Christiane Amanpour Presents: The Ex Files

Are protests in France spiralling out of control, or do they point to a deeper breakdown in trust between the public and its political leaders? Christiane and Tina examine what lies behind the unrest and what it reveals about France's political climate.

They also look at America's relationships with its allies. Can the US rebuild their trust, or will repairing the damage require more than a change of president?

And how dependent is Ukraine on Elon Musk's Starlink network to coordinate military operations and maintain its advantage against Russia? Plus, Sally Rooney says she can...

After Katie Zacharia lasted just 5 days as White House Press Secretary, Christiane and Tina Brown ask: is this story part of a wider pattern that shows Trump and his administration have a problem with women?

They discuss why Zacharia was given a job she was never qualified for in the first place, whether she was treated more harshly than her incompetent male colleagues, and whether Trump's Chief of Staff Susie Wiles could be the next high profile woman in the Trump team to lose her job.

Christiane and Tina are also joined by Kai Bird...

Why has JD Vance condemned the idea of livestreaming Nidal Hasan’s execution, and what does it reveal about divisions within the Republican Party? Christiane and Jamie examine the debate and how it sits alongside the party’s stance on the right to life.

They also look at the Houthis’ strike on a Saudi airport. Does this signal a widening conflict, and could Saudi Arabia be drawn back into a direct confrontation with the Houthis?

Meanwhile, MI5 says threats from Russia and Iran have quadrupled in the last decade. With AI creati...

President Trump has announced a deal with Russia, lifting his own diesel sanctions and committing to spend $4bn of American money to Russian fuel, in return for a ceasefire on energy infrastructure. As Zelensky calls it a gift to Russia's war machine, did Trump just sell out Ukraine for cheaper diesel?

Christiane and Jamie unpack the logic behind it and examine Trump's claim that Zelensky should be replaced.

Later Christiane reports from Reykjavik's Hofdi House, 40 years on from where Reagan and Gorbachev came within touching distance of abolishing nuclear weapons, and...

Christiane and Tina answer your questions on Trump's threats to make Canada the 51st state. Canada has reportedly prepared for the possibility of a US invasion- but how realistic is that threat, and is Mark Carney right to take it seriously?

The Cornell 7 case has raised questions about how universities and law enforcement respond to sexual assault allegations. Why do major institutions so often fail survivors, and what needs to change?

Plus: Tina weighs in on Prince Andrew's legal action against the police, as well as the latest row between Charles...

The gruesome botched execution of Christa Pike has prompted an international debate about the use of the death penalty. Should it prompt America - the only major western democracy which still uses capital punishment - to finally scrap the death penalty?

Christiane and guest co-host Tina Brown dissect the 'barbaric' attempts to execute Pike, explain why prison doctors are so poorly trained and reveal why there is a shortage of lethal injection drugs in the US. They also ask: what does this extraordinary case say about America? Christiane talks about her personal experience of visiting a death...

Christiane and Jamie answer your questions on the five men arrested over a suspected plot at RAF Fairford, one of the military bases the UK let the US use to bomb Iran. Is Iran's war now spilling into Britain and Europe more generally?

A Baltic foreign minister recently told Christiane that Europe had been "a fat, lazy cat" until now - and credited Trump with finally getting the continent spending on defence. So why didn’t Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, agree?

Plus: is the UN worth anything without leverage over Wa...

Xi got the pomp, the pageantry and a trip to see the US Constitution. America got a promise of two pandas.

In this episode, Christiane and Jamie ask what Trump's summit with Xi actually achieved? Why was there no AI agreement? Is the Taiwan arms sale dead or just delayed? And why is Trump pushing hardest on America's friends while reaching for its adversaries?

Plus Christiane gives her reaction to her exclusive UNGA interviews with Brazil's President Lula and New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani.

Christiane Amanpour Presents: The Ex Files is a Global...

Saudi Arabia wants to take the fight to the Houthis, so why is Washington so reluctant to help? Christiane and Jamie unpack what's holding the US back, and what it means for the relationship if America is no longer willing to act as Saudi Arabia's security guarantor. Could Riyadh start looking to Europe, or even China, for better protection from Iran and its proxies?

They also tackle a challenge from a listener who asks why Jamie is so focused on the threat from China and Russia - when the US and Israel stand accused of devastating actions...

How do you negotiate with a government you can't predict? That's the question preoccupying presidents and prime ministers this week, as leaders gather in New York for the UN General Assembly with every major global crisis in the same building at the same time. Christiane and Jamie ask whether wars are solvable and alliances can be strengthened while the world's superpower keeps moving the goalposts.

Christiane brings the view from the very top. Fresh from interviewing Brazil's President Lula, and with Canada's Prime Minister Mark Carney building a political reputation for standing up to Trump, she and...

Anthropic's CEO Dario Amodei has called the US–China AI race his "toughest dilemma", Christiane and Jamie ask – how worried should we be that artificial intelligence is becoming the next arms race?

Plus, they look at Russia's reported strike on a train near Ukraine's border with Poland, shortly after European security officials had travelled through. Is it a warning to Europe, and could it mark a new escalation in the war?

And, 25 years after 9/11, Christiane reflects on Gander’s heartfelt welcome to stranded passengers and the bond it created between the US and Canada. Can that r...

Is Trump's war with Iran making America weaker? Christiane and Jamie examine what the conflict is costing the US – from military resources and its position in Europe and Asia to the risk of spreading America's power too thinly.

They also examine how the war is affecting Iran, as pressure mounts on its economy and the battle for control of the Strait of Hormuz intensifies. With the US reportedly running down its stocks of defensive missiles, could the conflict give Iran greater leverage?

Plus, two crucial elections are coming up. Christiane and Jamie discuss what the US...

The AfD has won the Saxony-Anhalt state election - the first far-right win in a German election of this kind since the Nazi era. Christiane explains why it's so dangerous, and why Germany's "firewall" against the far right is now the thing to watch.

Plus, has Witkoff and Kushner's trip to Moscow and Kyiv achieved anything? Jamie doubts they're the right negotiators, and explains what would actually bring Russia to the table. The hosts also tackle the foiled Russian plot at Leipzig airport, and Ratko Mladić's burial in Serbia with full military honours, which Christiane calls a...

Twenty-five years after 9/11, Christiane and Jamie dedicate a special episode to their memories of the day the world changed forever.

Christiane becomes emotional as she recalls the first time she saw the images of planes hitting the Twin Towers. She also reveals how it took her so long to hear about the attack in the first place, given she was thousands of miles away on assignment in Sierra Leone, cut off from phones and pictures. She describes the scramble to get word to her, the long journey back to London to broadcast, and her fear that Jamie...

The CIA director has just been to Moscow, just as his predecessor did weeks before Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022. That warning was ignored. Will this one be? Channel 4 & LBC Presenter Matt Frei joins Christiane to explain why Putin might try to test NATO in the Baltics, and why European leaders aren't sure Trump would come to their defence.

Then: Estonia's spy chief says Putin could face a coup from his own inner circle. Christiane looks at the growing signs of unease around the Kremlin, and why what happened to Yevgeny Prigozhin is a warning to anyone who...

Why have Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin both surrounded themselves with advisers who tell them only what they want to hear? And is this same fatal flaw the reason that both the Ukraine War and America's conflict with Iran are both still dragging on with no end in sight? Christiane is joined by Matt Frei - a foreign correspondent with three decades covering the world's biggest stories - to discuss the cost of the Presidents' major blind spots.

They also dig into the resignation of US Army Secretary Dan Driscoll, and ask whether Trump's administration is beginning...

Five years after the Taliban swept back into Kabul, just how devastating has the impact been on the lives of Afghanistan's women and girls? And is the world simply choosing to look away?

Christiane is joined by the BBC's Chief International Correspondent Lyse Doucet, who has just returned from reporting in Kabul. Having covered Afghanistan for decades, Lyse tells Christiane what she found on her latest visit, describes the systematic erasure of women and girls from public life, and answers the hardest question of all: is Afghanistan any better off now than it was before the allied...

Tens of thousands of people breached Spain's North African border and Europe is reliving the nightmare of 2015. Christiane and Jamie unpack why this moment has rattled European leaders, why Spain's carefully managed immigration model is suddenly on the defensive, and whether the far right will exploit the crisis all over again.

Netanyahu has publicly rejected Trump's Gaza peace plan. But with Israel's election and the US midterms falling within a week of each other, could defeats for both Netanyahu and the Republicans finally shift the balance of power in the Middle East?

Plus: AOC is...

Maggie Haberman is one of the few journalists to have been granted behind-the-scenes access to Trump's second term. This week, she joins Christiane to talk in depth about what she found.

Drawing on her new book Regime Change, Maggie reveals what day-to-day life in this White House is really like: the chaos, the confusion, and what it tells us about the man at the centre of it all. What actually motivates Donald Trump: is it money, fame, power, or some combination of all three? Is there any genuine strategy behind his decisions, or is it simply governance...

A leaked US intelligence assessment suggests Putin is considering an attack on a NATO country and America's weapons stockpile is dangerously depleted after the Iran war. Christiane and Jamie assess whether the threat is real and why Russia's hybrid warfare is already testing NATO's limits.

After Netanyahu has publicly rejected Trump's Gaza peace plan, Jamie explains why Hamas likely agreed to it knowing Israel would say no and why this pattern of rejection stretches all the way back to the 1990s.

Plus: should Ukraine be allowed to bomb Russian cities in self-defence? The strategic attacks...

Did the capture of President Maduro give Trump the confidence to start a war with Iran? Christiane and Jamie trace how January's Venezuela gamble led directly to a disastrous conflict - and ask whether 'might makes right' has become the defining doctrine of this Presidency.

They examine whether Secretary of State Marco Rubio is effectively running Venezuela as America's 'Viceroy', whether the US has colonised a sovereign nation and what that means for how it is viewed around the world.

Plus, Christiane explains how Obama succeeded in making a deal with Iran where every other...

How do you challenge a president who calls you fake news and walks out? Christiane reflects on the futility of confrontational questioning, and why she'd rather ask Trump how he became who he is.

Jamie argues the Iran war is the most unpopular US military conflict he can remember, with no rally-around-the-flag effect and no stated objective successfully achieved. Could it lead to an uprising or ‘Arab Spring’ in the US, with Trump’s actions driving a potential midterm reckoning?

Plus, Hamas has signalled willingness to disarm as part of a Gaza deal, but is this a...

Imran Khan - the legendary cricketer and former Prime Minister - has now spent three years in a Pakistani prison. The UN says he is being held in solitary confinement in 'inhumane' conditions, something the Pakistani government denies. His supporters insist the charges are politically motivated.

In this episode, Christiane speaks to Khan's son, Kasim, about what it's like to go months without hearing from a father known to be suffering serious health problems. She and Jamie are also joined by Zulfikar Bukhari, a former Minister in Khan's government, on the geopolitics of his imprisonment and why...

A 22-year-old international student launched India's "Cockroach Party" and has successfully forced the education minister to resign. Christiane and Jamie unpack how a tongue-in-cheek protest movement exposed widespread exam corruption, won government reparations, and may signal the beginning of the end of Modi's unchallenged power.

They also explore whether Putin's apparent weakness makes NATO membership for Ukraine more realistic. Jamie explains why the answer is still no, but why Kazakhstan's president telling Putin to "freeze the war now" matters more than people realise.

Plus, Trump wore a "Trump 2028" cap to the White House Correspondents' Dinner...

Has Trump fired the starting gun on a nuclear arms race in the Middle East? His controversial deal with Saudi Arabia has sparked alarm - but is it already on the brink of collapse, after the President said it hinges on the Gulf nation normalising relations with Israel?

Christiane and Jamie unpick the agreement and its long-term consequences for the region and the world. They highlight how Iran will weaponise the deal for propaganda - asking why Riyadh should be allowed to enrich uranium while Tehran cannot - and look at whether Trump's standoff with Iran risks...

The ICC is in crisis. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has threatened to dismantle the International Criminal Court 'brick by brick', and with Chief Prosecutor Karim Khan now facing sexual misconduct allegations and a vote on his future, the institution has never looked more vulnerable. Christiane and Jamie discuss whether the Trump administration really might try to destroy the court, and what that would mean for international justice.

They also tackle Pete Hegseth's decision to introduce testosterone screening for all US servicemen. Is there an irony in policing hormone levels when transgender troops were forced out of...

Ukrainian President Zelensky has shocked allies by sacking his Defence Minister Mykhailo Fedorov, just as his country seemed to be gaining momentum in its grinding war with Russia. Christiane and Jamie discuss whether this is a reckless gamble that could fracture Ukraine's war effort at the worst possible time, and what it signals both to Kyiv's Western backers and to Moscow.

Meanwhile, Donald Trump has delivered a speech heavy with accusations of historic election interference ahead of the Midterms. Christiane and Jamie ask whether the President is already building a 'rigged election' narrative to explain away a...

With the death of Lindsey Graham, Christiane and Jamie examine what's been lost - and what his career revealed about the bargain so many Republicans have made: suppress what you believe to stay relevant, and hope it's worth it. On the Iran war, they discuss that promise made by the US and Israel for Iranian liberation - so why is the regime now more entrenched than ever?

Plus, as Andy Burnham prepares to become Britain's seventh Prime Minister in ten years, what kind of relationship can he realistically have with Trump? Christiane and Jamie also discuss Reform...

How real is the alleged Iranian plot to kill Donald Trump? Is it a genuine assassination plan, or another case of Israeli intelligence getting it wrong? Christiane and Jamie unpick the story and ask whether this reporting is accelerating the collapse of the US-Iran ceasefire and Memorandum of Understanding.

They also explain why the two sides have started firing on each other again, how long the Strait of Hormuz might stay closed, and whether the unexpected death of Lindsey Graham could shift the trajectory of Trump's foreign policy.

Plus: Christiane's verdict on last week's NATO...

Trump says the Iran ceasefire is over - so how worried should we be about a return to full-scale war? Christiane and Jamie break down the latest tit-for-tat strikes and explain why the Iran War is even more humiliating for the US than Vietnam or Afghanistan.

Plus, Christiane and Jamie discuss Trump’s interference in the World Cup… and how the US still lost to Belgium! They also assess the far-right Marine Le Pen's path back to eligibility for the French presidency, Reform UK leader Nigel Farage's resignation over an alleged £5 million “gift”, and Denmark's pointed reminder at the NA...

America has just marked 250 years of independence, but how much does the world's superpower really have to celebrate? Christiane explains how Trump is remaking the Land of the Free in his own image, and she and Jamie ask whether the President is doing irreversible damage to the US at home and abroad.

They examine how the First Amendment right to free speech is under attack, and why America's closest allies are losing trust in a President whose behaviour they can't predict. But it's not all doom and gloom: Christiane reveals why the World Cup is giving her...

Nearly four months after the Strait of Hormuz was disrupted, how are the many Asian countries dependent on its oil managing? Christiane and Jamie also discuss the US's potential decline as a world power, and its success as host of the FIFA World Cup - despite the odds.

Also, given the UN inquiry that declares Israel as the perpetrators of genocide, at what point does the US reconsider its "special relationship" with a country facing such charges from international bodies? They also move into the philosophical: in politics, is a true believer more dangerous than an opportunist...

Putin has publicly admitted that Ukraine's strikes are causing real damage inside Russia. With fuel being rationed in Siberia and supplies in Crimea running out, Christiane and Jamie discuss how worried Putin is, and whether this is the beginning of real pressure on Moscow.

They also discuss Venezuela's devastating earthquake which has exposed a country incapable of dealing with crisis. With the US doing the bare minimum to help - and effectively took control after removing Maduro - Christiane and Jamie ask: if you break it, do you own it?

Next...

Christiane and Jamie contrast the political accountability between presidential and parliamentary systems - why does Donald Trump remain while Keir Starmer falls?

Plus, could Syria, Lebanon, and Israel ever cooperate to eradicate Hezbollah? Or has that moment already passed? And, what of Israel's undeclared nuclear arsenal? Christiane and Jamie also discuss the far-right threat sweeping Europe, from Germany's AfD to France's Marine Le Pen, before discussing the likelihood of America returning to anything resembling normality, post-Trump.

Christiane Amanpour Presents: The Ex Files is a Global production, available every Tuesday and Thursday on Global Player, YouTube...

The US and Iran have held their first round of peace talks, but has there really been any progress? Is Tehran actually likely to allow nuclear inspectors back in? And has Trump's approach left America in a weaker negotiating position than when this all started? Christiane and Jamie cut through the diplomatic noise and explain what's really happening behind the scenes as both sides try to reach a deal.

They also unpack why Trump and JD Vance are turning the screws on Benjamin Netanyahu, and discuss whether Bibi now regrets going into coalition with two far-right politicians...

Elon Musk has become the world's first trillionaire - but should we celebrate or worry? Christiane and Jamie debate how his leap from electric cars and SpaceX into owning the public square, gutting USAID, and bankrolling Europe's far right represents a concentration of power no single individual should hold. They also examine whether Trump's final-term decisions are driven by ideology or personal business interest, and why "might makes right" seems to define every corner of this presidency.

Plus, with hundreds of thousands of Israeli settlers now in the West Bank and a campaign of violence forcing Palestinians...

The war in the Middle East has stopped, but can either the US or Iran genuinely claim victory? Christiane and Jamie unpick what the Memorandum of Understanding actually includes, what it conspicuously leaves out, and why the deal could still collapse if the two sides can't agree on the nuclear question long-term.

Christiane reveals what her contacts inside Iran are telling her about the potential for peace, and she and Jamie ask whether the Islamic Republic's new regime is actually more hardline than the one it replaced.

Plus: Russia has just launched devastating airstrikes on...

Is the gutting of 60 Minutes leading us down a dangerous path? Christiane doesn't hold back on what CBS's parent company is doing to one of the most successful news programmes in television history.

Plus, a Lebanese listener asks the question at the heart of the Middle East crisis: is it cheaper to pay off Iran and its proxies than to keep fighting? Christiane and Jamie unpack why the war in Lebanon won't end while Israel refuses to deal, and whether the Trump administration has the diplomatic expertise to broker real peace.

Christiane and Jamie also...

Christiane was in Beirut until last Sunday. By the time she arrived back in London, the Lebanese capital was once again under Israeli bombardment and the Middle East ceasefire appeared on the verge of collapse.

In this episode, Christiane reveals what Lebanese President Joseph Aoun exclusively told her about Israel's ongoing war with Hezbollah and Iran's continued grip on his country. She and Jamie trace Hezbollah's history as an Iranian proxy force, its decades of conflict with Israel, and whether Lebanon now holds the key to a wider peace deal in the region.

They also...

On this week’s Q&A, Christiane and Jamie are asked whether Donald Trump’s self-styled reputation as a master dealmaker stands up to scrutiny, as US-Iran talks drag on with bold claims but little progress. They also discuss the French navy’s interceptions of Russian oil tankers accused of skirting sanctions, and whether others should follow suit.

They explore the effect that gerrymandering, and the wider capitalist system, has on American democracy, both politically and morally, before analysing claims that Elon Musk interfered in the 2024 election. What can democracies realistically do to protect themselves from the billio...