Jacob Heilbrunn

Jacob Heilbrunn is editor of The National Interest. He lives in Washington DC

Republicans shouldn’t underestimate Kamala Harris

Joe Biden has bowed to the inevitable in withdrawing from the presidential race and endorsing his Vice President, Kamala Harris. Only now has the presidential race become interesting as the 59-year-old Harris, who is more than likely to receive the Democratic nomination, prepares to face off against Donald Trump. Suddenly the Republican candidate has become

How much pressure is Biden under?

26 min listen

As more Democrats call for Joe Biden to pull out of the presidential race, Freddy Gray is joined by Damon Linker and Jacob Heilbrunn to discuss what could happen next. Who is influencing his decision and how transparent are top Democrats being with the public? They also discuss potential contenders to replace Biden, including Vice-President

Top Democrat Adam Schiff urges Joe Biden to quit

The blows keep coming. California congressman Adam Schiff, who was an impeachment manager during Donald Trump’s first Senate trial in 2020, is now targeting another president for destruction. Schiff has called upon Joe Biden to exit the presidential race, the twenty-third legislator to do so and definitely the most significant of the lot. Schiff, who

What does JD Vance want?

With his selection of JD Vance as his running mate, Donald Trump has signaled that he doesn’t simply want to defeat Joe Biden. He also wants to crush the last vestiges of the Republican establishment. No other politician can help him carry out a Maga revolution in Washington more ruthlessly and effectively than Vance. Forget

Biden’s assassination statement is tepid

Trump displayed great presence of mind in raising his fist in defiance and shouting ‘fight’ as secret service agents sought to move him to safety. He now becomes a living martyr for the MAGA cause. Not since Theodore Roosevelt continued speaking for an hour after he was shot in October 1912 has an American president

Joe Biden is in denial

Donald Trump had good reason to gloat over Joe Biden’s press conference flub referring to ‘Vice President Trump’. It was preceded earlier in the day by Biden calling Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky ‘President Putin.’ Biden, in other words, was at it again. But Biden adeptly seized the opportunity to offer a little lesson in foreign

Joe Biden’s ABC interview won’t help his doomed campaign

Like a father confessor, ABC News’s George Stephanopoulos tried everything to jolt President Joe Biden out of his complacency. He pleaded with him. He queried him. He exhorted him. Nothing worked. Throughout the interview, if that’s what it was, Biden rebuffed his entreaties as though they couldn’t be more outlandish.   Down in the polls? Not

Can the Democrats drop Joe Biden?

After his disastrous outing against Donald Trump on Thursday evening, Joe Biden’s surrogates are scrambling to salvage something from the wreckage. ‘I would never turn my back on President Biden’s record’, California Governor Gavin Newsom said. ‘I would never turn my back on President Biden, and I don’t know a Democrat in my party who

What’s Biden’s strategy in the Middle East?

24 min listen

Suspected Israeli air strikes were launched on targets in Syria this week and Israel’s war in Gaza has entered its seventh month. Americano regular Jacob Heilbrunn joins Freddy to discuss what an escalating situation in the Middle East could mean for Joe Biden. What’s the Democrats’ strategy? And how could this impact the 2024 election?

Donald Trump ordered to pay $350 million in fraud case

Donald Trump may be spending much of his time complaining that Nato members aren’t paying their bills, but he has been compiling his own. The latest is a whopping $350 million (£278 million) judgment courtesy of Manhattan Supreme Court Judge Arthur Engoron, who came down with a decisive thud on Trump’s business dealings in his civil fraud

What do Republicans think of Lord Cameron?

30 min listen

Freddy Gray speaks to Americano regular Jacob Heilbrunn about Lord Cameron’s recent visit to DC, where he persuaded Congress to pass a bill sending aid to Ukraine. Jacob and Freddy also discuss why Jacob thinks Biden’s mental capacity is over exaggerated, and what Nato could look like under Trump, and the latest on his charges.

Is an impeachment inquiry good for Biden?

25 min listen

The House of Representatives has voted to open an impeachment inquiry into Joe Biden, after three Republican-led committees alleged bribery and corruption during his time as vice-president. Could it actually be good news for Biden? Freddy speaks to Jacob Heilbrunn.

Why has Trump been indicted…again?

19 min listen

Freddy Gray sits down with Jacob Heilbrunn to discuss Donald Trump’s latest indictment over January 6th. The former President faces 78 charges which, if found guilty, could mean he will spend several years in prison. 

Donald Trump can run but he can’t hide from his 6 January indictment

The surprising thing isn’t that Donald Trump was indicted. It’s that it took this long. After Attorney General Merrick Garland dithered for two years, Special Counsel Jack Smith is making up for lost time. He’s been on something of a judicial tear, indicting Trump whenever and wherever he can. Smith’s latest move is a forty-five-page indictment assailing

Will Hunter bring down Joe Biden?

39 min listen

This week Freddy is joined by Jacob Heilbrunn, editor of the National Interest, and Charles Lipson, professor of political science at the University of Chicago. They discuss Charles’s recent piece in The Spectator’s US edition where he argues that the walls are closing in on old Joe, in relation to the Hunter Biden story. Is the President’s involvement

Trump’s indictment shows his luck is running out

Donald Trump has chalked up a lot of firsts. First president to be a chum of Russian president Vladimir Putin. First president to threaten withdrawal from Nato. Now add a new one: first former president to be indicted on seven federal counts, which is a polite way of saying that a serial prevaricator has been

Trump’s second act: why he can still win, in spite of everything

47 min listen

This week: Having been found guilty of sexual assault, is Donald Trump still in the running for the White House? In his cover piece, Niall Ferguson says he could still defy gravity. He joins the podcast alongside Jacob Heilbrunn, editor of The National Interest. (01:00)  Also this week: Journalist Andrew Watts interviews the Reverend Canon