Nicole Bastian is co-head of Podcast, Video, and Live Journalism at Handelsblatt and, among others, co-host of the weekly podcast Trump-Watch. Being foreign editor at Handelsblatt from 2014 to 2024 and head of the roughly 30 foreign correspondents , worldwide, she has a focus on international topics.
Nicole joint Handelsblatt in 2002, starting as Tokyo correspondent covering Japan, South and North Korea. In 2007, she transferred to Frankfurt, working as a banking reporter during the financial crisis. After positions as op-ed editor and head of the financial news desk, she became financial editor and head of the team of finance reporters in 2011.
She often works as a moderator for congresses and events and is an honorary board member at the Japanese-German Business Association (DJW).
Nicole has studied East Asian Economics in Duisburg and Kyoto. Prior to Handelsblatt, she has worked for Deutsche Presse-Agentur (dpa), Germany’s biggest news agency—as a trainee, a business editor and business reporter in various German cities.
Episode 137: Friedrich Merz: Foreign Policy Chancellor
Chancellor Merz has received praise internationally for many German foreign policy and defense initiatives in 2025: suspending the “debt brake” to allow for more security investments, expanding the Bundeswehr, committing …
