As Americans prepare to vote in the November 3 midterm elections, FT chief economics commentator Martin Wolf asks what the result will mean for Donald Trump, the future of US democracy and America's place in the world. In the first of a six-part series of interviews with leading historians and political analysts, Martin speaks to the scholar and former Republican adviser Robert Kagan, who has spent a decade warning about Trump's authoritarian ambitions. They discuss how Trump has accumulated so much power, whether America's democratic institutions can still constrain him, and what might happen if Republicans lose control of Congress. Could these elections mark a turning point for American democracy or has the country already gone too far down the road towards authoritarianism?

Watch the full episode now on the FT’s main YouTube channel here: https://www.youtube.com/@FinancialTimes or search for ‘Martin Wolf on the World’, wherever you get your podcasts

Host: Martin Wolf

Producer: Mischa Frankl-Duval

Senior Producer: Laurence Knight

Executive Producer: Manuela Saragosa

Video Editor: Richard Topping

Audio engineering: Breen Turner

Broadcast engineers: Andrew Georgiadis

Podcast development: Laura Clarke

FT Global Head of Audio: Flo Phillips

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

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Martin Wolf on the US midterms: Is American democracy safe?

FT News Briefing

Martin Wolf on the US midterms: Is American democracy safe?