Episodes

  • How will Donald Trump’s actions now affect the next American elections?

    How will Donald Trump’s actions now affect the next American elections?
    Jun 20 2025
    In a special edition of Talking Politics USA, Lucy Watson is joined in the studio by Jessica Taylor, election expert and analyst for the Cook Political Report, who joined ITV News on US Election night in 2024 as Donald Trump swept to a second term in the White House. They discuss:
    • How the growing conflict in the Middle East is splitting the MAGA faithful
    • What impact will Trump's popularity have on next year's midterm elections
    • And the potential frontrunners to lead the Democratics and Republicans in 2028
    Catch up with the latest episode of Talking Politics USA on ITVX, YouTube or on your favourite podcast platform.

    Got a question for the team? Email us on talkingpolitics@itv.com or comment below.
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    25 mins
  • Exclusive: Why Kim Leadbeater expects assisted dying vote victory

    Exclusive: Why Kim Leadbeater expects assisted dying vote victory
    Jun 18 2025
    In a Talking Politics exclusive, the architect of the assisted dying bill Kim Leadbeater joins the podcast as MPs prepare for a crucial vote on the era-defining legislation.

    She explains to Paul Brand why she is "positive and optimistic" a majority will support the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill in Friday’s defining vote.

    And while Health Correspondent Rebecca Barry outlines the concerns from sections of the medical community - and the many unknowns that remain on how assisted dying will be implemented - Kim argues why MPs are ruling on "the most robust assisted dying bill in the world".

    Meanwhile, Robert Peston shares his analysis after grilling Prime Minister Keir Starmer at the G7 in Canada on splits among world leaders over the Iran-Israel conflict and the handling of the grooming gangs inquiry.
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    40 mins
  • What can Trump do about Israel vs Iran? Pete Souza on the power of images. Plus what was the president's military parade like?

    What can Trump do about Israel vs Iran? Pete Souza on the power of images. Plus what was the president's military parade like?
    Jun 16 2025
    This week on Talking Politics USA, we hear from U.S. correspondent Dan Rivers about what influence Donald Trump could have on the developing conflict between Israel and Iran.

    Lucy Watson speak to Pete Souza, the man who was Barack Obama's chief photographer for eight years in the White House and thinks the images from today's administration are more like a "reality show".

    And Stacy Foster recalls her whirlwind time covering for Dan in DC - from rushing coast to coast to cover the protests in Los Angeles, to trying to grab a glimpse of President Trump's much-discussed military parade.

    Want to get in touch? Email talkingpolitics@itv.com
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    32 mins
  • Q&A: What's Starmer achieved as PM? Plus which MP should take a lie detector test?

    Q&A: What's Starmer achieved as PM? Plus which MP should take a lie detector test?
    Jun 13 2025
    In this week's Q&A, Paul Brand and Robert Peston answer the political questions that matter to you, including:
    • What has Keir Starmer achieved since he became PM?
    • What can the government realistically do to bring the cost of living down?
    • Why isn't financial, legal and political education part of the curriculum?
    • Which MP would you pick to take a lie detector test?
    Catch up with the latest episode of Talking Politics on ITVX, YouTube or on your favourite podcast platform.

    Got a question for the team? Email us on talkingpolitics@itv.com or comment on our social media posts.
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    23 mins
  • Will Rachel Reeves’ spending spree pay off? And will her Farage jokes backfire?

    Will Rachel Reeves’ spending spree pay off? And will her Farage jokes backfire?
    Jun 11 2025
    In this special edition of Talking Politics, Paul Brand is joined by Political Editor Robert Peston, Economics Editor Joel Hills and Investigations Editor Daniel Hewitt to pour over the key inclusions - and omissions - in Rachel Reeves’s spending review, discussing…
    • The chancellor's key announcements
    • The winners and losers as the austerity era ends
    • What the headline announcement on affordable housing means for the country’s housebuilding crisis
    • Why this is the most significant political moment for this government
    • Where the money has been found for savings
    • And whether Rachel Reeves’s many jokes at Nigel Farage’s expense will backfire on her.
    Got a question for the team? Email us on talkingpolitics@itv.com or comment on our social media posts.
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    26 mins
  • Q&A: Trump vs Musk - who will come out on top?

    Q&A: Trump vs Musk - who will come out on top?
    Jun 9 2025
    In this week's Talking Politics USA, Lucy Watson, US correspondent Dan Rivers and former White House adviser Laura Schwartz answer your questions, including:
    • If Elon Musk and Donald Trump continue fighting, who will come out of it worse?
    • What's the difference between Trump's travel ban and his 2017 'Muslim ban'?
    • How effective is Trump's 'Mexican wall' and immigration policies?
    • How can a President who claims to understand business not understand the negative effect from constantly changing tariff arrangements?
    • Why are the Democrats' approval ratings down so low?
    • Is the While House press office just a propaganda machine?
    Do you have a question you'd like the team to answer? Email talkingpolitics@itv.com
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    17 mins
  • The Trump-Musk bromance IMPLODES - is the President in trouble?

    The Trump-Musk bromance IMPLODES - is the President in trouble?
    Jun 6 2025
    Lucy Watson, Dan Rivers, and Laura Schwartz gather for an impromptu bonus episode after relations between the world's richest man and perhaps the world's most powerful man collapsed at lightning speed.

    Elon Musk ramped up the row between the pair yesterday after claiming, without evidence, that Trump's administration hasn't released all the records related to sex abuser Jeffrey Epstein because the president is mentioned in them. He wrote on X: "Time to drop the really big bomb: @realDonaldTrump is in the Epstein files. That is the real reason they have not been made public."

    So what on earth just happened? Where did this spat begin? And how damaging could this be to the U.S. President?

    The team will be back on Monday with another Q&A session.
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    19 mins
  • Trump's Ukraine Envoy on whether US will give up on peace, inside a Putin phone call, and dealing with Trump's character

    Trump's Ukraine Envoy on whether US will give up on peace, inside a Putin phone call, and dealing with Trump's character
    Jun 5 2025
    Keith Kellogg has perhaps the hardest job of all in the Trump administration. The retired general is the US President's Special Envoy for Ukraine, putting him right at the forefront of the American effort to end Russia's invasion - travelling between Washington, Kyiv, Turkey, the Middle East, attempting to reconcile the very, very different demands of Vladimir Putin, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, and an increasingly impatient Donald Trump. And it has not been an easy ride. He was the first American official to meet with Zelensky after Trump called him a 'dictator' back in February; he was just a metre away when the pair later had that extraordinary shouting match in the Oval Office. And this week, he's been tasked with diffusing escalating tensions after Ukraine's audacious drone attack on Russian war planes. So it was quite a moment for our US Correspondent Dan Rivers to sit down with him for an extended interview, to discuss whether there is really ANY path to peace any more, and what it's been like dealing with Donald Trump behind the scenes.
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    17 mins
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