The DSR Network

Words matter to the Trump administration, and their willingness to accept and embrace the most vile language and discourse is despicable. At the same time, popular media is normalizing the administration's antidemocratic agenda while we slide further into authoritarianism. Why can’t anybody call out the Trump administration for the authoritarian regime it is? Tune in as David Rothkopf and Norm Ornstein discuss this behavior, the dangers of Trump’s political discourse, and the state of our slowly dying democracy. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The other day, President Trump announced that he has bombed yet another boat allegedly carrying drugs in the Caribbean sea. He has now struck six boats, with 27 people dead, and the bombings have been widely denounced as illegal. Now, in a strange turn of events, The New York Times reports that the head of the military’s southern command, Alvin Holsey, is stepping down amid unclear circumstances. Did his resignation have anything to do with these bombings? Congressman Adam Smith of Washington State, the ranking Democrat on the House Armed Services Committee, thinks the answer is likely Yes. Smith talks to us about what he’s personally heard about the resignation and why it’s plausible that Holsey was removed over potential opposition to the bombings. He illuminates just how appallingly lacking in transparency the administration has been about the strikes, and vows that his committee will seek Holsey’s testimony about his departure, which could be very revealing indeed. Looking for More from the DSR Network? Click Here: https://linktr.ee/deepstateradio Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

As the government shutdown drags on, millions of Americans are being impacted. So what are the real consequences of the shutdown? How can Democrats lead in these tumultuous times? Senator Elissa Slotkin joins David Rothkopf to share an inside look at the shutdown, how Michiganders are feeling the effects of the shutdown and tariffs, how Democrats can step up, and more.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The national security landscape has radically transformed in the last ten months. To help make sense of the unprecedented policies of this administration, we welcome former National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan. Sullivan joins David Rothkopf and Ed Luce to explore Trump’s unpredictable approach to alliances, the Middle East, the US-China relationship, and more. Don't miss this critical discussion. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On the DSR Daily for Thursday, we discuss journalists turning in their press badges over new Pentagon guidelines, the Supreme Court leaning towards weakening the Voting Rights Act, a judge blocking further federal layoffs, and more.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Former special counsel Jack Smith just confirmed that he’d amassed extensive evidence that Donald Trump willfully and knowingly broke the law in stealing classified documents at the end of his first term. Smith’s report on this may never be released. But House Judiciary Committee chairman Jim Jordan helpfully exposed a big Trump ruse here. Jordan is demanding that Smith testify to “prove” the Justice Department was “weaponized” against Trump, as Trump wants him to do. But Jordan will never seek Smith’s report on classified documents! In today’s installment, legal scholar Matthew Seligman, a fellow at the Constitutional Law Center, illuminatingly explains how Jordan exposed the scam underlying Trump’s whole approach to DOJ: Everything is about suppressing facts that show the prosecutions of Trump were actually legitimate. Seligman also discusses the recent removals of career DOJ prosecutors, how they’re getting fired for not being corrupt on Trump’s behalf, and how Trump himself is admitting all this right in public.  Looking for More from the DSR Network? Click Here: https://linktr.ee/deepstateradio Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Predatory behavior and incoherence are the two words that come to mind when thinking about President Trump's foreign policy. How can our allies trust our promises when they are broken time and time again? Does the United States have global credibility anymore? Will we ever have it again? Stephen Walt joins David Rothkopf, Rosa Brooks, and Kori Schake to mourn the downfall of U.S. foreign policy and more. Looking for More from the DSR Network? Click Here: https://linktr.ee/deepstateradio Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On the DSR Daily for Wednesday, we cover the US killing 6 more alleged drug smugglers off Venezuela, aid trucks entering Gaza under the ceasefire agreement, leaked racist chats from Young Republican leaders, and more.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Speaking to reporters Tuesday, President Donald Trump seemed unusually crazed and power-mad, even for him. He imperiously refused to take a question from an ABC reporter as punishment for an interview with JD Vance that went badly. He boasted about cutting only Democratic programs. He confirmed he supports heinous new restrictions on media coverage of the Pentagon. And he threatened to nix federal funds to New York if “communist” Zohran Mamdani is elected mayor. We think all this suggests Trump is newly emboldened. We talked to Brian Beutler, author of a new piece about the urgency of the moment on his excellent Substack, “Off Message.” He explains the futility of news organizations paying bribes to Trump, why conventional politics will not suffice, how the resistance must find a new kind of politics to meet the moment, and what the “No Kings” protests might accomplish toward this end. Looking for More from the DSR Network? Click Here: https://linktr.ee/deepstateradio Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On the DSR Daily for Tuesday, we break down the hurdles facing the Gaza ceasefire, news outlets rebelling against new Pentagon rules, a Louisiana redistricting dispute at the Supreme Court, and more.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices