Politics Weekly America

Donald Trump has thrown a convention to amp up the Republican base ahead of the midterm elections, but not everyone is thrilled about it. Dozens of officials running for re-election have stayed away, choosing instead to campaign locally. Are they worried about Trump’s current unpopularity weighing down their ticket? This week Jenna Amatulli is in for Jonathan Freedland and speaks to Guardian US politics correspondent Rachel Leingang

From the Guardian Investigates team: Across the world, hundreds of people have come to believe they have made extraordinary scientific discoveries with AI chatbots such as ChatGPT, Claude and Gemini. Others say their AI has ‘awakened’, or is leading them to a higher spiritual realm. The Guardian journalist Michael Safi begins investigating a phenomenon labelled ‘AI psychosis’, travelling to the US to meet two people who have been on weird journeys with their chatbots

In August, the Democratic senator from Georgia, Jon Ossoff, implied Donald Trump was not interested in being president because he just wanted to ‘build his ballroom and travel with Natalie’. The implication Trump was having an affair with his aide (which he denied) rattled Republicans and excited Democrats. This week, Jonathan Freedland speaks to David A Graham of the Atlantic about why Ossoff is now a potential candidate for 2028

In the past couple of weeks, the Trump administration has reignited its trade war with Canada, threatened an ‘economic D-day’ against Iran and watched the US national debt surpass $40tn. Meanwhile, Donald Trump has personally made billions of dollars since returning to office. Jonathan Freedland speaks to Dan Alexander of Forbes about how Trump has amassed his fortune – and what his economic record could mean for voters in the midterms

With less than three months to go until the midterms, voters are thinking about grocery prices, the Iran war – and datacentres. This week, Jonathan Freedland speaks to the historian Jill Lepore about how this latest AI backlash could influence those all-important elections in November. Are we seeing the beginning of the end of the ‘artificial state’?

When Air Force One took off from Turkey after July’s Nato summit, almost everyone believed Donald Trump was on board … but he wasn’t. Jonathan Freedland talks with Tara Setmayer of the Seneca Project about why the White House felt the need to come up with such an elaborate lie to protect the president

Donald Trump’s second term is unlike his first. The politicians who challenged him are gone. The lawyers who once pushed back now choose their battles. What remains is an imperial president with almost no internal checks, using executive power to reshape everything from the economy, immigration and even the presidency itself. Few journalists have covered Trump as closely as the New York Times journalist Jonathan Swan. Jonathan Freedland speaks to him about how the president has consolidated such power – and what it could mean for the US and the world

Leftwing Democrats are having their moment in the sun, with Zohran Mamdani in New York, Abdul El-Sayed in Michigan and endless calls for Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez to run for president in 2028. Has Democratic socialism shifted from the political fringe to the mainstream? And can this group lure back the all-important swing voters? Jonathan Freedland speaks to Bhaskar Sunkara, president of the Nation magazine, founding editor of Jacobin and author of The Socialist Manifesto: The Case for Radical Politics in an Era of Extreme Inequalities

Donald Trump has announced a landmark nuclear deal with Saudi Arabia while pressing ahead with efforts to stop Tehran from developing a nuclear weapon. What’s driving Trump’s new agreement with Riyadh? And how is it likely to be received at home and across the Gulf? Jonathan Freedland speaks to Robert Jimison, who covers Congress for the New York Times with a focus on defence and foreign policy, about what the agreement contains, why it matters and the political challenges it could face.

The debate about how old is too old to serve in public office has resurfaced this week after the shock death of the Republican Lindsey Graham and the surprise return of Mitch McConnell, the 84-year-old senator who published a photo of himself in hospital after a long absence from the spotlight. With rumours continuing to swirl around Donald Trump’s health, why is it that US politicians seem to cling on to power for so long? Jonathan Freedland speaks to Alexis Coe, a presidential historian and columnist for the New York Times Book Review, about whether the US is becoming a gerontocracy

After the US launched strikes on Iran this week, Donald Trump said the fragile ceasefire he had co-signed just last month was over. He also reignited his threats to take Greenland, before leaving the Nato summit in Ankara, saying there was a lot of ‘love’ and ‘unity’ in the room. So how does anyone make progress with a leader choosing to relive a diplomatic Groundhog Day? Jonathan Freedland speaks to Susan Glasser of the New Yorker

This weekend marks 250 years since the signing of the declaration of independence, but Donald Trump is making the celebration all about himself. As the anniversary approaches, Jonathan Freedland talks to the Atlantic’s Yoni Appelbaum about why so many Americans are feeling less patriotic these days

The Lincoln Memorial reflecting pool in Washington DC will have to be drained again. Donald Trump has blamed vandalism for the failure to keep the water “American flag blue”. But what if this small body of water is proof that the president can’t outrun the truth? Jonathan Freedland speaks to Arwa Mahdawi about why this project, which has cost the taxpayer millions, is proving to be such an embarrassing failure for a man obsessed with image

Donald Trump has signed a 14-point agreement with Iran, trying to bring an end to a war he helped start. Satisfied his work is done in the Middle East, Trump now wants to move onto peace in Ukraine. But is it that easy? Jenna Amatulli speaks to the Guardian’s Andrew Roth about the chances this peace deal will succeed, and why Trump is turning his attention back to Ukraine

Donald Trump is using some of the world’s most popular sporting events as his own personal stage. This week, Jenna Amatulli speaks to investigative reporter Karim Zidan about whether the US president’s influence on football, UFC and basketball is a help or a hindrance • This podcast was edited on 11 June 2026 because an earlier version incorrectly suggested that the search tactics of the Senegalese and Uzbekistan football teams at US airports were discriminatory

In what has become one of the most chaotic primaries in recent history, elections in California are delivering some upsets. Elsewhere, establishment Democrats performed well and a Trump pick failed to make the cut. This week, Jonathan Freedland speaks to the Guardian’s Sam Levin about the big takeaways from the single busiest primary day of the year so far

On Saturday, Donald Trump said talks with Tehran were going well and an agreement to end the war was ‘largely negotiated’. On Sunday, the US launched strikes on Southern Iran. By Thursday, Donald Trump had circulated a draft peace agreement for the war with Iran among allies. This week, as the US-Iran deal remains in a precarious state, Jonathan Freedland speaks to Ali Vaez of the International Crisis Group about why Trump keeps changing his mind on what to do to end the war

The US supreme court has preserved nationwide access to mail-order abortion pills – for now. As Carter Sherman explains, the fight to protect this medication is far from over, as a nationwide, near-total abortion ban could be on the horizon. Carter speaks to Dr Angel Foster, co-founder of the Massachusetts Medication Abortion Access Project, who reveals how the legal battle over abortion pills has affected patients across the US – and what could happen next

This week, Donald Trump dropped a personal $10bn lawsuit he had against the Internal Revenue Service in exchange for a so-called anti-weaponisation fund. The $1.8bn fund will be used to compensate those who think they have been unfairly investigated by the government in the past. This week, Jonathan Freedland speaks to the legal analyst Kristy Greenberg about why critics are calling this fund ‘corruption on steroids’

The US supreme court demolished the 1965 Voting Rights Act when it ruled in Louisiana v Callais in April that states can’t consider race in redistricting. Southern states from Tennessee to Alabama have rushed to erase majority Black districts, sparking chaos for the midterm elections. Kai Wright talks with Stacey Abrams, voting rights activist and former Georgia house minority leader, about the fallout from the decision and why she thinks the way forward is still through engaging more voters to participate in democracy: ‘They have fractured communities and said we’re going to scatter these seeds. Our job is to grow.’

Democrats think they can flip the Senate blue in November, and they’re hoping a group of interesting characters will help them do it. This week, Jonathan Freedland is joined by Jonathan Martin of Politico to discuss the chances of such an upset and what it would mean for the president to lose the upper chamber

Jonathan Freedland speaks to the law professor and author Leah Litman about the conservative-leaning court’s decisions this legislative session, cases to come and why some are arguing it is now a political institution, not a legal one

A 31-year-old man has been charged with attempting to assassinate Donald Trump, after a thwarted attack at Saturday’s White House correspondents’ dinner. Immediately after this, conspiracy theories spread online that the assassination attempt was fake. This week, Jonathan Freedland speaks to Rachel Leingang about why conspiracy theories such as this about the US president are so prevalent

Three cabinet secretaries have left – or been pushed out – of the US administration since the start of March. Recent reporting suggests more could soon find themselves on the chopping block. Jonathan Freedland speaks to the MS NOW White House correspondent Laura Barrón-López about why Donald Trump is more ruthless in his second term

No matter how much Donald Trump outrages his opponents, nothing ever seems to stick. But what about his own base? With controversies surrounding the Epstein files, his war on Iran, and now a ‘blasphemous’ post depicting the president as Jesus, could Maga finally be pulling away? Jonathan Freedland speaks to Rolling Stone’s Nikki McCann Ramírez about the string of scandals dogging Trump, the Maga big beasts biting the hand that fed them, and what happens when a personality cult loses its personality

This week, despite securing a temporary ceasefire with Iran, there were calls from both the left and the right to invoke the 25th amendment of the US constitution to remove Donald Trump from office. Jonathan Freedland speaks to the Guardian’s Washington bureau chief, David Smith, about the various ways Congress could remove Trump from the White House

In the end, Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency, or Doge, sort of just … fizzled out. So did Musk save the taxpayer any money? What happened the people who lost their jobs in the mass bureaucratic culling? What services were affected? Will Americans ever trust their government again? Jonathan Freedland speaks to author Sasha Abramsky about his new book, American Carnage: How Trump, Musk, and DOGE Butchered the US Government, and about what lasting legacy of Doge will be

Donald Trump says the US has won its war with Iran. Iranian officials responded to this by mocking him. This week, Jonathan Freedland speaks to Susan Glasser of the New Yorker about analysis suggesting Trump is losing his touch when it comes to sealing the deal, winning elections or just having the energy to run the White House

This is episode one of Off Duty, a new Guardian Investigates podcast series by Melissa Segura. On the evening of 29 December 2011, the police officer Clifton Lewis was moonlighting as a security guard at a Chicago minimart when two men walked in. They shot Lewis several times, then took off with his gun and police star. A week later, police had their suspects: four men affiliated with a gang called the Spanish Cobras. For hours, under intense police questioning, they all denied doing it. But that did not seem to matter. You can find the rest of the series on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you listen to your podcasts

Donald Trump has told his Nato allies: ‘We don’t need you.’ He also threatened to ‘massively blow up’ the world’s largest gasfield, despite Americans already having to deal with higher prices. This week, Jonathan Freedland speaks to Kamala Harris’s former national security adviser, Philip Gordon, about what this all means for the Iran war and Trump’s ‘America First’ policy

Since coming back into office, Donald Trump has sent troops to Venezuela, Iran and US cities. He has threatened to deploy them to Greenland in order to get what he wants. But what do the people who serve think of their commander-in-chief? If they wanted to, could they disobey his orders? This week, Jonathan Freedland speaks to Janessa Goldbeck, a former Marine and the chief executive of Vet Voice Foundation

If you’ve been listening to the Trump administration this week, you would be forgiven for being confused about who started the war, why America got involved and what the end game is. This week, the foreign policy expert Ali Vaez tells Rachel Leingang what it was like to take part in war game exercises for the Pentagon and how they compare with what he has seen play out this week. Then the Guardian’s Andrew Roth talks us through the inner chaos in the Trump administration and Congress over Trump’s decision to go to war with Iran

The US and Israel launched a joint military operation against Iran on Saturday, killing Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Why did Trump decide (again) to attack Iran during negotiations on a nuclear deal with the Islamic Republic? How does he sell a new war in the Middle East, with potential US casualties, to people at home? What happens next for Iran? In this special collaboration with Today in Focus, Annie Kelly speaks to the Guardian’s diplomatic editor, Patrick Wintour.

The governor of California, Gavin Newsom, is widely regarded as one of the Democratic party’s leading contenders for the 2028 presidential election. He has also published a new book, Young Man in a Hurry, reflecting on his childhood and his path to the governor’s mansion. This week, Jonathan Freedland speaks to Newsom about why he believes the Democrats suffered such heavy losses in 2024, why the party needs to be less judgmental, and whether he intends to run for president in 2028

Donald Trump made history again on Tuesday evening, delivering the longest State of the Union address on record. But while the president declared the ‘golden age of America’, many Democrats boycotted the event, telling the country Republicans are ‘making your life harder’. The Guardian’s Jenna Amatulli talks to Rolling Stone’s Nikki McCann Ramírez about Trump’s claims, the Democrats’ rebuttal, and how the speech will land with a divided nation

On Tuesday, we learned that the US civil rights leader Jesse Jackson had died at the age of 84. Tributes flooded in from political figures across the aisle for the Baptist minister who twice ran for the Democratic presidential nomination. This week, the Guardian’s Jenna Amatulli speaks to George Chidi about how Jackson transformed the Democratic party and empowered minority communities at the ballot box, and what Jackson might have thought about the party today as it takes on Donald Trump

When Donald Trump returned to the White House last year, he vowed to kill off ‘woke’ in America. From the Kennedy Center to the Smithsonian museums and the Stonewall national monument, the Trump administration has imposed its values on American culture and history. Jonathan Freedland and the Guardian’s Washington bureau chief, David Smith, discuss the consequences for millions of Americans of Trump reimagining history and culture in his image

After months of negotiations, threats and refusals, Bill and Hillary Clinton have finally agreed to testify in front of Congress as part of a Republican-led investigation into the convicted child sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Jonathan Freedland speaks to the Politico Magazine columnist and former federal prosecutor Ankush Khardori about why Donald Trump thinks it is a ‘shame’ the Clintons have been forced to testify

After weeks of federal insurgency, Minnesota fought back, and it seems Donald Trump has lost faith in the people running his ICE operation in the state. So where does this leave Trump’s ‘ICE patriots’? How do Republicans unite over immigration policies that kill Americans? And where does it leave the far-right agitators in Trump’s cabinet? Jonathan Freedland speaks to George Conway, a founding member of the Lincoln Project, who is running for Congress, about what happens next

At the beginning of Donald Trump’s trip to Davos, the US president’s plans for Greenland were vague, and a worry to European leaders. By the end of the day, military force was off the table and threats of tariffs dropped. This is just one example of what it has been like to follow Trump 2.0 in the last year. This week, Jonathan Freedland speaks to Ashley Parker of the Atlantic about why she thinks Americans are suffering from a new politically induced condition and why the midterms in November might be the perfect remedy

Last week, Department of Justice opened a criminal investigation into the chair of the Federal Reserve – and longtime foe of Donald Trump – Jerome Powell. In an extraordinary move, world central bank governors and bank bosses in America pushed back against the Trump administration. This week, Jonathan Freedland speaks to the economist Heather Boushey about why a fight with Wall Street might be one the president regrets

If it’s not threats of military action against Colombia and Cuba, or talk of taking Greenland from Denmark, it’s seizing oil tankers in European and Caribbean waters. All of it has world leaders scrambling to figure out how to handle Donald Trump’s revived form of US imperialism. Jonathan Freedland speaks to the Pulitzer-winning author Anne Applebaum about what to expect from a world changing by the hour at the hands of the US president

Early on Saturday morning, Donald Trump announced that US forces had captured the Venezuelan president, Nicolás Maduro, and his wife, Cilia Flores. Hours later, they were indicted on drug and weapons offences in New York. Later on Saturday, he suggested that the US was “going to run” the country for the time being Jonathan Freedland speaks to the Guardian’s Latin America correspondent, Tom Phillips, about whether or not Trump is likely to end his military campaign in the region – or if this is just the beginning

Jonathan Freedland and the Politics Weekly America team are taking a break this week, so we’re replaying a special series made during the summer, all about the Trump family and whether the president is planning to pass on the political baton once he has to leave office. In the final episode of our special Politics Weekly America series, Eric Cortellessa, Rosie Gray and Dan Adler look ahead to the future of the Trump family’s political ambitions. Could one of Donald Trump’s children take up the political mantle? Or might the president wish to keep politics all to himself?

Jonathan Freedland and the Politics Weekly America team are taking a break this week, so we’re replaying a special series made during the summer, all about the Trump family and whether the president is planning to pass on the political baton once he has to leave office. In the second episode of our special Politics Weekly America series, the reporters Ashley Parker, Rosie Gray and Eric Cortellessa explain why some of Trump’s family decided to step back from political life, and who stepped up to get him back to the White House

Jonathan Freedland and the Politics Weekly America team are taking a break this week, so we’re replaying a special series made during the summer, all about the Trump family and whether the president is planning to pass on the political baton once he has to leave office. In the first episode, the author Gwenda Blair and the reporters Rosie Gray and Ashley Parker introduce us to the family members who helped Donald Trump succeed on his road to the White House and in his time in office

Jonathan Freedland and the Politics Weekly America team are taking a break this week, but will be back with a new episode in the new year

The White House has consistently denied that Donald Trump has ever engaged in conflicts of interest while president. But experts have been tallying up examples of decisions made over the last 12 months which, they say, amount to corruption coming from the highest office. Jonathan Freedland is joined by the anthropologist Prof Janine Wedel, as they wade through the most egregious allegations of corruption from Trump’s first year in office

The Free Birth Society was selling pregnant women a simple message. They could exit the medical system and take back their power. By free birthing. But Nicole Garrison believes FBS ideology nearly cost her her life. This is episode one of a year-long investigation by Guardian journalists Sirin Kale and Lucy Osborne Listen to the full series from The Guardian Investigates podcast

This week, Donald Trump described Europe as ‘weak’ and ‘decaying’ and warned of ‘civilisational collapse’ on the continent due to immigration. His administration also published its blueprint for national security, which suggests that democracy might not be as important to the Trump White House as it has been for previous administrations. Jonathan Freedland speaks to the US military scholar Joseph Stieb about the Trump administration’s national security strategy

Donald Trump has in recent months turned his attention to ousting Venezuela’s leader, Nicolás Maduro. But the US president and his secretary of war, Pete Hegseth, are under scrutiny over military strikes on suspected drug boats from Venezuela in the Caribbean Sea. This week, Jonathan Freedland speaks to the Guardian’s Tom Phillips about why people are accusing Trump of war crimes

A law has come into effect in Texas that will allow individuals in the state to sue abortion pill providers in other states. Proponents say it is a way to enforce abortion restrictions in Texas. Opponents worry about the methods complainants might use to find their evidence. In this special episode, the Guardian US reproductive health and justice reporter Carter Sherman speaks to people who are using, providing and protecting abortion pills and those fighting against them in Texas

Erika Kirk – the widow of Charlie Kirk, the rightwing activist killed in Utah in September – has indicated she would be willing to support JD Vance in a 2028 presidential bid. Katie Miller, the wife of White House deputy chief of staff for policy Stephen Miller, invites senior Republicans on to her podcast for discussions with conservative women. And the Trump administration is developing baby-boom policies it hopes will help gain the backing of women in the midterm elections. Jonathan Freedland speaks to the Guardian columnist Arwa Mahdawi about the Republican drive to win over women

In an incredible U-turn, Donald Trump this week signed a bill directing the justice department to release more files from the investigation into the convicted child sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. It comes amid a huge bust-up with his former firebrand loyalist Marjorie Taylor Greene, who has led the calls for him to release the documents. Is this the start of a Maga breakdown? And where will this increasingly hostile row between them go? Jonathan Freedland speaks to the Rolling Stone reporter Nikki McCann Ramirez about how the former allies fell out and what will happen next with the Epstein files

Just when Donald Trump thought he could celebrate the end of the longest government shutdown in US history, the Democrats had a trick up their sleeve. They released another batch of emails, some from the disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein, who wrote that ‘of course he knew about the girls’, referring to Trump. This week, Jonathan Freedland speaks to the Guardian’s George Chidi about why the Epstein files will not go away and how the saga is likely to unfold over the next few weeks

The US government shutdown became the longest in history this week, crossing the 36-day mark. Food stamp benefits have been delayed for millions of Americans, and 10% fewer flights are going to take off from major airports across the country because government employees aren’t turning up to work since their pay was stopped. Rachel Leingang and David Smith discuss why the president has decided to focus his time on grand architectural plans instead

This time last year, no one had really heard of him. Now, Zohran Mamdani is the first Muslim, millennial and person of south Asian heritage to run America’s largest city. Jonathan Freedland speaks to Ed Pilkington about Mamdani’s historic win, his challenge to the president, and what the Democrats should take away from a successful night at the ballot box

Less than an hour before Donald Trump met the Chinese president, Xi Jinping, to discuss a deal that could end the trade war between the two superpowers, the US president posted on Truth Social that he had directed the Pentagon to match Russia and China in nuclear weapons testing. Jonathan Freedland speaks to Jonathan Czin, the former director for China at the National Security Council, about why Trump did this and whether he or Xi left South Korea feeling the strongest

Millions of people across the US attended No Kings protests against Donald Trump last weekend. The president publicly denied he wanted to be a king, but he posted an AI-generated video of himself dressed as one, flying a fighter jet and dumping excrement on protesters. Jonathan Freedland speaks to the political scientist Barbara Walter about the tactics the Trump administration is using against protesters

Donald Trump has his hands in multiple pies around the world. Not satisfied with the Middle East, the president is attempting to end the war in Ukraine, influence elections in Argentina and manage conflict with Venezuela. This week, Jonathan Freedland speaks to the Guardian’s Andrew Roth about what happened to the ‘America first’ president. Having made himself the king of America, does Trump want to be king of the world?

Donald Trump posted on Truth Social on Wednesday night that Israel and Hamas had agreed the first phase of a new ceasefire deal in Gaza. We’ve been here before, but is it different this time? Has Trump proved the doubters wrong? Jonathan Freedland speaks to Julian Borger about the prospect for peace in the Middle East and the US president’s role in getting to this point

The US supreme court starts a new term on Monday, and the nine justices are preparing to take on cases that could prove crucial to the future of American society and democracy. Jonathan Freedland speaks to Prof Leah Litman about what exactly motivates the nine judges who are supposedly tasked with upholding the US constitution? When did the highest court in the land become so apparently partisan? Is there any coming back from this?

After weeks of threats from both sides and negotiations that went nowhere, the US is once again experiencing a government shutdown. This week, Jonathan Freedland speaks to Marianna Sotomayor, a congressional reporter at the Washington Post, to look at who should take the blame, who suffers, and who will blink first

The US health secretary, Robert F Kennedy Jr, has long been consumed by the neurological condition autism – what causes it, and whether there’s a treatment. This week, Donald Trump took on the cause, making claims about acetaminophen, also known as Tylenol and paracetamol, that were dismissed outright by medical experts around the world. Jonathan Freedland speaks to Carter Sherman, the reproductive health and justice reporter at Guardian US, about when and why the obsession with autism became political

This week, the US president has announced he is suing the New York Times for $15bn, and gloated that the late-night TV show Jimmy Kimmel Live! had been suspended. JD Vance has also promised to crack down on ‘far left’ groups. Jonathan Freedland speaks to the president of The Nation magazine, Bhaskar Sunkara, about the future of the constitutional right to free speech for Americans who disagree with Trump

On Wednesday night, Charlie Kirk, an influential rightwing activist and Donald Trump ally, was shot dead at a university campus in Utah. The US president immediately blamed the ‘radical left’ but failed to mention rising violence against Democrats. This week, Jonathan Freedland speaks to the Guardian’s Washington DC bureau chief, David Smith, about the increase in political violence in the country

Donald Trump wants to change the way Americans vote, promising to introduce measures such as mandatory voter ID and a ban on mail-in voting. But what is his motivation? And what might the consequences be? This week Jonathan Freedland speaks to the Guardian US politics and democracy reporter George Chidi about whether the president could be trying to tip the scales in next year’s midterms Send your questions and thoughts to politicsweeklyamerica@theguardian.com

A fight over a redrawing of the congressional map in Texas united Democrats across the country. This week, we hear from the state representative Nicole Collier about why she slept on the House floor for two nights, and Jonathan Freedland speaks to the KQED reporter Marisa Lagos about why the governor of California, Gavin Newsom, sees an opportunity in fighting dirty

This week, Jonathan Freedland speaks to the journalist Gil Duran about his upcoming book The Nerd Reich: Silicon Valley Fascism and the War on Global Democracy

Donald Trump has been all smiles with both Vladimir Putin and Volodymyr Zelenskyy over the last few days, but in trying to be ‘peacemaker-in-chief, is the president abandoning his ‘America First’ policy? Rachel Leingang and Andrew Roth discuss

With a summit in Alaska and national guard troops in DC, Jonathan Freedland speaks to Susan Glasser of the New Yorker about the week that may dent the US president’s ‘strongman’ image

Donald Trump needed his Maga base to focus on something other than the Jeffrey Epstein files. Enter Sydney Sweeney and the uproar over a jeans advert. This week, Jonathan Freedland speaks to politics reporter Amanda Marcotte about ‘cancel culture’ being a useful tool in a political crisis

In the final episode of our special Politics Weekly America series, Eric Cortellessa, Rosie Gray and Dan Adler look ahead to the future of the Trump family’s political ambitions. Could one of Donald Trump’s children take up the political mantle? Or might the president wish to keep politics all to himself?

Despite growing pressure to lower interest rates to appease the president, the Federal Reserve voted to leave them unchanged. This week Jonathan Freedland speaks to Heather Boushey, former chief economist to Joe Biden, about the latest tussle between the White House and the Federal Reserve

In the second episode of our special Politics Weekly America series, the reporters Ashley Parker, Rosie Gray and Eric Cortellessa explain why some of Trump’s family decided to step back from political life, and who stepped up to get him back to the White House

Donald Trump has filed another lawsuit against a media company. This time though, he’s up against the billionaire media tycoon Rupert Murdoch. Jonathan Freedland speaks to the author of Murdoch’s World: The Last of the Old Media Empires, David Folkenflik, about the potential fallout for the president

In this first episode of our special Politics Weekly America series, author Gwenda Blair, and reporters Rosie Gray and Ashley Parker introduce us to the family members who helped Donald Trump succeed on his road to the White House and his time in office

Donald Trump really wants people to stop talking about Jeffrey Epstein, but his Maga base, including some prominent commentators such as Laura Loomer, want his administration to ‘release the files’. Jonathan Freedland speaks to Ali Breland of the Atlantic about the tricky situation the US president finds himself in

Paramount Global, the parent company of CBS News, settled a lawsuit filed against it by Donald Trump for $16m last week. It came after Disney and Meta settled lawsuits with the president in similar ways. Jonathan Freedland speaks to the Guardian US columnist Margaret Sullivan about why these companies are caving to Trump’s demands, and whether critics are right to be worried about what this means for the future of a free press

Jonathan Freedland is joined by Eleanor Mueller of Semafor to look at the potential fallout from Donald Trump’s tax and spending bill – financially and politically

How did a political nobody, Zohran Mamdani, beat one of New York’s best-known establishment figures, Andrew Cuomo? Rachel Leingang speaks to Moira Donegan about how Democratic party leaders view the historic New York City mayoral primary result. Does the party need to fundamentally change to meet voters where they are?

What is Donald Trump’s plan for Iran? Is he about to break his campaign pledge for ‘no more wars’? And if he does, could this be the moment he loses some of his most loyal Maga supporters? The Guardian’s Rachel Leingang and Andrew Roth discuss

As Donald Trump deploys more troops to fight protesters in LA, and as plans come together for a military parade in Washington DC on the president’s birthday, journalist Judith Levine tells Jonathan Freedland why she believes the US has entered a new era of authoritarianism

Three years ago British journalist Dom Phillips and Brazilian indigenous defender Bruno Pereira vanished while on a reporting trip near Brazil’s remote Javari valley. The Guardian’s Latin America correspondent Tom Phillips investigates what happened in the first episode of a new six-part investigative podcast series. Find episode 2 – and all future episodes – by searching for “Missing in the Amazon”

As Elon Musk and Donald Trump continue to sling accusations at each other on their social media platforms, Jonathan Freedland speaks to Susan Glasser of the New Yorker about what caused it to all fall apart

Last week Robert F Kennedy Jr, Donald Trump’s health chief and a longtime vaccine sceptic, presented a report on children’s health by the Make America Healthy Again (Maha) commission. The study singled out the negative impact of vaccines, ultra-processed foods, environmental chemicals, lack of exercise and “over-medicalisation”. This week, Jonathan Freedland speaks to Jessica Glenza about the long-term implications of the Maha movement’s influence on US policy

As scepticism grows over Joe Biden’s mental and physical health during his presidency, Jonathan Freedland speaks to Bakari Sellers, a political commentator and former Democratic state lawmaker, about what the party needs to do to regain trust after the fallout from the 2024 election

From a trip to the Middle East to talks between Russia and Ukraine, it’s a busy week for Donald Trump and US foreign policy. Jonathan Freedland speaks to the Guardian’s global affairs correspondent, Andrew Roth, about the big players behind the US president’s deals and decisions on the world stage

Jonathan Freedland and the senior Washington editor of Semafor, Elana Schor, discuss what the US president is choosing to make a priority, and what he’s neglecting in return

To mark his 100th day in office, Donald Trump sat down with the Time journalist Eric Cortellessa, who here speaks to Jonathan Freedland about what he learned from his hour-long interview with the US president

The US justice department says it did not fire a former pardon attorney, Liz Oyer, after she refused to recommend reinstating Mel Gibson’s gun rights. But Oyer tells Jonathan Freedland a different story, one she believes points to a wider crackdown by the Trump administration on the rule of law in America

This week, Harvard University, the oldest and wealthiest in the US, defied Donald Trump a list of demands. The Trump administration responded by freezing $2.2bn in federal funding for the Ivy League school. This week, Jonathan Freedland speaks to the Harvard professor Ryan Enos to consider why the university is pushing back, how far this fight may go and why other universities are watching closely

After doubling down on his promise not to pause his latest tariffs, Donald Trump has announced a 90-day pause for most countries except China. Why did he change his mind? Jonathan Freedland speaks to James Bennet of the Economist about who might have forced the president’s hand, and what could happen next

In a special episode, Jonathan Freedland and Annie Karni of the New York Times look at what seems to be a long-term question for US politics. With Republicans fighting each other in the House and Senate, and Democrats struggling to command the room, is Congress broken? Annie’s new book with Luke Broadwater is called Mad House: How Donald Trump, Maga Mean Girls, a Former Used Car Salesman, a Florida Nepo Baby, and a Man With Rats in His Walls Broke Congress

The Guardian’s Rachel Leingang speaks to Nikki McCann Ramirez, from Rolling Stone magazine, about Donald Trump’s decision to upend US trade policy and reports that Elon Musk could soon be leaving his role as a special government employee Send your questions and feedback to politicsweeklyuk@theguardian.com Help support the Guardian by going to theguardian.com/politcspodus

As Donald Trump and his top officials scrabble to respond to the Signal leak scandal, Jonathan Freedland and the New Yorker’s Susan Glasser discuss the fallout of this security breach, and why the US president is attacking the media instead of the people who let a journalist read potentially classified material

This week a Democratic lawmaker became the first to officially call for the senate minority leader, Chuck Schumer, to step down. The veteran Democrat angered many in his party last week when he backed a Republican funding bill that averted a government shutdown. But this is just one example of a party in crisis trying to oppose the Trump administration, with very little power in Congress. This week, we hear from representatives Jamie Raskin of Maryland, Ro Khanna of California, Julie Johnson of Texas, and Maxwell Frost of Florida on how they would like their party to move forward. Plus, Jonathan Freedland asks the senior Democratic strategist Waleed Shahid what the party’s strategy should beSend your questions and feedback to politicsweeklyamerica@theguardian.com Help support the Guardian. Go to theguardian.com/politcspodus

This week, Jonathan Freedland speaks to Heather Boushey, an economist and former adviser to Joe Biden, about what Donald Trump’s long game is with his trade war, and how voters will view his handling of the economy should there be a ‘Trumpcession’ Send your questions and feedback to politicsweeklyamerica@theguardian.com Help support the Guardian by going to theguardian.com/politcspodus Listen to Science Weekly’s episode on the chaos Trump has unleashed on science

This week, Donald Trump picked fights with Canada, Mexico, Ukraine, US veterans and every Democrat sitting in Congress for his State of the Union address. Chris Michael and Joan E Greve discuss why the US president is turning up the heat on longtime allies, whether Democrats are responding successfully and, in the end, who loses out if Trump’s tactics fail? Send your questions and feedback to politicsweeklyamerica@theguardian.com Help support the Guardian by going to theguardian.com/politcspodus