I asked for questions, and you delivered! A far-ranging Q&A covering the future for the Democratic Party, and why the US system is particularly brutal towards the non-incumbent party. Why no Trump top officials have resigned in spite of his assault on American democracy. The future of Trump's plan for Gaza. Whether Reform UK will win the next UK election, and whether there will be election reform under Keir Starmer. Oh, and - who's this Mallen fella anyway?

This week, President Trump continued the trend he has established so many times, he pulled the United States out of UNESCO. And as he did so, China was embedded itself more deeply in the institution he had vacated. Between America's retreat from every international body on the grounds that it's not 'America First' enough (how could it ever be?), and its pursuit of allies and enemies alike with punitive tariffs, China is taking full advantage to speed up the transition to what it believes is its inevitable rise. It's a major shift in world power dynamics, so let's discuss.

The mainstream media are downplaying Trump and Tulsi Gabbard's rhetoric on former President Obama and 'treason' over Russian influence on the 2016 election. But in the other news bubble, the MAGA crowd are absolutely convinced that Obama was criminal, they are demanding his arrest, and we seem a step closer to the executive pursuing political opponents and jailing them on trumped-up charges. Once that line is crossed, politics becomes a much more existential struggle, and an extremely dangerous line may well have been crossed. Let's discuss.

Trump still can't get rid of the Epstein files obsession. Even though he is doing his best to distract the attention of his base with empty promises that former President Obama could be prosecuted for 'treason'. So now his Department of Justice has announced that it will carry out an interview with Epstein's partner Ghislaine Maxwell. And, in considering just what they might be seeking to achieve by that move, one obviously Trumpian answer springs into view. Is THIS Trump's secret plan to get out of his Epstein dilemma? Let's discuss.

Zelensky's war-torn Ukraine is being accused by many, including the European Union, of authoritarian slide. This has come to a head recently with the vote to remove independence from key anti-corruption watchdogs, and to pursue prosecutions against a number of well known anti-corruption activists. But Ukraine is in the middle of an existential war, the like of which no democracy has endured since World War 2. Just how do we EXPECT that a modern democracy can fight such a war? Let's discuss.

It was always predicted that Trump 2.0 would include a certain amount of payback - and that was particularly the case when he brought in unqualified loyalists to take up key positions in the intelligence services, the DOJ, and the FBI. Well, now it seems that the Trump Administration is looking to go after former President Obama, with an incoherent charge that he had the intelligence services make up reports on Russian election interference in order to undermine Trump's first term. This is where stuff potentially gets real, so let's discuss.

We had gotten used to the idea that nothing stuck to Donald Trump. Previous politicians could be brought down by the slightest indiscretion, or fumble in the campaign. But Trump spoke offensively, had been shown to have behaved outrageously, and none of it stuck to him in the slightest. And none of it dented his confidence. But now he's on the back foot, playing serious defence. This time it's different, and it's worth looking at why that is. So let's discuss.

According to CBS, it was a purely financial decision. But then, that was always going to be the line because if it was actually what everybody thinks it looks like, it would hardly admit it. Just like they didn't admit that the $16 million court settlement to Trump was a bribe, and yet Trump himself tacitly acknowledged exactly that during one of his ramblings. So was it Trump that got one of his most effective critics silenced? Is it a one-off, or is he going to be targeting the others next. And how far does this go towards chilling effective criticism of the type that most gets under Trump's skin? Let's discuss.

Remember all that stuff about how Trump was sure the only way he could lose an election would be if there was fraud? Well, it seems he's coming round to rigging the elections - so long as it's done by his side. It's not that gerrymandering is new - but the idea that a US president would be co-ordinating the practice by his side across the country, keeping count of the extra House seats that might be won - that is a different level altogether. Let's discuss.

When President Trump's second term started, the notable thing was just how far-reaching his actions were, just how norm-breaking and transgressive they were, and how little his supporters seemed to care. Suddenly, the story has changed. Now there have been three occasions where his MAGA base was divided because Trump did things that run counter to the emerging orthodoxy. What had seemed previously to be a pure cult of personality has turned into something with a much more ideological wing. And that completely transforms the practicalities of the succession race to come. Let's discuss.