The State of It: USA

It's been confirmed that Elon Musk ordered a slowdown of the Starlink internet that Ukraine relies on to defend itself from Russian attacks. President Trump has said he didn't know who was responsible but is this a Henry II-Thomas Becket situation?
In Moscow, Trump's special envoy, Steve Witkoff, has called President Putin a humanitarian. Russia has released retired American teacher Stephen Hubbard after four years in prison. But the overall strategy with regard to Russia seems flawed and naïve. It could leave the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelensky, with a dreadful choice: does he want to be like South Korea or like South Vietnam?

Donald Trump once referred to his chief of staff, Susie Wiles, as the "ice maiden". She was accused of arranging a "sanctioned hit" on Katie Zacharia, who ended up leaving her post as White House press secretary after only five days. Now there are rumours that Wiles's job may not be safe. The White House says it's fake news. Could Trump do without her?

With two weeks to go to the midterm elections, some Republicans seem to be resorting to desperate measures. In Ohio, Vivek Ramaswamy recruited the estranged mother of his Democratic opponent Amy Acton. A family tragedy is now playing out in competing attack ads.

Katy has been with Democratic senator Jon Ossoff as he campaigns for re-election in Georgia. Could he be the Democratic 2028 presidential candidate?

Katy Balls, Washington editor and columnist at The Times and The Sunday Times
Gerard Baker, columnist at The Times and editor at large at The Wall Street Journal

Producers: Euan Dawtrey, Harry Kitson
Executive producer: Molly Guinness

Picture: Getty Images
Audio: Reuters
This podcast was brought to you thanks to the support of readers of The Times and The Sunday Times. Subscribe today
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Gargantuan grift
Are the wheels coming off the Trump administration? President Trump's deal with Putin to buy Russian diesel has even dismayed some Republicans. Both the domestic politics and the geopolitics of it are baffling. Gerry has another theory about Trump's motivations for making a deal with Moscow.
Katy has been on the campaign trail with Mike Johnson, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, to hear what Republicans are saying ahead of the midterms on November 3rd.
The fall of Kimberly Guilfoyle
Kimberly Guilfoyle, Trump’s ambassador to Greece, has been asked to resign after allegations she solicited $100,000 from a donor to pay her credit card bill. Guilfoyle, the former fiancée of Donald Trump Jr, has denied all wrongdoing and has said she'll vigorously defend her name.
Meanwhile, new White House press secretary Katie Zacharia had a rocky first outing in front of the cameras, and now she's facing questions about her CV. Can she survive the week?
Elizabeth Holmes tried to sue me
Finally, a new documentary takes us inside the extraordinary story of Elizabeth Holmes and Theranos. Gerry was editor of The Wall Street Journal when it broke the story that unravelled Holmes’s billion-dollar blood-testing empire. He remembers how aggressively Holmes tried to sue the paper.

Katy Balls, Washington editor and columnist at The Times and The Sunday Times
Gerard Baker, columnist at The Times and editor at large at The Wall Street Journal

Producers: Euan Dawtrey, Harry Kitson
Executive producer: Molly Guinness

Picture: Getty Images
This podcast was brought to you thanks to the support of readers of The Times and The Sunday Times. Subscribe today
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The threat from Iran
The Trump administration has given mixed messages about exactly why US jets have been moved from RAF Fairford. It's still unclear whether there was a terror plot and whether Iran was involved and no one has been charged, but there's speculation that Iran could be activating terror cells around the world.
Midterm U-turn
Donald Trump has made a rare U-turn. He has said he plans to pay for controversial television ads using funds from his Maga Inc. super Pac rather than the federal government after being accused of using taxpayers' money for campaign ads.
America's death penalty problem
The Pentagon has announced that the Fort Hood attacker, Nidal Hasan, will be executed by firing squad. Hasan fatally shot 13 unarmed US soldiers in 2009, injuring another 32. The announcement comes just after Tennessee's botched execution of Christa Pike. We look at the history of the death penalty in America and ask if there really is any way to kill someone without violating the US constitution, which bans cruel and unusual punishment.
What went wrong with Doge?
Katy has interviewed Michael Lewis whose new book Blockers: Rebels in the Deep State tells the story of the people who stood up against Doge. Elon Musk and his team of young cost-cutters would even set up camp in government buildings.

Katy Balls, Washington editor and columnist at The Times and The Sunday Times
Gerard Baker, columnist at The Times and editor at large at The Wall Street Journal

Producers: Euan Dawtrey, Harry Kitson
Executive producer: Molly Guinness

Picture: Getty Images
Audio: Reuters, @WhiteHouse on X

00:00 - Is Iran’s Strategy a Sign of Strength or Weakness?
00:18 - B-1 Stealth Bombers Pulled After RAF Fairford Arrests
01:35 - Washington Weighs the Iranian Drone Threat
04:38 - Are U.S. Bases Worldwide Becoming Easy Targets?
08:44 - Soaring Diesel Prices & Trump's Midterm Nightmare
10:53 - Trump Backs Down On Federal-Funded Campaign Ads
13:55 - The Death Penalty: Botched Executions vs. Firing Squads
21:42 - Michael Lewis Exposes What Really Happened Inside DOGE
23:32 - Why Elon Musk’s Government Cuts Completely Failed
This podcast was brought to you thanks to the support of readers of The Times and The Sunday Times. Subscribe today
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A blue wave is building across America, as Republicans brace for a brutal midterm reckoning. Red strongholds like Kansas, Oklahoma and Florida are starting to look vulnerable. Does President Trump even care?
The mystery surrounding RAF Fairford is only getting stranger, raising more questions than answers and exposing the fragility of the US-UK relationship. Is Marco Rubio right that a foreign actor is involved? And could it ultimately be good news for Andy Burnham?
And as the world wakes up to the potential dangers of AI, Trump is embracing America’s tech giants. Is he sleepwalking into a crisis?

Katy Balls, Washington editor and columnist at The Times and The Sunday Times
Gerard Baker, columnist at The Times and editor at large at The Wall Street Journal

Producers: Euan Dawtrey, Harry Kitson
Executive producer: Molly Guinness

Picture: Getty Images
Audio: Reuters

00:00 - Is a Republican Midterm Disaster Looming?
00:33 - The "Blue Tsunami" & Key Battlegrounds (Kansas, Florida, Texas)
06:33 - Is Trump Becoming an Electoral Liability?
09:18 - Fearing Subpoenas: The Final Years of a Trump Presidency
11:46 - UK Foreign Security Incident & US Reaction
17:06 - Trump's "Superintelligence" AI Summit & Silicon Valley Backlash
21:01 - AI Anxiety, Tech Billionaires, and Backlash from Voters
This podcast was brought to you thanks to the support of readers of The Times and The Sunday Times. Subscribe today
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Donald Trump and Andy Burnham have had their first meeting at the United Nations General Assembly in New York. Trump said that US-UK relations were better now than when Keir Starmer was prime minister. But he reiterated his opposition to the Chagos Islands deal. We look at what was said, what was not said and the body language between the two men.
Making sense of Trump's UNGA speech
In President Trump's UNGA speech he threatened to annihilate Iran but also said he might make a deal after the midterms. The Cuban delegation left the room when Trump called their country an “absolutely failed state” and said “it will fall”. Trump also said that AI should be renamed “super-intelligence”.
Less lame duck, More raging bull
We look at what we learned from the speech about Trump's foreign policy and his priorities. And what does it say about America that the president used the phrase “to the victor belong the spoils”?

Katy Balls, Washington editor and columnist at The Times and The Sunday Times
Gerard Baker, columnist at The Times and editor at large at The Wall Street Journal

Producer: Harry Kitson
Executive producer: Molly Guinness

Picture: Getty Images
Audio: Reuters
This podcast was brought to you thanks to the support of readers of The Times and The Sunday Times. Subscribe today
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.