On What Really Matters, Walter Russell Mead discusses the possibility of a recession, the new Chinese railway in Africa, and how Donald Trump’s approach to Vladimir Putin compares with Franklin D. Roosevelt’s to Joseph Stalin and Richard Nixon’s to Leonid Brezhnev.

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US President Donald Trump reacts after signing executive orders imposing tariffs on imported goods in the Rose Garden at the White House on April 2, 2025, in Washington, DC. (Andrew Harnik via Getty Images)