Deep State Radio

President Trump offered a disgusting response to the horrific death of Rob Reiner and his wife, narcissistically insisting they’d died of “Trump Derangement Syndrome” while delusionally claiming world-historical successes for himself. What surprised us was MAGA’s retort to this. Marjorie Taylor Greene offered a remarkably heartfelt reply to Trump, and the contrast between her measured tone and his unhinged, megalomaniacal cruelty had the effect of quietly humiliating him. Other MAGA figures piled on as well. We think this captures a deeper set of divisions inside MAGA, and indeed, it comes as other MAGA figures are now warning that the base is drifting away from Trump. Even Trump’s own pollster is sounding the alarm. We talked to New Republic senior editor Alex Shephard, who’s been writing well about Greene and MAGA. We discuss why Trump’s hold is weakening over his base and MAGA influencers alike, what Greene recognizes about Trump’s weakness that other Republicans don’t, and how this will likely get worse f

On the DSR Daily for Monday, we break down the tragic shooting at a Hanukkah event in Sydney, the election of far-right Kast in Chile, the conviction of a pro-democracy advocate in Hong Kong, and more.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

President Donald Trump keeps ranting furiously that “affordability” is a Democratic scam. But suddenly he’s now promoting video of himself talking about how devoted he is—really, truly—to doing something about costs (while angrily blaming Democrats for it). And that admits costs are a problem on his watch. Republicans want him to stabilize his message on affordability, but by lurching wildly back-and-forth, he’s sabotaging it. And even the very MAGA chair of the Republican National Committee is admitting the GOP faces a “looming disaster” in the midterms. Other MAGA figures are also sounding the alarm. There’s a reason Trump can’t escape this conundrum: His policies actually are making things a lot worse. We talked to economist Rob Shapiro, who has a good piece at Washington Monthly spelling this out. We discuss the true nature of the Tump-GOP conundrum, the deeper reasons Trump is so vulnerable on the economy, and why it’s all likely to get worse right through 2026. Looking for More from the DSR Network? Cl

On the DSR Weekly Wrap-Up for December 12, we cover Indiana Republicans rejecting Trump’s gerrymandered map, the House overturning Trump’s executive order on bargaining rights, the Justice Department failing again to indict Letitia James, and more.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It’s (almost) been one year of the Trump administration. Aside from, well everything else, how has US artificial intelligence policy evolved? Former Deputy National Cyber Director Camille Stewart Gloster joins David Rothkopf to grade the administration’s 2025 on AI, the state of public-private collaboration, the talent drain in the US, and more. 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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

President Trump erupted Thursday in a wild rage on Truth Social in which he appeared to blame pollsters for failing to register his world-historical success. “When will Polls reflect the Greatness of America at this point in time?” he fumed. Notably, this comes just after Democrats scored big wins in the Miami mayoral race and elsewhere, which analysts see as a sign that the Latino vote is shifting hard away from Trump. Not coincidentally, a new poll has Trump’s approval on immigration plunging below 40 percent. We talked to William Saletan, staff writer at The Bulwark, about his great new piece on Trump’s open agenda of ethnic persecution. We discuss the relationship between Trump’s racism and his unpopularity, what the latest GOP losses show about the collapse of the MAGA coalition, what to make of the GOP’s open embrace of full-bore ethnonationalism, and why it’s (somewhat) heartening that the public is rejecting it so decisively. Looking for More from the DSR Network? Click Here: https://linktr.ee/deepst

The Republican Senate just voted against extending the Affordable Care Act. Twenty million people could lose their healthcare coverage soon, and the Republicans have yet to present a viable healthcare plan. Norm Ornstein and David Rothkopf discuss this MAGApocalypse, the GOP implosion, and the dangerous consequences of a lame-duck Trump. Looking for More from the DSR Network? Click Here: https://linktr.ee/deepstateradio Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

AI’s huge energy needs are getting enormous media attention. AI’s potential to make energy more secure, clean and affordable is getting less attention. What would it take for AI’s impact on the energy system to be net-positive? What would that mean exactly? What examples help show the potential for AI to make positive contributions to the energy system? Join host David Sandalow as he discusses these topics and a new report called From Paradox to Progress: A Net-Positive AI Energy Framework with one of the report’s lead authors -- Ginelle Greene-Dewasmes, AI and Energy Lead at the World Economic Forum. https://www.weforum.org/publications/from-paradox-to-progress-a-net-positive-ai-energy-framework/ https://icef.go.jp/wp-content/themes/icef_new/pdf/roadmap/icef2025_roadmap.pdf https://icef.go.jp/wp-content/themes/icef_new/pdf/roadmap/icef2024_roadmap_AI-Climate-Second-Edition.pdf This material is distributed by TRG Advisory Services, LLC on behalf of the Embassy of the United Arab Emirates in the U.S..

On the DSR Daily for Thursday, we discuss the US seizing an oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela, Trump’s new $1m immigration visa scheme, Kristi Noem’s impending House hearing, and more.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Donald Trump’s National Security Strategy is another nail in the coffin for U.S. foreign policy. Sadly, and unsurprisingly, it furthers MAGA’s anti-European ideology and only serves to benefit Russia, China, and other illiberal governments around the world. Ivo Daalder, President of the Chicago Council on Global Affairs and former U.S. Ambassador to NATO, joins David Rothkopf and Rosa Brooks to discuss the concerning anti-European sentiment in Washington and the implications of this “strategy.” 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 discuss huge Democratic victories in Miami and Georgia, dystopian social media disclosure rules for foreign tourists, Brad Lander launching a congressional bid, and more.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In today’s episode, we talk to Representative Jamie Raskin about President Trump’s corrupt scheme to gerrymander the 2026 midterms—and about Raskin’s new ranked-choice-voting plan. Trump’s rage is growing as Indiana Republicans keep resisting his pressure to gerrymander their state, and he exploded in a wild Truth Social rant over the weekend. Yet for now, state Senate Republicans appear dug in. Worse for Trump, other Republicans are now beginning to argue that his scheme is backfiring. Why? Because Trump is hurting Republicans so badly that those whose seats are made somewhat less safe by gerrymandering might now be at risk. Raskin sees an opening to offer another way: Today he’s introducing a new bill that would require ranked choice voting in congressional races across the country. He tells us about the proposal, discusses how Trump’s gerrymandering chaos shows why ranked-choice is a better alternative, and urges Democrats to fight GOP tactics with hardball of their own.  Looking for More from the DSR Net

On the DSR Daily for Tuesday, we discuss the administration’s huge bailout for farmers, the Supreme Court considering an end to limits on party spending, the first social media ban for minors in the world, and more.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Pete Hegseth’s defense of the killing of two men clinging to an incapacitated boat is falling apart on multiple fronts. Lawmakers who saw video of this horror are letting it be known that the two men were waving before their execution, suggesting they were either surrendering or beckoning for rescue. And other leaks confirm that the boat very well might not have been bound for the United States to begin with. Meanwhile, some Republicans are abandoning him or acquiescing to legislative language that denies Hegseth funding until video is made more widely available to lawmakers, suggesting his position is weakening. We talked to Tess Bridgeman, co-editor-in-chief of the Just Security website and former national security lawyer in the Obama administration. She explains why Hegseth’s position is untenable, why the entire bombing campaign is illegal, why it’s critical that oversight pin down President Trump’s role, and what the prospects are for true accountability later.  Looking for More from the DSR Network? Cl

On the DSR Daily for Monday, we discuss the case before the Supreme Court on federal firings, China’s incredible trade surplus, a fiery interview with Marjorie Taylor Greene, and more.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Under persistent questioning about President Trump’s unfitness for office at his latest cabinet meeting, White House press secretary offered one of the ugliest defenses we’ve ever seen. She singled out Trump’s vile racist attack on Somalis, and praised it as an “epic moment” that put an “exclamation point” on that meeting “for the whole world to see.” Never mind that Trump appeared to fall asleep there, and in that rant about Somalis, called them “garbage” who “contribute nothing” and suggested he wants them all out of our country, even though many are American citizens. We talked to Vedant Patel, a former State Department and White House official. We discuss what it means that Leavitt went full cult in giving White House sanction to his ugly bigotry, why the targeting of Somalis is so ghoulish, and what Trump really intends when he threatens denaturalization and “remigration,” as he is now doing. Looking for More from the DSR Network? Click Here: https://linktr.ee/deepstateradio Learn more about your ad cho

On the DSR Weekly Wrap-Up for December 5, we cover the administration’s newly released National Security Strategy, the Supreme Court allowing the use of Texas’s gerrymandered map, the fallout from Signalgate, and more.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Would you use an AI as your stockbroker? Maybe not. Yet more and more individuals and firms are using AI tools to aid in investing. But will AI-powered investment democratize the practice, or ensure that wealth disparity grows as wealthier individuals use better models? MIT professor Andrew Lo joins David Rothkopf to explore the relationship between artificial intelligence and investment and why a cautious approach could yield incredible results.  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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Tuesday was a surprisingly difficult victory for the Republicans in red Tennessee. The speical election’s electoral results have a lot to tell us about the increasing tensions and discontent within the Republican party. Norm Ornstein and David Rothkopf are back to discuss the fragile state of GOP leadership, the absurd levels of political corruption within MAGA, and the implications Tuesday’s results could have for 2026 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

Democrats have signaled that they’re running in the 2026 midterms on “affordability.” This week, Trump unleashed several angry, wild-eyed rants about their “affordability” message. In one, he raged that this message is a “con job.” In  another, he seethed that it’s a “Democrat scam.” He’s angry because these attacks are working, and because he knows it means the GOP’s midterm woes are getting much worse. And right on cue, in this week’s special election in Tennessee that Republicans won, the vote shifted 13 points to the left relative to 2024. That shocked Republicans into a panic: Representative Elise Stefanik openly fretted that Republicans are “underperforming.” Senator Ted Cruz urged Republicans to sound the “alarm.” And a senior GOP strategist called the result a “flashing red warning.” We talked to Amanda Litman, the president of Run for Something, which is recruiting candidates across the country. She digs into the special election results to explain why they’re good news, details how Democrats can kee