Politics Weekly America

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

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 <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/aug/04/sydney-sweeney-political-moment-may-backfire" rel="nofollow">uproar over a jeans advert</a>. 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, <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?

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 <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

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 <a href="https://www.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/david-folkenflik/murdochs-world/9781610390903/?lens=publicaffairs" rel="nofollow"><em>Murdoch’s World: The Last of the Old Media Empires</em></a><em>, </em>David Folkenflik, about the potential fallout for the president

In this first episode of our special Politics Weekly America series, author <a href="https://journalism.columbia.edu/directory/gwenda-linda-blair" rel="nofollow">Gwenda Blair</a>, and 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 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 <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2025/04/laura-loomer-trump-warning/682314/" rel="nofollow">Ali Breland of the Atlantic</a> 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 <a href="https://www.semafor.com/author/eleanor-mueller" rel="nofollow">Semafor</a> 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 <a href="https://judithlevine.substack.com/" rel="nofollow">Judith Levine</a> 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 <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/technology/series/blackbox" rel="nofollow">“Missing in the Amazon”</a>

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”. <br> <br> 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, <a href="https://time.com/7280106/trump-interview-100-days-2025/" rel="nofollow">Donald Trump sat down</a> 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<em> </em>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<em> </em>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 <a href="https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/743988/mad-house-by-annie-karni-and-luke-broadwater/" rel="nofollow">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</a>

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 <strong>Send your questions and feedback to <a href="mailto:[email protected]" rel="nofollow">[email protected]</a><br></strong> <strong>Help support the Guardian by going to <a href="http://theguardian.com/politcspodus" rel="nofollow">theguardian.com/politcspodus</a></strong>

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 [email protected] 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 [email protected] 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 [email protected] Help support the Guardian by going to theguardian.com/politcspodus

This week, Donald Trump continued to dominate the world stage, welcoming a procession of global leaders to Washington, including Keir Starmer. But while the ‘special relationship’ is front and centre in the UK, attention in the US is very much elsewhere. As the president goes full steam ahead with his domestic agenda, there are warning signs for Trump in the polls. So, could he be in trouble at home? And how could the Democrats take advantage? Jonathan Freedland speaks to Stanley Greenberg, the bestselling author, Democratic pollster and political strategist who played a crucial role in the elections of Bill Clinton and Tony Blair

In a matter of days, Donald Trump completed the most radical shift in US foreign policy in decades, bringing Putin back into the fold while sidelining Europe. He claims to have brought the end of the war in Ukraine in sight, but with Volodymyr Zelenskyy and the rest of Europe excluded from the US-Russia talks, are we really any closer to peace? And, at what price?Jonathan Freedland speaks to veteran US diplomat Kurt Volker, who served as Trump’s special representative for Ukraine during his first term, and the Guardian’s US live news editor Chris Michael Send your questions and feedback to [email protected] Help support the Guardian by going to theguardian.com/politcspodus