Why is a Texas politician camped out in an undisclosed location, hiding from the FBI, and fearing that democracy is on the line? Jolanda Jones tells us about the extraordinary standoff taking place in her state.

But first - what is Trump doing to crime figures, jobs numbers, museum archives and the Ivy League universities? A common theme is emerging - the President rewriting history like an authoritarian bored and irritated by fact. He’s been firing officials and replacing them with others who’ll massage the numbers in his favouring. He’s been threatening institutions and pressuring them to stump up cash. Is anyone confused by what the goal is here? Is Trump having to resort to make believe in his attempt to Make America Great Again?

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Trump's inner circle are heading to the Vice President's residence for what was supposed to be a secret summit to discuss the administration's strategy regarding the Epstein crisis that has engulfed the President.

Polling shows that the American public are increasingly convinced that Trump is hiding something, and CNN says his team are now weighing up whether to publish recordings of the interview with Ghislaine Maxwell and the deputy attorney general Todd Blanche.

JD Vance has insisted the President has been "transparent" about Epstein, but Trump's recent actions suggest a man desperate to move the conversation on. He appeared on the White House roof in surreal scenes, shouting answers to the press about lavish plans to build a ballroom on the estate. And in Texas, his Republican allies are now pursuing Democrats resisting efforts to carve up the electoral map in the State -- with calls to get the FBI involved in tracking them down and forcing them back to the State legislature.

What will it take for Donald Trump to get out of the political quagmire he has created - and which is now damaging his project?

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On this week's episode of The News Agents USA Jon is joined in the studio by Jamie Raskin, a congressman and senior figure in the Democratic Party, who led the impeachment of Donald Trump after January 6th.

In an exclusive interview he discusses the future of the democratic party, free speech, the relationship between Trump and the UK, his role in ousting Joe Biden as the party's nominee for President in 2024, and his recent spat with Nigel Farage.

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In an unprecedented move, Mike Johnson - the Speaker of the House has just shut Congress for the summer and sent legislators home early to stop them passing a bipartisan bill calling for the release of files on Jeffrey Epstein. Mike Johnson is scared of Donald Trump. But what is Donald Trump so scared of? And why can’t he make this Epstein story go away? We’re joined by the reporter that’s followed all the twists and turns of the Epstein saga, scandal and conspiracy - The Bulwark's Will Sommer. And we ask why the late night Steve Colbert show has been cancelled.

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Does the Democratic Party need fresh blood? New ideas? Perhaps a whole new populist approach to politics? That’s the interview you’ll be hearing with Saikat Chakrabarti - the young tech millionaire hoping to unseat Nancy Pelosi next year who believes that the Dems are dead unless they seriously reinvent.

But we begin with the problem that simply won’t go away for Trump. The Epstein files and how it’s splitting the MAGA base. What happens when you unleash a conspiracy theory on the world you just can’t shut down?

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Donald Trump's cheerleaders and media outriders are apoplectic with his administration. After months of anticipation that the attorney general Pam Bondi would release an Epstein 'client list' - the names of wealthy individuals that the disgraced paedophile billionaire had blackmailed for influence - a joint DOJ and FBI memo this week dismissed the idea that any such list even existed.

Not normally shy to answer questions, the President appeared apoplectic too, with a journalist who asked about his handling of the Epstein affair - all lending to the feeling that Trump is reeling from the wave of anger coming his way from him own base. How has a conspiracy become the breaking point between Trump and his cheerleaders? We discuss with Anna Merlan, senior reporter at Mother Jones and author of 'Republic of Lies'.

Later, as armed officers swept through a park in LA in scenes that have been described as "disgraceful" and "dystopian" - is ICE now acting like a lawless militia?

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Trump squeaked his spending bill through the Senate last night with the casting vote of his VP. Three Senators voted against it. Many more had threatened to vote against it but were either won round or scared into it.

Elon Musk says it will bankrupt America and wants to take the political fight to any vulnerable Senator who disagrees. Would he really start his own political party?

And who would Republicans fear more if so - Trump or Musk?

Later, would Trump have gone to jail if he hadn’t won the presidency? We speak to the lawyer at the side of special counsel Jack Smith today, Alex Whiting.

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Zohran Mamdani is just 33 years old. His victory over (tarnished) Democrat royalty Andrew Cuomo for the New York mayoral primaries is exciting a lot of younger folk. Is his pitch a potential blueprint for how democrats start to win again? Or was he just running against a terrible candidate?

Later, strategist Doug Heye about how traditional republicans feel now about Trump's foreign policy.

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