<p>President Trump's pick, Ken Paxton, has won the Republican primary to set up an interesting senate race in Texas. He beat John Cornyn who joins a growing group of Republican senators who are not standing for re-election so have little to lose from standing up to Donald Trump.</p><p>Meanwhile, Steve Hilton is hoping to become the Republican governor of California and Katy has spent some time with him.</p><p>We hear what people inside the Iran discussions are saying about the prospects of a deal.</p><p>And finally New York has something sporting to shout about.</p><br><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>