Christiane Amanpour Presents: The Ex Files

In this Q&A episode, Christiane Amanpour and Jamie Rubin field listener questions starting with whether Lindsey Graham's death affects the Senate midterms, concluding South Carolina will likely stay Republican but the hawkish ex-neocon wing he represented will have a quieter voice.

Christiane Amanpour and Jamie Rubin examine reports that Iranian hardliners considered assassinating Trump after Ayatollah Khamenei's death, alongside Trump's own claim that he's "been number one on Iran's kill list for a long time" and his threat to have thousands of missiles "locked and loaded." They detail a New York Times investigation describing a failed Mossad plot to groom former president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, complete with tailored suits, Botox, and English lessons, as a potential replacement regime leader.

Christiane Amanpour and Jamie Rubin discuss the collapse of the US-Iran ceasefire, Trump's FIFA intervention at the World Cup, and Marine Le Pen's path back into French politics.

Christiane Amanpour and Jamie Rubin mark America's 250th anniversary by reviewing the July 4th missteps, from an algae-green reflecting pool to a state fair many states skipped, and the Supreme Court's rejection of Trump's bid to end birthright citizenship.

Christiane Amanpour and Jamie Rubin field listener questions on the lingering fuel and fertilizer shortages across Asia and Africa four months after the Iran war, noting the Philippines declared a state of emergency over energy.

Christiane Amanpour and Jamie Rubin open with Venezuela's earthquake response, arguing the US has been a largely absent 'protectorate' since installing a new government there.

Christiane Amanpour and Jamie Rubin answer listener questions comparing Keir Starmer's resignation to Trump's staying power, discuss whether Syria, Lebanon, and Israel could jointly weaken Hezbollah, and confront the double standard between Iran's inspected nuclear program and Israel's undeclared arsenal.

Christiane Amanpour and Jamie Rubin dissect the new US-Iran memorandum of understanding, arguing Iran emerged from the war with new leverage over the Strait of Hormuz rather than capitulation.

The episode argues that a two-state solution is still the only realistic path, even with more than 700,000 settlers in the West Bank.

Christiane Amanpour and Jamie Rubin assess a US-Iran Memorandum of Understanding that would reopen the Strait of Hormuz and lift the US naval blockade, set to be signed in Geneva on Friday.

In a Q&A episode, Christiane Amanpour and co-host Jamie field listener questions on Iran, India, and the fight over independent media.

Fresh from a reporting trip to Lebanon, Amanpour and Rubin examine whether the Hezbollah-Israel-Iran standoff there could reignite the wider regional war, days after Israeli strikes on South Beirut and an Iranian missile launch.

Christiane Amanpour and Jamie Rubin answer listener questions on whether Trump is a poor negotiator on Iran, citing an Israel Hayom report that Mossad is running a covert influence campaign to topple the Iranian regime even as ceasefire talks continue.

Jamie and Christiane Amanpour argue that Vladimir Putin can provoke NATO without immediately triggering Article 5.

Christiane Amanpour and Jamie Rubin answer listener questions on Pope Leo XIV's AI-warning encyclical, noting it arrives 135 years after his predecessor Leo XIII's Industrial Revolution encyclical.

Christiane Amanpour and Jamie Rubin cover a fresh US strike on Iran's port of Bandar Abbas and assess why the Iran ceasefire, more than a month old, remains stuck between reopening the Strait of Hormuz and any nuclear settlement.

In this Q&A episode, Christiane Amanpour and Jamie Rubin answer listener questions on Trump's mental fitness, the erosion of liberal democracy, the Epstein files, and a new Israeli death-penalty law for West Bank Palestinians.

Christiane Amanpour and Jamie Rubin dissect the Trump-Xi summit in Beijing, where Trump posted that Taiwan should not pursue independence and withheld approval of a $14 billion arms sale.

In this Q&A episode, Christiane Amanpour and Jamie Rubin answer listener questions on why MAGA support for Trump persists, how badly Trump has damaged US-Europe trust, and why Iran's Lego-style propaganda videos mocking the administration have racked up roughly a billion views.

Christiane Amanpour and Jamie Rubin open by tracing signs that Vladimir Putin is weaker than he projects, pointing to a scaled-down May 9 Victory Day parade, a CNN-reported dossier on tightened personal security, and a Reuters poll showing his approval rating down to 65.6%.

Christiane Amanpour and Jamie Rubin take listener questions on The Ex Files about the Iran-Israel war, predicting the Strait of Hormuz standoff will end with a face-saving 'one-pager' nuclear deal rather than renewed conflict.

Christiane Amanpour talks with Tina Brown about the Iran war's fallout, citing a 61% U.S.

Christiane Amanpour and Jamie Rubin answer listener questions on whether growing doubts about President Trump's "grip on reality," even from Marjorie Taylor Greene's 25th Amendment comment, could change his hold on power, concluding only the 2026 midterms can realistically shift it.

Christiane Amanpour and Jamie Rubin discuss the White House Correspondents' Dinner shooting, where a gunman breached security and nearly reached the ballroom before being arrested, while Erica Kirk, widow of the assassinated Charlie Kirk, dove under a table.

Christiane Amanpour and Jamie Rubin dissect a 'pain threshold' standoff over Iran's blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, debating whether Tehran or the Trump administration will crack first under an economic war both sides deny wanting.

Christiane Amanpour and Jamie Rubin analyze the fragile Iran-US ceasefire, arguing that Iran now treats its ability to open and close the Strait of Hormuz as new leverage even after losing missiles, ships, and military capability.

In this Q&A bonus episode of The Ex Files, Christiane Amanpour and Jamie Rubin assess whether Israel's post-October 7th gains from the Iran war could still backfire on the U.S.-Israel relationship, especially among younger Americans.

Christiane Amanpour and Jamie Rubin dissect the collapsed 21-hour US-Iran talks over the Strait of Hormuz, with Rubin arguing negotiators Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner misunderstood Iran's willingness to concede everything but a symbolic "right to enrich." They note growing public questioning of Trump's "mental acuity," pointing to his approaching 80th birthday, a diatribe against Pope Leo, and renewed talk of acquiring Greenland.

Amanpour and Rubin answer listener questions on the Strait of Hormuz standoff, saying China is likely to end up brokering informal shipping arrangements with Iran since neither Iran nor the U.S.

Christiane Amanpour reads aloud Trump's profanity-laden Easter Sunday post to Iran -- 'you'll be living in hell...

Rubin argues Secretary of State Marco Rubio faces more political risk than J.D.

Christiane Amanpour and Jamie Rubin analyze whether US-Iran back-channel negotiations, run through Pakistan, Egypt, and Turkey, can produce a deal after Trump threatened on Truth Social to "obliterate" Iran's power plants, oil wells, and Kharg Island if the Strait of Hormuz doesn't reopen.

In this bonus Q&A episode, Christiane Amanpour and Jamie Rubin answer listener questions about the fallout from the Iran-Israel war, including whether Trump's approach secretly benefits oil interests or Vladimir Putin, which Rubin dismisses as over-reading a short-term operator.

Christiane Amanpour and Jamie Rubin debate whether Trump will escalate or negotiate after he threatened to destroy Iran's power plants, starting with the Bushehr nuclear facility, if Tehran didn't reopen the Strait of Hormuz within 48 hours, a deadline he then extended to five days.

Answering listener questions, Christiane Amanpour confirms she has been formally banned from Iran since her reporting on the disputed 2009 Green Revolution election, though she calls herself an exile rather than a refugee.

Christiane Amanpour and Tina Brown, former editor of Vanity Fair and The New Yorker, argue that Trump and Netanyahu miscalculated in striking Iran, expecting the regime to collapse after killing Khamenei's top circle, which instead consolidated hardliners.

In this Q&A bonus episode, Rubin tells listener Paul that Iran posed no existential threat to the US -- lacking the combined ICBM-and-nuclear-warhead capability North Korea already has -- while Amanpour notes neither Trump nor Netanyahu ever produced evidence of an imminent threat.

Two weeks into the US-Israel war on Iran, Christiane Amanpour and Jamie Rubin assess the unintended consequences, including Vladimir Putin profiting from oil prices above $100 and Iran naming Mojtaba Khamenei, the assassinated Ayatollah's son, as its new supreme leader.

In a special Q&A episode of The Ex Files, Christiane Amanpour and Jamie Rubin analyze the rapidly widening Iran-Israel-U.S.

Christiane Amanpour and Jamie answer listener questions on China-Taiwan tensions, the killing of cartel leader "El Mencho," Trump's reversal on the Chagos Islands deal, and the US midterm elections.

Christiane Amanpour and Jamie Rubin cover the Supreme Court's 6-3 ruling against Trump's tariffs, his reaction calling the justices "a disgrace to our nation," and the resulting chaos over refunds and new tariff workarounds.

Christiane Amanpour and Jamie Rubin use the Q&A format of The X Files to answer listener questions about the Epstein files, Iran, immigration, and Jesse Jackson.

Christiane Amanpour and Jamie Rubin cover the deepening Iran crisis, opening with a Trump soundbite calling regime change 'the best thing that could happen' after '47 years' of failed talks.

Christiane Amanpour and Jamie Rubin answer listener questions about whether US allies would join Iran strikes, NATO chief Mark Rutte's balancing act with Trump, the deployment of ICE agents rather than Secret Service to guard VP JD Vance at the Winter Olympics, and why the Supreme Court is delaying rulings on Trump's tariffs and birthright citizenship.

Christiane Amanpour and Jamie Rubin open by debating whether US Iran policy has ever centered human rights, as Iran's regime conducts a crackdown Rubin estimates has killed or injured up to 20,000 people and led to 40,000-50,000 arrests.

Christiane Amanpour opens with an update on Trump's Iran negotiations, including envoy Steve Witkoff's Istanbul talks and Jared Kushner's involvement, then turns to the fatal ICE shooting of Alex Preddy in Minneapolis, which a New York Times frame-by-frame analysis shows involved ten shots fired at a man already on the ground.

Christiane Amanpour interviews 82-year-old Billie Jean King, who won 39 Grand Slams while also fighting for equal prize money at the majors, starting with her 1972 ultimatum to the US Open.

Christiane Amanpour and Jamie Rubin cover Trump's Davos speech, in which he backed off threats to seize Greenland by force and rolled back tariff threats against NATO allies after a united European pushback.

Mark Warner says the only security threat to Greenland right now is the United States.

Jamie Amanpour and Jamie Rubin spend most of this Q&A on two pressure points: Donald Trump’s Greenland threats and the protests shaking Iran.

Christiane Amanpour opens with an update on Iran's two-week street protests against economic collapse and the collapsing rial, noting several hundred reported deaths and President Trump's 'locked and loaded' threat to intervene.

Christiane Amanpour and Jamie Rubin field listener questions on Greenland, the Trump administration's Venezuela intervention, Ukraine's 2026 peace prospects, and press freedom, recorded from London and Italy.

Christiane Amanpour and Jamie Rubin dissect the U.S.

Christiane Amanpour interviews Tina Brown, founder of the Fresh Hell Substack and former editor of Vanity Fair, The New Yorker and The Daily Beast, about Trump chief of staff Susie Wiles's revealing Vanity Fair interview.

In this Q&A episode, Amanpour and Rubin debate whether a post-Trump world can rebuild the alliances and credibility they say his presidency shattered, framing the Republican Party's future as a contest between Marco Rubio and J.D.

Christiane Amanpour and Jamie Rubin open with J.D.

Christiane Amanpour and Jamie Rubin answer listener questions on the UK's break from Five Eyes intelligence sharing over Venezuela, the 'second boat strike' killings, Pete Hegseth's al-Qaeda and chemical-weapons rhetoric, and the Witkoff-Kushner Ukraine negotiations.

Christiane Amanpour discusses her Doha Forum interview with Syria's interim president Ahmad al-Sharaa, one year after the fall of Bashar al-Assad, including a new Arab Barometer poll showing 81% national support alongside far lower confidence in Alawite and Druze coastal regions.

Christiane Amanpour and Jamie Rubin field listener questions about Netanyahu’s request for a pardon, a possible global financial crash, the Trump-Mamdani White House meeting, and Trump’s boycott of the G20 in South Africa.

Christiane Amanpour and Jamie Rubin discuss France's new voluntary military service and whether other Western countries should follow, citing a Pew poll finding fewer than a third of EU citizens say they'd fight for their country versus 42% of Americans.

On this Q&A episode of The X-Files, Jamie Rubin says a documentary showing 34 US officials publicly describing unexplained aerial phenomena shook his certainty that there are no extraterrestrials on Earth.

Amanpour and Rubin dissect the leaked 28-point Ukraine 'peace plan,' which Rubin calls a Neville Chamberlain-style capitulation drafted largely by Steve Witkoff and Russian negotiator Kirill Dmitriev in Witkoff's Miami home.

In this Thursday Q&A bonus episode of The Ex Files, Christiane Amanpour and Jamie Rubin answer listener questions on Trump's reversal on releasing the Epstein files, Netanyahu's resistance to a two-state solution, and dark money in US politics.

Bosnia and Kosovo showed that "limited force for limited purposes" can work when diplomacy has a real threat behind it.

Amanpour and Rubin condemn BBC Panorama's deceptive edit of Trump's January 6 speech while arguing the political attacks on both the BBC and American public broadcasters like PBS are largely bad-faith 'whining' from the right.

Esther Perel says the first move in conflict is often accountability: "I owe an apology to" and "I owe a thank you to."

Christiane Amanpour and Jamie Rubin field listener questions on Trump's nuclear-testing comments, a hypothetical US invasion of Canada, and China's growing influence in Africa after USAID cuts.

Christiane Amanpour and Jamie Rubin ask whether Kathryn Bigelow's nuclear-strike film 'House of Dynamite' is now echoing reality, as Putin touts a new missile-defense-penetrating weapon and Trump says he will resume nuclear testing 'on an equal basis with Russia.' Rubin distinguishes sub-critical testing from full nuclear detonation, notes only North Korea, India, and Pakistan have tested since the 1990s test-ban era, and warns that China's rapid buildup toward 1,500 weapons, without any arms-control commitment, creates a three-power dilemma the US and Russia alone can't manage.

In this bonus Q&A episode, Christiane Amanpour and Jamie Rubin answer listener questions on New York's mayoral race, AI disinformation, Kamala Harris's political future, and NATO's history with Russia.

Ahead of the Trump-Xi summit in Korea, Christiane Amanpour and Jamie Rubin debate China's rare-earths leverage, then turn to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth's Pentagon press restrictions.

Amanpour argues Obama’s Syria red line mattered because Trump’s strikes later proved a "small cruise missile attack" could have been enough.

Christiane Amanpour and Jamie Rubin debate whether Trump's deployment of roughly 10,000 troops, ships and aircraft near Venezuela can force Nicolas Maduro from power, with Rubin arguing regime change historically requires a ground invasion, as in Panama and Iraq.

Christiane Amanpour says the Supreme Court overturning Donald Trump’s immunity ruling is “exactly zero,” and she ties that to justices who have ignored Trump’s “anti-democratic actions.” She also flags upcoming rulings on Trump’s tariffs and his “constant deployment of ICE” on U.S.

Christiane Amanpour and Jamie Rubin discuss the new Gaza ceasefire and hostage release, debating whether Trump can convert 'phase one' into a lasting two-state peace and whether he deserves the Nobel Peace Prize.

Christiane Amanpour and Jamie Rubin dissect Trump's newly announced Gaza plan, noting Rubin says it mirrors the framework he helped build with Tony Blair and Tony Blinken roughly a year earlier under the Biden administration.

In this Q&A episode, Jamie Rubin recounts testifying at a war crimes tribunal for former Kosovo leader Hashim Thaci, arguing the case wrongly blames him for KLA crimes he didn't control.

Christiane Amanpour and Jamie Rubin open on Trump deploying roughly 200 National Guard troops to Portland and quote his own 2007 book -- 'you need to screw them back 15 times harder' -- as the logic behind his Justice Department indicting former FBI Director James Comey.

Recorded live at UNGA's 80th session as part of a 'Be Hope' podcast takeover, Amanpour and Rubin answer a question from UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohamed by arguing multilateral bodies like UNICEF work even when the Security Council itself is paralyzed, as it was over the Kosovo genocide when Russia blocked action.

Christiane Amanpour and Jamie Rubin cover the wave of UN member states recognizing a Palestinian state during UNGA's 80th session, with Rubin arguing recognition defeats Hamas's actual goal of a single Palestinian-controlled state rather than rewarding it.

Christiane Amanpour and Jamie Rubin use listener questions to examine whether Donald Trump is "challenging" the rule of law and whether the Supreme Court will curb his powers.

Christiane Amanpour and Jamie Rubin, the latter testifying at the Kosovo Specialist Chambers in The Hague, examine rising political violence after Charlie Kirk's assassination, including Elon Musk's "prepare to fight or die" remark at a roughly 150,000-person London protest led by Tommy Robinson.

Christiane Amanpour and Jamie Rubin answer listener questions on Gaza press restrictions, Ukraine security guarantees, and the widening gap between Trump-era America and illiberal regimes.

Christiane Amanpour and ex-husband Jamie Rubin open by needling Trump for attending the U.S.

Christiane Amanpour and Jamie Rubin frame AI as a new layer on top of the internet and social media, with “information warfare” and “AI damage to our democracy” at the center.

In this listener Q&A episode, Christiane Amanpour and Jamie Rubin, a former U.S.

Christiane Amanpour and Jamie Rubin use real case studies to explain how hostage and prisoner negotiations actually work, starting with Iranian-American businessman Siamak Namazi's call to Amanpour from inside Evin prison after seven and a half years detained.

Christiane Amanpour and Jamie Rubin answer listener questions on The Ex Files, addressing what a two-state solution for Israel and Palestine could look like based on the 2000 Camp David talks between Bill Clinton, Ehud Barak and Yasser Arafat.

Christiane Amanpour and Jamie Rubin condemn Israel's killing of five Al Jazeera journalists near al-Shifa hospital and analyze Netanyahu's plan to reoccupy Gaza City, which his own military chief, General Eyal Zamir, and former Prime Minister Ehud Olmert warn could get hostages killed.

Christiane Amanpour and Jamie Rubin field listener questions on The Ex Files, opening with why almost no Republican senator challenges Trump, citing Lisa Murkowski's admission that fear drives the caucus and Mitt Romney as the rare exception.

Christiane Amanpour and Jamie Rubin open on Gaza's starvation crisis, noting that envoy Steve Witkoff visited the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation and defended it despite killings of Palestinians rushing for food.

Christiane Amanpour and Jamie Rubin answer listener questions on The Ex Files, opening with why Rubin held no post in Obama's administration despite serving under Clinton and Biden.

Christiane Amanpour and Jamie Rubin open by weighing the US-UK special relationship as Trump wraps up a private visit to his Scottish golf resort, where the EU agreed to buy $750 billion in American energy and invest $600 billion more in the US military just to secure a 15% tariff rate instead of 30%.

Christiane Amanpour and Jamie Rubin use listener questions to connect Trump, Gaza, Iran, and Saudi Arabia through one theme: leverage in the Middle East.

Christiane Amanpour and Jamie Rubin examine why the Jeffrey Epstein case, first exposed by Miami Herald reporter Julie Brown, is dominating US politics, citing a CBS/YouGov poll showing 75% disapprove of the administration's handling and 89% want the files released.

In this Q&A bonus episode, Rubin argues Roy Cohn "taught Donald Trump his politics," rating Trump's resemblance to Cohn's tactics of denial and intimidation an 8.5 out of 10, while Amanpour compares the moment to Senator Joseph McCarthy's downfall at the hands of the press.

Christiane Amanpour and her ex-husband Jamie Rubin, a former State Department official, interview former Secretary of State Antony Blinken about Iran's nuclear program, revealing that Iran had reportedly agreed with European counterparts to cut enrichment to under 1% before Israel's strikes.

Christiane Amanpour and Jamie Rubin answer a listener question from Cape Town about why Israel is allowed nuclear weapons while not joining the NPT.

Christiane Amanpour and Jamie Rubin connect the deadly Texas flash flood at Camp Mystic to Trump administration cuts at the National Weather Service and FEMA, questioning whether degraded forecasting capacity contributed to the tragedy.

In this listener Q&A episode, Christiane Amanpour and Jamie Rubin answer questions on Israel-Iran misunderstanding, citing Cyrus the Great's protection of Jews and the Iranian regime's 'death to Israel' rhetoric versus ordinary Iranians' views.

In this main episode of The Ex Files, Christiane Amanpour recounts growing up in Tehran during the 1978-79 Islamic Revolution, describing martial law, smuggled cassette tapes of Ayatollah Khomeini's exile broadcasts, and her family's chaotic escape by bus and train after a general strike grounded their flight from Bandar Abbas.

In this Q&A episode, Christiane Amanpour and Jamie Rubin field listener questions on how the Iran war might end, noting Pakistan and Europe as possible intermediaries and revealing Pakistan has nominated Trump for a Nobel Peace Prize.

Recording the day after US and Israeli strikes on Iran and a declared ceasefire, Christiane Amanpour and Jamie Rubin dissect whether Trump's Fordow bombing actually destroyed Iran's nuclear program.

Christiane Amanpour says the U.S.

Christiane Amanpour and Jamie Rubin open with Amanpour's Davos story about finding Benjamin Netanyahu hiding behind a curtain, before turning to Israel's new war with Iran and whether the strikes could push Tehran toward finally building a bomb.

Jamie Rubin says Donald Trump could make a World Cup exception because he loves "events" and "big, dramatic, showcases."

Christiane Amanpour and her ex-husband, former US State Department diplomat Jamie Rubin, debate Trump's deployment of the National Guard into California over immigration protests, which Rubin calls an attempt to manufacture 'a political civil war.' They discuss Elon Musk's exit from government, citing a figure of roughly 55,000 overseas AIDS deaths tied to Musk's dismantling of USAID and the PEPFAR program.

Christiane Amanpour, recording from Paris, and Jamie Rubin answer listener questions on whether the United States could become a dictatorship under Trump, how to counter "Trumpism's" lasting influence, and why the Biden-Harris campaign didn't more publicly push its Gaza ceasefire plan.

Amanpour describes carrying only a burner phone into the US out of fear before delivering Harvard's Kennedy School commencement speech amid Trump's funding cuts of $2.2 billion and push to ban foreign students.

In this Q&A bonus episode, Christiane Amanpour and her ex-husband and co-host Jamie Rubin answer listener questions from Instagram and email on press influence over elections, US democracy under Trump, and their own careers.

Christiane Amanpour and Jamie Rubin dissect Trump's Oval Office ambush of South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, where Trump falsely claimed white farmers are being murdered with impunity, only for Ramaphosa to defuse the tension by joking he had no $400 million plane to offer as a gift.

In this Q&A bonus episode, Jamie Rubin argues the only time the US exerted real leverage over Israel was during the Clinton years, when Bill Clinton and Madeleine Albright publicly disagreed with Netanyahu over a promised land handover under the Wye River agreement, contributing to Netanyahu's 1999 election loss to Ehud Barak.

Christiane Amanpour and Jamie Rubin examine whether Trump can get Vladimir Putin to end the war in Ukraine, alongside a look back at Joe Biden's health, legacy, and Putin's rise to power.

In this bonus Q&A-style episode, Amanpour recounts asking Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov about Trump's 'grab them' remarks and Pussy Riot, prompting his deadpan reply that 'everybody's a pussy over there.' Rubin describes being on the ground for Zelensky's defiant 2022 Munich Security Conference appearance three days before Russia's invasion, where the Biden administration made an unusually public intelligence disclosure to warn the world.

In the debut episode of Christiane Amanpour Presents: The Ex Files, Amanpour and her ex-husband Jamie Rubin, a former State Department official, explain that they married the week of al-Qaeda's 1998 US embassy bombings and are now using their combined journalism and diplomacy experience to analyze the world.