On Thursday, June 27, CNN hosted the first presidential debate of the 2024 election cycle. After months of speaking at each other in campaign rallies, Joe Biden and Donald Trump finally had an opportunity to directly engage in discussion. Domestic politics often dominate presidential debates, but with ongoing conflicts in Europe and the Middle East in addition to U.S.-China competition, 2024 could be different.
The morning after the debate, FP’s Ravi Agrawal discussed foreign-policy takeaways with two London-based observers of U.S. politics: Leslie Vinjamuri, the director of the U.S. and Americas program at Chatham House, and Gideon Rachman, the chief foreign affairs commentator at the Financial Times.
The FT’s Gideon Rachman on why he watched Thursday’s presidential debate with horror: Biden seemed “weak and losing his touch.”
Leslie Vinjamuri explains the “deep fear” that Biden supporters in and outside the United States feel after the debate: “if he can’t deliver … we’re left with [Trump].”
Rachman argues that the U.S. political system is “not healthy,” whether viewed through the lens of political dynasties or polling showing a loss of faith in democracy.
How are leaders around the world seeing the U.S. presidential campaign? “Europeans are absolutely terrified,” Vinjamuri says. “They talk about trying to Trump-proof Europe … but really have very few mechanisms to do that.”
Rachman says that after the debate, new fears of a diminished U.S. president will embolden adversaries abroad.
Gideon Rachman
Chief foreign affairs columnist, Financial Times
Gideon Rachman is the chief foreign affairs columnist for the Financial Times. Prior to that, he spent 15 years at the Economist. He also hosts a podcast, The Rachman Review. He is the author of many books on international politics and economics, the most recent of which is The Age of the Strongman: How the Cult of the Leader Threatens Democracy Around the World.
Leslie Vinjamuri
U.S. and Americas program director, Chatham House
Leslie Vinjamuri is the director of the U.S. and Americas program at Chatham House, where she also is the chair of faculty of the Queen Elizabeth II Academy. She is a professor of international relations at SOAS University of London, and has co-written and co-edited books on geopolitics and the international system. Vinjamuri also serves as the vice chair of the Carnegie Council for Ethics in International Affairs and deputy chair of the Marshall Aid Commemoration Commission.
Ravi Agrawal
Editor in chief, Foreign Policy
Ravi Agrawal is the editor in chief of Foreign Policy, the host of FP Live, and a regular world affairs analyst on TV and radio. Before joining FP in 2018, Agrawal worked at CNN for more than a decade in full-time roles spanning three continents, including as the network’s New Delhi bureau chief and correspondent. He is the author of India Connected: How the Smartphone Is Transforming the World’s Largest Democracy.
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