Deep State Radio

First came Matt Gaetz. Now The Washington Post is reporting that Donald Trump’s pick for Defense Secretary, Fox News personality Pete Hegseth, paid a woman who accused him of sexually assaulted her as part of a nondisclosure agreement (he insists the encounter was consensual). One Trumpworld source is even describing internal frustration over the failure to vet Hegseth in advance. We talked to leading Never Trump strategist Rick Wilson, who’s launching a new effort to conduct opposition research on Trump and his most prominent allies. He explains why Trump’s initial personnel moves are putting Republicans in a terrible spot—and how they betray his intent to destroy our institutions. Listen to this episode here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Democrats have their work cut out for them moving into the new year. With monumental elections on the horizon, Norm has plenty of ways the Democrats can press the advantage. In this insightful episode, David Rothkopf fills in for Kavita to discuss the House, Senate, and presidential elections. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Original air date: November 2, 2023 Governments worldwide are working to adapt to AI, including Biden’s executive order and a UK summit bringing together officials from 28 countries. Freedom House’s Allie Funk and Kian Vesteinsson join David Rothkopf to explain the repressive power of AI and the clear and pressing need for action to curb its harmful effects. Don’t miss it. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

As the United States is entering a new nuclear age and a new global arms race, what does a second Trump term mean for our national security? What do the plans of Project 2025 mean for the American nuclear weapons force? How will such modernization and weapon buildup affect America’s relationships with both its allies and enemies? Joe Cirincione joins Jon to help navigate the lunacy of this new administration and the very real and very serious dangers we are now facing…. And how they might get worse. Listen here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On the DSR Daily for Friday, we discuss Trump choosing RFK Jr. for Heath and Human Services, Rand Paul’s plan to kneecap the CISA, the Onion’s hilarious takeover of Infowars, and more.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We’re now in Day Two of an extraordinary GOP meltdown over Donald Trump’s pick of Matt Gaetz for attorney general. Numerous Republican Senators are strongly opposing the move. But on Thursday, Trump’s appointments got even worse with his choice of anti-vax conspiracy theorist Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as the secretary of Health and Human Services. It’s hard to say which of these will be more of a disaster. We talked to Nina Burleigh, author of a great new cover story for The New Republic called “Trump 2.0: Here Comes the Night,” about how deeply worrisome these developments truly are—and whether GOP senators will hold the line against them. The prognosis is not good.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Trump’s cabinet picks reach new heights of awfulness. From Matt Gaetz to Elise Stefanik, it’s a veritable who’s who of MAGA sycophants. In a special episode, Rosa Brooks, David Sanger, and EJ Dionne join David Rothkopf to break down these awful choices and what they tell us about the upcoming Trump administration.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Since winning the election, Donald Trump has been quick to cement his new administration and lay the groundwork for his frightening and ludicrous political agenda. As news of his appointees comes out, we are forced to ask ourselves - where do we go from here? Norm and Kavita are back to take stock of this unfortunate situation and analyze what our future holds… as well as talk about puppies and the humanity in dogs. Listen here.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On the DSR Daily for Thursday, we discuss Trump tapping Matt Gaetz for Attorney General, John Thune’s selection as the next Majority Leader, Republicans officially taking control of the House, and more.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On Wednesday, Donald Trump unleashed a rambling announcement explaining his choice of Representative Matt Gaetz as attorney general, lying manically about Gaetz’s supposed work revealing how the Justice Department had been weaponized against him. Translation: Trump wants Gaetz to use DOJ to carry out his personal vendettas. This comes as Trump has picked the Putin-friendly Tulsi Gabbard for Director of National Intelligence. We talked to Ben Meiselas, co-founder of the Meidas Touch Network. He explains why these choices signal chaos ahead, and why the Gaetz pick in particular shows he’s fully determined to subvert the rule of law to punish his enemies, just as he advertised in his rant.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On the DSR Daily for Wednesday, we cover Trump’s ever-worsening roster of cabinet picks, Elon and Vivek’s ‘Department of Government Efficiency’, Newsom’s efforts to shield California from the next administration, and more.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Donald Trump has picked three anti-immigrant hard-liners for his administration: Stephen Miller will be deputy chief of staff for policy; Tom Homan, his former head of ICE, will be “border czar”; and South Dakota governor Kristi Noem will be Homeland Security secretary. Which means Trump will act on his threat to carry out mass deportations. We talked to New York Times columnist Paul Krugman, who has a great new column arguing that mass deportations will cause a large spike in inflation. He explains why Trump’s policies will likely backfire; how he’ll corrupt government information to cover it up; and why Trump voters may soon be shocked at how badly he misled them.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On the DSR Daily for Tuesday, we discuss Trump’s newest cabinet picks, Ruben Gallego defeating Kari Lake in Arizona, Israel missing humanitarian aid deadline in Gaza, and more.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

During the campaign, Donald Trump openly advertised that as president, he’ll use the state to retaliate against his enemies in every way he can. Now The New York Times reports that some of his advisers are urging him to absolutely make good on that threat. And right on cue, Trump erupted on social media, calling for investigations into people supposedly spreading false rumors about his intention to sell shares of his Truth Social—a revealing indicator of the types of abuses of power that we can expect from a second Trump term. We talked to New Yorker staff writer Susan Glasser, author of a great new piece on what’s coming. She explains in alarming detail how Trump will be far more liberated—less constrained by the law, by the Republican Party, and by guardrails of any kind—than ever before.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Original air date: December 15, 2023 As if there weren’t enough reasons to worry about a second Trump term, Jon has reminded us of another reason to be afraid. Jeffrey Lewis joins David Rothkopf and Jon Wolfsthal to discuss the nuclear chain of command in the United States and other nuclear powers and what safeguards stand between us and the fallout. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Original air date: January 19, 2023 The right's hate-filled, authoritarian media machine is loud. It's time for pro-democracy media tech to GET LOUDER! Watch this superstar panel of Joe Trippi, Tara McGowan, Ben Meiselas, and David Rothkopf, moderated by Simon Rosenberg, talk turning up the volume. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Norm and Kavita are back to share their raw emotions after the election, discuss the grim realities facing the country, and break down the meaning and horrors of a second Trump presidential term. What will be different this time around? How can President Biden best serve his final days in office? Where do both parties stand and where do we go from here? DSR Network members will also get to listen to Norm and Kavita analyze Trump’s healthcare plans and the dangers of RFK Jr. and medical disinformation. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

AI policy needs to be a focus of the Trump administration. But will the President-elect be able to rise to the challenge? What does the inclusion of figures like Elon Musk in Trump’s inner circle tell us about what the future of regulation looks like? Cyber policy expert Marietje Schaake joins David Rothkopf to answer these questions 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

On the DSR Daily for Friday, we break down Trump’s choice for Chief of Staff, Biden’s speech following the election, the first engagement with North Korean troops in Ukraine, and more.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week, after Donald Trump won the election, Jeff Bezos issued an extraordinary tweet: He didn’t just congratulate Trump; he also bent over backwards to hail his extraordinary political comeback. We think this is a bad sign of what’s coming: People in key institutional positions going out of their way to curry favor with Trump in advance. How bad will this get? We talked to Philadelphia Inquirer national columnist Will Bunch, author of a good column about Bezos’s bended knee to Trump. Bunch explains what all this portends about the surrender of key institutions in the face of Trump’s coming strongman rule—and what we can do about it.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices