THE DAILY BLAST with Greg Sargent

Latest Episodes:

Trump’s Fury over Abrego Garcia Case Darkens as Crushing New Polls Hit Apr 28, 2025

Show notes

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

Looking for More from the DSR Network? Click Here: https://linktr.ee/deepstateradio

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Trump’s Surprise Admission about Putin Wrecks “Great Dealmaker” Scam Apr 25, 2025

Show notes

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

Looking for More from the DSR Network? Click Here: https://linktr.ee/deepstateradio

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Trump Suddenly in Retreat on Many Issues as Poll Reveals Key Weakness Apr 24, 2025

Show notes

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

Looking for More from the DSR Network? Click Here: https://linktr.ee/deepstateradio

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

“Madness”: Trump Tariff Fiasco Suddenly Worsens amid Brutal Poll Drop Apr 23, 2025

Show notes

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

Looking for More from the DSR Network? Click Here: https://linktr.ee/deepstateradio

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

“Full-Blown Meltdown”: Don Jr. and MAGA Rage as GOPers Turn on Hegseth Apr 22, 2025

Show notes

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

Looking for More from the DSR Network? Click Here: https://linktr.ee/deepstateradio

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Trump’s Ugly New MS-13 Ramblings Wreck His Case Against Abrego Garcia Apr 21, 2025

Show notes

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

Looking for More from the DSR Network? Click Here: https://linktr.ee/deepstateradio

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Trump’s Fury at Harvard Darkens as GOPer Openly Admits: “We’re Afraid” Apr 18, 2025

Show notes

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

Looking for More from the DSR Network? Click Here: https://linktr.ee/deepstateradio

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Fiasco for Trump as Judge Threatens Contempt amid New Warning in Polls Apr 17, 2025

Show notes

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

Looking for More from the DSR Network? Click Here: https://linktr.ee/deepstateradio

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Trump’s Unhinged Eruption at Harvard Actually Reveals Big MAGA Weakness Apr 16, 2025

Show notes

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

Looking for More from the DSR Network? Click Here: https://linktr.ee/deepstateradio

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

“Horrifying”: Trump’s Angry New Rants to Media Openly Defy SCOTUS Apr 15, 2025

Show notes

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

Looking for More from the DSR Network? Click Here: https://linktr.ee/deepstateradio

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Our TOPPODCAST Picks

Follow Us

Stay Connected

THE DAILY BLAST with Greg Sargent

Related Podcasts

Links

Stay Connected