Trump gets “forever” immunity on his past tax affairs
Americast
BBC
4.3 • 3.1K Ratings
🗓️ 20 May 2026
⏱️ 32 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
US tax authorities will be barred from pursuing claims against Donald Trump, some members of his family and the Trump organisation. This pledge is part of an extraordinary new settlement, announced yesterday, between the US president and the US Department of Justice. In this episode, Sarah and Anthony look at the implications of the deal, which includes the creation of a fund worth almost £1.8 billion for victims of alleged “lawfare”, aswell as supporters of the president who claim to have been unfairly prosecuted. Also this week, Donald Trump has continued his purge of those he sees as disloyal within the Republican Party through primary elections throughout the US. In Kentucky, Congressman Thomas Massie lost his bid for re-election after Trump endorsed his challenger and his donors threw unprecedented amounts of money at the campaign. In Louisiana, veteran Senator Bill Cassidy lost out to a Trump backed challenger (Cassidy angeredTrump by his 2021 decision to impeach him in 2021). What do these victories tell us about Donald Trump’s popularity within the Republican party? And what does that mean for Republicans who disagree with him?
HOSTS: Sarah Smith, North America Editor Anthony Zurcher, North America Correspondent
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This episode was made by Purvee Pattni, Tom Gillett, Alix Pickles and Grace Reeve. The technical producer was Mike Regaard. 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. |
| 0:05.8 | You've heard us say many times before that Donald Trump's just done something unprecedented, |
| 0:10.5 | that we've never seen a president behaving like this before. |
| 0:13.8 | Well, he's done it again by creating a breathtakingly audacious slush fund, |
| 0:20.3 | the proceeds of which can probably be spent on his |
| 0:22.6 | friends and allies, and granted himself immunity from tax audits, all as part of a deal |
| 0:27.7 | he's done with the Internal Revenue Service. We will explain the ins and outs of that in this episode. |
| 0:33.9 | And also, we'll look at the electoral contest, the primaries, where Donald Trump's |
| 0:38.3 | candidates won, and he's claiming victory, even though his name wasn't on the ballot. He's |
| 0:43.4 | knocked out opponents like long-serving Congressman Thomas Massey in Kentucky. |
| 0:48.5 | Those SOBs in Washington tried to buy my vote. They couldn't buy it. |
| 0:53.4 | Yes. tried to buy my vote. They couldn't buy it. |
| 1:02.3 | Why did this, why did the race get so expensive? |
| 1:04.3 | Because they decided to buy the seat. |
| 1:10.2 | And it, and it got real expensive for him. |
| 1:16.3 | By knocking out candidates like Massey, Donald Trump shows us that he is strengthening his grip on the Republican Party, |
| 1:20.9 | even at a time when his approval ratings and poll numbers are terrible. |
| 1:27.3 | And by getting rid of these rebellious Republicans in Congress, he's showing lawmakers, don't you dare try and stand up to me. |
| 1:30.8 | Welcome to AmeriCast. |
| 1:34.5 | AmeriCast from BBC News. |
| 1:37.6 | You hear that sound? Oh, I think when I hear that sound, it reminds me of money. |
| 1:42.5 | We didn't start this war, but under President Trump, we are finishing it. |
... |
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