Freedland contrasts Trump’s press ban with ‘very long red carpet’ for Chinese leader
The Guardian’s “Politics Weekly America” video podcast, released September 25, 2026, presents a contrast: the US press corps stood up to Donald Trump this week after he banned three organizations from the White House, while Trump “literally rolled out a very long red carpet” for the leader of China. The episode runs 27 minutes and 15 seconds.
In the episode, Jonathan Freedland speaks with Shrai Popat, identified in the episode description as “the Guardian’s Shrai Popat.” According to that description, “The US press corps stood up to Donald Trump this week after he banned three organisations he doesn’t like from the White House.”
The Guardian’s published episode description presents the contrast as central to Freedland’s analysis. “But when it came to the leader of one of the US’s oldest adversaries – China – well, Trump literally rolled out a very long red carpet,” the summary reads.
The episode is titled “Trump picked a fight with the media… and lost.” According to the Guardian’s published description, Freedland argues that Trump “seems weaker these days” while warning that “it could be dangerous to underestimate him.”
The Guardian’s published description does not identify the three organizations Trump banned from the White House, nor does it specify which actions toward the Chinese leader prompted the “red carpet” characterization.