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September 24, 2025 27 mins

Donald Trump’s appearance at the United Nations was a clear - and at times stark - outline of his global vision, often involving sharp attacks against his opponents.

His speech - the longest by any US president in history - took aim at countries who have recently recognised a Palestinian state, including a number of European countries. It was Europe itself where the president reserved some of his strongest criticism, arguing it was being “destroyed” by immigration and policies to tackle climate change, which he described as a “con job”. We answer your questions on Trump’s speech and his damning judgement on the U.N itself.

One of the biggest stories of the week came after the president’s speech when he wrote on Truth Social that he believed Ukraine could regain the territory it has lost to Russia in the war. How has the president’s position shifted so dramatically?

And, Jimmy Kimmel is back on late-night television after a brief suspension following his comments on the killing of Charlie Kirk. He gave an emotional monologue at the start of his show and called out ‘anti-American’ threats to free speech. Are Donald Trump’s critics being silenced?

HOSTS: • Justin Webb, Radio 4 presenter • Sarah Smith, North America Editor • Marianna Spring, Social Media Investigations correspondent • 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 George Dabby with Alix Pickles and Kris Jalowiecki. The technical producer was Mike Regaard. The series producer is Purvee Pattni. The senior news editor is Sam Bonham.

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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 The Global Story: BBC Sounds - The Global Story - Available Episodes

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