The DSR Network

Donald Trump has not “obliterated” Iran’s nuclear arms program as his administration would like you to believe, and now he is threatening to send another carrier battle group into the Persian Gulf. As tensions continue to rise in the Middle East, it is clear that the dialogue around nuclear arms control is not just a relic of the Cold War. Joe Cirincione and Jon Wolfsthal join David Rothkopf to di...

On the DSR Daily for Wednesday, we discuss the Congressional hearing on immigration oversight, the FDA rejecting a Moderna flu vaccine, growing calls for the resignation of Howard Lutnick, and more.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Donald Trump’s top trade adviser, Peter Navarro, just offered an extraordinary statement on Fox News. He admitted that we should lower our expectations for job creation because of Trump’s success in removing immigrants from the country. In essence, Navarro suggested it was a good thing to have lower jobs numbers provided the (supposed) cause is higher deportations, and confirmed that removing immi...

On the DSR Daily for Tuesday, we discuss Democrats rejecting a White House proposal for a DHS deal, lawmakers accusing the DOJ of inappropriately redacting the Epstein files, top immigration officials set to testify before the House, and more.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Donald Trump was initially angry over the decision to feature Bad Bunny in the Super Bowl halftime show. But then, as he performed, Trump’s rage worsened: In a furious rant, he claimed the show was a “slap in the face” to our country, that Bad Bunny’s use of Spanish means “nobody understands a word this guy is saying,” and that the show was “absolutely terrible.” Other MAGA figures fumed that the...

The explosion of artificial intelligence has been a huge boon for leaders in the tech space. But many of us outside of Silicon Valley aren’t fans. So where does this hate for AI moguls come from. MIT Technology Review editor in chief Mat Honan joins David Rothkopf to discuss his recent coverage of Davos, reasons to be optimistic and skeptical about developing trends in AI, and what comes next.  Th...

On the DSR Daily for Monday, we break down MAGA outrage over Bad Bunny’s halftime show, Trump keeping Democrat governors out of a White House meeting, the Pentagon cutting ties with ‘woke’ Harvard, and more Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

After Donald Trump posted a viciously racist meme depicting the Obamas as apes, a self-identified three-time Trump voter called in to C-Span and unloaded. He described the meme as an “embarrassment to our country,” apologized for backing Trump, called out his lying and bribe-taking, and ripped him as “rotten” and “pathetic.” This comes after many Republicans condemned the post, leading the White H...

On the DSR Weekly Wrap-up for February 6th, we discuss Iran/US talks in Oman, Senate negotiations over funding DHS, an impending fight over the SAVE America Act, and more.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The release of the Epstein files is the story of the year. Or at least it would be if this administration wasn’t responsible for a new story of the year every week. So how has our intrepid American media responded to each successive crisis? Not well. Dan Froomkin and Jeff Jarvis join David Rothkopf to explore why our media and journalists haven’t risen to the occasion and why they’re letting the F...

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt lost her temper with a reporter who asked if Donald Trump intends to flood polling places with ICE agents during the midterms. She called the question “silly” and “hypothetical” and “disingenuous,” even though Steve Bannon, who’s influential in the White House, explicitly said this week that this will happen. This comes as Trump himself called for Repub...

Welcome to another week in Trump’s America. The President is “renovating” the Kennedy Center a la the East Wing of the White House, the Washington Post continues it’s descent into darkness, and MAGA cronies are looking for any way to undermine democratic elections this November. What is going on in America? David Rothkopf and Norm Ornstein discuss all this and more. Looking for More from the DSR N...

On the DSR Daily for Thursday, we break down Trump’s growing campaign funds ahead of the 2026 midterms, ICE facing a setback from a federal judge in Oregon, the Supreme Court unanimously rejecting a GOP challenge to California’s election map, and more.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Donald Trump just claimed in an interview that the events in Minnesota suggest that ICE needs to use a “softer touch.” He also struggled to create the impression that he’s been working constructively with local officials there. While all this is just spin, it reveals an awareness that these events have put him in a politically weak position. Indeed, this comes as Trump’s plans for vast migrant pri...

The Epstein files aren’t just about one man - they are a mirror reflecting the culture of shamelessness among the elite. Why are the wealthy elites above the law? Will this be the signature scandal of our times? Rosa Brooks, Ed Luce and David Rothkopf discuss the two-tiered justice system that persists in America, the implications of the Epstein files, and more. Looking for More from the DSR Netwo...

In a high-profile speech, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney recently declared "We are in the midst of a rupture, not a transition." US government officials and many others interpreted the comment to refer at least in part to the dramatic developments in US-Canada relations in the past year. Meanwhile, the US and Canadian energy systems are deeply interconnected. Join host David Sandalow as he ta...

On the DSR Daily for Wednesday, we cover a reduction of ICE officers in Minneapolis, Trump signing a bill to end the government shutdown, Israeli strikes killing 20 in Gaza, and more.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

After The New York Times reported that President Trump has backtracked on a major demand he’d made on Harvard University, he spiraled out of control in three wild tirades. He angrily insisted on a correction from the Times, and levied unhinged new threats against Harvard, demanding a new billion-dollar extortion payment while calling for the university’s criminal prosecution. Harvard officials cle...

On the DSR Daily for Tuesday, we discuss an impending House vote to end the partial government shutdown, Trump urging Republicans to nationalize elections, the requirement for federal agents in Minneapolis to wear body cams, and more.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Donald Trump is making it explicit. In an angry diatribe to a right-wing podcaster, Trump told his usual lies about vote-cheating by undocumented immigrants, but this time he explicitly called on Republicans to “take over the voting.” He also darkly promised something new out of Georgia, where his FBI is investigating an election center. He singled out supposed fraud in Minnesota, lying that he wo...

On the DSR Daily for Monday, we break down Trump ordering DHS to cease federal intervention in protests, the Kennedy Center closing for two years, reports of Iran and the US moving towards high-level talks in Turkey, and more.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Donald Trump appears in deep denial about how widely hated his ICE raids have become. He let out a strange, rambling tirade to reporters about how the “silent majority” is still behind what ICE is doing, bizarrely citing approval of the raids among his own White House employees to make the case. In another rant, he lied uncontrollably about the protesters, about crime in Minneapolis, and more. Int...

President Trump and the GOP are in a growing panic over ICE. Trump’s advisers are sinking into recriminations. Republican officials are publicly admitting that his immigration agenda “seems to be not working” and that the GOP is “losing” the political battle over it. Others are suggesting that Alex Pretti’s killing was “murder” and that it’s time to “recalibrate.” Yet MAGA figures are pulling in t...

Public outcry against Trump’s authoritarian takeover of US cities is growing. As it turns out, Americans oppose a police state. Even a significant number of Republicans are growing discontent with ICE as their thuggish violence increases. What happens now? Can we make this a turning point for safeguarding our democracy? David Corn joins Rosa Brooks and David Rothkopf to discuss the importance of p...

Is the U.S.-China AI rivalry a zero-sum game? While the race for technical dominance heats up, both nations are taking radically different paths to the finish line. MIT Technology Review’s Caiwei Chen and the FT’s John Thornhill join host David Rothkopf to explore where China currently holds the edge—and why the "us versus them" framework fails to capture the true complexity of the AI landscape. T...