Americanswers… on 5 Live! Has Donald Trump delivered a “historic dawn of a new Middle East”?

The U.S. president has hailed a “historic dawn of a new Middle East” on the day the last 20 living hostages were returned by Hamas to Israel, and almost 2,000 Palestinian prisoners and detainees were also released. It was an integral part of the peace agreement brokered by the United States, and Donald Trump was welcomed with cheers as he addressed the Israeli parliament, the Knesset, the first such address by a US president since 2008.

Justin, Marianna, Anthony and Matt Chorley answer your questions on how much credit should be given to Trump, what this means for Gaza, could there be implications for Ukraine and Iran, and why is the Nobel peace prize so important for Donald Trump?

We also unpack Trump’s speech, and look at who the individuals are behind the scenes of his 20 point plan. How instrumental was the president’s Middle East envoy who had no experience in politics, the real estate dealmaker Steve Witkoff? And what role was played by Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner?

HOSTS:• Justin Webb, Radio 4 presenter• Anthony Zurcher, North America correspondent• Marianna Spring, Social Media Investigations correspondent

GET IN TOUCH:• Join our online community: https://discord.gg/qSrxqNcmRB• Send us a message or voice note via WhatsApp to +44 330 123 9480• Email [email protected]• Or use #Americast

This episode was made by George Dabby with Rufus Gray, Sophie Smith, and Grace Reeve. The technical producer was Dafydd Evans. The series producer is Purvee Pattni. The senior news editor is Sam Bonham.

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Americast is part of the BBC News Podcasts family of podcasts. The team that makes Americast also makes lots of other podcasts, including Newscast and Ukrainecast. 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/p05299nlUkrainecast: https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/brand/p0bqztzmRadical: https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/brand/p0gg4k6rThe Global Story: https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/brand/w13xtvsd

Americast is the authoritative US news and politics podcast from the BBC. Each week we provide audiences with the best analysis from across the BBC, with on-the-ground observations and big picture insights about the stories which are defining America right now. The podcast is hosted by trusted BBC journalists including the BBC’s North America editor, Sarah Smith, BBC Radio 4 presenter, Justin Webb, the BBC’s disinformation and social media correspondent, Marianna Spring, and BBC North America correspondent, Anthony Zurcher. As well as political analysis, we also specialise in social media. Each week Marianna Spring brings listeners the latest updates from the BBC’s Undercover Voters, our award-winning investigation into the content that is recommended to US voters on social media. The team is also joined by special guests each week, like CNN anchor, Christiane Amanpour, Emmy Award-winning TV host, Rachel Maddow, and Succession actress, J Smith-Cameron. Podcasts are published every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. As well as being a podcast, we are also available every Friday on the World Service. Oh, and by the way, 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. Every Monday we answer your questions on Americanswers, with some help from special guests, including Miles Taylor, who was chief of staff at the Department for Homeland Security during the Trump presidency before becoming a whistleblower. Got a question or a comment? Get in touch with us on email at [email protected] or WhatsApp on +44 330 123 9480.

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