Fareed Zakaria GPS

Trump’s Korea Pivot, Chinese AI, Summer of Heat

August 23, 2026·43 min
Episode Description from the Publisher

Today on the show, Trump cut short military drills between the US and South Korea this week, saying that they sent the wrong signal to the "unthreatening and respectful" North Korea. Fareed asks former NSA official and scholar Victor Cha if Trump is throwing over one longtime US ally to court a rogue state...again? Then, China spends a fraction of what the US does on data centers and lacks the most advanced AI chips. Why, then, does its AI industry appear to be catching up, and rivaling Silicon Valley? Fareed discusses with Evan Osnos, staff writer at the New Yorker. Later, Fareed speaks to climate scientist Katharine Hayhoe about this summer of record heat and raging wildfires in many parts of the world, and climate change’s role in all of it. Finally, the V-Dem Institute’s latest Democracy Report has downgraded the US from a liberal democracy to an electoral democracy. Why is American democracy in decline? Fareed asks Nobel Prize winning economist Daron Acemoglu. GUESTS: Victor Cha (@VictorDCha); Evan Osnos (@eosnos); Katharine Hayhoe (@KHayhoe); Daron Acemoglu (@DAcemogluMIT) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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