THE DAILY BLAST with Greg Sargent

Stephen Miller had a shouting match [https://x.com/AndrewDesiderio/status/1933196198762123455] Thursday with a GOP Senator over Miller’s demand for massive funds for deportations, which Republicans are debating right now. Yet at around the same time, President Donald Trump openly admitted [https://bsky.app/profile/gregsargent.bsky.social/post/3lrg5knuhfc2f] that his deportations are badly hurting farmers by removing their workers—and described those undocumented workers as “impossible to replace.” Miller is demanding supercharged deportation numbers on the grounds that migrants are criminals and/or displace U.S. workers, but Trump admitted Miller’s deportation agenda is targeting good, hard-working people who aren’t taking jobs from Americans and that their removal hurts the economy. This—along with the shocking manhandling [https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/12/us/politics/senator-alex-padilla-handcuffed.html] of Democratic Senator Alex Padilla by Homeland Security goons and the backlash to Trump’s dispatching of troops to Los Angeles—suggests the MAGA coalition is coming under serious strains on immigration. We talked about all this with Tori Gavito, the president of Way To Win, who also discusses the group’s new polling [https://waytowin.docsend.com/view/5awbx8jsxpsvucff] showing Democrats have an opening to go on offense on the issue. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices [https://megaphone.fm/adchoices]

News organizations have been credulously amplifying the White House’s spin that sending troops into Los Angeles is great politics for President Trump. But the evidence isn’t cooperating. On Tuesday, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt lost her temper amid tough questioning about Trump’s threat to unleash “force” on protesters. She snapped [https://x.com/atrupar/status/1932854540836995509] that one reporter had asked a “stupid question,” and seethed angrily [https://x.com/atrupar/status/1932855898713489804] at a second reporter’s legitimate query, showing how weak the White House’s arguments on this have truly become. And a new Quinnipiac poll [https://poll.qu.edu/poll-release?releaseid=3924] finds Trump’s approval tanking, crucially including on immigration. We talked to Jennifer Rubin, editor-in-chief of The Contrarian [https://contrarian.substack.com/], who has a new piece arguing [https://contrarian.substack.com/p/trump-wont-stop-with-california] that California is a test run for Trump. She explains why the media needs to do better at conveying just how unpopular Trump’s authoritarian tactics truly are—and why failing to do so could embolden him.  Looking for More from the DSR Network? Click Here: https://linktr.ee/deepstateradio [https://linktr.ee/deepstateradio] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices [https://megaphone.fm/adchoices]

On Tuesday, President Donald Trump issued a direct promise [https://x.com/BulwarkOnline/status/1932480403190784183] to use “heavy force” on protesters who dare show up to his military parade this weekend. He made no distinction between peaceful and violent protesters, an extraordinary threat of violence that he didn’t bother disguising. Trump has also repeatedly erupted in anger [https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/114659367372751138] at California Governor Gavin Newsom, ripping him with vile slurs [https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/114654893116531233] and telling dimwitted lies [https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/114659367372751138] about his administration’s decision to deploy federal troops in the Golden State. All this comes as a new YouGov poll [https://www.axios.com/2025/06/10/los-angeles-protest-national-guard-marine-trump-polling-disapprove-yougov] finds that only small minorities approve of his deployment of the National Guard and the Marines to Los Angeles, a striking rebuke given that Trump is staking so much on this battle. We talked to data analyst G. Elliott Morris, author of the Strength in Numbers Substack [https://www.gelliottmorris.com/], who explains why threats of authoritarian violence are not necessarily good politics for Trump—and why the media keeps credulously pretending otherwise. Looking for More from the DSR Network? Click Here: https://linktr.ee/deepstateradio [https://linktr.ee/deepstateradio] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices [https://megaphone.fm/adchoices]

Over the weekend, President Donald Trump ordered up the National Guard to deal with violence that broke out in Los Angeles amid protests of Trump’s immigration policies. This has angered California Governor Gavin Newsom, who is suing to stop it [https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2025/06/09/california-newsom-trump-lawsuit-national-guard/]. But then Trump expressly told reporters that he might send [https://x.com/atrupar/status/1932162408912404831] the Marines into California. He also openly endorsed the idea [https://x.com/atrupar/status/1932120283076276650] that federal law enforcement should arrest Newsom based on zero legal basis. Taken together, those moves show Trump’s perpetual threat to unleash troops on Americans getting much darker and more unnerving. We talked to former federal prosecutor Barbara McQuade, author of the book Attack from Within: How Disinformation is Sabotaging America [https://www.amazon.com/Attack-Within-Disinformation-Sabotaging-America/dp/164421363X]. She explains why Trump’s moves are increasingly lawless, how this is all posing a severe test to our system, and ponders whether we’re passing that test—or failing it.  Looking for More from the DSR Network? Click Here: https://linktr.ee/deepstateradio [https://linktr.ee/deepstateradio] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices [https://megaphone.fm/adchoices]

Fox News hosts have gotten very aggressive in pinning down Trump officials over the failures of Trump’s trade agenda. Stuart Varney sharply questioned [https://x.com/atrupar/status/1930986167337452023] a top official over the loss of manufacturing jobs in the latest jobs report, and Maria Bartiromo usefully prodded a second official [https://x.com/atrupar/status/1930983809899471196] over the failure to produce trade deals. Taken together, these constitute a surprise admission that the latest machinations involving Trump’s tariffs reveal that they aren’t coming close to having their advertised effects. Meanwhile, an extraordinary Washington Post report reveals that administration officials are scrambling [https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2025/06/06/doge-staff-cuts-rehiring-federal-workers/] to reverse large numbers of firings under Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency, another serious admission of what a fiasco DOGE remains. On today’s episode, economist Kathryn Edwards [https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/optimist-economy/id1802625282] usefully explains how all these developments reveal a deeper set of failings driving Trump’s vision and worldview, possibly putting us on a slow drift toward recession.  Looking for More from the DSR Network? Click Here: https://linktr.ee/deepstateradio [https://linktr.ee/deepstateradio] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices [https://megaphone.fm/adchoices]