David Rothkopf

New York, Washington, D.C.

Contributing Columnist at The Daily Beast

Proud father & husband, CEO, The DSR Network, host, Deep State Radio; author of lots of books; columnist, Daily Beast, subscribe to my Substack "Need to Know."

Articles

Why Trump’s Unhinged War on Democrats Threatens Democracy Itself

1 week ago | thedailybeast.com | David Rothkopf

President Trump is seeking to unleash the full power of the federal government to punish Americans who do not share his political views. It is a step toward the single-party state of an autocracy. It is chilling. It is very likely illegal on many levels. And for a man who loves to wrap himself in the American flag, it is among the most profoundly un-American acts ever proposed or perpetrated by a citizen of this country.
We Better Pray That No Unexpected Crisis Hits While Trump Is President

1 week ago | newrepublic.com | David Rothkopf

If you live in the United States, you are in greater jeopardy today than you were six months ago. So is your family. So are your friends and neighbors. Virtually all of the most important parts of the U.S. government that were created to protect the U.S. from the greatest risks we face are being shut down, gutted, or marginalized.
We Better Pray That No Unexpected Crisis Hits While Trump Is President

1 week ago | yahoo.com | David Rothkopf

If you live in the United States, you are in greater jeopardy today than you were six months ago. So is your family. So are your friends and neighbors. Virtually all of the most important parts of the U.S. government that were created to protect the U.S. from the greatest risks we face are being shut down, gutted, or marginalized.
Trump Has Us On His Golden Escalator to Hell-But There is a Way Off

1 week ago | thedailybeast.com | David Rothkopf

Ten years ago this Monday, on June 16, 2015, Donald Trump entered American politics by descending on a golden escalator into the lobby of the monument to his greed and bad taste that he build on New York’s Fifth Avenue. Because so few New Yorkers wanted to have anything to do with a man who had spent his career establishing himself as the city’s most embarrassing resident, the crowd that cheered on the spectacle had to be augmented with paid actors portraying people who actually liked Trump.
How Iran Strikes Put Trump’s Impotence on Full Embarrassing Display

2 weeks ago | thedailybeast.com | David Rothkopf

While Iranians are sifting through the rubble caused by over 100 Israeli strikes on strategic targets across their country, questions about the Trump administration’s role in the strikes are swirling in the air in capitals worldwide. The narratives being peddled by the Israeli and U.S. governments are not making matters clearer. It does not help matters that both are notorious for their lies.
Is Trump’s Birthday Parade a Celebration of the Army or a Funeral Cortege for Democracy?

2 weeks ago | thedailybeast.com | David Rothkopf

One of the fundamental differences between democracies and dictatorships is how the military is viewed. In democracies, the armed forces are an instrument of national defense, serving the people. But in authoritarian states, the military becomes a weapon the government wields against its own citizens. This week, for the first time in our history, Americans are asking whether we have crossed a dangerous line in that regard.
Why Trump’s Premature Despotism in LA Should Terrify Us All

2 weeks ago | thedailybeast.com | David Rothkopf

He is so eager to be a king he can’t contain himself. His decision to send in the National Guard to put down the “threat” of a few dozen protestors in Los Angeles was as pathetic as it was repugnant.
Don’t Let Your Glee at Donald Trump-Elon Musk Make You Forget Your Loathing

3 weeks ago | thedailybeast.com | David Rothkopf

Don’t let your glee interfere with your loathing. Watching Trump and Musk slug it out on social media is entertaining. But the experience can be so heady that before you know it you’ve lost your bearings. Wait, what? Elon is going full WWE on Trump? He’s calling the one and only piece of legislation that Trump and MAGA have had a shot at passing this year “a disgusting abomination?” He’s saying Trump wouldn’t have won the election in 2024 without him? He’s making the old man real real mad?
Why Dems Have a Secret Super-Spreading Epidemic: Trump Envy

4 weeks ago | thedailybeast.com | David Rothkopf

Senior-level Democrats across the country are facing an epidemic. Some cases are benign, but in others it is quite acute, with symptoms resembling insanity. And in every instance, unless properly treated the consequences can be severe—not just for Democrats but for the whole country. The disease is Trump-envy. And according to the best minds at the Department of Health and Human Services—which is admittedly setting the bar pretty low these days—there is no known vaccine.
What Do We Even Call Our Current Trump Catastrophe?

1 month ago | thedailybeast.com | David Rothkopf

There is a lively debate about how many words for snow or different types of frozen water exist among the indigenous peoples of the Arctic. The numbers cited range between 30 and 300. Regardless of the particular linguistic theory to which you subscribe, the point is clear. If you live in a world in which snow is everywhere, you’re going to find many ways to describe it.