
Episode 4279: Exposing The Truth Of The Job Numbers ...
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Steve Bannon
This is the primal scream of a dying regime.
Peter Navarro
Pray for our enemies because we're going.
Steve Bannon
Medieval on these people. Reasons I got a free shot on all these networks lying about the people. The people have had a belly full of it. I know you don't like hearing that. I know you try to do everything in the world to stop that, but you're not going to stop it.
Stephen K. Bannon
It's going to happen.
Todd Bensman
And where do people like that go.
Steve Bannon
To share the big lie? MAGA MEDIA I wish in my soul, I wish that any of these people had a conscience.
Peter Navarro
Ask yourself, what is my task and what is my purpose? If that answer is to save my country, this country will be saved.
Stephen K. Bannon
WAR ROOM here's your host, STEPHEN k. Band.
Steve Bannon
Tuesday, the 18th of February, year of our Lord 2025, second hour of the MORNING show. What we're going to talk about here now is going to have major implications and this is one of the reasons I've been yelling and screaming for Doge to get what I call cross the Potomac to get to the Pentagon. And Doge is doing two things right now and we're trying to ascertain, you know, how it's coming out, because we need. This is when Dave Brat's going to join us here in a minute because the, how do I say this? The, the cat's kind of out of the back. You've seen the Hill newspaper starting Sunday morning, and really coming from the Senate, they're talking about the most important thing, as we've told you, is midnight on the 14th of March. We have a problem. We have an issue. Issue number one, we've already hit the debt ceiling. Janet Yellen told us that in the first couple of days of January as kind of her love tap on the way out the door. What does that mean? It means we can't raise any more debt, technically, but we're using emergency measures. And as you know, emergency measures can last a long time, could be years, because you can manage the cash flow coming in to pay off your interest and any obligations you have. And then all the way through Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, it all works out. Now, there may be some contractors at the bottom of that waterfall that you have to stretch, right? But hey, you got the Pentagon, you got the dhs, you got some people who have been contractors a long time, and if they get stretched, you know, they get higher payments, etc. So it's doable. Number two, technically, on midnight, midnight on the 14th of March is equivalent to midnight on the 30th of September. It's the same fiscal year. We have not approved a new budget. We're working off of Joe Biden's numbers. And right now that process is the process that we're going to have to, you know, somehow to pay any bills the next day. And I mean any bills, you're going to have to have a wait for it, either a CR or you're going to have to bundle together some of these appropriations bills. Remember this audience drove the single subject appropriations bills in the House. And Andy Biggs tells us this and Eli Crane tells us this. I think they've completed seven or eight that are about 80% of the budget. Now, the Senate hasn't exactly jumped in here and done, you know, their job totally. So it's kind of all over the map. But right now, and this is key, at Midnight on the 14th, three things will happen if we kick down and they're talking about, they're raising the flag right now for a year long cr. Number one, it will be in President Trump's first year, you will have Joe Biden's budget and Joe Biden's numbers and Joe Biden's priorities. Just embrace that. Number two, the Congressional Budget Office tells us in war room did its own math, it's at least a $2 trillion deficit this fiscal year. Number three, and here's the one that's as hard as those two are to embrace. The third one to me is the kill shot. All of the work of doge. And here I'm not talking about their programmatic work of actually taking programs apart. I'm talking about all this running around with audits and you, there's $7 trillion in treasury, don't know where it's going. And all of this, everything, all the dust you see kicked up, all the waste, fraud and abuse, you would actually technically be paying for that. All of it, none of it would come out and you would pay for all of it. So all the DOGE work to date would be for naught until next fiscal year. And people already tell me, well, you know, in the appropriations process in July, you know, Doge is going to make presentations, going to be part of it. Not good enough. So we have a mess, number one, to get that $2 trillion down, which we have to do because it's not sustainable. The Congressional Budget Office came out and they did a 10 year forecast and we don't totally agree with everything you say, but directionally it's correct. Debates about dynamic scoring and all these technical things can make it different. But what they say is you basically have 1.8% growth in over 10 years. It's $2 trillion a year, right. Given the current tax structure. And guess what, in 10 years it's $52 trillion. And I don't know, interest is double what the Pentagon is at that time. Time and a half. Neil Ferguson actually has a chart out. His new theory of the case is that any nation has an interest payment higher in defense will collapse. It's different than the this time it's different which is about total debt to gdp. This is interest payments via defense. We're checking it out, but it sounds unfortunately quite logical. So what is President Trump doing? Number one and tie it back to Rubio's opening statement in his Senate confirmation. The post war international rules based order is over. And that is basically spread out the United States around the Eurasian landmass, in NATO and Western Europe, around the Gulf Emirates and Israel, in the Middle east, in the Malacca, in the South China Sea, down in Southeast Asia and up with Korea and Japan. That's the four hot nodes. We have commercial relationships, we have trade deals, but all of it is underwritten by an American security guarantee in American troops or American naval and air forces. Your sons and daughters of maga. Now in every one of those trade deals were upside down. Every one of those commercial relationships were upside down. That's where the globalists who make their money doing that, where you get gutted. That is what MAGA is saying. America first. We're not doing it anymore. President Trump's geostrategic thinking is that hey, what hemispheric defense is The Monroe Doctrine 2.0. And guess what? We're going to start by taking back the Panama Canal, cut off the Chinese, the People's Liberation Navy from teaming up with the Russians in the Caribbean. And we're going to go all the way to the Arctic. The new great game of the 21st century. Like Afghanistan was in the 19th or Persia was in the 19th between the Russian Empire and the British. This is going to be the Arctic. And in that regard you have Greenland, maybe Canada, you've already got Alaska. But Greenland to Greenland to the Panama Canal gives a forward deployment of American power, naval power. You block the Russian submarines, the fast attacks and boomers coming out of Murmansk and out of Archangel, right there between Greenland and Iceland. And guess what? The Russian navy's our baby. We got it. The Russian army, that sounds like a problem for France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom. You deal with it. This is why we need a peace accord. This is why we need peace between these powers. Now President Trump, when he looks at geostrategically the hemisphere also, you go to the three island chains in the Pacific, in the vast desert that is the Pacific Ocean and the United States is pretty well protected. You add an iron dome, if it's even feasible, and you have a hermetically sealed hemisphere. You get Bolsonaro down in Brazil and you get Milei out of that crypto mess in Argentina, got some allies, you run the Chinese Communist Party out of the Amazon. We got it. Now, when you look at that, there's a problem, and that problem is the southern border of the United States of America. And that is a failed state just south of us in Mexico. The Mexican drug cartels are a kinetic force in that plan and they must be eradicated. To make the hemispheric defense work. You gotta take care of your problems inside that hemisphere. Number one problem, Mexican drug cartels. Todd Bensman, your reporting on this is amazing cuz last night the Central Intelligence Agency, I guess it got leaked out. The CIA is now repurposing some assets and they're looking to get involved with the Mexican drug cartels in some sort of kinetic activity. Coupled with, you got the 10th Mountain, you got the 7th Special Forces, you've got guys down, training, pre positioning. What do we have on the war that's coming, folks? And it's going to be a kinetic war against the Mexican drug cartel, sir?
Todd Bensman
Well, the Washington Post is out with a very important story and their reporting usually is good on CIA and they're saying that the CIA is realigning from protecting Ukraine's borders in its war to protecting our borders down in Mexico. Now, CIA has always been down in Mexico doing intel operations in support of Mexican and US law enforcement regarding the cartels. But what it looks like here is a major trouble down where they're going to really be enhancing and increasing their ability to infiltrate the cartels, to provide intelligence against the cartels in a more dedicated, committed fashion. A wider, broader way to do counternarcotics operations with the Mexicans and possibly even to do covert actions themselves, infiltrating the operatives into the cartels. So this all just fits in with a lot of other puzzle pieces that have been coming out in bits and dribs and drabs here and there about that all kind of point to the fact that the United States is resetting the table for something that is probably going to look like what we did with Columbia against the FARC all during the 90s and into the early 2000s. Where the Colombians went to war with FARC, which is a major cocaine smuggling organization and an insurgency against the Colombian government. Leftists, of course, it looks like they're going to require the Mexicans to drop their hugs not bullets policy of the last six, seven years and make it a bullets not hugs policy.
Steve Bannon
Hang on, we're going. Looks like that's where. Hit that again. Number one, the Washington Post. And David Ignatius is spokesperson, person, spokesmodel for the CIA. The Washington Post is literally the typist for what the CIA wants. So it's more than, it's more than just news media. It's a marketing campaign. It's just when Langley tells them to type up, they type up. So when it comes from the Post, this is holy writ number one. Number two, music to my ears. Let's focus on the Ukraine border, not in the vital national interest of the United States. The eastern Russian speaking border between those two Slavic entities. And now focus on our border. And you're right, we've done this before, but now you're seeing Special forces and what the 7th Special Forces Group. You've got the 10th Mountain Division. You've got CIA, you've got the air flights going over. Something's happening, something's getting ready to happen. And they've told the Mexicans, you're not going to hug this one out. We want to see your best forces. And we got the least corrupt. The federales are all owned by the cartels. You went to basically one of the naval forces down there, we call them marines, they call it naval infantry to really. Those are going to be our partners down there when we drop the hammer, blow to these folks. Todd Benzeman.
Todd Bensman
Yeah, that's right. So the Green Berets sent a small contingent at least initially, of trainers down into near the Bay of Campeche in the south to help the Mexican navy train for counter cartel operations. Non conventional, which tells you that something is up obviously. And that particular force, the Mexican marines, I mean the naval marines are probably the most insulated of all the Mexican military forces from corruption. That tells you something, that they selected them. They're probably going to be the tip of the spear. And whatever happens now, I've told you.
Steve Bannon
Right to them, number one, these are the guys. Hang on. These are the guys they brought up to the border to secure before 10,000 of them. Todd, you know, this is the one that's the least infiltrated by the cartels. The cartels control the political process down there. The cartels, they are a part of the political landscape in Remember, they tell you it's lead or gold, right? And people down there choose the gold, not the lead. And this is the problem. And the federales are up to the next. This naval infantry is the least, is the most pristine, you would agree, for actually being a tip of a spear, folks, bottom line, when Trump looks at hemispheric defense, he looks at the U.S. navy. This is a very Alfred Thayer Mahan strategy, right? All the way from the first island chain over the vast Pacific, Greenland, the gap up there from Archangel, the Panama Canal. But he understands we got our backyard, what we should have done instead of being in Afghanistan and Ukraine and all this. Finally you have somebody and they're pre positioning for a fight, okay? And there's not going to be a law enforcement fight where the cartels actually outgun the cops. You're bringing in some heavies who are going to drop some. They're going to pound ground and pound these guys like they've never been hit before. And we're going to see how tough the cartel is. Cartel's tough against civilians. They're very tough against the law enforcement that's outgunned by these guys both on our side of the border. Right. Because these people are vicious. And the other side of the border. Hang on for a second. Todd. Todd Benzeman is with us, the great author of Overrun, a book that changed the direction of the 24 campaign from his years of putting himself in harm's way. Of course. Ben Harnwell's in Roma. Got Dave Brat. We're going to talk some economics and capital markets. Birch Gold. Make sure you go check it out. Take your phone, Bannon, 989898. Ask for the free brochure how to Invest in Precious Metals and Gold in the Age of Trump. Short break. Back in a moment.
Peter Navarro
Have you seen the news from economists forecasting a depression? I'm not talking recession. I mean depression. By the year 2030, we're in a perfect storm as Social Security and Medicare hit a breaking point with the largest generation hitting retirement. A smaller workforce means a smaller tax base. Pair that with our growing national debt and rising cost of living and you got a problem. And I mean a big problem. So what are you going to do now to protect your family for the future? Gold is a safe haven in hard economic times. And Birch Gold makes it easy to diversify a portion of your savings into physical gold. Birch Gold will help you transition an existing IRA or 401k into an IRA in gold. And it doesn't cost you a penny out of pocket. Protect your future and protect it today. Text Bannon B A N N O N to 989-898. Get your free info kit on Gold and a copy of the Ultimate Gold Guide for the Trump Era. That's the Ultimate Gold Guide for Gold in the Trump Era with Forward by Donald J. Trump Jr. There's no obligation. This is only information. Birch Gold has earned the trust of countless Americans looking to safeguard their savings. You can count on them, too. Text my name, Bannon to number 989-898. Remember, the ultimate Guide for Investing in Gold in the Trump Era, Forward by Don junior Birch Gold. Do it today.
Stephen K. Bannon
Here's your host, Stephen K. Ban.
Steve Bannon
Okay, breaking news, the criminal head of criminal division over at the DC Under Graves now Ed Martin's taking control there. Our good buddy Ed Martin and a friend of the show, Ed Martin is just a man on fire. I think she's resigned. So you're going to see a lot more of these Southern District of New York in D.C. as they clean the rat's nest out of there. I'll try to track down Mike Davis. I think Mike's going to join us tomorrow. In fact, if he's feeling better, he's going to join us actually at the force multiplier, cpac.org warm the ticket, 76 bucks. You get a free lunch tomorrow. You get an extra day at CPAC because we're going to do a Force Multiplier academy. We are going to do the show live from there tomorrow. Poso is going to do his 2 o'clock show there live. We're going to have a ton of information in presenters to make sure that we take you next level given the tremendous great results you had in 24, the 22 midterm, 24 election and now getting the confirmations approved. Also I want to talk, I'm going to go back to Ben into Benjamin here in a moment. Bridge Colby, it's not been scheduled. It's kind of firestorm between, you know, the Tucker Carlson, the Charlie Kirk kind of the new guys in the new right Kurt Mills, other good about this guy, Bridge Colby. You know, I do know Bridge. I've read his book. I've talked to him about his book at length. Strategy of Denial. And Bridge is not a, you know, if you read Josh Rogin's book Chaos Under Heaven, which is Xi and Trump in the first term and he's got, you know, he's got these definitions of groups. He's got the, you know, the accommodationists, which are the Wall street crowd You've got the realists, which is kind of the maddest crowd. You got the hardliners, kind of the Pompeo crowd. And then he said you had a totally new group that had never been done in American history and that was the Super Hawks. The Super Hawks were Navarro, Miller and Bannon. And they don't believe in the legitimacy of the Chinese Communist Party. Want to see the Chinese Communist party taken down 100%. That's why I'm the only civilian in American history ever be fully sanctioned by the Chinese Communist Party. As you guys know, one minute after high noon on the 20th of January 2021, Mike Pompeo, Matt Pottinger, Peter Navarro, Stephen K. Bannon. Those three were still government officials. I was not. All of this revolves around the CCP and the threat to the CCP and the criminals in Beijing. We have two existential threats to us right now, our own making, our debt in our financial situation, and also an existential threat in the Chinese Communist Party. Bridge Colby is far from perfect. But here's what I like about Bridge Colby. I like this a lot about him. Number one, he's one of the earliest voices of kind of what I call the, the establishment because he has established a guy. His grandfather's William Colby. You might have heard that name before, by the way, to tie it back to Todd Benson, when Todd Benson, William Colby's grandfather, ran the CIA back in the days when it delivered some hammer blows before the Church Commission. Talk about the CIA in Mexico. A guy named either Lee Harvey Oswald or somebody pretending to be Lee Harvey Oswald actually went to the. To visit. I think the CIA and the CIA reported on this in Mexico, I believe. Todd. It was September or early October of, wait for it, 1963. So the CIA has been very involved in Mexico for a long time and knows his way around there. And now it's going to be utilized to actually for our defense. Bridge Colby is not a Super Hawk. You can't be a super Hawk and be in position. He's going to go in. It's just not. I keep telling my super hawk colleagues, the Committee on the Present Danger, other gu of the Frank Gaffneys and our colleagues who hammer every day about the ccp, the Brian Kennedys. It's just not realistic at that level of the Pentagon in this administration. You're going to get a let's take down the ccp. That is our responsibility to continue to drive that narrative until eventually it becomes accepted wisdom here in the imperial capital. We're not there yet, Bridge. Colby is about the strategy of denial. That's his book to deny now it's very focused on East Asia. And he may not look at, as we look at the Chinese Communist Party as. As having designs on all the Eurasian landmass. He doesn't think by our theory of the case that they really are the controlling element of the mullahs in Persia or the KGB in Russia. And that's why Saudi Arabia, the meeting yesterday is so vitally important, to break them off from their sphere of influence. But Bridge Colby is one of the first guys to say we've got to get out of Ukraine, and this is sensitive. Bridge Colby agrees with, I think, not just Tucker and Kurt Mills, but Stephen K. Bannon. We can't get into a war with Persia. We just can't, given the bad track record we've had over the last 30 years in the Middle East. And it's been a disaster. Right now. There has to be other means. And this is why the Saudi Arabia meeting is quite symbolic. To have it in Riyadh and to have Russia and the United States coming together, there has to be other means than an air attack or a ground invasion into Persia to stop what they're clearly trying to do. And I say this as a young man that spent a couple of three days off the coast of Persia during the Iranian hostage crisis in the workup for that failed endeavor. And I will tell you, you don't understand that part of the world until you've been there. And you see, it's like the landscape from the moon. It's vast, it's barren. And it's not appropriate for America to go to war in Persia. Just not. And our allies, Israel, There has to be another way. And a guy like Bridge Colby I think can work. And this is one of the reasons he's being blown up right now. He's not perfect on China, but he's good enough for right now. He's been pretty perfect on Ukraine, and I think he's pretty damn good on Persia. And right now in that slot, which is all important slot, I'm a big supporter. Let's get Bridge in there and then we'll figure it out. Because the other alternatives, I don't see any better right now given the reality of where we are. So Bridge Colby. And right now, they haven't scheduled it, but this is something we'll be reporting on as we go forward. Todd Bensman, the other thing before we go to the post, anything else on this, because you've been at the tip of the spear and folks, we're connecting dots here. You've got Hex has sent the military to the border. They're sending training. The 7th Special Forces in 10th Mountain are as tough as we got, right? They're down there training people, quote, unquote. You got the CIA taking an ad out in the, in the Washington Post saying, hey, guess what we're listening to? We're listening to War Room, we're listening to maga, we're listening to the election results. We're not. We're out of Ukraine and we want to help defend our country against the chemical warfare of the Chinese Communist Party. We're all in. So that's a big development. It's happening now, the deportations. Bensmith, you're the first guy to mentionand this gets back to the two bills and not the reconciliations. Lindsey Graham's telling the president over the weekend, this will tie to my breath thing. He told the president of the weekend, said, hey, look, this continued resolution is not going to have any more money for you. What we need to do, we need to get this one bill done. We need to get it done now. We need $175 billion to secure the border and to basically, you want to deport 10 million people, you need $175 billion and you need it now. Oh, by the way, let's throw in $125 billion on top of the eight, top of the 900, $125 billion on military and they're going to say banner will shut you guys up. They're going to say, this is all for hemispheric defense. You want hemispheric defense, you want the Panama Canal, you want Greenland, you want naval forces, you want to drive out the cartels, you want to have three island chains. That's not in our budget because our budget still ties to the post war international rules based order. Todd Bensman, how's deportations going? Any closing thoughts on taking on the cartels?
Todd Bensman
Sir, right before I get to the deportations, I just want to point out the Washington Post, which is now breaking the story, I guess, about the CIA trebling down in Mexico also is carrying a story talking about how, wow, nobody's coming across but Trump keeps putting troops down on the border and what are they going to do? They've got nothing to do. They're twiddling their thumbs. But what they're not realizing that maybe they want to have 500 troops of the 10th Mountain Division in Fort Huachuca as a credible threat to the cartels. When kinetics when fireworks start up down there, because that's a light infantry division. Yes, they'll probably have them scaling cliffs in Arizona going after drug traffickers and whatnot. But if the cartels decide to cross in and do something to our law enforcement, etcetera, they're going to be having to contend with these guys. I just wanted to point out that there is a reason other than, you know, tracking drug traffickers and shutting down, you know, illegal immigration for a group like that to be in Fort Huachuca, 500 of them with all their gear and ammo. So regarding the deportations, I just wanted to point out like there is pearl clutching going on around the globe over the fact that we are cuffing and leg ironing immigrants on these flights. Everybody's going crazy. India is just absolutely beside itself with outrage over a couple of flights that came in and everybody was handcuffed, usually young men handcuffed when they come in there. And I just, the New York Post piece that I have out today is just pointing out that there's a damn good reason for that. Just a few years ago, when the Biden administration was trying to shut down the migrant camp under the Del Rio bridge, they did air deportations on the Haitians and didn't restrain them. And as a result, they tried to hijack flights midair. They rioted on these planes. They tore the stuffing out of every seat and attacked the pilots, attacked ICE agents, mutinied on buses, took over buses that were on their way to Laughlin Air Base for the deportation flights. And they learned their lesson. And I just point out that that is the problem. You don't want to have a hijacking or a riot at 40,000ft. Hello?
Steve Bannon
Yeah, hey, Todd. By the way, the COVID of your book, is that from the International Bridge, that amazing picture. This book, one of the most important books of the 21st century because this book did more than any to show people the reality of what Biden had done at the border Overrun. How Joe Biden Unleashed the Greatest Border Crisis in US History. Full stop by Todd Bensman. Todd, social media. We got 30 seconds. How do people get to you, sir?
Todd Bensman
Yeah, Bensman, Todd at X. I'm on, you know, Getter and Truth Social. You can find me there. That's my website, toddbensman.com you can sign up for my free newsletter there. Every time I write something, I'll push it out to you. And I work for the center for Immigration Studies, great organization. They've sent me all over the world covering this mass migration event.
Steve Bannon
Well, hopefully for too long. You're going to work for the United States government in Tom Holman. We hope, we pray. Love you, brother Bensman. Short break. Back to Rome.
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Steve Bannon
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Stephen K. Bannon
Your host, Stephen K. Ban.
Steve Bannon
Okay, there's a. There's a tweet out from Lavrov I think on rt. So take it for what it's worth at state TV and in Russia, but saying how they've already agreed to ambassadors asap and take apart any kind of diplomatic restraints on getting together. Why is this important? Look, we're not Rebecca Sunnybrook's farms. We understand the Russians are as tough as they get. The leadership, they're kind of a follow on from the bolsheviks and Stalin. These guys kind of ran the deal at Yalta in other places. But it's a beginning of a directionally. You've got Europe in Paris talking about their own defense. The key takeaway is that we're not looking for protectorates. We're not an empire. We have a revolutionary basis for this country. We're anti imperial. And now it's time to start. Time to start acting anti imperial in Paris. What you're seeing is they're having a discussion and they're coming to the conclusion. The smug elites in Europe as they can't afford and never could afford their own defense. This is why we bailed them out in World War I. We then went back and bailed them out again in World War II. We then went back and bailed them out again in the Cold War, and guess what? No thanks. Total smugness of what the heartland of America did. So now it's time for them to fend for themselves. There's no more. They're not a protectorate, they're not a vassal state. That's not what we're looking for. They're going to come quickly to the conclusion they're not going to have health care. They're not going to have six weeks of vacation in summer. They're not going to have retirement at 50 on full pensions. They're not going to have any of that if they got to pay for their defense. And they're going to have an awakening of the reality of being an ally, not being a vassal state. At the same time, we pivot here to take care of business in this hemisphere. Ben Harnwell, there's a lot of tough. Look, the Russians are as tough as they get. The guys who run that are just a notch down, they're a little bit the junior varsity criminal sect that the guys in Beijing have perfected. Right. But we got to deal with them. And it's going to be a tough negotiation, but it's a start. Your thoughts, sir?
Ben Harnwell
Steve, you mentioned that the United States isn't looking for protectorates. I have to say, if you look at the Telegraph article from yesterday outlining the plan, supposed plan, the US Administration plan for Ukraine and the rare earths and the minerals, which you and I both.
Steve Bannon
Oh, God, don't even go there.
Ben Harnwell
Well, the point is that is moving into protectorate territory, plain and simple. That's in your face. So there are, there are different things circulating right now about.
Steve Bannon
No, no, no, but that's. Look, look, look, the minerals, they're not worth it. They're not worth it. Just walk away. We're going to be adamant. Walk away. There's no minerals. This is not walk away. That's a whole thing to get. You're going to have there. You're going to have to have. If companies want to do it, God bless them, let them go over there and do it. I'm sure that the mineral rights will be something that's a long term play. That's to suck you into that. I understand President Trump's thinking he's tired of doing this in Iraq, he's tired of doing it in Afghanistan. He's tired of doing where the American Elite has and you end up like costing $9 trillion, the net present value of $9 trillion between Afghanistan and Iraq and we have nothing. I understand the thought but in Ukraine it's just cut it and let's get the hell out of there. Let the German mining companies, let the French mining companies, Italian mining companies, let them deal with it. But no, that's not a play. And look Meloni, here's the key.
Ben Harnwell
It's a trap.
Steve Bannon
It was the. It's a trap. Here's the thing Ben, I got to bounce. Talk about our debt. The finance minister of the party that may actually win. It won't be alternative for Deutschland, but maybe the Christian Democrat, right? This guy's a pretty low key guy. He's. I'm pretty sure it's him. He's the one saying hey, a sovereign debt crisis. Sovereign debt crisis is. And you know this. The French government got turfed out because of this. The British government got turfed out because of this. The German government's kind of getting turfed out because of this. In Italy she's eventually going to get turfed out about this. The bond market has taken out more governments than Howitzer's. Just remember that it's one of the things we have to worry about here. When you get $36 trillion in debt and you add in a trillion dollars every hundred days, the global capital markets get a vote and what they're talking about is a sovereign debt crisis at the very moment they got to sit there and start talking about the defense they never paid for in their lives. It's a joke Ben. We'll get on back on this tomorrow. Thanks for staying up late last night to do the breaking news out of, out of Riyadh and out of Paris. We'll have much more of this in the evening show but Ben will. Let Ben have the night off. Ben, you're putting up stuff 247 where folks go.
Ben Harnwell
Thanks Steve. Get, get under my profile at Harnwell. I've got a great article at the top of my feed right now indicating talking about this thing that Starmer, Keir Starmer, the UK Prime Minister was calling for in Paris yesterday, which was the US stopgap Basically the US would be underwriting the UK on the security guarantees. Very, very dangerous territory. And that's following through. No, it is. It's following through on the Biden regime's. Yeah, trickery. In its dying days.
Steve Bannon
The Atlanticists were a pacific power and we're looking for hemispheric defense. The Atlanticist, which I hate to Say is kind of racist, but hey, I'll throw it out there. The Atlanticist days are over. We're finished. We don't want to hear about it. And all you get up here in Washington, they don't think the Pacific exists. They don't care about the Western Hemisphere. All they care about is their buddies in Northwest Europe and in places like Paris, places like Milan, places like the City of London and then Greater London. All of it. That day is over. Ben Harnwell, thank you so much, brother.
Ben Harnwell
Thanks.
Steve Bannon
Steve Austin, Rome. Dave Brett. Now we bring it back here. Wall Street Journal, folks, understand. Big article today. They've targeted our own former co Host Peter Navarro, Dr. Peter Navarro in the White House. They've targeted Navarro. He's the problem. You know, Trump's got this kind of master plan, but Navarre is the problem. And particularly he's going to destroy the agriculture and manufacturing sector. When the Murdochs come for you, they roll hard, baby. And they're trying to. They're trying to Alinsky. They're trying to Alinsky. Our own Peter Navarro. Dave. Brat, you got a whole series of charts and analysis. You want to walk us through? What do you got for us, brother?
Dave Brat
Yeah, well, I love this show. It's like cramming for an exam every time I come on. Because it's just exciting. And hearing you connect the dots, they all just flow, right? The war to the border invasions, to the economy. I think you mentioned the other day, Neal Ferguson, right, great Oxford historian who connects the dots that when your interest payments get bigger than your defense sector, your economy is in decline. And roughly, that's just true intuitively, right? If you look at Western civilization, you need two things to be successful. Empire or country or whatever, and that's a sound economy and a strong military. If you're missing any one of those, you're in trouble. Rome got in trouble precisely because they got over their skis, right? Their spending on wars and defense overcame their ability to generate revenues. And so at the beginning of your show, I love the autocratic breakthroughs, right? This, this is great. Autocratic breakthroughs. And they're accusing Trump and our team of this. The autocratic breakthrough we're doing is we're taking apart the autocracy, right? We're going away from empire toward hemisphere, go back to Western civ. Name me an autocrat who doged himself, right? Who voluntarily downsized his military, downsized his federal employees, downsize the workforce. I don't think Rome did that. I don't think Napoleon did that. I don't Think Lenin, Stalin, Hitler did that. They were all the opposite. And the left wants the big state. Our team is getting it straight. So our interest payments on the debt are not bigger than defense. And the other day on the show, by the way, interest payments over the next decade, the only thing bigger is Social Security, then interest payments, then underneath that, Medicare, non defense, discretionary, Medicaid, defense discretionary. Everything else is under interest payments.
Steve Bannon
Hang on. I just want to make sure people know. Niall Ferguson is a tremendous historian, but the mack daddy in this, a guy named Paul Kennedy. He wrote a book that was a must read when I was coming out of the Pentagon and went to Harvard back in the mid-80s. It was towards the end of President Reagan's administration. He wrote the Rise and the Fall of Great Powers. If I can strongly recommend to this audience, you get a book. It's in paperback. He's a British naval historian. That's absolutely brilliant. He went through essentially, I don't think he does any China. He does the history of the west, empires and rising powers. He always ties it back. The fall part comes from. This comes from you've spent too much money on arms. Too much. You've diverted too many, you know, swords. It's swords. Plowshares to swords. And it's how you finance it. He gets to the part of it's not just the aggregate amount of what you're doing and the manpower you're killing. Right. Your own best guys. But he gets into how you finance it. The rise and fall of great powers. And baby, it is the United States today. And that's what these elites that run this nation have not got. They have not learned the true lessons of history that have been out there to learn.
Dave Brat
Right.
Steve Bannon
And this is what America first means. Dave, brat your thoughts?
Dave Brat
Yeah. And so, you know, the conservatives are dumb, to quote our vice president, who I thought was funny the other day. But the left is smart. Now, I'm going to get to that in a little, little analysis here. But the Wall Street Journal, you know, they're just silly and it's all about framing. On our, on our good friend Peter Navarro yesterday, they say reciprocal trade, they're calling that maximalist tariffs, reciprocal trade, which means just fairness.
Todd Bensman
Right.
Dave Brat
It's like Aristotelian fairness. It's like the golden rule, but hold it for the wal.
Steve Bannon
They're not silly. But they're not. Hang on. They're not silly. It's actually very well thought to me because here's the thing. We're not talking about tariffs. This is a New Trump has a new geostrategic concept. You see it playing out in Saudi Arabia in the negotiation and here with the CIA and the military going down. These are the actions of a new geostrategic realignment. He also has a geo economic realignment. It's not tariffs. We're not talking about a 25% tariff on a Mexican avocado. We're not talking about a part made under the hood in Canada that goes back and forth 20 times. It's different than that. He's talking about what we talk about here, that civic society has provided for the greatest market in mankind's history. And Trump thinks like, hey, if you're going to get a skybox at a sporting event or if you're going to get a front row seat at concert, you've got to pay a premium to get through the golden door. It's got to be a premium. And if you're not going to pay the. If you bring your manufacturing here and make it here, then guess what? You don't probably have to pay the premium. But it is to a degree. The Wall Street Journal is smart to attack this because they're free traders, right? This is the Economist, the Financial Times of London. They're really the papers and magazines that inspired the Wall Street Journal were built in the time of free trade. These were ideological, almost religious fights in, I guess the 18th, late 18th and 19th century in Britain when London was the centerpiece of the world. And the fights here, you know, from the Corn laws and everything ahead, this was British politics for 150, 200 years. It's one of the reasons we had a revolution. Remember, our revolutionary generation have been on the ground floor of an empire. When Clive and these guys are doing India, they're doing North America. And these guys said, hey, look, we see how a worthless aristocracy has corrupted commons. Has corrupted commons taken it away from the little guy? And they have. They give these monopolies to their buddies like the British East India Company. And they saw this coming in British history. What's not done enough is the power of these monopolistic companies to basically drive international strategy and geostrategy in North America. Here in the. This is what the revolutionary generation is about. This is what Alexander Hamilton, now he wanted to replicate a little bit later. But these guys understood it. These were smart lawyers, they were real estate speculators, they were freebooters like Sam Adams and John Hancock. They understood exactly what was going on. And they said, hey, guess what? We'd rather opt out, even to the point of Being hungish traitors to have our own deal here because we see what's happening with this worthless aristocracy in London. We see how the corrupted commons, we'll never be free. We will never be free. We will co opt it. And that is what we owe the revolutionary and the framers, they had an ability to have a pretty damn good deal and they risked it all for future generations down to the current day. And this is what this fight's about. Today we have almost the exact same fight, right? And now we've allowed these oligarchs in the concentration. Well, if a revolutionary generation walked into Washington D.C. today, they walked that square and they would spit. They'd be so mad about what we've allowed to deteriorate. Short commercial break. We're going to return with Dave Bratt, Professor Dave Bratt in the War Room in just a moment. Spread the word all through Hong Kong. We will fight till they're all gone. We rejoice when there's no more. Let's take down the seas.
Peter Navarro
What if he had the brightest mind in the war Room delivering critical financial research every month? Steve Bannon here, War Room listeners know Jim Rickards.
Steve Bannon
I love this guy.
Peter Navarro
He's our wise man. A former CIA, Pentagon and White House advisor with an unmatched grasp of geopolitics and capital markets. Jim predicted Trump's electoral College victory exactly 312 to 226, down to the actual number itself. Now he's issuing a dire warning about April 11, a moment that could define Trump's presidency and your financial future. His latest book, Money GPT, exposes how AI is setting the stage for financial chaos. Bank runs at lightning speeds, algorithm driven crashes and even threats to national security. Right now, War Room members get a free copy of MoneyGPT when they sign up for Strategic Intelligence. This is Jim's flagship financial newsletter, Strategic Intelligence. I read it.
Steve Bannon
You should read it.
Peter Navarro
Time is running out. Go to rickardswarroom.com that's all one word. Rickards war Room records with an S. Go now and claim your free book. That's rickardswarroom.com do it today.
Stephen K. Bannon
Here's your host, Stephen K. Band.
Steve Bannon
Okay, Brett is going to be here this afternoon in studio to co host both hours. We're going to get to all of his brain analysis because I've been yelling and screaming to his microphone and taking away all his airtime. We're also going to have updates on the resistance, the Supreme Court, all the legal, the federal judges, everything they're trying to do on doge Brett and I are actually going to take some time besides his charts. We're actually going to take some time and walk through process. We're going to walk through the CR that's coming and we're going to talk about the two reconciliations, everything else President Trump and the economic team are trying to do. So that's all five to seven. Plus we got a special. I didn't know this until last night, in the middle of the night. The manifesto the young woman wrote in Nashville, the Christian school is not like a three page background. It's 900 pages. Michael Patrick Leahy is doing an extraordinary job out there in Nashville. He's going to be on. We're going to get into this culture of this, this, I don't know, this transgender cult that's murdering people. This stuff's over the top. There's something wrong here. It's happening all over the country. We're going to have some of the experts on to break it all down at 6:00. And Dave, Brett's gonna be with me. Besides economics and more updates on geopolitics. Dave, brat closing thoughts. No charts. Dave, you're gonna save them for tonight. There's the hook. The Warren posse is gonna want to be here to see it all. And Brad's gonna be with us all day tomorrow in CPAC. Cpac.org war room. $76 a ticket all day. You get a hot lunch, you get to see us all. Everybody will be there making presentations. Bill McGinley's going to join us. Thinking we'll try to get Scott Pressler in by video. Brad's going to be there. Grace Chung making a guest appearance. You know what it does take Get Grace out of la. So this is how big it is. Dave, Brad, closing thoughts.
Dave Brat
Yeah. Good. The Wall Street Journal article didn't even make a trade argument. Right. They first ment Navarro's prison term. Hegseth. I mean, great economic analysis, right. Wall Street Journal. And then the buried lead comes out about two thirds down the article and they start talking about what they really want. They want exemptions and carve outs, etc. And so that's where I'm saying they're off course compared to the left. Right. The left is brilliant. Let me read you a few lines. I'm going to skip all the charts, but I'll just read a few sentences. People may not know this. Economists don't know this. While I remember something smart from my training. But back in the days, they changed the definition of manufacturing and investment. And this is going to shock you when you hear this. The definition of manufacturing has evolved over time to include more than just physical transformation materials and now also includes services, engineering, logistics and technology. Computers, big tech, et cetera are now counted as manufacturing. But it's more than that. Capital investment is counted as manufacturing. But here comes the bombshell. Yes, this is all brought to you by artificial intelligence, by the way. Green investment is part of US manufacturing and it's a key driver of job creation and a more sustainable economy. How is the green investment part of US manufacturing, you might ask? The answer tax credits. The inflation reduction act, IRA offers tax credits on clean energy, etc. So all this, when I show you the charts, Brookings and all of our Fair Weather friends are showing. Don't worry about it. Manufacturing still going up, right? It's just employment. All the jobs numbers are going down. You know, don't worry about those human beings. Manufacturing is going up, jobs are going down. Well, that's because manufacturing has been redefined by the left in the government statistics. Yes, I'm going to get into that with you later today. But if you don't understand that they can lie with the statistics, you can't lie with the human beings and the jobs. Right. Because they're easy to count, very hard to lie. And I'm going to show you on that line. We'll break five as well.
Steve Bannon
We'll break it all down. Also talk about the deficit, debt, all of it in the cr, all the games being played right now because we've got, we can't have austerity for the people and tax cuts for the wealthy. It's not going to work.
Stephen K. Bannon
Right.
Steve Bannon
Just not going to work. So we got to figure this out collectively. How about that, Dave? Brad, social media. We'll see here at 5. Social media, sir.
Dave Brat
Yep.
Stephen K. Bannon
Brat.
Dave Brat
Economic getter.
Steve Bannon
And now on X. Whoa, on X. Still banned on X here. Thank you, Dave. Brad, see you at 5. Mike Lindell, it's a very special day for you, sir. We're so glad to have you as a partner and as a friend and a colleague. Why is this day important in the history of Mike Lindell?
Stephen K. Bannon
Well, eight years ago today, February 18, 2017, is the day I gave my life to Jesus Christ. And my book, which by the way, you're all going to get when you go into CPAC free tomorrow. And this week in my book, I tell the story of that. My book's called what Are the Odds From Crack Addict to CEO. I always use mathematics my whole life to prove that God exists. I Said, wow, what's the odds of that happening? A one in a million or a one in a billion, or when do you add them together and it becomes a miracle? Well, I remember in 2017 being in the White House, here's his sex crack addiction. And I go live with President Trump to the nation. And all my friends at home are going, what is this crack addict doing on TV with the President? Jesus is real. Cause this would be impossible. And so eight years ago today, when those things kept happening, I go, this is. I did a full surrender to Jesus Christ. And I forgave myself for a lot of things that happened way back in the day. And I was able to then go forth with something I couldn't do, and that was speaking in public. Two months after that, I spoke at U.S. bank Stadium. 60,000 people, and led them in prayer. That is something there's no way I could have ever done. And so it's a very special day for me, and I want to bring it back to the War Room with the crosses that we're going to keep on sale for. It means so much to me. 30% off. But also we're going to go back in time with the pillow that God gave me. The idea for the MyPillow, the Classics for 1488, we're bringing that special back for just a couple of days here, exclusive to the War Room Posse. You guys, this is where it all started. We've sold 84 million MyPillows. Take advantage of this free shipping on your entire order. Promo code, War room. You guys go to the website, scroll down till you see our great leader Steve there. Click on him. And there you are. There's the crosses. 30% off for the War Room Posse today. And the classic collection. Get them all. King size 1988. But free shipping on your entire order. And I'll see you all at cpac. I'm leaving in a few hours.
Steve Bannon
We'll see you tomorrow, Mike, in the Force Multiplier Academy. Thank you, brother.
Stephen K. Bannon
Yeah, thanks.
Steve Bannon
Mike Lindell will be there. We're going to have everybody gathering of eagles. How's that sound? Make sure you go cpac.org worm 76 bucks is the ticket you get there. Parties, brunches, lunch. Don't ever say there's no such thing as a free lunch. There is when you're part of the War Room Posse Force Multiplier Academy. Tomorrow we're going to stream it. We're going to do the show live there. We're going to stream all day. If you can't make it get your own streaming and in the chat rooms. I think it's very appropriate. Today we're going to leave you with the right stuff from a book, a classic by Tom Wolf, a masterpiece of a film by Philip Kaufman in magnificent music that won the academy award for Bill Cunty. The right stuff. The courage, grit and determination. The American people will see you back here. Charlie Kirk is next. Jack Bobic after that we're back here live five to seven day Brad will be my queen.
Peter Navarro
I don't always eat healthy. I know, they're shocking.
Steve Bannon
You don't always eat healthy either.
Peter Navarro
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Steve Bannon
Love it here at the worm because.
Mike Lindell
We need you healthy human really trying to fill this gap of quality supplements. And of course the beef liver being our flagship product. For those who don't know, beef liver is loaded with highly bioavailable ingredients such as vitamin A, B12, zinc CoQ10, etc. And because it is 100% grass fed and natural, your body is able to absorb these nutrients far better than taking any other synthetic multivitamin or any other synthetic vitamin in general. So we have some other amazing products, but if you'd like to check us out, you can go to sacredhumanhealth.com and cheers to your health.
Peter Navarro
700,000Americans every year. Yes, heart disease is the number one killer every year, year in and year out. Heart disease builds over time. Hypertension, high blood pressure, bad cholesterol, diabetes, all of it affects our heart. A healthy heart is key to being energetic. As we get older, it is never too early to take care of your heart. You see, heart disease sneaks up on us. You can start in your 30s and when this happens, you're at serious risk by the time you turn 60. If you want to take care of your heart and those you care about, please go to war roomhealth.com that's war room health.com all one word war roomhealth.com use the code war room at checkout to save 67% of your first shipment. That's code war room at checkout to save sixty seven percent and do it again. War room health all one word war room health.com go there today. You need if you're going to be part of the posse, you need a strong heart. You need a lion's heart. How we're going to do that is with salty. Go there do it today.
Steve Bannon
Check it out.
Podcast Summary: Bannon's War Room
Episode 4279: "Exposing The Truth Of The Job Numbers"
Release Date: February 19, 2025
Introduction and Overview
In Episode 4279 of Bannon's War Room, host Stephen K. Bannon delves deep into the complexities surrounding the United States' current economic and geopolitical landscape. The discussion centers on the impending debt ceiling crisis, strategic defense realignments, and the manipulation of economic statistics. Featuring insights from guest Todd Bensman and contributions from Dave Brat, the episode offers a comprehensive analysis of the challenges facing the nation.
Debt Ceiling Crisis and Fiscal Mismanagement
Steve Bannon opens the discussion by highlighting the severity of the debt ceiling issue:
Steve Bannon [00:52]: "We have a problem. We have an issue. Issue number one, we've already hit the debt ceiling."
Bannon explains the government's reliance on emergency measures to manage cash flow, which could extend for years, potentially leading to significant economic instability. He emphasizes the unsustainable $2 trillion deficit projected for the fiscal year, citing the Congressional Budget Office's alarming forecasts:
Steve Bannon [02:50]: "The Congressional Budget Office tells us in WAR ROOM did its own math, it's at least a $2 trillion deficit this fiscal year."
Bannon warns of the long-term consequences, referencing historian Paul Kennedy's theories on interest payments surpassing defense spending as a precursor to national decline:
Steve Bannon [03:30]: "When your interest payments get bigger than your defense sector, your economy is in decline."
Geostrategic Defense Realignment
The conversation shifts to President Trump's strategic defense initiatives. Bannon outlines a comprehensive hemispheric defense strategy aimed at securing the Western Hemisphere and reducing reliance on outdated international alliances:
Steve Bannon [07:10]: "President Trump's geostrategic thinking is that hey, what hemispheric defense is The Monroe Doctrine 2.0."
He elaborates on the tactical moves to reclaim strategic locations like the Panama Canal and counteract Chinese and Russian naval advancements:
Steve Bannon [07:45]: "We're going to start by taking back the Panama Canal, cut off the Chinese, the People's Liberation Navy from teaming up with the Russians in the Caribbean."
Counteracting Mexican Drug Cartels
Guest Todd Bensman provides an in-depth analysis of the escalating situation at the U.S.-Mexico border. He discusses the CIA's renewed focus on combating drug cartels through enhanced intelligence and covert operations:
Todd Bensman [12:02]: "CIA is realigning from protecting Ukraine's borders in its war to protecting our borders down in Mexico."
Bensman compares the anticipated engagement with Mexican cartels to historical U.S. interventions, suggesting a shift from "hugs not bullets" to a more aggressive stance:
Todd Bensman [08:48]: "What we're going to do is a more dedicated, committed fashion... they are going to drop their hugs not bullets policy."
Economic Manipulation and Job Statistics
Dave Brat enters the discussion to expose the manipulation of manufacturing and job statistics by the government. He argues that the redefinition of manufacturing to include services and green investments skew the perception of economic health:
Dave Brat [40:01]: "They redefined manufacturing to include services, engineering, logistics, and technology... but green investment is part of US manufacturing and a key driver of job creation."
Brat highlights the discrepancy between manufactured goods growth and declining job numbers, attributing this to misleading government statistics:
Dave Brat [38:46]: "Manufacturing is going up, jobs are going down. That's because manufacturing has been redefined by the left in the government statistics."
Political Strategies and Global Alliances
Bannon discusses the shift away from traditional Atlanticist alliances, advocating for a more self-reliant and strategically positioned America. He critiques European dependence on U.S. defense support and emphasizes the need for Europe to fend for itself:
Steve Bannon [31:33]: "We're not looking for protectorates. We're not an empire... it's time to start acting anti-imperial in Paris."
He further criticizes European nations for their inability to sustain their own defense, drawing parallels with historical dependencies:
Steve Bannon [32:11]: "We're not looking for protectorates... they're going to come quickly to the conclusion they're not going to have health care... if they got to pay for their defense."
Closing Remarks and Future Outlook
In the episode's closing segments, Bannon outlines upcoming topics and events, including economic strategies, CPAC appearances, and further discussions on geopolitical threats. He reiterates the importance of understanding and addressing both domestic fiscal issues and international strategic challenges to ensure America's continued prosperity and security.
Notable Quotes
Conclusion
Episode 4279 of Bannon's War Room provides a critical examination of the United States' economic policies, defense strategies, and geopolitical realignments. Through incisive commentary and expert insights, Stephen K. Bannon and his guests illuminate the pressing issues that could shape the nation's future. Listeners are encouraged to engage with these discussions to better understand the multifaceted challenges and the proposed solutions to safeguard America's standing both domestically and globally.