Americast

Midterms! What do the results mean for Trump's presidency?

2026-11-06

After one of the most disastrous set of midterm results in US political history, how are Republicans dealing with the outcome, and where does it leave a JD Vance presidential run in 2028?

The bad news for Republicans is that the midterm results aren’t yet finalised and there could be more bad news in the Senate races taking place in Mississippi and Alaska. Those results are not yet in.

Regardless, senior Republicans have already gone public with their own take for the party’s performance, most notably vice president JD Vance, who’s broken ranks by publicly declaring that the party’s losses were caused by Donald Trump’s war in Iran.

That’s led to reporting suggesting that Pete Hegseth’s position as US defence secretary could now be under threat with Donald Trump considering whether to remove him from his position.

As the inquest begins within the Republican Party, the entire Americast crew get together to unpack what Democratic control of Congress will mean for the rest of Donald Trump’s presidency.

HOSTS: • Justin Webb, Radio 4 presenter• Sarah Smith, North America Editor• Anthony Zurcher, North America Correspondent• Marianna Spring, Social Media Investigations Senior Correspondent

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This episode was made by George Dabby, Nik Sindle and Alix Pickles. The technical producer was Phillip Bull. The series producer is Purvee Pattni. The senior news editor is Sam Bonham.

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666

Latest episode

2026-11-06

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Insight and analysis on what's happening inside Donald Trump's White House. Podcast episodes Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Watch on iPlayer here: https://bbc.in/4j3DjKy. 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 social media investigation 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. Podcasts are published every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. As well as being a podcast, we are also available every Friday on BBC Radio 4 and every Saturday on the BBC World Service. Oh, and you can now watch us on YouTube and on iPlayer: https://bbc.in/4j3DjKy.

Also, you can 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 our friends, including BBC Radio 5 Live's Matt Chorley. Got a question or a comment? Get in touch with us on email at [email protected] or WhatsApp on +44 330 123 9480.