Americanswers… on 5 Live! Is Trump still fit for the job on his 80th birthday?

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1:00Anthony:in a way that really matters. We also talked, of course, about the UFC fight that Donald Trump held to mark his birthday in the grounds of the White House. Was it actually designed to upset some Americans? We talked as well about the Iran deal, which is still very much up in the air, isn't it? I mean, Donald Trump says it's a real thing, but what actually is it going to mean for that part of the world, and indeed for the whole world, when it comes to its economy? Plus a guy called John Ossoff. John Ossoff, one of the senators from the state of Georgia, who we are told by one of you we ought to be talking about when it comes to the 2028 Democratic presidential nominations.

1:41Anthony:Welcome to America Answers on Five Live with me, with Anthony and with Marianna Spring. AmeriCast. AmeriCast from BBC News. You hear that sound? Oh, I think when I hear that sound, it reminds me of money. We didn't start this war, but under President Trump, we are finishing it. This is a big cover-up, and this administration is engaged in it. This guy has Trump arrangement syndrome. I have four words for you. Turn the volume up!

2:16We kick off today's edition of America Answers by asking, what on earth is going on for Donald Trump's birthday? So we now have the second oldest president in US history, Donald Trump celebrating his 80th birthday at the weekend. Joe Biden, of course, was 82 when he left office. And he celebrated, as we all celebrate, a significant birthday with a UFC cage fight on the White House lawn. The event opened with Trump walking from the White House to the arena alongside the UFC chief, Dana White, with the audience shouting, happy birthday, as military planes flew overhead. Donald Trump is posted on Truth Social about it, saying last night was incredible, The weather was scheduled to be horrendous and it turned out to be perfect.

2:58Even the weather was celebrating his birthday. Now, we've had a question from M in Stretford saying, how is this cage fighting affair outside the White House viewed by liberal middle class Americans? I'm no snob or above myself, but I just think it seems a bit gauche verging on all out common. Just bizarre. Anthony. Yeah, well, I mean, certainly the liberals among the United States population were shocked and appalled by what was going on in the White House. The crass commercialism, they would say, the monster energy drink promotions and the cryptocurrency ads and the sports betting ads plastered all over this event on the grounds of the South Lawn of the White House.

3:44It's unlike certainly anything that we've seen any president try to do in the past. Although I will say that UFC fans, some of the ones I know, were asking me if I had any inside track on tickets and if they could get and see it. They were definitely excited by the prospect of this kind of high profile event here in Washington, D.C. But as everything now in American politics, very divided on partisan lines. And there are people who love it and love Donald Trump and there are people who hate it and hate Donald Trump.

4:14Anthony:And the point of the division is in itself important, isn't it, Anthony? Because actually what you're trying to do is not just divide, but annoy the other side. Trigger, Justin. Trigger, trigger, that's the word, yeah. And he's entirely right that liberal Americans obviously wouldn't like this sort of thing. But that, in a sense, is the point. There was a piece written for The Atlantic years ago, the magazine, I think it might even have been in his first administration, whose headline was, The Cruelty is the Point. and that there is something about what Donald Trump does, whether you like him or don't like him or approve his policies, don't like his policies, that has worked in the modern era when it comes to campaigning and triggering the other side is part of it.

4:58Anthony:Whether that is the right way to approach the 250th anniversary of America is a different question, of course. But that's the purpose, isn't it, Marianne? Yeah, and so much of it is what we talk about all the time, which is the product of the social media algorithms, the systems, and how ultimately the way that you get eyeballs and attention is to provoke a reaction, right? Then you get pushed by the algorithms and so on. Like there are loads of clips showing moments from the event which have gone mega, mega viral. People either absolutely loving it, thinking it's funny or really hating it. I've actually found it really interesting, the contrast between the...

5:29And to your point, Justin, I don't think Donald Trump would be able to celebrate this anniversary in any other way. Like that's the way he knows is to kind of trigger a reaction like this. And I guess also it's worth saying that in the buildup to this, the past election where he won, He did really get good at gaming some of the social media influences, including around issues like UFC, like kinds of people who are sort of hybrid fighters and podcasters and live streamers and all that sort of thing. So in lots of ways, he's also playing to an audience, particularly younger men, that he succeeded in attracting when he won.

6:00One contrast I think is just worth pointing out is obviously at the moment, social media feeds, certainly mine at least, are flooded with content from the World Cup. and you're seeing loads of amazing stuff. Like there are these really quite moving clips of the Algerian team and the town that they've gone to. I think that's in Kansas, Anthony, correct me if I'm wrong. And like, you know, how all the local people have come out with their guitars and are playing Algerian music and serving Algerian food and really excited to have them. And it just presents like quite a different view of America to them when you see like the UFC fighting outside the White House, whichever one you like or hate, they feel quite contrasted and I guess show the different ways that some American people versus the president project what it means to be American.

6:41Well, the whole thing, I mean, I know he can't do anything about his birthday, but the whole thing is sort of like slightly bad timing it, landing in the middle of the World Cup, which some people are possibly more interested in than the UFC. And he then finally gets a deal on Iran. And that sort of, you know, clashes with his glorified wrestling. So we've got a voice note now from David in Germany.

7:02Anthony:I was wondering if you could explain how Trump's deal with Iran is different from the situation pre-war. It appears that the Strait of Hormuz should be reopened, which it was before. Iran should promise not to seek nuclear weapons, which it already did before. And the regime is also still in place. So if anything, discussions about freeing up sanction funds seem to be emanating, which is, I guess, not what Trump has originally planned for. so where's the wind thank you very much to uh david so donald trump on truth social on sunday posted ships of the world start your engines let the oil flow he then called the sunday the sorry the new york times on sunday criticizing benjamin netanyahu is a very difficult guy and saying to be honest with you he should be very thankful to us for doing this because if iran had a nuclear weapon israel wouldn't be around for two hours and he's now repeatedly compared his new memorandum of understanding to the 2015 agreement reached by President Barack Obama and Iran's leadership maintaining that his agreement would ensure Iran cannot develop or purchase a nuclear weapon.

8:12Anthony:Is it a win, Justin? Well, it's only a win if he can actually in the coming days back up those claims with something approaching and understanding from all sides that that is now reality, all sides including the Iranians. And if he can't do that, I can't really see how it is a win. And as the questioner was sort of suggesting as well, there are other aspects. For instance, well, something that Donald Trump himself made something of in the past, but doesn't seem to be mentioned now, which is the fate of the people of Iran, particularly women, particularly younger people who live in cities, gay people, et cetera, et cetera, who were going to be kind of rescued from their oppressive government.

8:51Anthony:And now suddenly there's no talk of that. But also for the wider region, this is why not just Netanyahu, but other Israelis as well are worried. Does it say anything about Iran's support for groups like Hezbollah that attack and kill Israeli civilians? Does it say anything about their support for other groups in the area, including in Iraq? Does it suggest anything is going to happen to their ballistic missile program as well? And those things really will matter. So in the great scheme of things, even if the nuclear deal can be claimed to be a better one than Obama's one, In other words, they're able to have uranium that isn't able to make a nuclear bomb and that it's properly verified, etc., etc.

9:33Anthony:Even if that's the case, exactly as the questioner says, there are loads of other things as well. And, of course, it's straight up all moves. It was open before. So how open is it now? Well, it could be as open, I suppose, but that's as good as it gets. What's the mood in America, Anthony? Because it was clearly, it was feeding through into prices. I think, having spoken to different polls, It was a question to the extent to which people were connecting the two, because obviously in the UK, all political leaders were blaming Donald Trump essentially for inflation. Obviously, Donald Trump's not blaming Donald Trump for inflation in America.

10:03Do American voters think the war's been worth it? Well, if you listen to the polls and the surveys that have been taken recently, they don't think it's worth it. And they say pretty resoundingly that they think that the costs that they are bearing for this war were not worth what they've accomplished so far. And it's going to be up to Trump and the Republicans to make the case after the fact now. And you saw J.D. Vance, the vice president, go on a round of TV interviews just recently trying to say that the pain was worth the outcome. But if you look at it, 60 upwards of 60 some odd percent of Americans do not approve of the way Donald Trump is handling the economy and affordability.

10:43That is his lowest point of either of his two presidential terms. A majority of the American public feels like the economy is getting worse, not better. And these were the big issues of the 2024 presidential election. And they're going to be the big issues of the upcoming congressional midterm elections in November. And if Donald Trump isn't able to turn this around and if the economy gets better, if gas prices go down, that might help. But if he isn't able to turn it around in any kind of a substantive way, then he's going to still find himself in a political jam when americans head to the polls in november then i think as president trump arrives at the g7 today to meet other world leaders do you think i mean what sort of reception will he get i mean i don't get the sense he probably doesn't mind too much either way but clearly those world leaders are going to be very pleased about the end of this war pleased relieved i think even more so i i think now it's going to be about this these meetings are going to be about picking up the pieces from this war.

11:42Talk about contributions from France and the UK to help secure the Strait of Hormuz and ensure that shipping traffic through there is safe ways of trying to stabilize the global economy. At least this is no longer hanging over Donald Trump's head, assuming that this all doesn't go sideways. And, you know, there are still a lot of different ways this tentative agreement, this memorandum of understanding and setting out longer-range talks can still get derailed if Israel decides to start attacking Lebanon again. You could see Iran shutting down the Strait of Hormuz. All of this could, is very tentative and still could fall apart.

12:19But at the very least now, it seems like this will be a more forward-looking G7 trying to figure out how the US and its allies can work together to try to fix some of the damage done over the past two months. Well, as he flies into the G7. Maybe he'll get some sleep because it'll stop him nodding off in public or appearing to nod off. During the UFC fight, some people said he was falling asleep at the event. Others said he was just looking down at the fight. He's been accused of being sleepy Don and the commander in sleep. We've had an email from Philip who says, there seems to be increasing speculation about Trump's health, in particular his mental faculties.

12:55I'm sorry if I've missed a recent update on this, but if you haven't touched on his fitness to serve recently, please would you?

13:01Anthony:Well, we kind of touched on that occasionally, but it's difficult, isn't it? Because you, I mean, he's 80, as we mentioned. And when you're 80, I'm 65. I occasionally have a nap in the afternoon. No, you're not. I know. It's extraordinary, isn't it? A nap in the afternoon? Yeah. I can't decide. Shouldn't be revealing that on air. I get up early, I suppose. I get up at half past three when I'm doing my day job. That is very valid. But I mean, it seems to me that there's a difference between the passage of time and, you know, in all seriousness, Joe Biden, towards the end of his time in office, was not, it seems now capable of doing the job.

13:35Anthony:And there was a cover up. And the question, I suppose, is whether that also happens now with Trump. It seems to me, I don't know what Anthony's view is, it seems to me it's more difficult to do with Trump for this reason, which is that Trump is so out there all the time. Biden was really hidden. I mean, we forget how hidden he was as a president. You just didn't see him, let alone speak to him. And occasionally do some set piece and people say, oh, blimey, hang on, he's walked off the stage the wrong way. And they'd all say, no, he's as sharp as a tack, he's fine. Although they knew perfectly well he wasn't.

14:03Anthony:With Trump, Anthony, I'd have thought it won't be hidden if he does go downhill now. Yeah, I think you may be exaggerating a little bit, Justin. We did see Joe Biden pretty regularly. The difference between Trump and Biden. It's just me they were keeping from it. Yes, but it's the interactions. He was doing those events. That's because they knew I had questions to ask the man. It's the interactions. Biden would not talk to the press. They would do a pool spray, he would talk for two minutes, three minutes at the top of that spray, and then everyone would be ushered out of the room. And, you know, you wouldn't know what happened behind closed doors.

14:40And as you say, the people at the White House were very tight lipped. With Trump, you could be around him for half an hour, 45 minutes. He talks, he answers questions, you see him there. And so it is, you get a better idea of his engagements. And it's a little more transparent. Certainly, I mean, this is a very transparent president as far as media access goes. Now, I've seen the clips of him appearing to nod off sometimes at meetings, at cabinet meetings or at Oval Office events. I will say that this fight at the White House went on to 1.30 in the morning and Donald Trump was there through the entirety.

15:19And if maybe he looked like he wasn't paying attention or dozing, that's still, for an 80-year-old man, making it to a late night like that and then getting on a plane at three in the morning to fly to Europe. I mean, that is pretty remarkable. And it is, you know, it'd be more difficult to try to cover up some kind of serious medical condition or serious lapse with that much visibility. I think we can hear Marco Rubio, the Secretary of State, who's defended Donald Trump when he was being asked a congressional committee earlier this month. Secretary Rubio, have you been at more than one meeting where

15:54Anthony:President Trump has fallen asleep. That's false. That's false. I've never seen him fall asleep. On the contrary, the guy doesn't sleep, which is a big problem because he calls me at two in the morning. He calls me at five in the morning. And, you know, I like to sleep a little bit, maybe not 12 hours, but at least six. So he works. The other day he was at the Oval Office until 12.30 p.m. 12.30 a.m. I don't know what you're talking about. It's interesting as well, because to this point about, and I guess there that question highlights it, like, you know, these are allegations about what's going on behind closed doors.

16:25So it's difficult to verify what's actually happening. But as was the case with Joe Biden, there are clips of Donald Trump that go viral where people are analysing whether he's making sense or whether he's confused a name or whether he seems like he's not so with it. But I guess the difference is that there have been quite a few clips of this, you know, clips like this of Donald Trump that have existed kind of the whole time he's been in public life. And so the contrast between now and before seems less so than perhaps with Biden, where there were clips where he was speaking very, very coherently and then suddenly kind of less so.

16:55Donald Trump seems kind of a bit famous for mixing people's names up and sort of just rolling, just like running with it. Finally, then let's talk World Cup. Because, you know, he's had a lot of things to keep across. Although he didn't go to the opening ceremony in the US. Anthony, is there a bit more... We talked about the World Cup last week. We spoke to, was it Teresa? Who'd got a lot of birds custard, which is very important for England fans. is there a bit more excitement in the u.s now or are people focusing on the nba finals well the u.s won their match against paraguay friday night and actually one of the highest rated uh very good game television wise yeah i've not seen the u.s team look this good in a world cup and i've been following for 30 some odd years the times we actually qualified for the world cup i will add so this is uh this is generating uh excitement here and i think if the united states continues to roll along, continues to win and makes the knockout round.

17:48As we talked about before, this is going to catch fire here in the U.S. And I do think that people are enjoying watching the matches and talking about the matches and a lot of the different kind of spectacle and pageantry that goes along. I've seen a lot of different social media clips of Scottish fans in Boston living it up. They are having a wait of a time. Yeah, yeah, really a lot of fun. So, I mean, I think so far some of the concerns about it being a logistical nightmare or being empty stadiums. I mean, I've seen some empty seats, but they haven't panned out yet. So, you know, we're just a few days into this.

18:28But so far, I would say so good. I find it hard with them when it comes to the empty seats question, Anthony. One of the things that's interesting is I feel like American etiquette around like getting up to go and get like snacks and stuff in the game is very different to if you go to like a Premier League football game. so I find it hard to work out whether people have just gone out to get something or whether they're... Because you guys seem to just go in and out all the time. We really don't do that. That's frowned upon. It is. As Justin will tell you at the opera. Or at the rugby. It's frowned upon at the rugby as well.

19:05Anthony:OK, we've just come off the air with Matt Chorley on Five Live. We have said goodbye to Mariana, but Anthony and I are still with you. And we've got, Anthony, a couple of questions, really interesting ones. This from Cathy in London. I've just read an interesting article, she says, in The New York Times about the Georgia Democratic candidate, John Ossoff. He's a candidate for the Senate because he is already a senator, of course, and he is running again this November. It seems, Cathy says, that some are thinking or hoping that he might run for the presidency as well. This would be in 2028. We've had a message as well from Milo saying in one of your recent AmeriCast episodes, you discussed likely Democratic candidates for the next U.S.

19:44Anthony:presidency. Well, there was no mention, he says, of John Ossoff. Every time I hear him give a speech, he seems so impressive. It makes me wonder why he wasn't on your list. Well, he probably should have been on our list, actually. In truth, Anthony, shouldn't he? Yeah, he clearly has political talent. And if you listen to clips of him talking, you see him on the campaign trail. He is a gifted politician that really connects with the audience. And he has won in a battleground, so-called Purple State, Georgia, a state that didn't have a lot of Democrats winning statewide office until he and Raphael Warnock, another Democratic senator from that state, won in 2020.

20:25And now his term is up. So he's running in 2026 for another six year term. And that may be the biggest reason why we haven't talked about John Ossoff is because he says he doesn't want to run for president in 2028. He's focusing on this reelection campaign. He has been one of the biggest targets for Republicans trying to knock him off because they think they can win in the red tinged Georgia Senate race. And so, of course, that doesn't mean that he's not going to run. Barack Obama said the same thing when he ran for reelection in 2006. And then lo and behold, in 2008, he ran for president. But he is, as you point out, a very, very gifted politician.

21:04And he has a future at only 39 years old, a long future in politics ahead of him.

21:09Anthony:Yeah. I mean, that's the key thing, isn't it? One of the key things about in 39. I mean, he's the youngest member of the Senate and strikingly young, frankly, for American politics. You think of Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer and all the rest of them, never mind Donald Trump, about whose age we were talking only a few seconds ago. So, you know, he's that side of him. He's got a sort of convincing backstory in as much as and one of our questioners hinted at this. And I'm going to ask you a bit more about it in a second as well. He seems to manage to deal with some of the things that the Democrats find difficult to deal with at the moment.

21:45Anthony:So young, able to deal with those things and crucially, and this is where we should listen to him, crucially, able to perform, particularly in social media clips in a way that plenty of the others don't seem able to do. Let's listen to him. He's criticizing Trump now, what he calls the Mar-a-Lago mafia. This is a rally. He was talking at a campaign event in Atlanta, Georgia at the start of the month. He sued the US government he commands for$10 billion.

22:20Then he settled the suit with himself to create a$1.8 billion slush fund so he can cut checks to cronies and Jan 6 foot soldiers.

22:34All this while you pay more for gas, for groceries, for health care. And that's just the tip of the iceberg. Billions from foreign princes and oligarchs. Sweetheart real estate deals all over the world. Taxpayer funding to Trump-backed companies. The Mar-a-Lago mafia has taken American corruption to spectacular new heights. but corruption in america runs a lot deeper than donald trump american politics is coin operated money goes in favors come out he talked about corruption obviously and talking about donald trump's corruption and then pivots to try to turn it into an economic issue and that's kind of what we heard from graham plattner last week in our program up in Maine, the Democrat, talking about Donald Trump and the oligarchs and the billionaires and all of this, but then turning it into this is how people, it's affecting people's everyday lives.