2020Vision

President Trump once referred to the press as the “enemy of the people”, yet spends a lot of his time consuming news content and broadcasting favourable items on Twitter. So, is he getting a rough deal out of the mainstream media compared to previous administrations? Kim Hoggard was White House Assistant Press Secretary under President Ronald Reagan and Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Public Affairs under President George H.W. Bush. She shares her thoughts on this White House's relationship with the media, the impeachment process and the 2020 election.

Mia Love was the first black woman to be elected to US Congress for the Republican Party, but she drew the ire of President Trump during last year's midterm elections for not paying him enough attention. Since losing her seat by just a few hundred votes she's been critical of Trump's 'transactional' approach to working with black Americans and minorities. So, does she think the president is racist and what are her predictions for 2020 and the future of the Republican Party? Mia shares her thoughts on this week's episode.

A tentative trade deal between the United States and China has proved a welcome distraction for a White House rattled by events in Syria and the unfolding impeachment investigation. But is it worth the paper it's not printed on? Not according to this week's guest, economist Dr Stephen Kirchner, who runs us through the economic dangers facing President Trump in the upcoming election year.

Another presidential phone call with an Australian prime minister is causing angst among allies as the impeachment investigation heats up and Trump's Twitter goes into meltdown. With the daily dump of new revelations, it's hard to remember there's an election campaign going on. To catch us up on all the week's big stories and 2020 news – plus a very special presidential birthday – former congressional advisor to the Democrats Bruce Wolpe joins the podcast.

Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi has announced a formal impeachment inquiry into President Trump. So, what does that mean, will Democrats succeed in removing the president and what were the allegations against Trump that finally convinced Pelosi to pursue a course of action she had rejected for so long? Former Bloomberg BNA analyst and Council on Foreign Relations associate Jared Mondschein joins the podcast to break it all down.

Climate change has been a top-tier issue in recent elections and political debates, even prompting a special CNN Town Hall for Democrats in September to specifically address how they'll tackle the problem if they win office next year. Professor of Environmental Politics David Schlosberg joins the podcast this week to discuss the climate policies of the 2020 candidates and explain whether we'll continue to see climate change as a central issue in next year's presidential election.

Democratic presidential hopefuls faced off in the second round of live debates over two nights in Detroit, Michigan this week. It offered a rematch for Senator Kamala Harris and former Vice President Joe Biden, and saw progressive senators Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren on the debate stage together for the first time. There were fireworks aplenty, and United States Studies Centre Research Associate Elliott Brennan joins the podcast to break it all down.

Dr Gorana Grgic returns from a six-month stint at Harvard University's Center for European Studies to give us a run-through of last week's rise to political prominence for the so-called "Squad" of Democratic congresswomen – and the international outcry over the racist attacks launched at the them. She also takes a look at the future of transatlantic relations under President Trump and new British PM Boris Johnson.

Sexual assaults in the US military increased by almost 38 per cent last year, according to the Pentagon's own report. So, has the #MeToo movement failed to make an impact on the armed services or have women become more confident about reporting incidents? Dr Ellen Haring, a former US Army colonel and the current CEO of the Service Women's Action Network (SWAN) in Washington, DC joins the podcast to discuss the challenges for women in the US military, and SWAN's work with Congress and Democratic presidential hopeful Kirsten Gillibrand.

The Trump administration's 2017 National Security Strategy gave an unequivocal assessment that the world has entered an era of outright geostrategic competition between “those who favour repressive systems and those who favour free societies”. But will countries want to hear about the benefits of democracy from a White House that appears more enamoured with authoritarian "strongmen" than liberal democratic values? And would a new president in 2020 make any difference? Macquarie University lecturer Dr Lavina Lee joins the podcast to discuss her new report on these issues.