The DSR Daily for June 3: More Legal Roadblocks for Trump Admin

How are we supposed to concentrate on nuclear weapons dramas in the Middle East and the Koreas, new U.S. special forces deployments, Bibi Netanyahu doing his best Gallagher prop-comedy impression and all the other lunacy going on in the world with all the even more distracting lunacy going on in Washington? Can a strong mastery of acronyms help? Or is beer a better choice? Ploughshares Fund’s Joe Cirincione, Rosa Brooks of Georgetown University Law School and David Rothkopf go a little off the rails trying to figure out how to cope. The best answer they came up with is to look at the whole Trump presidency as a historical belch. (Look away and pretend it didn’t happen.) Tune in!Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/deepstateradio. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

3 Maj 201847min

Move are afoot--everywhere. In the Koreas, North and South are posturing pre-negotiations while back in the U.S. the president is writing his Nobel Prize acceptance speech. In the Middle East, Israel is working with the U.S. (and maybe the Saudis) to try to find a way to torpedo the Iran nuclear deal...and the Europeans are pushing hard in the other direction. Somewhere between the two U.S. policy masterminds (one with a bushy mustache) are trying to figure out how to blow up one nuclear deal while striking another (so the president can start packing or his trip to Oslo to pick up his hardware). Who is guiding these processes? Could it be Sarah Huckabee Sanders through her mascara laden tears? We discuss on this episode of Deep State Radio with David Sanger of the New York Times, Ed Luce of the Financial Times, Kori Schake of IISS and host, David Rothkopf, lost in New Jersey.Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/deepstateradio. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

1 Maj 201856min

Not since Chevy Chase's European Vacation has an American brought so much mayhem to U.S. Trans-Atlantic Relations. Perhaps new Secretary of State Mike Pompeo can start to make amends on his first trip as America's chief diplomat. But if the recent visit of French President Macron is any indication, it seems unlikely. For all the diplomatic foreplay between the two leaders, Macron achieved none of his goals...and the outlook for German Chancellor Merkel's trip is worse if anything. And don't even get us started on what's likely to happen when Trump visits the U.K. in a couple months. Rosa Brooks, Kori Schake, Julie Smith and Evelyn Farkas discuss...and throw in a few words on Kim Jong Un, Ric Grenell and Bill Cosby as well. (Hint: Kim comes out best.)Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/deepstateradio. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

26 Apr 201850min

With John Bolton loose in the West Wing, what will happen to US foreign policy? Deep State Radio's Rosa Brooks hosts in David Rothkopf's absence, joined by regulars Kori Schake of the International Institute for Strategic Studies and Ed Luce from the Financial Times, with a special guest appearance by Stanford University's Colin Kahl. Colin assures DSR listeners that Bolton's a nixer, not a fixer, and suggests we kiss the Iran nuclear deal goodbye. Ed and Kori wonder if there's any such thing as a Trump Whisperer, and contemplate the likely (non)-impact of French President Macron's visit to Washington. Rosa provides prophecies of doom and suggests that Trump's election was all Ed's fault. In this episode of Deep State Radio, the Ministry of Snark team covers the terrain from Mike Pompeo and Gina Haspel to prospects for progress on North Korea. Tune in!Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/deepstateradio. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

24 Apr 201852min

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!Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/deepstateradio. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

19 Apr 201848min

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!Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/deepstateradio. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

17 Apr 201851min

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!Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/deepstateradio. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

13 Apr 201848min

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.Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/deepstateradio. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

10 Apr 201853min