Americanswers…on 5 Live! Why is Donald Trump deploying the National Guard to Washington DC?

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1:16Anthony:Hello, it's Justin in the worldwide headquarters of AmeriCast in London, England. And it's Anthony in the American headquarters of AmeriCast in Washington, DC. And in a moment, you will hear us answering your questions on Five Live in Five Live's headquarters in Salford, England with Matt Chorley. First, though, there's been a very big reaction already to Donald Trump telling Americans that he is rescuing the nation's capital from roving thugs, drugged out youths and violent crime. Our capital city has been overtaken by violent gangs and bloodthirsty criminals, roving mobs of wild youth, drugged out maniacs and homeless people and we're not going to let it happen anymore we're not going to take it and you know when you say take a look at numbers I just saw some some charts these are different cities throughout the world red is okay the red is a place called Washington DC look at these Baghdad is we doubled up on Baghdad Panama City Brasilia San Jose Costa Rica Bogota Colombia heavy drugs Mexico City I mentioned Lima Peru all double and triple what they are so do you want to live in places like that?

2:44I don't think so. I don't think so. And I think the people in this room, if you wrote correctly, you'd see, look at the kind of numbers we have. DC, 41 per 100 ,000, number one that we can find anywhere in the world. Other cities are pretty bad,

3:02Anthony:but they're not as bad as that. He's going to deploy the National Guard, Anthony. How big a deal is that? It's a big deal because it is a step that few who American presidents have taken. Of course, the last time National Guard was deployed to Washington, D.C. was in the aftermath of January 6, where Donald Trump supporters ransacked the U.S. Capitol in objection of his election loss in 2020. The other big step he's taken is he's federalizing Washington, D.C.'s police force, something that an American president has never done. There's a provision in the law governing how the D.C. runs itself that allows presidents to do this, but it's meant as a kind of a reaction to rioting, some sort of an out of control situation.

3:45And listening to Donald Trump and in that clip, you could hear he's characterizing D.C. as that way. But, you know, I'm here in D.C. and the feeling on the street is not one of kind of a Mad Max hellscape. It is while there are problems, it is still still a very livable city.

4:02Anthony:But one of the things when he was doing this in Los Angeles recently, there was a sense that if you have the National Guard there, there is a risk that you do have real violence that you didn't have before. And I just wonder whether, you know, obviously the Democrats are going to say this is awful and all sorts of people. I think there are people already outside the White House as we speak protesting about it. But is there realistically a chance that this backfires for him, that suddenly that kind of hellscape that you mentioned there becomes real in a sense because of what he's done? It could instigate demonstrations, counter demonstrations, and that may be something that that he wants.

4:45Now, the situation in Los Angeles was already a powder keg because of what was happening with immigration enforcement and the protests that were already taking place here. D.C. is not Los Angeles. It's not that sort of a situation here. Large parts of D.C. have become very gentrified. And it isn't even the city that people may remember from the 70s and 80s. It is a white collar city in vast stretches of it, particularly in the northwest quadrant and extending around the Capitol. So I think there won't be that kind of a visceral, angry reaction to it on the streets. But but Donald Trump is, you know, by doing this, is shouldering some of the responsibility of managing security in D.C.

5:29so he can complain about instances of carjacking or murdering, which has happened in D.C. and happens in every major city. And unfortunately, as part of American, the fabric of American life, when it starts happening now with him running the police force and him making sure that the people are on the beats, the cops are on the beat and walking the streets, that's going to be something that will be on his hands more than it is now. He can't just complain about it anymore.

5:53Anthony:And just before we get to the episode we've recorded, I mean, it's worth saying, isn't it? It's kind of obvious point. We make it again and again, but it's important to make it. He has a genius for getting attention, changing the subject. Kim is all moving along. And this is part of that, isn't it? Yeah, we'll see how effective it is. Obviously, later in the week, people are going to be talking about Trump and Putin. The Epstein story is not going away. The economy story and trade story is not going away. He's dominated the headlines now. But, you know, I've lived in Washington, D.C. off and on now for almost 40 years.

6:29And it's not a place that Americans really care that much about, except for when they come here and see the museums and the monuments. What life is like in D.C. really is not going to be a big national issue in the long term. Americans just don't really care that much about one city.

6:47Anthony:On that modest note, Anthony, given the displays, you reside and work and it is, let's face it, quite an important city in the world. Well, let's get on with today's episode. So we talk about a real range of subjects, the likelihood of Donald Trump getting anything out of the meeting with Vladimir Putin in Alaska this week, what it means when the vice president comes to your town, as J.D. Vance is to some towns, rather fragile towns, it's fair to say, in the Cotswolds in England, plus whether Trump is having more senior moments and a little bit more about what he's just been telling reporters about what's going to happen in D.C.

7:21Anthony:So welcome to AmeriCouncers on Five Live.

7:51This is a terrible nightmare. This is what victory feels like. Yeah!

8:06Let's kick off with what could well be the big story of the week, if not the month and the year. This meeting, the proposed meeting between Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin, due to take place in Alaska this Friday. And we've had this voice note from Peter in Sheffield. Amidst the fanfare and publicity about the meeting between Putin and Trump, is not Putin merely stringing Trump along as delaying tactics? He knows what Trump prizes above all else is being hailed by the world as a miracle peacemaker. So he is using this weakness of his ego to manipulate him to Putin's own ends. In reality, nothing will change.

8:45Anthony, what do you make of this? Well, the first thing, yes, I agree with Peter. It seems like this is something that's going to help Vladimir Putin help reestablish himself on the international stage. One thing that the Russians like is to be the center of the spotlight. And I remember when I was in Geneva right before the Ukraine war, the Russian delegation there was lapping up the attention. It felt like it was back in the 1980s when everyone paid attention to what the United States and Russia did. Now, Putin's coming to Alaska and he's not really given anything up yet. He's made no concessions, but he's already gotten something.

9:22And that is, if you remember, on Friday, we were supposed to see all of these new secondary sanctions being imposed on Russia and countries that buy Russian oil. That was the deadline that Donald Trump set. And those secondary sanctions, with the exception of India, which is not going to kick in until September, they haven't appeared. So this does seem a little bit like Putin tapping Trump along, stretching things out effectively. We'll see what happens when they sit down at a table on Friday and what comes of it and if Donald Trump's happy with how it proceeds. But at least so far, things are breaking Vladimir Putin's way.

9:58Justin, we've talked a lot about the sort of roller coaster of emotions, the relationship between Trump and certainly how Trump views Putin. There was a sense of him losing patience with him cutting the deadline and so on. what do you think will happen is will this be the breakthrough moment yeah i think i mean

10:14Anthony:anthony's right the the problem is that putin knows that trump wants it to be a breakthrough moment and if putin provides uh him with the opportunity for a breakthrough moment by saying okay you can have your breakthrough moment but we've got to have uh donetsk and luhansk and various other areas in ukraine that will just for trump be completely sort of underneath his radar or over his radar or wherever you are on radar. He just won't know anything about the detail of it. I think we can be quite sure about that. And we'll just want to say, yeah, OK, if this is a deal that freezes things, then that's what I'm after.

10:49Anthony:And it's then put to Zelensky and Zelensky can't say yes, or he's put to the Europeans more widely and they can't say yes. And then it is made to seem, and Trump's people, particularly those who are more Russophile, are able to say, look, we had a deal, the Russians did their part, it was the Ukrainians, it was the Europeans who said no. And the risk is, I think, they get kind of manoeuvred into that position and Trump himself has manoeuvred into that position. And that's a dangerous thing, potentially. Well, we'll see what happens. There's obviously a long way to go yet before we get to Friday.

11:22Do we know exactly where they're going to be, Anthony, in Alaska? Not yet. There are rumours, there are background hints, but no firm location set. Obviously, Anchorage is the big city in Alaska. There's a big Air Force base, military base there that both sides could fly into. But if they stick around the city and have the meeting somewhere in Anchorage or they move somewhere off into the hinterlands, we don't know officially yet. Well, we've got to get a bit of an idea when all the security turns up because we've seen a lot of that already in the Cotswolds. So, J.D. Vance is spending his summer holiday in the UK.

12:02he's been fishing Kentucky style whatever that means with the Foreign Secretary David Lammy on Friday that was it's evening he's now in the Cotswolds and Jodie is on the line with Jodie are you in the Cotswolds now? Yeah I literally am in Chalbury in the Cotswolds Which is where it's all happening so what's it like now and then what's your question for the row of classes? Yeah so thanks for having me on And yeah, we're starting to see little hints, you know, the town's online forums going a bit crazy with speculation. And I just thought I would ask you guys. Yeah, though I and many of my fellow Traurberians have some fairly vehement views about the current administration, my question is not about the politics, but it's about what happens when a high ranking member of the administration ends up on our doorstep.

12:56Like, can we expect them to park on double yellow lines, block the bus route? Can my kids expect to see armed security guards wandering around our conspicuously gun-free streets? All good questions, Jenny. I would love to be in your local Facebook and WhatsApp. Given how mad ours goes, we're at the very sight of a single helicopter. Lord only knows what's happening in yours. Anthony, what can Jodie expect? Yes, yes, and yes. You're going to see closures. You're going to see routes change. You're going to see disruptions. I think the motorcade for J.D. Vance is pushing a couple of dozen vehicles, according to reports.

13:39They are going to be driving around and causing traffic headaches. As far as shows of firearms, there will be armed security. J.D. Vance will travel with his Secret Service team. It is not going to be the same as an American president, which would just totally shut down the area. It's a little lower profile, but there's still going to be Secret Service there. There's still going to be armed security. So get ready for as long as he's there, a disruption. When I was in Rome, when Joe Biden was there for a G20 meeting, I believe, it was an 80 car, 85 car motorcade. And the motorcade practically stretched from where Biden was staying to the meeting place without any kind of interruption.

14:24I mean, it's just it is a big show of American force. It's a big show of security.

14:29Anthony:Yeah, we've said before, it's a sort of majestic thing. I mean, certainly when you're following the president, as Anthony says, it's slightly pared down for the vice president, but not that much, I don't think. So, you know, they bring their own fuel. They bring their own guns. They bring everything. And if you invite them and they accept the invitation, you have to accept that they will do pretty much what they want to do to keep the principle safe, in their view, while they are on your territory. And wherever they go in the world, that's the deal. and you sort of have to accept it. I remember going to Tony Blair's constituency, which isn't far from Teesside Airport.

15:09Anthony:So we flew into Teesside Airport, but they had decided it was unsafe for, this was W. Bush, President W. Bush, they decided it was unsafe for him to go by car for some reason to Tony Blair's house, which was like, I mean, literally next to the airfield. So we had Black Hawk helicopters had been flown in to fly him him and the press to a kind of park at the back of tony blair's house and you know the noise the disruption etc etc it's just part and parcel of having these people here so yeah like him or not i mean you know if you want to chat to him it's highly unlikely that you'll just bump into him in some pleasant in the post office high street post office in in the cotswold it just doesn't happen.

15:55Anthony:They don't operate like that. They don't move like that. J.D. Vance went canoeing in a river in Ohio recently, and they actually raised the level of the river for security concerns. So, I mean, you know, the United States were changing water levels to accommodate the vice president. So get ready for things to be shut down when he's there. I think he went to Henry VIII's old palace and they shut that down for him while he was touring already. So it's going to hit the ground. Oh, so sorry. We've had to rebuild it in modern style from... No, it does... The Cotswolds will never be the same. I'm not sure our reservoirs have got enough water in them to raise the level of a river.

16:35And on the subject of parking on double yellow lines and that sort of thing, there's always tables of information of the amount that is owed. I think it's something like£15 million is owed in unpaid traffic charges by the US Embassy because they don't pay the congestion charge and parking and all of that Anyway, great, great question, Jodie. Best of luck over the next couple of days. Now, let's turn off attention to redistricting. Now, a lot of you this week have been asking about redistricting, which is basically when you redraw the boundaries to your own advantage, a particular focus right now on Republicans in Texas trying to change the electoral boundaries in their favour, which would give five extra Congress seats to the Republicans ahead of next year's midterm elections.

17:22Now, I know we covered this on AmeriCast, the Friday edition of the AmeriCast podcast, which you can hear on BBC Sounds now, of course. And as a result of that, Alexander has sent this voice note. It looks as if we might be in for an epidemic of gerrymandering, as Democrats both decry redistricting plans for Texas while drawing up plans to retaliate by doing the same in the states that they control, some of which are already heavily gerrymandered, such as Illinois. So Gavin Newsom, Democrat governor of California, is seeking to bypass his state's independent districting commission. His predecessor, but one, Arnold Schwarzenegger, tells us that gerrymandering is evil, and many of us in the UK would agree, finding it bizarre that this happens in the US.

18:11Is there anything that can be done to ensure fair and independent districting? Is there any such thing as fair and independent districting? I suppose not having whoever's politically in power in charge of doing it willy-nilly, Anthony? Yeah, I mean, that's what places like California and Virginia and New York and some conservative places like Arizona and Iowa try to do. They handed over to either bipartisan or nonpartisan commissions that draw lines based on things like trying to keep cities together in one district, keep key groups of people together so that you don't have these long, contorted districts that stretch on, like in Texas, from Austin and the center of the state all the way to the Louisiana border in one direction, all the way to the Mexican border in another district.

19:01Those are the efforts, and they have been somewhat successful, but they've been mostly successful in Democratic states because it's liberal groups that are pushing these as good government type of reforms. And now, as you point out, it is California and Gavin Newsom that is trying to undo that and try to have a new ballot measure that would be approved in November that would do away with this independent commission to let the California legislature draw much more partisan lines. There have been efforts. There are things that they can do. But I think the feeling among Democrats now is that they unilaterally disarm, that there has to be some sort of a nationwide effort to reform district drawing.

19:42And until that happens, they can't let Republicans draw lines to help them while the Democrats just sit on their hands and have districts that aren't partisan in some places.

19:51Anthony:But also, of course, it doesn't stop there. You know, when you think of all the measures that could be taken to sort of blow up the rough and ready compromises that there are that keep the whole system going. So, for instance, James Carville, the former, the guy who got Bill Clinton elected, the Raging Cajun, as he used to be known, suggesting this week that maybe the Democrats, if they ever get back into power in both houses of Congress and the presidency, which one assumes at some stage they will in some form or other. Well, what they should do, he says, is make Washington, D.C., a state. So with two senators who would both be Democrats.

20:29Anthony:So that changes the balance in the Senate hugely in favor of the Democrats, but also do other things. He said pack the Supreme Court. You don't need to have nine justices. You could have 13. You could have more. Just make sure that you get rid of you overwhelm all the conservative justices there. Is it allowed under the Constitution? Well, kind of. Yes. Would it completely upset the apple cart of America? kind of yes as well but those are the things now the democrats have to grapple with if you are fighting fire with fire what do you actually mean um last week i interviewed uh anna marie rodriguez ramos who's one of these democrats from texas who's well a sort of fugitive she was in illinois uh and i interviewed her on news night and she was telling me how terrible it was what they were doing and it was anti-democratic and it was awful what the republicans were doing and And I pointed out that in Illinois itself, they have a terrible record for the Democrats.

21:21And they've been graded very badly by independent watchdogs. And her response was, well, yes, but you may have to do that. You know, you're fighting fire with fire. But none of them ever could, it seems like none of them could ever see the conclusion of, well, what we're going to do is do this. And that will sort of redress the balance. And then they never sort of see the consequences. Well, at the next opportunity, their opponents will do exactly the same in the opposite direction.

21:44Anthony:Yeah, yeah. Yeah. And Illinois is, I mean, it's really egregious what's happened over the years in Illinois. And it's now kind of shone a spotlight, actually, on what the Democrats have also been doing. So kind of roughly 50-50 voting, I think, in Illinois. The Republicans, maybe a few fewer votes statewide than the Democrats. But in their congressional, I mean, how many, Anthony probably knows, probably about three seats out of 20-ish or maybe just slightly fewer than that. It is. It's pretty lopsided. And I think Kamala Harris won Illinois with 56 percent of the votes. Well, you know, it's a Democratic state, but but the percentage is about 80, 85 percent of the districts in Illinois are controlled by Democrats.

22:22So there clearly is a disparity. And you see it in places like Texas and Florida and North Carolina. Now, the other direction, North Carolina, the 50 50 state. And I think it's something like 10 to 3 for Republicans. They are holding districts because of the way that legislature has drawn it. So, you know, you get into this tit for tat kind of a thing. But if you ask a Democrat, it's like, well, you know, we'll worry about that when we cross it right now. It feels like we're being that we're being the good guys here and holding our fire. You know, Justin, you mentioned packing the Supreme Court, making the statehood for D.C., making statehood for Puerto Rico as well.

22:57All of these things were discussed at the beginning of Joe Biden's presidency in 2021. And Biden, you know, he's an institutionalist. His people were institutionalists. They're like, no, we're going to have a commission. We'll look at this. They didn't do that. thinking that maybe Donald Trump was a blip and that things would return to normal. Well, they haven't returned to normal. This is a new world. And I think Democrats are starting to come to grips with that. Anyway, let's move on now. We've got a caller. Robert is on the line. Hello, Robert. Hi, American Answers team. Where are you in the world, Robert?