Deep State Radio

Looks like nuclear testing is back on the menu! This week, our President decided that it was time to resume nuclear testing after an over 30 year hiatus. But why now? Our friends Joe Cirincione and Jon Wolfsthal join David Rothkopf to try and make sense of this bizarre new policy. As a bonus, tune in for an expert review of “House of Dynamite” and just how accurate the new movie really is.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In recent days, President Trump issued two furious tirades demanding that Republicans end the Senate filibuster to reopen the government. He ranted at great length in demanding this “NOW” and exploded in all-caps while urging the “NUCLEAR OPTION.” As many noted, this undercut Republicans, revealing that they could simply end the shutdown themselves, ultimately showing that they control the government. Then Trump ranted about his horror that health care premiums are set to spike for millions. This, too, undercuts the GOP, because guess who won’t extend Affordable Care Act subsidies to prevent that? Republicans! Trump’s fury forced Mike Johnson into an awkward routine declaring that the president is “angry” because...the government hasn’t reopened. But this just showed how disconnected Trump is from all this, highlighting the Trump-GOP refusal to do the hard work of negotiating a settlement. We talked to Fair Share America organizer Maura Quint. She discusses Trump’s deep laziness, how this is perceived by low-

On the DSR Weekly Wrap-Up for October 31, we cover the administration’s shocking new refugee cap, Trump calling for the Senate to scrap the filibuster, the devastation left in the wake of Hurricane Melissa, and more.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

President Trump’s militarized raids in Chicago just took another horrific turn when agents disrupted a children’s Halloween parade, triggering mayhem. Agents deployed tear gas on locals and tackled several of them, including U.S. citizens. One resident screamed: “You’re scaring our children to death.” In response, Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker issued an unnerving warning: Children are getting “terrorized” and “traumatized.” Pritzker also sent a strong message to the country: Your community could be next. And he challenged top Trump officials to suspend their raids just for Halloween weekend, forcing Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem to give a terrible answer. We talked to Dave Karpf, a professor of media and public affairs who has a good piece for The New Republic about the state of Democratic communications. We discuss how this saga shows the need to supercharge attention to these riveting confrontations, how that’s the ticket for reaching low-engagement voters, and how Democrats should do politics a

You may think you’ve seen crazy, but when it comes to Trump, you ain’t seen nothing yet. With SNAP benefits set to expire and the effects of the shutdown mounting by the day, Republicans face a difficult political question: is it time to do the right thing? Norm Ornstein and David Rothkopf break down this fraught moment, why Republicans just might cave, and the lights at the end of the tunnel for Democrats.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On the DSR Daily for Thursday, we discuss Trump announcing a resumption of nuclear weapons tests, a modest US-China tariff deal, calls for greater transparency from ICE, and more.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The economic news is getting worse. Major companies are announcing mass layoffs, and it’s dominating the headlines, including in the Rust Belt. Food stamps are about to expire for millions. And new info shows how Obamacare premiums will soar due to lapsing subsidies. That backdrop of bad news makes President Trump’s tearing down of White House structures to build a gilded ballroom even more damaging. Indeed, new polling shows that the ballroom fiasco is now stirring a surprising public backlash. On top of that, commentators are noticing the disconnect between the ballroom optics and the darkening economic situation for millions, a dynamic that will only worsen. We talked to Elizabeth Pancotti, who tracks economic sentiment as managing director of the Groundwork Collaborative. We discuss what the economic news means, why the media should level with voters about Trump’s out-of-touch displays, and how Democrats in key races are seizing the economic high ground. Looking for More from the DSR Network? Click Here:

On Thursday, President Trump is going to meet with Xi Jinping for the first time since his reelection and following months of rising tension between the two countries. Where do US-China relations stand? Who has the upper hand? Melanie Hart, Senior Director of the Atlantic Council's Global China Hub, joins David Rothkopf, Rosa Brooks, and Ed Luce to discuss their expectations for the meeting and the future of America's foreign policy towards China. 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 break down Israel’s deadly strikes on Gaza, intensifying oversight of Border Patrol agents in Chicago, Trump’s visit to South Korea, and more.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Surprisingly, Marjorie Taylor Greene has emerged as a forceful critic of the GOP stance in the government shutdown fight. Greene just unleashed an angry rant at House Speaker Mike Johnson, pointedly accusing him of having no answer or millions of people who will lose Obamacare subsidies due to the GOP refusal to extend them. “He refused to give one policy proposal to our GOP conference on our own conference call,” Greene raged. “Apparently I have to go into a [classified facility] to find out the Republican healthcare plan!!!” This wrecks Trump’s shutdown strategy: It sabotages his effort to blame the shutdown on Democrats wanting to give health care to undocumented immigrants, and shifts blame back to the GOP desire to take health care away from millions of Americans. We talked to Matthew Sheffield, who decodes the right at his Flux newsletter and in a new book charting how the GOP fights the information wars. He explains why this battle is fracturing the MAGA coalition, what that reveals about its deeper we

The Trump administration’s laissez-faire approach to big tech might just be a mirage. The strange marriage of the White House to some of the biggest names in AI has meant a huge influence over the exploding industry. But who is really influencing who? Former Director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy Alondra Nelson joins David Rothkopf to explore the administration’s unique relationship with big tech and the profound effects that are already underway.  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 Tuesday, we cover the Category 5 hurricane approaching Jamaica, the expanding fight over redistricting, a Texas lawsuit against the makers of Tylenol, and more.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Inflatable critters becoming a symbol of protest in 2025 was not on our bingo card. But while millions mobilizing to protest for democracy should be celebrated, Republican machinations ahead of 2026 midterms are cause for alarm. Tara McGowan and Simon Rosenberg join David Rothkopf to share their hopes and fears in this political climate and how each of us can do more to protect our democracy.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On Air Force One, President Donald Trump unleashed a bizarre, angry, rambling rant about the cognitive test he supposedly aced this weekend. Worse, he compared himself cognitively to two Democrats who both happen to be nonwhite women. This rant backfired on itself: It revealed his worsening mental unfitness, his naked racism, his effort to normalize his belittling of nonwhite members of Congress and his ongoing attacks on democracy, and more. In today’s installment, New Republic contributing editor Meredith Shiner, who regularly critiques press coverage of this administration, paints a powerful picture of the horrors this administration is visiting on everyday people, including in Chicago, where she lives. She argues that the press should connect Trump’s mental decline directly to these real-world impacts by highlighting who’s really running things behind the scenes, and discusses how Democrats might drive home the horrific human toll of it all. Looking for More from the DSR Network? Click Here: https://link

On the DSR Daily for Monday, we discuss Trump’s statements about potentially running again in 2028, the GOP’s anxiety about ACA subsidies, the US military closing in on Venezuela, and more.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In recent days, President Trump has approved federal disaster aid for the red states of Nebraska, North Dakota, Missouri and Alaska while denying it to the blue states of Maryland, Vermont, and Illinois. The White House has not offered meaningful explanations for the discrepancies, which just happen to punish states that didn’t support him in 2024. But we noticed something interesting about this whole saga: In Maryland, the disasters and damage in question severely afflicted the state’s westernmost counties. Allegany and Garrett counties are in Appalachia, deep in Trump country: Both voted for Trump by at least 40 points. We talked to MSNBC’s Steve Benen, author of Ministry of Truth, who has been writing well about Trump’s selective approach to disaster aid. We discuss the explicit nature of Trump’s punishment of states that don’t support him, how Trump screws his own voters while seducing them with promises of pain to blue America, and how this latest saga illustrates MAGA ideology larger depravities. Looki

On the DSR Weekly Wrap-Up for October 24, we break down Trump’s cancellation of trade negotiations with Canada, arrests in a massive illegal gambling ring, an upcoming meeting between US and Chinese negotiators, and more.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Donald Trump just tore down the East Wing of the White House. Yup, that’s right - the President of the United States, in the middle of a government shutdown, decides that what America really needs is a new grand ballroom in Washington, DC. Where is the accountability? How is such corrupt politics being normalized? Join David Rothkopf and Norm Ornstein as they search through the rubble and try to find answers. Looking for More from the DSR Network? Click Here: https://linktr.ee/deepstateradio Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In a shockingly brazen move, President Trump is demanding that the Justice Department pay him $230 million stemming from certain federal actions against him. Representative Jamie Raskin, the ranking Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee, sent a scalding letter to the White House demanding all internal communications on this shakedown. What struck us was the letter’s forceful indictment of Trump’s corruption and criminality: It denounced Trump’s “blatantly illegal and unconstitutional effort to steal $230 million from the American people” and his “outrageous and shocking” effort to “shake down” the Treasury, labeling this straight-up “theft.” There’s much more, and it made critical legal points as well. We talked to the University of Michigan’s Leah Litman, author of Lawless, a book on the Supreme Court. We discuss Raskin’s letter, the legal nitty-gritty of Trump’s heist, how it exemplifies the MAGA movement more broadly, and how the Supreme Court brought us to this dangerous moment.  Looking for More fro

The US government has taken a ‘light touch’ approach to regulating artificial intelligence under Trump and a Republican controlled Congress. Should our government be doing more? California Representative Ted Lieu joins David Rothkopf to explore the pitfalls of hands-off federal regulation, how AI has become a critical component of national security and the labor market, 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