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Making America Wealthy Again?

Ed Balls travels to America's Deep South. Ed is put to work helping prepare for the Trumpette Ball.

Tapping into the US's deep-rooted belief in the American dream, billionaire businessman Trump promised to make all Americans wealthy again, but is he just helping the rich get richer?

Ed's first stop is literally Donald Trump's backyard, his very own private members club, Mar-a-Largo in Palm Beach, Florida, where Trump can be found playing golf most weekends. Hosted by millionairess Toni, a close friend of the president's and founder of female Trump fan club The Trumpettes, Ed is put to work helping prepare for the Trumpette Ball, a huge, extravagant party Toni is throwing at Mar-a-Largo in her old friend's honour.

But Trump's one-year anniversary as leader of the free world sparks protests outside Mar-a-Largo and Ed is left with a sour taste in his mouth at the party after a divisive speech by Fox News star Judge Jeanine Pirro. To find out if ordinary working-class Americans believe that Trump is helping them get richer, Ed travels to Dalton, Georgia, the former carpet capital of the world. Here he meets factory mill workers Rik and Brodie, and tries his hand at hick hopping, a form of country rap music about the struggle in the Deep South, much to his new friends' amusement.

Money and religion are two sides of the same coin in America, so Ed travels to Easley, South Carolina, to meet controversial pastor Mark Burns, who spoke at Trump's rallies during the election campaign, and preaches to millions that you can pray your way to success. Fresh from defending the President over his famous 'sh*thole' comments, the pastor takes Ed to a Tea Party Convention, where Ed is thrust on stage and finds himself summarising his travels in Trumpland to the unlikeliest of audiences.

59 minutes

Credits

Role Contributor
Presenter Edward Balls
Director Oliver Lambert
Director Warren Smith
Producer Clare Cameron
Production Company Expectation Entertainment

Broadcasts