The American Compass Podcast

The Trump administration’s new trade policy toward China has revealed just how deeply enmeshed major American corporations are with our chief geopolitical rival. Apple’s story is perhaps the most dramatic. Patrick McGee, author of Apple in China and San Francisco correspondent for the Financial Times, joins Oren to discuss how Apple, like so many other nominally American companies, is constrained by the rules, regulations, and industrial preferences of the Chinese Communist Party. They break down how China dominates its peer competitors, the way multinational corporations sleepwalked into the present crisis, and the possibility of America breaking China’s industrial chokehold. Further reading: * Apple in China: The Capture of the World's Greatest [https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Apple-in-China/Patrick-McGee/9781668053379]Company by Patrick McGee * Trade with Communists Should Be Uncertain [https://commonplace.org/2025/05/14/trade-with-communists-should-be-uncertain/] by Oren Cass * Disfavored Nation [https://americancompass.org/disfavored-nation/?_gl=1*1npiw2r*_ga*NzA3MjkyMTc0LjE3NDczMTEwMzk.*_ga_HJDX3VXMN7*czE3NDczMzY2NzYkbzYkZzEkdDE3NDczMzcwNzQkajMwJGwwJGgw] by Mark DiPlacido, Chris Griswold, and Trevor Jones

The second Trump administration has spurred a wave of domestic industrial investment and a recognition that making things in America matters. But what does that look like from the factory floor? Chris Power, founder and CEO of Hadrian, joins Oren to discuss how his company is helping lead reindustrialization efforts here in the United States. He explains the revolutionary technologies Hadrian uses to compete at scale with foreign firms and highlights just how different the manufacturing jobs of today are compared to what many think of as “factory work.” Finally, he and Oren talk through ways policymakers can support the domestic industrial startups we need to return America to its place as the world’s leading technological and industrial power. Further reading: * The Techno-Industrial Policy Playbook [https://www.rebuilding.tech/], published this week by American Compass, FAI, IFP, and NAIA * Not By Tariff Alone [https://americancompass.us17.list-manage.com/track/click?u=81d698294821f84beafbdb324&id=26574ef332&e=150535c193] by Chris Griswold  * What An Enduring Industrial Policy Requires [https://americancompass.us17.list-manage.com/track/click?u=81d698294821f84beafbdb324&id=3c4f431b6f&e=150535c193] by Charles Yang  * Tear Down this Paper Wall [https://americancompass.us17.list-manage.com/track/click?u=81d698294821f84beafbdb324&id=6e2472b11d&e=150535c193] by Christopher Koopman and Josh T. Smith

What should conservatives make of the first 100 days of Trump’s second term? Rachel Bovard, vice president of programs at the Conservative Partnership Institute, joins Oren to discuss how to measure an unconventional administration’s early successes, what to make of DOGE, and where the administration should direct its efforts to capitalize on its public mandate. Plus, they discuss one major change that all conservatives should celebrate: a better approach to antitrust enforcement, led by Andrew Ferguson and Mark Meador at the FTC and Gail Slater at DOJ. Further reading: * “Break ’em Up [https://commonplace.org/2025/04/30/break-em-up/]” by Rachel Bovard * “Antitrust’s Conservative Future [https://commonplace.org/2025/05/02/antitrusts-conservative-future/]” by FTC Commissioner Mark Meador

How has the American media gone from the days of Walter Cronkite to open hostility toward the president and his party? Mark Halperin, editor-in-chief of 2Way [https://www.youtube.com/@2WAYdotTV] and host of the new program "Next Up [https://x.com/NextUpHalperin/status/1915045112767480267]" on the Megyn Kelly network, joins guest host and managing editor Drew Holden for a conversation about the state of the U.S. media. They discuss why the media so often gets the story wrong about President Trump, why the press refused to cover former President Biden's decline, and the incentive structure behind mainstream media's institutional descent into a liberal echo chamber. Plus, the two place bets on whether the media has any hope of internal reform.

If you’ve spent time on social media or watched cable news recently, you’ve almost certainly encountered some of globalization’s staunchest defenders, trotting out their favorite arguments against tariffs. On today’s episode, Mark DiPlacido, American Compass policy advisor, joins Oren to break down the worst of these arguments and share some handy responses for your next important meeting, debate in the office break room, or cocktail party. After spending the past couple weeks on the media circuit, Mark and Oren run through some of their favorites: Should you need a PhD to discuss economics? Does the trade deficit really not matter? These are only the tip of the bad-take iceberg. For more, check out our tariffs symposium, "After Liberation Day [https://commonplace.org/after-liberation-day/]."