NewsBite

George W Bush

January

Donald Trump shakes hands with Joe Biden at Monday’s inauguration. The contents of Mr Biden’s letter to his successor will be released in a few years.

What departing presidents say to their successors

In every transition since Ronald Reagan’s to George Bush, the outgoing occupant of the White House leaves behind handwritten words for the man taking his place.

  • Leo Sands
Donald Trump at the signing ceremony on Tuesday (AEDT). His speech this time round carried far more specific actions.

Trump promises peace – and war

The president’s speech this time carried far more specific actions, including territorial aggression on America’s neighbours and US troops on the Mexican border.

  • Edward Luce
NA

Who can best manage Trump – Albanese or Dutton?

Instead of caution and guile from Canberra, we have the absurd posturing of the prime minister and opposition leader on who is best fitted to influence the mad king.

  • James Curran
Mark Zuckerberg and his new head of global policy Joel Kaplan.

Meta appoints executive with Republican ties to lead global policy

Joel Kaplan is the new head of global policy, replacing Nick Clegg, a former deputy prime minister of Britain who has handled policy and regulatory issues globally for Meta since 2018.

  • Mike Isaac
CSL Behring’s blood plasma business should underpin a rise in its share price.

The pressure tactics that turned CSL from ‘minnow’ to powerhouse

Previously unreported documents show US trade negotiators tried to bust CSL’s Australian monopoly. Brian McNamee says it spurred the company to global success.

  • John Kehoe
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Howard backs free trade and fossil fuels in Trump era

Trade experts doubt a 20-year free trade agreement between Australia and the US will influence Donald Trump’s decision on tariffs.

  • John Kehoe
John Howard in 1998.

East Timor bugging ‘in national interest’: Howard

The former prime minister has reflected on controversy and success at an event marking the release of cabinet documents from 2004.

  • Tom McIlroy

December 2024

Jimmy Carter in the Oval Office in 1977.

Jimmy Carter was right about America, but nobody listened

“Too many of us now tend to worship self-indulgence and consumption,” he said in his famous 1979 speech.

  • Ron Lieber
Donald Trump may be the worst possible person to guide America through the turmoil that’s probably ahead.

The new world order looks like mercantilism

The chaotic politics of the past 16 years masked the steady development of a new economic order, but trade and the economy aren’t zero-sum games.

  • John Authers

November 2024

The economics behind ‘credible threats’

Good strategy involves knowing the game, including your opponents, and committing to a strategy.

  • Richard Holden
Donald Trump speaks at a campaign rally.

Trump claims election is being stolen again

The former president is priming his supporters to claim another election steal if he doesn’t win big.

  • Jennifer Hewett
The US Capitol Dome as the government goes through a partial shut-down.

America’s search for a new role continues

Despite the mediocrity of the candidates, America is not down for the count. But it is wasting precious time to redefine its world role

  • James Curran

September 2024

Strategists say Kamala Harris should not allow herself to be provoked by Donald Trump.

Harris under poll pressure ahead of crucial debate

The debate will subject Ms Harris, who has sat for only a single formal interview in the past six weeks, to a rare moment of sustained questioning.

  • Michelle Price and Zeke Miller

August 2024

Joe Biden.

Biden was good at managing America’s decline

Between the peak of something and its ultimate demise, a vast amount can be achieved. Perhaps it took a man who became president at 78 to see the point.

  • Janan Ganesh

July 2024

Republican chairman for Maine Joel Stetkis at the Republican National Convention, July 16, 2024, in Milwaukee. Photo: Matthew Cranston.

‘I carry a firearm every day’: party chief who wanted gun inside RNC

Guns were allowed to the edge of the Republican National Convention perimeter this week. Their own politicians wanted to bring their pistols inside the venue.

  • Matthew Cranston
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 Ronald Reagan waves and then looks up before being shoved into the President’s limousine by secret service agents after being shot outside a Washington hotel, March 30, 1981.

A history of political assassination in the US

There have been several instances of political violence targeting US presidents, former presidents and major party presidential candidates.

  • Darlene Superville and Christina Cassidy
Joe Biden speaks during an event commemorating the 75th Anniversary of NATO.

What if Joe Biden stays?

A second presidential term that was already burdened with political disadvantage will be incalculably more difficult because of questions about his age.

  • Peter Spiegel

June 2024

Donald Trump and Joe Biden. The former is the bookmakers’ favourite to win the election.

Biden-Trump debate comes with great risks and rewards for both men

In appealing to divided and often angry voters, the past and present presidents will need to navigate a minefield of perceptions and realities.

  • Lisa Lerer, Shane Goldmacher, Jonathan Swan and Maggie Haberman

May 2024

Nothing to fear. Donald Trump speaks to Miami Formula One winner Lando Norris on Sunday (Monday AEST).

Gallows humour and escape: Trump’s possible return rattles Washington

Much of official Washington is bracing for the former president’s return – this time with ‘retribution’ as his avowed mission, the discussion is about self-imposed exile.

  • Peter Baker

March 2024

Phillip Swagel: “It would behove policymakers to reduce deficits substantially in part because there are big demographic challenges coming down the pike.”

US faces Liz Truss-style market shock as debt soars, warns watchdog

The Congressional Budget Office chief says the US fiscal burden was on an “unprecedented” trajectory, risking a crisis of the kind that sparked a run on the pound in 2022.

  • Claire Jones

Original URL: https://www.afr.com/person/george-walker-bush-32y