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    Edward Luce

    Columnist

    Edward Luce is the Washington columnist and commentator for the Financial Times. He writes about American politics and the economy.

    Edward Luce

    This Month

    Electric vehicles from China’s Geely car maker bound for shipment from the Port of Taicang.

    America’s race to tear up trade rules hurts everyone

    The US is growing tired of upholding the economic rules it laid out for the world after 1945. But tariffs only punish consumers and undermine competitiveness.

    Russian President Vladimir Putin

    Why Gaza is an endless gift for Vladimir Putin

    Israel’s war on Hamas is a serious drain for Joe Biden as he heads towards the US presidential election.

    Donald Trump has repeatedly declined to rule out violence if he loses in November.

    Europe should brace itself for a Trump victory

    The difference between 2024 and 2016, when Trump last won the presidency, is that this time he has a plan. From Europe’s perspective, it would look like Fortress America.

    • Updated

    April

    The race for clean-tech dominance between the US and China will help the world achieve its climate goals.

    Biden’s trade action against China is just polite Trumpism

    Improved relations between the two powers can’t mask age-old trade tensions. Better communication is important because the structural problem between them is insoluble.

    Russian President Vladimir Putin.

    Trump’s Republicans are now Putin’s puppets

    Republicans have a stark choice before the US presidential election: help Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelensky or pay fealty to Donald Trump.

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    Demonstrators protest outside the US Supreme Court in Washington over abortion rights

    The election issue keeping Trump awake at night

    Democrats need to press home their advantage on the abortion issue that seems a sure vote-loser for Republicans in November.

    March

    Robert F Kennedy and Nicole Shanahan at their campaign launch this week.

    A Kennedy might be about to help Trump into the White House

    Robert Kennedy jnr’s third-party candidacy could split the vote in key swing states. Polls give him between 2 and 15 per cent of the vote in a three-way race.

    Donald Trump hugs and kisses the American flag at the Conservative Political Action Conference.

    Why no one will lend to cash-poor Trump

    The Republican candidate’s financial difficulties pose risks for America as well as for himself.

    Donald Trump’s candidacy is so far off the charts it is almost paranormal.

    Trump’s avalanche of lies is now boring

    Donald Trump’s unchecked flow of untruths and bizarre outbursts spell danger, but they no longer cause sufficient shock.

    • Updated

    February

    Nikki Haley with a supporter at an election night event in Charleston.

    The real reason Nikki Haley is still running

    The former South Carolina governor is boosting her brand by standing alone against Donald Trump in the Republican Party.

    Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump on stage during a Fox News Channel town hall.

    The real reason Trump wants the White House again

    The Republican frontrunner is hoping to cash in on the presidency to mend his business woes.

    Mental acuity has been a flashpoint affecting both Joe Biden and Donald Trump.

    America is in the grip of geriatrics

    President Joe Biden is no frail outlier but actually the gerontocratic norm in the United States.

    President Joe Biden

    Can Joe Biden now be convinced to drop out?

    Most voters, including supporters of his own party, see the president as too old to run again.

    Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson arrives at Capitol Hill this week.

    Fear of Donald Trump sparks Congress chaos

    Republicans are blocking critical policies that they insisted on because Donald Trump wants to score political points before the November election.

    • Updated

    January

    Donald Trump

    Wall St has changed its tune on Trump now that he might win

    Many business leaders argue that the former president’s bark is worse than his bite. People warned about him in 2017, but the republic is still alive and kicking.

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    Palestinians walk through destruction by Israeli strikes in the Nusseirat refugee camp in Gaza Strip.

    Biden’s blind spot for Israel could prove costly

    The president’s staunch support for Israel risks damaging his prospects for re-election this year.

    Nikki Haley

    Time for Nikki Haley to take off the gloves

    Unless the struggling presidential hopeful reverses course and attacks Donald Trump, the nomination race might just be over.

    December 2023

    Donald Trump

    Trump victory gives green light to Putin, Xi

    Everything will change for European and Asian democracies if a man bent on dictatorship re-enters the White House next year.

    November 2023

    Nikki Haley campaign items.

    Is Nikki Haley the wildcard big donors are hoping for?

    It would be spurious to put numbers on her chances. They are not high. But it is worth stressing that America is not relishing another Trump vs Biden contest.

    • Updated
    For an old man in supposed decline, Joe Biden is doing a great impression of being in charge.

    Joe Biden’s year of living dangerously

    A Donald Trump victory next year would make the incumbent the most consequential single-term president in history – but not in a way he would wish.