David Ignatius on Donald Trump After 1 Year and America at 250 Years

* This conversation was recorded on Dec 22nd 2025, before the events in Venezuela. We hope to follow up with David Ignatius soon on Venezuela and more.America is at an interesting moment.We are approaching one year into the second Trump administration and are one quarter of the way through the 21st century. On July 4, 2026, we will celebrate our 250th birthday. I am asking a series of extraordinary Americans - many without fame or fortune, and coming from prose and poetry - to help take the temperature of America in 2026.What is the American idea?What do we stand for?What values do we need to remind ourselves of?How is this country doing politically, economically, culturally, and as a force for good around the world?David Ignatius is the internationally admired foreign affairs columnist and associate editor at The Washington Post.He joined the paper in 1986, later served as foreign editor, and has written his twice-weekly column since 1998 - more than 25 years.From 2000 to 2003, he was executive editor of the International Herald Tribune in Paris, while continuing to write his column.Earlier in his career, he was a reporter for The Wall Street Journal, covering the State Department, the Justice Department, the CIA, and the Middle East.He is the author of twelve spy novels, including Agents of Innocence, his first - considered by many who know the agency to be the best description ever written of spycraft and the CIA.Born into a family shaped by public service, educated at Harvard and King’s College, Cambridge, and based in Washington for much of his professional life, he has had a front-row seat to America’s actions in the world.