Politics Weekly America

The US vice-president is following the Donald Trump playbook, attacking the Democrats, attempting to make jokes and even swearing more. Jonathan Freedland talks to Arwa Mahdawi about why Vance is making such an effort to court voters

Polling out this week suggests the Democrats could do something no one thought possible even a few months ago: take back the US Senate. Despite this, Donald Trump is telling crowds at rallies across the country that the Republicans will ‘win big’. This week, Jonathan Freedland speaks to David Nir of the Downballot about why Democrats are feeling so hopeful in deep red states

Democratic Senate candidate James Talarico is surprising everyone, as polls have him leading his Republican opponent, Ken Paxton, in the Republican-led state of Texas. Jonathan Freedland speaks to James Henson, founder and executive director of the Texas Politics Project, about why a blue wave in the Lone Star State would be seismic

This week, the US press corps stood up to Donald Trump after he banned three organisations he doesn’t like from the White House. But when it came to the leader of one of America’s oldest adversaries – China – well, Trump literally rolled out a very long red carpet. Jonathan Freedland speaks to the Guardian’s Shrai Popat about why Trump seems weaker these days, and why it might be dangerous to underestimate him

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