Politics Weekly America

Tech bosses have called for a slowdown in artificial intelligence and the creation of formal guardrails from the US government. But why is President Trump unmoved by the doomsday predictions, dismissing them as a ‘hoax’? What lies behind his embrace of the AI industry? Jonathan Freedland speaks to the Guardian US tech editor, Blake Montgomery

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? <br> <br> 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<strong> </strong>Bhaskar Sunkara<strong>, </strong>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 <br> <br> • <strong>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</strong>

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 <a href="https://www.youtube.com/@courtsidewithkg" rel="nofollow">Kristy Greenberg</a> about why critics are calling this fund ‘corruption on steroids’