Ian Bremmer joins us from the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland to provide his analysis on the news of the day in global politics:
What stood out in President Trump's Davos speech and how is it received?
Well, I mean, you know, his victory lap stuff. I mean he's talking a lot about how amazing the economy is and the trade deals is getting done that are better than ever. Look, he has some actual accomplishments to trumpet now. His exaggerations were pretty great. How it was received as interesting; In the crowd, some tittering, people shaking their heads. But the reality, we're talking privately, is they like a lot of what he's doing compared to a lot of the Democrats that are running. Remember, these are CEOs of industry. These are financial titans. They're much more aligned with Trump than they are say, Greta on the environment. Important to know that when you think about how people make decisions.
The Senate impeachment trial has begun. What are your expectations?
Expectations? That he's going to get acquitted, the president, on an almost perfectly party line vote. That's going to anger the Democrats immensely, will make them feel like the electoral process itself is delegitimized. If it's a tight election, it's going to be a contested outcome. I fear that that is where we are heading.
What is going on with Russia and Putin's proposed constitutional changes?
Well, you got a new government in Russia. It looks a lot like the old government, but Prime Minister Medvedev is gone. You've got this new entity that is potentially one that Putin will end up running. It's a Kazakhstan type thing. What do you do when you want to stay president for life, but you're stuck at the end of this term in 2024? He's just setting up for the long term and Putin's going absolutely nowhere.