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How do the US Presidential elections actually work?
What in the World
Feb 1, 2024

This is our simple(ish) guide to how America picks its president.

In November 2024, America will go to the polls to pick the next President of the United States. At the moment it looks like we’ll see a 2020 rematch, Republican Donald Trump vs Democrat Joe Biden. But how do US elections actually work? They can be quite complicated, the candidate with the most votes doesn’t always win. In this episode, we explain things like the electoral college, Super PACs and find out just how much running a campaign ad for the most powerful job on earth can cost.

BBC reporter Sam Cabral joins us from Washington and takes us through the process. And business reporter Erin Delmore checks in from New York to talk about the money.

Email: [email protected] WhatsApp: +44 0330 12 33 22 6 Presenter: Alex Rhodes Producers: Emily Horler and Adam Chowdhury Editors: Verity Wilde and Simon Peeks

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Feb 5, 2025
USAID: Can the world live without it?

The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) is under fire. It is the world’s biggest donor and spends billions of dollars a year, funding programmes around the world, like fighting malaria in Bangladesh, clearing unexploded landmines in Cambodia and Laos and providing medical supplies in Sudan.

But President Trump says it is run by “radical lunatics” and he and billionaire Elon Musk, who’s got the job of trying to slash American government spending, want to shut it down. They have paused almost all international spending for 90 days and issued “stop work” orders to their staff. BBC journalist Nathalia Jimenez tells us what USAID does - and why the Trump administration wants to close it.

A large proportion of USAID funding goes towards healthcare and HIV medication in sub-Saharan Africa. Makuochi Okafor, the BBC’s Africa Health correspondent tells us what impact closing USAID could have in this region.

Anselm Gibbs, a BBC reporter based in Trinidad and Tobago, tells us about programmes USAID funds in the Caribbean. And Hilde Deman from Search for Common Ground, an international NGO that uses USAID funding in countries affected by violent conflict, talks about the impact to their work in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Instagram: @bbcwhatintheworld Email: [email protected] WhatsApp: +44 0330 12 33 22 6 Presenter: William Lee Adams Producers: Benita Barden and Julia Ross-Roy Editor: Rosanna La Falce


13min 08sec




How do the US Presidential elections actually work?

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