Episode 4321: Leaning Towards The Kinetic Part Of A 3rd World War

Summary

Podcast Summary: Bannon's War Room – Episode 4321: "Leaning Towards The Kinetic Part Of A 3rd World War"

Release Date: March 7, 2025
Host: Stephen K. Bannon | WarRoom.org

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1. Introduction

In Episode 4321 of Bannon's War Room, host Stephen K. Bannon delves into the escalating global tensions that he believes mark the onset of a third world war's kinetic phase. The episode features a compelling discussion with John Lechner, author of "Death is Our Business," who provides an in-depth analysis of modern Russian warfare and the role of mercenary groups like Wagner in current conflicts.

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2. Russia's Kinetic Operations in Ukraine

Stephen K. Bannon opens the discussion by highlighting the severe brutality and scale of the ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine. Drawing parallels to World War II, Bannon underscores the unprecedented destruction and high casualty rates:

Stephen K. Bannon [06:00]: "The world's on the brink. We're already deep into the kinetic part of the Third World War... It's every bit as dangerous and every bit as brutal, if not more brutal than the opening phase of World War II."

He cites the devastation in Ukraine, comparing parts of it to the bombing of Dresden in 1945, emphasizing that the current conflict surpasses historical battles in its ferocity and impact.

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3. John Lechner's Insights on Russian Mercenaries

John Lechner shares his extensive research and firsthand experiences with Russian mercenary groups, particularly the Wagner Group. He explains the origins of these private military companies (PMCs) following the collapse of the Soviet Union:

John Lechner [07:00]: "There are a lot of Russians and citizens of the former Soviet Union who have military experience and are out of work or they're underemployed. These are the skill sets that they have in Russia itself."

Lechner details how the Wagner Group emerged as a repository for seasoned military personnel seeking employment outside the traditional Russian military framework. His book chronicles his journey from investment banking to immersing himself in conflict zones across Africa and Eurasia to document the operations of these mercenaries.

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4. The Human Cost of the Conflict

A significant portion of the episode addresses the devastating human toll of the war. Lechner provides harrowing accounts of recruitment tactics used by the Wagner Group, reminiscent of Stalin-era penal battalions:

John Lechner [09:50]: "Prigozhin's method for taking Bakhmut from the Ukrainians is just old school, Soviet style... 'If you make it through, you're free, but it's unlikely you're going to get through.'"

These conscripted soldiers, often former prisoners, face extreme conditions with high mortality rates—a strategy aimed at attrition to wear down Ukrainian defenses despite massive losses.

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5. Global Conflict and Economic Implications

Bannon and Lechner discuss the broader implications of widespread conflicts, touching upon the massive displacement of populations and looming economic crises. Bannon forecasts a potential depression by 2030, driven by factors such as:

• Aging Population: The largest generation reaching retirement, straining Social Security and Medicare.
• Shrinking Workforce: A smaller tax base exacerbating fiscal challenges.
• Rising National Debt: Compounding economic instability.

Brian Glenn [15:00]: "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."

They argue that these economic pressures could intensify global instability, making the world more susceptible to prolonged conflicts and humanitarian crises.

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6. President Trump's Role and Policy Responses

Central to the episode is President Trump's strategic maneuvers in response to the global tensions:

• Jobs Report: Bannon highlights the creation of 9,000 auto jobs as a testament to Trump's economic policies aimed at reversing manufacturing declines.

Stephen K. Bannon [33:00]: "We created 10,000 manufacturing jobs in February alone. That hasn't happened in a long time."

• Press Availability: Anticipating a press conference from the Oval Office, Bannon anticipates discussions on the jobs report, manufacturing resurgence, and the potential for negotiating a ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine.

• Executive Orders: Trump announces reforms to the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program to prevent misuse by individuals involved in illicit activities, ensuring that only legitimate public service workers benefit.

John Lechner [50:53]: "This executive order will direct your Department of Education and Department of the Treasury to bring about modifications to the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program..."

• Manufacturing Rebound: Emphasizing the reversal of job losses inflicted during the early years of Biden's administration, Trump showcases significant gains in the private sector, particularly in the automotive industry.

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7. Conclusion and Closing Thoughts

The episode wraps up with Bannon reinforcing the urgent need for American resilience in the face of global turmoil. He urges listeners to stay informed, support policies that bolster national strength, and recognize the dire realities depicted in Lechner's research. The discussion underscores a call to action for safeguarding American interests amidst an increasingly volatile international landscape.

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Notable Quotes with Timestamps

• Stephen K. Bannon [00:02]: "This is the primal scream of a dying regime. Pray for our enemies because we're going medieval on these people."

• John Lechner [09:50]: "Prigozhin's method for taking Bakhmut from the Ukrainians is just old school, Soviet style... 'If you make it through, you're free, but it's unlikely you're going to get through.'"

• Brian Glenn [15:00]: "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."

• John Lechner [50:53]: "This executive order will direct your Department of Education and Department of the Treasury to bring about modifications to the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program..."

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Final Thoughts

Episode 4321 of Bannon's War Room offers a sobering examination of the current global conflicts, particularly focusing on Russia's aggressive military strategies in Ukraine. Through insightful dialogue with John Lechner, listeners gain a deeper understanding of the complexities and brutal realities of modern warfare. The episode serves as a clarion call for strategic policy responses to safeguard national interests and prepare for the multifaceted challenges ahead.

Transcript

[Stephen K. Bannon]

This is the primal scream of a dying regime. Pray for our enemies because we're going medieval on these people. Reasons I got a free shot on.

[Brian Glenn]

All these networks lying about the people.

[Stephen K. Bannon]

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.

[Brian Glenn]

You'Re not going to stop it.

[Stephen K. Bannon]

It's going to happen.

[John Lechner]

And where do people like that go.

[Stephen K. Bannon]

To share the big lie?

[John Lechner]

MAGA MEDIA I wish in my soul, I wish that any of these had a conscience.

[Brian Glenn]

Ask yourself, what is my task and.

[Stephen K. Bannon]

What is my purpose? If that answer is to save my.

[Brian Glenn]

Country, this country will be saved.

[Stephen K. Bannon]

War ROOM here's your host, Stephen K. Ban. It's Friday the 7th of March in the year of our Lord 2025. Thank you for being here for the second hour of the morning show. History being made once again, President Trump is going to open up to a press avail momentarily. Our own Brian Glenn is with the camera crew and they're going to be in the, they're going to be, I think it's going to take place in the Oval. We don't know the topics yet, but I believe that it's clearly mentioning something that's going on. All the reporting is coming out with Doge and Elon Musk. I'm sure they'll address that. Also, I'm sure the president is going to talk about the cr. We just had Chip Roy from the White House. So they had a morning meeting. Sure he's going to talk about that and what he's looking for. So we'll check that box. Also, I believe he's going to say something about 9,000 auto jobs created already on his watch. I think surely they're going to mention that. And then I think I'd be very surprised he didn't mention this truth socially, just put up about Russia's kinetic activity overnight in Ukraine. Look, President Trump, as I tell you, one of his best sayings when you're around him is no games. And particularly here, I think it falls into the Zelensky last week, no games a week ago. And also with the Russians, they're trying to work, as I've told you, a rapprochement. But the Russians are quite tough. And last night I think you saw a pounding that President Trump and his true social just not prepared to tolerate. He's given the Muslim Brotherhood franchisee in Gaza. He's put them on the clock and said, yo, you don't have all the hostages dead or alive turned over so we can count them up. All hell's going to break loose. And they have a new IDF chief of staff, a pretty tough hombre that said his first address to the country of Israel says 2025 is going to be the year of war. So get ready. The world's on the brink. We're already deep into the kinetic part of the Third World War. All these people said, well, you know, we're trying to avoid the third. You ain't trying to avoid the third world war. From 1939, the invasion of Poland to June of 1941, the invasion of the Wehrmacht and the invasion of Russia, Operation Barbarossa. If you take those couple of years, there is, I think, I don't know, 10 times the killings taking place in Ukraine and in Israel. That took place Poland. The fall of France, the blitz over the Battle of Britain, the blitz over London. You know, throw in some raids in France, take North Africa. You roll it all up. It pales in comparison to the casualties you have, and quite frankly, the destruction. Parts of Ukraine look like Dresden in 1945. You're in a kinetic war right now that's every bit as dangerous and every bit as brutal, if not more brutal than the opening phase of World War II. John Lechner. It says providential that we had John scheduled. I had a chance to read this book in galleys and give it to people that kind of work, this. That this is their line of country. And everybody was kind of blown away by the book. It's called Death is Our Business. It's about the kind of mercenary. The new Russian way of war. So, John, walk us through. First off, your experience in doing this, you've kind of dedicated your life to. You're a guy that, I don't know, gets an adrenaline rush of being in some pretty bad neighborhoods. So walk us through kind of your background. What led you to this topic? Before you get into the meat and substance, I want to put out your curriculum vita on this, sir.

[Unknown]

Well, thank you. And thank you for having me on the show. I think it came off in the book that, well, I mean, kind of like you, I had a career for a little while in investment banking, but my true passion was always for languages and linguistics and traveling the world. I had spent some time living in Russia. I spoke Russian, still speak Russian fluently. And I'd been spending a lot of time traveling in Africa. And when I decided I wanted to become a writer, it was right around the time that this Wagner group, well, kind of what was still very. Kind of a mysterious Band of Russian mercenaries was touching down in the Central African Republic. And this was in 2018. And so in 2019 I decide I have to go there for myself and see what's happening. And I touched down and I started making contacts and started traveling around the country. And relatively soon I knew that there was a book to be written about it. I followed Wagner group from Ukraine to Syria. Central African Republic was in Mali, Libya, you know, really wherever they were, getting interviews with them and with all the different armed groups and armies that are fighting against them too.

[Stephen K. Bannon]

What is. Did the vaginal group, let's go back. Did these things kind of appear because when the Soviet Union collapsed that you had this massive Red army and the whole nation had kind of been on war footing for years, you had this massive infrastructure and they clearly couldn't pay for it. I mean what we've seen in Ukraine and I keep telling people, hey, there's Ian Bremmer told me the other day, there are 800,000 dead or wounded Russian troops in this war, which is mind boggling number. And you know, when I was on sea duty, you know, our mission was Soviet submarines, Russian submarines. Then come back to the Pentagon. Everything is about the folded gap, the north German plain. I mean these guys had a. We actually had to forward deploy tactical nuclear weapons and Pershing missiles, cause a firestorm with President Reagan and Thatcher back in the 80s just to make sure we could defend it. That's not the army you see today.

[Brian Glenn]

With the Wagner group and these other.

[Stephen K. Bannon]

Mercenary groups, were they because people, troops, soldiers, officers saw a way to make a living since they weren't going to be employed really by the Red army anymore. I mean, how did this whole thing of these mercenary groups led by these Russians even come about?

[Unknown]

Yeah, no, I mean it's great that you center kind of that, that post Soviet experience right after the collapse of the Soviet Union because that kind of solves the supply end of creating a private military company or a pmc. There are a lot of Russians and citizens of the former Soviet Union who have military experience and are out of work or they're underemployed. And these are the skill sets that they have in Russia itself.

[Stephen K. Bannon]

And hold it, hold on, hold on, hold on, hang on. I just wanna make sure, by the way, we are, as soon as the president walks in the oval, we are gonna go live. Jon. But their skill set is killing people. I mean these guys, you read this book. I mean this is pretty savage, right?

[Brian Glenn]

Their skill set. Because I keep telling we don't teach.

[Stephen K. Bannon]

World War II, right? World War II. Our allies are the Russian people. The Bolsheviks are horrible, Stalin's horrible. But if you want to read a war at a different scale than we fought in the west, as brutal as the west, the war in the west and the Pacific, they're horrible. But you want to read something that's almost unhuman. It's the war, it's Operation Barbarossa, right? And so from that lineage, these guys are not playing by the Marquis of Queensbury's rules. They don't believe in the Geneva Convention. These are essentially savages. Am I incorrect?

[Unknown]

Well, I mean there's that great section of the book, right, where Prigozhin decides he's going to take Bakhmut from the Ukrainians, kind of a middle sized city in Ukraine. The Ukrainian army decides they're going to defend it. And so Prigozhin's method for taking Bakmut from the Ukrainians is just old school, Soviet style. He gets permission to go to Russia's entire prison system. He visits all of the prisons and he shows up and he, and he says, I have an offer for you. You fight for me for six months in Bakmut and you survive, then you go free. Your criminal record is expunged. And he says, just like you said, he says very directly to the prisoners. And he was a prisoner himself, so he speaks their language. He says, my losses are worse than Stalingrad. If you show up on the front and you decide this isn't what you signed up for, you'll be shot on some. If you try to desert, you'll be shot on sight. And he uses the exact language that Stalin used when he was creating what were effectively penal battalions of people who had fallen afoul of the Bolsheviks, which was pretty much anybody during Stalin's time. They formed these penal units and they would throw them into the hairiest part of whatever fight against the Germans. The goal of it was, as they said, was to atone for their sins with blood. And that was the exact language that showed up on the contracts that these prisoners were signing to go to the front.

[Brian Glenn]

How did you.

[Stephen K. Bannon]

I'm gonna get to more of the story, but I don't wanna give it all away, cuz I want people to read this book. I want people to read this book because it's a wake up call. Look, they asked me on British TV the other day, I'm talking about the Russian repression round. They said, you, oh. Because I was all over Zelensky. And they said, you know, I called him a punk and A crook. And they go, oh, you trust Putin? I go, no, I don't trust Putin's kgb. He's the last guy in the world. I trust him less than Zelensky. But I said, Winston Churchill partnered with Stalin and fdr. They didn't trust him. These are bad guys, but sometimes you gotta partner with bad guys. But how did you get the detail? The book kind of reads like a novel. So how did you get all the insights, the conversations? And it spread over a battlefield that's pretty much. I mean, it's from Africa to Eurasia. You've got both strategy and you got the brutality of what these guys do for a living. You. How did you get all that?

[Unknown]

Look, I mean, that was the toughest part. I mean, getting the information also was obviously difficult. I mean, I took, you know, as are detailed in the book, I took a number of risks. I just went to these war zones and I, you know, found the numbers of some of these guys, and I called them up and I met with them and interviewed them. And, you know, I think they, at first, they were curious, why is a Russian speaking American here in the middle of the Central African Republic? I'm sure they thought that I was intelligence. But, you know, curiosity can often get the best of you. And, you know, I just made an effort over the long term to get their stories. And I interviewed for the book probably about 40 guys in Wagner who are either fighters or executives or affiliates of the founder, Yevgeny Prigozhin. But so it took. It took a lot of being on the ground in these war zones to collect kind of the stories. And then it took even even longer, kind of sitting there trying to think about, like you said, how do you craft a narrative that. That brings together how Russia works, how these African societies work, how complex these civil wars are that Wagner is intervening in. And these, I mean, are some of the biggest wars that are happening today. Ukraine, Syria, the Sahel, Libya. And so, you know, it took a lot of research and it took a lot of time to figure out a way to take the reader through it in a way that is also engaging and accessible to a general audience.

[Stephen K. Bannon]

Go back to that point. It's a great point. I want to make sure this audience fully understands it, the scale of conflict in the world today. This is why I'm such a huge believer in Trump. And Trump is trying to hammer swords into plowshares, both Ukraine, the Middle East, China. But give the audience a second. We've got about 90 seconds in this break. We'll hold you through the break about the scale of conflict that's going on in the world today, sir?

[Unknown]

Yeah, I mean, it's at the highest scale, I think, probably, as you said, since going back too close to the World War II, to some of the early days of the Cold War. I mean, I think we have probably, you know, the tally is about 100 million refugees right now in the world today. You have a full scale state to state conflict between two, you know, two very kind of serious nation states in Russia and in Ukraine. And as you mentioned, you know, the losses there are staggering. Syria continues to be an area where we don't know just earlier today, there has been a kind of a minor insurgency and this is across the Middle east and North Africa that we see continued precarity and instability. And the conditions in the world today point towards more, not less, conflict in our future.

[Stephen K. Bannon]

This is the point. John Hanger for one second. John Lechner, Death is our business. It's an inside view with a great strategic overview of modern warfare. And it's brutal. You won't totally understand what President Trump, what he's trying to accomplish until you understand the raw, just viciousness of what is out there. I'm not so sure the people in Europe understand this. I really don't. I don't think they fully grasp what's happening in Ukraine. I just don't. Certainly in the United States, the MAGA movement, so many veterans. We're gonna take a short break. John Lechner's gonna be with us. If President Trump comes the Oval, we'll cut right away. Back at the moment.

[Brian Glenn]

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.

[Stephen K. Bannon]

And I mean a big problem.

[Brian Glenn]

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[Stephen K. Bannon]

Don Junior Birch Gold. Do it today. Here's your host, Stephen K. Bannon. Okay, as on cue, ladies and gentlemen, Kobayasi is reporting right now that President Trump is going to focus on the jobs report. And like I said, I don't think they've done a great job in selling how good a news President Trump already is having in this jobs report. And there's going to be some choppy water. But like I said, There's 9,000 auto jobs. So President Trump, the primary purpose is going to start with the jobs report. But since we have John Lechner here and he's given us the really the details of how the Russian army really fights, particularly his mercenary army. And I told you that overnight the Russians pounded Ukraine. And President Trump's kind of said, hey, I want a stand down. This is why Zelensky come up asking security guarantees. I don't want to hear it. I want to see a stand down. Don't be asking me for security guarantees. That's why he threw him out. I don't think he was very happy last night because he's working. He's got team in Saudi Arabia. He's got Witkoff on it. Witkoff's his guy. He's the tip of the spear on this thing. Steve Witkoff, good man, very close to Trump for decades. They're trying to work this thing out and they get pounded. Last night, like I said, Trump is a no games guy. Don't play games with me. Reporting now from Bloomberg that Russia is willing to discuss a temporary cease fire with Ukraine provided this progress toward final peace settlement. Per Bloomberg headline, Putin ready to agree Ukraine truce with conditions. So I think we're going to have some big movement on that today and over the weekend. We'll be on it 24 7. Lechner, I want to step back for a second because this is not taught in the West. It's one of the big and we try to do it in this show. And like I said, I don't trust the kgb. Putin, I spent my youth as a junior naval officer on a destroyer. Our entire mission was hunting and protecting the carrier battle groups from fast attack submarines. Spent three, four years in the Pentagon the whole time there, 100% was on Russia. But I've learned that people have not been taught World War II appropriately. When the Russian people think of war or when these kind of guys, like these Wagner group guys, their thinking about war is quite different than Hollywood's in America, and what we think about, you know, Saving Private Ryan and all the movies and the. And how we think of D Day and other things. Give me your understanding of the Russians people thinking when they think of conflict and they think of war, sir?

[Unknown]

Yeah, I mean, I think. Well, there are two big differences, I think, that you can point out. One, the Russians have a much higher tolerance for casualties on their own side, and so they can get into a war for attrition. I mean, During World War II, I think, if I remember correctly, the rate was that the Soviets would only pull back from a position fighting against the Germans if they had lost 60% of their force. And so they throw in 100 guys. They only pull back and retreat after 60 or so have died. And so, I mean, these kind of tactics that they often use, and we were talking about the human wave tactics in Bakhmut that Wagner was using. I mean, it's just. It's brutal, it's inefficient, but they do it for a reason. It's also effective over time. And so in Bakhmut, the Russians, for example, were taking probably four casualties or four people killed for every one Ukrainian. But they considered that to be to their advantage because the guys that Wagner was throwing into the fight, as we mentioned, they were convicts, they were prisoners. These were the people that society didn't need. And the Ukrainians, they were losing less guys, but the guys that they were losing were some of their most experienced, talented fighters. And so for Yevgeny Prigozhin, Wagner's founder for the Kremlin, this was a ratio that made sense. And there's a long tradition.

[Stephen K. Bannon]

I want to go back to. Yeah, hang. I want to go back to Bakmut, because it was Bakhmut in 22 or 23. It was like six or eight weeks. Every day on the show, we would give an update because it's basically a crossroads, but it's essentially leads to a place, but it's not like Kiev. It's not a siege of a major town. It's kind of a crossroads. But every day, I think, for six or eight or 10 weeks, it was like World War I. I mean, they pounded it every day, and they were relentless. What was the thinking when they think of a place like Bakhmut I mean, go ahead.

[Unknown]

We can get. We can get into this. I think, you know, war can create significance, right? And so, like you said, Bakmut itself, it's a small city. It's not the capital, Kiev. But what happened basically, was that both Wagner's founder, Yevgeny Prigozhin, promised to deliver this victory to Putin, and the Russians hadn't had a lot of major victories by that point. So Bakhmut starts to gain significance for the Russians, and President Zelensky also decides that the Ukrainians are going to defend Bakhmut despite the fact that, again, it's not strategically significant and it's actually in a position that is, in terms of the terrain, is actually at a disadvantage to the Ukrainians. It's kind of located at the bottom of some hills on either side. And so it wasn't a good position for the Ukrainians to be in. But the decision was made that somehow Bakhmut became sort of a bellwether for the war itself at that point, like you said, everyone was covering it every day, and whether the Russians or the Ukrainians pushing forward kind of became a way to measure how the war was going itself. And so it took on far more significance than the city or the position itself actually deserved. And like you said, it was just a brutal fight of the Russians using human wave tactics, throwing guys out of the trenches. Eight out of ten could be killed, but two jump into the Ukrainian trenches and get one or two guys. And just constant, just constant, they call it in Russian the meat grinder. And I mean, I think it's a pretty apt name for it.

[Stephen K. Bannon]

No, but then you see the parents. I've said the most rational people in this entire tragedy have been the parents of young men and women 18 to 26 years old. They just said how many times they put up in the legislature. They go, no way. We're not sending our kids into the meat grinder. Because we see how brutal this thing is, and we see how these mercenaries that fight for the Russians and the prisoners, they're at another level, and we don't want our kids to basically die on the battlefield. Is that what happened essentially in Ukraine?

[Unknown]

I mean, it's difficult because, you know, for the Ukrainians, it is existential. And I think that there are, you know, there are plenty of kind of criticisms that can be made at a tactical level like Bakhmut, but I think overall, there is still widespread support for the soldiers on the front line and a lot of griping kind of in the background about these types of situations that are happening and how some of the generals are using the Ukrainian people as resources. But it's a difficult position, I think, for the families also to be in because you can disagree with the tactics also kind of agreeing to the overall strategy or the need to defend. Because like you said, too, I mean, the Russians are brutal.

[Stephen K. Bannon]

I don't want to give too much away because I want people to read the book, and the book is a wake up call. I think the people in the United States will say, hey, this is what the world's really like. Right? And I think it's particularly important for veterans and families of people in the armed services and go in the armed services to read this and understand what your kids are really signing up for. Right. Because this thing is brutal. I want to go. What led these guys to believe they were like the Praetorian Guard? What led to this incident where they actually thought that they become, you know, they were so good or somehow it was miscommunicated what was going on, that eventually they marched on. They actually turned on Putin himself. It looked like they turned on Putin, and we don't. I mean, even at the time, we didn't know if it was a fake. It was a misdirection play. What's your sense of that? Did they just get ahead of themselves? Did they just think that they were like the Praetorian Guard and they could determine who runs Russia? Sir?

[Unknown]

Yeah, I mean, it's a great question. Because the other reason why I think this book is important for readers is to introduce people to some of the Russians other than Putin, Right. Who are in Russia and show that there are plenty of Russians working within Putin's system who are incredibly ambitious and act independently, rashly, and can sort of fall out of the Kremlin's control. Yevgeny Prigozhin, as he kind of comes out in the book, this is a guy who went from an ex con himself to a contractor for the military to eventual founder of this mercenary army. And his ambition and his ego were essentially limitless. But he was operating in a system where you can really take some gambles and you can really put your neck out on the line, kind of basically saying, I'm furthering Russia's national interests. But if those interests shift or the strategy shifts, then you're going to be hung out to drive, and it's a dangerous position to be in. And Danny Prigozhin, he made a lot of enemies over the years, especially with his ambition and his very uncouth and brash ways of doing things. And so really the crisis came when the Ministry of Defense decided they were going to cut off Yevgeny Prigozhin from this prison population, which he needed to deliver Bakhmut as a victory to Prigozhin. And then the Ministry of Defense went further and they said, actually all Russians fighting in Ukraine right now have to sign a new contract with the Ministry of Defense. And so Prigozhin was about to lose all of these thousands of Wagner fighters, which he understood and even said made him a political force on the domestic scene. And I think that's ultimately what, you know, I think his decision was, yeah, it's either I die tomorrow or five weeks from now.

[Stephen K. Bannon]

Yeah, hang on for one second. We'll take a short, very heavy back like the Roman legions. Right. One of the head of the legions in Persia say, hey, I've had a pretty good run. Maybe I'll turn this wagon around. We're head towards Rome, see how it turns out.

[Brian Glenn]

Short commercial break we are going to.

[Stephen K. Bannon]

Go to the Oval Office with President Trump as soon as the cameras come on with our own Brian Glenn. John Lechner getting a wake up call, folks, short break. Back in a moment.

[Brian Glenn]

While we may have won this election.

[Stephen K. Bannon]

The fight to restore our great nation is only beginning.

[Brian Glenn]

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[Stephen K. Bannon]

Do it today. Here's your host, Stephen K. Bannon. Birchgold.com Bannon Endothedollar Empire. You get all five free installments about debt, deficit, all of it. To teach you the nomenclature and to kind of put you in how to think about capital markets, why gold has been a store of value and a hedge for 5,000 years. The latest six free installment Modern Monetary Theory. You have to understand it, particularly as we get into next week because it's going to be a firestorm on the cr. We understand the war and posse the audience. I don't know. You're not quite, let's say you're not quite there yet on a cr. On a clean cr as I knew you weren't. Need a lot more details and trust me, there's going to be a lot of toing and froing and some gnashing of teeth and there'll be tears. This one's going to end in tears, I can tell you. Go check it out today. Into the Dollar Empire, Modern Monetary theory. It's all free. Go to birchgold.com Bannon also take your phone at Bannon at 989-898. Get the free brochure Investing in Gold in the Era of Trump. The Ultimate Guide. Philip Patrick and the teams put this together. We also give you access to Philip Patrick and his team. Go do it today. Take advantage of that. As soon as it's ready in the Oval Office. Going to write to that. Our own Brian Glenn is there and I believe we have our own camera guy there today. So it's a red letter day. Real America's Voice. And Natalie's going to join us from the White house in the 5:00 hour. John, where do people go? We can tell there's a lot of interest in the audience on this. Where do people go to get the book? And are you doing any book signings? You're going to be anywhere that people can go hear you talk or are you doing a podcast with anybody that's set up? People want to know more information about this?

[Unknown]

Yeah, absolutely. Well, I mean, the book is available in any good stores, Barnes and Noble Books A Million or any other great store in your town. You can also buy the book obviously on Amazon and any other online retailer as well. It's with Bloomsbury Publishing. And I have a book signing tonight at Politics and Prose here in D.C. we're planning a few more that I can keep the audience updated with on John Lechner author.com.

[Stephen K. Bannon]

Perfect in politics and Pro. The book signing is at what time? 7:00pm 7:00pm okay. Note to Warren Posse. It's probably it used to be in the old days before I it used to be in the old days where I took on this line of work with President Trump. My favorite bookstore in Washington, D.C. and probably one of my favorite in the country. Let's say I don't frequent it as much as I used to. Please. If you go see Lecternite, do not, and I repeat, do not wear your MAGA ball cap. Just go in and go in undercover. Pretend you're a Wagner group.

[Unknown]

Don't even worry. Yeah, exactly.

[Stephen K. Bannon]

Okay, hold it. Lechner said, Lechner said. Going to give you cover. So where are your MAGA cat? Walk up to Lechner and say, hey, I'm here because I heard you on the, I heard you on the war room. So 7pm tonight, politics and pros and folks, if you haven't been there, it's a fabulous bookstore, particularly if you like politics, history, all of it. It's amazing. And these author, they have very prominent people show up to give talks. So, John, that's pretty important. At least what the establishment's telling you is that they love the books. Anyway, look forward, have a success tonight, politics and prose at 7 out on Connecticut Avenue. And look forward to having you back, sir.

[Unknown]

Thank you. Thanks for having me.

[Stephen K. Bannon]

Let's go over to his website now, explore more about Extraordinary guy. The tales of these and this is what the reality is. First off, it's one of the realities that the young men and women that go into the service, the American armed in Africa and the Middle East, I mean, this is one of the reasons these experiences come back. And this is, hey, the whole thing with the va, what's got to happen to it, the restructuring the va, it's got to be talked about. I mean, this announcement, you're just getting rid of 80,000 people. I realize the VA is now up to what, 450 or 500 post Covid. But it's really got to be thought through because just read this book and you'll see what, you'll see what people are up against because it is the Wagner guys are that mercenary army is very much what's happening in very much happening in Russia in many elements. The other part of the books is quite good, is that when President Trump negotiates with Putin, the reality is that there's a little bit like the Roman Republic or Roman Empire and that there's different kind of power centers. And a lot of power centers are really driven by ability and particularly guys to think, hey, I've got troops I got weapons. You know, we're not. We don't actually live in a democracy. You know, maybe I can make my move now. So it's a. It's a very fluid situation over there. As president, like I said, Putin has announced he's prepared for a ceasefire. I think President Trump sending a message, not just publicly, but I'm sure on back channels, that he's just not going to sit there. He's not going to be happy with. He's not going to be happy with games being played. The whole world's got a lot aligned here. President Trump has gone out of his way and so many times. He talks about the casualties from Ukraine, he talks about the casualties in Russia. And look, the Ukraine numbers, you know, because they're trying to hide exactly how bad it's been. President Trump says, up to a million dead and wounded. I do know, because I talked to Ian Bremmer and Ian's a guy that will get down to the number. Ian told me flat out, The Russians are 800,000 dead or wounded, which is just a stunning number in three years. You understand why if you read the book Death Is Our Business, because like I said, there's a dramatic scene when the head guy goes. The Wagner guy goes to the prisons, him having been a prisoner before, and he says, hey, look, this is going to be like Stalingrad, but you're either going to spend the rest of your life in prison or 10 or 20 years, or some of you guys are going to die here, or I'll give you a shot. But if you make it through, you're free. Now, it's unlikely you're going to get through, but at least you die out there as a warrior instead of dying here as a slave. It's pretty powerful. He gets a lot of signups. That's how nice Russian prison is. It's a different world. And we have to understand, and this is why it upsets me so much, the elites in this country are prepared. Right now, on the Romanian Ukraine border, you have a brigade of 101st Airborne. I mean, that could be Mo. Now, she went to Iraq. But, you know, this is sons and daughters of everyday Americans, and they signed up for it. They're not whining, they're not bitching. This is what they want to do, this is what they signed up to do. But read the book and just see what we're putting our kids in the middle of. And there's no need to do this. It's ridiculous. People are making money off this. The European, you know, The Europeans are talking, they're all big talk now, their bluffs getting a little bit called by the bond market. So this is President Trump. What he's trying to do is get some framework around this so we can lay the guns down, the war of attrition can stop. And then you start talking about some sort of deal. A subset of this is going to be the situation in Persia where I think the Russians are going to work to have some sort of diplomatic American Persians. Sit down. The new head of the idf, the chief of staff, when he said it's going to be a year of war, he's talking about in Gaza. He's also talking about in Judea, Samaria. I think he's talking about some cleanup in Syria, maybe some Hezbollah. But he also says, hey, they call it Iran, I call it Persia, but Iran. And as you know, there's very little to no support, very little support for engagement in any kind of conflict with Persia, either on ground or any air assets. There's got to be another way to solve. So it's a volatile situation. It's a very volatile situation. Very volatile situation. Then you come back here and the audience and you guys are going to have to be kind of the arbiter here because we have to get serious and only this audience can make people serious about spending cuts. Nobody wants to cut spending, let's be honest, up on the Hill. It's just because it's too politically painful. The reason we're in this situation is because we've avoided this for decade after decade after decade. If you look at the deficits we had in the first couple of years of Trump, before COVID before COVID hit, they're relatively small. You know, I think there was an argument we could close that time, but the relatively small, I think the first one was 400 billion a couple compared to today when you're at $2 trillion and it's structural, we have to get serious about cutting that. The only way you're going to cut it, and I've said this before, yes, there is waste, fraud, abuse. One, you have to identify it. Two, you have to stop paying for it. Three, you have to rid it from the system. You have to hold people accountable because there's been all this waste, fraud and abuse. Remember, it's been financed for years and people have run the organizations that did it. So you have to do that accountability. But it's not going to be a trillion dollars. You're not going to cut the deficit hat with waste front abuse, spending cuts. That's too. It's not a magic wand. You're going to have to get into the tough, into the tough decisions, Defense, Medicaid, the other social programs, because you're not going to touch the entitlements right now of Medicare and Social Security. It's just not going to happen. It's another fantasy. If people tell you, well, you can't do it until you, then they're lying to you because you can at least make an effort and close this thing up. You can. It's going to be painful. It's going to be. The media is going to be all over you every day of the week, right? Just like deporting 10 million people. You think it's going to be easy? Think that's going to be. You see the deportation rights, how tough it is even to get the criminals out when you have sanctuary cities, have these governors, guys like Pritzker, these people fighting you tooth and nail. So it's all difficult, right? Stopping the war is difficult. That's why Trump's just doing an extraordinary job, standing in the breach. And I'm glad today because I don't think, and this is why I think it was good Scott got on the road. I think Lutnick and Navarro and Hassett and Scott, they're terrific. I think it's got to be kind of more coordinated and hammered and more surrogates outside. Surrogates. E.J. antonio of the world. He's still given the best description of the difficulty of this economy, of anybody, of what President Trump inherited. President Trump is taking the bull by the horns. That's why I think we're having this press avail. And I don't believe it's around the executive order signing for actually getting rid of the Education Department, which I believe is supposed to be today, supposed to be yesterday. I think they're tightening up the executive order. But President Trump is going to go on offense, I think here momentarily and talk to you about the jobs report. Inside the jobs report, there's some Nuggets. I think 9,000 jobs created in one month in January in the automotive industry shows you what President Trump's doing about the automotive industry. This is part of the whole tariff strategy and bringing manufacturing back here, what Honda's already announced. I think there's been some other announcements also. I think these are extraordinarily important. And President Trump's going to talk about that. He's also, I'm sure he's going to bring up the fact that, but you know, with his efforts after this bombing overnight, the shelling Overnight by the Russians in Ukraine that he's, you know, he's got somebody's attention. And now Putin's saying he's willing to have a ceasefire. That's a big movement, very big movement. President Trump and Witkoff and these are thinking about this overall rapprochement with the Russians, how it's going to look, and it's extraordinarily important. And you got the Europeans and the Ukrainians nipping at your, snapping at your heels. Clearly they're going to have some say. So it's got to be minor and it's got to be not. It cannot drive this deal because this is between principles. I just don't think they're considered a principle. I don't. Because it's an overall strategic relationship that can solve the situation in Europe, the potential for a European war, which is how World War II kind of started, started as a mainland war between a Japan and China up in Manchuria. And it started with the, you know, I would actually say with the, with the Spanish Civil War, but then in 1939 and it was a European war. It was a European war until 1941, until Operation Barbarossa, until the Wehrmachta, the Germans attacked their strategic partner, or at least their alliance partner, the Russians, in kind of a sneak attack on Barbarossa. And guess what happened six months later? The sneak attack at Pearl Harbor. Very much close. You know, people don't tie those together. Very, very inextricably linked. This is what President Trump's dealing with. And this is why the spending has to get. And look, it's obvious now he's going to do it himself. We wouldn't be in this situation and this audience wouldn't be upset as you should be upset if Johnson and these guys. I said for months and months and months, just let's get on the table and tell the truth. Don't, don't say we should spend all this time of reconciliation when you have to get 2025. Fiscal 2025 has got to be sorted. Then you deal with 26. You didn't do that. Okay, short break, maybe back to the White House when we return. We've seen all the headlines.

[Brian Glenn]

Cyber attacks on our power grids, drones.

[Stephen K. Bannon]

In the sky, violent attacks on everyday Americans.

[Brian Glenn]

The ugly truth is no leader, no system can protect you from everything. And the last thing I want is.

[Stephen K. Bannon]

To be standing in line, depending on help that may never come. And when crisis hits, food is always the first casualty.

[Brian Glenn]

Everyone needs it. And panic buying makes things worse.

[Stephen K. Bannon]

You remember this from the Pandemic that's.

[Brian Glenn]

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[Stephen K. Bannon]

Here's your host, Stephen K. Banner. Okay, we will go live to the White House as soon as we know they're out in the side room right now. Brian Glenn is, I think going to be there. He's their position. We also have a camera crew. So President Trump's going to be in the Oval, I believe. I don't think it's the Roosevelt Room. Things will be oval and he's going to do a press avail and there'll be some questions. I think it's at least new jobs report. I think he's obviously going to talk about Russia. I'm sure he's going to bring up some the situation on Doge and the cr. This could go for a while and it should be great. Real America's Voice is going to cover it live. Of course. Charlie Kirk follows us. If you haven't seen Charlie's podcast with Governor Newsom, you should definitely watch that. Newsom's running in 28 and I know the audience wants to get ahead of all this. I know, I know, I know. But you got to know what's out there. And so Newsom's definitely in. You see it on the Charlie podcast. Very volatile capital markets around today. Why is that? Times of turbulence, geopolitically, financially. Deportations at the border, coming war with the cartels. The Chinese have a curse to live in Interesting times, baby. I will tell you, you live in interesting times. There are decades in which nothing happens and there are weeks in which decades happen. And right now we're having week after week after week why President Trump fled the zone. Days of thunder. He is on fire. And I'm telling you, the weight of the world is on his shoulders. But he's getting it done. Look at that. Command performance on the State of the Union or the joint address to Congress and compare and contrast what could have been run in this Country. Just always remember that that freak show that went out of its way, stole the election and then tried to destroy this country and tried to destroy everybody around President Trump, sent him to prison and make sure he died in prison. Sent all of us to prison, Debank us, de platform us, the whole thing. And remember, we talk about deplatforming all those tech bros that are all running around and all loving up on President Trump and everybody around President Trump, they were the tip of the spear in doing that and they all bought in. They had no problem. It's only when through your work, the precinct strategy and grinding it out, canvassing, only in your work, supporting President Trump, when the math became inevitable that he was going to win, all of a sudden, oh, my God, they're all MAGA and they got their red hats on and they're running around and they're talking crypto this and don't trust any of them as far as you can throw them. They're not good people, they're not trustworthy. They will turn on President Trump, they will turn on you, they will turn on maga, and they'll turn on this country in a New York second birch. Gold. Now more than ever, take your phone out, ban it. 989-898, text that. Get the ultimate guide to investment in gold and do it today in the era of Trump. Very specific. You'll learn a lot. Plus you'll get a relationship with Philip Patrick. I take my Warpath coffee, drink big old gallons of that every morning. We get up, we get up early here to get all the European news overnight in Asia and then get ready for the show. Field of Greens, though, we take this, we put it in water, stir it up, hit it. Every day I get an energy boost. Plus I get that feeling I'm doing something good. Don't have to eat my traditional big breakfast, right? So Field of greens, go to fieldofgreens.com, put promo code in Bannon, get another discount. They got all kind of products. They've also got the Lean product you can check out over at Brickhouse. But Field of Greens, and this is 100% organic. This is what they call a superfood. They have a very different process. The other one that's advertised all the time, you see it advertised nonstop on cable, particularly for a slightly older audience. Totally different process.

[Brian Glenn]

Go to their website, go to Field.

[Stephen K. Bannon]

Of Greens website and check out the process. You will understand why it's real organic superfood. This is superfood. And you'll feel great when you Take it. They're getting ready to go into the Oval Office. I want to go to Mike Lindell. Mike, give me a minute. Sell me a pillow for a minute because I think we're going to. President Trump here live, sir. You guys, all the specials have collided. This is a one day only. You're getting them all free shipping on your whole order. But you get two free MyPillows if you spend $100 or more. Absolutely free. Free shipping if you go to the website, all the towels, everything. Promo code, war room, everybody. Promo code, war room. Thank you. Just go there now. Check it out. MyPillow.com promo code, War. Go to the Oval Office. The president, Donald John Trump live.

[John Lechner]

Yes, sir. So later this afternoon we're going to have prepared for your signature an executive order dealing with the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program. This is a program that's designed to expedite the basically the conclusion of pain and suffering student loans for people who have taken out federally backed student loans. The problem though is that a lot of these people work for NGO organizations for nonprofit organizations that engage in illegal or what we would consider to be improper activities supporting, for example, illegal immigration or foreign terrorist organizations or otherwise law breaking activities. So this executive order will direct your Department of Education and Department of the treasury to basically bring about modifications to the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program in order to ensure that people who are engaged in these sorts of activities can't benefit from a program that's really not intended to support those sorts of things.

[Unknown]

And what are the consequences if they are not good?

[John Lechner]

The consequences would be that they would wouldn't get forgiveness of their student loans as they would be eligible for if they were working for the government or a normal nonprofit. That's not violating the law.

[Unknown]

Any questions on that? Anybody have any questions? So we'll talk about the manufacturing turnaround and it's been very early, but it's pretty significant. The numbers were much better, as you know, than projected by the media and a little surprising actually, how strong, how fast, because we have many, many companies are moving into our country. As you probably know, it's a statistic that everyone talks about but nobody seems to have done much about since the beginning of NAFTA. There's been 90,000 plants and factories closed in this country. Think of that. 90,000 plants and factories have been closed in this country. Many of them have been car manufacturing plants. And that's a terrible statistic. And we'll be turning that around. You're going to see it already. We already have numerous that are being built or starting to be built and numerous that were being built in other countries and they stopped and they're coming here now because of the tariffs. And that's, that's a big deal. That's what you want to hear. During the last year, the Biden administration saw a loss of more than 110,000 manufacturing jobs or 9,000 manufacturing jobs every single month. It averaged about 9,000amonth, 110,000 manufacturing jobs during the first full month in office. We've not only stopped that manufacturing collapse, but we've begun to rapidly reverse it and get major gains. We created 10,000 manufacturing jobs in February alone. That hasn't happened in a long time. And these aren't government jobs which actually we cut. These are private sector manufacturing jobs. So we gained all of those jobs. 10,000 jobs and we barely started yet. That's a very unusual number. People are surprised by it. I'm even a little surprised on auto jobs we created.

[Stephen K. Bannon]

I've been telling you about a very.

[Brian Glenn]

Serious threat to your home equity.

[Stephen K. Bannon]

Home title fraud.

[Brian Glenn]

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[Stephen K. Bannon]

Do it today.

[John Lechner]

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[Brian Glenn]

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