A Guardian Politics Weekly podcast discusses how Donald Trump’s second term differs from his first, focusing on the consolidation of executive power and the effect on internal checks. The program, featuring New York Times journalist Jonathan Swan, describes a political environment in which key figures who previously challenged Trump are no longer in place. It also characterizes the shift in legal strategy by attorneys who once contested administration actions as becoming more selective about which cases to pursue. Across the episode, Swan and host Jonathan Freedland argue that the result is an “imperial presidency” with limited internal restraints. The discussion says the administration uses executive authority to reshape major areas of policy, including the economy and immigration. It also raises the prospect of broader changes affecting the presidency itself. The podcast frames these developments as potentially significant for both the United States and the wider world, but it does not cite specific policy actions in the provided excerpts. Overall, the sources emphasize institutional change—especially reduced opposition and fewer effective internal constraints—as central to the described shift in governance.