Americast

Donald Trump says he and Vladimir Putin will hold Ukraine peace talks on Tuesday. Sarah, Anthony, Justin and Marianna answer your questions on what they might say to each other. And they return to the subject of egg prices after claims from Trump that they’re dropping. And we find out why JD Vance has been wearing special socks. This episode was made by Chris Flynn and Catherine Fusillo. The techn...

The Democrats may be on the retreat politically but they're hoping to bounce back after an actual retreat this week in Leesburg, Virginia. One of the speakers at the retreat political strategist (and friend of the podcast) James Carville, who's suggested Democrats should "play dead" and do nothing against Trump. The Americast team unpack whether this approach could work, and Justin's been chatting...

The world is bracing itself as Donald Trump enacts his global tariffs. As the president begins to enforce them upon the rest of the world, the Americast team assemble to ask whether Trump’s bet on tariffs might be a bad deal for the US. How have the markets reacted, and does Trump actually care? Plus, why has Donald Trump bought a Tesla even though he isn’t allowed to drive it? HOSTS: - Justin Web...

Donald Trump has not ruled out the possibility of the US going into recession. Sarah, Anthony, Justin and Marianna answer your questions on how Trump’s trade war is impacting on stock markets and American voters. Plus, is the new Canadian PM, Mark Carney is escalating the war on tariffs? Also, how could the Democrats be more effective as an opposition voice, and why have we seen an influx of memes...

What do we know about President Trump’s long term strategy when it comes to dealing with Russia, and where does that leave America’s relationship with Europe and Ukraine? Justin, Sarah and Anthony get an inside view from Celeste Wallander, one of Biden and Obama’s top security staffers who has been in meetings with Vladimir Putin. How does the Russian leader behave during negotiations, and what ad...

Sarah and Anthony pick apart Donald Trump’s biggest speech since returning to the White House. He delivered it 24 hours after announcing he was pausing aid to Ukraine, and on the same day tariffs came in on Mexico and Canada. He was addressing a joint session of the US Congress, declaring “the American dream is unstoppable”. It was the the longest presidential speech to Congress on record - lastin...

Presidents Trump and Zelensky clashed on Friday night in a furious exchange at the White House, during which Trump accused the Ukrainian president of “gambling with World War III.” The future of the world now seems more uncertain, and people naturally have a lot of questions. The team try to provide them as they join Matt Chorley for a special edition of their weekly Q&A. Was the conflict manu...

Our latest mini series is here and this time we're profiling some of the key players in Donald Trump's presidency, who are now running America. We’re ending the series with Robert F Kennedy Jr., the new Secretary of Health and Human Services. Kennedy has been tasked with making America healthy again - an appointment which came as a surprise to some, given that he’s been accused of supporting the a...

There were unprecedented scenes in the White House this afternoon when President Trump, Vice President JD Vance and President Zelensky clashed in an extraordinary shouting match in front of stunned reporters. Lyse Doucet and Vitaly Shevchenko from Ukrainecast are joined by former UK national security adviser Lord Ricketts to get immediate reaction, and what this all means for the future of Ukraine...

How successful was Sir Keir Starmer’s meeting with President Trump at the White House on Thursday? Trump praised the Prime Minister as a “tough negotiator”, but did Sir Keir get the key concessions needed over the war in Ukraine and trade? Justin, Sarah and Marianna analyse what was said - and not said - between the two leaders, and how Sir Keir Starmer played the ultimate royal card with Donald T...

Donald Trump sparked a social media frenzy on Wednesday when he posted a video of Gaza generated by artificial intelligence on his site Truth Social. Marianna's been analysing Trump's social media strategy and how he attempts to influence what we see on our online feeds. Meanwhile, the fallout from Elon Musk's email to federal workers over the weekend continues. Musk asked all federal workers to l...

French president Emmanuel Macron is in Washington DC for talks with Donald Trump as he - and later in the week Keir Starmer - attempt to stop a deal on the Ukraine war that favours Russia. How do you get through to the president? And, the price of eggs keeps rising in the US due to cases of bird flu. Will it cost the president politically? Justin, Anthony and Marianna joined Matt Chorley on 5 Live...

Our latest mini series is here and this time we're profiling some of the key players in Donald Trump's presidency, who are now running America. Stephen Miller is one of the most powerful people in government who many have never heard of. He’s the new White House deputy chief of staff for policy. Previously - and unusually - he also served as a senior advisor in President Trump’s first term. He is...

The past week has seen international diplomacy turned upside down as the US began talks with Russia to end the war in Ukraine. The decision to exclude Ukraine - and Europe - from these talks led to an emergency summit in which European countries sought to establish some influence over the process. But with the US and Ukrainian presidents embroiled in a dispute that led to Trump calling Zelensky a...

As the Trump administration begins peace talks with Russian officials to end the war in Ukraine, President Trump himself seems to be blaming Ukraine for it beginning at all. We ask, whose side is he on? Justin, Marianna and Anthony also look at what Zelensky means when he says Trump is “living in a disinformation space”. HOSTS: • Justin Webb, Radio 4 presenter • Marianna Spring, Social Media Inves...

American and Russian leaders will meet in Saudi Arabia this week to begin negotiations about a peace deal for Ukraine. Trump said on Sunday he could be meeting Russian President Vladimir Putin "very soon". Meanwhile, Ukrainian president Zelensky has said he has not been involved in the talks yet, and European leaders have also been left out. After Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth said Ukraine should...

Our latest mini series is here and this time we're profiling some of the key players in Donald Trump's presidency, who are now running America. Over the next few weeks, new profiles will drop every Sunday. Pete Hegseth is the new Secretary of Defence, overseeing America’s military and defence strategy. A former national guardsman and Fox News host, Hegseth’s confirmation has been controversial. Do...

In the first weeks of his second term, President Donald Trump has wasted no time in using Executive Orders to suspend all new asylum claims, freeze government hiring and spending, strip back agencies established by Congress, and offer a buyout deal for thousands of federal workers. So far, the courts have been the only substantive roadblocks to Trump’s agenda, but is the President ready to defy th...

Americast makes its predictions for 2025 as Donald Trump continues to create headlines with his first 100 days as president. Justin, Sarah, Anthony and Marianna make an audio time capsule of predictions, with plenty of suggestions from Americasters. It’s something we promised to do after the election, but with a packed news schedule, we’re belatedly bringing it to you now! How many stars will be o...

Elon Musk is already in uncharted territory with his role in Donald Trump's administration, but in a surprise appearance inside the Oval Office yesterday, he brought his son along to an impromptu press conference alongside the president. The tech billionaire denied he was launching a hostile takeover of the federal government and said he was simply delivering the reform that Americans voted for. H...

On his first day in the role, Lord Mandelson talks to Americast about how the UK will handle Donald Trump. In his conversation with Sarah, Britain’s new U.S. Ambassador explains why the UK needs to respect Trump’s “strong and clear mandate for change”. Given President Trump’s fast moving and radical agenda, what kind of approach should the UK be taking, and will the ‘special relationship’ continue...

One day on from a big US Super Bowl weekend, what happened with Taylor Swift, and what was her reaction? We also hear Donald Trump defending Elon Musk in his traditional pre-game interview, telling Americans to expect further cuts to the federal government, particularly in education. Marianna, Anthony and Sarah join Matt Chorley to talk about the potential fallout from those cuts, plus allegations...

Our latest mini series is here and this time we're profiling some of the key players in Donald Trump's presidency, who are now running America. Over the next few weeks, new profiles will drop every Sunday. Elon Musk is one of the most influential people inside Trump's White House, as head of the newly created Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), which is making huge and sweeping cuts to fed...

In the three weeks since Donald Trump returned to the White House, Elon Musk has taken a wrecking ball to the federal government in what he has called "a revolution of the people". That revolution has included offers to buyout millions of federal employees, accessing sensitive data of millions of Americans and sweeping efforts to shut down federal agencies like USAID. What, if anything, can get in...

In an extraordinary press conference alongside Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Donald Trump suggested the US could “own” the Gaza Strip and turn it into "the Riviera of the Middle East". His comments have sparked condemnation from countries across the Middle East and the Palestinian Authority says its people will not be resettled. The Americast team give their analysis and ask whether T...