Politics Weekly America

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, <a href="https://orbooks.com/catalog/american-carnage/" rel="nofollow">American Carnage: How Trump, Musk, and DOGE Butchered the US Government</a>, 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 <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/technology/series/blackbox" rel="nofollow">Off Duty</a>, 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 <a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/off-duty-the-guardian-investigates/id1731314182" rel="nofollow">Apple</a>, <a href="https://open.spotify.com/show/57nEonC68q5vgEi6a1k398" rel="nofollow">Spotify</a>, 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? <br> <br> This week, Jonathan Freedland speaks to Janessa Goldbeck, a former Marine and the chief executive of <a href="https://vvfnd.org/about/" rel="nofollow">Vet Voice Foundation</a>

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. <br> <br> 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 <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/news/series/todayinfocus" rel="nofollow">Today in Focus</a>, 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, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WsmrDFOMJV4" rel="nofollow">Young Man in a Hurry</a>, 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 <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/business/2026/jan/13/jerome-powell-fed-chair-trump" rel="nofollow">chair of the Federal Reserve</a> – and longtime foe of Donald Trump – Jerome Powell. In an extraordinary move, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/business/2026/jan/13/central-banks-us-fed-powell-trump-bank-of-england-ecb" rel="nofollow">world central bank governors</a> and <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/business/2026/jan/14/trump-hits-back-at-jp-morgan-ceo-defence-of-federal-reserve-jamie-dimon" rel="nofollow">bank bosses in America</a> pushed back against the Trump administration. This week, Jonathan Freedland speaks to the economist <a href="https://kleinmanenergy.upenn.edu/people/heather-boushey/" rel="nofollow">Heather Boushey</a> about why a fight with Wall Street might be <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/business/2026/jan/13/trump-economy-cost-of-living" rel="nofollow">one the president regrets</a>

If it’s not threats of military action against <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/jan/05/trump-colombia-invasion-petro" rel="nofollow">Colombia</a> and Cuba, or talk of taking <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/jan/07/what-are-trumps-real-options-for-gaining-control-of-greenland" rel="nofollow">Greenland</a> from Denmark, it’s seizing <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/jan/07/marinera-seized-tanker-atlantic-us-uk-russia" rel="nofollow">oil tankers</a> 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, <a href="https://time.com/author/eric-cortellessa/" rel="nofollow">Eric Cortellessa</a>, <a href="https://unherd.com/author/rosie-gray/" rel="nofollow">Rosie Gray</a> and <a href="https://www.vanityfair.com/contributor/dan-adler?srsltid=AfmBOors6wjTRHJdLnX2akcQcGH_oFdYn10kj6tYpphXwmvruv_vUplx" rel="nofollow">Dan Adler</a> 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 <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/author/ashley-parker/" rel="nofollow">Ashley Parker</a>, <a href="https://unherd.com/author/rosie-gray/" rel="nofollow">Rosie Gray</a> and <a href="https://time.com/author/eric-cortellessa/" rel="nofollow">Eric Cortellessa</a> 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 <a href="https://journalism.columbia.edu/directory/gwenda-linda-blair" rel="nofollow">Gwenda Blair</a> and the reporters <a href="https://unherd.com/author/rosie-gray/" rel="nofollow">Rosie Gray</a> and <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/author/ashley-parker/" rel="nofollow">Ashley Parker</a> 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 <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/technology/series/blackbox" rel="nofollow">Listen to the full series from The Guardian Investigates podcast</a>

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 <a href="https://www.liberalcurrents.com/sovereignty-for-me-none-for-thee/" rel="nofollow">Joseph Stieb</a> 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. <br> <br> 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 <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/sep/10/charlie-kirk-shot-utah" rel="nofollow">rightwing activist killed in Utah</a> 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 <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/nov/19/trump-sign-bill-epstein-files" rel="nofollow">signed a bill</a> 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 <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/nov/12/house-bill-government-shutdown-vote" rel="nofollow">end of the longest government shutdown</a> in US history, the Democrats had a trick up their sleeve. They released another <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/nov/13/jeffrey-epstein-emails-trump" rel="nofollow">batch of emails</a>, 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 <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/nov/12/trump-karoline-leavitt-jeffrey-epstein" rel="nofollow">will not go away</a> and how the saga is likely to <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/nov/12/adelita-grijalva-arizona-swearing-in" rel="nofollow">unfold</a> over the next few weeks

The US government shutdown became the longest in history this week, crossing the 36-day mark. <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/nov/03/trump-partially-fund-food-stamps-snap" rel="nofollow">Food stamp benefits</a> have been delayed for millions of Americans, and <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/nov/05/government-shutdown-duffy-airspace-closures" rel="nofollow">10% fewer flights</a> 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 <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/nov/02/trump-cost-ballroom-government-shutdown" rel="nofollow">grand architectural plans</a> 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 <a href="https://www.brookings.edu/people/jonathan-a-czin/" rel="nofollow">Jonathan Czin</a>, 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 <a href="https://www.barbarafwalter.com/how-civil-wars-start" rel="nofollow">political scientist</a> <a href="https://barbarafwalter.substack.com/about" rel="nofollow">Barbara Walter</a> 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 <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/oct/09/first-phase-of-ceasefire-deal-to-end-war-in-gaza-agreed-by-israel-and-hamas" rel="nofollow">first phase of a new ceasefire deal</a> 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 <a href="https://www.simonandschuster.co.uk/books/Lawless/Leah-Litman/9781668054628" rel="nofollow">Prof Leah Litman</a> 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 <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/sep/16/trump-new-york-times-lawsuit" rel="nofollow">New York Times</a> for $15bn, and gloated that the late-night TV show <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2025/sep/18/jimmy-kimmel-live-suspended-indefinitely-after-hosts-charlie-kirk-comments" rel="nofollow">Jimmy Kimmel Live!</a> had been suspended. JD Vance has also promised to crack down on <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/sep/15/jd-vance-charlie-kirk-podcast" rel="nofollow">‘far left’</a> groups. <br> <br> Jonathan Freedland speaks to the president of <a href="https://www.thenation.com/" rel="nofollow">The Nation</a><em> </em>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, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/sep/11/charlie-kirk-death-political-violence-aftermath" rel="nofollow">was shot dead</a> at a university campus in Utah. The US president immediately blamed the ‘radical left’ but failed to mention <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/live/2025/sep/10/donald-trump-jeffrey-epstein-tariffs-immigration-crime-us-politics-live-news-updates?CMP=share_btn_url&page=with%3Ablock-68c226f98f08d80fd0f11cb7#block-68c226f98f08d80fd0f11cb7" rel="nofollow">rising violence against Democrats</a>. 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 <strong>Send your questions and thoughts to </strong><a href="mailto:[email protected]" rel="nofollow"><strong>[email protected]</strong></a>

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 <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/aug/19/texas-democrats-permission-slip-protest" rel="nofollow">she slept on the House floor</a> for two nights, and Jonathan Freedland speaks to the KQED reporter <a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/political-breakdown/id1327641087" rel="nofollow">Marisa Lagos</a> 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 <a href="https://www.thenerdreich.com/" rel="nofollow">The Nerd Reich</a>: 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