Thirty-six years ago this week, the Chinese Communist Party crushed pro-democracy protests in Tiananmen Square with tanks and bullets. The death toll? Certainly in the hundreds, probably in the thousands, and deliberately hidden by the Communist Party of China.

How did that massacre reshape China’s path, and what did it mean for Beijing’s relationship with the U.S. and the West?

Host Cliff May sits down with his FDD colleague Matt Pottinger, Chairman of our China Program, to discuss Tiananmen’s legacy and global consequences.

Is Iran on the brink, or is the West getting played again? Filling in for host Cliff May, Behnam Ben Taleblu is joined by Andrea Stricker and Saeed Ghasseminejad to discuss Trump’s renewed demand for full nuclear dismantlement, the regime’s internal weakness, and why half-measures won’t cut it. From stalled negotiations to nationwide strikes and the case for a “strike fund,” they unpack how to confront the Islamic Republic in 2025.

President Trump’s May 19 phone call with Vladimir Putin does not appear to be two hours well-spent. According to readouts, the Russian ruler agreed to continue talking about talking.

Around the same time, Putin launched a massive drone strike against Ukrainian soldiers defending their country and civilians attempting to survive the long war waged against them by an enemy seeking to destroy their freedom and identity.

Despite President Trump’s multiple threats to impose “devastating” sanctions on Russia if Putin continues to refuse even a temporary ceasefire — to which Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has agreed — Putin does not appear to be taking Trump’s threats seriously.

If Trump isn’t bluffing, a new FDD Memo details exactly how the president can exert significant economic pain on Russia to give Putin pause — and maybe even pause the missiles strikes.

Joining host Cliff May to discuss are memo co-author John Hardie and FDD’s RADM (Ret.) Mark Montgomery, who just returned from the frontline in Ukraine.