Americanswers… On 5 Live! Can Donald Trump stop the war between Israel and Iran?

Jun 16, 2025

Dive into Donald Trump's bold claim to end all wars while scrutinizing his connections to Israel's actions against Iran. Explore the intriguing dynamics at the G7 summit and how Trump's foreign policy shapes global events. In a humorous twist, discover how pizza orders may hint at Pentagon secrets. The discussion also tackles the spectacle of a military parade on Trump's birthday, featuring mixed reactions from attendees, and the troubling rise of political violence in America. It's a blend of humor and serious geopolitical analysis.

Ask episode

AI Snips

Chapters

Transcript

Episode notes

INSIGHT

Trump's War Threshold Insight

Donald Trump is generally disinclined to start wars but can be persuaded if he sees a strategic advantage.
Netanyahu likely convinced Trump to greenlight actions against Iran due to its nuclear threat and current vulnerability.

INSIGHT

Pizza Orders Signal Intel Leaks

A spike in Pentagon pizza orders reportedly signals foreknowledge of military actions.
Tracking such patterns also exposes valuable intel to adversaries, showing how open information is now.

INSIGHT

Trump’s Underwhelming Military Parade

Trump's military parade was far smaller and less impressive than expected.
The parade avoided North Korean style militaristic displays, perhaps deliberately to send a different message.

Get the Snipd Podcast app to discover more snips from this episode

Get the app

“I’m not going to start a war, I’m going to stop all wars.” Donald Trump’s campaign promise from 2024, which he has repeated many times. But following Israel’s attack on Iran there is debate over how involved Donald Trump has been in green lighting Israel’s attack, and how far US support will go.

Sarah and Justin - along with Matt Chorley from 5 Live - also discuss the relationship between Trump and the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and the reactions of world leaders at the G7 summit.

Plus, Trump’s birthday military parade, the funding behind it, and why some attendees were left less than impressed. And does an usual spike in pizza orders reveal some of the Pentagon’s secrets?

HOSTS: • Matt Chorley, 5 Live Presenter • Justin Webb, Radio 4 presenter • Sarah Smith, North America editor

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 Rufus Gray with Alix Pickles and Grace Reeve. The technical producer was Michael Regaard. 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 The Global Story, The Today Podcast, and of course 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. The Global Story: https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/brand/w13xtvsd Radical with Amol Rajan: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0gg4k6r Newscast: https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/series/p05299nl Ukrainecast: https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/brand/p0bqztzm