Deep State Radio

When Donald Trump thinks about Kim Jong Un he sees Stormy Daniels. At least he sees what he saw that night long ago with Ms. Daniels, which is something that he wanted very very much, that he needed to the exclusion of everything else. He yearns for what Kim and Kim alone can give him. And that is a taste of historical redemption, something that might change the narrative that even Trump can see is being written about him being the most corrupt and inept president in American history. Which could lead to the master of the art of the deal getting taken in a negotiation. Will it happen? Will the mustachioed man at the president's side allow it? We discuss this and the other usual mayhem with Rosa Brooks, Ed Luce and Sam Vinograd on this podisode. Join us!

The Syria strike was likely highly ineffective due to the fact that it was limited in impact, came without a long-term strategy or much likelihood of follow-up actions to end the use of chemical weapons or the wholesale slaughter of Syrians. But wait, it gets worse: It was also an illegal strike by almost every measure. But hey, that's not a bug it's a feature of the Trump approach to the presidency and life. He's one of those people who sees the law as something only little people must deal with. We discuss what that means for him, U.S. foreign policy, and this teetering presidency with Oona Hathaway of Yale Law School, Susan Hennessey of Lawfare, Kim Ghattas of the Carnegie Endowment and our own Rosa Brooks of Georgetown Law School. Tune in!

Every day in Trumpassic Era seems like a million years in geological time. Sex scandals, echoes of old pee tapes, pending missile strikes in search of a strategy, waves of national security experts leaving the White House, the president calling the former FBI director a “lying slimebag”, the FBI director launching a book that is the most stunning attack by a top former official on a sitting president in memory…and the president, according to his staff, just sitting around fuming, eating and watching TV. It’s a mad whirl and we’ve got it all right up to, but not including, the Khloe-Tristan cheating scandal. Tune in to a great Deep State Radio featuring Rosa Brooks, Kori Schake and Mieke Eoyang!

John Bolton’s first day as National Security Advisor presents him with the kind of opportunities he has waited his entire life for—a choice between worsening relations and possible military action against Syria, Iran and North Korea. Where will he succeed in making Trump’s terrible instincts worse? Or is there a chance he might become in his new role a more responsible voice creating a constructive meaningful process that produces wise policy outcomes. (Nah. There isn’t a Tiara of Optimism big or powerful enough to expect that outcome.) Join us as we discuss with the Angels of Doom—Rosa Brooks and Sam Vinograd, the reigning holder of the Tiara of Optimism, Kori Schake and the wise (and therefore pessimistic) Julie Smith.

The day after Trump leaves office some things will change immediately (like a terrible management style or diplomacy via Twitter or bad relations with Mexico) and some things will take years to fix (like the institutions we have broken or repairing our standing as a reliable partner.). On this episode of Deep State Radio Kori Schake of the IISS, Rosa Brooks of Georgetown, Kelly Magsamen of the Center for American Progress and host David Rothkopf discuss how America and the world should prepare for a moment that may be approaching faster than we think...but will get here sooner or later inevitably.

Perhaps its his fear of an impending Oprah candidacy but Donald Trump seems to be embracing her tactic of great generosity to her audience. In his case, it is of course, the audience of one he covets most...the one in the Kremlin. And so in this week's episode of Trump's reality television show he has decided--after attacking our neighbors to the South (Mexico), a big American company (Amazon), and the U.S. Department of Justice--to give a big reward to Putin by reportedly inviting him to a White House meeting. This is the kind of reward presidents reserve only for special friends--and think of what Putin has done to deserve it. Yes, Just think of it. That's what our Rosa Brooks, Kori Schake and special guest Kelly Magsamen from the Center for American Progress do on this episode of Deep State Radio. Tune in!

It looks like the Trump-Kim Summit is a thing. A real thing. That’ll likely happen this Spring. At least, all indicators were pointing in that direction following Kim Jong Un’s stealthy train trip from Pyongyang to Beijing this past week and the follow up announcement that meetings with Chinese leader Xi Jinping were productive and that Kim was willing to discuss the de-nuclearization of the Korean Peninsula. Whatever that may mean. We discuss the trip, the winners, the losers and how John Bolton’s mustache will fare at the negotiating table. Also: a look at the latest news about Trump and Russia and whether it will actually take a revealing photo showing Trump’s full-body Russian mafia tattoo (a la “Eastern Promises”) to prove to the GOP leadership that Comrade T has all along been the star of “The Hunt for Orange November”, a sequel that we definitely did not need. Join Rosa Brooks, Ed Luce and David Sanger and host David Rothkopf for this latest episode!

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh! Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh! Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh! David Sanger of the New York Times, Rosa Brooks of Georgetown University Law Center, Evelyn Farkas of the Atlantic Council and Edward Luce of the Financial Times elucidate. Tune in!

He doesn't love democracy. He is aging. He, frankly, doesn't run with a very nice crowd. Oh, and there are all those invasions and murders and all that spying and so on. But Vladimir Putin has now won four elections to be Russia's president...and is two-for-two in major superpower elections in the past couple years. Where can this lead...and what happens if Trump turns up the heat on his patron anytime soon? Plus--what would be the consequences of ditching the Iran deal (as the U.S. now seems likely to do)? For the Middle East? For North Korea? Rosa Brooks, Kori Schake, Ed Luce and David Rothkopf discuss. Join us.

A recent article in the Atlantic echoed a discussion we had not too long on Deep State Radio about whether or not we are in a "constitutional crisis." The conclusion was we face "rot" not a crisis right now. But is that worse than a crisis because it inures us to a problem without motivating us to confront and change it? And is there something worse, an underlying cultural crisis that threaten our society in even more grievous ways? Kori Schake, Rosa Brooks, Ed Luce and David Rothkopf discuss. Tune in.

With so much focus on scandal, corruption, nuclear war, racism, isolationism, protectionism, and nationalism in the era of Trump, we sometimes lose site of the little things. Like the future. Or the urgent problems we have to solve. Or the truth. On this episode of Deep State Radio Georgetown University's Rosa Brooks, IISS Deputy Director General Kori Schake and Vice President for the National Security Program at Third Way Mieke Eoyang debate the people, processes and mind-sets that are our problem and what to do about them. And they defend the idea of objective truth, even visiting for a bit with most famous ever Bishop of Cloyne, George Berkeley. Fun? Right? Join us.

Every feel like you're living inside a washing machine in the middle of the spin cycle? We hope it's not because you have a Tide pod in your mouth. Instead, if you're like the typical Deep State Radio listener its because you have a fairly acute addiction to cable news and social media. We'd cure it if we could. But for now, the best we can do is help you manage it by talking about the very latest news including the Twitter-firing of Rex Tillerson and everything it triggered with a great group of experts including Ambassador Nicholas Burns of Harvard, Kori Schake of the IISS, Evelyn Farkas of the Atlantic Council and Ed Luce of the Financial Times. Don't miss it.

It's an old rule of improv comedy that you have to play along with the premise you are presented with. It's a rule apparently that the old show biz wannabe who is currently president of the United States took to heart last week when he jumped on North Korean dictatorial dumpling Kim Jong Un's invitation to have a sit down. He said "yes" before he or anyone on his staff had the slightest idea about what that might mean. And now the world has to figure out what to do with this new wrinkle. Fortunately, Deep State Nerds have this episode with Third Way's Mieke Eoyang, The Alliance for Securing Democracy's Laura Rosenberger, IISS' Kori Schake and Georgetown University's Rosa Brooks. It's a great one. Don't miss it.

Russia scored its biggest recent victory in its on-going war against western democracies with the victories of the right wing in the recent Italian election. It ranks right behind the Trump victory and the Brexit vote. But the reality is some of what Russia is doing is winning and some of what is happening is just us losing. We're making mistakes and often, not even making the minimum basic effort to protect ourselves. Our experts, David Sanger, Ed Luce, Rosa Brooks and Bob Hormats, discuss on the latest Deep State Radio. Tune in.

What's more screwed up in the White House--personnel or policy? There's virtually no senior advisor to the President who hasn't left or been rumored to be on their way out. (With the exception of Trump's Igor, Stephen Miller, who will be flattering his boss and promoting institutionalized racism until the very last day of the administration.) There is almost no policy area where the policy approach has not been ill-considered and contradicted by someone in the administration. Our experts including former Under Secretary of State Bob Hormats, David Sanger of the New York Times, Ed Luce of the Financial Times and Rosa Brooks of Georgetown University discuss the latest developments in both areas--from the departure of Hope Hicks to some really really bad 1920's vintage trade policies. Tune in.