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(1860)

Naomi Campbell, supermodel and businesswoman

Naomi Campbell, supermodel and businesswoman

In an exclusive interview for the BBC’s 100 Women season, Zeinab Badawi speaks to supermodel Naomi Campbell.(Photo: Naomi Campbell smiles at Zeinab Badawi)

16 Sep 202122min

Robin Hanbury-Tenison: An explorer protecting indigenous lands

Robin Hanbury-Tenison: An explorer protecting indigenous lands

Stephen Sackur speaks to one of the world’s great modern-day explorers, Robin Hanbury-Tenison. He has committed himself to the protection of indigenous people and their lands, but have his efforts made a difference?

14 Sep 202122min

Former interrogator for the CIA, James Mitchell

Former interrogator for the CIA, James Mitchell

American psychologist James Mitchell helped devise the CIA’s enhanced interrogation programme after the 9/11 attacks. He personally interrogated some of the top terrorist suspects using the programme’s techniques, including waterboarding. His critics label him a torturer; he says he has nothing to apologise for and what he did was harsh, but legal and necessary.He speaks to Zeinab Badawi.(Photo: James Mitchell)

12 Sep 202122min

Rudy Giuliani: Reflecting on 9/11

Rudy Giuliani: Reflecting on 9/11

It’s 20 years since the twin towers of New York's World Trade Center were reduced to dust and ash. This week, the US is again immersed in memories of the attack and what came after. In 2011, on the 10th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, Stephen Sackur spoke to the man who was mayor of New York City on that fateful day, Rudy Giuliani. His response back then earned him the title “America’s Mayor”; a decade later, HARDtalk invited him to reflect on how he and his country had been changed by the horrifying events of 9/11.

9 Sep 202122min

Nadia Calviño: Is Europe too fragmented to shape the 21st Century?

Nadia Calviño: Is Europe too fragmented to shape the 21st Century?

The covid pandemic and emerging superpower rivalries have presented the EU with troubling questions. Stephen Sackur speaks to Spain's Deputy Prime Minister and Economy minister Nadia Calviño. Is Europe too inward looking and too fragmented to shape the 21st Century?(Photo: Nadia Calviño, Deputy Prime Minister and Economy minister of Spain. Credit: Reuters)

8 Sep 202123min

Lindsey Graham: What is the Republican vision for America?

Lindsey Graham: What is the Republican vision for America?

After the US-led withdrawal from Afghanistan, how does America see itself and its place in the world? Stephen Sackur is at the Ambrosetti Forum in northern Italy to speak to one of the Republican Party's most prominent voices, South Carolina Senator Lindsay Graham.

6 Sep 202123min

Omar Zakhilwal: What ideology will prevail in Afghanistan?

Omar Zakhilwal: What ideology will prevail in Afghanistan?

Will pragmatism or zealotry prevail in Afghanistan, as the Taliban grapple with the reality of ruling a broken country? Stephen Sackur speaks to former finance minister Omar Zakhilwal, who has been involved in talks with the Taliban.

1 Sep 202123min

Maggi Hambling: An evolving creative vision

Maggi Hambling: An evolving creative vision

Stephen Sackur speaks to the artist Maggi Hambling. Her works have won international acclaim, but some have also stirred controversy, including a sculpture unveiled in London last year for 18th century feminist Mary Wollstonecraft. How has her creative vision evolved over the last six decades?

30 Aug 202123min

Populært innen Politikk og nyheter

giver-og-gjengen-vg
aftenpodden
aftenpodden-usa
forklart
popradet
stopp-verden
dine-penger-pengeradet
nokon-ma-ga
det-store-bildet
lydartikler-fra-aftenposten
rss-gukild-johaug
fotballpodden-2
hanna-de-heldige
unitedno
bt-dokumentar-2
frokostshowet-pa-p5
e24-podden
rss-ness
aftenbla-bla
rss-penger-polser-og-politikk