In an incredible U-turn, Donald Trump this week signed a bill directing the justice department to release more files from the investigation into the convicted child sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. It comes amid a huge bust-up with his former firebrand loyalist Marjorie Taylor Greene, who has led the calls for him to release the documents. Is this the start of a Maga breakdown? And where will this increasingly hostile row between them go? Jonathan Freedland speaks to the Rolling Stone reporter Nikki McCann Ramirez about how the former allies fell out and what will happen next with the Epstein files

Just when Donald Trump thought he could celebrate the end of the longest government shutdown in US history, the Democrats had a trick up their sleeve. They released another batch of emails, some from the disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein, who wrote that ‘of course he knew about the girls’, referring to Trump. This week, Jonathan Freedland speaks to the Guardian’s George Chidi about why the Epstein files will not go away and how the saga is likely to unfold over the next few weeks

The US government shutdown became the longest in history this week, crossing the 36-day mark. Food stamp benefits have been delayed for millions of Americans, and 10% fewer flights are going to take off from major airports across the country because government employees aren’t turning up to work since their pay was stopped. Rachel Leingang and David Smith discuss why the president has decided to focus his time on grand architectural plans instead

This time last year, no one had really heard of him. Now, Zohran Mamdani is the first Muslim, millennial and person of south Asian heritage to run America’s largest city. Jonathan Freedland speaks to Ed Pilkington about Mamdani’s historic win, his challenge to the president, and what the Democrats should take away from a successful night at the ballot box

Less than an hour before Donald Trump met the Chinese president, Xi Jinping, to discuss a deal that could end the trade war between the two superpowers, the US president posted on Truth Social that he had directed the Pentagon to match Russia and China in nuclear weapons testing. Jonathan Freedland speaks to Jonathan Czin, the former director for China at the National Security Council, about why Trump did this and whether he or Xi left South Korea feeling the strongest

Millions of people across the US attended No Kings protests against Donald Trump last weekend. The president publicly denied he wanted to be a king, but he posted an AI-generated video of himself dressed as one, flying a fighter jet and dumping excrement on protesters. Jonathan Freedland speaks to the political scientist Barbara Walter about the tactics the Trump administration is using against protesters

Donald Trump has his hands in multiple pies around the world. Not satisfied with the Middle East, the president is attempting to end the war in Ukraine, influence elections in Argentina and manage conflict with Venezuela. This week, Jonathan Freedland speaks to the Guardian’s Andrew Roth about what happened to the ‘America first’ president. Having made himself the king of America, does Trump want to be king of the world?

Donald Trump posted on Truth Social on Wednesday night that Israel and Hamas had agreed the first phase of a new ceasefire deal in Gaza. We’ve been here before, but is it different this time? Has Trump proved the doubters wrong? Jonathan Freedland speaks to Julian Borger about the prospect for peace in the Middle East and the US president’s role in getting to this point

The US supreme court starts a new term on Monday, and the nine justices are preparing to take on cases that could prove crucial to the future of American society and democracy. Jonathan Freedland speaks to Prof Leah Litman about what exactly motivates the nine judges who are supposedly tasked with upholding the US constitution? When did the highest court in the land become so apparently partisan? Is there any coming back from this?

After weeks of threats from both sides and negotiations that went nowhere, the US is once again experiencing a government shutdown. This week, Jonathan Freedland speaks to Marianna Sotomayor, a congressional reporter at the Washington Post, to look at who should take the blame, who suffers, and who will blink first