Episode 4457: Positioning Ourselves To End The Ukraine War; Stepping Up To The Moment

Summary

Episode Summary: Bannon’s War Room - Episode 4457: Positioning Ourselves To End The Ukraine War; Stepping Up To The Moment

Release Date: May 2, 2025

In Episode 4457 of Bannon’s War Room, host Stephen K. Bannon delves deep into the ongoing Ukraine conflict, exploring strategies to conclude the war and analyze the geopolitical ramifications for the United States. The episode features insights from financial expert Jim Rickards and political commentator Laura Loomer, who engage in a robust discussion about the current state of the war, historical parallels, and the broader implications for U.S. foreign and domestic policies.

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1. Current State of the Ukraine War

The episode opens with Bannon highlighting the intensity and desperation surrounding the Ukrainian conflict. He asserts that the current actions signify "the primal scream of a dying regime" ([00:02] Stephen K. Bannon).

Jim Rickards emphasizes the severity of the situation, stating, “Pray for our enemies because we're going medieval on these people. There's not a free shot” ([00:07] Jim Rickards). This underscores the escalating violence and the grim prospects of continued warfare.

Laura Loomer provides a historical context, tracing the origins of the conflict back to 2008 and 2014, highlighting Russia's strategic annexations and the West's role in fomenting unrest in Ukraine. She asserts, “The U.S. has been promoting this war for almost 20 years” ([05:41] Laura Loomer), suggesting that prolonged Western involvement has entrenched the conflict.

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2. Russia's Strategic Approach and Putin's Objectives

Loomer dives into Russia’s military strategy, describing it as “slow, methodical, and lethal” ([05:41] Laura Loomer). She explains the concept of the “cauldron” tactic, where Russian forces encircle enemy positions to systematically dismantle Ukrainian defenses.

The discussion transitions to Putin’s clear objectives: the annexation of specific Ukrainian provinces and the demilitarization and denazification of Ukraine. Loomer contends, “This is all for show, you know, get out now while there's still an opportunity to do so” ([08:36] Laura Loomer), advocating for immediate diplomatic negotiations to end the conflict.

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3. Historical Parallels: Vietnam War Comparison

Jim Rickards draws a parallel between the Ukraine war and the Vietnam War, particularly the dilemma faced by President Lyndon B. Johnson (LBJ). He states, “Trump is in exactly the position that LBJ was in” ([08:36] Jim Rickards), suggesting that like LBJ, President Trump must decide between escalating military involvement or seeking a strategic withdrawal.

Loomer echoes this sentiment, recommending that Trump “agree to [Putin’s] terms” to avoid a protracted and costly conflict ([22:46] Laura Loomer). She argues that without such a move, the U.S. risks further entanglement and potential escalation into a broader conflict involving other nations like Iran.

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4. Economic Implications and U.S. Budget Concerns

Bannon shifts focus to the U.S. budget, highlighting defense spending as a critical issue. He mentions, “Defense spending at a trillion dollars” ([00:44] Stephen K. Bannon), raising concerns about the absence of detailed revenue projections and the potential for a $2 trillion deficit.

Jim Rickards elaborates on the fiscal challenges, pointing out the unsustainable tax cuts and exemptions that exacerbate the deficit ([00:44] Jim Rickards). This financial strain is portrayed as a significant barrier to effectively managing both domestic and international crises.

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5. Strategies for Ending the War and Domestic Policy Alignment

The discussion returns to strategies for resolving the Ukraine conflict. Loomer advocates for leveraging negotiations to secure Russian concessions, such as territorial withdrawals and economic agreements. She emphasizes the need for the U.S. to “work with Russia” to address broader geopolitical threats ([14:45] Laura Loomer).

Rickards supports this approach, advising President Trump to “factor out the press” and focus on pragmatic solutions rather than public opinion ([14:45] Jim Rickards). This suggests a shift towards transparent and decisive policymaking, unencumbered by media scrutiny.

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6. The Role of the Deep State and Domestic Governance

Bannon raises concerns about the entrenched “deep state” within U.S. government agencies, asserting that career bureaucrats are resistant to change and aligned with neoconservative agendas ([37:31] Stephen K. Bannon). He calls for a relentless effort to purge these elements, describing the administrative state as “a cancer that’s still metastasizing” ([43:41] Stephen K. Bannon).

This internal struggle is portrayed as equally critical as the foreign policy challenges, emphasizing the need for cohesion between domestic reforms and international strategies.

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7. Concluding Remarks and Future Outlook

As the episode draws to a close, Bannon underscores the urgency of addressing both the Ukraine war and domestic administrative challenges. He stresses the importance of the upcoming budget discussions and the necessity for the U.S. to be prepared for unforeseen crises ([53:16] Jim Rickards).

Rickards projects a demanding road ahead, indicating that the "second hundred days" will require intensified efforts to stabilize both international relations and domestic governance ([53:03] Stephen K. Bannon).

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Key Takeaways:

• Historical Context: Understanding the roots of the Ukraine conflict and its manipulation by Western powers is crucial for formulating effective strategies.

• Strategic Withdrawal vs. Escalation: Drawing parallels to the Vietnam War, experts advocate for negotiating an exit to prevent further escalation and fiscal depletion.

• Economic Strain: The U.S. faces significant budgetary challenges that complicate its ability to sustain prolonged military engagements.

• Domestic Reforms: Addressing the deep state within government agencies is essential for cohesive policy implementation both domestically and internationally.

• Urgent Action Required: The convergence of international conflicts and domestic governance issues necessitates immediate and strategic action to safeguard national interests.

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Notable Quotes:

• “[00:02] Stephen K. Bannon: This is the primal scream of a dying regime.”

• “[00:07] Jim Rickards: Pray for our enemies because we're going medieval on these people. There's not got a free shot.”

• “[05:41] Laura Loomer: The U.S. has been promoting this war for almost 20 years.”

• “[08:36] Jim Rickards: Trump is in exactly the position that LBJ was in.”

• “[14:45] Jim Rickards: You’re going to be the sucker unless we can open the door to Russia.”

• “[22:46] Laura Loomer: Get out. We know what Putin's terms are.”

• “[37:31] Stephen K. Bannon: You have to go in with a jackhammer every day and be relentless.”

• “[53:16] Jim Rickards: These aren't hypotheticals. They’re happening.”

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This episode serves as a call to action for listeners to critically assess U.S. foreign and domestic policies, advocating for strategic disengagement from untenable conflicts and robust internal reforms to counteract entrenched opposition.

Transcript

[Stephen K. Bannon]

This is the primal scream of a dying regime.

[Jim Rickards]

Pray for our enemies because we're going medieval on these people. There's not got a free shot.

[Stephen K. Bannon]

All these networks lying about the people, the people have had a belly full of it.

[Jim Rickards]

I know you don't like hearing that. I know you try to do everything.

[Stephen K. Bannon]

In the world to stop that, but you're not going to stop it.

[Jim Rickards]

It's going to happen.

[Laura Loomer]

And where do people like that go.

[Jim Rickards]

To share the big lie? MAGA MEDIA I wish in my soul, I wish that of these people had a conscience.

[Stephen K. Bannon]

Ask yourself, what is my task and what is my purpose?

[Jim Rickards]

If that answer is to save my.

[Stephen K. Bannon]

Country, this country will be saved.

[Jim Rickards]

War ROOM here's your host, Stephen k. Banner. Friday, the 2nd of May, year of our Lord 2025. Budget's out. I'm going to get to that in a moment. Defense spending at a trillion dollars. I'll break it all down for you. The they have not put out the revenue side so you don't know what the deficit. But I'm telling you right now, if you add the real tax, the tax, the massive tax cuts, in addition to extending it for the working class and the middle class, you also do no tax on tips, no tax on Social Security and no tax on overtime. I don't know. I'll have to do the math. I think you're going to be a $2 trillion. I'm saying it now. The real number is going to be $2 trillion. I'll do. We'll do a lot more work on this before we come to any definitive opinions. And walk the war and posse. Do the math. One thing I know that they're going to be searching for tax revenues. Go to tnusa.com right now, Bannon, to get a free consultation. Tax Network USA.com you got a letter from the IRS. Do not put it in the drawer. Okay. Don't pick up the phone. [phone]. Talk to these folks. They've already cleared up a billion dollars worth of tax issues. Penalties, fees, all that. It's a free consultation. It doesn't. It'll take the anxiety away, the angst. These people deal with the IRS every day. That's. That's their professionals. This is what they deal with. They negotiate this stuff every day. It's not you coming at it with like, what am I doing here? 800-958-1000 do it today. Tax Network USA. Also, Birch Gold, the Rio reset. I'm really proud of this one. We pumped it out with the great team over with Philip Patrick and the guys over at Birchgold. Philip and the team are going to be in Rio. We're going to do the Road to Rio. We start, as I told you, on Monday. The Road to Rio really kicks off with Saliha Motion, one of the smartest people, the senior basically DC Correspondent for Bloomberg News paper Soldiers how the Weaponization of the Dollar changed the World Order. This is and it's the high highly recommended. It was given me as a heads up by Christopher Leonard when I had Christopher in Friday, a week ago today in Kansas City, Missouri, because Christopher lives out there. And Christopher, as you know, is the author of the fabulous, you know, foundational text of the War Room, one of them, the lords of easy money. I've asked Jim Rickards to come to come back to come on, Jim. There's so much on geopolitics. I want to take some time to go through this because I think that we need to help to start to frame this giving the hurtling towards the crises of the summer of 2025, which will go down in history 100 years from now, folks, they're going to talk about this summer of what is going to happen and how and who's going to win. So, Jim, I want to talk, you know, you had waltz. The big headline is, you know, MAGA got rid of waltz yesterday. Marco Rubio is now going kissing jury secretary of state, national security advisors, at least for a while. Front page Financial Times. Laura Loomer gets up. You know, she gets a hat tip. You don't often see the Financial Times writing about Laura Loomer on their page one. This is the most important paper in the world, goes to every decision maker in the world. It's the reason we break it down virtually every day for the War on Posse, because you guys are at that. You are decision makers. You have created yourself into a political force that people pay attention to and they understand. You have stroke and you have punch and you can land a punch and you can take a punch. More importantly, Rickards, this confusion now, the part of getting something sorted on the kinetic part of the third World War, which we're in, it's not we're going to be in. We're in. We're in deeper than, you know, in 1939, 1940, we're in it now. President Trump has made this a actual major element of his second term is to lay the guns down, at least to start to come into frameworks. I think I just saw the New York Post as we came on that they're kind of walking away for a while. They signed the quote unquote, you know, economic deal or the rare earths deal or whatever you want to call it. But now they're saying, hey, there hasn't been enough movement. They're not. These parties are not willing to listen to each other in, you know, is fairly. And so they're going to walk away. Get us up to speed. Where are we exactly in your mind? And where in the hell is this thing going?

[Laura Loomer]

Well, this is going to a Russian victory in Ukraine. Now we got to define victory. They one, one thing that strikes me about Putin, Putin has been clear and consistent from before the war in Ukraine as to what his goals are. And by the way, this war started in 2008 when George Putin Bush said, we're going to make Ukraine part of naito. It continued 2014 when the CIA and MI6 staged a coup. It was supposed to love democracy while we overthrew a duly elected leader, etc. Putin took Crimea shortly thereafter, said, what part of annexation do you not understand? You know, Naito in the United States. And it kept escalating from there. You know, the role of Victoria Newland. My point is the U.S. has been working to. The U.S. wanted this war. The U.S. has been promoting this war for almost 20 years. Well, we got it. We got the war. So Russia comes in now. You have to understand the Russian way of war. I'm sure you do. It is slow, methodical, and lethal. They have what they call cauldron. They encircle the enemy. They'll spend months taking every village around a major logistics hub so that when they go, you know, go for the kill, basically. You can surrender if you want, but Ukrainians typically don't. Some of them do. Or you get annihilated. That's all there is to it now. Right? The problem right now, Trump is in exactly the position that LBJ was in. I'll say early 1965, you know, when, you know, 64 election year and the Great Society and all that. But LBJ inherited a war from Eisenhower and jfk. He could have done one of two things. He could have wounded up on some basis, walked away, said, hey, good luck, or escalate, which he did. We got to the.50000 troops, 50,000 casualties, 10 years of war, etc. Johnson regretted it later, but that's not what he wanted. Trump's in exactly the same position today. The question is, is this going to be Biden's war and then Trump ends it or Ends US Involvement, I should put it that way. But we can get a deal with Putin or is it going to be sucked into escalation? And the thing is, it's not like you have to send in the 82nd Airborne. I mean, just another weapons deal, another money advance, another extension of time, etc. It all just drags out the war and it will very quickly be Trump's war. The guy who's got the strike, by the way, J.D. vance, he understands it. I'll give Rubio some credit. Ruby. Well, by the way, if I criticize people, it's never personal. There could be good people. But Walsh was a warmonger. General. General Kellogg was doing his thing. So the Kellogg waltz plan said, we're going to have an unconditional ceasefire along the line of contact. That's where are the Russian troops now. Line of contact. Show me a victorious, winning power in the history of the world that agreed to an unconditional ceasefire on the line of contact. Then the loser wants that. Other people want it. But if you're winning, no, you don't agree to that. So Putin wants the four provinces. Donetsk, Luhan, Kherson and Zaposaria. So it wants the four provinces kind of.

[Jim Rickards]

Hold on, hang on, hang on, hold on. Slow down, slow down, slow down, slow down. When you say line of contact, what do you mean by that? You mean actually with the armies are line of contact right now. Not. Not the Donbas, not the eastern provinces, not Crimea, not all the stuff they started with. They started with that given the debacle that the united. Both Bush and Obama administration pushing this, continue to lose and never really, you know, never really did anything except. Except exacerbate the Russians. Right. So line of contact now, you're saying. But that's 30%. That's a third of Ukraine. Correct. Line of contact.

[Laura Loomer]

Now, right now, the four provinces have been. And plus Crimea have been formally annexed and are part of the Russian Federation. So if you ask the Russians, you ask Putin, they're fighting on Russian territory, as far as they're concerned, having. So that's what they've done. Not been recognized internationally, but. But, you know, kind of who cares? As far as Russia is concerned, those provinces and Crimea are part of Russia. The problem is the Russian military, the Russian army have captured about two thirds of that, a little bit more. They are pushing towards the Dnipro River. So there is a ribbon or a band of territory that the Russians would say is part of the Russian Federation, but the Ukrainian troops are still there and they have not been dislodged. So that's, so that's what. So the Kellogg waltz plan. Waltz just moved on. But the Kellogg's waltz plan was to have an unconditional ceasefire on the line of contact, and then you would take it from there. And by the way, the US and NATO, they're really good at negotiating with themselves. You know, they go to London, they meet with Starmer, they meet with Macron, they meet with, et cetera, they negotiate with themselves. Who's negotiating with Russia? And I understand that white cop has. And that's good. And he's, he's, you know, he's fully authorized to represent Trump, but that's, that's, that's what it's going to take. Now Russia says, we want those four territories, we want Ukraine to withdraw, we want demilitarization of Ukraine, denazification. And when you say that, people go, what are you talking about with Nazis? I'm sorry, this ideology, the Bender Bandar's ideology in Ukraine that took root in the 30s and 40s, is pro Nazi. They fought on the Nazi side against the Russian army in World War II. They're still there. They're the power behind the scenes. I've spoken to the head of the, the Marshall US foundation about that. She didn't like my question.

[Jim Rickards]

Hang on a second, hang on a second. Just to put this in perspective so people understand, because with these Slavic entities or these, whether you're, these things go back hundreds of years, right? But they're grounded in a ground truth. What happened in Ukraine in the 1930s, because Ukraine's essentially Kansas. It's the Kansas of, let's say Russia or Kansas of part of Europe is massive. You know, wheat, grain, it's a breadbasket. In the 1930s, the Bolsheviks, led by Stalin took these intellectuals out because they were doing forced collectivizations up in Russia. They needed, they needed the grain. They went and essentially starved the Ukrainian people, I think, was 5 million people starved. If you've ever read in. Anne Applebaum, who is no fan of the War Room, wrote a book, I think it's called Red Harvest. There's a number of books. You read them, you can't. It's very tough to turn the page of they starve to death in a mist of plenty. Five million people. When you say Nazification, Ukraine was a killing field, was the Bloodlands, it was called in World War II. A lot of Eastern Europe, but particularly Ukraine, because you had a lot of Ukrainians that wanted vengeance against the Bolsheviks. So when the German army came, you had A lot of people signed up. Some of the worst units in the Wehrmacht as far as brutality were Ukrainian elements. That's what Putin keeps talking about, denazification. Then a ton of people did of Ukraine fought for the Russians because a lot of them feel like they're almost ethnic Russians. So this thing goes back, and it's brutal and it's nasty and so on. When you get Putin and these guys talking about that and Ukrainians, the Americans, you know, the media kind of comes in and kind of slaps it over like, this place is Norway or Sweden, and it's all these, you know, nightclubs and all these nice people and LGBTQ flags and, you know, it all be supported. It's far deeper than that, is it not, Brother Rickards?

[Laura Loomer]

Well, you're exactly right, Steve. And of course, the point is, yeah, everything you said is correct, and that accounts for some of the bitterness and the intransigence of this. But Communism's gone. Stalin's gone. Okay, Putin is a nationalist, authoritarian leader. I get it. But. But anyway. But he's, you know, closely aligned with the Orthodox Church. Americans don't understand the role of the Orthodox Church. They don't understand Russian history. They don't understand Russians in general. I, you know, I go back to the day. I go back to the days of Kissinger and Huma Sonenfeld and James Baker and so forth, and they really knew their stuff. George Schultz, you don't see that caliber of talent today. And I'm not, again, I'm not disparaging anyone. I'm just saying. But, you know, and Saudi, it's not even the leadership. I mean, J.D. vance is smart guy, but when you look at Fiona Hill, George Kent, the people who testified against Trump during the impeachment, they're not impressive Russian scholars at all, number one. Number two, as far as, you know, where we are right now, the other thing Putin wants is neutrality. Now, Austria was neutral during most of the Cold War, now eventually, you know, joined the west, and, you know, it's a thriving democratic society today. Austria is a great country, but they were neutral. It was great. Vienna was a great spy capital because both sides could drop in. That happens a lot. That's not the end of the world. So. So. But Putin's demands are consistent. Now Trump is faced with a decision. Number one, he can agree to most of what Putin wants, almost all of it. Get a little something in return. And. And I just call it a day. By the way, Steve, as you know, when you do geopolitics at a high level, There are only three countries in the world that matter. The United States, Russia and China. Sorry, UK you're secondary power. Germany, you're a tertiary power. They're the only three that matters.

[Jim Rickards]

Hang on one second. I want to get to the great powers of it all. Short commercial break the Jim Rickards is with us here in the war room.

[Stephen K. Bannon]

Another day, another breaking news story buried. They rather talk about anything else than.

[Jim Rickards]

What'S really going on.

[Stephen K. Bannon]

It's not because they don't know what's happening. The media pundits and talking heads just don't want to pay any attention to it and they particularly don't want you paying any attention to it. The real stories, you have to look.

[Jim Rickards]

Beyond the headlines for them. You know the truth is being covered up.

[Stephen K. Bannon]

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[Jim Rickards]

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[Stephen K. Bannon]

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[Jim Rickards]

Here's your host Stephen K. Band.

[Laura Loomer]

A.

[Jim Rickards]

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[Laura Loomer]

Well, go back to the great powers quickly, Steve. China, Russia, US are the only ones that count. Now I take you a poker player, but a poker player knows if you're in a three handed poker game and you don't know who the sucker is, you're the sucker. Meaning it's always two against one. If you're in the two, great. If you're not, you're going to lose. Right? And that's what Nixon understood. He said China, Russia, US. So we opened the door to China so we could isolate the Soviet Union at the time. And it worked. Mao Zedong died, Gang of Four got arrested, Deng Xiaoping modernized. The Soviet Union fell and we won the Cold War as a result. That was brilliant. That was Nixon and Kissinger. Now today the same analysis applies, except China is the main enemy. So what does that mean? It means either the US and Russia hold hands and work together. You don't be treaty allies, but just work together and isolate China. Or we're the sucker. Because that means Russia and China working together against us. The President hates suckers. I agree with him. But right now, we're the sucker, unless we can open the door to Russia. Now, going back to lbj, he had this critical moment. He was really a domestic politician. No one particularly thought of him as a foreign policy expert. So you rely on the people around you. There's no question about they had plenty of IQ points and plenty of Harvard degrees. That was the easy part. McNamara was in logistical linear programming, Whiz and McGeorge Bondi had a big brain and all that. But they were replaying the Korea playbook. They didn't understand how different Vietnam was. And Eisenhower said, whatever you do, do not get in a land war in asia. Island hopping, 1st Marines. Yeah, we got to defeat Japan. Understood. Do not get in a land war in Asia. Well, we did. And Johnson just followed along. But it got worse and worse and worse. And that's, that's the point. And again, with 50,000 dead and, you know, tore the country apart and, you know, kind of destroyed, you know, handicapped Nixon in very important ways. That was a national tragedy and national disaster. It did not have to happen. And that's my point. Trump is at the same point today. He can basically accept Putin's demands. Now, the first thing I would say to the Trump administration is, look, the press is going to bash you no matter what you do. So factor out the press. Don't make a part of your equation, because if you settle more or less on Putin's terms, which is the way to end the war, they're going to trash you. You're a Putin puppet. Putin. Stewart, we know all that. But if you keep fighting, you're going to say, well, you're not doing enough, you need to do more, etc. So factor the press out. Look at the situation on the ground. Soviet Russia is winning. They're going to win. I read an article the other day, the Russian economy is suffering. I said, well, read some World War II history if you want to know about the Russian economy. They're more resilient. The Germans, The Wehrmacht killed 5 million Russians. Guess what? They had 5 million more right behind them. And that was not taken into. So that's what we're dealing with.

[Jim Rickards]

So hang on, but hang on, hang on, hang on, hang on, hang on. I want to be very clear because you're a respected guy and this clip's going to go and people, people that make things happen are going to watch it. Are you saying that if you don't want to Go down the. Johnson made a mistake. He decided to escalate and send 500,000 combat troops. Right.

[Laura Loomer]

Escalate.

[Jim Rickards]

And we didn't get out. Yesterday was the 50th anniversary. Yes, sir. Two days ago. 50th anniversary of our retreat and surrender from South Vietnam. Right. With 58,000 combat casualties. That wouldn't happen. There were almost. When he made that decision, in 65, I think there was under a thousand dead or something. Was nothing. It was that acceleration that made it, and he made a mistake, and he should have thought it through and just gotten out. What are you saying right now, President Trump, if Trump's in the exact same spot, what are you specifically saying Trump should do?

[Laura Loomer]

Get out. We know what Putin's terms are. Basically agree to them. That's not surrender. That's just common sense. If Johnson had got out of Vietnam in 1965, we would have ended up in the same place, which is communist control of Vietnam. Without the casualty, the damages, etc. Trump's going down the road. The way they lead you down this road is a little bit at a time. Little baby steps. By the way, this minerals deal that they signed the other day, I looked at a map. It's really. Actually, it's really about liquid natural. Sorry. It's about shale drilling and oil and gas. I looked at a map of where the fields are. They're in Russian territory. So. Okay. We just did deal with Ukraine the same. They're giving us the shale oil. And I looked at the map. It's like, oh, well, Russia controls all that. You think they're giving it back? No. So this is. This is all for show, you know, get out now while there's still an opportunity to do so. By the way, just to follow up, Steve, once we do that, we can work with Russia. There's a lot else going on, you know, with the money and the frozen assets, etcetera, And Russia's need to export, etcetera. Russia is critical not just to China, but to Iran. Anybody want a war in Iran? We're heading for one, but with Russia's help. Russia and the United States together, well.

[Jim Rickards]

That'S one of the reasons Waltz. Waltz. Waltz was fired because he was. One of the reasons he was fired was because he was too much, too adamant about this bombing and military intervention into Persia. So you're recommending President Trump just right now saying, hey, I gave you guys a shot and nothing happened, and we're out. Is that no more military aid, no more financial aid. Just walk away?

[Laura Loomer]

Yeah. We had 200 billion down the drain. By the way, Americans are being killed. You don't hear about it because they're covert operators and intelligence collectors. Same with the French, etc. But yeah, $200 billion probably more down the drain. Probably estimates vary, but over 700,000 Ukrainian dead, 100,000 or more Russian dead. And Russia's not giving up. So again, you can get out now and Russia's going to take about a third of the country or you can keep fighting and Russia is going to take a third of the country. So the same result. Meanwhile, by basically working with Russia on this, you can have Russia's aid in Iran where it is far more important because that gets closer to nuclear war.

[Jim Rickards]

JIM where do people go to get Strategic Intelligence and talk about the book you throw in? Because the, the Money GPT is a, is a very scary read, sir.

[Laura Loomer]

Thank you, Steve. We have our own landing pages. Rickardswarroom.com Rickards war room.com you go there, you can subscribe to Strategic Intelligence. We have my book Money GPT but we have a new video. Stephen Basically it looks at what Scott Besson said. You know, Scott Besson early on said, I want to monetize the asset side. Everyone's concerned about debt and deficits, as they should be. That's legitimate. But let's not overlook the assets and say, well, what are you going to sell, the Grand Canyon? No, we're not. But basically we, you know, mineral rights, oil, natural gas, strategic metals, gold, silver, intellectual property, etc. It's a brilliant, brilliant move by Steve Bessant. We go into it, we do a deep dive on that.

[Jim Rickards]

This is in Strategic Intelligence this month. You do a deep dive on, on, on Bessant's plan for monetization of the asset side of the balance sheet. You do that in this month's Strategic Intelligence.

[Laura Loomer]

Yes. For the, for the May issue, we talk about that and we, we also look at Steve Moran's Mar? A Lago accord. We're right on that, right on the subject. And, but the video explains it all.

[Jim Rickards]

It's Rickards war room.com okay, let's everybody get over there. Steve Moran, who's the head of the Council Economic Advisors, he's a major player that never gets mentioned. His Mar A Lago plan is one of the most foundational documents economically of the Trump second term. And Scott Besant has been working through that issue about the monetization of the, of the asset side of the balance sheet to try to somehow restructure our debt brother. RICKARDS Social Media where do people go.

[Laura Loomer]

On Twitter is at real Jim Rickards at real Jim Rickards.

[Jim Rickards]

Love you, brother. Fantastic. JIM rickards, Geopolitics, Capital Markets wow. We're going to take a short commercial break here in a moment. Absolutely incredible. Incredible. Patriot Mobile. I want to make sure this thing down in Texas, this Texas house and what's going on in Texas and all the, all the, the building around this, the, the, these Islamic centers and these mosques and all this, it's something, something's going on in Texas. This Texas house being run by Democrats. Something not right with that. Something big going on down there.

[Stephen K. Bannon]

There.

[Jim Rickards]

That's the railhead of the MAGA movement. You Texas Patriots are as good as it gets, as good as this country has to offer, I'm telling you. And you've worked your tails off. You've delivered. President Trump won by 14 points in Texas after Soros put in 350 to $400 million over a decade to turn that thing purple and then to turn it blue. You, you, you took that on and turned it around. Patriot Mobile take it go today. 972 Patriot do the switch today for the best phone service ever. 972 Patriot back in a moment.

[Stephen K. Bannon]

You've heard me talk about Patriot Mobile for a while now. You probably know that for years they've stood in the gap for every American who believes in faith, family and freedom.

[Jim Rickards]

So here's the question.

[Stephen K. Bannon]

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[Jim Rickards]

Here's your host, Stephen K. Bannon. We're gonna get so remember this is part of the crises. This is the part of the kinetic part of the third World War. Remember the three kind of boom, boom, boom. The three verticals. America first national security, which is on the starting stopping the wars, the deportations. Judge yesterday said President Trump doesn't ha can't use the Alien enemies Act of 1798. Can't use some federal judge and a Trump appointee. This is going to can we get this clock rolling? Thanks the and now you got the budget out. My phone's already getting blown up. A lot of people not happy with some of the stuff getting funded and not funded. There's a lot of details. We're going to go through that and come out start this afternoon and then tomorrow to go through it in detail about how we start, how we get the financial and other aspects tied together of those three converging crises. The one that's not getting enough attention right now and I'm not sure getting enough attention over with folks that ought to know better is don't assume the administrative state in the deep state's going away. They're not even at these agencies where you have landing teams or you have some of our four or five thousand people in there. They have very small representation or MAGA involvement. Given the career bureaucrats and given the career administrative state folks, what you have to do is go in with a jackhammer every day and be relentless and people have to have their back. That's one of the show. This show is dedicated to making sure we highlight those stories and we have the backs of those. That's why Ed Martin this Ed Martin situation is so important. He may be outside of the top two or three people at Main justice and whoever ends up heading, whether it's Jay Clayton or whatever, whoever ends up heading Southern District of New York, the one of the most important people in the country and given the purview of his basic involvement in the Capitol and other things because you saw what happened on J6 he may be one of the most important of all. And this gets back to one of the central problems and this you're going to see it come up with the budget. All this thing about when the media says the Republican Party's totally maga, the House and Senate totally maga. That's just they missed the point as they missed the point in everything. That's not true. Most of these people, most of them they're the elected officials in the House and Senate are just waiting MAGA and Trump out. They fear you of Course, they fear you. They fear your retribution at the ballot box and in primaries, of course. But they've come up to a system and they're still rhinos in the Republican Party is still neoliberal, neocon, globalist. It's not economic populism, it's not economic nationalism. They're not nationalist. They'll hum a few bars to get you off their back. And the run for cover immediately if you highlight it. And the Ed Martin thing shows perfectly today. When President Trump presents his budget, you have these structural issues. This is the discretionaries, this budget. So it says, like Trump's $1.5 trillion budget, this does not have any of the entitlements in it. It really just has the, the big entitlements are obviously Social Security, Medicare and even Medicaid, although you could argue that's maybe not as an entitlement as the other two. But this is the discretionary part. This is the defense budget and then all the other agencies. And traditionally it's been a trillion five to $2 trillion. President Trump's got $160 billion. You know, Elon, and for all the Elon fanboys, he pulled this, this is, this is a coincidence, the number he pulled out the other day. This has nothing to do with Doge. It just doesn't. The programmatic part of this, yes, the Doge go in on usaid, but those things have been fought forever. And these are all being taken apart in the appropriation process, which is a legal process. I still don't see any. And we need it. I don't see any numbers in here at all. Of the fraud, the waste, and no offense, this show is the one that forced them. You got to cross the Potomac. You got to cross the Potomac. You got to cross the Potomac. Why, if you want to get serious about that, you got to go to a place called the Pentagon and you got to go there. And I'm not saying I've heard crickets from the Pentagon, but all we've heard is crickets from the Pentagon. And so in the converging crises we're coming up this one in the middle of the, of the re the re the pivot and the reorganization of the post war international rules based order on the economic side and the dollar side, given that Rio is going to happen in July, layered on top of it, how we actually finance this, what we are financing and how we finance, what are we actually going to do as a government and what are you as a taxpayer prepared to finance? And missing in all this, there ain't one penny in here. Fraud. We need it. I knew the trillion dollars would never happen, but we thought it was going to be something. We need every penny we can find and we need people. If they defraud it and they took Social Security money or if they took, you know, food stamps or if they took Medicaid, anything they took, that's fraud. It's got to be turned over to, it's got to be turned over to main justice. It's got to be turned over Main justice now. So these converging crises and you figure, how did we get in a situation that we have a trillion dollars, trillion and a half to $2 trillion of discretionary spending that literally we can't afford because we only take in 4.5 to $5 trillion of revenues, all sources. And yes, maybe tariffs are going to kick it up. Looks like it's going to kick it up. Maybe kick up 100 billion, 200 billion, which would be amazing. But that's not going to cover the gap. That's not going to cover the gap. How do we get here? It was, it was, it was. The Republicans were controlled opposition. Fox News was controlled opposition. The Wall Street Journal was controlled opposition. Controlled opposition. Did Jim Rutgers just not take us back to this debacle in Ukraine in 2008? Bush and these guys, they're one of the, those guys driving with the deep state, driving to get Ukraine into the EU and into NATO, picked up by Victoria Nuland and these people that always been in State Department who essentially did the color revolution in 2014 that Raheem Kassam and Natalie Wynters have so greatly documented. Start with Republicans. This is the sea change of President Trump and this is why President Trump is acting with an urgency that we need everybody to act on. The guy is what, 78 years old?

[Stephen K. Bannon]

Follow the true soldier.

[Jim Rickards]

The guys were 18 or 20 hours a day, every day of the week. And these are not small things. When you're doing the speech like last night at Alabama in front of Hunt Town, tens of thousands of people, hundreds of thousands of people and live to millions, and you're doing, you're in the Oval Office with a, you know, you're doing a three hour, three hour cabinet meeting and taking questions from the press. You're always on, I do a speech at Hillsdale. Hell, I'm wiped out. Trump's doing four or five of these a day, things like that. A day, every day. Not he shows up and does it one day every day. The most important part, I believe, of the first hundred days is you're seeing Trump in the same Trump every day. The humor, the knowledge, the connection, the knowing every issue. Go back in time. Look, one of the parts of disintermediating the mainstream media and just bringing them into the, into the Oval, all those bilats, they have briefing papers and the complicated issues you're talking about. Trump then opens it up to the press and he's taken all questions. Look at the level, just go back over a week and look at the different questions and the technical nature of the gotcha questions. Trump just off the top of his head, who knows that volume of information. He doesn't have some guy in his ear briefing him in his ear.

[Laura Loomer]

It's Trump.

[Jim Rickards]

He's read about it. He's absorbed it. Here's his take in his sense of urgency. It's the, how rapid, how deep. And the scale of what he has accomplished in the first hundred days and now at the second hundred days will be more, even more historic. And this is why. It's the convergence of all this. At one time, the border situation virtually tied up the US Government. Remember, go back in time with those of you who followed, at least followed me at Breitbart and Breitbart Radio and Breitbart News, News Radio, Breitbart, Texas. And, you know, all these people you saw over the years and talking about immigration, immigration, immigration all the time, and the fights in the House and the Michele Bachmann and Steve King going back to 2013, right. Going back to the Tea Party. Look at, look at, look at all this. Trump sealed the border in 60 days. Eric Bolling brought up one of the most important parts that even I had skipped over. The Langford bill had this whole. But remember, the triggering thing was that you're going to have essentially 2 million more illegal aliens come in the country every year before things kind of got triggered. Maybe not say every year, but 2 million come in. 2 million more. 2 million. If you do. If you take the $170 billion of the Senate bill to dictate the mass deportations, and you, and you say, hey, there's 10 million. So it's 17 billion, right? Per million, that's a 34. Another $34 billion. Just rough math. He stopped that in 60 days. And now the left does not even talk about it. They don't want to talk about it because it's so monumental. On day one, him Miller went through.

[Stephen K. Bannon]

And got rid of all the 40.

[Jim Rickards]

Executive orders of Biden. He put in his executive orders. Then he told Border Patrol, I Want to enforce this. Then he sent some army units down there. Voila. It's closed, it's sealed. And the folks down there know I don't want to come north because Trump's going to put me under arrest. I'm not coming. The New York Times admitted for on its tariffs, on the tariff situation in Mexico, the very first round that people don't even talk about. Now, the New York Times reported fentanyl has dropped, I think about 50%. We have to have his back now in these big fights, particularly the fights over the deep state, because that's one people don't want to do. They don't. It's ugly, it's tough, it's unpleasant. Of course it is. They're dug in. I'll be brutally frank. I'm not feeling it. Fenton's right. And for the folks and we love people in there, but we can't stop. We have a higher duty than friendship and camaraderie and higher than to President Trump. We have a duty to the nation to get this done. Now. We, this audience, you, me, all of us, we have a high moral responsibility to this republic, to everybody that came before us and everybody that's going to come after us right here in this time and place. This is. We have to take it on. We can't, we will, we cannot and will not kick this can down the road. The deep state has to go, when I say has to go, has to be turfed out of where they are in the United States government today. And they have to be the ones that have broken the law, and most of them have broken numerous laws, have to be investigated and prosecuted and then incarcerated. There's no other way around this. Be so easy to say we've got other things that we're going to. No. This is a cancer. It's a cancer that's still metastasizing. And there are people who are prepared to cut it out. And cut it out we shall. Cut it out we shall remember. The exercise is all enemies, foreign and domestic, free.

[Stephen K. Bannon]

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[Jim Rickards]

Here's your host, Stephen K. Ban. I only got to about a third or under a third of what I wanted to get to this morning. So this afternoon we got more 5 to 7 and then tomorrow morning also live 10am in the morning to noon. And these are gonna be days of grinding because the second hundred days is going to be far tougher, far tougher than the first. And the reason is the first was driving the action to executive orders, executive actions, you know, momentum. President Trump talked about it last night at the University of Alabama magnificent graduation speech. Keep the momentum, keep the momentum, keep the momentum. Now you're coming up with the peace negotiations with the Russians and others, with the other aspects of the kinetic part, with the economics of trade, with the Congress, with the House, with all of it. Other participants are here and of course now in the courts to delays to deny this massive constitutional crisis that we're hurtling to. And I was saying keeping your back pocket. We did not bring this up last week as just an exercise, this suspending the writ of habeas corporates. Just take your number two pencil, put that in your black notebook and we'll refer to that later because that's all coming. So these second hundred days folks, and this is why this audience is so important, you are essentially political warfare combat veterans, okay? And now it's we, we don't need, we don't need sunshine patriots here. It's going to get tough, going to get very tough, very narrow, gnarly. So get ready, we know you're ready for it, so get ready because we're going to be grinding on this thing. One, I want to thank my patron supply that normally they had the three month food kit, it's normally 697 bucks. They've taken 200 off on a special. So it's 497. This is the basic thing. It's got great food, tons of, I think it's 2,000 calories a day in times of emergency. And you remember what happened in Spain and Portugal the other day. Hey, in today's world, you never know where it's going to come from. You never know what's going to happen. That's just modernity. Look at Spain and Portugal the other day for no reason, boom. No electrical power for a couple of days, Right? Think about that. My Patriot supply. Go check out. This is the number one. This is the axe in the space. These guys are absolutely fantastic. My patriotsupply.com talk to one of the consultants. One of the things for sponsors, we want to make sure you have access to people that can help you walk through it, particularly it's the first time you've ever done it. But the kind of basic standard, three months of food supply which would last you would be incredible number of calories, the quality of the food, normally 697. They're taking 200 bucks off. So go check it out today. Go there and talk to one of their consultants, one of their advisors and work yourself through it. My Patriots apply the best in the space. Charlie Kirk's up next. Poso Gruber, back to bowling. Bowling and I will do a handoff as we always do or try to always do five to seven. Got so much to get into that show and then tomorrow morning so. And then I'll be up online with Grace and Mo and others up on Getter in the interim, Trevor Comstock. We're make America healthy again. It's a huge part of our movement. Now walk me through sacred human health. What do you got for us this morning?

[D]

Yeah, thanks again, Steve. Today I just wanted to talk a bit about our flagship product, which is our grass fed beef liver. I know most people still aren't familiar with the benefits of it or a lot of people don't know just how powerful beef liver is when it comes to nutrition. But it's oftentimes called nature's multivitamin and for a pretty good reason. And that's mainly because it's packed with essential nutrients like vitamin A, B12, iron, zinc, CoQ10, folate. The list kind of goes on and on. But these are all essential for things like maintaining healthy skin, hair, heart, immune support, brain function and a few other things. But also some things that people really like about the beef liver is that it gives them that natural energy boost, which is also A plus. And what makes our product stand out is that it's also 100% grass fed and we just package it into easy to swallow capsule form so you don't actually have to consume the raw. Liver doesn't have an aftertaste or anything like that and liver in general doesn't have the best taste. So again, easy to swallow. And then on top of that, your body's also able to much better absorb these nutrients as opposed to taking a synthetic multivitamin. So right off the bat you're getting a much better bang for your buck in that regard. And I always like to just mention too that the reason why we created Sacred Human was to provide supplements like this that are clean, natural and made with integrity. So we don't cut any corners by outsourcing our production to China or skimping on ingredients. All of our products are manufactured in the usa, so we always have a good grip on quality control and that's always our promise. And on top of that, we just try to do our best to deliver them at an affordable price.

[Jim Rickards]

Wow. Trevor, one more time, where do they go? The website's fantastic. It walk people through it of why this is such a special company and these are such special products where they go.

[D]

Yeah, of course you can go to sacredhumanhealth.com or just type in Sacred Human to Google will be the first page that pops up. You can also use code war room for 10% off any one time purchase. If you do subscribe, you're locked into the 10%. But yeah, sacredhumanhealth.com is where you can find us.

[Jim Rickards]

Thank you brother. Appreciate you appreciate the company. Make America healthy again. By the way, Warren posse wasn't buying that on 5G on the health side I don't think. I think Bobby. We gotta get Bobby Kennedy into that. Get Bobby on here. Talk about it. But great, great report from the FCC commissioner. This is the quality people President Trump have and young people smart and tough. That's what you need. Mike Lindell, big day yesterday. Fantastic job at the, at the White House, sir. What do you got for us?

[E]

Well, it was a great day yesterday. I'm traveling back today but I wanted to get on here. You guys, the, the sheets, this is it. The line that we're closing out. We maybe have a day or two left. Get them now. This is a war room exclusive. $25, any size, any color. 25, there they are. They're all the sizes are left. I just checked before I came on. This is it. We're not Going to put a limit on. Let's get them closed out. You guys did great. They were earmarked for the box stores, but the war room posse got them. So you guys are sleeping the best. By the way, that's our president's favorite product. He loves the my pillow sheet. So gonna go to the website, scroll down, click on Steve, go to the pro or use that great promo code, war room. There you got the pillows and everybody. All the kitchen towels on sale as low as 988. And the microservice. Get the microses, micros. You save 30%. You got the mystore.com promo code war room. But you guys get those sheets today. Get them. They'll be gone this weekend for sure. Get them now while you can. And this is a war room. A special that I thank all of you for helping my employees so I can be out running around D.C. and helping get the Make America great again.

[Jim Rickards]

Mike Lindell. Love you, brother. See you this afternoon. Great job of the White House yesterday. Very moving. Prayer service in the Rose Garden. Okay, Charlie Kirk's up next, Jack. After that, we're back at 5pm Eastern Daylight Time when you will be back in the war room.

[Stephen K. Bannon]

Health isn't just a personal issue. It's a family issue, a community issue. We're living in unpredictable times. Supply chains can break down, hospitals can get overwhelmed. And let's not even start on the natural disasters. These aren't hypotheticals.

[Jim Rickards]

They're happening.

[Stephen K. Bannon]

You see it here in the war.

[Jim Rickards]

Room and we all know it.

[Stephen K. Bannon]

The question is simply, are you ready?

[Jim Rickards]

That's where Jace comes in.

[Stephen K. Bannon]

This isn't just a kit. This is a Jace case.

[Jim Rickards]

It's a lifeline.

[Stephen K. Bannon]

It's a personal supply of prescribed emergency medications that puts the power back in your hands. Whether it's an unexpected illness or a global disruption of supply chains, you can act fast and protect yourself and your loved ones. This February. Show them you care in a way that really matters. Be prepared. Get the Jace case today so you'll have the right meds on hand the moment you need them. Visit jacemedical.com and use the code Bannon B A N N O N at checkout for a discount on your order. That's jacemedical.com promo code Bannon. Get the Jace case and do it today.

[D]

Hey, war room. 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 Human, really trying to fill this gap of quality supplements and of course the beef liver being our flagship products. 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 out a 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.