAs being denied entry.
40:17The opposition party accused the BJP of attempting to set a false narrative with the CAG reports.
40:47The storm over Karnataka's deputy chief minister D.K.
41:10Shivkumar being present during the Isha Foundation's Mahashivratri celebrations is getting bigger.
41:17D.K. Shivkumar has issued multiple clarifications to say that he attended the function in his
41:22personal capacity as a believing Hindu.
41:25R. Ashok of the BJP, though, set the cat amongst the pigeons by saying that
41:30Shivkumar could be a shinde for the Congress in Karnataka, suggesting that D.K.
41:36Shivkumar was planning to switch over to the BJP.
41:39Shivkumar denies this, but politics rages.
41:42After Karnataka deputy CM D.K. Shivkumar celebrated Shivratri with Sadhguru alongside
41:49Home Minister Amit Shah, speculation about the Congress leader joining BJP has flared up again.
41:58The buzz around his political future has forced Shivkumar to clear the air.
42:12Regarding his visit to Sadhguru's ashram, the Congress leader had already clarified his stance.
42:42The BJP, however, is shipping in the choppy waters of Karnataka politics.
43:12On umpteen number of occasions, I have made it pretty clear,
43:16day by day, infighting within the ruling Congress party is only increasing.
43:29And that's the reason why D.K. Shivkumar is also looking very disturbed.
43:35And senior ministers also repeatedly attacking D.K. Shivkumar.
43:40Many Congress leaders have bagged Shivkumar.
44:01The rift within Congress over CM's post is a known fact.
44:05There is an uneasiness between CM Siddharth Amaya and Shivkumar.
44:10But how long will it last?
44:13With Nagarjun Dwarkanath, Bureau Report, India Today.
44:20Is the Congress government in Himachal Pradesh now Ram Bharose?
44:24The Bharatiya Janata Party in Himachal alleges that the Congress government of Sukhwinder Sukhu
44:31is seeking donations from temples.
44:34The Sukhu government, though, says that the demand is purely voluntary.
44:38It's not forcing temples to give their money.
44:41But the BJP says this is proof of gross fiscal mismanagement by the Congress,
44:47which has brought them to a situation
44:49where the state government literally needs to go with a begging bowl to the temples.
44:54Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Sukhwinder Singh Sukhu is under fire.
44:59The BJP has accused the Sukhu government of demanding funds from temples in the state
45:05for the Sukh Ashray scheme that aims to provide orphans with various facilities,
45:11including higher education.
45:23The BJP argues that the money from temples can be only used for Sanatan Dharma.
45:50The Sukhu government, however, justifies its decision, calling it a good deed.
45:57The Congress claims that the previous BJP government also used temple funds.
46:19The
46:32grand old party urged the BJP to join the good cause.
46:50Under the Sukh Ashray Yojana, 6,000 children have been adopted as children of the state,
47:07making the state government a foster parent of the orphans.
47:12With Kamaljeet Sandhu, Bureau Report, India Today.
47:15The DMK hit the streets of Chennai today against the new education policy and on the issue of
47:21delimitation, with Stalin accusing the Modi government of imposing Hindi on the people
47:27of Tamil Nadu, which the HRD minister says is simply not true. Even the governor of Tamil
47:32Nadu entered the fray, urging the state government not to enrage passions.
47:38Political heat over language and delimitation rises in Tamil Nadu.
47:52DMK students' wing held protests in Chennai over the national education policy,
47:57opposing Union Minister of State Sukanta Majumdar's IIT Madras visit.
48:03The protesters alleged Hindi imposition and raised get-out-Modi slogans.
48:33We are not against any languages. We are against the imposition.
48:36If you can just see the visuals over there, it's protesters versus cops that's happening.
48:41The protesters tried to break inside this road, trying to enter the middle of the road,
48:46but the cops here just got in time and pushed the entire set of protesters away.
48:51There's a huge, almost physical clash-like situation.
48:55Chief Minister M.K. Stalin yet again reiterated that the centre was trying to impose Hindi
49:02in Tamil Nadu. In an all-out attack, Stalin said that centre's three-language policy
49:08resulted in withholding of rightful funds to the state.
49:32The BJP, meanwhile, continues to defend the NEP.
49:37State BJP Chief Anna Malai shared a clip of DMK General Secretary Durai Murugan pushing for Hindi.
49:44If you want to speak in Parliament, you need to know two languages.
49:49One is Hindi. You can't just say, I don't know.
49:53Everyone knows Hindi. You need to know English.
49:58Tamil Nadu Governor R.N. Ravi cautioned against language war.
50:03Wading into the language row, the Governor called the state government's two-language policy rigid
50:09and claimed it had deprived youth of opportunities.
50:14MNM Chief Kamal Haasan met CM Stalin and reiterated his support to Tamil language.
50:21The DMK also attacked the centre on the proposed delimitation exercise, saying Tamil Nadu won't
50:28accept a process that it believes would unfairly disadvantage southern states.
50:44The issue of delimitation and the war over language continues for another day.
51:07Chief Minister M.K. Stalin, ahead of his birthday, asked his caterers to be ready to fight for the
51:12Tamil cause. He said, Tamil Nadu will fight and Tamil Nadu will win. And the caterers of
51:17Students' Week from DMK showed black flag to the Minister of State who had come to Chennai
51:22for an IIT event, showing that this issue will continue.
51:27With Daniel, Pramod Madhav for India Today.