Lulu Garcia Navarro

Next week, David talks with Denzel Washington.

Next week, David talks with Denzel Washington.

I'm Lulu Garcia Navarro, and this is The Interview from The New York Times.

I'm Lulu Garcia Navarro, and this is The Interview from The New York Times.

We're essentially struggling with endemic narcissism. where our culture is demanding that we focus on ourselves so much that what it's creating is this deep need to escape ourselves.

We're essentially struggling with endemic narcissism. where our culture is demanding that we focus on ourselves so much that what it's creating is this deep need to escape ourselves.

From The New York Times, this is The Interview. I'm Lulu Garcia Navarro. Four years ago, after the tumultuous first Trump administration, President Biden came into office promising to rebuild old alliances and defend democracy. The man tasked with doing that on the world stage was Secretary of State Antony Blinken, a longtime diplomat who'd worked with the president for decades.

From The New York Times, this is The Interview. I'm Lulu Garcia Navarro. Four years ago, after the tumultuous first Trump administration, President Biden came into office promising to rebuild old alliances and defend democracy. The man tasked with doing that on the world stage was Secretary of State Antony Blinken, a longtime diplomat who'd worked with the president for decades.

The message to America's allies and enemies alike was that a new era of stability was at hand. Instead, the world blew up. Secretary Blinken was beset by an escalating series of international crises almost from the beginning, from the Afghanistan withdrawal to Russia's invasion of Ukraine to Hamas's attack on Israel and the subsequent war in Gaza and conflict in the wider Middle East.

The message to America's allies and enemies alike was that a new era of stability was at hand. Instead, the world blew up. Secretary Blinken was beset by an escalating series of international crises almost from the beginning, from the Afghanistan withdrawal to Russia's invasion of Ukraine to Hamas's attack on Israel and the subsequent war in Gaza and conflict in the wider Middle East.

All the while, Blinken championed this promise of robust American diplomacy to solve the world's many problems. But as the Biden administration winds down, those conflicts around the world rage on. A new Trump administration is set to retreat from the very alliances and institutions Blinken championed. And what role America will play in the changing global order is an open question.

All the while, Blinken championed this promise of robust American diplomacy to solve the world's many problems. But as the Biden administration winds down, those conflicts around the world rage on. A new Trump administration is set to retreat from the very alliances and institutions Blinken championed. And what role America will play in the changing global order is an open question.

On Thursday, I sat down with Blinken at the State Department for a wide-ranging conversation about the world he's leaving behind, which, despite it all, he argues, is better than the one he inherited. Here's my conversation with Secretary of State Antony Blinken. Secretary Blinken, four years ago, you inherited the world from President Trump. And now you're about to hand it back to him.

On Thursday, I sat down with Blinken at the State Department for a wide-ranging conversation about the world he's leaving behind, which, despite it all, he argues, is better than the one he inherited. Here's my conversation with Secretary of State Antony Blinken. Secretary Blinken, four years ago, you inherited the world from President Trump. And now you're about to hand it back to him.

Your tenure has been an unprecedented interregnum, if you will. Have you thought about what a strange position that is to be in?

Your tenure has been an unprecedented interregnum, if you will. Have you thought about what a strange position that is to be in?

Thinking back to when you first came into office, you know, President Biden painted a portrait of a world that was seeing a sort of battle between democracy and autocracy, a phrase that was repeatedly used. Yet at home, voters have been skeptical of that fight. Many voters bought into Trump's vision of an America that should be less involved in the world.

Thinking back to when you first came into office, you know, President Biden painted a portrait of a world that was seeing a sort of battle between democracy and autocracy, a phrase that was repeatedly used. Yet at home, voters have been skeptical of that fight. Many voters bought into Trump's vision of an America that should be less involved in the world.

Why don't you think that the Biden administration and you in particular were able to convince voters of the benefit of what you have been endeavoring to do these past few years?

Why don't you think that the Biden administration and you in particular were able to convince voters of the benefit of what you have been endeavoring to do these past few years?