Does America really "want a dictator"?
The News Agents - USA
Global
4.3 • 717 Ratings
🗓️ 27 August 2025
⏱️ 52 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
It's not the first time Donald Trump has overreached, but his latest assertion is that he has the right to do whatever he wants. Trump wants total control - of universities, the police and anyone he perceives to be a threat. He's 'fired' Lisa Cook, the first Black woman to serve on the Federal Reserve’s Board of Governors. The FBI have raided John Bolton's home. Are there any signs anywhere of any checks on Trump? Or is America sliding towards a dictatorship?
Later, we're joined by Patrick Gaspard - Obama’s 2008 national political director. He's the informal advisor to Zohran Mamdani, the Democratic Party’s nominee for New York mayor.
Visit our new website for more analysis and interviews from the team: https://www.thenewsagents.co.uk/
The News Agents USA is brought to you by HSBC UK - https://www.hsbc.co.uk/
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | The Newsagents USA podcast is brought to you by HSBC UK, opening up a world of opportunity. |
| 0:09.6 | This is a global player original podcast. |
| 0:12.7 | Not that I don't have the right to do anything I want to do. |
| 0:15.7 | I'm the President of the United States. |
| 0:17.2 | If I think our country's in danger, and it is in danger in these cities, I can do it. |
| 0:21.4 | But it would be nice if they'd call and they'd say, would you do it? |
| 0:24.1 | That is Donald Trump. I have the right to do anything I want to do. I'm the President of the United |
| 0:30.9 | States. No checks, no balances, no one saying, Donald, you can't do this. |
| 0:39.0 | He thinks he is omnipotent, ubiquitous. |
| 0:42.4 | The direction of travel is pretty clear. |
| 0:45.6 | Trump wants control of everything, of institutions like the Fed, |
| 0:49.9 | Harvard, the Smithsonian, and of anyone he perceives to be his enemy. The question is, is anyone |
| 0:56.6 | actually stopping him? Welcome to the Newsagents USA. It's John. It's Emily. And Lisa Cook may not be a name that is very familiar to you, but it's going to |
| 1:13.9 | become more familiar because she is on the board of the Federal Reserve, an independent body that |
| 1:22.3 | sets monetary policy for the US. Last week, at the end of last week, Donald Trump took it upon himself |
| 1:28.8 | to fire her for grounds that are, well, let's say, dubious at the least, and also raise questions |
| 1:35.7 | over, does Donald Trump have the right to sack who is on the board of the Federal Reserve? |
| 1:42.8 | She's the only black woman, the first black woman to be |
| 1:45.7 | appointed to it, but Donald Trump says there are questions over something she did about |
| 1:50.6 | mortgages and therefore she's not fit to be serving. There has been nothing proven against her |
| 1:57.6 | whatsoever. And it looks like a naked power grab by Donald Trump to get rid of someone |
| 2:04.1 | who'd been appointed by Joe Biden for a 14-year term to put someone in who will do his bidding |
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