On the London School of Economics’ The Ballpark podcast, Walter Russell Mead discusses President Donald Trump’s “highly activist” foreign policy and his approach to the Western Hemisphere as a strategic foundation for American power. Mead also analyzes the performative politics of Trump’s “America First” rhetoric.
Caption
Turkey's President Tayyip Erdogan, Japan's Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, and Indonesia's Vice President Gibran Rakabuming Raka during the G20 Leaders' Summit in Johannesburg, South Africa, on November 22, 2025. (Getty Images)