Deep State Radio

President Trump is furious over a new poll from Fox News, and understandably so. It finds his approval upside down, with 54 percent disapproving. His standing is deeply underwater on many major issues, and remarkably, that includes immigration. So he erupted on Truth Social, fuming that Fox’s pollster is “crooked” and has been “discredited,” and even (gasp!) that “MAGA hates Fox News.” But the surest sign of Trump’s fury is that White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt rushed to soothe the Audience of One with a ridiculous, gushing tirade designed to create the grotesquely false impression that he has the support of a very large majority of Americans. We talked to former U.S. attorney and podcaster Harry Litman, who has a good piece for The New Republic about Trump’s mounting losses and failures. He digs into the absurd disconnect between suggesting that Trump’s support reaches deep into all corners of American life, as Leavitt did, and waging an all-out war on Blue America—and how that war is only woundi

We're in a brave new political world under the Trump administration.  Simon Rosenberg and Tara McGowan are back with David Rothkopf to explore the new political landscape including low approval ratings, the art of the distraction, and why now is the time for everyone to be an activist. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On the DSR Daily for Thursday, we break down the US beginning evacuations of personnel from Israel, the State Department’s new policy for screening student visa applicants, the Supreme Court’s ruling against transgender care for minors, and more.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth faced striking questioning from Democratic Senator Elyssa Slotkin on Wednesday. She grilled him on whether he had given an order allowing members of the military to shoot unarmed protesters if necessary. She also pressed him on whether the military has the authority to arrest protesters. Hegseth stonewalled. What his obfuscation ended up revealing, though, is this: He knows that in response to Democratic questioning, he cannot be seen reassuring the broader public about the military’s intentions toward civilians and especially toward Blue America. Trump would perceive this as weakness and as capitulation. Which itself reveals something deeply unnerving about the Trump-MAGA threat. We talked to Guardian columnist Moira Donegan, author of a great new piece about Trump’s military parade. about Trump’s military parade. She digs into the darker implications of Hegseth’s testimony and explains why the sheer spectacle of authoritarianism is so central to the Trump-MAGA project. Lookin

At this point, it’s anyone’s guess as to what the US will do next in Iran. Apparently, not even our President knows what’s coming next. Will we enter the war? More importantly, should we? Esteemed guests Rosa Brooks, Kori Schake, and CSIS’s Max Bergmann join host David Rothkopf to try and answer these questions and more.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On the DSR Daily for Wednesday, we discuss Trump’s demands for unconditional surrender, the arrest of NYC mayoral candidate Brad Lander, doubts over the passage of a GOP-backed megabill, and more.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

President Trump appears dead set on joining Israel’s war with Iran. After a period of negotiations, Trump has now tweeted that he wants Iran’s “UNCONDITIONAL SURRENDER!” The New York Times has a deep dive into his deliberations, and the findings are shocking. Trump is ready for war even though our own intelligence assessments don’t support the case for it. And incredibly, the Times reports, Trump was influenced on all this by what he saw on Fox News, which broadcast relentless imagery of Israel’s “genius” bombing of Iran. This led Trump to want “some credit for himself” for the attack, after which he “began hinting that he had played a bigger behind-the-scenes role in the war than people realized.” He then leaned more towards escalation. We talked to veteran national security hand Matt Duss, executive vice president at the Center for International Policy, who has a great piece for Foreign Policy magazine on the situation. He explains why the case for war is so weak, how Trump is getting manipulated into it so

On the DSR Daily for Tuesday, we cover the latest from the Iran/Israel conflict, a federal judge ruling against some NIH grant cuts, the Department of Homeland Security restarting raids on farms, hotels, and restaurants, and more.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

After the horrific assassination of a Democratic state legislator in Minnesota, President Trump at first correctly stressed that such violence is absolutely intolerable. But then he uncorked a long, vile, unhinged tirade on Truth Social, threatening to unleash ICE raids more directly on Democratic cities while denouncing them as radical, dangerous and “sick.” Coming after the assassination, this was almost akin to a call for more targeting of Democrats and liberals. It’s no accident this came right after we saw enormous outpourings of peaceful “No Kings” protests across the country. The contrast between these and Trump’s North Korean-style military parade (not to mention the assassination) amounted to a fiasco for Trump. As Kim Scheppele, a scholar of authoritarianism, noted in a good piece for The Contrarian, a big story about this weekend’s events was the spectacle of peaceful dissent meeting menace from Trump-aligned forces. We talked to Scheppele about how political violence is overwhelmingly aligned in t

On the DSR Daily for Monday, we break down the arrest of the suspect in the assassination of State Rep. Melissa Hortman, Israel’s warning to Tehran, the spectacular failure of the military parade in DC, and more.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In a little-noticed rant, President Donald Trump furiously vowed on Truth Social that he will now carry out something called “remigration.” This idea is widely prevalent among global white nationalists who see it as key to their vile goal of building white ethnostates, so his open endorsement of it is significant. That comes as a U.S. Democratic Senator has been violently tackled and handcuffed, as Trump dispatches troops into Los Angeles, and as his Homeland Security secretary suggests those troops will “liberate” L.A. from its elected Democratic leadership. We talked to Will Sommer, senior reporter at The Bulwark and author of a great piece on the fresh levels of bloodlust all this is inspiring in MAGA media. We discuss the centrality of sadism and violent lawlessness to the MAGA movement—and why this is pushing us toward a watershed moment. Looking for More from the DSR Network? Click Here: https://linktr.ee/deepstateradio Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Original air date: June 24, 2024 Former CIA senior intelligence service officer Daniel Hoffman joins Marc Polymeropoulos to reveal the intersection of an amazing spy story, a heartwarming love story, a family’s resilience in overcoming tragedy, and what ultimately matters most in life.  Don’t miss this special episode. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Original air date: June 19, 2024 With consequential elections coming up in Britain, France, and the US, monumental change is on the horizon . In a special two-part episode, Clive Priddle and Ed Luce join David Rothkopf to forecast the upcoming elections while members will hear from Kori Schake and Rosa Brooks on the most impactful headlines from around the world. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In case you missed it, things are still not great here in the United States. Thankfully, we have Ed Luce joining David Rothkopf to break down this administration’s current actions. What does the militarization of law enforcement mean for civil liberties? How are governors like Gavin Newsom stepping up? Find out right here.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Israel’s shocking strikes on Iran has put the region in a perilous position. What was the calculus behind Netanyahu’s decision to strike? How will Iran respond? What does the Trump administration do now that negotiations have gone up in Smoke? To answer all these questions and more, we have a special two part episode with our favorite experts. Part one features a conversation between Rosa Brooks, Steven Cook, Alon Pinkas, and David Rothkopf while Jon Wolfsthal joins David in part two. You won’t want to miss this important episode.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Stephen Miller had a shouting match Thursday with a GOP Senator over Miller’s demand for massive funds for deportations, which Republicans are debating right now. Yet at around the same time, President Donald Trump openly admitted that his deportations are badly hurting farmers by removing their workers—and described those undocumented workers as “impossible to replace.” Miller is demanding supercharged deportation numbers on the grounds that migrants are criminals and/or displace U.S. workers, but Trump admitted Miller’s deportation agenda is targeting good, hard-working people who aren’t taking jobs from Americans and that their removal hurts the economy. This—along with the shocking manhandling of Democratic Senator Alex Padilla by Homeland Security goons and the backlash to Trump’s dispatching of troops to Los Angeles—suggests the MAGA coalition is coming under serious strains on immigration. We talked about all this with Tori Gavito, the president of Way To Win, who also discusses the group’s new polling

On the DSR Daily for Thursday, we cover the US evacuating personnel from the Middle East, Netanyahu surviving an attempt to dissolve parliament, a horrifying plane crash, and more.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We tend to be a bit negative about this administration on the DSR Network. But in spite of our negativity, is there actually some hope for a new nuclear deal with Iran? Experts Joe Cirincione and Jon Wolfsthal join David Rothkopf to discuss why Trump’s particular style of diplomacy may, or may not, give way to success in nuclear arms regulation.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

News organizations have been credulously amplifying the White House’s spin that sending troops into Los Angeles is great politics for President Trump. But the evidence isn’t cooperating. On Tuesday, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt lost her temper amid tough questioning about Trump’s threat to unleash “force” on protesters. She snapped that one reporter had asked a “stupid question,” and seethed angrily at a second reporter’s legitimate query, showing how weak the White House’s arguments on this have truly become. And a new Quinnipiac poll finds Trump’s approval tanking, crucially including on immigration. We talked to Jennifer Rubin, editor-in-chief of The Contrarian, who has a new piece arguing that California is a test run for Trump. She explains why the media needs to do better at conveying just how unpopular Trump’s authoritarian tactics truly are—and why failing to do so could embolden him.  Looking for More from the DSR Network? Click Here: https://linktr.ee/deepstateradio Learn more abo

On the DSR Daily for Wednesday, we discuss Trump’s warning to protesters in DC, the US and China reaching a preliminary trade deal, Elon backing down from his feud with Trump, and more.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices