logo
episode-header-image
Jun 2025
25m 14s

Americanswers... on 5 Live! Why has Dona...

BBC News
About this episode

Donald Trump has defended his decision to deploy the National Guard to Los Angeles despite criticism from Democrats and California officials. The US president says LA would have been "completely obliterated" otherwise and hits out at Democrat California Governor Gavin Newsom, who says he's suing the Trump administration. Trump deployed 2,000 National Guard troops to the city to stop protests against immigration raids being carried out across Los Angeles, triggering a political row. Newsom, along with LA mayor Karen Bass, believed local police could handle the protests. Justin and Anthony join Matt Chorley on 5 Live to answer your questions which range from how and why the National Guard was deployed, to whether this is a fight the President has been spoiling for, given his pledge to deport record numbers of immigrants?

HOSTS: • Matt Chorley, 5 Live Presenter • Justin Webb, Radio 4 presenter • Anthony Zurcher, North America Correspondent

GET IN TOUCH: • Join our online community: https://discord.gg/qSrxqNcmRB • Send us a message or voice note via WhatsApp to +44 330 123 9480 • Email Americast@bbc.co.uk • Or use #Americast

This episode was made by Purvee Pattni, Alix Pickles, Tom Gillett and Adriana Urbano. The technical producer was James Piper. The series producer is Purvee Pattni. The senior news editor is Sam Bonham.

If you want to be notified every time we publish a new episode, please subscribe to us on BBC Sounds by hitting the subscribe button on the app.

You can now listen to Americast on a smart speaker. If you want to listen, just say "Ask BBC Sounds to play Americast”. It works on most smart speakers.

US Election Unspun: Sign up for Anthony’s BBC newsletter: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-68093155

Americast is part of the BBC News Podcasts family of podcasts. The team that makes Americast also makes lots of other podcasts, including Newscast and Ukrainecast. If you enjoy Americast (and if you're reading this then you hopefully do), then we think that you will enjoy some of our other pods too. See links below.

Newscast: https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/series/p05299nl Ukrainecast: https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/brand/p0bqztzm

Up next
Yesterday
Americanswers… on 5 Live! Is Chicago really a ‘war zone’?
Donald Trump’s mission to target Democrat-led cities has expanded to Illinois after the Texan National Guard arrived on Tuesday at an army base near Chicago. Troops were sent with the blessing of Texas Governor Greg Abbott, prompting a furious response from Illinois Governor JB P ... Show More
28m 30s
Oct 6
Why is Trump blowing up Venezuelan "drug boats"?
In today’s episode, we look at some of the stories “under the radar”, away from the main news headlines in the United States. Why is the Trump administration blowing up boats which it says are carrying drugs from Venezuela to the United States? Donald Trump has described the late ... Show More
32m 22s
Oct 2
Will the Democrats’ shutdown gamble pay off?
The US federal government has shut down for the first time since 2018, and with it the suspension of all non-essential services and the threat of mass firings among federal workers. The shutdown comes after Congress failed to reach an agreement on future spending plans, leading t ... Show More
36m 56s
Recommended Episodes
Feb 2025
Trump’s Gaza Fantasyland
Trump has reimagined Gaza in an AI video as a gold embossed beach resort. He’s fired the head of the army for being 'woke'. He’s banned the Associated Press from his press room. And his mate Elon Musk is calling on all federal employees to report each other if they don’t get with ... Show More
34m 52s
Feb 2025
Why is Trump purging the FBI?
In a week that’s seen a trade war come and go, an entire US government department frozen, and thousands of justice officials fired from their jobs at the FBI and DOJ, we start by asking if anyone is still prepared to stop Donald Trump amassing inordinate amounts of personal power ... Show More
34m 36s
Sep 3
War With Venezuela? - September 1, 2025
Visit https://prizepicks.onelink.me/LME0/TYT and use code TYT and get $50 in lineups when you play your first $5 lineup! Donald Trump announces airstrike on a drug-carrying vessel leaving Venezuela. A federal judge rules the Trump administration’s use of the U.S. military in Los ... Show More
1h 5m
Aug 22
Officer Trump Patrols Washington
Donald Trump heads out on "patrol" in Washington, JD Vance hosts a photo op with the National Guard at the Union Station Shake Shack, and Stephen Miller—taking a moment away from terrorizing immigrants—excoriates "communists" and "elderly white hippies" for daring to protest. Dan ... Show More
1h 44m
Sep 30
3592 - Trump's Government Shut Down and Argentine Bailout w/ Frederico Finchelstein
It's News Day Tuesday on the Majority Report On toady's show: Senator Chuck Schumer and Representative Hakeem Jeffries held a post-meeting press conference with Trump, where they declined to warn the public about the dangers of the spending bill and instead focused on procedure a ... Show More
1h 4m
Jan 2025
Will Britain stand up to Trump over Greenland?
Denmark’s Prime Minister is clearly worried enough about President Trump's threats over Greenland to embark on a tour of European capitals to drum up support. Is the UK able to offer clear and unequivocal support to Denmark - our NATO ally? We ask Secretary of State, Peter Kyle. ... Show More
35m 12s
Sep 2024
Why has Trump just admitted he interfered with the last election?
Trump has been having what our grandmother's mght once have called 'a funny turn'. He keeps saying things out loud he then regrets. He admitted this week he had both lost the last election and tried to interfere with the result. Then he argued against the 6 week abortion ban in F ... Show More
32m 58s
Oct 3
Why did the US government shut down?
The US federal government is closed for business. Democrats and Republicans in Congress failed to agree on a budget to keep the government open. But over two million federal workers who will go without a paycheck during negotiations have a new worry: will President Donald Trump u ... Show More
21m 2s
Aug 28
Spineless City On The Hill
Sign up for your one-dollar-per-month Shopify trial and start selling today at shopfiy.com/damagereport The USA denies there’s famine in Gaza while the voters turn against Israel. Multiple strikes hit a Gaza hospital. The CDC director was fired after refusing to resign. Trump wan ... Show More
55m 15s
Oct 7
Fed Versus Blue
For the past four months, President Donald Trump has been sending the National Guard into cities that protest his policies. First, it was Los Angeles. Then, it was Washington D.C. And now, it’s Portland, Oregon and Chicago. An Oregon federal judge blocked Trump’s deployment of th ... Show More
27m 33s