When Kevin Rudd announced on Monday that he would leave his post as ambassador to the United States a year early, it was a penny-drop moment for many.

Wasn’t this inevitable since his incredibly awkward meeting with US President Donald Trump in the White House in October?

Today, foreign affairs and national security correspondent Matthew Knott on where this leaves our relationship with the most mercurial US president in recent memory. 

When Kevin Rudd announced on Monday that he would leave his post as ambassador to the United States a year early, it was a penny-drop moment for many.
Wasn&rsquo;t this inevitable since his incredibly awkward meeting with US President Donald Trump in the White House in October?
Today, foreign affairs and national security correspondent Matthew Knott on where this leaves our relationship with the most mercurial US president in recent memory.&nbsp;

The Morning Edition (formerly Please Explain) brings you the story behind the story with the best journalists in Australia. Join host Samantha Selinger-Morris from the newsrooms of The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age, weekdays from 5am.

The Morning Edition (formerly Please Explain) brings you the story behind the story with the best journalists in Australia. Join host Samantha Selinger-Morris from the newsrooms of The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age, weekdays from 5am.

The Morning Edition

New episodes from ongoing Metro podcast series. 

New episodes from ongoing Metro podcast series.&nbsp;

New episodes

The Morning Edition brings you the story behind the story with the best journalists in Australia. Join host Samantha Selinger-Morris from the newsrooms of The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age, weekdays from 5am.

The Morning Edition brings you the story behind the story with the best journalists in Australia. Join host Samantha Selinger-Morris from the newsrooms of The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age, weekdays from 5am.

Why Kevin Rudd resigned, and what it means for our relationship with Trump

https://api.omny.fm/orgs/88b564ea-a9a6-4751-910a-a5d800019396/clips/e4819e74-7604-4f8c-aca4-b3d2005a5651/transcript

The protests that have been spreading across Iran for weeks have been growing more violent. Video footage showed and eye witnesses described security forces opening fire on protesters, while reports from human rights agencies say the death toll is in the thousands .
But could these protests tip over into a counter-revolution? Might Iran’s brutal Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and his regime be overthrown?
Kylie Moore-Gilbert, an Australian Middle Eastern scholar, spent 804 days in an Iranian prison before being released in 2020. Today, she discusses how this uprising differs from previous ones in Iran. And what it will take for the Iranian regime to fall.

The protests that have been spreading across Iran for weeks have been growing more violent. Video footage showed&nbsp;and eye witnesses described security forces opening fire on protesters, while reports from human rights agencies say the death toll is in the thousands . But could these protests tip over into a counter-revolution? Might Iran&rsquo;s brutal Supreme Leader Ayatollah&nbsp;Ali Khamenei and his regime be overthrown? Kylie Moore-Gilbert, an Australian Middle Eastern&nbsp;scholar, spent 804 days in an Iranian prison&nbsp;before being released in 2020. Today, she discusses how this uprising differs from previous ones in Iran. And what it will take for the Iranian regime to fall.

Is the Iranian regime about to collapse?

https://api.omny.fm/orgs/88b564ea-a9a6-4751-910a-a5d800019396/clips/90d8917f-a5ef-41d7-8b08-b3d100580680/transcript

While firefighters in Victoria battle devastating bush fires that have destroyed homes and livestock, at the other end of the country, Queenslanders were bracing for floods from ex-tropical cyclone Koji.

Today, David Bowman, a professor of pyrogeography and fire science at the University of Tasmania, on what causes this climate whiplash and how our changing climate is worsening our extreme weather.

While firefighters in Victoria battle devastating bush fires that have destroyed homes and livestock, at the other end of the country, Queenslanders were bracing for floods from ex-tropical cyclone Koji.
Today, David Bowman, a professor of pyrogeography and fire science at the University of Tasmania, on what causes this climate whiplash and how our changing climate is worsening our extreme weather.

Floods at one end, bushfires at the other. What's behind Australia's climate 'whiplash'

https://api.omny.fm/orgs/88b564ea-a9a6-4751-910a-a5d800019396/clips/eb55e987-5423-4bfc-a689-b3d000646584/transcript

On the first day of the new year, Donald Trump wrote on his social platform Truth Social, what he wanted for 2026. And I quote, “Peace, peace on earth”. 

Two days later, Trump invaded Venezuela. And now, the American president is threatening to invade at least four other countries. 

Today, Bruce Wolpe, senior fellow at the United States Studies Centre, and a former congressional staffer, on whether Trump’s imperialist aggression, and a recent mutiny of more than a dozen top-ranking MAGA members, might break his hold on power.

On the first day of the new year, Donald Trump wrote on his social platform Truth Social, what he wanted for 2026. And I quote, &ldquo;Peace, peace on earth&rdquo;.&nbsp;
Two days later, Trump invaded Venezuela. And now, the American president is threatening to invade at least four&nbsp;other countries.&nbsp;
Today, Bruce Wolpe, senior fellow at the United States Studies Centre, and a former congressional staffer, on whether Trump&rsquo;s imperialist aggression, and a recent mutiny of more than a dozen top-ranking MAGA members, might break his hold on power.

First Trump invaded Venezuela. But it may not be Greenland that's next

https://api.omny.fm/orgs/88b564ea-a9a6-4751-910a-a5d800019396/clips/9653cdfe-14ff-4070-a06c-b3cd0058e036/transcript

Why Kevin Rudd resigned, and what it means for our relationship with Trump

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