America has just marked 250 years of independence, but how much does the world's superpower really have to celebrate? Christiane explains how Trump is remaking the Land of the Free in his own image, and she and Jamie ask whether the President is doing irreversible damage to the US at home and abroad.

They examine how the First Amendment right to free speech is under attack, and why America's closest allies are losing trust in a President whose behaviour they can't predict. But it's not all doom and gloom: Christiane reveals why the World Cup is giving her cause for hope.

Christiane Amanpour Presents: The Ex Files is a Global production, available every Tuesday and Thursday on Global Player, YouTube or wherever you get your shows. Make sure you subscribe so you never miss an episode.

Follow us on social media @amanpourpod

For more content, please follow us:

Watch us: https://www.youtube.com/@AmanpourPod

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/amanpourpod

X: https://x.com/AmanpourPod

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/people/Christiane-Amanpour-Presents

BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/amanpourpod.bsky.social

Nearly four months after the Strait of Hormuz was disrupted, how are the many Asian countries dependent on its oil managing? Christiane and Jamie also discuss the US's potential decline as a world power, and its success as host of the FIFA World Cup - despite the odds.

Also, given the UN inquiry that declares Israel as the perpetrators of genocide, at what point does the US reconsider its "special relationship" with a country facing such charges from international bodies? They also move into the philosophical: in politics, is a true believer more dangerous than an opportunist - or does it make no difference if they vote the same way?

Christiane Amanpour Presents: The Ex Files is a Global production, available every Tuesday and Thursday on Global Player, YouTube or wherever you get your shows. Make sure you subscribe so you never miss an episode.

Follow us on social media @amanpourpod

For more content, please follow us:

Watch us: https://www.youtube.com/@AmanpourPod

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/amanpourpod

X: https://x.com/AmanpourPod

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/people/Christiane-Amanpour-Presents

BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/amanpourpod.bsky.social

Putin has publicly admitted that Ukraine's strikes are causing real damage inside Russia. With fuel being rationed in Siberia and supplies in Crimea running out, Christiane and Jamie discuss how worried Putin is, and whether this is the beginning of real pressure on Moscow.

They also discuss Venezuela's devastating earthquake which has exposed a country incapable of dealing with crisis. With the US doing the bare minimum to help - and effectively took control after removing Maduro - Christiane and Jamie ask: if you break it, do you own it?

Next they turn to Colombia, where a far-right multimillionaire with no political experience has just been elected president. Abelardo De La Espriella calls himself 'El Tigre', models himself on Trump, and has already threatened mass military operations and mega-prisons. Is Latin America turning Trumpian?

Christiane Amanpour Presents: The Ex Files is a Global production, available every Tuesday and Thursday on Global Player, YouTube or wherever you get your shows. Make sure you subscribe so you never miss an episode.

Follow us on social media @amanpourpod

For more content, please follow us:

Watch us: https://www.youtube.com/@AmanpourPod

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/amanpourpod

X: https://x.com/AmanpourPod

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/people/Christiane-Amanpour-Presents

BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/amanpourpod.bsky.social