Why has Trump imposed a new travel ban and who’s on the list?

The US president Donald Trump has imposed a full travel ban on 12 countries mainly in Africa and the Middle East, following through on a promise made in 2024 on the campaign trail. But why has the president chosen to implement the ban now, and how likely is it to survive a legal challenge?

The ban includes Afghanistan, Iran, Somalia and Libya. But there’s also confusion as to why Egypt remains off the list despite the president citing the recent attack Colorado's Jewish community, which was allegedly carried out by an Egyptian national. There are also partial restrictions on seven other nations including Venezuela and Cuba.

And, in another instalment of Donald Trump’s war with Harvard, he’s also suspended foreign students from studying at the university, which could have a big impact on Chinese students. Sarah’s been chatting to Nicholas Burns, a former US ambassador to China who now teaches at Harvard, about how the university should respond to the president, and what it’s like to negotiate in a room with Xi Jinping.

HOSTS:• Sarah Smith, North America Editor• Anthony Zurcher, North America Correspondent

GUEST:• Nicholas Burns, Former U.S. Ambassador to China between 2022-2025 and Professor at Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government. He is also a Faculty Affiliate at Harvard’s Fairbank Center for Chinese Studies.

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 Purvee Pattni with Alix Pickles and Grace Reeve. The technical producer was Mike Regaard. The series producer is Purvee Pattni. The senior news editor is Sam Bonham.

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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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