The State of It: USA

Is this the real reason Trump made a deal with Putin?

October 14, 2026
Is this the real reason Trump made a deal with Putin?

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

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The State of It: USA is a weekly US politics podcast from The Times and The Sunday Times, offering agenda‑setting analysis of American power and its global impact. It promises frank, in‑depth conversations that cut through spin, conspiracy and partisanship to explain what is really happening inside the White House and beyond.

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