Did Trump's UN speech convince voters on Iran?

Americast

Wednesday, 23 September 2026 - 22 minutes

Americast is in New York as Donald Trump tells world leaders he could “annihilate” Iran, whilst also - behind the scenes - talking up the progress of peace talks between Iran and the United States. Sumi and Anthony unpack the US president’s appearance at the United Nations General Assembly, discussing whether the speech was aimed more at his domestic audience than world leaders. With just over six weeks from midterm elections and record low approval ratings, is Donald Trump now more isolated amongst world leaders than at any other point in his presidency? We discuss how much influence the US president really has behind the scenes at the UN. Also, why did the Cuban delegation walk out, and what made Anthony’s jaw “hit the floor” when Trump talked about Venezuela? There is also a new agreement with Denmark and Greenland that puts more American troops on the island. Has Trump got what he wanted, or given up on annexing it?HOSTS:
• Sumi Somaskanda, BBC Chief Presenter
• Anthony Zurcher, North America CorrespondentGET IN TOUCH:
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• Or use #Americast This episode was made by George Dabby with Nik Sindle. The technical producer was Mike Regaard. The series producer is Purvee Pattni. The senior news editor is Sam Bonham.If you want to be notified every time we publish a new episode, please subscribe to us on BBC Sounds by hitting the subscribe button on the app. You can now listen to Americast on a smart speaker. If you want to listen, just say "Ask BBC Sounds to play Americast”. It works on most smart speakers.US Election Unspun: Sign up for Anthony’s BBC newsletter: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-68093155Americast is part of the BBC News Podcasts family of podcasts. The team that makes Americast also makes lots of other podcasts, including Newscast. If you enjoy Americast (and if you're reading this then you hopefully do), then we think that you will enjoy some of our other pods too. See links below.Newscast: https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/series/p05299nl
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