
Trump’s Impulsive Foreign Policy Is Tearing Apart the Global Order
From Reveal by The Center for Investigative Reporting and PRX
April 29, 2026 · 32 min
About this episode
Daniel Immerwahr discusses how Trump's foreign policy is undermining the international system.
More To The Story : When President Donald Trump returned to office last year, he promised to largely steer America clear of foreign entanglements. But over the last year, his administration has captured Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, threatened to take over Greenland, openly talked about making Canada the 51st state, and most recently attacked Iran. In some ways, it might appear that Trump is trying to revive the American empire. Not so, says Daniel Immerwahr, a Northwestern University history professor and author of How to Hide an Empire: A History of the Greater United States . What Trump is really doing, he says, is undermining the international system itself. On this week’s More To The Story , Immerwahr sits down with host Al Letson to examine Trump’s attack on Iran, why Trump is ripping apart the post-World War II international order, and the long-term consequences of the president’s impulsive foreign policy. Producer: Josh Sanburn | Editor: Kara McGuirk-Allison | Theme music: Fernando Arruda and Jim Briggs | Copy editor: Nikki Frick | Digital producer: Artis Curiskis | Deputy executive producer: Taki Telonidis | Executive producer: Brett Myers | Executive editor…
People in this episode
Host: Al Letson
Guest: Daniel Immerwahr
Topics covered
- foreign policy
- Trump administration
- international relations
- post-World War II order
- American empire
- Iran
Keywords
- Trump
- foreign policy
- international order
- Iran
- Venezuela
- Canada
- Greenland
- American empire
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: Northwestern University
Books & works: How to Hide an Empire: A History of the Greater United States
Places: Iran, Venezuela, Greenland, Canada
More episodes of Reveal
- The Plague in the Shadows · June 13, 2026 · 51 min
- Heather Cox Richardson on the Real Genius of America · June 10, 2026 · 34 min
- We Get It. You Don’t Trust Us. · June 6, 2026 · 50 min
- The Revolutionary Roots That Inspired Tupac Shakur · June 3, 2026 · 39 min
- Fortress Europe: The Fight for Refugees in Greece · May 30, 2026 · 51 min
- Why Conservatives Are Trying to Kill the Voting Rights Act · May 27, 2026 · 27 min
Explore listener stats, chart rankings, contacts and more on the Reveal podcast page.