How is the Democratic Party navigating the dominance of President Trump — and reckoning with the reality that more and more voters have been souring on its message?

The Times journalists Michael Barbaro, Shane Goldmacher, Reid J. Epstein and Annie Karni discuss the state of the Democrats.

Guests: Shane Goldmacher, a national political correspondent for The New York Times; Reid J. Epstein, a New York Times reporter covering politics; Annie Karni, a congressional correspondent at The New York Times.

Background reading: 

• “We have no coherent message”: Democrats have struggled to oppose President Trump.
• Democrats chose a political operator from Minnesota as their new leader.
• The House Democratic Super PAC created a $50 million fund targeting the working class.

For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily. Transcripts of each episode will be made available by the next workday.

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Elon Musk and his team have taken a hacksaw to the federal bureaucracy one agency at a time, and the question has become whether he’s on a crusade that will leave the government paralyzed or deliver a shake-up it has needed for years.

Jonathan Swan, a White House reporter for The New York Times, takes us inside this hostile takeover of Washington.

Guests: Jonathan Swan, a White House reporter for The New York Times.

Background reading: 

• Inside Mr. Musk’s aggressive incursion into the federal government.

For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily. Transcripts of each episode will be made available by the next workday. 

Photo: Mike Segar/Reuters

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North America came within hours of a multibillion dollar trade war that was poised to hobble the economies of Mexico and Canada.

The Times journalists Ana Swanson, Matina Stevis-Gridneff and Simon Romero discuss the last-minute negotiations that headed off the crisis — for now.

Guests: Ana Swanson, who covers trade and international economics for The New York Times; Matina Stevis-Gridneff, the Canada bureau chief for The New York Times; and Simon Romero, an international correspondent for The New York Times based in Mexico City.

Background reading: 

• President Trump agreed to delay tariffs on Mexico and Canada for a month after both countries pledged to do more to block drugs and migrants.
• What does Mr. Trump really want from Canada and Mexico?

For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily. Transcripts of each episode will be made available by the next workday. 

Photo: Jeff Kowalsky/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

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Financial markets went into a panic last week over an obscure Chinese tech start-up called DeepSeek. The company now threatens to upend the world of artificial intelligence and the race for who will dominate it.

Kevin Roose, a tech columnist at The Times, discusses how DeepSeek caught us all off guard.

Guests: Kevin Roose, a technology columnist for The New York Times and co-host of the Times tech podcast, “Hard Fork.”

Background reading: 

• DeepSeek’s model has rocked Silicon Valley and upended several fundamental assumptions about A.I. progress.
• Listen to “Hard Fork”: Your guide to the DeepSeek freakout.

For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily. Transcripts of each episode will be made available by the next workday. 

Photo: Greg Baker/Agence France-Presse

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Here’s a strange story: One day two summers ago, Jennifer Kahn woke up because her arms — both of them — hurt. Not the way they do when you’ve slept in a funny position, but as if the tendons in her forearms and hands were moving through mud. What felt like sharp electric shocks kept sparking in her fingers and sometimes up the inside of her biceps and across her chest. Holding anything was excruciating: a cup, a toothbrush, her phone. Even doing nothing was miserable. It hurt when she sat with her hands in her lap, when she stood, when she lay flat on the bed or on her side. The slightest pressure — a bedsheet, a watch band, a bra strap — was intolerable.

Our understanding of pain, and especially chronic pain, is far behind where it should be. We don’t know what causes a person with an injury to develop chronic pain, or why it happens in some people and not others, or why it happens more often in women. At a genetic and cellular level, we don’t know which systems get out of whack, or why, or how to fix them.

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Since his inauguration, President Trump has exercised a level of power that has directly challenged the checks and balances that, on paper, define the U.S. government.

The Times journalists Michael Barbaro, Maggie Haberman, Jonathan Swan and Charlie Savage discuss Mr. Trump’s plan to institute a more powerful presidency.

Guests: 

• Maggie Haberman, a White House correspondent for The New York Times.
• Jonathan Swan, a White House reporter for The New York Times.
• Charlie Savage, national security and legal policy for The New York Times.

Background reading: 

• Mr. Trump’s “flood the zone” strategy has left opponents gasping in outrage.
• From Day 1 of hs second term, Mr. Trump has tested the limits of his authority.

For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily. Transcripts of each episode will be made available by the next workday.

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The midair collision between a passenger jet and a helicopter over Washington on Wednesday night was the deadliest plane crash in the United States in more than 20 years.

Emily Steel, a Times investigative reporter who has been covering the crash, explains what happened.

Guests: Emily Steel, an investigative reporter for the business desk of The New York Times.

Background reading: 

• The crash has renewed concerns about air safety lapses.
• Staffing was “not normal” in the control tower at Ronald Reagan National Airport, according to an F.A.A. report.

For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily. Transcripts of each episode will be made available by the next workday.

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Robert F. Kennedy Jr. faced a crucial nomination hearing on Wednesday where a panel of skeptical senators probed his past, often contentious remarks.

Sheryl Gay Stolberg, who covers health policy for The Times, explains how someone who’s considered on the fringe in a lot of his beliefs came to be picked for health secretary to begin with.

Guests: Sheryl Gay Stolberg, a correspondent based in Washington covering health policy for The New York Times.

Background reading: 

• How addiction and trauma shaped Mr. Kennedy’s turbulent life.
• In the hearing, Mr. Kennedy defended his shifting views on vaccines and abortion.

For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily. Transcripts of each episode will be made available by the next workday.

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In one of his most audacious moves since taking office, President Trump ordered a freeze on Tuesday on trillions of dollars in federal money — from anti-poverty programs to foreign aid — in order to purge the government of what he called woke ideology.

Michael D. Shear, a White House correspondent for The New York Times, discusses the order, the chaos it prompted and whether it is likely to survive in court.

Guests: Michael D. Shear, a White House correspondent for The New York Times.

Background reading: 

• A judge stayed President Trump’s freeze, but disruption to the Medicaid funding system caused fear.
• Uncertainty around the freeze also caused chaos in education.

Photo: Doug Mills/The New York Times.

For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily. Transcripts of each episode will be made available by the next workday.

Unlock full access to New York Times podcasts and explore everything from politics to pop culture. Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.