♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ narrator: funding for presentation of this program is provided by... erika: i love seeing interns succeed,

i love seeing them come back and join engagement teams and seeing where they go from there, i get to watch their personal growth, it makes my heart happy. (laughs) ♪ ♪ narrator: funding was also provided by, the freeman foundation, the judy and peter blum kovler foundation, upholding freedom by strengthening democracies at home and abroad. announcer: and now, bbc news. ♪ >> hello, and welcome to "the context." i'm annita mcveigh in london, and my colleague caitríona perry is in washington, where we will be focusing on the first month of president trump's return to the white house. >> some of the rhetoric out of kyiv and insults to president trump were acceptable. >> if zelenskyy's dictator, who

the hell is putin, kim jong-il commission go? >> i think the russians want to see the war end, i really do. >> what lavrov has just said, i don't see an appetite to get to that piece, and i could be achieved by leaving ukraine tomorrow. just go. caitríona: joining us tonight on the panel, a long-standing former adviser to barack obama, and a former republican congressman from illinois. caitríona: hello, and welcome to the program. it has been one seismic month since president donald trump took the oath of office for the second time. he sure did hit the ground running, signing 73 executive orders in the first 31 days, issuing a torrent of policy measures.

he called the u.s. from international agreements including the paris, the court, he started a crackdown on immigration, and scrapped diversity, equity, and inclusion programs. the president and his colleague and close advisor elon musk, unelected himself, have sent shockwaves through america's federal bureaucracy, freezing virtually all foreign aid, firing forces bending thousands of federal employees, and ordering departments to identify billions of dollars worth of cuts. annita: those dizzying moves by mr. musk's department of government efficiency have sparked protests and scores of legal challenges. republican-controlled congress has put up little resistance. mr. trump has imposed or threatened to tariffs against america's biggest rating partners and suggested that it could use force if necessary to take control of greenland and retake the panama canal. he has ratcheted up pressure on canada to become the 51st state.

he has also moved to redefine america's role in the world, appending 80 years of policy towards europe, and stunning allies with his unorthodox proposals to end wars in the middle east and ukraine. let's begin with a quick look back at some of the key moments of president trump's first month in office. mr. trump: i, donald john trump, do solemnly swear -- >> that >> i will faithfully execute. >>that i will faithfully execute -- >> the office of president of the united states. pres. trump: so this is january 6, these are the hostages, a proximally 1504 a pardon. we had a great talk with mexico. the eu has been very unfair to us. we have a deficit of $350 billion. they don't take our cars. elon: if bureaucracy is in

charge, what meaning does bureaucracy have? pres. trump: the u.s. will take over the gaza strip, and we will do a job with it, we will own it. >> for the first time renamed gulf of america. pres. trump: zelenskyy got to move fast or is not going to have a country left. annita: you just rushed back to the studio from the latest white house press briefing. what were your takeaways? caitríona: it was very squishy-squashy. standing room has been like a mosh pit at a concert because this was a press conference to mark the first month of president trump in office. joined by the press secretary karoline leavitt, joined on stage by some of president trump's closest confidence, stephen miller, kevin hassett, and national

security adviser mike waltz kevin hassett joked that the one thing donald trump done was create jobs for journalists. i'm not a tall person, so i couldn't tell from my vantage point how many people in the room, but it was a lot for sure. this was very much a celebration on behalf of the trump administration, they were outlining everything they say he has done in the first month. at the top of the list as they pointed out was the accessibility to the media, karoline leavitt, the press secretary, saying donald trump had answered more questions from the media in the first few hours then joe biden had in his first week in office. go know the parameters for that statement, so we cannot quite fact-check that, but he took questions in the oval office on the day he was inaugurated, really unusual. that is something the administration is keen to talk

about, they say they are being transparent. many people would take issue with that viewpoint, of course, particularly when it comes to what the doge team are doing, and we will talk about that later on. it was remarkable, the comments in the headline there from mike waltz, national security advisor, as it related to ukraine and russia, and at one point he was asked could the president say that ukraine or russia were to blame for the russian invasion in ukraine, and he didn't give an answer to that, which is quite a departure from u.s. foreign policy. what they also announced was that the british prime minister sir keir starmer will be meeting president trump on thursday. emmanuel macron from france will be there on monday. how is it playing in the u.k., and what is the execution of that meeting for sir keir with the president? annita: i think sir keir starmer will try to take the heat out of the language being used until

the discussion-- and tilt the discussions back towards what ukraine wants out of any deal. we heard from the british foreign secretary earlier and he was saying if vladimir putin is a series about a long lasting peace, he needs to provide security guarantees. i suspect that will be on the agenda when keir starmer goes to the white house as well. that is going to be a week today, next thursday. before that, monday of next week, president macron of france will be in the white house. really interesting lines out of an interview or social-media briefing that president macron did earlier from paris. it sounds like he is going to try to appeal to president trump's personality, his psychology. he was saying -- let me find the quote from president macron -- he says it is going to tell him that any sign of weakness with vladimir putin would not make him, president trump, credible with china or iran.

interesting line from president macron. let's see what next week brings. caitríona: indeed, and we know president trump and president macron got on well during the first trump administration, so if there is anyone who can deliver a hard message, it is president macron. let's get the views of our panel . rodney, do you first, just a quick hot take -- what is the standout moment for the first month of president trump? >> there are a lot of standout moments. you and i have been chatting about this trump ascension to the second term for months now, and it seems like years. the first month there have been so many things that i think president trump and his team had planned to do to flood the zone, and then to be able to address challenges individually. i think looking at some of the tariff threats, using them as negotiating techniques for the

short-term, is new, and what is really new is his focus on the doge, federal bureaucracy. it was so called brave to have government staffers defy the orders coming from the white house and from their superiors in the executive branch. that is not courage. that is actually not doing your job. and i think that prepared to the second administration to come in and make some changes immediately. annita: joanna, welcome to the program as well. when i think back to the first trump administration, the beginning of that was characterized by lots of staffing issues, arguments, people were leaving, people were being fired. this time around the administration seems much more prepared, and maybe that is why we are getting this volume of output from both president trump and the white house, flooding the zone as rodney was

mentioning there do you think this is a team that is much more prepared to go after what it wants? >> they have a plan and they have a blueprint for significant change. that is what they want to do every day. but the thing i would say is the standout moment is when the president is tested, and he was tested, because we have that massive flight crash from wichita, kansas, and he blamed that on biden and on president obama and on everyone who wasn't him. i think obviously the actions are going to speak louder than words in the long run. so they can come in with all of these big bluster actions and they certainly have them. to some degree, i grew up in illinois, i know people want to see tariffs, they want to see us getting hard in some ways. but if that doesn't actually result in jobs for americans and the prices keep going up, there will be significant questions

about how effective that has been. annita: ok, johanna and rodney, we will be back with you soon. around the world and across the u.k., this is bbc news.

caitríona: now let's bring our focus back to ukraine. the issue of the moment, and the white house national security adviser mike waltz has told kyiv to tone it down, he said, on criticism of president trump, and appealed to them to sign a deal that would give america access to hundreds of billions of dollars worth of minerals. >> rather than enter into some constructive conversations about what that deal should be going forward, we got a lot of rhetoric in the media that was incredibly unfortunate. if there is anybody in this world that can go toe to toe with putin, that can go toe to toe with xi, that can go toe to toe with kim jong-un, we can keep going down the list, it is donald j. trump.

he is the dealmaker in chief, there is no question he is the commander in chief. annita: on wednesday president zelenskyy said donald trump was living in a disinformation space greeted by russia, while mr. trump called zelenskyy a dictator. today in ukraine president trump's special envoy to the country met with president zelenskyy in kyiv. the pair said it was a productive meeting, with ukrainian leader stressing that strong u.s.-ukrainian relations were a benefit to the whole world. slight change of tone to what we heard yesterday. let's speak to the first foreign minister of russia after the breakup of the ussr. russia's current foreign minister, sergey lavrov, was's deputy at the time. thank you very much for joining us on bbc news today. i want to begin by asking you if you think that america understands what russia's strategic objectives are at this

time, not just towards ukraine. you think america understands what those objectives are? in your view, what is vladimir pugin want to do at this point --what does vladimir putin want to do at this point? >> i think the idea that putin wants peace, that is completely wrong, or that putin wants to stop even war. putin benefits from the war because it allows him to strengthen his dictatorship and intimidation in russia itself and deserves -- serves's long-term interest in humiliating, in discriminating, and undermining as much as possible the nato countries, european countries, in america. so it's clear, absolutely clear that zelenskyy is great war

president, and by the ukrainian constitution, he just cannot have elections right now. and he won election. but mr. trump is elected president fairly and clearly, elected president of the united states. and i think he wants -- he is desperate to do something very different, you know. in business there is his trump business. i was also in business last 25 years, and there is a very useful notion of creative destruction. so he starts with the destruction. destruction does not make much sense to me, but it's ok. when it's probably first step,

destruction. but then there should be creation. and that's where there is no clarity from the administration. and let's see what happens. it's probably a little early for the stage of creation. caitríona: and andrei, just to pick up on that, russia has done almost nothing, not publicly anyway, in relation to ukraine, and yet he has apparently -- it has apparently received these concessions from the u.s. nato membership for ukraine is off the table, a return to pre-2014 borders for ukraine is off the table, these talks are happening, softening of the american position towards russia. what incentive is there for president putin to do anything when he has this much of a win for doing nothing? andrei: well, it is just -- of course it is a mistake. it's a mistake in any

negotiations, diplomatic negotiations in particular, to gift, to present gifts. but that's reversed through my mind, a reverse approach to the correct one. the correct one is to show -- would be to show putin a stick, big stick. because that is the language he understands, and he uses force. that stick should be not only shown, but actually put in action one way or the other, like churchill -- sanctions, or giving weapons of war immediately to ukraine --

caitríona: but if that stick isn't there that you are talking about, how happy will president putin be with last week? andrei: yes, exactly. he answered to this approach of carrots. they tried to give him carrots to make him more agreeable. but he answers with warning ukraine more and more. sooner or later that should be realized in washington. annita: beyond those sanctions that you mentioned, andrei, with the stick look like some sort of -- could of the stick look like some sort of peacekeeping force, reassurance forces britain and france have been talking about? we know vladimir putin says any sort of a force like that in ukraine would be unacceptable to him. president trump says he is fine with that idea. could that be a way forward to

despite vladimir putin's objections? andrei: well, could, would, that's true. but it's absolutely premature, and to my mind it is just kind of destruction from -- distraction from real agenda. i wonder why europeans are seriously discussing a peacekeeping force. peacekeeping force means there is either peace or truce between the sides like korea, whatever. but there is no peace or even a cease-fire inside right now. right now it is berlin in negotiations nobody even talks about that in serious manner. that is not something europe should prepare, and especially

great countries like great britain and france, nuclear states. the real issue now is to help ukraine to fight and to defend itself, and it was on the table for the last three years, and there is a lot of room to increases pressure, and there is a lot of room to increase the sanctions, because they are very porous, they are not observed even if they are declared, and there is much more to be done, or could be done. so that is to my mind kind of -- caitríona: so, andrei, what do you think is president putin's game plan? oh yes, we will go to the table and have these talks, and is just a delaying tactic, and all the while the war continues in

ukraine? andrei: yeah, the war will continue in ukraine, whatever happens immediately. it might be much more bloody if ukraine is not supplied more and more sophisticated weapons than before. that is the task for france and great britain, with all due respect. you know, one thing i see for ukraine, and i have already told it to ukrainian media, they could seize the opportunity for excavation, or whatever word it is, of the resources, especially treasury sources like rare-earth metals and all that.

that is good opportunity. but if they don't like, and i understand why, the proposal made by americans, make your own proposal. as we just heard on the program, the new security advisor to trump says yes, let's negotiate. and i would do that very much, because americans like deals, and you know a deal with zelenskyy, they asked zelenskyy to sign the agreement. that means full recognition that he is legitimate. annita: andrei, we are -- andrei: it means we should be there to complete the agreement. that is good idea. annita: andrei, we must leave it there, but thank you very much

for your time today, former russian foreign minister. ok, let's bring in the panel to respond to what he was saying there. johanna, i will start with you. going back to this idea -- he was thinking that the idea of a reassurance force is way down the track and not what should be the focus of discussions right now. but we do believe that that is what president macron is going to bring to the discussions on monday, and certainly appealing, i suppose, to mr. trump's sense of self, saying he's not a weak man and it will be weak if he deals with putin in this way, and therefore china and iran will see him as weak. will some of that land with donald trump? all that make a difference? johanna: i think the only thing that is going to land with donald trump is if they meet the threshold of their contributions to nato that he continues to demand. i think it is also interesting

because the democrats have tried to bring up ukraine and ukraine's security from the first impeachment. we have seen that we have not always had public sentiment on our side. so it is hard for even the democrats who are trying to be responsible global allies to rally our base in support of the ukrainians. which is difficult for us. i think we have to try some different tactics to talk about the necessity of global security. caitríona: rodni, is this all about the money in a way? we heard of mike wallace and president trump talk about this deal on the rare-earth minerals and that the treasury secretary bessent went to kyiv last week and zelenskyy didn't sign it and that has been perceived as a slight? rodney: i don't know for sure if that is the only slight, but in the end, they could have led to some of the comments that president trump made recently

about president zelenskyy. ukraine should want to have a bilateral trade agreement that could be -- that could lead to better national security not just for ukraine, but for the entire region. instead of just rejecting things out right, come up with some reasons to make it better. i will tell you, i agree with some of the comments johanna made that it is not just democrats she mentioned that i've had a problem with the money that is continue to be sent to ukraine. many of those dollars that i supported when i was in congress. but it is also republicans. i remember campaigning in the area where johanna grew up in western illinois, and i was shocked by the disdain just for this american effort to help ukraine in their battle against russia. it's one thing to talk about putin and putin's aggression,

and it is another thing as we have all witnessed putin's aggression. that is something that i think donald trump will take into consideration and has, but also, everything is negotiable with the guy. if i was present zelenskyy, i wouldn't sit back and think there's going to be a deal i have to reject. caitríona: i suppose president zelenskyy's view is he wasn't even invited to those talks last week. plenty more to talk about in just a moment. rodney davis and johanna maska. narrator: funding for presentation of this program is provided by... bdo, accountants and advisors, funding was also provided by, the freeman foundation, the judy and peter blum kovler foundation, upholding freedom by strengthening democracies at home and abroad. ♪ ♪ usa today calls it "arguably the best bargain in streaming" that's because the free pbs app let's you watch

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