US midterms leave Trump weakened, while Democrats face debate over their direction
After the US midterm elections, which Democrats won, President Donald Trump is politically weakened and cracks are appearing in Republican loyalty. POLITICO Germany analyses what this means for US politics and German foreign policy.
President Donald Trump emerges politically weakened from the US midterm elections, in which Democrats won, according to POLITICO Germany's morning podcast "Berlin Playbook". Loyalty within the Republican Party is starting to crumble, while the victorious Democrats now face continued debate over their future direction.
A culture war inside the Democratic Party
Annett Meiritz, deputy editor-in-chief of POLITICO Germany, speaks with journalist Maximilian Stascheit about why this dispute over direction is a culture war. She also analyses how Trump is likely to focus even more strongly on geopolitics.
What German foreign policy can expect
In the show's 200-second interview, Rixa Fürsen meets Florian Hahn, a politician from the Christian Social Union (CSU), at the Berlin Security Conference. He assesses what German foreign policy can expect after the US elections.
A costlier road to a driving licence
The episode also covers a domestic German issue. Getting a driving licence now costs a small fortune. The governing "black-red" coalition of the conservative Union and the Social Democrats (SPD) promised improvement, but the planned reform is smaller than hoped. POLITICO reporter Cedric Looks explains how the SPD and Union are watering down transparency rules for driving schools. He adds that supervised practice drives with parents could bring new bureaucracy, even though the government wants to cut red tape.
New episodes of "Berlin Playbook" are released every morning from 5 a.m.
