THE DAILY BLAST with Greg Sargent

As you’ve surely heard, the feud between Donald Trump and Elon Musk has erupted, with the two men trading attacks on each other for hours. As of this recording, the last big things to happen are that Trump threatened to cut off all government contracts to Musk’s companies, and Musk then dropped what he called a “big bomb”—that Trump is in the "Epstein files." Former GOP strategist and Never Trumper Rick Wilson grasps the inner pathologies of MAGA like no one else, so we talked to Wilson about the latest Trump-Musk madness. He offers a counterintuitive take on why Musk’s attacks on Trump will trigger MAGA’s paranoid obsessions in an unexpectedly explosive way, why he thinks Musk has more weapons in this battle than Trump does, and why the White House has almost certainly entered into a “full panic” about where this is all going. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

President Donald Trump appears to have finally turned on Elon Musk over his scalding criticism of the “big, beautiful bill.” At a presser, House Speaker Mike Johnson revealed that Trump told him he’s displeased with Musk, which almost certainly wouldn’t have happened unless Trump authorized it, confirming Trump’s anger at Musk is serious. Meanwhile, the Congressional Budget Office just released brutal numbers showing that the House GOP bill will add even more to the deficit and kick many more people off health coverage than previously thought. We talked to Danielle Deiseroth, executive director of Data for Progress, which just released interesting new polling on the GOP bill. She explains why the bill could grow more toxic with the public, why the Trump-Musk rift and CBO score could help penetrate with voters, and why Democrats should act as if this is a debate they can win. Looking for More from the DSR Network? Click Here: https://linktr.ee/deepstateradio Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

President Trump has been tweeting wildly and angrily over the fate of his “big, beautiful bill.” He’s been lashing out furiously at Democrats and at GOP Senators alike over their opposition, suggesting Senate passage may be in serious doubt. Then Elon Musk threw a grenade into the proceedings, unleashing a pair of tweets that ripped the bill as a “disgusting abomination” that will explode the deficit by trillions of dollars. Amusingly, Musk was being dishonest in his own way, but he still upended the scam that Trump and House Speaker Mike Johnson have concocted to sell this bill. We unraveled all this with New Republic senior editor Alex Shephard, author of a new piece arguing that Musk’s damage is only beginning. He explains how all this fits into the 50-year story of Republicans gutting programs for the poor to make the rich richer. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

President Trump really wants the Senate to pass the “big beautiful bill” that has now gotten through the House. But a number of GOP Senators are, for now, speaking uncomfortable truths about that massive budget measure: It would balloon the deficit and slash spending on the poor and working class, largely to fund a massive tax cut for the wealthy. And right on cue, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt just delivered two ugly rants on Fox News that expose how this ruse works. One of them threatens GOP senators who oppose the bill. The other monumentally misleads about its fiscal impact. We talked to Paul Waldman, co-author of White Rural Rage and a regular chronicler of how badly Trump-GOP policies harm Republican voters. He explains the real aims of the broader Trump project, how it victimizes MAGA country, and why Republicans might struggle to pull off their usual scam this time around. Looking for More from the DSR Network? Click Here: https://linktr.ee/deepstateradio Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Ming Lee Hui, who goes by the name of “Carol,” has lived for 20 years in the town of Kennett, Missouri after coming here from Hong Kong. She has been raising a family there and works as a waitress, and as The New York Times reports in a piece featuring quotes from Carol and many locals, she’s well liked in the community. But Carol was recently arrested and now faces potential deportation. This has shocked and dismayed many of the town’s residents, even though the area went overwhelmingly for Trump. Carol talked to us on the podcast straight from jail, where she is awaiting her fate. At times the conversation was difficult: She broke down in tears about her ordeal, was emotionally overwhelmed at the support she’s received from the Trump-backing town, and offers wrenching thoughts about Trump’s effort to deport countless others just like her. Looking for More from the DSR Network? Click Here: https://linktr.ee/deepstateradio Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

President Donald Trump’s advisers are raging over a court ruling that temporarily blocked many of Trump’s tariffs. Stephen Miller called it “judicial tyranny.” Another top adviser called the judges “globalist.” And press secretary Karoline Leavitt seethed that “unelected judges” have grown “dangerous.” While an appeals court did put a stay on the court ruling, letting the tariffs proceed for now, it’s now overwhelmingly clear the tariffs are extremely vulnerable legally, and the whiplash in the courts only underscores what a fiasco of uncertainty Trump unleashed. Our trading partners now think their hand has been strengthened in trade talks, revealing more weakness. We talked to George Mason University’s Ilya Somin, a lead lawyer for the challengers, about why the ruling is crushing for Trump’s case, what it reveals about his broader abuses of power, and how he still can be stopped. 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 series of rants to reporters, President Trump’s rage at Harvard took a sadistic and unhinged turn. He made it clear that only total subjugation to him on Harvard’s part will satisfy him. This comes as a judge just blocked another one of his executive orders aimed at grinding a major law firm into submission, a big setback to Trump in a string of legal losses on that front. In today’s episode, Katherine Stewart, a sharp observer of MAGA who has a new piece on her Substack about the Harvard catastrophe, explains that these things are connected: Trump’s attacks on Harvard and other institutions are about creating the deliberate impression that we’re sliding into lawlessness and terror, so victories like that one in court are a crucial reminder that we still do have the rule of law. Stewart explains why keeping alive this idea is so essential, why Trump is counting on you to lose sight of it, and what must happen now. 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 series of public remarks, President Trump has lashed out at Vladimir Putin for keeping up his attacks on Ukraine in defiance of Trump’s stated desire for peace. Trump has called Putin “crazy,” has admitted he has no idea what Putin is thinking, and has even tweeted that Putin is “playing with fire!” Trump is plainly feeling embarrassed by Putin—who has only escalated his attacks amid Trump’s peacekeeping efforts—and his humiliation shines through in his recent eruptions, given his campaign vow to end the war quickly due to his toughness and better relations with the Russian leader. Meanwhile, Republicans are now beginning to demand tougher sanctions on Putin, which would constitute another break with Trump—and a tacit admission that his efforts are failing. We talked to Cathy Young, a staff writer at The Bulwark who regularly analyzes Trump-Putin dynamics. She explains what Trump doesn’t understand about Putin, how this leaves Trump badly unsuited for this moment, and why the long-term prospects for the war are pretty grim. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

After President Donald Trump threatened to single out Apple with tariffs, he offered remarks to reporters that undercut his case. First he seemed to say this would apply to many iPhone makers, but then reiterated he’d said this straight to Apple CEO Tim Cook, a potentially serious abuse of power. Then Trump said U.S.-manufactured jobs would not result in higher prices due to automation, but this concedes that the manufacturing work he hopes tariffs will create are low-level jobs that might get replaced. And then he all-but-admitted that his threat to get companies to “eat” the cost of his tariffs really could mean potentially higher prices for consumers. All these oddities taken together wreck the fraudulent arguments he’s been making. We talked to Monica Potts, the new class politics reporter at The New Republic, who usefully synthesizes all of it to explain what’s wrong with Trump-MAGA manufacturing nostalgia and why the Trump-GOP agenda comprehensively works against his stated goal of creating good American jobs. Looking for More from the DSR Network? Click Here: https://linktr.ee/deepstateradio Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

After raging at Harvard earlier this month, President Donald Trump is now revoking the university’s right to receive foreign students. The administration sent an unhinged letter to Harvard making the announcement while demanding extensive information about international students, a grotesque abuse of power. The White House statement justifying this seethed with angry, McCarthyite nonsense. We think this is already backfiring: Legal experts quickly dismissed the move as lawless, Harvard is already leaking word that it will take legal action, and the university will probably be able to stop the move. We talked to Jonathan Friedman of PEN America, who explains why Trump’s assault on Harvard is already getting universities to band together, how it’s leading to renewed public support for the university system, and why Harvard’s potential success beating this back will only stiffen institutional resistance to Trump. Listen to this episode here. Looking for More from the DSR Network? Click Here: https://linktr.ee/deepstateradio Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

President Trump’s presser on Wednesday flew off the rails. He raged at a reporter for questioning his acceptance of a luxury jet from Qatar. He snapped when asked why he’s resettling white Afrikaners but no other refugees. And he tried to humiliate the South African president by brandishing printouts about the deaths of white South Africans but couldn’t defend his lie of a “white genocide” unfolding there. The corruption and the white nationalism—Trump openly promised both during the campaign, and he’s now doing them. Yet on the latter, a new Marquette poll finds wide public disapproval of Trump’s deportations of longtime residents, and shows independents tiling strongly against him on immigration, revealing fresh weakness on this issue. We talked to veteran labor strategist Michael Podhorzer, author of a new piece on his Substack arguing that the anti-MAGA majority that didn’t show up in 2024 is now visibly reconstituting itself in polls. He explains that Trump’s unhinged presser helps show how Trump himself is making that happen. Looking for More from the DSR Network? Click Here: https://linktr.ee/deepstateradio Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

President Trump has raged at Bruce Springsteen for days, demanding investigations as retaliation against him for criticizing the president. This is easy to dismiss as the usual lunacy, but Rolling Stone reports that there’s a genuine idea at work here: Trump has long planned to use government agencies to constrain his opponents’ political activities, and that’s now under way. Indeed, the U.S. Attorney for New Jersey, staunch Trump ally Alina Habba, just brought charges against a House Democrat for trumped up reasons. Given all this, Trump’s fury at Springsteen suddenly looks a lot darker. So we talked to Rolling Stone writer Asawin Suebsaeng, co-author of that article. He explains how Trump is slowly escalating the use of investigatory power against political foes, what the GOP is doing to make this possible, and why the trend is deeply “chilling.” Looking for More from the DSR Network? Click Here: https://linktr.ee/deepstateradio Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

President Donald Trump’s feud with Walmart is intensifying. After the retail giant warned that its prices will go up due to Trump’s tariffs, he erupted on Truth Social, and even threatened Walmart to get it to “eat” the costs of his levies. Then White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt reiterated the threat to reporters. Amusingly enough, all this constitutes an admission that other countries don’t pay the costs of the tariffs, as he keeps claiming—we do. We talked to Lindsay Owens, an economist who’s also executive director of the Groundwork Collaborative. She explains how Trump accidentally undermined his case for tariffs, why this is so damaging given Walmart’s massive presence in MAGA America, and what all this reveals about Trump’s growing political weakness on the economy. Looking for More from the DSR Network? Click Here: https://linktr.ee/deepstateradio Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

President Donald Trump has been ranting wildly at the Supreme Court. In a pair of tweets after oral arguments over his effort to end birthright citizenship displeased him, Trump raged that the people are on his side, a dark hint that he will wield the wrath of his supporters against the high court. Then, after it dealt a setback to his use of the Alien Enemies Act for deportations, Trump shared a tweet from a top MAGA figure suggesting the release of terrorists near the justices’ homes. This was boosted by top MAGA accounts, and Stephen Miller then accused the courts of “sabotaging democracy.” We talked to legal commentator Matthew Seligman about why these veiled threats to defy the courts are trending inexorably toward a major confrontation, why his advisers are egging that on, and why there’s a danger that the Supreme Court could constrain itself to avoid that terrible outcome. Looking for More from the DSR Network? Click Here: https://linktr.ee/deepstateradio Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

President Donald Trump has been growing angry over the criticism of his decision to accept a $400 million luxury jet from Qatar. He snapped at a reporter who questioned him about it, and erupted over it on Truth Social. Now The Atlantic reports that Trump is privately telling his advisers it’s “humiliating” for a president to fly around in an outdated jet—and has even mused about keeping the gift after he leaves the White House—all of which suggests his mood about the scandal is darkening. Meanwhile, MAGA figures and even some Congressional Republicans are criticizing Trump over it. We talked to Atlantic staff writer Russell Berman, who co-wrote that report, about why this story could prove more serious and consequential than it first appeared, why it will be hard for the GOP to brush it off, and what it says about Trump’s contempt for public service. Looking for More from the DSR Network? Click Here: https://linktr.ee/deepstateradio Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The House GOP is forging ahead with its massive domestic policy bill implementing President Donald Trump’s agenda. And it’s becoming clear that it will seriously screw over Trump voters. But don’t take our word for it. Senator Josh Hawley, a staunch ally of Trump, went on CNN and said this in strikingly direct terms. He decried the bill’s massive cuts to Medicaid, and confirmed that they are a betrayal of GOP and MAGA voters. We talked to Jonathan Cohn of The Bulwark, one of the best health care reporters out there. He explains why all this poses a real test for Trump and the MAGA movement. And we discuss whether the same old scam will kick in where Trump and Republicans pretend to be pro-working class while shafting their voters to pay for huge tax cuts for the rich. Looking for More from the DSR Network? Click Here: https://linktr.ee/deepstateradio Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The White House has been boasting that President Trump’s partial pause in the trade war with China is a historic breakthrough. But two new reports, one from The New York Times and the other from the non-liberal Wall Street Journal editorial page, neatly expose what a monstrous scam this notion truly is, in and of itself. As they detail, Trump has put the global economy through major turmoil and uncertainty, but without winning any serious concessions from China. This will get worse for Trump: In addition to being terrible policy, the tariffs are a massive abuse of power. And once the lawsuits against them get going, this, too, will be fully aired out. We spoke to George Mason University law professor Ilya Somin, who’s helping spearhead one of the most important legal challenges. He explains why the tariffs are on weak legal ground, what the prospects are for reversing them, and how they reflect a much deeper lawlessness on Trump’s part. Looking for More from the DSR Network? Click Here: https://linktr.ee/deepstateradio Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Over the weekend, the news broke that President Donald Trump is accepting a luxury jet from the country of Qatar for presidential travel. This extraordinarily brazen act may well violate the Emoluments Clause, which bars foreign gifts to officials unless expressly authorized by Congress. It comes even as Trump is embarking on a Mideast trip to countries that are the sites of Trump-branded projects, and Trump-aligned businesses are scooping in huge sums from foreign governments via crypto. We talked about all this with Representative Jamie Raskin, the ranking Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee. He powerfully explains why Trump’s latest move is an “outrageous abuse” of the Constitution, how his corruption has grown to “epic” and unprecedented proportions, and the concrete moves Democrats will make now in response to pressure Republicans over this fiasco. Listen to this episode here. Looking for More from the DSR Network? Click Here: https://linktr.ee/deepstateradio Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In her most recent media briefing, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt went full North Korea with a number of worshipful monologues about Trump. Yet at around the same time, another journalist’s criticism of Trump caused him to explode in a wild, triggered fury that undercut the image Leavitt tried to project of a leader who is strong, calm, and in command of events. We think this tension is a regular, deeper feature of Trumpism. So we talked to Salon’s Amanda Marcotte, who knows how to read MAGA pathologies—particularly male ones—like nobody else. She discusses the “MAGA aesthetic,” the gap between Trump’s feeble-mindedness and the picture of strength portrayed by his sycophants, and the larger purpose all this serves as propaganda for the MAGA masses. Looking for More from the DSR Network? Click Here: https://linktr.ee/deepstateradio Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Right after the news broke that Robert Francis Prevost was elected as the new Pope of the Roman Catholic Church, the internet produced lots of evidence that he has promoted articles critical of JD Vance and Donald Trump, and even expressed sympathy for George Floyd. That prompted MAGA figures to erupt in anger. They attacked the new Pope as anti-Trump pro-open borders, a Marxist, and soft on thugs and drug dealers, as Media Matters documented. We talked to the excellent political theorist Matt McManus, who was raised in the church and regularly wrestles with the intellectual roots of today’s right wing, including in his 2023 book, The Political Right and Equality. He explains what Vance gets wrong about Catholic teaching, why it’s so inimical to Trumpism, and how today’s pro-Trump influencers and “post-liberal” Catholic intellectuals alike are refusing to reckon with what MAGA has truly become. Listen to this episode here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

President Donald Trump erupted on Truth Social this week when it became clear that MAGA loyalist and insurrectionist Ed Martin’s nomination for U.S. Attorney for Washington D.C. is in trouble. Trump even called GOP Senators to demand their support. But then GOP Senator Thom Tillis announced his opposition, leading even staunch Trump loyalists to concede he might not survive. MAGA personalities lashed out in response. Lost in this saga has been the basic reason we don’t want a MAGA-brained January Sixer in such a crucial law enforcement role in the first place. We talked to former prosecutor Kristy Parker, counsel at Protect Democracy. She explains why this position is so critical to the legal order, why Martin has no business in it, and why she has cautious optimism that Trump’s assault on the rule of law might ultimately get repelled. Looking for More from the DSR Network? Click Here: https://linktr.ee/deepstateradio Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Thanks to President Trump’s policies, a confluence of events is set to absolutely clobber rural America. First there’s Trump’s trade war. On Tuesday, Trump unleashed a bizarre set of ramblings that indicated he’s fine with letting it drag on forever, our exporters be damned. Meanwhile, there are new signs that farmers in Trump country are already getting hammered. The House GOP’s planned cuts to Medicaid will likely pose a massive problem for rural hospitals. And big GOP cuts to food stamps will also inflict pain on rural areas. We talked to Matt Hildreth, executive director of RuralOrganizing.org and a veteran Democratic operative in rural areas. He explains why the perfect storm of policies bearing down on rural America is unusual, and reflects on whether his party will be able to translate this into real gains—or whether this will once again prove a chimera. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

President Donald Trump is angry at longtime GOP strategist Karl Rove. That’s because Rove delivered Trump a stern on-air warning about his sliding approval ratings. What caught our attention, though, is what Rove said about immigration in particular. Rove suggested that Trump is in trouble on what’s supposed to be his best issue, and offered a striking explanation for it that surely got under Trump’s skin. This comes as Trump also delivered another diatribe about the Supreme Court for suggesting he does not have absolute power to deport millions with zero due process, suggesting he and Stephen Miller will cling to their deeply unpopular course of action no matter what. We talked to Lakshya Jain, co-founder of the Split Ticket election site, who explains how Trump is rapidly losing his onetime advantage on immigration, why this is such a momentous shift, and how Democrats can capitalize. Looking for More from the DSR Network? Click Here: https://linktr.ee/deepstateradio Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

President Trump has recently been erupting at Fox News over its new poll finding him with 55 percent disapproval. Trump described Fox’s pollster as “Trump hating” and demanded that the firm be “investigated.” Stephen Miller subsequently called for the pollster’s firing. Guess what: Fox News has gotten the message. As Trump’s poll numbers for other news organizations have steadily worsened, Fox personalities have begun going to great lengths to deny what the numbers clearly show. This highlights a problem that is trending toward a fiasco for MAGA: As Trump’s tariffs and other policies take their toll on Trump voters and everyone else, his approval will slide further, forcing Fox News to deceive the network’s own viewers about what they themselves increasingly are experiencing from Trump’s presidency. We talked to Matt Gertz of Media Matters, who has been chronicling Fox’s poll denial. He explains what Trump’s anger at Fox means for the network, how Fox personalities are coping, and why all these dynamics will get much worse. Looking for More from the DSR Network? Click Here: https://linktr.ee/deepstateradio Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Big news: A federal judge just ruled that President Donald Trump’s renditions under the 1798 Alien Enemies Act are illegal. It’s a crucial moment in the battle against Trump’s lawlessness. Meanwhile, Stephen Miller ranted wildly at the media for daring to ask hard questions about the wrongfully-deported Kilmar Abrego Garcia, falsely stating as fact that he’s an “MS-13 terrorist” and raging at the very idea that migrants he labels “terrorists” should get due process. It’s a clear sign of Miller’s certainty that he can label anyone a “terrorist” by fiat and that the administration can get away with literally anything. We talked to the great legal commentator Leah Litman, author of Lawless, a new book about the Supreme Court. She explains why the ruling suggests the courts may not give Trump the deference he’d hoped for as commander in chief to reinvent reality to carry out his illegal renditions—and why Miller’s project may be in the process of seriously overreaching. Looking for More from the DSR Network? Click Here: https://linktr.ee/deepstateradio Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We just learned that President Donald Trump’s economy contracted in the first quarter. Trump unloaded twice over this bad news, attempting to blame Joe Biden for it. Meanwhile, some of Trump’s aides went full North Korea, bowing down before him and offering adulation in shockingly abject terms. So how long do Trump’s advisers think they can keep him in a protective cocoon, shielding him from the realities of his disastrous reign? We talked to New Republic senior editor Alex Shephard, who has a good new piece arguing that Trump’s unpopularity will only get worse, due to basic structural facts about his presidency. He explains why the sycophancy of Trump’s aides is only working against him—and why insulating him against outside facts will only get harder and more damaging. Looking for More from the DSR Network? Click Here: https://linktr.ee/deepstateradio Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

After the news broke that Amazon might publicly clarify the costs that President Trump’s tariffs are imposing on its products, Trump instructed his White House press secretary to publicly threaten the company. Trump also called Amazon founder Jeff Bezos to express his displeasure, and one adviser told CNN that “he was pissed.” Amazon immediately shelved the plan, and Trump openly gloated about Bezos bending the knee, an unnerving signal of more autocratic bullying ahead. Meanwhile, a new PRRI poll sheds fascinating light on public opinion about Trump’s authoritarianism, with a majority now seeing him as a “dangerous dictator.” We talked to Melissa Deckman, the CEO of PRRI, who explains what the new data really tells us about the public’s revulsion at Trump’s abuses of power—and why episodes like this one are only exacerbating it. Listen to this episode here. Looking for More from the DSR Network? Click Here: https://linktr.ee/deepstateradio Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

President Donald Trump is growing angrier over polls that keep showing him tanking. On Monday, he raged that polls sponsored by media outlets are “COMPROMISED AND CORRUPT.” He even quoted one of his own pollsters saying that surveys from The New York Times and The Washington Post are “FAKE POLLS,” something his pollster clearly hatched to calm his anger. So to what degree are the people around Trump simply lying to him about his disastrous reign? They’re deceiving him about the state of public opinion, and Stephen Miller is plainly seducing Trump into believing the Supreme Court sided with him on the Kilmar Abrego Garcia case, when it didn’t. We talked to journalist Michael Cohen, author of a new piece for his Truth and Consequences Substack about this problem. He explains how we know Trump’s aides are keeping him in a state of delusion, and why that’s heading to an alarming place. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Over the weekend, President Trump raged on Truth Social at judges who are ruling that Trump must follow the law in the case of wrongfully-deported Kilmar Abrego Garcia and others illegally deported to prisons in El Salvador. Trump again threatened to dispense with due process for migrants. Yet this comes even as Trump admitted in a new interview that he’s open to bringing Abrego Garcia back and retrying him for deportation through lawful channels. For Trump to acknowledge he has this option while nonetheless threatening to end due process for Abrego Garcia and other migrants is a dark development. All this comes as two new polls show Trump badly losing the war of public opinion over all these illegal renditions. We talked to Chris Newman, a lawyer for the Abrego Garcia family, who powerfully explains how Trump is importing Bukele-style authoritarianism into the United States, why this is alienating the American people, and why Trump will ultimately lose in court. Looking for More from the DSR Network? Click Here: https://linktr.ee/deepstateradio Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

President Donald Trump just made some new public statements about the Russia-Ukraine war, and they were thoroughly unimpressive. At one point, he seemed to get angry at Vladimir Putin over a massive new Russian attack on Ukraine, calling on Putin to “STOP.” But then in remarks to reporters, he openly suggested that he doesn’t expect Russia to make any serious concessions at all in the quest for peace. This striking public admission badly undercuts Trump’s “master dealmaker” mystique, and wrecks the illusion he’s cultivated that he expects genuine concessions from both sides. We talked to Ben Burgis, a columnist at Jacobin and a podcaster who has a good new piece for MSNBC.com analyzing Trump’s negotiating strategy. Burgis explains why Trump’s approach is likely to be counterproductive at best—and why it could produce catastrophic long-term results. Looking for More from the DSR Network? Click Here: https://linktr.ee/deepstateradio Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Suddenly, President Donald Trump appears to be retreating or getting knocked back on multiple fronts. Trump is considering whether to slash his tariffs on China. Elon Musk is stepping back from the administration. Federal scientists are admitting the Measles outbreak is worse than previously acknowledged. And the leaks about Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth are intensifying. All this comes as a new poll finds broad public opposition to Trump’s abuses of power—revealing a surprise weakness in an area that savvy observers assured us voters don’t care about. We talked to Democratic strategist Simon Rosenberg, author of The Hopium Chronicles, who has been urging his party to make Trump’s weakness central to their understanding of this fraught moment. Rosenberg explains why Trump is caught in a vicious downward cycle, where the opposition is successfully mobilizing, and how to coax Democrats to fight back harder. Looking for More from the DSR Network? Click Here: https://linktr.ee/deepstateradio Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On Tuesday, largely due to President Trump’s tariffs, the International Monetary Fund downgraded its projections for economic growth in a big way. Meanwhile, we’re already starting to see layoffs. All that comes as new polls show Trump cratering on the economy. Trump is now shifting blame to Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell for the tariff fallout. But those attacks are only rattling markets and investors more, backfiring on Trump. We talked to one of the best economic commentators out there, Washington Post columnist Heather Long, author of a new piece on how Trump’s “tariff madness” is likely to drive us into a recession. She explains why the prognosis is so grim—and why Trump is in a bind with no easy way out. Looking for More from the DSR Network? Click Here: https://linktr.ee/deepstateradio Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

President Trump’s defense secretary, Pete Hegseth, is imploding again. We just learned that he shared still more highly sensitive data on a private signal chat. A GOP Congressman just basically called for his resignation. And a former chief Pentagon official who is a Trump supporter himself also tore into Hegseth’s tenure, calling it a “full-blown meltdown.” That triggered a furious response from Donald Trump Jr., who declared this turncoat critic “exiled” from the Trump movement. Other MAGA figures raged at Hegseth’s critics as well. We talked to Juliette Kayyem, a former national security official under Barack Obama. She takes us through this latest scandal and explains why the profoundly unfit Hegseth will become a much, much bigger problem for Trump—with no easy way out for the president. Looking for More from the DSR Network? Click Here: https://linktr.ee/deepstateradio Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

President Donald Trump’s case for leaving Kilmar Abrego Garcia to rot in an El Salvadoran prison continues to collapse. In bizarre, rambling remarks to reporters in which Trump talked about Abrego Garcia’s alleged ties to MS-13, Trump revealed the profound weakness of his own arguments. In particularly ugly fashion, Trump basically admitted he knows little about the supposed evidence linking him to the gang—even though this notion is central to the rationale for refusing to bring him back. Today's guest has done deep research into MS-13: Eric Hershberg, a professor of government at American University and a leading contributor to a major report on the gang. He takes us inside this organization—and explains how implausible the case tying Abrego Garcia to it truly is. Looking for More from the DSR Network? Click Here: https://linktr.ee/deepstateradio Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In an extraordinary escalation of President Trump’s rage at Harvard University, the administration just threatened to block Harvard from receiving foreign students if the university doesn’t provide extensive information on students to the government. Trump also erupted at Harvard on Truth Social, making all kinds of other threats. On another front, GOP Senator Lisa Murkowski openly admitted to a sense of widespread terror of retaliation: “We are all afraid.” We talked to Jeffrey Sachs of Acadia University, a shrewd observer of authoritarianism. He walks us through the details of Trump’s new threat toward Harvard, how it can be challenged, the true nature of Trump allies’ long-term game plan, and whether our institutions will crumble in the face of it all. Looking for More from the DSR Network? Click Here: https://linktr.ee/deepstateradio Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Donald Trump’s illegal deportations are running into more trouble. A federal judge just declared there’s probable cause to find the administration in criminal contempt over the removal of Venezuelans to El Salvador. Meanwhile, a Democratic Senator went to El Salvador to check on Kilmar Abrego Garcia and got a shocking response. And a new polling analysis has a warning for Trump: On immigration, he’s significantly weaker than he appears. We think all this has the makings of a fiasco for Trump: He is heading toward defying the courts on this issue, in a way that could provoke a large backlash. We talked to New Republic staff writer Melissa Gira Grant, author of a good piece on Trump’s use of spectacle on immigration. She deciphers the new ruling, why it’s pushing us toward a crisis, and how Democrats can try to make it all backfire on Trump. Looking for More from the DSR Network? Click Here: https://linktr.ee/deepstateradio Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Harvard University has declared that enough is enough, and it’s now openly refusing to buckle to Trump’s command for subservience on multiple fronts. In response, Trump erupted on Truth Social like a petty tinpot dictator, raging that Harvard should lose its tax exempt status and worse. We think this reveals a hidden weakness: Trump and MAGA know that if institutions don’t capitulate to them, and band together to overcome their collective action problem, the Trump-MAGA assault could very well falter. If there’s some way out of our disastrous mess, it partly involves major institutions doing exactly this, in a concerted, sustained way. We talked to Jonathan Friedman, the managing director of the free expression program at PEN America, about the real nature of Harvard’s pushback, the prospects for more institutions following suit, and the potential for a real united front of resistance to disarm MAGA. Looking for More from the DSR Network? Click Here: https://linktr.ee/deepstateradio Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On Monday, Donald Trump met with El Salvador’s Nayib Bukele, and in an act of true infamy, the two authoritarian leaders collectively agreed that wrongfully deported Kilmar Abrego Garcia will not be returned to the United States. And in a series of vile rants, Trump clearly telegraphed his intention to defy the Supreme Court, which has directed the administration to facilitate his return. We talked to Asawin Suebsaeng, a senior political reporter at Rolling Stone magazine and an adjunct journalism professor at the University of Cincinnati, who has been reporting on the Trump team’s plans to ramp up the lawless deportations and defy the high court. He explains what he’s learned about Trump’s true long-term intentions, which he terms “horrifying.” Looking for More from the DSR Network? Click Here: https://linktr.ee/deepstateradio Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

After President Trump raged for weeks at law firms he regards as personal enemies, a number of them just surrendered to him like falling dominoes. That Trump boasted about this on social media so conspicuously represents a dark turn: He’s warning anyone mulling resistance that it’s time to capitulate. Meanwhile, Alina Habba, a loyal Trump henchwoman who is now interim U.S. Attorney for New Jersey, launched investigations into the state’s governor and attorney general, lodging a dark threat of more to come for those who won’t do Trump’s bidding. We talked to law professor Leah Litman, author of Lawless, a new book about the Supreme Court. She reflects on whether our institutions are folding in the face of Trump’s escalating abuses, which she calls “terrifying,” and what must happen now to prevent the destruction of the rule of law in America. Looking for More from the DSR Network? Click Here: https://linktr.ee/deepstateradio Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

After President Trump’s supposed tariff “pause,” we still have a 10 percent tariff on most global imports, the trade war with China is intensifying, and markets have plunged again. Fox News figures are aggressively spinning the “pause” as sheer brilliance, propping up Trump’s own posture that he’s got everything running according to plan. Then a Fox correspondent told the truth: Trump got spooked by the bond markets. This shattered Trump’s illusion of command. Meanwhile, his cabinet members are slathering him with desperate flattery, even as Trump voters in focus groups are getting antsy and MAGA personalities are balking. We talked to historian Nicole Hemmer, the author of books on the right wing media and on conservative politics. She explains the deeper reasons for the right’s extraordinary turn toward Trump sycophancy—and why the tensions inside MAGA will worsen. Looking for More from the DSR Network? Click Here: https://linktr.ee/deepstateradio Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

President Donald Trump’s tariff chaos continues. He just announced a big reversal: For 90 days, the reciprocal tariffs will come down, but a universal 10 percent tariff will remain, and he’s hiking tariffs on China into the stratosphere. Meanwhile, House Speaker Mike Johnson just moved to prevent the House from voting on whether to rein in Trump’s assertion of unilateral authority to impose the tariffs—a clear abuse of power. This, plus the House GOP gearing up to cut Medicaid by hundreds of billions of dollars, gives Democrats major political openings. Will they capitalize? We talked to Representative Hakeem Jeffries, the House Democratic leader, who explains what Trump’s reversal says about his political weakness, why Democrats can seriously contest red-leaning districts next year, and how the party should prosecute the case against Trump’s dictatorial abuses of power. Looking for More from the DSR Network? Click Here: https://linktr.ee/deepstateradio Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The fate of dozens of Venezuelans deported by the Trump administration to a maximum security prison in El Salvador remains in doubt. So does the fate of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, who administration officials admit was removed in error, even as they refuse to return him to the United States. The Supreme Court just issued rulings on these cases, putting a hold on a lower court’s order to reverse Abrego Garcia’s removal, and allowing the deportations of Venezuelans to resume for now. In that second one, Sonia Sotomayor issued a powerful dissent, and buried in it is an alarming warning. We talked to American Immigration Council senior fellow Aaron Reichlin-Melnick, who expertly demystifies these rulings for us—and explains how Sotomayor laid bare the alarming stakes we face at this fraught moment. Looking for More from the DSR Network? Click Here: https://linktr.ee/deepstateradio Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

As the chaos grows around President Trump’s tariffs, the Mad King is now raging wildly in many directions. He erupted over China’s reciprocal tariffs, threatening dark retribution. He exploded at Republicans, because a handful of them are now moving to reign in his power, which he’s not taking well. Faced with this turmoil, Trump insists the tariffs are already getting results. But the arguments don’t add up. Between this and the cracks now showing in GOP support for him, it’s clear that this will get harder for him to hold together. We talked to Kathryn Anne Edwards, an economist and commentator who has a new piece arguing that the coming recession will be entirely a creation of Trump’s policies. She digs into the deeper incoherence underlying all of this madness—and explains why Trump and the GOP won’t be able to paper it over forever. Looking for More from the DSR Network? Click Here: https://linktr.ee/deepstateradio Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

President Donald Trump has more support in rural America than any U.S. politician in decades, and farmers remain overwhelmingly loyal to him. Yet with Trump’s tariffs unleashing a trade war and China striking back with retaliatory tariffs, farmers and their representatives have declared again and again and again that this will be absolutely brutal for them. As one put it, if farmers don’t get a government bailout, they will face “a disaster.” Another says farmers are “shocked.” Meanwhile, nearly a third of Republicans fear Trump’s tariffs will have a negative impact, and fewer than half say Trump’s policies are making them better off. We talked to Tom Schaller, the co-author of the book White Rural Rage, who explains why farmers are set to get screwed so badly, what all this says about the nature of rural support for Trump, and how Democrats should capitalize. Looking for More from the DSR Network? Click Here: https://linktr.ee/deepstateradio Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

After President Trump imposed sweeping tariffs on imports from all over the globe, prompting the markets to implode, he took a question about it on Thursday. He ranted and rambled delusionally about how everything is just great, bizarrely likened the country to a patient that had just undergone surgery without grasping why his metaphor is the opposite of reassuring, and spouted more nonsense about money pouring into our country. On top of all that, his imposition of the tariffs is likely an enormous and grotesque abuse of power. And because of this, the prospects for stopping them are not wholly nonexistent. We talked to congressional scholar Norm Ornstein, who walks us through how Congress can act, what Democrats can do to pressure Republicans to join in doing just that, and why Trump’s engaged in “horrifying folly.” Looking for More from the DSR Network? Click Here: https://linktr.ee/deepstateradio Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

After Democrats scored a huge victory in the Wisconsin Supreme Court race, a contest that revolved heavily around Elon Musk’s involvement, Trumpworld is turning on their favorite billionaire. In a striking turn of events, Politico reports that Trump has informed members of his inner circle that Musk will soon be moving on from his multi-faceted role. What’s more, as Musk’s departure looms, White House loyalists and outside allies are now dishing that they view Musk as unpredictable and a major political liability. But what happened in Wisconsin isn’t just about Musk the person. It’s about the public backlash to the Trump-Musk alliance in government—and what it’s doing to the country. We spoke to Wisconsin Representative Mark Pocan about what he saw unfold during this race, what it says about the deep unpopularity of the Trump-Musk agenda, and what now lies ahead. Looking for More from the DSR Network? Click Here: https://linktr.ee/deepstateradio Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

By now you may have heard that the Trump administration deported a Maryland man to a Salvadoran prison in “error.” The administration is refusing to bring him back, and this case has extremely dark implications. JD Vance and press secretary Karoline Leavitt both mounted defenses of this that were both weirdly angry, and quickly went off the rails. Meanwhile, MAGA-friendly media have gone into justificatory overdrive. Here’s the real story: They’re all fine with “accidental” deportations, because they want immigrants to fear they’re going to be next. We talked to veteran immigration advocate Douglas Rivlin, who explains why it’s so appalling that the administration is washing its hands of any responsibility to rectify this “error,” and why it vaults us into new frontiers of lawlessness. Looking for More from the DSR Network? Click Here: https://linktr.ee/deepstateradio Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

President Donald Trump is set to announce that he’ll impose sweeping new global tariffs on imports, and Congressional Republicans are already scrambling wildly to try to shield their states and districts from the fallout. Meanwhile, a Fox News poll finds that Trump is sliding on the economy, with the public turning against tariffs in particular. And an Associated Press survey also has terrible news for Trump on this front. Notably, all these negative consequences kicked in well before the tariffs have even started. We talked to Jared Bernstein, former chair of President Biden’s Council of Economic Advisers and now a visiting scholar at Stanford, who has a new piece on his Substack predicting the consequences could be dire. He explains why the tariffs are so wrongheaded—and why they’re likely to cause major backlash against Trump and his party. Looking for More from the DSR Network? Click Here: https://linktr.ee/deepstateradio Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

President Donald Trump’s own allies are beginning to turn on Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Politico reports. White House and Pentagon insiders are increasingly questioning Hegseth’s judgment, and see him as the culprit in the disastrous news that Trump’s top advisers discussed war plans in an insecure chat. Yet there’s little indication that Trumpworld is ready for the next Hegseth fiasco, even as Trump allies clearly are bracing for his tenure to get worse. We talked to Jennifer Rubin, co-founder and editor in chief of The Contrarian Substack, who explains how this scandal is revealing the sheer arrogace and untouchability that’s consumed Trump and his team, and why this will grow more politically untenable for them. Looking for More from the DSR Network? Click Here: https://linktr.ee/deepstateradio Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

By now you may have heard that President Trump’s Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents detained a foreign student at Tufts under shocking circumstances, for an unnervingly thin rationale. This is only the latest in an escalating trend, in which numerous students are being targeted for removal based in many cases on what appear to be their political associations and viewpoints. In a stunning turn on Thursday, Secretary of State Marco Rubio stated straight out that the administration is hoping to do this hundreds of times. We think this is a watershed moment: Rubio is not only confirming the scope and reach of Trump’s targeting of foreign students, but he’s also leaving no doubt that he’s occupying a central role in all of it. We talked to Shev Dalal-Dheini, a top official with the American Immigration Lawyers Association. She decodes the legal complexities behind this whole saga—and explains why these removals should unsettle all of us. Looking for More from the DSR Network? Click Here: https://linktr.ee/deepstateradio Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices