Podcast
THE DAILY BLAST with Greg Sargent
Hosted by Greg Sargent · EN
Every weekday, The New Republic’s Greg Sargent brings you a fresh way of thinking about the biggest political stories of the moment, offered up in an entertaining, information-packed conversation with a leading lawmaker, journalist, or newsmaker. We go deep into the stories behind the headlines leading TNR and other news outlets—while making it fun and fast.
85episodes
Episodes
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Trump 250 Gala Grows More Humiliating as Fox Grapples with Low Turnout
2d ago00:24:19Tap to summarizeAfter 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
Transcribe →Trump Blurts Out Plot to Rig Midterms So Vile It Even Shocks GOPers
3d ago00:20:15Tap to summarizeDonald 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
Transcribe →Angry Trump Snaps at Media over Iran as Fox Hits Him with Brutal Poll
4d ago00:23:25Tap to summarizeDonald 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
Transcribe →Trump Rages over Reflecting Pool Fiasco as Arrests over it Grow Darker
5d ago00:25:11Tap to summarizeDonald 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
Transcribe →Krugman: Trump’s Unnerving Mental Breakdown Signals Nation in Decline
6d ago00:29:29Tap to summarizeDonald 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
Transcribe →Angry and Rattled, Trump’s Fox Allies Blurt It Out on Live TV: He Lost
1w ago00:23:47Tap to summarizeDonald 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
Transcribe →Trumpworld Quietly Shivs JD Vance as Damning Leaks Discredit Iran Deal
2w ago00:24:56Tap to summarizeSources 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
Transcribe →Trump’s Dimwitted Tirade on Iran Deal Accidentally Reveals It’s a Sham
2w ago00:22:00Tap to summarizeNow 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
Transcribe →Trump Rages at Jamie Raskin—and Accidentally Hands Dems Midterm Weapon
2w ago00:20:57Tap to summarizeDonald 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
Transcribe →Trump Hits Record-Breaking Low in Polls as Aides Leak: He’s “Furious”
2w ago00:21:31Tap to summarizeDonald 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
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