Anticipation for the promise a new year brings is, in 2025, heavily tempered by trepidation about what Donald Trump’s second term will look like. For the big story of our first edition of the new year, diplomatic editor Patrick Wintour surveys how the world from Moscow to London, Tehran to Beijing and Brussels to Kyiv is gearing up for 20 January. Whether they be populists or hard-headed foreign-policy realists, it is clear that leaders are prepared to talk back to Trump in his language of power. Equally true is that despite the incoming White House administration’s preference to concentrate on America first domestic issues, the war in Ukraine, conflict in the Middle East and tensions with China force themselves to the forefront of Trump’s agenda and are unlikely to be solved in either his first day, week or month in office. As the year unfolds, Guardian Weekly will continue to help you make sense of Trump’s return and the biggest global issues of 2025.
