A historic thing happened at Friday’s White House press conference. And it was so brief it could have easily been missed.

There was a short exchange between White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer and a reporter, who asked if the White House acknowledged the existence of a “deep state” – the entrenched government bureaucracy and those in intelligence agencies who continue in their posts, formulating policy regardless of which party is in power.

Spicer did not deny the existence of such a deep state, but replied to the question that it should come as “no surprise” that elements loyal to the previous president’s polices had “burrowed” into the government and were actively seeking to undermine Donald Trump’s reform efforts.

Over the last week, the existence of a “deep state” has been much discussed in western mainstream media.

Only a month ago, use of the term was enough to have one dismissed as a “conspiracy theorist.” Now it is being openly acknowledged at White House press conferences.

Judge Andrew Napolitano, appearing on Lou Dobbs, laid out in very clear language just what Donald Trump means for the established order:

This is the first time in the modern era that the man in the oval office has been an adversary of the Deep State, rather than a tool of it.

Monica Crowley, who was considered for a position on the National Security Council until mainstream media outlets accused her of plagiarism, told Fox’s Sean Hannity that powerful forces were seeking to destroy Donald Trump:

The reason [the Deep State] has to destroy him, is that Donald Trump is an alien organism that has been injected into the body politic by the American people to reform it. He must not be allowed to succeed.

It appears knowledge of the power and influence of the Deep State, or at least willingness to speak out against it, is spreading among members of congress as well. Representative Thomas Massey of Kentucky (R) told CNN that he believes the Deep State is attempting to strongarm the president into a conflict with Russia:

I’m concerned that it’s an effort on [the part of] those who want a provocation with Russia…to push the president in a direction. So I don’t think it’s Trump vs. Obama, I think it’s really the Deep State vs. the president.

The United States is now in the midst of a pivotal showdown crucial to not only its future, but the future of the world.

Whether the USA is to be a far-flung subversive globalist empire, or a democratic republic trading in peace with all nations, is what hangs in the balance.