Americanswers... On 5 Live! Has Trump just made the US/Europe breakup official?
Americast
BBC
4.2 • 2.8K Ratings
🗓️ 8 December 2025
⏱️ 34 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Has the Trump administration just said the quiet part out loud? After months of speculation about what the U.S. really thinks about Europe, the Trump administration has published an excoriating 33-page National Security Strategy. It warns Europe faces "civilisational erasure" over migration and EU integration policies, and questions whether certain nations can remain reliable allies. Sarah, Anthony and Justin analyse its significance and what it means for Europe.
Also, Anthony was with Trump in the Oval Office on Saturday night - he tells us why and who else was there.
Secretary of War Pete Hegseth has doubled down on the administration's strikes against alleged drug boats in the Caribbean Sea, likening them to Al Qaeda.
Plus, what’s been the reaction to Donald Trump becoming the first ever recipient of the FIFA peace prize? Americast unpacks what ordinary Americans think.
HOSTS: • Justin Webb, Radio 4 presenter • Sarah Smith, North America Editor • Anthony Zurcher, North America Correspondent
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This episode was made by Rufus Gray with Grace Reeve. The technical producer was Dafydd Evans. The series producer is Purvee Pattni. The senior news editor is Sam Bonham.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | BBC Sounds, Music, radio, podcasts. |
| 0:05.0 | Breaking news, AmeriCasters, as we are recording this episode at 3 o'clock in the afternoon, UK time on Monday, the Golden Globes have just announced their nominees, and they include a brand new category. |
| 0:18.4 | Best Podcast, and that's in recognition of the extraordinary and diverse talents |
| 0:22.7 | in podcasting. What do you think of that, Justin? Can I just say, if we'd been nominated, we |
| 0:26.8 | would have won. Unfortunately, we haven't been nominated, so I guess we won't win, but there is always |
| 0:31.8 | next year, eh, Sarah? Yes, indeed. We should make them more aware of our efforts, I think. We're |
| 0:37.3 | running some Donald Trump-style campaign that we deserve the award. Because it's Monday, Justin, Anthony and I have been answering all of your questions on Five Live with Matt Charlie on his show there. And among other things, we're talking about the reaction to Donald Trump's Peace Prize that he got from FIFA and why he himself |
| 0:54.8 | has been handing out awards to Sylvester Stallone and Gloria Gaynor. Anthony was actually there |
| 0:59.6 | in the Oval Office with Trump and all the celebs. We are also going to be talking a bit about |
| 1:03.8 | the Defence Secretary or Secretary for War Pete Hegeseth's latest justification for striking |
| 1:09.0 | alleged drugs boats in open international waters. |
| 1:13.0 | Plus, is Donald Trump trying to end the United States alliance with Europe? |
| 1:15.8 | They've brought out this new security paper with it. |
| 1:17.6 | It is frankly pretty rude about Europe or at least European elite. |
| 1:21.3 | So stay with us. |
| 1:22.8 | We get to that at the end of the pod. |
| 1:24.9 | In the meantime, let us begin. |
| 1:26.6 | Welcome to America Answers on Five Live. |
| 1:31.3 | Ameriast. AmeriCast from BBC News. When Donald Trump calls, they say, yes, sir. Right away, sir. |
| 1:37.8 | Happy to lick your boot, sir. We are the sickest country in the world. Oh dear. Are you worried |
| 1:43.5 | that billionaires are going to go hungry? |
| 1:45.7 | Of course the president supports peaceful protest. |
... |
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