US diplomacy under President Donald Trump has a bigger chance of success because it focuses on transactional deals that “translate into improvements of people’s lives” instead of “theories about democracy, freedom and human rights”, argues Rwandan President Paul Kagame.

Kagame, who has led Rwanda for more than 30 years, tells host Steve Clemons that he’s “never seen the level of focus, attention, energy and pressure” that the US president brought to the conflict between the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Rwanda, which led to the signing of a tentative deal between the two sides in Washington on December 4.

Kagame: ‘Never seen this much attention’ to ending Africa war

United States President Donald Trump insists he’s “created the greatest economy in the history of our country”, but to middle-class and poor Americans, argues economist Peter Atwater, the president sounds out of touch.

Atwater tells host Steve Clemons that the economy has taken on a “K” shape, where the arrow pointing up indicates more wealth for the already rich, while the rest are pushed downward.

Zohran Mamdani’s election as mayor of New York City earlier this month brought the US’s “affordability crisis” to the forefront, as more people wrestle with the rising cost of food, housing and basics – amid a “no hire” job market.

Trump says US economy is in a ‘golden age’. Do Americans agree? | The Bottom Line

United States President Donald Trump “looks at Saudi Arabia like a piggy bank or an ATM machine” and that’s why the recent Saudi-US summit focused on deals instead of strategic regional issues, such as Sudan, Palestine, Iran and Syria, argues political scientist Gregory Gause, professor emeritus of international affairs at Texas A&M University.

Gause tells host Steve Clemons that if Riyadh can seal a deal to house a joint AI data centre, “that's the best guarantee of US security.”

He adds that China may be Saudi Arabia’s biggest customer but the US is Riyadh’s “preferred partner on security, AI, economics and defence cooperation”.

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Why is Saudi Arabia doubling down on its relations with the US?

After the capital of capitalism voted for socialism and Democrats in two states trounced Republicans, United States President Donald Trump is worried that he won’t be able to impose his domestic vision for the nation, Republican strategist John Feehery argues.

Feehery tells host Steve Clemons that Trump needs to refocus his energy from foreign policy to the domestic concerns facing Americans, especially the cost of living.

On Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani’s victory in New York City, Feehery says: “Republicans have to be careful because if he turns out to be popular, that could be something that Democrats decide to run on.”

Does the rise of Mamdani indicate a major shift in the US | The Bottom Line

The United States and China have declared a truce in the trade war launched by US President Donald Trump in April, argues Evan Medeiros, former US National Security Council director for China.

Medeiros tells host Steve Clemons that the deal reached between Chinese President Xi Jinping and Trump resolves the urgent trade issues between the two sides - tariff rates, soya beans and rare earth minerals - but China “remains committed to ensuring that Russia doesn't lose” in Ukraine.

The US has more than 200,000 soldiers surrounding China, Medeiros adds, but Washington knows that “nobody wants to choose between the US and China.”

Who has the upper hand in China-US relations? | The Bottom Line

Trump’s Gaza plan is in danger of going the way of the Oslo Accords, argues US journalist Chris Hedges: Never to be implemented beyond the first phase.

Hedges tells host Steve Clemons that there are no guarantees that the US-brokered deal “will actually thwart the genocidal project that Israel is intending to carry out in Gaza and … the West Bank”.

While a parade of US officials visited Israel to signify commitment to the ceasefire, Israel continued to restrict food and medicine to millions of Palestinians, and Israeli forces continued to occupy more than half of the Gaza Strip.

Does Trump’s Gaza plan stop Israel’s genocidal agenda? | The Bottom Line

The US has forced Israel to end its war on Gaza, but now the challenge is “to be engaged every single day, several times a day” to make sure the ceasefire holds, says Israeli American activist Gershon Baskin, the cofounder of Alliance for Two States.

Baskin tells host Steve Clemons that President Donald Trump was convinced by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that Israel could force the Palestinians to surrender, but over time, it became obvious that “Hamas will never surrender.”

Baskin predicts “there will be an awakening in Israel that we can’t keep doing this ... military strategies don’t work any more.”

Can the Gaza ceasefire hold? | The Bottom Line

Arguing that some places in the United States – primarily those governed by Democratic officials – are rampantly crime-infested, President Donald Trump has been deploying military forces to cities from Los Angeles to Washington, DC.

Former National Security Council official Kori Schake tells host Steve Clemons that Trump is trying to enlist the US military to get involved in his culture war issues, such as immigration and political dissent.

She warns that US forces should be kept out of politics “so that the American public continues to have confidence and trust in the military”.

Why is Trump deploying forces to US cities? | The Bottom Line

The US plan to end Israel’s war on Gaza is designed, supervised and administered “primarily by people who are very staunchly pro-Israel,” and has little chance of delivering peace, argues Stephen Walt, professor of international relations at Harvard University.

“We’ve seen this movie before,” Walt tells host Steve Clemons. According to the terms announced by US President Donald Trump, Israel can argue at any time that the Palestinian side isn’t fulfilling its obligations and thus resume the war.

Increasingly seen as a threat by other countries in the region, Israel “is in for a very troubling future”, Walt says.

Can a ‘one-sided, unserious’ US plan deliver peace to Gaza? | The Bottom Line

French official Pascal Confavreux says the French-Saudi initiative takes the two-state solution "out of the moral danger" it was in.

Pascal, spokesperson of the French Foreign Ministry, tells host Steve Clemons that France aims to end Israel’s war on Gaza by sidelining Hamas, reshaping the Palestinian Authority to make it more palatable to Israel’s right-wing government, and involving some Arab and Muslim states in the governance of Gaza.

After his government recognised the State of Palestine for the first time on September 22, Confavreux argued that the alternative to a two-state solution is “an endless cycle of violence.”

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Recognising Palestine vs holding Israel accountable? | The Bottom Line

A weekly take on US politics and policies and how they affect the world.

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