
Episode 4430: The Restructuring Of The State Department; Lack Of Crowds In the Vatican ...
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Susan Glasser
Yeah, I think it's right to connect the dots between the assault on, you know, many different independent institutions, which is a theme that has run through the not quite hundred days of this second Trump term. And I would point out that as far as Chairman Powell goes, you know, you noted that he was appointed by Donald Trump in his first term. Donald Trump also repeatedly threatened to file fire Powell in his first term. In fact, we did reporting for our book the Divider. And it was clear that some senior officials at the Fed literally could not go to sleep for months worrying about the next day being the day that there would be a constitutional crisis, an impasse between the independent Federal Reserve and the White House. It didn't come to pass in part because it was a very different regime at that time. And Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin essentially spent almost full time managing Trump to avoid that kind of catastrophe. By the way, Powell was prepared to spend, quote, every last nickel of his own money, and he has millions and millions of dollars in order to go court to stop Donald Trump from eroding the independence of the American central bank, which many Wall street investors, of course, believe is one of the pillars of our economy. So if Trump takes the next step, I would expect Powell to consider very seriously suing him. I would expect there to be a major crisis that obviously will add further instability into our markets and a level of uncertainty at the core of the American financial system that I think is unlike anything we've ever seen. If there is that kind of outright confron between the chairman of the Federal Reserve and the President of the United.
Steve Bannon
States, are they spending their nights awake over this? How about this Wall Street Journal headline that I just saw tonight? Dow headed for the worst April since 1932 as investors send a no confidence signal. That is happening as the US Dollar is falling again. The COVID of the Economist has a falling dollar. How do you assess all of this?
Glenn Beck
It's a very dangerous time, I think, for Americans, and certainly American investors are showing that anxiety in the market, as you reported earlier, down 2.5% today. But what's a really toxic combination in particular right now is that you have, as you pointed out, you know, falling stock market borrowing money is becoming more expensive for the American government. At the same time, you have a Congress that is advancing a deeply fiscally irresponsible budget. Right. So you're making it imperative for the government to continue borrowing money at the same time that the world is losing confidence in American treasuries. That's a bad combination of factors that's very, very dangerous for the American government. If you think about past fiscal crises, right, or past financial crises, you have the government go into overdrive, spending money to stimulate the economy. If you get into a budget crisis of this nature with rising yields and making it harder for the American government to borrow money, you'd have to go into cutting. That's not something the American government is doing, used to doing in a crisis. So it's really problematic figure out his next steps. It also is an enormous opportunity for China both to start the rebalancing of its economy that it's long needed to do, to have more emphasis on domestic consumption, to cast itself as a more reliable trading partner than the United States. A case that it has been trying to make for years without much effect. And now the Trump administration is providing a perfect case study for why countries return to China instead of the United States. So it' really a golden opportunity, I think in many ways for them.
Steve Bannon
And China's making that very case to our trading partners as well and to a certain degree is subtly threatening them. If you're going to do business with the US and make trade deals, you know, do it with us instead or if you do it with them, we're not going to do it with you. So this is, this is not a little trade war. This is not a tiff. This is blossoming into a full blown trade war between the United States and China and both countries will get hurt. Who gets hurt worse is still the open question. This is the primal scream of a dying regime. Pray for our enemies because we're going medieval on these people. You're just not going to free shot 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. It's going to happen.
DC Drano
And where do people like that go.
Steve Bannon
To share the big lie?
DC Drano
MAGA I wish in my soul, I.
Steve Bannon
Wish that any of these people had a conscience. 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
It's Tuesday the 22nd of April in the year of our Lord 2025. And so the battle lines are being drawn on this and I want to step back for a second and give you a view of the entire battlefield that we're dealing with. Let's go back. If you go to your notes, you'll remember we said that President Trump, there's three basic verticals he'll be heading down to try to turn this thing around and save the Republic. The first will be of the three you'll have ending the kinetic part of World War 3, principally in Ukraine, but also in the Middle East. Right. And that will come from negotiations and they'll be part of a subset of the Russian rapprochement. Central to that is obviously the Department of Defense, National Security Council. And you've seen, you've seen these power struggles over both the DOD and at National Security Council. And we're going to get into that deep. State is definitely pushing back. Pete Hegs has said today, this morning on Fox and now we're in a fight, folks, that we gotta go fix bayonets to save or not to save, to assist Pete Hegseth in making sure he stays the secretary of defense because they're out for him. They're gunning for it. The second was the deportations of the 10 million, securing the border and the deportations of the 10 million people. Now, I have up on getter, I think it's an article of the Washington Times, Steve Dinan, who's one of the best reporters along with over at Breitbart Bender, on covering day to day what's happening on the border and with deportations and everything with immigration, he's reporting it's 99% down. The border's essentially been secured by President Trump. For all sakes and parties. You got to build the wall. You got to do many other things, but there's no more open invasion of the country in that regard. Now you get to the deportation of 10 million illegal alien invaders. And what the Democrats are doing, I think are quite brilliant in fighting us because to delay is to deny. And now we're hung up and we're arguing about Ms. 13. The democrats have made their position, the reason they're taking such a big stake on MS.13 and this individual is that, hey, they understand that the Republicans are going to get tired, the media is going to get tired, the population is going to get tired of even getting the criminal aliens out of the country. And so the 10 million are going to stay and they're going to be voters and you're going to have Wall street come in and say, hey, they're central to the economy. They had 1, 2% in GD. We need that in the whole aspect of suppressing wages for African Americans and Hispanics in the United States. The lower skilled jobs will just be lost in people in fact, they'll argue, oh, that's bringing inflation down, etc. So strategically what they're doing and the courts have taken a big role in this. They're thinking downrange. That's the second aspect on the deportation. And what they're doing right now is quite frankly smart. I mean they're totally embracing that because they have to embrace it. They have no populace, no populist economics. They failed to raise taxes on the wealthy to try to close the budget gap as President Trump and the MAGA movement is doing. They have failed to bring in any economic nationalism. They're taking their Wall street party line about oh my gosh, tariffs are taxes, tariffs are going to raise prices. That's being a running dog for the sociopathic easy money overlords of Wall street and the corporatists. So they've made their bed. Okay. It's quite evident the credentialed class, because they have no, they've abandoned the workers, they've abandoned the working class. That's evident. And that's where you come in and have to have their back. But that's so the two verticals there. The third, as we said, always the biggest and the most central is you have to get to the economic problems and the financial problems underpinning what they've done to hollow out the United States of America and take away high paying good jobs from the working class and the middle class. And here you get down to President Trump now is engaged in, you know, you can't say anything but a direct confrontation with the Federal Reserve, the central bank, the whole concept of central bank. What was stunning about Susan Glassner last night on Stephanie Rule and she kind of dropped the dime that I hadn't heard before, that Powell was prepared to pay tens of millions of dollars to waive off Trump the first time. And this is where Mnuchin, Mnuchin's hand picked guy, many people at the time said this guy was gonna be a disaster. Cause he's not a heavy in capital markets, he's not a trader, he didn't run a hedge fund. He's not a Scott Besant who understands about currency, understands the importance of currency. But so the markets have been in turmoil and people are freaking out. But today the market's up 800 points, maybe 1,000 points here shortly. It's, you know, these markets are bouncing around. Why is it responding today? And what did Charlotte Howard of the economists say that was so important? Markets are responding because things like the headline in the, in the Financial Times of London Beijing warns against, of retaliation against nations with US Deals. Right now it's being reported that you know, Scott Besant leading this effort with East Asia, with Japan, with South Korea, with, with India and South Asia with Vietnam. Now they're talking about Thailand, the Philippines, that these East Asian countries are all over at least coming to terms agreed, memorandums of understanding, terms agreed. Not, not the detail and all the, the complications you need for non trade barriers. Remember it's not just about terrorists, not just about the number, oh there's this 30% and ours is 10%. It's also about reciprocity, reciprocal tariffs. Is President Trump bringing in for the conversation for the first time all the non trade barriers of being essential. You're not going to get final trade deals but you are going to get the architecture of that. And the Chinese Communist Party understands that one of the central parts of these deals is that the center of gravity of your trade will be with the United States. So President Trump is changing, completely changing the commercial, the commercial relationships throughout the world. As the market sees that that's happening, you're having a positive response now. I'll get to gold in a second. Gold at 34, almost 3500 bucks today. And we'll talk about that. The explosive growth of, of gold, the fly in the ointment. What Charlotte Howard said last night, which I think is the first time someone in her position as the US Editor, the Economist came out and said, hey, what the markets are looking at is that you're engaged in a full economic war. Remember as we stand right now, as I've said, we're almost with a full embargo on Chinese goods. And you know, Chinese goods, they manufacture so much because we've shipped the jobs and gutted and hollowed out American manufacturing. That full embargo will have an impact, there's no doubt about that in 90 to 120 days. What Charlotte Howard's saying is that engaging in the trade war and engaging in this tariff war is one thing and you can clearly see President Trump's the pattern because you have to get to some sort of relationship with China that is not one sided like China's had it. Remember they tore up President Trump. The lighthizer deal that Trump worked on for two years back in 2019 and May of 19, which would have solved all the issues and integrated China really into the world economy. This is clearly a decoupling process, but you have to go through the decoupling and make sure it's not completely smash mouth so that both economies Implode. And this is what President Trump invest in, I think are doing magnificently now, what you can't do at the same time. And this is what Charlotte Howard brings up and what we've been harping on, and she used the word irresponsible. The debt ceiling, I understand, or what they're talking about is to increase the debt ceiling by $5 trillion. We cannot have. You can't have the six and a half trillion dollar spend or the $7 trillion spend. You pick your number that they're talking about in these budgets. The Doge situation, you know, whether you're a fanboy of Elon Musk and think he did a great job, or you think it's just all a waste. We have not identified to date in fiscal year 25, not one penny of waste, fraud and abuse. Just make sure you understand that. He promised a trillion. Hey, I'm a big supporter of the Doge effort. He came back to the cabinet meeting last, last week, remember that? And at the academy says there'll be $150 billion, but it'll be in fiscal year 26, that starts in October. So therefore, you have to get back to programmatic budget cuts. And that has to start in the Pentagon. If you don't start in the Pentagon, it's not going to go anywhere. This is one of the reasons, I think you see such deep state friction over at the State Department. Over at the Defense Department, there's two things going on. One, a realignment of national security around a hemispheric defense. Number two, there's going to be massive, you know, Doge to date hasn't come up with any waste, fraud and abuse, which obviously is not the case in the Pentagon. But programmatically, you have to have a, you kind of have to have a deep, deep rethinking of what we're doing. We can't spend a trillion dollars. The defense authorization budget is $900 billion. They're adding in the reconciliation another $150 billion. That gets us over trillion. We can't do it. We can't afford it. We can't finance it. And that's why you're seeing these markets, particularly in the bond market. And remember, we've told you time and again, the bond market gets a vote here. Okay, short commercial break. We're gonna break this down to even more detail in the next segment of the Worm, Johnny Khan takes that with American heart.
DC Drano
I got American power, I got American babe.
Steve Bannon
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Stephen K. Bannon
Here's your host, Stephen K. Bannon.
Steve Bannon
Okay, welcome back. As we were speaking, just received from the Free press. Secretary of State Rubio has announced the official reorganization of the State Department. It's a bombshell folks. A great first start along statutory lines. Grayson, Mo. Just got it to you. If you would push that out to everybody in the war room posse. You got Pete over at Defense, you have Senator Rubio at State. You have Tulsi Gabbard at bni. You got Ratcliffe at CIA. You, you know, Pam Bondi at Justice Cash at FBI. The point of the exercise of those three verticals we saw and everything that has to happen and come together with those departments. In addition, the other exercise we're going through is the deconstruction of the administrative state and taking on the deep state, which we believe needs a sense of urgency. What you see in Secretary Rubio, what is announced here and want everybody to read, including a couple of great org charts, is he's taking down the State Department, which people have talked about for 50 years, 60, 80 years, 100 years bitching about the State Department. 1950s man. The State Department is what turned over China to Mao Zedong because of they were infested with communists. This gets the whole, this gets to the whole McCarthy situation. Remember McCarthy started on who lost China? A new book out by another lefty Red Scare, recommended by Rachel Maddows shows how they totally warp what really happened Post War and in the Cold War, actually, I would say what President Trump is doing with this reorganization is not just the greatest repositioning since the end of World War II. I actually think from the beginning, August of 1914. But President Trump is essentially ending World War II at the same time ending the start of World War 3. Appropriately, the reorganization of the State Department. Now you see out deals with statutory levels. Executive orders are only for a point in time. These institutions were created by statute. One of the reasons they're going into court and slowing this down is saying, hey, you're not filing the statute. You're just kind of freewheeling it. Okay, if that's a game you're going to play, the courts are going to get involved here in thwarting President Trump's Article 2 powers, the unitary theory, the executive executive theory, Boom. Then get Marco, get Rubio to restructure the State Department. Which people. And from Reagan, all conservatives since World War II have bitched and moaned about taking apart the State Department. Donald Trump has just done it along statutory lines. Is it perfect? No. Is it pretty Damn good? Yes. 132 agencies, all these different. All these different things. The State Department's involved themselves in the shirt. And this is the way, programmatically, remember that word that you start cutting cost. Pete Hexith is trying to get that rolling in the state over at the Pentagon, and it's been thwarted. Let me play the Pete. And I got D.C. drano. And D.C. drano had a brilliant tweet up today about what I was talking about before. They're fighting us on the criminal aliens. Hopefully not to a standoff. We're going to get that. But what they're really thinking of is the strategic goal of not deporting 10 million illegal alien invaders, which has to be done or you don't have a country. That's the stakes of this. Let's play the Pete Hegseth. Can I play the Pete Hegseth Deep State. And you'll see what people are fighting about and why. We're on with Tom Finn and others saying, hey, we need a sense of urgency to go after this. Let's go ahead and play it. You take this job, you come in with war experience and your great background. Do you think there's a lot of people don't want you there and there's some type of steep, deep state forces that want to make sure you don't stay there?
Pete Hegseth
They've come after me from day one, just like they've come after President Trump. I mean, I'VE gotten a fraction of what President Trump got in that first term. What he's endured is superhuman. It's not hard for me to do this job. I know exactly why I'm here. To bring war fighting and the war fighting ethos back to the Pentagon. To rip out the insidious ideologies and not compromise and not back down. To bring in new press voices into the Pentagon, which we've done to re establish standards and accountability, to not tolerate leakers, to 100% operational control of our border, to get rid of translunacy in the military. We haven't backed down. See, here's the thing. A lot of people come to Washington and they just play the game and it's you punch their ticket and get along to go along and you know, start doing Meet the Press and going to the Council on Foreign Relations and spending time with all the new cocktail sipping crowd. That's not why I'm here. I'm here because President Trump asked me to bring war fighting back to the Pentagon every single day.
Steve Bannon
Right.
Pete Hegseth
That is our focus. And if people don't like it, they can come after me. No worries. I'm standing right here. The war fighters are behind us. Our enemies know they're on notice. Our allies know we're behind them. And that in this dangerous world for the American people is what it's all about.
Steve Bannon
You see right there, he's in the breach and they're coming after Pete Hegseth. So not today, maybe the days you get Bill Blaster, you get some of the tools that Grace and the rest of the team have made available to you. We're not going to go to the ramparts today. We're going to think this through to have Pete's back. But Pete Hex is in the middle of the fight and you've seen the leaks are going on in the deep state. He's only beginning the beginning process of the reorganization. Look, you know I'm as big a hawk as you got. The Defense Department's budget's got to be cut. You have to show a signal that this thing's not going to. And with the hemispheric defense, the new strategic concept that President Trump has from Panama to Greenland, the Pacific and the three island chain and is also talking about, I don't know, an iron dome of some sort of aspect. An anti ballistic missile. You hermetically seal the United States all the way from the Arctic. The new great game of the 21st century. The great power struggle in the Arctic. It sounds like your focus is Less on the Eurasian landmass and as. As it should be. And back here. Not isolations, but putting America first and America citizens first and America's national security first. DC Drano, let me. I want to get DC Drano up without playing the coal open. I may come back that. D.C. drano, tell me about your worry here, sir, with your legal mind, you're quite worried about this fight we're having in the courts, in the Supreme Court, and everything that's going on every second, every day. The Democrats have now had the back of the MS.13 gangs, but you're taking a broader picture and saying, hey, if it's. They're throwing down on this because they want to stall, stop, or have us forget about the deportation of 10 million illegal aliens. DC Dranor, your thoughts? Why did you put that tweet up this morning?
DC Drano
Well, you're starting to see what their plan was, right? They're rendered effectively powerless in the federal government. The only thing they have are these insurgent Marxist judges that they stacked the judiciary with over the last few years. And they're doing their job. These people are agents of the Marxist movement. Their goal is to weaken and destroy America from within so that we can effectively be taken over by foreign powers. And we're seeing, as you said, that the tactic is to delay, and to delay is to deny. Now, President Trump ran on building a wall in mass deportations not once, not twice, but three times. And if he does not do these mass deportations, despite the adversity from this deep state, his base is gonna soften. People aren't gonna show up in the midterms, and then the Democrats are gonna take the House, and then he's gonna get impeached again, and.
Steve Bannon
Okay, you know, hang on. Walk me through that process. I want to go back because, you know, we're the platform for the mass deportations. What are you saying? What are you telling the audience that you think that unless President Trump continues to push hard on this or just because you're getting all kind of signals, they're just gonna focus on the criminal aliens? So walk me through what you're specifically saying, because I think it's a. You're putting up a flare that we need to put up now so that people are focused on this. But go back and walk me through that process.
DC Drano
I am, Steve. And, you know, I'm very much in the Internet, right? I see what the base wants, and they want three things. They want deep State saboteurs and Epstein clients arrested. They want mass deportations, and they want to codify the Trump agenda into law, to have a strong economy. And what I think their tactic is is to slow these deportations down because people are already complaining. They're saying, you know, where'd the ticker counter go? Why are we only focusing on cartel guys? And now we're getting stopped by the courts. But I'm saying this not to criticize, but to highlight how we need to start taking more drastic measures. And you know, it's an 80, 20 issue. People support deporting illegal aliens, especially Ms. 13 and cartels. The judges have shown their cards. They're going to gum up the tracks as much as possible. Even Supreme Court, unfortunately. What can we do? There are multiple things we can do, including executive orders for E VERIFY and other regulations to have immigration enforcement enacted that would push people to self deport. But I also argue we should consider suspending the writ of habeas. And that is a constitutional power that the president can use in the event of rebellion or invasion. It has been done before. It can be done with the stroke of a pen. And we can start to take more drastic actions to deport illegals, especially the cartels, without judicial, you know, overview, without the courts getting involved. And it's been done by three presidents to my knowledge.
Steve Bannon
Hang on. Don't bear, don't bury the lead. Don't. Buryou just dropped a bomb there. I want to go back because as I compare President Trump to General Washington and to Abraham Lincoln, both General Washington wanted to use that a couple of three times and Lincoln did use it. Right. Lincoln suspended habeas corpus a lot, including at the beginning of the war with the city council of Baltimore. Walk me through. We got 30 seconds. I want to hold you through. Walk me through. You want to suspend habeas corpus. How are you going to do that? Is that autocratic breakthrough or is DC Drano going full Nazi on me?
DC Drano
No, it's a constitutional power that is explicitly reserved for an event of rebellion or invasion. I would say 10 to 20 million illegal aliens coming into this country counts as an invasion, especially when many of those illegal aliens are coming from hostile adversaries like China, like Ukraine, like other Venezuela. The trend they're being sent by these governments. We have to take drastic actions. And frankly, I think the American people are fed up and they, and they'd be willing to do this in limited circumstances.
Steve Bannon
Okay, hang on for a second. I'm gonna hold you through. DC Drano. What's the solutions? Heads are going to blow up on this. Goals over 35. Remember, it's not the price, it's the process. Take your phone out, text Bannon B a N N O N at 989-898. That'll put you in contact with Birch Gold. You get the ultimate guide for investing in gold in precious metals in the era of Trump. Totally, completely free. Do it today and put you in touch with Philip Patrick. And heard me talk about my patriot supply because I trust them when it comes to my family's well being. And I just got word they're doing something they've never done before. Right now you can get the best selling mega 3 month emergency food supply for the same price as the standard kit. Now what I mean by that, that's more than a $360 off of real beef, real chicken, plus farm fresh fruits and vegetables included at no extra charge. Even better, this kit now gives you 2500 calories a day, more than any other emergency food supply I've seen. And let's be honest, when things go sideways, you're going to need more than just survival. You need strength. You need energy. You need real food. This kit will be there when you need it, stays fresh for up to 25 years and it ships fast and discreetly. If you've been waiting for the right time, this is it. Go to mypagesupply.com and claim your mega kit while this offer lasts. That's my patriotsupply.com here's your host, Stephen K. Band. Okay, Birch Gold, what the economist woman was talking about at the beginning about the spending is about the survival of the dollar as the prime reserve currency. Yes. We have to have a national debate about that, whether we want to do it or not. It has tremendous benefits, but it requires tremendous responsibilities. What does Spider man say? With great power goes great responsibility. But that's when you're the prime reserve currency. Go to birchgold.com, end of the dollar empire. Totally free. Six installments. We're working on the seventh to get ready for Rio. Last one is modern monetary theory. We always want to give you the idea and then we'll show you how it executes in the real world. Modern monetary theory. Go to birchgold.com ben and talk to Philip Patrick. And the team is going to set another all time high today. It's not about the price, it's about the process of how it got there. Once you understand that, boom, you're going to be ready to face the world. D.C. drano, look, nice theory, brother to habeas corpus. I got one wrinkle and this is how the deep state rolls. They dropped over dni. Unbeknownst to Tulsi, they leaked a National Intelligence Estimate that showed clearly that there's been no invasion by any foreign power. The Venezuela is in fact, not in back of MS.13 or trend or anything. They cut your legs out for money. This is how the deep state rolls. So tell me what you do there. You're a smart lawyer. You've got. It's not an official report, but I think it's a draft or advanced. Draft. They leaked it. What do you do when your own intelligence apparatus around the President is trying to undercut him so he has no standing in the court when he does exactly what you say he has to do, which is suspend habeas corpus and start rolling him out of here, brother.
DC Drano
Well, is that the same deep state that indicted him four times? We don't care what they say, okay? We have common sense. We watched our country be invaded for four years by 10 to 15 million illegal aliens, many of them men of fighting age, okay? And when I say suspend the writ, not only is this a constitutional power in Article 1, Section 9, but we're not even suspending it for American citizens, okay? There's none of that. These are illegal aliens. They do not have a right to be here. They get deported. If the courts want to stop us, we go around the courts by using constitutional authority to do so. And the president who used this the most is the Democrats favorite president of all time, fdr. Okay? FDR used it, Abraham Lincoln used it, and Ulysses S. Grant used it. And you know what? They're all. All their faces are on our money, okay? They ended up being pretty good looking in historical hindsight, and Trump has the chance to do that. We have to normalize this. You cannot allow 20 million illegal aliens to invade our country and allow them to stay. This is an invasion. That is what an invasion is. Time to start taking drastic action. I understand what President Trump is doing. He's going through the process. He's exposing that Democrat Marxist judges are going to stop him every step of the way. At a certain point, I feel he's going to have no decision but to do this. And you know what? If he stands strong and he does it, he'll win in a landslide in the midterms because this is what Americans want on both sides of the aisle.
Steve Bannon
Talking about the deep state Justice Department. When are we going to start seeing the Pete Hexis is talking about, hey, there's some investigation over the Pentagon. They're going to forward it to the Justice Department. Hey, Pete, no matter what's happening over Pentagon, the Justice department should have 50 things in front of. In the queue in front of that, including the Epstein Epstein files and so many other things with Brennan. The 51. What are your thoughts on. What kind of progress are we making on that? Since you were part of the fiasco that the White House had under Pam Bondi, where do we. I know it's high on your priorities, so where do we stand on that? Sir?
DC Drano
Listen, I held up that binder because I want AT Epstein clients arrested, and I thought there were more things in that binder than there apparently were. We didn't have time to review it, but I can tell you, everyone on the MAGA side, we want deep state arrest. Give us something. Give us one. You don't have to rest the entire Epstein client list tomorrow, but start somewhere. Give us one. I'm personally of the belief that it's been long enough where you can at least get one or two at this point. I understand it takes time to get used to the, you know, the controls and figure out who your allies are and build a case, but come on, I mean, it's been a few months at this point, and people want arrests. I want arrests. You want arrests. We all want arrests.
Steve Bannon
D.C. drano, where do people get you? Online, sir. What's your handle?
DC Drano
CDrano. I'm on all the platforms and, yeah, you know, listen, I know they're in a den of vipers, these organizations, but if you want to, we will support the hell out of you. We have a massive independent media ecosystem. If you start fighting for us, we will start fighting for you. That's where we're at. So let's start putting handcuffs on wrists and showing that justice is real again in this country.
Steve Bannon
Amen. Thank you, D.C. appreciate you. Okay, we gotta open Ben Harnwell's at St. Peter's Square right now. Let's go ahead and. Let's go ahead and play the coal over and bring Ben in live from the Vatican.
Glenn Beck
Blessed are the meek.
Steve Bannon
Juxtapose that, though, John, with how different.
Glenn Beck
That is with where we are as.
Steve Bannon
A society right now.
Glenn Beck
Not just Americans, but Europeans around the world.
Steve Bannon
How this anti immigrant movement has risen up. While you have a pope who over.
Glenn Beck
And over made it his mission to.
Steve Bannon
Talk about the importance of protecting those who are most vulnerable.
Stephen K. Bannon
Well, you have, you know, democracy and Christianity, and this is not to get into Christian nationalism and the often unhealthy blending of faith and power politics, but democracy and Christianity have a great deal in common. It requires us to see one another as fellow children of God. And that may sound grand or soft somehow, but that is in fact the motive force of democracy. If I don't respect you and your dignity before the law and you don't respect mine, then we fall into a state of nature. We fall into a struggle, a constant battle to get what we want. And the message both of the Hebrew Bible and the New Testament is that you can't simply take everything you want when you want it. That there is in fact, a hierarchy of affections that we have to control our appetites, and in doing so, we all have a better chance of filling those appetites. So it's not just about being great people, but it is about seeing one another in a way that enables us to. To at least, if we don't love our neighbor, we should at least try.
Steve Bannon
Was that Stephanie Rule quoting the Sermon on the Mount? Blessed are the meek. Wow, TV history. Ben Harwell, you're in, you're in the Vatican or outside the Vatican or in Vatican City State, I guess close to St. Peter's with. With some scoops. Walk us through everything that's happening, sir.
Ben Harnwell
Morning, Steve. Well, yesterday, standing on this very spot, I took the footage of St. Peter's Piazza and I indicated live on air that against all the mainstream media interpretation that was pumping out the propaganda hard yesterday, there was no great sense of grief here, no great sense of sort of bewilderment. What shall we do now? Our beloved folk is dead. I said that beneath the Apostolic palace there, right over my shoulder, and there was no nuns there kneeling on the ground, praying the rosary with tears screaming down their little faces. And Steve, I was, I was ripped a new one on social media after posting that, people said, you know, where's your compassion, Han? They're saying, look, I've been to St. Peter's it's great. It's not what you're saying. And of course, when I pushed back, it is exactly what I said. However, there is something that corroborates the war Room's unique coverage and that is very kindly. This letter that a number of Roman sources had said to me this morning as I'm talking, I explained the significance of this. This is Cardinal Ray, the dean of the Council. Thanks, guys. He's basically, this letter went out yesterday summoning all the cardinals at whatever age to participate in what's called the General Congregations. When has he summoned them to do this? At from 9:00 this morning. So dies yesterday and already the cardinals have been summoned in and part of the discussion will be the date of, of the Conclave. We know it's going to be between 15 and 20 days. After, of course, by majority vote they can change that. But here's the, here's the point, Steve. This is the killer point here. I've checked, right? When since I got that letter, I've checked. I can't find a single case in any debt of a Pope where the General Congregations have been summoned for the next day. In, in JP2's case, out of respect, he died on 2 April. The first general councils were on April 4, two days later. Benedict was four days after his term when he resigned. I have never found a single instance. Do you know why? Because it's unseemly. It's unseemly. We are in the nine day, the novendialis, the nine day period of official mourning right now. The funeral is going to be on Saturday. He's going to be transferred to the Vatican, right, the basilica right over my shoulder there for three days worth of public viewing. And already the cardinals are gathered together from this morning and they're going to be gossiping and choosing their successor. So when I say, Steve, as I did on air yesterday, that the rope of the Romans, it was just an ordinary Monday, an ordinary sunny April Monday, and there was no great sense of grief behind the papal walls amongst the cardinals, it's even more clinical. So folks, make of that what you will, but I will close with this point. If you're following American cable news and they're all saying that, you know, that the Pope was beloved for his humility and he was a reformist and all the rest of the nonsense propaganda, please bear in mind that those closest to him and you can work out in concentric circles, those closest to him working out are the least moved by his death yesterday.
Steve Bannon
What does this mean for what does this mean for conservative Catholics and traditional Catholics that want to have a show of force and to make sure that we can blunt, you know, any someone farther to the left, him or somebody as dangerous as peril and taking over or as even John. Yep. Said yesterday, which I think is the scariest, a moderate or somebody that comes in like a wolf in sheep's clothing. What is it going to take for Cardinal Burke and others, Cardinal Serra, to make sure people know that they have a big backup here of traditional Catholics, particularly in the United States?
Ben Harnwell
Well, firstly, firstly, the war room posse can hit the phones, hit the Vatican switchboard and start leaving messages of support for people like His Eminence Cardinal Burke, Cardinal Zen. Cardinal Zen doesn't have a vote, but he'll certainly make his voice known in the informal settings of the general congregations before start to speak to the consulate like Cardinal Sarah, you mentioned and say, look, we're with you, we're praying for you. Please do what you can. But Steve, you want to know the truth and your question was perfect, by the way, because a number of journalists have reached out to me today and say, look, who are the conservatives lobbying for? My response is it's not, we're not there.
Steve Bannon
Right.
Ben Harnwell
Don't even start on that line. At best it can be the card. The conservative block vote can be a blocking instrument. But you know, I don't even think the numbers are there for that. I'll pick up, I know I'll pick up on one thing because I know Cardinal Parole. I know him personally, by the way. I know he gets a bad press on, on the war in because of the China deal and that's fair enough. But he is by no means the worst possibility that might come out. By no means. He's the worst that could come out of the conclave. There's a lot worse than him. The sharks that are a lot worse than him, sensing the blood in the water are ferocious. As I say, they're already plotting today. The corpse, Steve isn't even cold and they are already plotting politically to move quickly to get their guy in. So look, just folks, everything, Protestants, Catholics, pray.
Steve Bannon
Where do people get you, Ben, for all day, for all day coverage. Where's your social media? Where they go?
Ben Harnwell
It's my social media platform of choice. Get up and go there, folks. Arnworld, my profile. Arnworld, my surname. Go there. I've got some great hosts there waiting for you at the top of the feed. Thanks, Steve. God bless. Catch up with you tomorrow.
Steve Bannon
Yeah, magnificent coverage. We're gonna be wall to wall on this more. We'll develop this more tomorrow. Short commercial break. Back in the warm in just a moment. There's a lot of talk about government debt, but after four years of inflation, the real crisis is personal debt. Seriously, you're working harder than ever and you're still drowning in credit card debt and overdue bills. You need Done with debt and here's why you need it. The credit system is rigged to keep you trapped. Done With Debt has unique and frankly brilliant escape strategies to help end your debt fast so you keep more of your hard earned money. Done With Debt doesn't try to sell you a loan and they don't try to sell You a bankruptcy. They're tough negotiators that go one on one with your credit card and loan companies with one goal, to drastically reduce your bills and eliminate interest and erase penalties. Most clients end up with more money in their pocket month one and they don't stop until they break you free from debt permanently. Look, take a couple of minutes and visit DoneWithDebCom talk with one of their strategists. It's free, but listen up. Some of their solutions are time sensitive so you'll need to move quickly. Go to donewithdebt.com that's donewithdeb.com Stop the anxiety, stop the angst. Go to donewithdebT.com and do it today.
Stephen K. Bannon
Here's your host, Stephen K. Banff.
Steve Bannon
Okay, the next hour we're gonna do something special. Glenn Beck's gonna join us for the entire hour and real America's voice gonna allow us to go commercial free. We're gonna talk about Glenn Beck, about the beginnings of a show and the importance he was one of the first guys, if not the first guy on television to actually back in 2010, I think it was 2008, 9, 10 to warn about debt, to worry about the financial crisis. So we're going to talk a lot about that and get his thoughts on that. So 10 o'clock we're going to start there. Excuse me, 11 o'clock. He'll be coming on here in a minute. There's so much going on. Five to seven is going to be insane tonight. We are jammed up with so many stories not just around the world, in Korea, in Brazil, things obviously happening in the Vatican, but also the full out assault on President Trump from the deep state and the courts. So get all that and we'll have an update on the finances. You know, people love the geopolitics and capital markets. We do. So make sure first of birch gold, go to Birchgold and get the end of the dollar empire. This is with the run up to the run up to Rio, the Rio reset which we're going to come up with something very special on that. Make sure you're up to speed on everything. Birchgold.com the end of the Dollar Empire slash ban. An end of the dollar empire. Gold going to hit looks like another all time high today. It's not the price, it's the process that's we're here to teach you. Okay, Catherine. Catherine's joining us. Catherine, you were at the State Department. You've got a first shot at this Free Press article on president on secretary of State Rubio's restructuring. Give me a minute on that. So you were there in the darkest days. You went over first in 17 and I think 18 to the state Department. You were taking nothing but incoming there all the time. What do you think about this first cut at a major reorganization, the State Department?
Katherine
Thanks, Steve, so much for having me. This is long overdue. And I actually was in the office that they're dojing called Jay, the Office of Civilian Security, Democracy and Human Rights, which is an office that's totally out of control with spending and priorities that are just not in alignment with the president's agenda. And actually, we attempted to do this in the first term, but Mike Pompeo was the one that stopped us. OMB was behind us. Russ was behind us in the first term. So it's great news to see that Secretary Rubio is taking us stab at this. And it's also really important that this drumbeat on the outside from the MAGA base supporting DOGE and their efforts is strong because Secretary Rubio is responding to that.
Steve Bannon
So, and this is not perfect. We'll get. We'll have you back on next week. Catherine, talk about this. This is not perfect, but it's a first cut is to take it down to its statutory limits. I understand there's people, and that's where the EO came from. There are people in MAGA that want to basically shut down the entire State Department legally. President Trump, I think, realized he can't do that. Now, I know, Katherine, you've got some very strong opinions about what ought to happen as you were there and you saw the problem over at Foggy Bottom. But, Katherine, instead of going to Florida and running for Congress, you went out to Wyoming and created a great company. Tell me about it.
Katherine
Absolutely, yes. Now, I'm the CEO, founder of Meriwether Farms, which is a vertically integrated beef company in the great state of Wyoming. And as you can see behind me, our, our wonderful employees are actually cutting the meat that you guys buy from us. So we're very transparent. We want people to learn and know what their food is coming from. And today we're offering a special on our spring barbecue box. $30 off, no discount code required. It's grilling season, except, of course, if you live in Florida. But it's grilling season is upon us. So we want to offer you this special to get some of my favorite cuts in this box. And we're also doing a burger blowout, which you guys ask for all the time.
Steve Bannon
So walk us through. Give us 30 seconds. On the burger blowout. What are folks supposed to do?
Katherine
Yeah, yeah. So I've mentioned many times before, I keep about 50 to 75 pounds of ground beef or burger in my deep freezer at all times. It's a cut that you can cook in just about any recipe and it's high quality. You can really taste the difference from the grocery store. We dry age 14 days so you can really taste that flavor. So you guys ask for it all the time. And we want to make sure that we're taking care of the war room posse first and foremost.
Steve Bannon
Katherine, where do people go? They want to go get these great deals where they go right now.
Katherine
Absolutely. Meriwether farms.com and it'll be right on the homepage. You'll see the burger blowout. There's also a spring barbecue box and the discounts are already baked in, so no need for a promo code. There's the spring barbecue box. It's a great, it's a great blend of cuts.
Steve Bannon
Fabulous, man. Keep fighting. I'm gonna have you back on to break down and get your opinions and observations. After you. Time to read. It just came up on the Free Press, the restructuring of the State Department under Secretary of State Marco Rubio with the guidance from President Trump. Thank you, ma'am.
Katherine
Appreciate you Have a great day.
Steve Bannon
Records war room.com you like geopolitics and capital markets. Get strategic intelligence. Rickardswarroom.com just go there. Today you get Strategic Intelligence, the great newsletter. Plus he throws in a free book, capital markets, currency, money and chatgpt. Totally free. It'll scare the lights out of you about artificial intelligence, but it's supposed to. Thank you very much. So much. Going on Deep State, full on. We're going much more about Pete Hegseth the fight over the Defense Department. Also the National Security Council. Derek Harvey's over there. They're trying to blow him up. Already in the first day showing up. Mike Lindell. Talk to me, brother. I want to finish strong at Glenn Beck next. Got you on early. Sell me a sheet before we go to break and bring in Glenn Beck. Sir. No, Mike. Oh no, Mike. No. Mike Lindell. Mike, I had time cut out for you here to sell to sell a sheet today at 5:00. Here's what we're going to do. We're going to have a breakdown of the capital markets particularly why is the bond market why is the bond market so over responding? Why is the bond market blowing up right now? Here's the central thing. The bond market is because of the big beautiful bill has too much spending in it. Remember, the deficit so far this year in the first six months of the year, the fiscal year is $1.3 trillion. It's heading to a $2.5 trillion deficit. The big beautiful bill has, I think a debt ceiling takes up $5 trillion. The bond market's going to get a vote here, folks. President Trump is getting it done on the tariffs, getting done on the commercial on the restructuring. Okay, getting all done. There you see. Now I think there's been an announcement on India. We may be in terms agreed in India. I think we're have terms agreed in Japan. And remember what the Financial Times of London saying. Beijing is warning all these partners, if you sign these deals and agree these deals, the center of gravity is trading with the United States is going to be retaliation. That's what Trump is up against. But you can't do both at the same time. You can't reorganize the world's commercial relationships at the same time. You have out of control federal spending. Short commercial break Glenn Beck joins us next here in the war room. The April 15 tax deadline is coming and it's coming fast. Do you have unfiled tax returns? Can't pay the irs. The IRS is more than aggressive and more aggressive than ever. And the longer you wait, the worse it gets. Wage garnishments, bank levies, even property seizures are all on the table. You need to get ahead of this. You need to get ahead of it today. But going up against the IRS alone is a big time mistake. Take my advice. Call the experts at Tax Network usa. They know the system. They have an edge, a preferred direct line to the irs. They know which agents to deal with and which ones to avoid whether you owe $10,000 or $10,000,000. Their genius strategies are designed to quickly settle your tax problems in your favor. Tax Network USA's attorneys and negotiators have already resolved over $1 billion in tax debt. Let me repeat that. They've already resolved over $1 billion in tax debt. Tax Network USA can help you too, but you need to move. You need to move fast because April 15th is already here. Remember, if you get that letter, don't put it in the drawer. It just metastasizes. Talk with one of our strategists. Today. It's totally free. Stop looking over your shoulder. Stop the anxiety, stop the worry. Put it all behind you. You call Tax network USA at 1-800-958-1000. That's 800-958-1000 or visit tnusa.com Bannon that's Tax Network USA. Go to tnusa.com Bannon hey war room.
Trevor Comstock
Hope you're all doing well. My name is Trevor Comstock. I'm one of the co creators of Sacred Human and I wanted to share just a little bit more about our brand. For those who may not know of us yet, but about six months ago we decided to launch Sacred Human with really the simple mission being to provide American made natural supplements without all the artificial nonsense. So unfortunately, as many of you know, a lot of these big corporate supplements will include things like preservatives, artificial ingredients and other additives that really aren't benefiting your health. So that's why we created Sacred Humans 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.
Podcast Summary: Bannon`s War Room
Episode 4430: The Restructuring Of The State Department; Lack Of Crowds In the Vatican
Release Date: April 22, 2025
Bannon's War Room, hosted by Stephen K. Bannon under WarRoom.org, delivers comprehensive and up-to-the-minute analyses of current events by engaging with medical experts, politicians, business leaders, and frontline responders. In Episode 4430, titled "The Restructuring Of The State Department; Lack Of Crowds In the Vatican," Bannon delves into significant geopolitical shifts, economic instability, and the internal restructuring of key governmental institutions.
The episode opens with a discussion led by Susan Glasser, who connects the ongoing assault on independent institutions to the political climate in the early days of Donald Trump's second term. She highlights tensions surrounding Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell, noting, “Powell was prepared to spend, quote, every last nickel of his own money, and he has millions and millions of dollars in order to go court to stop Donald Trump from eroding the independence of the American central bank” (00:52). Glasser emphasizes the potential for a constitutional crisis if Powell decides to sue Trump, predicting significant instability in the American financial system.
Steve Bannon follows with economic indicators, referencing a Wall Street Journal headline: “Dow headed for the worst April since 1932 as investors send a no confidence signal” (01:39). Glenn Beck adds to the discourse, describing the current environment as "very dangerous" for American investors and pointing out the toxic combination of a falling stock market, rising borrowing costs, and a fiscally irresponsible Congress (02:01). Beck warns of the potential for China to exploit this instability, noting, “They're out for him. They're gunning for it. [...] How they're handling the economic war is giving China a golden opportunity” (03:33).
Bannon and Beck discuss the intensifying trade war between the United States and China. Bannon states, “This is blossoming into a full blown trade war between the United States and China and both countries will get hurt” (03:33). He portrays the conflict as a manifestation of a "dying regime," suggesting that Trump is engaging in aggressive tactics to assert American economic dominance. Beck further elaborates on the strategic positioning, highlighting negotiations with East Asian countries and the implications of reciprocal tariffs (03:33). The dialogue underscores the precarious balance between cutting federal spending and managing international trade relations, with a particular focus on the bond market's volatility.
A significant portion of the episode is dedicated to immigration issues, specifically the deportation of 10 million illegal aliens. Bannon discusses the Democratic strategy to delay deportations, arguing that this will lead to a failure in the Republican agenda and bolster Democratic control in future elections (24:23). DC Drano, a guest, suggests extreme measures such as suspending the writ of habeas corpus to expedite deportations, likening the influx of illegal aliens to an invasion (26:31). Bannon supports this stance, emphasizing the need for urgent action to remove illegal aliens to preserve national sovereignty.
A major focus of the episode is the reorganization of the U.S. State Department under Secretary of State Marco Rubio. Bannon praises Rubio’s efforts, stating, “President Trump is essentially ending World War II at the same time ending the start of World War 3. Appropriately, the reorganization of the State Department” (16:18). The restructuring aims to reduce bureaucratic inefficiencies and align the department’s priorities with the Trump administration’s agenda. Katherine, CEO of Meriwether Farms and former State Department official, compliments the initiative while promoting her business, highlighting the transparency and quality of American-made products (46:43).
The episode delves into internal conflicts within the government, particularly between the Defense Department and the State Department. Pete Hegseth, Secretary of Defense, voices his frustrations with the deep state’s opposition to aggressive policies, asserting, “We have to have their back... We’re not going to go to the ramparts today” (21:23). Bannon and guests discuss the challenges Hegseth faces in implementing defense reforms and combating leaks from within the administration. The conversation underscores the ongoing battle between Trump’s administration and entrenched bureaucratic interests seeking to undermine policy initiatives.
In a segment focused on the Vatican, Ben Harnwell reports on the lack of public mourning following the Pope’s death. He notes, “There was no great sense of grief here, no great sense of sort of bewilderment” (36:58), suggesting a clinical and strategic approach to the papal transition. Harnwell interprets the swift assembly of cardinals as indicative of underlying political maneuvers rather than genuine public sorrow. Bannon connects this to broader themes of traditionalism and the potential for political influence within the Catholic Church, emphasizing the importance of conservative Catholics maintaining a strong presence.
The latter part of the episode returns to economic discussions, with Bannon elaborating on the bond market's instability and the implications of increasing the debt ceiling. He highlights Charlotte Howard’s insights from The Economist regarding the market’s perception of an economic war and the potential consequences of decoupling from China (16:18). Bannon advocates for investing in physical gold as a hedge against financial collapse, promoting Birch Gold as a trusted partner for diversifying assets (14:57).
Stephen K. Bannon wraps up the episode by outlining the ongoing battles the administration faces, including government debt, market volatility, and internal restructuring. He previews upcoming discussions with Glenn Beck and highlights the continuous assault from the deep state and judicial opposition. Bannon reiterates the importance of strategic economic policies and strong governmental structures to safeguard America’s future.
Susan Glasser (00:52): “Powell was prepared to spend, quote, every last nickel of his own money... to stop Donald Trump from eroding the independence of the American central bank.”
Glenn Beck (02:01): “It's a very dangerous time, I think, for Americans... Congress is advancing a deeply fiscally irresponsible budget.”
Pete Hegseth (21:23): “We haven't backed down. See, here's the thing... President Trump asked me to bring war fighting back to the Pentagon every single day.”
DC Drano (26:31): “We can start to take more drastic actions to deport illegals... even suspend the writ of habeas corpus.”
Ben Harnwell (36:58): “There was no great sense of grief here... [the Vatican] is very kind... the cardinals are already gathered together.”
Economic Instability: The potential for a constitutional crisis involving the Federal Reserve could lead to unprecedented financial instability in the U.S. markets.
Trade War with China: Escalating tariffs and restructuring of international trade relationships signal a significant shift in global economic dynamics, with both the U.S. and China poised to suffer repercussions.
Immigration Policy: The push for mass deportations faces strategic delays from Democratic opposition, potentially undermining Republican efforts to control illegal immigration.
State Department Reorganization: Secretary Rubio’s efforts to streamline the State Department reflect a broader initiative to reduce government inefficiencies and align with the administration’s priorities.
Deep State Resistance: Internal government opposition continues to challenge Trump’s policies, particularly within the Defense and State Departments, complicating the administration’s objectives.
Vatican Political Maneuvering: The Vatican's handling of the papal transition appears strategic and devoid of public mourning, indicating possible internal political plots.
Financial Strategies: Emphasis on diversifying investments, particularly in physical gold, as a hedge against economic uncertainties and potential collapse of the dollar as the prime reserve currency.
Bannon's War Room Episode 4430 presents a multifaceted exploration of the current political and economic landscape, highlighting internal government struggles, international trade tensions, and strategic financial planning. Through engaging discussions and expert insights, the episode offers listeners a deep dive into the forces shaping America's trajectory in a tumultuous global environment.
Note: This summary intentionally omits advertisements, promotional segments, and non-content parts of the transcript to focus solely on the substantive discussions and analyses presented during the podcast episode.