Mike Pence: US will soon get deserving government
The Interview14 Sep 2025

Mike Pence: US will soon get deserving government

‘I'm very confident that someday soon we're going to have government as good as our people again’

Paddy O’Connell speaks to former US Vice President Mike Pence about President Trump’s second term in office. Pence, whose political career began a quarter of a century ago, first rose to international prominence when he was selected by Donald Trump to be his running mate for the 2016 US Presidential election.

When the insurgent billionaire shocked the world by defeating Hillary Clinton, Pence found himself at the centre of an administration beset by multiple controversies from the very beginning, including having to navigate impeachment proceedings against his boss.

The pair, however, weren’t always aligned in their worldviews, and the relationship became increasingly frayed behind closed doors. Formal ties were severed when Pence resisted efforts by Trump to overturn his election defeat to Joe Biden in 2020.

After leaving the post of Vice-President, Pence remained active in politics in the years that followed, eventually running for the Republican nomination for the 2024 Presidential election. This was, of course, won by his old boss - but Pence refused to endorse him the second time around.

Despite the turbulent four years in office, he remains proud of what he and Trump achieved in that time. However, he can now speak more freely about his former boss, who is back in the White House for a second term.

His experience at the very top of American politics also gives him unique insight into events both at home and abroad. In this wide-ranging interview, he discusses many pressing issues including vaccine scepticism, global tariffs and the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Thank you to the Newsnight team for their help in making this programme. The Interview brings you conversations with people shaping our world, from all over the world. The best interviews from the BBC. You can listen on the BBC World Service, Mondays and Wednesdays at 0700 GMT. Or you can listen to The Interview as a podcast, out twice a week on BBC Sounds or wherever you get your podcasts.

Presenter: Paddy O’Connell Producers: Ben Cooper, Samuel Kerr, Pascale Puthod and Liz Rawlings Editor: Justine Lang

Get in touch with us on email TheInterview@bbc.co.uk and use the hashtag #TheInterviewBBC on social media.

(Image: Mike Pence. Credit: John Lamparski/Getty Images)

Episoder(1856)

Leonid Volkov: Is the anti-Putin movement out of options?

Leonid Volkov: Is the anti-Putin movement out of options?

Stephen Sackur speaks to Leonid Volkov, long-time ally and adviser to Russia’s late opposition leader Alexey Navalny. President Vladimir Putin is almost certain to be resoundingly re-elected in upcoming elections. His most dangerous political opponent is dead. Is it game over for the anti-Putin movement?

13 Mar 202422min

Ericka Huggins: Do the Black Panthers have lessons for Black Lives Matter?

Ericka Huggins: Do the Black Panthers have lessons for Black Lives Matter?

Stephen Sackur is in Oakland, California, to speak to Ericka Huggins, an original member of the 1960s Black Panther Party. She experienced violence, imprisonment and vilification in the controversial campaign for black power. Do the Panthers have lessons for the Black Lives Matter movement?

13 Mar 202422min

Riyad Mansour: Why are the diplomats failing?

Riyad Mansour: Why are the diplomats failing?

Stephen Sackur speaks to Riyad Mansour, the Palestinian Ambassador to the UN. Talks to end, or at least suspend, the war in Gaza haven’t worked. The humanitarian situation for two million Palestinians and the 100-plus Israeli hostages is desperate. Why are the diplomats failing?

13 Mar 202423min

Sathnam Sanghera: Britain's imperial legacies

Sathnam Sanghera: Britain's imperial legacies

Stephen Sackur speaks to the writer Sathnam Sanghera, whose own identity as the British son of Indian immigrants led him to look afresh at the legacy of the British Empire.

6 Mar 202423min

Salome Zourabichvili: Where does Georgia's destiny lie?

Salome Zourabichvili: Where does Georgia's destiny lie?

Russia’s neighbour Georgia is closely watching what happens in Ukraine. It shares a 900km border with Russia, who invaded in 2008. Russian troops are stationed in two separatist regions. Georgia has just been granted EU candidate status and talks of joining NATO, yet its government is seen by some as sympathetic to Russia. Sarah Montague talks to the Georgian President, Salome Zourabichvili. Where does Georgia's destiny lie - with Russia or the West?

1 Mar 202423min

Ciarán Hinds: Is Northern Ireland a creative powerhouse?

Ciarán Hinds: Is Northern Ireland a creative powerhouse?

Stephen Sackur interviews Northern Irish actor Ciarán Hinds, whose career took him from the troubled streets of Belfast to an Oscar nomination. Right now, Northern Ireland is a creative powerhouse; why, and will it last?

28 Feb 202424min

Jens Stoltenberg: Is Russia really preparing for a war with Nato?

Jens Stoltenberg: Is Russia really preparing for a war with Nato?

Sarah Montague is at Nato’s headquarters in Brussels to speak to its outgoing Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg. Two years after Russia’s full scale invasion of Ukraine, is Vladimir Putin now preparing for a war with Nato?

26 Feb 202422min

HARDtalk: Defying Putin

HARDtalk: Defying Putin

In a special programme in the run up to Russia’s presidential election in March, HARDtalk looks back on interviews with those few Russians who have been ready to stand up to Vladimir Putin. From the late Boris Nemtsov to Alexei Navalny whose death was announced recently, what motivates those ready to risk everything to challenge Putin?

23 Feb 202422min

Populært innen Politikk og nyheter

giver-og-gjengen-vg
aftenpodden
stopp-verden
popradet
forklart
bt-dokumentar-2
aftenpodden-usa
nokon-ma-ga
dine-penger-pengeradet
det-store-bildet
lydartikler-fra-aftenposten
rss-gukild-johaug
aftenbla-bla
hanna-de-heldige
rss-ness
rss-penger-polser-og-politikk
unitedno
e24-podden
oppdatert
fotballpodden-2