Americanswers… On 5 Live! Why has the US been accused of war crimes off the Venezuelan coast?

Americast

BBC

Politics, Government, News

4.2 • 2.8K Ratings

🗓️ 1 December 2025

⏱️ 31 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Donald Trump has warned that US efforts to halt Venezuelan drug trafficking "by land" would begin "very soon". But what’s actually happening off the coast of Venezuela, and why is Trump calling for Venezuela’s airspace to be closed?

And, the president said he would "permanently pause migration" to the US from all "third-world countries" after an attack on National Guard members last week. Could this heighten immigration tensions in the US?

Plus, as we return from Thanksgiving break - the busiest travel day in the US calendar - why is Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy launching a campaign to bring ‘civility and manners’ back to plane travel in the US?

Matt Chorley, Justin, Sarah and Anthony are back to answer your questions on BBC Radio 5 Live…

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 Alix Pickles and 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

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	BBC Sounds, Music, Radio, podcasts.
0:05.7	Hello, all. We're back from Thanksgiving. Back on Five Live as well, answering your questions,
0:10.5	including some mentions of Thanksgiving itself, particularly the travel surrounding it, and Turkey Pardoning as well.
0:17.0	We also talked about Donald Trump's permanently pausing migration to the US from those
0:22.1	countries he calls the third world. And lots of discussion about what is going on off the coast
0:27.3	of Venezuela because we've got the Defence Secretary or the Secretary of War, as he likes to be called,
0:32.2	Pete Higgs-Seth, accused of committing war crimes essentially whilst firing strikes at boats off the coast of Venezuela.
0:40.1	He denies that he's done anything wrong, but this is becoming a major row in the US.
0:44.0	So if you stick around after listening to the Five Live bit, we've got some extra chat on that just for the podcast listeners at the end.
0:51.6	Welcome to American Answers with me, with Sarah and with Anthony of course, with Matt Chorley on Five Live. Ameriast. AmeriCast from BBC News. When Donald Trump calls, they say, yes, sir. Right away, sir. Happy to lick your boot, sir. We are the sickest country in the world.
1:11.4	Oh, dear.
1:14.1	Are you worried that billionaires are going to go hungry?
1:16.3	Of course the president supports peaceful protest.
1:17.2	What a stupid question.
1:19.5	Are you still talking about Jeffrey Epstein?
1:32.3	So, welcome back after Thanksgiving. Sarah Anthony, Sarah, did you have a good Thanksgiving?
1:43.5	Yes, we had a wonderful time. I didn't travel anywhere, thankfully, because that can be a bit of a nightmare over a Thanksgiving period when the entire country seems to be on the move. So we hosted at home for 14 people.
1:45.7	And this is basically an excuse to have a second Christmas, big turkey, family dinner. It's brilliant. Yeah, because, but you don't have to worry about
1:51.6	getting people presents. It's you can just focus on the food and the drink and having a nice time
1:56.3	together. It's, I think it's the perfect holiday, as they call it here. It's actually even better than Christmas and I really enjoy it. I think it's the perfect holiday, as they call it here.
2:04.3	It's actually even better than Christmas, and I really enjoy it.
2:06.6	I think it's one of the best things America has invented.
	...

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