Politics Weekly America

Politics Weekly America

Every Friday, Guardian columnist and former Washington correspondent, Jonathan Freedland, invites experts to help analyse the latest in American politics. From politicians to journalists covering the White House and beyond, Jonathan and his guests give listeners behind the scenes access to how the American political machine works. With a global network of over 900 journalists and five dedicated editions covering news in the US, UK, Australia, Europe, and beyond, the Guardian offers comprehensive reporting across every continent.

Episodes

Trump goes to war with Maga over Epstein files

July 17, 2025 • 32 mins
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
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Why is the media paying millions to Trump?

July 11, 2025 • 26 mins
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
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The winners and losers of Trump’s ‘big, beautiful bill’

July 3, 2025 • 30 mins
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
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A socialist underdog makes history in New York

June 27, 2025 • 29 mins
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?
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Trump’s plan for Iran divides Republicans

June 19, 2025 • 28 mins
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
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Has Trump turned the US into a police state?

June 13, 2025 • 28 mins
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
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Missing in the Amazon: the disappearance – episode 1

June 7, 2025 • 26 mins
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”
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Trump and Musk’s spectacular bust-up

June 5, 2025 • 29 mins
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
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Has RFK Jr misdiagnosed America?

May 30, 2025 • 27 mins
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 t...
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Did the White House cover up Joe Biden’s ill health?

May 23, 2025 • 25 mins
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
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Who are the players behind Trump’s foreign policy?

May 16, 2025 • 33 mins
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
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Trade deals, global wars and AI Jedi posts: where is Trump’s focus?

May 9, 2025 • 29 mins
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
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What does Trump really think of his first 100 days in office?

May 2, 2025 • 30 mins
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
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‘Armed agents nearly turned up at my house’: fired DOJ attorney on defying Trump

May 1, 2025 • 30 mins
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
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America’s universities stand up to Trump

April 18, 2025 • 27 mins
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
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Why did ‘strongman’ Trump back down on tariffs?

April 11, 2025 • 27 mins
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
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Has Donald Trump broken Congress?

April 8, 2025 • 27 mins
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...
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Trump’s ‘Liberation Day’ and Musk’s bad week

April 4, 2025 • 25 mins
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
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Trump’s ‘Signalgate’ blame game

March 28, 2025 • 26 mins
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
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Why are Democrats so divided?

March 21, 2025 • 34 mins
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 Jam...
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