State. They ARE NOT the career people who have held these positions without any problems, while serving under both Democratic and Republican administrations. These patriotic and honorable people are members of the Department of State, The DOJ, the DOD, and others, who serve the nation and NOT a party or a president.

If there is any deep state, it has been brought in by the Trump Administration. With the consolidation of the Trump Administration, there has been a concerted effort to hollow out some of these departments. As we know, of the closest advisors to Trump, only loyalists and yes men remain. That is the only way they get the job. There is no one left to protect us from him or him from himself.

Our foreign policy, such as it is, is executed on a whim or by way of back channels, by the likes of Guiliani, Prince, Flynn, and most likely other attempts at shady/illegal deals, outside of any transparency.

The attempts to high jack our foreign policy and our Depart of Justice for political and/or financial gain are the "deep state", except that they are too clumsy (in the fashion of Watergate Burglers) to actually be clandestine or deep.