What's really behind Trump's crime crackdown?

What is really behind Donald Trump’s decision to send the National Guard into Washington DC, and what could it mean for other states in America? As troops arrive into DC, after Trump said the deployment was necessary to bring down crime and homelessness, Sarah and Justin talk about why the US president has made the announcement now. We also discuss crime rates, particularly as his opponents say the figures are trending downward in DC, and how this deployment might expand to other Democratic cities. Plus, we answer your questions on whether this is just a distraction technique to “flood the zone” away from the Epstein files. HOSTS: • Sarah Smith, North America Editor • Justin Webb, Radio 4 Presenter 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 Americast@bbc.co.uk • Or use #Americast This episode was made by George Dabby with Grace Reeve and Rufus Gray. The technical producer was Michael 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-68093155 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/p05299nl Ukrainecast: https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/brand/p0bqztzm Radical with Amol Rajan: https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/brand/p0gg4k6r