THE DAILY BLAST with Greg Sargent

Donald Trump unleashed an epic tirade at Senator John Cornyn for blocking his IRS lawsuit settlement slush fund, which would let Trump reward allies and grants the Trumps a form of tax immunity. Cornyn is holding up the nomination of Todd Blanche as attorney general until it's killed. Trump gloated that he'd endorsed Cornyn's victorious primary opponent and seethed that the American people want him to have this corrupt fund. In response, another foe, Senator Thom Tillis, landed a hard blow, asserting that Trump's rage over the fund is exactly why it must be killed. Humiliatingly, Tillis treated Trump like a toddler who must be told, “no.” Plus, a defeat would show that Trump's license to corrupt DOJ is not limitless. (Underscoring this humiliation, after we recorded Trump petulantly exploded again, saying he absolutely will have his fund.) We talked to New Republic staff writer Emma Janssen, author of our great new politics newsletter all about Democrats, The TNR Blue Book, which you should subscribe to, folks! We discuss her installment on how Dems are exploiting these splits, the deeper reasons for them, and how they reveal Trump's diminishing power more broadly.  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 and his dutiful Federal Communications Commission chair, Brendan Carr, have been targeting a number of ABC's broadcast licenses, and ABC just challenged this hard in a new filing. In an interesting move, ABC cited Trump's own social media postings and remarks at speeches to show that he is corruptly trying to censor the network as punishment for its content and viewpoints, in violation of the First Amendment. Amusingly, in those examples, Trump blurted right out in public that he does in fact want the FCC to punish ABC precisely because of its speech. Now this has become a weapon against Trump. We talked to law professor Leah Litman, author of a good book about the Supreme Court. She explains why Trump's public bullying of ABC should undermine his case, walks us through the legal ins-and-outs here, details why ABC might prevail, and discusses how open, explicit corruption is intrinsic to his political project. 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 is suddenly bumping up against limits in many areas at once. Top aides just leaked to The Atlantic that he's “frustrated” with his inability to force Iran's hand with his increasingly deranged threats. In the case of Trump's bogus efforts to prosecute James Comey, we just learned that he personally demanded briefings in real time about interrogations of him. That reveals in deeply humiliating fashion his extraordinary personal involvement in the case and makes it more likely it'll get tossed. His acting DNI chief Bill Pulte is boasting about firing “deep state” denizens even though this may not have actually happened. To make sense of all this, we talked to Talking Points Memo editor-at-large David Kurtz, author of the excellent “Morning Memo” newsletter. We discuss the legal ins-and-outs of these new developments, why there's some cause for optimism that Trump is being meaningfully constrained, how our institutions are nonetheless on a knife's edge, and what the endgame of Trump's attempted authoritarian takeover might look like. Looking for More from the DSR Network? Click Here: https://linktr.ee/deepstateradio Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On Fox News, Donald Trump threatened to bomb all of Iran's bridges and all of its power plants. Making this worse, Trump declared that his threat could leave all of Iran's 91 million people without power. That may be the first time Trump has explicitly said this threat could apply to Iran's entire population, which would constitute an extraordinary atrocity. Though Trump presented this as something he'd be reluctant to do, the key is he still confirmed it's under consideration. Meanwhile, many MAGA figures are very upset about Trump's new meeting with Benjamin Netanyahu, fearing it portends an escalation: As Steve Bannon put it, this is a “disaster for America First.” MAGA doesn't care much about Iranians, but Trump's escalation threats do rattle them for other reasons. We talked to former State Department official Emily Horne, author of the Spin Class Substack. We discuss the humanitarian horrors Trump is actually hinting at, what MAGA pressure on Trump means, and why the logic of the trap ensnaring Trump could lead to a terrible ending. Looking for More from the DSR Network? Click Here: https://linktr.ee/deepstateradio Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Andrew and Tristan Tate, two major “manosphere” influencers, were recently arrested in Miami and now face charges of rape and sex trafficking in Britain. The White House now says Donald Trump will not intervene in their extradition, a turnaround for two top MAGA figures who are close to Trump's inner circle and helped him win young men in 2024. Worse, many MAGA figures are following Trump and deserting the Tates. Still, MAGA is cracking over this: Tucker Carlson and several other figures are expressing sharp skepticism of the charges, treating the Tates as martyrs and raging at the charges as “politically driven.” As Guardian columnist Moira Donegan and I conclude in this episode, their dissent is significant: It's clearly speaking to a sizable chunk of MAGA that actively lionizes the violent misogyny that the Tates represent. We discuss the deeper causes of MAGA's divisions over the Tates, why the MAGA vision of masculinity is imploding, how Democrats got spooked by 2024 into overreading Trump's successes with young men, and how they can speak to this constituency more effectively. 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 has hit a trifecta, throwing away the traditional GOP edge on the economy, immigration, and national security. The latest polls show Democrats are leading Republicans on the economy by a comfortable nine points, have hit near-parity with the GOP on immigration, and lead on foreign policy, even as Trump has sunk into the 20s on the Iran war, all shockers. These polls show it's all driven by Trump's collapsing approval on all three. Yet Trump just unleashed a huge new wave of tariffs. His GOP allies are leaking their deep dismay to Politico: One suggests this worsens the affordability problem and cannot be spun favorably by GOP candidates. Another says this is a “bad conversation for Republicans.” We talked to Democratic strategist Andrew Bates. He explains what all this looks like on the ground in difficult House races, what obstacles still remain, and why it remains hard for Democrats to win rural voters who are unhappy with Trump.  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 exploded at Senate Majority Leader John Thune on Wednesday, demanding that he hurry up and pass the SAVE Act, the horrific voter suppression that Trump thinks will save the GOP. This comes as the House is passing funding to reward states that adopt its provisions. The idea is Senate Republicans can pass those via reconciliation. Thune says the votes aren't there, but Trump went nuclear on him and the White House joined the fray, so pressure is growing. This comes as a Fox News poll finds the GOP seven points behind in the House ballot matchup, and falling far behind Democrats on the economy, to boot. Other new polls are showing further GOP deterioration. We talked to Ari Berman, the great voting rights reporter for Mother Jones. He walks us through how Trump's plot would really work, the obstacles it faces, why Trump really might attempt to seize ballot boxes, and what would  happen next.  Looking for More from the DSR Network? Click Here: https://linktr.ee/deepstateradio Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Politico reports that Republicans now think they're seriously doomed in the midterms. One GOP operative offers this truly astonishing quote about Donald Trump's effect on the party: “We're preparing for the bottom to fall out.” Republicans are fretting that Democrats have a real chance of winning Senate and House races in states and districts that Trump won by double digits. Another Trump ally laments that he won't admit he lost the Iran war and is caught in a “classic escalation trap” with no way out. In short, Republicans think Trump is in collapse. And yet...we don't think Democrats are close to putting this away. So we talked to Democratic strategist Simon Rosenberg. He argues that the GOP panic is in sync with what public polls do show about the Senate races and discusses other problems the GOP faces (like the coming reinstatement of Trump's tariffs). He also ponders what could still go wrong, urging Democrats to address potential pitfalls—their too-small lead in the generic ballot matchup and their lack of a concrete agenda to close out the home stretch.  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 lost his temper with a reporter on Tuesday after she pressed him on why Iran is continuing to fight. In barely-concealed anger, he ripped her organization as “fake” and insisted Iran “desperately” wants to make a deal. But of course, that only revealed the line of questioning to be absolutely correct: Iran is not desperate, and he really does not know how to force Iran's hand or get out of this disaster. Meanwhile, Politico reports that GOP anxiety is growing about how the Iran war will hurt the party in the midterms. Politico sums up the GOP attitude with the word “bleak,” noting that Republicans are “distressed” about the war's political impact, with one calling this a “quagmire.” We talked to former State Department official Marie Harf. We discuss the deeper reasons Trump is so stuck, what Iran has come to understand about Trump, how Republicans screwed themselves by giving Trump a blank check, and why only a Democratic Congress might be able to extricate us from this fiasco. 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 is cratering in several new polls: They have his approval at an average of 22 points underwater. That's just abysmal. Indeed, as CNN's Harry Enten notes in a striking on-air analysis, it's a “record” and “the worst this century,” worse than both George W. Bush and Barack Obama at similar points in their second terms, which produced midterm wipeouts. And Enten points out that Trump is 45 points underwater with independents, also a new record. Enten concludes: “These are horrible numbers!” And yet there are numerous signs that Democrats are not converting this into quite the midterm edge they need. So we talked to veteran Democratic strategist Christina Reynolds. We discuss why the Democratic advantage is insufficient as of now, what's really making that happen, how to turn it around, and why Trump's awful numbers will likely prove impossible for the GOP to outrun in the end.  Looking for More from the DSR Network? Click Here: https://linktr.ee/deepstateradio Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

During his prime-time speech dissembling endlessly about our elections, Donald Trump raged at news organizations for refusing to carry him live. Then his Homeland Security secretary also smeared the media, a sign Trump's fury continues to deepen. We think this means Trump fully expects news organizations to help him amplify his lies about our elections to sow distrust in them. As we discuss in this episode, his speech revealed that he's plainly mulling an effort to rig the midterms, and sowing that distrust is key to it. A funny thing, though: Fox News explicitly declined to endorse his claims and refrained from carrying his DHS secretary. And according to Fox sources, insiders were dismayed to hear Trump obsessing over our elections, thought it was bad politics for the GOP, and even worried it was bad for business given post-2020 litigation against Fox. We talked to Harvard political scientist Ryan Enos, who explains how Trump is telegraphing an authoritarian plot to corrupt the elections, why the assaults on the media are central to that, and what we must see in response from Democrats and the American people. 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: February 2, 2026 With the Daily Blast on break this week, join us as we revisit some of our top episodes of 2026! After The New York Times reported that President Trump has backtracked on a major demand he'd made on Harvard University, he spiraled out of control in three wild tirades. He angrily insisted on a correction from the Times, and levied unhinged new threats against Harvard, demanding a new billion-dollar extortion payment while calling for the university's criminal prosecution. Harvard officials clearly leaked word of Trump's backtracking to humiliate him at a moment of political weakness. It worked: Trump appeared panicked and weak as he fired off half-cocked threats. Which raises a question: Why don't more institutions grasp that standing firm against Trump is the only way? We talked to Ryan Enos, a Harvard political scientist who has long argued for a strong stand. He explains the internal politics at Harvard leading to its current posture, why this fight's outcome has broader significance amid our slide into authoritarianism, and what the prospects are for Harvard holding firm. 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: April 17, 2026 With the Daily Blast on break this week, join us as we revisit some of our top episodes of 2026! In today's episode, George Conway argues that as improbable as it might seem right now, congressional Republicans will ultimately decide they have no choice but to remove Donald Trump from office before his term ends. Conway, the former GOP lawyer-turned-Trump-critic, is ⁠running for Congress as a Democrat⁠. One of his ads ⁠is a montage of all the horrors⁠ that Trump has unleashed, followed by Conway's promise to be a different kind of Congressman in response. In our conversation, Conway explains why he thinks Republicans will eventually decide Trump has to go and talks about how he'll push for impeachment immediately if elected. Conway also lays out an accountability agenda that includes impeaching many cabinet officials, criminal referrals for high-level Trump administration officials, and extensive other reforms designed to prevent anything like this from ever happening again.  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 1, 2026 With the Daily Blast on break this week, join us as we revisit some of our top episodes of 2026! Former attorney general Pam Bondi testified behind closed doors Friday about the Jeffrey Epstein scandal. She effectively ⁠let it be known⁠ that Todd Blanche, now acting AG, has been responsible for this debacle, ⁠creating a new inquiry⁠ for Democrats to pursue that will be fraught for Trump. Bondi also ⁠went mum⁠ on how Trump instructed her to handle the Epstein files, basically declining to back Trump's spin that he was pro-transparency, raising still more questions for Democrats to pursue. Meanwhile, Trump's sinking approval, Iran debacle, ballroom and slush fund are fracturing Trumpworld and the GOP: One Republican ⁠told⁠ The Atlantic that he has “lame-ducked himself.” We talked to historian Nicole Hemmer, author of ⁠several books⁠ ⁠about the right⁠. We discuss why the Epstein scandal continues to fracture the MAGA movement, the deeper reasons for Trump's weakening hold on the GOP, and why MAGA will go into deep turmoil once Trump passes from the scene.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Original air date: June 22, 2026 With the Daily Blast on break this week, join us as we revisit some of our top episodes of 2026! Donald Trump's war with Iran is making it clear this presidency could have much worse long-term consequences than we expected. Yet Trump is spending his nights indulging his crazed obsessions. In one ⁠early-morning tirade⁠, he raged about “fools” who criticize his Iran fiasco, calling them “bad people” and “stupid.” In another, he ⁠fulminated at length⁠ about his ballroom. He's posting ⁠updates⁠ on the gilding of statues and ⁠images⁠ of himself on international magazine covers. The gap between the gravity of the moment on one side and his trivial megalomania on the other is jarring. We talked to economist Paul Krugman, who has been ⁠writing really well on his Substack⁠ about ⁠both sides⁠ ⁠of this divide⁠. He goes big-picture, detailing the signs that we're a country in decline, why other countries are looking toward a post-American world, and why it's shocking that we put up with his worsening megalomania and nonstop desecration of our republic. Looking for More from the DSR Network? Click Here: https://linktr.ee/deepstateradio Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Big developments on the immigration front: First, ICE killed a 52-year-old undocumented immigrant in Texas this week. ICE's account was already suspect. But now a representative for the man's family says that the three other men driving with him—who are likely witnesses to the killing—are getting pressured to self-deport in a potential effort to silence them. That's utterly damning. Second, Politico reports that a key piece of Trump's deportation agenda—detentions without bond—has now lost in court a staggering 15,000 times. And get this: A majority of Trump-appointed judges who have considered the policy have rejected it. These things are related: The mounting lawlessness on many fronts is alienating even Trump judges. We talked to New Republic staff writer Melissa Gira Grant, author of a good piece on the Texas shooting. We discuss why it's essential to focus on this one killing, why Trump judges turning against him constitute a vulnerability for his agenda, and why the American people can't get complacent, now that he's trying to deport huge numbers a lot more quietly. Looking for More from the DSR Network? Click Here: https://linktr.ee/deepstateradio Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

At the NATO summit on Wednesday, Donald Trump lashed out wildly at, well, everyone in sight. He threatened more war with Iran. He angrily vowed to cut off all trade with Spain. He hinted again at stealing Greenland. There were many other pratfalls. Amid all this, a Danish journalist had an extraordinary confrontation with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, asking him point blank: What does sitting next to Trump and praising him while he viciously attacks allies, threatens to take whole countries by conquest, and unleashes wildly destructive trade wars do to your “self-respect”? In an understated way, it was a crushing takedown of Trump, treating him as a ludicrous, sidelined figure while essentially saying: All that matters is how the rest of us react to this lunatic. We talked to foreign policy expert Elizabeth Saunders. She explains how deep and lasting Trump's damage to the alliance will be, how our NATO allies are quietly managing Trump with flattery until he's gone, and how they're even trying to “de-Americanize”—that is, move on into the future without us.  Looking for More from the DSR Network? Click Here: https://linktr.ee/deepstateradio Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

For weeks, Donald Trump's fury has been growing at Republicans for failing to pass voter suppression legislation, demanding that they end the filibuster to do so. In a late-night tirade, he urged them to attach the SAVE Act to a must-pass defense spending bill, a dramatic move that reveals his deep frustration with them. As everybody knows, Trump sees restricting voting as the only way to stave off a midterm calamity. Meanwhile, in a striking piece, NBC News reports that Trump's angry pressure has left Senate Republicans at wit's end. They privately fear Trump is laying the groundwork to pin a midterm fiasco on their failure to pass something. They also blame Trump for letting this obsession take his focus off costs. One GOP Senator even tells NBC: “He's a bully, and he's f------ things up as fast as he can.” We talked to congressional scholar Norm Ornstein. He walks us through the details of the GOP predicament, decodes the real reason Republicans aren't nixing the filibuster, and explains why it's premature to rule out passage of the SAVE Act, offering a road map to what's next.  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 ended the tortured saga around his gala for America's 250th anniversary in typical fashion. Trump claimed 150,000 people attended his final speech, which was humiliatingly contradicted by videos of the event. Then Trump made it worse. During the speech he insisted that 375,000 people had been present before storms and an evacuation caused chaos and turmoil, reducing the crowd to 150,000 (again, a baseless number). But then afterward he posted that the initial total had been 422,000. Somehow the number ballooned by nearly 50,000, delivering still another blow to his credibility. We talked to New Republic senior editor Alex Shephard, who writes really well about MAGA's dwindling cultural relevance. We discuss the deeper failures of Trump's extravaganza, why he can't tell a compelling story about the country anymore, why Barack Obama's national narrative is far superior, and why the World Cup is acting as a perfect counter-narrative to Trumpism.  Looking for More from the DSR Network? Click Here: https://linktr.ee/deepstateradio Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Ever since the Supreme Court upheld birthright citizenship in June, MAGA personalities have really gone off the rails. Many angrily started saying it's time for the U.S. to find new ways to bar women from coming to this country and having babies. Some are talking about pregnancy tests upon arrival. Others are discussing the possibility of unleashing federal law enforcement on women suspected of pregnancy—and unnervingly, this includes the acting Attorney General. And as a Media Matters roundup shows, some are talking about truly crackpot ideas like forced sterilization. Talking Points Memo writer Sarah Posner sums it up well: “Will every woman now have to pee in cups at airports?” We talked to Posner, a scholar of Christian Nationalism and the religious right. We discuss how all this reflects a genuine and ambitious, if vile, vision for the country, why JD Vance may take up this cause in some form when his presidential run begins next year, and what it all says about MAGA's deeper misogyny and darkening extreme nationalism.  Looking for More from the DSR Network? Click Here: https://linktr.ee/deepstateradio Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In today's episode, MS NOW's Steve Benen makes a strong case that Donald Trump has corrupted the process of awarding disaster aid to states. Trump has been rejecting aid requests from blue states at a lopsided rate. But this week, Trump announced that he's awarding aid to Democratic-run swing states with critical gubernatorial, Senate, and House races in them. But here's the key: As Benen details, in these announcements, Trump openly linked the awarding of aid right to his preferred candidates, even suggesting voters should reward them for securing the money. Trump blurted out the scheme, which Benen calls “breathtaking” in its “brazenness.” It all comes as New York Times polls find Democrats highly competitive in six key Senate races that no one expected to be close. Trump's numbers are abysmal across these battlegrounds, particularly on the economy, even though he won five of them in 2024. Benen explains why Trump's scheme matters, why the new polling is brutal for him, and why both developments neatly capture this moment.  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 Supreme Court upheld the Constitution's guarantee of birthright citizenship, Trump and MAGA lost it. Trump threatened to get Congress to end the guarantee, which he can't do, and he lamely claimed it was a “WIN” for China: The sheer haplessness of his response hinted at how disoriented the ruling left him. But MAGA exploded: One personality called on the masses to “use whatever force is necessary” to repel “invaders,” a clear threat of violence. Another one, flagged by Media Matters, accused the liberal justices of wanting to “burn the country to the ground” and suggested “men of action” must stop them, also a dark, veiled threat. And Stephen Miller absurdly described the ruling as “national self-obliteration,” which would seem to justify anything in response. We talked to Raul Pinto, deputy legal director of the American Immigration Council. We discuss why the ruling was too close for comfort, how that's inviting MAGA to wage a longer war to overturn birthright citizenship, how that might unfold, and why there's cause for cautious optimism about what's next. 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 lost three big cases at the Supreme Court on Monday. His appeal of E. Jean Carroll's verdict failed. He was blocked from firing a Federal reserve official. And most important, the court upheld the counting of late-arriving mail ballots. He ranted wildly over these losses. On the last one he exploded in a long and angry tirade, demanding again that Republicans pass onerous voter suppression in response. It's clear why: This deals a major blow to Trump-GOP hopes of stealing the midterms by invalidating untold numbers of votes. Yet Trump won big at the court, too, securing the power to fire independent regulators at will. We talked to Lisa Graves, a former Senate Judiciary Committee counsel who writes about the Supreme Court. We discuss what the ruling on mail-balloting does, why it will thwart a major piece of the Trump-GOP election-rigging scheme, how Trump and the Supreme Court are teaming up to empower themselves at the expense of Congress, and how a future Democratic Congress can fight back.  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 has insisted six people have been arrested and many more have been given citations for vandalizing the renovation of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool. This allegedly includes carving a 350-foot gash in the pool's sealant, and in a dark and angry tirade, Trump just described these people as akin to enemies of the state. But The New York Times just obtained a new statement from federal prosecutors. While they confirmed some citations, the Times also reports that administration officials and prosecutors are refusing to provide a single detail about what happened, refusing to divulge anything about who's been targeted or what their offenses were, and refusing to confirm any arrests of any kind. As former prosecutor Ankush Khardori tells us in today's episode, this is deeply strange. We discuss why it's unusual for officials to clam up about such a high-profile claim, how this raises unnerving possibilities about the unhinged despot in the Oval Office, and why it all points to a deeper rot of Trumpian corruption. Looking for More from the DSR Network? Click Here: https://linktr.ee/deepstateradio Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

After Donald Trump kicked off his personalized celebration of America's 250th birthday with a rally on the National Mall on Wednesday night, news accounts described the event as very sparsely attended. Trump himself practically begged for more people to show up to the next event set for July 4. Amusingly, this comes after Fox News madly hyped the Wednesday rally in an effort to drum up excitement. But then, as Matt Gertz of Media Matters reports in a good piece on all this, Fox grappled with the bad initial turnout by largely avoiding any discussion of it. We think that's pretty revealing. So we talked to Gertz about all of it: We discuss why Trump's whole gala is so important for the broader, more sinister Trump-Fox project that's underway, the real reason Trump-Fox want our the 250th anniversary to be a celebration of Trump's “personalist” rule, and what it will really mean if it's all a bust.  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 was all set to sign a bill passed by Congress that's designed to reduce housing costs for the American people. But an angry Trump abruptly canceled the signing and blurted out a demand that Republicans pass voter suppression legislation instead. This surprised Trump's own advisers and shocked Republicans in Congress. Why? They apparently couldn't fathom that he'd so openly prioritize disenfranchising voters over helping Americans overcome their economic travails. We talked about all of it with Salon's Amanda Marcotte, author of a new piece on Trump's narcissism as the through line for many recent follies. We discuss now Trump's pathological self-regard led right to this moment, why this voter suppression effort would likely backfire on Trump if it were to pass, and what's likely to come next as Republicans seek to flatter their way out of this latest impasse.  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 anger at the media over his Iran fiasco is mounting. He snapped at a reporter for noting that Americans might not support spending $80 billion more on the war, as the Pentagon has requested. Trump even dubiously claimed the public would gladly support this. Then, at a rally, Trump seethed at the media for not being worshipful of his handling of the Iran talks. He also nonsensically suggested he's solved the nuclear issue entirely. Trump is under immense pressure to show results: In a devastating segment, a Fox News anchor pointed to a new poll showing Trump's approval on the economy at 33 percent. Then the anchor said this is lower than Joe Biden ever was at his absolute worst point, the most cutting piece of news Fox could have delivered. We talked to international relations expert Nicholas Grossman. We discuss his new piece explaining why time is not on Trump's side in these talks, how all this is breaking up the Trump coalition in new ways, and what a disaster it could prove for JD Vance's coming presidential run. 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 renovation of the Reflecting Pool is a major fiasco, and it's getting him angrier. In Truth Social posts, he raged at a journalist for covering the story. He fulminated that vandals had cut at 250-foot gash in the facade (which is entirely unverified). He hailed multiple arrests at the scene. He even angrily threatened 10 years in jail. Yet these arrests are only growing more questionable. One man detained is a 67-year-old former Olympian who said he just wanted to examine the peeling coating. Another person detained said she was merely pulling a piece of paint out of the water. These explanations, plus the tenuousness of Trump's claims of vandalism, suggest a darker turn in the story. We talked to New Republic editor Michael Tomasky about his good piece on this whole mess. We discuss why Trump doesn't deserve the benefit of the doubt on the arrests, why this story has deeper resonance for many ordinary people, and what it captures about Trump's effort to destroy republican governance and turn Washington into an imperial capital, with himself in the role of “czar.” 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 war with Iran is making it clear this presidency could have much worse long-term consequences than we expected. Yet Trump is spending his nights indulging his crazed obsessions. In one early-morning tirade, he raged about “fools” who criticize his Iran fiasco, calling them “bad people” and “stupid.” In another, he fulminated at length about his ballroom. He's posting updates on the gilding of statues and images of himself on international magazine covers. The gap between the gravity of the moment on one side and his trivial megalomania on the other is jarring. We talked to economist Paul Krugman, who has been writing really well on his Substack about both sides of this divide. He goes big-picture, detailing the signs that we're a country in decline, why other countries are looking toward a post-American world, and why it's shocking that we put up with his worsening megalomania and nonstop desecration of our republic.  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 ceasefire deal with Iran has now been released, and it confirms what we all expected: He got nothing of any significance. A surprising number of his allies agree. Fox News figures, visibly angry and rattled, are saying the deal “doesn't feel like a victory,” that “we lost the most,” and that Iran is “better off” than before. Others are already throwing JD Vance under the bus, with one even suggesting the deal is so bad that it let Trump down. We think the story right now is that if anything, the next stage of the negotiations with Iran will be even worse for Trump. We talked to Sina Toossi, an Iran expert at the Center for International Policy. He walks us through the details of the deal, why it falls short of what Barack Obama got, why the criticism from allies creates a tough situation for Trump, and how his failures have created a new geopolitical reality—one that's worse for America than before.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Sources tell Axios that U.S. intelligence agencies seriously doubt that Iran will make the concessions on its nuclear program that Donald Trump expects it to once talks on it progress in earnest. The leaks are striking: They reflect badly on Trump's ceasefire with Iran and his claims that he prevailed on Iran to drop its nuclear ambitions. Tellingly, the sources also report that JD Vance was a vocal proponent of the deal during internal discussions. This strongly suggests Vance is getting shivved: He's getting set up to bear the blame if the deal goes south. There's lots of other evidence of this, too: Senator Lindsey Graham, a Trump ally, is vocally describing Vance as the deal's “architect.” Graham, an Iran hawk, expects Iran to not comply on nukes and clearly wants Vance to get blamed for it. We talked to New Republic contributing editor Virginia Heffernan, a sharp observer of MAGA turmoil. We discuss why Vance is so vulnerable to being shivved on Iran, why this is likely to tarnish his presidential ambitions, and how MAGA will reckon with all this as Trump's influence wanes.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Now that Donald Trump has reached a ceasefire with Iran, the scrutiny of it has been brutal, making it obvious that he got nothing of significance. In a rambling monologue to reporters, Trump excoriated Barack Obama's Iran deal for making billions in funding available to the Iranians. But this is actually a self-own: Trump's own arrangement uses a very similar mechanism, opening up funds as an incentive to get Iran to agree to constraints on its nuclear program later. As Tom Nichols, a staff writer at The Atlantic, says on today's episode, Trump is “doing it exactly the way Obama did it.” And that's after Trump also waged a needless war that cost us tens of billions of dollars, depleted our stockpiles, killed some Americans and many Iranians, strained our alliances, and wrecked the global economy. Nichols discusses his new piece arguing that the U.S. capitulated to Iran, explains how Trump left us worse off than before, and walks us through what will happen next, with Trump in a weakened state.  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 erupted in fury at Representative Jamie Raskin in a long, rambling Truth Social post. Trump called him a “loser” who suffers from “Trump Derangement Syndrome.” But the tirade was unintentionally revealing. Trump raged that if Raskin and Democrats win the House, they will “impeach me” and called on Congress to “EXPEL THE BUM” before it's too late. In so doing, Trump revealed that he absolutely does fear impeachment. This gives Democrats a good argument: The last thing Trump wants is a Democratic Congress precisely because it will hold him accountable and put a check on his lawlessness. So what would this actually look like? We talked to Andy Craig, senior editor at The Unpopulist, who thinks creatively on this topic. We discuss the deeper reasons Trump fears another impeachment, all the hidden tools that the next Congress could use to constrain him, and why aggressive congressional action against Trump would rebalance our dangerously out-of-whack system.  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 polling just crashed to new lows. He's hit a net approval on inflation of negative 50 points in numerous surveys, something no other president has done—ever. Trump also is at 80 percent disapproval on gas prices. And this is the first time Democrats have led Republicans on inflation since the 1970s. It's no accident that this comes as sources around Trump tell CNN that he's “furious” because the media didn't make his latest Iran bombing look strong and powerful. These stories are linked: His failure to force Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz is causing the very cost spikes that are tanking his approval and his party's chances in the midterms. We talked to Democratic strategist Christina Reynolds, who has extensive experience in midterms. She explains how Trump's travails are translating into new pickup opportunities in surprising places, parses a new poll showing Democrats up 10 in the generic House matchup, and explains why 2026 reminds her of Democratic routs in 2006 and 2018. 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 is all over the place on Iran. After insisting a deal was imminent, he's now threatening more full-scale bombing. He just claimed that “I love the inflation” caused by the war. And in several rants, he insisted that the United States has secretly smuggled 100 million barrels of oil out of Iran and on to the world market (the whole thing appears mostly invented). In an extraordinary exchange, Representative Emilia Sykes sharply confronted Energy Secretary Chris Wright over Trump's “love” of inflation. Wright finally blurted out: “I would prefer lower inflation.” And Wright stammered before admitting that “um, I'm unaware” of Trump's oil smuggling scheme. We talked to former Defense Department official Ariane Tabatabai, who's now at the Chicago Council on Global Affairs. She parses through what we know now, explains why Wright's public meltdown captures the very worst of the Trump administration, and charts what's next. (After we recorded, Trump resumed bombing.) 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 faced merciless booing at the Knicks game Monday night, and Fox News figures quickly recognized how perilous this is. As Media Matters details, Fox personalities and on-air chyrons spun madly in response. They absurdly portrayed the reception as much more muddled, as inspired by something other than Trump, and even as meaningfully peppered with cheers for him. This comes as his polls just nosedived again: A new YouGov poll has Trump's approval on the economy and inflation in the twenties. And fresh data from The Argument shows Trump deeply underwater in numerous red states with competitive Senate races. He continues to slide in the polling averages, too. We talked to Grant Wiles, a data analyst with NextGen America, which just released new research on Trump's toxicity with young voters. We parse all the new polls, dig into why Trump propagandists fear he's in a downward spiral, and discuss how Democrats can avoid getting too complacent about the midterms. 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, Donald Trump exploded during an on-air interview with NBC's Kristen Welker. He called her “crooked” and “stupid” and abruptly ended the interview in a fury. This was ostensibly because she questioned his claims that California's ongoing vote counting is rigged against GOP candidates. But we think the real reason is darker. As the votes are being counted, those candidates—Spencer Pratt for Los Angeles Mayor and Steve Hilton for Governor—are looking weaker than advertised. In real time, Trump is witnessing the failure of MAGA's online disinformation apparatus to invent reality whole cloth and inflate the strength of his candidates into something it isn't. In today's episode, tech writer Gil Duran, author of the forthcoming The Nerd Reich, a book about techno-authoritarianism, puts this in perspective. He explains the California contests, why it's so infuriating for Trump to watch real votes coming in, why this saga represents a larger failure of Trump-MAGA online propaganda, and why that has heartening deeper implications. 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 is desperately trying to salvage his gala commemorating the United States's 250th anniversary after many celebrities pulled out. He let out a weird tirade insisting that he is telling them not to come, and also announced a paltry set of acts that's downright humiliating. This comes after he seethed that he didn't need other musical acts because he himself will be performing. Also, he's bigger than Elvis! Trump's plans drew savage mockery from MAGA influencer Matt Walsh, who ridiculed organizers for inviting “washed up geriatric one hit wonders,” and then turning it into a rally where “Trump will talk about himself for 90 minutes.” We talked to New Republic senior editor Alex Shephard, who writes well about Trumpism and the American zeitgeist. We discuss how Trump/MAGA had their cultural moment in 2024, how they pissed it away to inflict mass suffering on the people they hate, and the deeper reasons MAGA is so toxic within the culture.  Looking for More from the DSR Network? Click Here: https://linktr.ee/deepstateradio Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This comes as The New York Times reports that extensive internal war games among military officials established that Iran would react to an attack by closing the Strait of Hormuz—which Trump ignored. And incredibly, officials just leaked to The Atlantic that Trump is privately “irritated” by commentary casting his emerging framework as weaker than Barack Obama's 2015 nuclear deal. Trump also wants a way to argue that Iran “accepted terms from him that Obama never managed to extract.” We talked to former National Security Council veteran Emily Horne, author of the Spin Class Substack. We discuss how all those leaks themselves signal Trump's growing weakness, why his demand for a “better” deal than Obama's may be hopeless, and whether that leaves us any way out of this fiasco. Looking for More from the DSR Network? Click Here: https://linktr.ee/deepstateradio Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

As Secretary of State Marco Rubio testified before a House committee on Wednesday, Representative Ted Lieu questioned him at length about Donald Trump's mental decline. It was an extraordinary moment. Lieu repeatedly confronted Rubio with damning video of Trump falling asleep and spewing word salad, cornering Rubio into lying about what we can all see with our own eyes. The moment captured something essential about how our politics works today—and shows why Democrats should relentlessly center Trump's unfitness for the presidency whenever possible. We talked to Brian Beutler, author of the excellent Off Message Substack. We discuss the deeper reasons that Democrats need to pick viral fights like this, ponder how Trump understands politics through a strong-versus-weak frame, and parse through how James Talarico should combat right-wing smears in the Texas Senate race. 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 just named William Pulte as acting Director of National Intelligence, replacing the outgoing Tulsi Gabbard. Pulte is best known for abusing his administration position to ransack the mortages of Trump's enemies for fake pretexts to get them prosecuted and jailed. In today's episode, University of Michigan law professor Leah Litman argues that the office of DNI could be put to even more nefarious and “terrifying” use. Indeed, GOP Senate Majority Leader John Thune suggested it may produce a “weaponized” DNI, a striking admission of serious danger ahead. Senator Tom Cotton curtly refused to share his opinion of the choice. And other GOP Senators said Pulte is unqualified for the job. Given the DNI's power, these objections reveal visible consternation. Indeed, MAGA figures fully expect Pulte to be turned loose on the left. Litman discusses what a “weaponized” national security state under Pulte could look like and ponders whether the rule of law will survive this presidency. 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 is hitting many new difficulties. On Monday, Iran abandoned talks with the U.S., angering Trump. Speaking to CNBC, he raged that he “couldn't care less” if the negotiations die, threatened again to blow Iran “to kingdom come,” and seethed that NATO's refusal to help reopen the Strait of Hormuz shows that it's “very weak” and “very sad.” (He then insisted the talks are back on track.) Meanwhile, Senate Republicans' anxiety over the politics of Trump's corrupt $1 billion slush fund has grown: As one reporter notes, they are “absolutely screwed.” The fund may be on hold, but this signals broader GOP frustration with Trump. We talked to Molly Jong-Fast, host of the Fast Politics podcast and author of a great TNR piece with editor Michael Tomasky on Trump's ongoing crackup. We discuss how Trump appears stuck in a mental loop, whether our country can survive two-and-a-half more years of him, and what a final GOP breaking point might look. Looking for More from the DSR Network? Click Here: https://linktr.ee/deepstateradio Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Former attorney general Pam Bondi testified behind closed doors Friday about the Jeffrey Epstein scandal. She effectively let it be known that Todd Blanche, now acting AG, has been responsible for this debacle, creating a new inquiry for Democrats to pursue that will be fraught for Trump. Bondi also went mum on how Trump instructed her to handle the Epstein files, basically declining to back Trump's spin that he was pro-transparency, raising still more questions for Democrats to pursue. Meanwhile, Trump's sinking approval, Iran debacle, ballroom and slush fund are fracturing Trumpworld and the GOP: One Republican told The Atlantic that he has “lame-ducked himself.” We talked to historian Nicole Hemmer, author of several books about the right. We discuss why the Epstein scandal continues to fracture the MAGA movement, the deeper reasons for Trump's weakening hold on the GOP, and why MAGA will go into deep turmoil once Trump passes from the scene.  Looking for More from the DSR Network? Click Here: https://linktr.ee/deepstateradio Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

For days, activists have been protesting terrible conditions at an ICE facility in New Jersey. In response, Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin is now threatening to pull Customs and Border Protection officers from airports in sanctuary cities, which could halt international flights to them. As even Fox News is pointing out, this would cause massive disruptions. Indeed, it would likely deal another big blow to GOP midterm chances. Yet the whole saga captures how Trump governance seeks to deliberately stoke searing tensions between MAGA and blue America. We talked to Nayna Gupta, policy director for the American Immigration Council, which just released a blueprint for a saner system. We discuss the worsening situation in Newark, why Mullin's threat is simultaneously deranged and comical, and how the fascist advisers around Trump see violent conflict between MAGA and blue America as a good and desirable outcome.  Looking for More from the DSR Network? Click Here: https://linktr.ee/deepstateradio Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

“I don't care about the midterms,” Donald Trump admitted during a monologue about his Iran war. In addition to candidly declaring that he doesn't care that his policies are badly imperiling his GOP colleagues, Trump also suggested that the GOP nomination of MAGA whackjob Ken Paxton in Texas—which Trump engineered—was a major accomplishment. This accidentally showed that Trump is still under the delusion that he and MAGA are popular. Yet this comes as The New York Times reports that Republicans are freshly “alarmed,” with some admitting that Trump is putting them in severe danger. We talked to New Republic contributing editor Felipe De La Hoz, who's been arguing that Trump's historic unpopularity gives Democrats new openings. We discuss how Texas is now winnable for Democrats, why Republicans are accepting Trump's destruction of their midterm hopes, and what Democrats can do to capitalize on Trump's travails.  Looking for More from the DSR Network? Click Here: https://linktr.ee/deepstateradio Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

After Donald Trump attended his physical, he proclaimed his health perfect. Then the White House rapid response team—which leads the charge for Trumpworld—unleashed an extraordinary series of angry attacks on journalists. Their transgression? Reporting accurately on Trump's decline. This comes as Trump's physical exam has prompted brutal coverage of his deterioration. We've seen scalding on-air assessments of his health from doctors, as well as media coverage that meticulously lists out the symptoms of his decline and notes his lack of transparency about exam results. Like good little authoritarians, Trump and his propagandists feel compelled to portray him as a physical superman whose virility is unquestioned—but this just reminds everyone of what they can see with their own eyes. We talked to Michael Cohen, who writes well about Trump's weakness for his Substack, Truth and Consequences. We discuss why the cult of Trump's virility is backfiring and what it says about the failings of Trumpworld's broader totalitarian playbook. Looking for More from the DSR Network? Click Here: https://linktr.ee/deepstateradio Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

GOP discomfort with Donald Trump is growing. Republicans have effectively blocked taxpayer money for his ballroom, revolted against his corrupt slush fund for insurrectionists, and turned against his war. GOP panic about the his cratering approval and the midterm elections has reportedly escalated amid the ballroom and slush fund dramas. Amid mounting GOP opposition, Trump let out a strange, self-pitying Truth Social rant about his ballroom. Then at a rally he unleashed a weird tirade about the stock market and another bizarrely manic-sounding one about affordability. The rants only underscored how disconnected he is from the reality of voters' economic experiences. We talked to New Republic deputy editor Jason Linkins, who's been writing well about Trump's corruption as a major political vulnerability. We discuss Trump's growing mania, why these stories are uniquely difficult for Republicans to defend, and why Americans' experience of the economy poses a potentially unsolvable political problem for the GOP.  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 just got hit with an absolutely crushing poll from Fox News. Disapproval of his handling of the economy is at an all time high. His ratings on inflation are staggeringly awful. Historically friendly voter groups—whites, rural Americans, the working class—are all turning away from him in surprising numbers. It's no accident that on Thursday, Trump let out a long, rambling diatribe, demanding Republicans pass his onerous voter suppression legislation. Critically, Trump said straight out that if they do, Democrats will “never be elected again.” Trump admitted that the whole point of his bill is to ensure one-party rule in perpetuity, in the GOP's favor—exactly why he wants it passed before the midterms. We talked to MS NOW opinion editor James Downie, author of a piece on Trump's deepening unpopularity. We discuss why Trump is losing both his base and the new voters he won in 2024, what opportunities that offers Democrats, whether the bottom is really falling out for good, and why Trump can't cheat his way out this time.  Looking for More from the DSR Network? Click Here: https://linktr.ee/deepstateradio Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Republicans are starting to break with Donald Trump's corrupt $1.8 billion slush fund. Vulnerable House GOPer Brian Fitzpatrick announced that he's pursuing legislation to block the fund. Other Republicans, including Senate Majority Leader John Thune, are raising serious questions about it. Relatedly, Trump let out a bizarre, angry tirade about Rep. Fitzpatrick. Trump ripped him for disloyalty, snarling that this “doesn't work out well” for Republicans. Though Trump's anger might not have been about Fitzpatrick's opposition to the slush fund, Fitzpatrick also opposes his ballroom. So this shows how Republicans are enraging Trump by running from his corruption. We talked to Salon's Amanda Marcotte, who argues that Trump's corruption will be his main legacy. We discuss new polling showing Trump at record economic lows; why the fund is deadly for the GOP; and why Trump's pathologies don't permit him to let Republicans get distance from him.  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 just endorsed MAGA nutjob Ken Paxton in the Texas GOP primary for Senate, potentially killing off establishment incumbent Senator John Cornyn. As GOP Senators absorbed this news, reporters described them as “visibly dismayed” and “stone-faced.” Senator Lisa Murkowski openly declared that Trump has now put the seat “in jeopardy,” asking: “How does that help strengthen the president's hand when we lose a state like Texas?” Translation: Trump has screwed himself and his party in a big way. This might cost them the seat, and at a minimum it makes it much harder to hold. So is Texas actually gettable for Democrats? We talked to Democratic operative Sawyer Hackett, a veteran of Texas races. He explains why Paxton is much weaker than Cornyn, why a perfect storm of conditions in the state could bring about the unthinkable, what Democrat James Talarico's path to victory looks like, and what could still go wrong for Democrats. 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 has reached a “settlement” with his Justice Department in a $10 billion lawsuit he brought against the IRS. Under it, DOJ will create a new $1.8 billion fund, controlled by Trump, that will dole out payments to allies who have supposedly been victimized by government “weaponization.” This could include the January 6 rioters. This has shocked legal observers, who called it everything from “horrible” to a “slush fund,” with others describing it as corruption that might be historically unprecedented. What happened here? Is there any recourse? Do Republicans really want to defend this, given that Trump's economic numbers just cratered again in a brutal New York Times poll? We talked to legal expert Harry Litman, who writes for The New Republic and hosts the Talking Feds podcast. He explains why this is likely illegal but almost impossible to stop; why it's so damaging to our system more broadly; and how Democrats can ensure that the GOP pays a major price for it this fall. Looking for More from the DSR Network? Click Here: https://linktr.ee/deepstateradio Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices