<ul><li>Donald Trump has demonstrated his grip on his party in this week's Republican primaries, and dissent will be punished. </li><li>The president has established a $1.8bn fund to compensate people who've been unfairly investigated. Critics say it's just a slush fund for his allies. We explain how it came into being, how it will work and why people are worrying about it. </li><li>And Britain's deputy ambassador to Washington has been sacked. We have the details.</li></ul><p><br></p><p>Katy Balls,&nbsp;Washington editor and columnist at The Times and The Sunday Times</p><p>Gerard Baker, columnist at The Times and editor at large at The Wall Street Journal</p><br><p>Producers: Euan Dawtrey, Harry Kitson</p><p>Executive producer: Molly Guinness</p><br><p>Image: Getty Images.</p><p>Clips: Reuters</p><p><em>This podcast was brought to you thanks to the support of readers of The Times and The Sunday Times. </em><a href="https://www.thetimes.com/subscribe/?utm_source=podcasts&amp;utm_medium=audio&amp;utm_campaign=FY26_TML_thestateofitusa_" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><em>Subscribe today</em></a></p><hr><p style='color:grey; font-size:0.75em;'> Hosted on Acast. See <a style='color:grey;' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'>acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.</p>