The News Agents

CPAC is the biggest event in the MAGA calendar. Last year, it was a triumphant celebration of the total victory of the America First project. Donald Trump basked in the adulation. Elon Musk wielded a chainsaw and laughed maniacally.
This year, something feels different. The President, who has spoken at each conference for the past decade, is suggesting he's staying away this time. The war in Iran has got attendees feeling uneasy, even confused - what happened to the man who promised no more foreign intervention?
And there's a wider malaise. Trump is polling at an all-time low. The Republicans look like they're heading for a hammering in the midterm elections. Their grip on cultural and political domination - which just 12 months ago looked complete - is now weakening. You won't hear much talk of a Trump third term in Dallas any more.
The sunny optimism of MAGA has been replaced by something darker. There is increasing focus on a new enemy - Islam and Islamism. It's helping the base reframe and justify the attack on Iran; one event is literally titled 'MAGA vs. Mullah Madness'. It's helping them sustain an argument about the decline of Europe and the threat of the Democrats. And it's helping a very strange mix of characters stay relevant and keep the bookings coming in.
Liz Truss was at the Gaylord Convention Center telling a packed out crowd about the horrors of 'Europestan'. Is it any wonder that MAGA hates Britain?
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The fan phenomenon of ‘Ultras’ has taken Scotland by storm… TIFO’s, flares and drums - like we’re used to seeing in Europe - popping up everywhere from the Old Firm right down to the 4th division.
So can this sub-culture be a force for good in an online sphere dominated by the ‘manosphere’ or is it actually just another mask for something more sinister?
Gabby & Mark are joined by Andy Hughes, host of The Crime Agents - who has spent time undercover reporting on football hooliganism in England, and Blair McNally - who has amassed millions of views online documenting Scottish ultras.
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Executive Producer: Adonis Pratsides
Producers: Sophie Penney & George Sexton-Kerr
Video Producer: Sam Trudgill
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Tom Hughes is Editor for The News Agents podcast network
Vicky Etchells is the Commissioning Editor for Global
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Donald Trump has urged Iran to “get serious” about reaching an agreement before it is “too late”. It’s nice having a world leader who takes peace so seriously. It’s just a shame Iran no longer believes a word he says. They’ve laughed at his fifteen point plan and insisted the Straits of Hormuz remain operational only to friendly traffic.
NATO’s general secretary is trying to encourage member countries to get behind Trump’s plan to smooth the wheels. We talk to an Iranian activist about why this conflict has made regime change much harder for protestors and ordinary Iranians.
Later, the government is changing the rules on politicalDonations to stop foreign interference. And we dig a little deeper with one government minister into those missing McSweeney messages...
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The Met police took the unusual step of publishing a full transcript of a phone call that took place last October between Keir starmers chief of staff Morgan Mcsweeny and the 999 emergency services. In the call Morgan says his phone has been stolen out of his hand by a young man on a bike. He tells them it is a government device but doesn’t explain what his own role is or whether the material on it maybe confidential.
Why does any of this matter? Because the phone in question contained key messages between McSweeney and Peter Mandelson in the lead up to his appointment as ambassador to the United States.
Will we ever get to the truth of what happened between them? Will the public get past the “convenience“ of an apparently stolen phone? And were ministers sent out to fudge the truth on Morgan’s behalf as recently as this weekend?
The News Agents is brought to you by HSBC UK - https://www.hsbc.co.uk/

"Unusual activity" was observed on the main US stock market just fifteen minutes before Donald Trump went public with the sudden and unexpected news that he would stop striking Iranian energy sites and talks with Tehran were apparently going well. Trading volumes were up to six times higher than normal - with oil futures seeing a sudden flurry of activity in the moments before Trump broke that news.
More than half a billion dollars was netted in that brief window, but it's not clear how. Experts and analysts are sounding the alarm about the activity - could some people close to Trump have known what was coming and gone straight to the market to place their bets? Why are Trump allies blocking investigators from looking into the Trump family and their allies? And what does this mean for the much bigger question of where the plans for peace actually stand ?
The News Agents is brought to you by HSBC UK - https://www.hsbc.co.uk/