Auditioning to Beat Trump

Maybe the most intriguing thing for me at the Munich Security Conference this past weekend was this: The Trump administration wasn’t the only focus. Half a dozen Democrats with potential presidential ambitions were trying out their messages ahead of midterm elections in the fall.

These elections will be a big test for President Trump, but also for his opponents. Democrats will have to come up with a compelling alternative vision of America if they hope to take control of Congress.

I was able to grill one of them myself on a panel about populism: Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a progressive from New York who has raised her profile in recent months.

The Democrats trying to ‘fix this’

Over the past year, most headlines about America have been headlines about Trump.

With the notable exception of Zohran Mamdani, a left-winger who got attention around the world when he was elected as mayor of New York, Democrats have barely been visible abroad.

But in the run-up to the midterm elections in November, that may be changing. Half a dozen prominent Democrats traveled to the Munich Security Conference this past weekend.

The governor of California, Gavin Newsom, told European leaders that the state was a “stable and reliable partner” on climate change. Senator Chris Murphy of Connecticut condemned Trump for alienating “our friends in Europe.” Senator Mark Kelly of Arizona tried to reassure those friends: “I think we can fix this. I think we can get past this. It’s going to take a new president.”

There were so many potential presidential contenders in attendance, one political strategist joked that Munich had turned into Iowa, where White House hopefuls flock at the start of the primary season.

Which Democrats end up running in 2028 is still a wide open question. The more immediate question is what alternative vision do Democrats have to offer American voters for their country and the world? And how different does it have to be from the one that lost in the last election?

One counter project not just to MAGA but also to past Democratic politics is emerging on the populist left of the party, which was energized by Mamdani’s win. I spoke to Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, who has long been considered a potential presidential candidate and was closely followed by the world’s media in Munich.

The A.O.C. factor

Ocasio-Cortez burst onto the political scene as a disrupter inside her own party. A waitress who struggled to pay rent, she won office seven years ago, campaigning to raise the minimum wage and to expand public health insurance.

She’s been trying to steer Democrats toward her working-class message ever since. And as my colleague Kellen Browning wrote recently, plenty of Democrats now look to her, not party leaders, for how to get that message across.

At the Munich conference, she was characteristically direct on a panel on the rise of populism. (You can watch our conversation here.) I asked her whether her party had betrayed its working-class base.

“I consistently saw a party that championed special interests, the elite,” she said. “A Democratic Party that was very much kind of telling working people that everything was fine when it in fact wasn’t.”

She said the party had come a long way since she first ran in 2018 but not far enough. One thing she said needed to happen “expeditiously” was a wealth tax. Another was antitrust policies to prevent the concentration of what she called “abusive” corporate power.

She directly linked the rise of authoritarianism to rising inequality. Ordinary people, she said, were turning away from democracy because wealthy elites were rigging the system in their favor.

“They start to call the shots, and we’re starting to see this with some of the billionaire class throwing their weight around in domestic politics and in global politics as well,” Ocasio-Cortez said.

“Extreme levels of income inequality lead to social instability,” she said. Politicians need to “deliver material gains for the working class,” she added, “or else we will fall to a more isolated world governed by authoritarians that also do not deliver to working people.”

A new day, no matter what?

Whether a version of Ocasio-Cortez’s vision will prevail on the leading Democratic ticket in 2028 is far from certain. Newsom, who has vocally opposed a wealth tax in California, leads the Democratic field in many recent polls (though it’s very early days).

And there are other uncertainties: How smoothly will the midterm elections in November go? One concern voiced privately in the hallways in Munich was that if they go badly for Trump, might he try to contest the results, as he did in the 2020 presidential election?

European officials heard many senior Democrats offer pledges of friendship to Europe and condemnation of Trump’s strongman policies abroad.

But there is no guarantee that, even if the next U.S. president is a Democrat, the world or even the trans-Atlantic relationship will return to what it was.

“There’s been many leaders who said we will go back,” Ocasio-Cortez said. “I think we have to recognize that we are in a new day and in a new time.”

Trump Administration: Live Updates

Updated

MORE TOP NEWS

High-stakes Iran talks

The U.S. and Iran are set to hold a new round of talks in Geneva today. Fundamental differences remain over Iran’s nuclear program.

On the eve of the talks, Iran held live military exercises in the Strait of Hormuz as the U.S. continued its military buildup. A dozen U.S. warships are in place in the region, including in the nearby Persian Gulf. Trump has threatened to strike Iran if its leadership does not agree to a deal on its nuclear program. On Friday, he made his most overt endorsement yet of regime change, saying it would be the “best thing” for Iran.

In Iran, protests against the country’s clerical rulers have ended. But many Iranians say that feelings of rage remain, and that nothing feels normal anymore.

OTHER NEWS

Indonesia is preparing to send thousands of troops to Gaza for a peacekeeping mission as part of Trump’s Board of Peace initiative.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio told Hungary’s authoritarian leader, Viktor Orban, that Trump was “deeply committed” to his success ahead of a tight election.
After the capture of Nicolás Maduro, Venezuelans abroad are considering buying real estate at home. That has caused prices to jump.
In his purge of the Chinese military, Xi Jinping is searching for absolute loyalty and reaching back to Maoist tactics of ideological cleansing, experts say.
A diplomatic feud between Japan and China over Taiwan is hurting the Japanese economy, which depends on Chinese tourists.
Debate over U.S. visas for specialized foreign workers has fueled racism against South Asians.
Canada plans to buy more weapons from Canadian military suppliers and reduce its dependence on American companies.

THE EPSTEIN FILES

Steve Bannon’s name appears in the files nearly every day in the six months leading up to Jeffrey Epstein’s 2019 arrest, indicating a seemingly chummy relationship.
Columbia University punished two people who helped Epstein’s girlfriend enter dental college.
Epstein’s ties with academics reveal the seedy side of college fund-raising.
Top of The World: The most clicked link in your newsletter yesterday was about Naomi Campbell’s ties to Epstein.

WHAT ELSE IS HAPPENING

Robert Duvall, the Oscar winner who played a wide range of characters in films such as “Apocalypse Now” and “The Godfather,” died at 95.
French investigators said a large-scale ticket scam at the Louvre had cost the museum around $12 million

WINTER OLYMPICS

Hockey: The U.S. women’s team advanced to the gold medal game after a win against Sweden. They are expected to play the winner of the other semifinal game, Canada vs. Switzerland.

Freestyle skiing: Eileen Gu of Team China won silver in women’s big air. Follow live updates here.

Buried treasure: You’d be surprised by where Olympians keep their medals. Take a look.

See the medal count here.

WORD OF THE DAY

“Soonicorn”

— A term for start-ups pitching themselves as the next “unicorns,” or private companies worth more than $1 billion. Experts expect a rise in soonicorns this year as the A.I. craze lowers barriers to receiving funding at heady valuations.

MORNING READ

Harlequin France is shaking up Europe’s literary scene. The publisher recently confirmed that it would be running tests with Fluent Planet, a company that uses artificial intelligence to make translation cheaper and faster.

The move drew a mix of outrage and resignation within the industry. Translators denounced Harlequin, while other publishers reached out to Fluent Planet to ask if they, too, could get a quote for A.I.-assisted translation. As the field rapidly evolves, some are wondering: Will A.I. kill translation jobs?

AROUND THE WORLD

Flirting with polyamory … in Brazil

Brazil, home to the world’s largest Catholic population and powerful evangelical movements, has long been deeply conservative. Yet some Brazilians are questioning traditional family models and monogamy, a shift reflected in popular podcasts, books and even a reality TV show about couples seeking a polyamorous partner.

On the outskirts of Rio de Janeiro, a few hundred recently gathered for a monthly pool party celebrating polyamory, where groups of lovers floated hand in hand on inflatable flamingos.

“It’s a much wider understanding of love,” said Carine Almeida Silva dos Santos, 39, who was at the party with her partner, a trans woman, and another woman her lover was dating. Read more.

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Read: “A Killing in Cannabis” tells the story of a man who tried to straddle the lines between the legal and black-market cannabis worlds.

Cherish: Here are a few ways to show your partner that you care.

Tour: This French architect designed the “perfect cocoon” for his parents.

RECIPE

It’s Dumpling Week! For Lunar New Year, which begins today, we’re back with our annual tribute to the savory bites. These five original dumpling recipes created by New York Times Cooking recipe developers come with videos that show you how to form the different shapes at home. They’re as fun to make as they are to eat.