Tristan Redman

And when she said Nicolas Sarkozy's sentence, nobody speak, but there was, because we were so many people in the room, I heard the, very loud. I will keep this moment in me forever. There'll be no electronic tag for Sarkozy, no house arrest. He'll be the first and only president of the Fifth Republic to go to jail.

And in France, if you appeal, you're considered innocent until all the appeals are finished. But controversially, the court instructs Sarkozy to present himself to prison soon. It's a highly unusual move. In the days that follow, Sarkozy says that judges are out to destroy him.

A former president on his way to prison. Nicolas Sarkozy left his home this morning and to cries of support from a small crowd walked with his wife Carla Bruni down to a waiting car. He arrives at the prison with pullovers, earplugs and a novel. And not just any novel, The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas.

It's maybe the most famous revenge novel ever written. The novel is vast, more than a thousand pages. The hero, Edmund Dantes, escapes from his wrongful imprisonment. He becomes wildly rich and he destroys his enemies. It left you wondering if the vast novel of Nicolas Sarkozy's life might still have a few chapters left to be written.

It's March the 16th, 2026, and I'm back in court in Paris. And I'm watching Sarkozy arrive for his appeal trial.

He walks in a free man. He's been released from prison to fight the case. And everything is still to play for. Sarkozy's been pretty busy. He's written a book. It took him three weeks. A memoir about his 20 days in prison. And it became a number one bestseller. He went on a book tour. He opened up to a podcaster about finding God and discovering the power of prayer.

But now he's back in court and he could emerge from this retrial completely cleared or sentenced to 10 years behind bars. Nicholas Sarkozy's appeal will run until June and the verdict will come in the autumn. In the meantime, Danielle Klein is going to court almost every day and she says the last 35 years have been overwhelming.

Sticking at it has become Daniel's mission. We mustn't give up. We mustn't let go. We mustn't think that we're so small in the face of all this. And in spite of everything that's happened, Nicolas Sarkozy still has supporters in the very highest places. With retrospect, does any of this change how you feel about his presidency? No. This is Christine Lagarde.

Well, you will find out. And Fabrice Arfi? What does he make of the man he spent most of his career investigating? You and your reporting partners have been jousting with him now for a long time, almost 15 years. Is there any part of you that admires his tenacity? I could admire his tenacity if he weren't my former president. He's an impressive person.

I could tell you about my exchange with him in court. Oh yeah? Go on, please. Fabrice tells me a story. During the first trial, on a courtroom break, Sarkozy summons Fabrice over for a chat. It's the first time Fabrice has ever actually spoken with him after 15 years of asking for an interview. Nicolas Sarkozy, who is very tactile,

And I thought to myself, who was he talking to? Was he talking to me? Or was he talking to his subconscious? I still don't understand what he wanted to tell me. We asked Nicolas Sarkozy if he'd speak to us for this program, and he declined.

Kiitos, että katsoitte.

I'm Tristan Redman, and we're here with a bonus episode for you from the Global Story podcast. The world order is shifting. Old alliances are fraying and new ones are emerging. Some of this turbulence can be traced to decisions made in the United States. But the US isn't just a cause of the upheaval. Its politics are also a symptom of it. Every day we focus on one story, looking at how America and the world shape each other.

So we hope you enjoy this episode and to find more of our show, just search for The Global Story wherever you get your BBC podcasts. So I'm going to ask if it's possible to have Elon get up first and talk about Doge because it seems to be of great interest to everyone. That's President Trump speaking at the very first cabinet meeting of his second term back in February of 2025. So Elon, if you could get up and explain where you are, how you're doing and...

Kiitos, puheenjohtaja. Kiitos, puheenjohtaja. Kiitos, puheenjohtaja.

At the time, you probably recall that Musk was designated a special government employee, leading this Trump initiative called the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOJ. And Musk had grand plans to slash government spending, promising to reduce the federal deficit.

But we can do it, and we will do it. And sure, it was odd to hear from someone at a cabinet meeting who was technically not an official member of the cabinet. But that wasn't what really struck me about this moment. No, what struck me was the respect and deference that Musk commanded in that room. It's hard to remember now, but at the time, there was chatter in Washington about who was really running the show. And then, somewhat unceremoniously, Elon Musk was gone.

Tarkoitan, että olen ystävä ja avustaja. Ja toivottavasti, jos presidentti haluaa minulle jotain tehdä, olen presidenttisjärjestössä. Viimeisen vuoden jälkeen Musk lähti Dogeen, jolloin hän on jälkeen ollut erittäin suurta profiilia. Hän on jäänyt hieman vähemmän, kun viime viikkoja, kun hänen lainsäädäntöönsä oma kollegansa, OpenAI-järjestö Sam Altman, jäi hänet takaisin.

But just because we didn't see him doesn't mean he went away. In fact, in the years since his departure from the White House, while the public's attention was elsewhere, the world's richest man was quietly shoring up his control of space and the world's internet.

From the BBC, I'm Asma Khalid in Washington, D.C. And today on The Global Story, even though he's no longer in the heart of power in Washington, is Elon Musk now more powerful than ever?