Deep State Radio

The United States is a country in need of saving. From the blatant illegality of numerous White House decisions to the fecklessness of Congress, wide-ranging changes are clearly needed. David Rothkopf and Norm Ornstein break down the erosion of democratic norms, the complicity of the main stream media, and the desperate need for Democrats to be a real opposition party again.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On the DSR Daily for Thursday, we discuss the Supreme Court striking down an immigration crackdown in Florida, the US sanctioning a UN human rights abuses investigator, Trump’s 50% tariff for Brazil, and more.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It appears to be dawning on President Trump that he will not be ending the Russia-Ukraine war in one day, as he promised during the campaign. Trump’s frustration at Vladimir Putin is rising: This week he accused Putin of hitting him with “bullshit,” and even admitted Putin’s word to him is “meaningless.” This comes as it’s now being reported that Putin is escalating the war against Ukraine, and that he’s brushing aside Trump’s anger about it. Add it all up and Trump is plainly humiliated, realizing that Putin is laughing off his demand for “peace.” We talked to Mona Charen, policy editor at The Bulwark, who writes well about the Trumpified GOP’s embrace of Putin. She explains how Putin has long played Trump, why Putin feels free to humiliate him, and what the various scenarios ahead look like. Listen to this episode here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The only consistent theme of Trump’s foreign policy has been inconsistency. As baffling choices continue without rhyme or reason, we have to ask—who benefits? Max Boot, Rosa Brooks, and Ed Luce join David Rothkopf to explore why China is the biggest winner in Trump’s second term and more.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On the DSR Daily for Wednesday, we discuss the Supreme Court decision allowing for mass federal layoffs, the IRS allowing churches to endorse political candidate, stalling ceasefire talks in Gaza, and more.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

At least 109 people have died amid devastating flooding in Texas. Distressingly, 27 deaths occurred at a summer camp for girls, and the toll continues to rise.  This week, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt angrily lashed out at the news media and Democrats for asking whether Trump administration policies bear any blame for the disaster’s impact. What struck us, though, is her demand that we all treat this as a “national” tragedy. She’s right that we should do this. But that solicitude is precisely what Donald Trump and MAGA deny to non-MAGA America at other urgent moments. And that’s the true MAGA ethic at its ugliest. We talked to New Republic staff writer Kate Aronoff, who has a new piece on all this fallout. We discuss why Leavitt is wrong to silence hard questions, why Democrats should talk about GOP priorities at times like these, and why MAGA’s approach to solidarity is so deeply twisted.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On the DSR Daily for Tuesday, we discuss Netanyahu’s visit to the White House, the resumption of weapons shipments to Ukraine, the latest from the deadly Texas floods, and more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

At a rally, President Trump declared that he now may suspending deportations for farmworkers and other migrant workers. Trump openly admitted this will anger the “radical right,” by which he likely meant Stephen Miller and others who want every last undocumented immigrant in this country removed—or else. Indeed, leading MAGA influencers sharply attacked the move: One declared that it will “break” the MAGA coalition. The other flatly demanded that Trump keep on deporting “grandmothers.” We think all this should be understood as a display of weakness: Trump badly wants the public to think he’s considering relaxing his mass deportation regime precisely when Congress has given him tens of billions of additional dollars for it. We talked to journalist, historian, and podcaster Garrett Graff, who has a new piece on his Substack about what’s coming. He explains why rapidly expansion of Trump’s paramilitary force is so dangerous, how his effort to pseudo-moderate on deportations has exposed serious political vulnerab

On the DSR Daily for Monday, we discuss Musk’s announcement of his new political party, the extension of tariff deadlines, the horrific aftermath of flooding in Texas, and more.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In today’s episode, Democratic strategist Simon Rosenberg makes a crucial point: During months of debate about President Trump’s now-signed budget bill, there was very little public debate about what its explosion in Immigration and Customs Enforcement funding will inflict on America. Rosenberg chalks this up in part to Democrats’ failure to engage on the matter. We discuss the bill’s extraordinarily large health care cuts and its massive upward redistribution of wealth—and how Democrats should attack that. But now that it has passed, it’s also sinking in that the tens of billion of dollars the bill pours into expanding Trump’s detention complex will supercharge those masked, unidentified “secret police” that keep snatching migrants and legally-present immigrants off the streets. The whole project just got much darker. Rosenberg also discusses the intense civil conflict that this is already starting to unleash, and why it will get much worse. He reflects on how Democrats can campaign against the “shocking” da

Before we grab a hotdog and head out to the 4th of July fireworks, we have to reflect on the current state of our country and ask ourselves, "is this really what the Founding Fathers would have wanted?" David Rothkopf and Norm Ornstein discuss the significance of Independence Day, reflecting on the founding fathers and the current political landscape. They explore the challenges facing democracy today, including corruption, the impact of policies on everyday lives, the role of young voters in shaping the future and more. Looking for More from the DSR Network? Click Here: https://linktr.ee/deepstateradio Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On the DSR Daily for Thursday, we cover the Trump megabill reaching the House, Trump and Zelenskiy to discuss pause of US arms deliveries in call, Kilmar Abrego Garcia describing ‘severe beatings’ and ‘psychological torture’ in Salvadoran prison, and more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week, President Donald Trump issued many angry threats against Zohran Mamdani, the underdog winner of New York Democratic mayoral primary. Trump has been attacking Mamdani, a state Assemblyman, as a “Communist,”  threatening to arrest him along with other foes, and questioning Mamdani’s U.S. citizenship, hinting at a possible effort to try to strip his citizenship.  What caught our eye is Mamdani’s response: It was sharply worded, illuminated the real stakes in this battle in a novel way, and effectively declared that the threat posed by Trump’s secret police to immigrants actually threatens us all. Democrats can learn from this, because Trump’s threats to denaturalize foes may soon become real. We talked to David Bier, director of immigration studies at the Cato Institute. He explains what Trump would need to do to denaturalize Mamdani and other political opponents, what liberals and Democrats be preparing for right now, and why basic freedoms are hanging in the balance—for all of us.  Looking for Mo

As we approach the Fourth of July weekend and as America nears the 250th anniversary of its independence, the current state of the nation is dismal. Recent legislation could have dire healthcare consequences for millions of Americans, corruption is increasingly rampant in this administration, and Donald Trump continues to steer the country into authoritarianism. The future of American governance is uncertain, but one thing is clear - action is necessary. Tune in as David Rothkopf is joined by Ed Luce, Simon Rosenberg, and Michael Tomasky to take stock of the current political climate as we approach this Fourth of July weekend and beyond. Looking for More from the DSR Network? Click Here: https://linktr.ee/deepstateradio Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On the DSR Daily for Wednesday, we cover the Trump megabill passing, 20 states suing the Trump Administration, the University of Pennsylvania agreeing to bar transgender athletes from competing in women’s sports, and more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Senate just passed its version of President Trump’s big budget bill, which will cut $1 trillion from Medicaid to fund huge tax cuts for the rich. In a series of angry tweets, Vice President JD Vance downplayed the Medicaid cuts while saying what really matters is the bill’s massive funding for ICE and migrant detention. It was a revealing moment: Vance basically told MAGA voters not to think too much about their pending loss of health care via Medicaid cuts; instead they should focus on how many migrants the bill will end up jailing and deporting. That scam is integral to getting the Medicaid cuts passed in the first place. But what will voters think? We talked to Kristen Crowell, who is campaigning against the bill for the advocacy group Fair Share America. She explains how Trump voters and other constituencies are reacting to the bill in many communities with anger and fear; why the public is not receptive right now to typical GOP attacks on the safety net; and whether this can be converted into midterm

Silicon Valley has long proclaimed that their technologies would change the future. But to tech leaders like OpenAI executive Sam Altman, AI is not just a business; it’s a matter of life and death. But where are the ethics of a company such as an OpenAI as they transition from nonprofit to for-profit? How have AI companies grown to wield such immense power and wealth? Karen Hao, author of Empire of AI: Dreams and Nightmares in Sam Altman’s AI joins David Rothkopf to discuss her recent book and the modern colonialism of AI tech giants. This material is distributed by TRG Advisory Services, LLC on behalf of the Embassy of the United Arab Emirates in the U.S.. Additional information is available at the Department of Justice, Washington, DC. Looking for More from the DSR Network? Click Here: https://linktr.ee/deepstateradio Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On the DSR Daily for Tuesday, we cover updates on the Trump megabill, Elon Musk's self-interest fueled proclamations, changing environmental laws in California, and more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

President Trump is raging at GOP Senator Thom Tillis for telling the truth about the Senate version of his budget bill, which could knock 10 million people off Medicaid. Trump threatened him with a primary—whereupon he announced his retirement. Tillis has since been sharply criticizing the bill, noting it will bump 600,000 people from Medicaid in North Carolina. This reveals that when Trump vowed not to cut Medicaid, he was lying. But it also shows his much-advertised vow to remake the GOP as working class has proven a sham. By threatening Tillis, Trump has only drawn more attention to Tillis’ truth-telling about his swindle of MAGA voters. And as Trump’s own media allies are warning, this could put the Senate in play for Democrats. We talked to New Republic staff writer Timothy Noah, author of a new piece on GOP lying about the bill. He explains why Trump’s Medicaid cuts are so indefensible, how they expose the core of Trump’s “working class GOP” scam, and what it all means for Democratic hopes of regaining

Legal expert Dahlia Lithwick joins David Rothkopf to discuss the Supreme Court decisions that capped off this term. How do recent rulings reflect the Supreme Court’s growing political agenda? What concerns remain regarding the shadow docket and due process? Is there any hope for structural judicial reform? Tune in for all this and more. Looking for More from the DSR Network? Click Here: https://linktr.ee/deepstateradio Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices