THE DAILY BLAST with Greg Sargent

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

Donald Trump desperately wants the world to recognize his world-historical defeat of Iran. In an extended tirade, Trump raged wildly at a New York Times reporter, insisting his victory is absolute. He claimed the Times is failing, accusing the journalist of being a “fake guy” and declaring his coverage betrays America: “I actually think it’s treason.” This is revealing: His insistence on having won reveals that Trump doesn’t get that military force alone can’t force open the Strait of Hormuz—meaning he doesn’t grasp the situation at the most fundamental level, perhaps his biggest failing of all. We talked to political scientist David Faris, who’s been writing well on this fiasco. We discuss how Trump got little out of China, why his failures abroad mean more authoritarianism at home, why that combination will do severe long-term damage to America, and how Trump suffers from “dictator envy.”  Looking for More from the DSR Network? Click Here: https://linktr.ee/deepstateradio Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

NBC News reports that some vulnerable Republicans are privately worried about use of the slogan “MAGA majority” to describe the GOP effort to hold the House. Why? Because the term “MAGA” puts Trump “front and center,” as NBC puts it. That’s quite an admission of Trump’s toxicity. Meanwhile, CNN’s Harry Enten reports on new polling that finds his disapproval on gas prices at 79 percent, higher than under any other president. That disapproval is shared by 85 percent of independents and even 52 percent of Republicans, which Enten describes as “scary” for the GOP. Mona Charen, a writer for The Bulwark, has a good piece arguing that high gas prices are dovetailing with public revelations about Trump’s corruption to produce a particularly toxic combination for him. So we talked to Charen about why that double whammy is so potent, why corruption is a sleeper issue in the midterms, and why the GOP panic is a real moment of poetic justice. Looking for More from the DSR Network? Click Here: https://linktr.ee/deepstateradio Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The fallout continues from Donald Trump’s startling rant admitting that he isn’t concerned with how the Iran war is impacting Americans’ finances. On Wednesday, JD Vance, Mike Johnson, and numerous other Republicans struggled to spin away the damage, but they appeared visibly flummoxed. Indeed,  the GOP cracks are worsening: Three GOP Senators just voted to end the war. And shocking leaks to The New York Times reveal that Iran still retains substantial military capabilities, directly undercutting Trump’s boasts of success. We talked to international relations expert Nicholas Grossman, who has a good piece on this whole fiasco. We discuss why those leaks are so damning, why the economic and political fallout from the war is only just beginning, and why Trump’s megalomaniacal understanding of the situation has left him fundamentally cornered. 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 by crushing new inflation data: Consumer prices rose at their fastest rate in several years. Importantly, Trump’s war with Iran is a big driver of it, and he can’t find a way out. Meanwhile, a new CNN poll shows his standing on the economy sliding to its lowest point in either term. No wonder Trump erupted angrily at a reporter who quizzed him over prices, deriding her as “stupid.” He also seethed at a journalist who asked about his ballroom, calling her “dumb.” Yet despite all this, there are signs that GOP hopes are rebounding due to gerrymandering and other factors. So we talked to Democratic strategist Simon Rosenberg, who’s been arguing that the economic fundamentals won’t change in time for the GOP. We discuss the mixed signals in the polling data, why Trump has long been so strong on the economy, why that’s finally changing, and what Democrats can do to overcome their lingering brand problems. Looking for More from the DSR Network? Click Here: https://linktr.ee/deepstateradio Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We’ve noticed a jarring disconnect. Even as Donald Trump’s mental decline visibly worsens, his aides’ cultlike praise for him is proportionately growing. To wit: A top spokesperson offered a bizarre rationalization for his deranged new “proposal” to turn Venezuela into the 51st state. She also attempted to portray him as wielding absolute mastery over Iran, but accidentally exposed his lack of concern over soaring prices. And his propagandists lashed out at a reporter for sharing an image of Trump sleeping through an event. The decline is accelerating, yet the cult-worship is off the charts. Runing through all this is something dark: His sycophants know he’s passing from the scene, and no one is allowed to admit it. We talked to New Republic writer Virginia Heffernan, author of a great piece plumbing MAGA psychology. We discuss fresh signs of Trump’s sunsetting, the huge vacuum his passing will leave at the core of the right wing, and why his supporters are akin to an “end-stage cult.”  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 Virginia supreme court blocked the Democratic redistricting plan, which would have netted Democrats four more House seats, Donald Trump celebrated. He called the ruling a “huge win” over a “horrible gerrymander.” But Trump himself has ordered many GOP states to gerrymander maximally. So here Trump openly declared that Republicans reserve the right to rig elections while Democrats do not. His actual position is that he and Republicans should play by their own corrupt rules, and that it's good for the election to be rigged in their favor. This comes as a new Marist poll shows Democrats leading in the generic House matchup by 10 points. Though polling averages have it at 5 points, if Marist is a leading indicator that hints at a blue wave. We talked to Ari Berman of Mother Jones, the great voting rights reporter. We discuss the Virginia ruling, why democracy can’t function when one party serially cheats and rigs elections, why Democrats must respond, and what their long-term strategy should 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

Officials have leaked word to The Washington Post that they believe Iran can survive Donald Trump’s blockade of the Strait of Hormuz for three to four months without experiencing severe economic pain. Also, Iran has kept far more of its missiles and drones than previously known. Those are surely his worst screw-ups yet, given that he’s repeatedly insisted both that the regime is in terminal collapse and that Iran's military has been obliterated. This comes as The Wall Street Journal reports that his advisers are increasingly unnerved by the political price Republicans will pay over the closed strait. Those are related: The new revelations suggest the war could go on longer than expected, which is exactly what his advisers fear will worsen the GOP’s political mess. We talked to New Republic staff writer Tim Noah, who’s been writing well about Trump’s failures. We discuss why the war’s political fallout could last many months, how Trump voters are facing a perfect storm of disastrous policies, and what to expect in 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

Donald Trump has been raging at Pope Leo’s criticism of the Iran war for weeks, and he just unleashed his most vile attack yet. Trump accused the Pope of “endangering a lot of Catholics” by advocating for peace. Yet a new Washington Post poll finds that Trump is losing this battle very badly. Large majorities react negatively to Trump’s claims about the Pope, and even more strikingly, big majorities approve of the Pope’s message of peace, even though Trump is bombarding America with relentless lies and propaganda about both the Pope and the war. We talked to scholar-of-religion Sarah Posner, who writes for Talking Points Memo and hosts the Reign of Error podcast. We discuss why this polling is encouraging in non-obvious ways, why there’s a schism between white Evangelicals and Catholics over Trump, how MAGA encourages Trump to imagine himself fighting a spiritual war against the Pope, and why that’s a political disaster for 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 hasn’t thought this one through. Politico reports that Republicans are grappling with rising “anxiety” about the midterms. A key reason: Trump’s obsession with his ballroom and other pet projects is muddying the GOP economic message. That’s bad enough. Worse, Republicans just agreed to seek $1 billion in taxpayer money for the ballroom. Though this is allegedly for security, vulnerable Republicans will hate having to defend this. It’s not just that they themselves are lamenting that the project is distracting from their message. It’s also that the ballroom is already deeply unpopular and they’re now tied more tightly to it. We talked to political scientist Tom Schaller, author of a good piece on Trump’s “vanity presidency.” He explains why the ballroom is so deadly for the GOP, how Trump is creating a uniquely “personalist” form of presidential rule, and why Trump’s megalomania actually matters to the voters who will help decide 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

Last week, the Supreme Court gutted protections against racial gerrymandering, and Donald Trump is already urging Republicans to capitalize on it. We recently wrote that Trump has no idea what this will unleash, and that’s the topic of today’s episode. Indeed, Trump unleashed a Truth Social rant on Monday urging GOP state legislatures to maximize the gerrymandering, insisting this would net an additional 20 congressional seats in the midterms. In short, Trump didn’t bother concealing that this corrupt scheme is only about holding power amid cratering public support—which absolutely requires Democrats to respond. We talked to Max Flugrath of the voting rights group Fair Fight Action. We discuss how Democrats can undertake retaliatory redistrictings of their own, what the roadmap ahead for this looks like, and why it’s absolutely possible for Democrats to neutralize the GOP advantage.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Donald Trump has declared the war “terminated,” but he’s still rejecting Iran’s peace proposals while again threatening it with massive war crimes. And in an interview, Trump declared that he would never have approved an offer that was made to Iran by his negotiator, Steve Witkoff. This is a damning admission: He seemed to blurt out that he has no idea what his own representatives are offering—showing deep disengagement from the details of the talks—while demonstrating that anything his negotiators offer should not be believed. Meanwhile, Republicans are beginning to break with Trump: Politico reports that he “could soon face far more resistance.” We talked to MS NOW’s Steve Benen. He explains why Trump’s admission was so self-incriminating, why it reveals something much bigger about our crisis, why we may see more GOP defections soon, and what to look for next.  Looking for More from the DSR Network? Click Here: https://linktr.ee/deepstateradio Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Public polls are showing that Democrats now have the advantage over Republicans on the economy, a milestone. Strikingly, Politico reports that a newly-leaked memo from a GOP-aligned group actually confirms the same thing. The memo warns that the group’s internal polling and research “show that for the first time, Democrats are more trusted on the economy and inflation.” It also warns that Republicans are in serious danger of losing the Senate, and strongly urges Republicans to overhaul their economic messaging in a big way. That is an absolute fiasco for Trump: It’s his economy that is putting the GOP in such grave danger. Indeed, this comes as inflation just spiked again. We talked to New Republic staff writer Monica Potts, who’s been doing good reporting on how ordinary Americans are experiencing the economy. We discuss why the GOP midterm panic is such a damning indictment of Trump, why Democrats leading on the issue is a sea change, and how they can seize control over our economic debates in a more ambitious way. 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 use of state power to persecute his enemies is escalating. The Justice Department indicted James Comey for allegedly threatening Trump with a social media post of seashells spelling “86 47.” Officials are also threatening to punish more media companies for angering the despot. The Comey case is already backfiring: Now that the details have been released, legal experts have mercilessly picked it apart from numerous angles. Even Fox News is quoting experts dismantling it. And Trump himself made it look even more absurd by claiming he knows “86” means “kill” because he saw it...in a gangster movie. When these efforts fizzle, the MAGA base will see the mighty Trump failing once again. We talked to former Federal prosecutor Barbara McQuade, author of The Fix: Saving America from the Corruption of a Mob-Style Government. She explains the deep flaws in the Comey indictment, how Trump’s prosecutors are committing flagrant violations themselves, and what accountability for Trump’s accomplices could look like later. 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, economist Paul Krugman lays out an expansive case that Donald Trump holds a losing hand in the war with Iran. Krugman argues that Trump can’t seem to admit that the Strait of Hormuz problem has cornered him. Krugman also details why the situation could get worse, if Iran continues holding out and constraints on oil supply drive the global economy into recession. As Krugman puts it, this will keep getting uglier for Trump until he “swallows his pride” and accepts that he doesn’t hold the cards. This builds on the piece Krugman posted on his Substack arguing that time is on Iran’s side. Gas prices just hit a new high, and Republicans quietly fear their midterm prospects are darkening due to what Trump has unleashed. Krugman takes us through these dynamics, notes that Trump is obsessing over his ballroom in search of a win, and explains why this all could tailspin further 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