Americanswers! Is Donald Trump behaving like a 'dictator'?

7 snips

Aug 27, 2025

The podcast dives into the Jeffrey Epstein scandal and its impact on Donald Trump, considering whether new interviews could help him or Ghislaine Maxwell. A gripping deportation case raises questions about political motives in the Trump administration. The hosts explore troubling parallels between Trump and historical dictators, examining his governance style amid critics. It also offers a lighthearted twist on pop culture, discussing Taylor Swift's engagement and Trump's reaction, melding serious topics with humor and contemporary relevance.

Ask episode

AI Snips

Chapters

Transcript

Episode notes

INSIGHT

Targeting The Fed To Force Rate Policy

Trump targeted Federal Reserve governor Lisa Cook to influence interest-rate policy and try to build a friendlier Fed majority.
Anthony Zurcher and Sarah Smith say this looks like a shortcut to achieve lower rates rather than a legal or principled action.

INSIGHT

Public Perception Versus Market Constraints

Trump often flirts with the

ANECDOTE

Bolton Raid After Public Criticism

John Bolton, former national security adviser, had his home raided over possible classified documents after publicly criticizing Trump.
Anthony Zurcher explains the raid was a preliminary step and Bolton has not been charged.

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

Get the app

The Jeffrey Epstein scandal continues to cause problems for the Trump administration, and in today’s listener Q&A, the team delve into whether newly released interviews between Ghislaine Maxwell and Trump’s Deputy Attorney could provide a reprieve for Donald Trump. Or will it just help her chances of receiving a pardon or commutation from the president?

Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a man who was mistakenly deported to a notorious prison in El Salvador, is now facing threats of deportation to Uganda. Is the Trump administration clamping down on legitimate crime, or using him as a political pawn?

And are there legitimate parallels between Donald Trump and history’s dictators? We look at the problems facing his critics and opponents to try and find the answer.

Sarah and Anthony dissect the week’s biggest stories, including a surprise question on this year’s biggest pop culture story - Taylor Swift’s engagement to NFL star Travis Kelce, and Donald Trump’s ensuing thoughts on their relationship.

HOSTS: * Sarah Smith, North America Editor * 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 Rufus Gray with Grace Reeve. The technical producer was Ben Andrews. The series producer is George Dabby. 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 Radical: BBC Sounds - Radical with Amol Rajan - Available Episodes