A CIA Veteran Says Trump Is Using "National Security" the Way Dictators Do. He's Seen It Before.

Steve Cash from The Steady State is back on the show this week. He spent his career as a prosecutor, CIA counterterrorism officer, and DHS intelligence official. He also lived and worked in countries run by authoritarian leaders. What he's watching happen in the United States right now looks familiar.In this conversation, Grant and Steve break down how "national security" has become the Trump administration's all-purpose justification for avoiding oversight, accountability, and logic. When everything is national security, Steve argues, nothing is.They also get into the other half of the story: the ballroom, the arch, the UFC cage going up on the White House lawn, the reflecting pool redesign, Trump Penn Station. What does it mean when a sitting president is spending war cabinet meetings talking about monument construction?Steve Cash is a co-founder of The Steady State, a national security organization made up of former intelligence, diplomatic, and defense officials. CHAPTERS:0:00 The ballroom, the bunker, and what Trump keeps giving away about White House security2:39 Dictator aesthetic: why authoritarian leaders always build monuments to themselves7:28 "Dictator chic" and the architecture of power from Saddam Hussein to Mar-a-Lago9:20 The UFC cage on the White House lawn and the logic of bread and circuses11:13 The juxtaposition: a national security bunker next to an open-air arena for 5,000 people13:35 Sebastian Gorka's counterterrorism strategy and labeling political opponents as terrorists16:00 When "national security threat" means anyone who disagrees with Trump17:39 The Soviet playbook: how making everything national security makes nothing national security19:11 Sponsor: Cozy Earth21:00 How do we trust national security assessments after Trump? Can it be rebuilt?22:13 Steve's Churchill analogy: we're still fighting on the beaches24:30 The six biggest national security threats in the next six months26:58 Trump's claim we don't need the Strait of Hormuz, Cuba, Venezuela, and a president who can't keep the wars straight28:18 Trump's health, his inability to track facts, and what it means when we can't trust any information30:08 How to fight back: get smart, find allies, embrace the risk, and hold fastLINKS:The Steady State: https://www.thesteadystate.orgSteady State Substack: https://steadystate1.substack.com/Subscribe on Substack: Mimsnewspod.substack.comSupport the showFollow along on social media SaySo: @GrantHermes X: @GrantHermesInsta: @Grant__HermesTiktok: Grant_Hermes