
Episode 4507: Who Really Is Pope Leo The XIV; Our Power Grid Is Compromised ...
Loading summary
Stephen K. Bannon
To put together one's own birthday with the martial might of the country gets us very, very close to what we fought a revolution not to have, which is an autocratic monarchical system in which we mistake the loyalty to a person and we confuse loyalty to a person, loyalty to country.
Ben Harnwell
Grip on the Republican Party remains vice. Like more news from the Trump administration yesterday, it has now revoked Harvard University's ability to enroll international students, the latest escalation in its battle against that Ivy League school. The Department of Justice announced in a letter yesterday that it is pulling the school's exchange visitor program certification, saying Harvard's created an unsafe campus environment that is, quote, hostile to Jewish students, promotes pro Hamas sympathies, and employs racist diversity, equity and inclusion policies. The DOJ also accused the university of coordinating with the Chinese Communist Party. Harvard called the action unlawful and says it's working to provide guidance and support to students and the community. The University has nearly 7,000 international students, which make up about 27% of the entire student body. Meanwhile, just a few moments ago, the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, a big LEED school there, shared an open invitation to international undergraduate and postgraduate students currently enrolled at Harvard, inviting them to continue their academic career at their school over in Hong Kong. The university says it will prioritize expedited admissions, credit transfers and tailored support, including visa assistance and housing, to ensure a smooth transition.
Oren Cass
I mean, look, I think one of the ways to assess those odds is to look at what's happening where the real power is in the Republican Party and that is their larger right wing media. I mean, they have narrative dominance. That's where they, that is where they build and organize power. That is how they maintain it. That is the real whip when it comes to counting votes. And if you look at how the right wing media is handling this, they're enthusiastic about the bill. There isn't really any discussion or lamenting about the effects of Medicaid. Yeah, they accept the fact that it's going to add some money to the deficit, but they're largely bought in on this idea that somehow this legislation is going to lead to this, this bounty of riches at some point that will easily offset any of the debts and costs and deficits. And I think that's the real tell. The only one out there really driving any warning signs that I think has any plagues is Bannon, who's really reminding the rest of MAGA and Trump's world that they really need to be careful and tread lightly when it comes to Medicaid, given how Many of Trump's supporters are actually on it. So when this comes into pass, this could actually hurt them politically. So what do I honestly think the odds are right now? They're, they're in there in favor of the bill passing in as close to form as possible. And I think the fact that you have to point to Rand Paul as the principal person opposing this, who's been opposed to a bunch of other things, and it hasn't really been reflective of where the rest of the party is, is a really big tell. They might get some, some, some sandpaper on the edges, but at the end of the day, they've demonstrated that Trump is, you know, that they capitulate to Trump and give him what he want. I don't see why this would be any different. They've already abdicated their role and responsibility as a separate branch of government.
Dave Walsh
This is the primal scream of a dying regime. Pray for our enemies because we're going.
Natalie Winters
Medieval on these people. Not got a free shot. All these networks lying about the people.
Dave Walsh
The people have had a belly full of it. I know you don't like hearing that. I know you try to do everything.
Natalie Winters
In the world to stop that, but you're not going to stop it. It's going to happen.
Dave Walsh
And where do people like that go to share the big lie? MAGA media I wish in my soul, I wish that any of these people had a conscience.
Natalie Winters
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. Ban.
Dave Walsh
Welcome. It is Friday, the 23rd of May, in the year of our Lord 2025. An explosive day already from the President United States. Overnight, he shut down all foreign students from Harvard and said directly, as his head of DHS said directly, their involvement with the Chinese Communist Party is very, very concerning. Just a absolute blockbuster piece of news. Also this morning, the President, United States getting very frustrated that we have two carrier battle groups in the Red Sea keeping the Suez Canal open and literally no progress coming out of the G7 on getting a, getting a deal with the EU, particularly since we've already closed the deal with the United Kingdom on trade. Trump put them on blast and said, Yo, June 1st, we don't have a deal. Terrorists of 50%. Also Apple, he, I think he met with Tim Apple and, and came out and said, hey, this whole move from China to India is not good. You got to make these phones here in the United States. We're going to put a big tariff on You President, United States has been on quite a role also right there, the Media Matters President, Media Matters now being investigated by the FTC about trying to take advertisers off of, off of I think a Twitter and Elon Musk. That guy's a pretty smart guy. He understands that we are trying to have a balance here between the big beautiful bill, debt, all of it. The one thing I think people have recognized as we've been hammering here in the world the last couple of days is that you've got to present the entire package. You have to present the tariff, revenue, you know, the External Revenue Service. You have to get in back of this three to three and a half percent growth rate, if that's what you believe internally, which is quite high, is a lot higher than the 2.6% used by the House and their calculations and far higher than CBO is scoring this. And it's one of the reasons the deficits look so terrible in the first couple of years is that the CBO is, is scoring this as like a 1.7, 1.8 growth rate. Those numbers, although they seem small, are actually huge when you work through the system. I think the White House is now coming out. I think you saw Scott Bessant this morning doing some tv. We'll have some clips about this a little later in the show. We're also going to go to the White House, some breaking news with Natalie Winters, my co host. Let me bring in Ben Harnwell in Rome. Ben, one of the reasons I want you to co host this morning kind of big news is President Trump seems to be pretty serious about trying to get the Vatican to be an intermediary here in, in this negotiation between the direct negotiations between Ukraine and Russia. Is that, is that a thing, sir?
Jonathan
Morning, Steve. Well, yes, it is thing. A thing. President Trump has spoken in favor of it. Marco Rubio spoke in favor of it. But breaking news within the last hour and a half or so, Sergey Lavrov, the Russian foreign minister, has actually said no to this. He's ruled it out, he's vetoed it. And I have two takeaways on this story. Right, Steve, two takeaways. The first one is that I think you might have some comments on my second point here. But the first point is that the administration believed on a prudential level that it was wise to indicate Pope Leo as a valid interlocutor intermediate, intermediate in this war at this stage. And I flag that up because as followers of the war room will know, we're very hesitant right now about exactly what sort of person Pope Leo is going to be. So for the administration to have given him this position of moral authority is something I'm just highlighting. The second thing, Steve, about Pope Leo, and this is sort of probably even more important, is that we don't know what his view is with regards to China. And him sort of Pope Leo himself publicly speaking about, willing to be an intermediator in this war with the whole situation of China in the background. I think is another illustration of something that we've been mentioning on this show for the last few days, Steve, is that we need to know where Pope Leo stands on China. Hence is something that we've suggested a couple of times about a potential suggested joint statement condemning the practice of forced organ harvesting on behalf of the president, just to find out what, where Pope Leo is. So there are these two points here with the Vatican.
Dave Walsh
Let me break this down for a second. And if, if Cameron and Denver can get these up. So the Wall Street Journal had a very smart piece this morning about, about the fortress that China has been building in the last couple of years. And I want to go back to May of 2019. President Trump worked two years with Bob Lighthizer and Jameson Graham, Peter Navarro and others to come up with a comprehensive deal that would really couple the Chinese Communist Party and their economy into the world economy and take away all the abuses they've had, all the abuses of Lao Beijing, of their people, all the abuses they've had of state owned industries, all of that after two years of negotiation and really having preparatory documents to be signed in May of 2019, after they had the one belt, one road meeting with Putin, I think it was in Shanghai, he came to, they tore it up and really spit in President Trump's face. And as everybody knows, a couple of months later at the world Military Games in Wuhan, that was the first beginning of people noticing this thing that would later be called COVID 19. It's called COVID 19 for a reason. They didn't call Covid 20 for a reason. It started to show up in 2019 at that time and Frank Gaffney and the Committee on President Danger were going over this over and over again. They declared a people's war against the United States. This is when she actually put them on war footing. Now you take the Wall Street Journal article. They have been preparing to build a digital fortress and really a fortress around their own technology and preparing for a trade war, also preparing for a cyber war. This is one of the reasons we're going to have Natalie, on today, a lot of rumors going around, a lot of speculation, a lot of discussion about the grid. So we got Dave Walsh and Natalie about our grid empire, potential threats to all that, President Trump's frustration. Let's go to the G7, Besant. The Secretary treasury goes from Riyadh, goes to the meeting in the Middle east where all these deals are being announced and look like a stabilizing influencer, using economy and growth and upside to calm the issues of jihad and all these issues that have kind of ruled the Middle East. He then goes to the G7 meeting. Now, the G7 meeting, there is positive movement on getting the G7 right. Those nations which are principally European. Right. The G20 is expanded out. That includes Brazil and some other nations. The G7 is really the United States and North America, United States, Canada and Western Europe. In the G7, they did make progress. I think President Trump is very appreciative. They did make progress, like we're making in East Asia with Japan and South Korea and Taiwan of putting together this new trading or commercial relationships. That basically puts China on notice that no longer are you going to be able to basically beggar thy neighbor, including the United States. However, I think the frustration, and this is just my read on it, I think the frustration is that we have two carrier battle groups in the Red Sea, basically taking on the Houthis, but keeping the sea lanes in the Red Sea open for the Suez canal, of which 97% of trade from, from the Gulf, from the Persian Gulf, or I guess now the Arabian Gulf. The oil that comes from there and everything that comes from Asia, including China, India, all of it all come through other Suez Canal. We have two carrier battle groups. I don't know, somebody say it was like a billion dollars a week or something, some enormous operating expense to have this there, plus we've lost a couple of planes. The EU is not making the progress I believe the President wants to see. And he's saying, hey, I've already got a deal with the UK that took like a month. Why are we having such a problem? And as you know, Ben, some of the people in the EU now, this was a finance ministers meeting, not a head of state. But Giorgia Maloney and others, you know, in these G7 nations, you know, prop themselves up as a bridge. I just don't think he thinks it's going quickly enough. That's why you see today, this was a shotgun blast. He basically told Apple, hey, I want to see manufacturing back here in the United States of America. That's My point of these tariffs, it's not just blocking China. Going to India doesn't really work for me because we're still in the process of getting a deal with India. I want manufacturing for the new golden age back here in the United States of America, in addition with the EU and people should understand this is a storm warning for everybody else, the Indies of the world, etc. He basically said if I don't have a deal by June 1, I'm putting 50% tariffs off. Now that has rocked the markets. I would also say to the president and others, hey, right now we're going to work through the system of this bill that at least on the surface of where it's been scored, looks like the deficits are up. In the short term, I don't think it's that bad, but I don't think we're making the case. Ron John, Senator Ron Johnson in the Senate has already said hey, to him this thing's dead on arrival. He's looking for a lot more cuts. We're going to get a clip, I think of Scott Besson, I think actually saying something positive about Johnson about what's going to happen in the, what's going to happen in the, in the Senate, in the House. Okay, short commercial break. Ben Harnwell's co anchoring with me this morning. We got a lot going on. We're absolutely packed with the kickoff Memorial Day weekend. Of course we're gonna have wall to wall coverage of President Trump at the United States Military Academy at West Point tomorrow and then at Arlington National Cemetery to commemorate the honored dead of the United States military. Short break, back in the warm in just a moment I got American babe.
Natalie Winters
In America this July, there is a global summit of BRICS nations. In Rio de Janeiro, the bloc of emerging superpowers including China, Russia, India and Persia are meeting with the goal of displacing the United States dollar as the global currency. They're calling this the Rio Reset. As BRICS nations push forward with their plans, global demand for US Dollars will decrease, bringing down the value of the dollar in your savings. While this transition won't not happen overnight, but trust me, it's going to start in Rio. The Rio Reset in July marks a pivotal moment when BRICS objectives move decisively from a theoretical possibility towards inevitable reality. Learn if diversifying your savings into gold is right for you. Birch Gold Group can help you move your hard earned savings into a tax sheltered IRA and precious metals. Claim your free info kit on gold by texting my name Bannon. That's B A N N O N to 989-898 with an A plus rating with the Better Business Bureau. And tens of thousands of happy customers led Birchgold army with a free no obligation info kit on owning gold before July. And the Rio reset text Bannon B A N N O N 298-9898 do it today. That's the Rio reset text Bannon at 989-8898 and do it today.
Ben Harnwell
This is going to be furtherance of a brain drain we are seeing here in the United States. We've already seen these research grants be cut, you know, earlier in the administration and now international students, if they can't practice their craft here, if they can't learn here and then potentially go on to careers here, other universities around the world, other countries will be happy to have them and we'll be poor for it.
Jonathan
Yeah.
Stephen K. Bannon
Just in order, Jonathan.
Jonathan
First of all, Harvard says this is unlawful.
Stephen K. Bannon
It seems to me to be yet another bill of attainder which is prohibited by the Constitution.
Dave Walsh
Okay, I've already heard enough. That clip is a lot longer. I think it's 6,000 foreign students, Harvard itself. And if Grace, I think, could get this to Cameron, I want to put it up. Harvard just tweeted out on the official site, Harvard without international students, not Harvard. Well, it's not the Harvard of now, which is a, which is a disaster. And I say this as a graduate, the Harvard. I don't think in the 18th and 19th century they were packed with foreign students when Harvard was the top of its game, you know, being one of the forerunners, you know, helping us with the revolution, the Civil War, all of it. Sending patriots at the college and the university to fight our wars, defend America, and stand up for the Constitution. What's today is a complete disaster. All 6,000 of those billets ought to be immediately filled with, wait for it, American citizen, kids of American citizens that are American citizens. Let's just load it up. This is the outrage that I think people detested. It's all federal money funding these things. Besides their endowment, which they hate spending, they want to take your tax dollars. That's what Trump's got them up against the rope. Ben Harnwell, your thoughts on this Harvard situation and also my comments and observations about the G7, the EU and President Trump putting out a basically trade shotgun blast this morning.
Jonathan
The Harvard. Let me just read the quotes here from Secretary Noem's statement. She said this administration is holding Harvard accountable for fostering violence, antisemitism, and coordinating with the Chinese Communist Party on its campus. Your point just now about that this will offer an opportunity for actual Americans to study at Harvard, I think can't be overstated enough. This is. Not only is it a throwdown directly in the face of the CCP, but it also has the added blessing of being 100%, 1,000% America first, because this is prioritizing actual Americans and their opportunities to get ahead. And, you know, I can't close without noticing that when President Trump does something like this, which you would think patriots across America would be applauding and welcoming, MSNBC instinctively takes the side of, of rich foreign students straight away. That's their. That, you know, their bias against actual Americans couldn't be more stark.
Dave Walsh
But I think this. Your point, I think is perfect here, is that this shows. And look, I think, oh, they're going to take jobs. Let them go. The Hong Kong University, and that's the Hong Kong University that we first went to explain the pandemic and how the CCP was, was rolling it out. That's not independent anymore since the CCP has taken over Hong Kong. If these foreign students want to go anywhere else and the Chinese students want to go anywhere else, go. There's a big world out there. A lot of great universities go. If you want to take jobs in foreign countries, take jobs in foreign countries. When they say there's a brain drain, they denigrate American kids and American citizens. This to me, and I've always said, clip a. Even the ones that come here, clip an exit visa on when they graduate, get the hell out, go back to your country and make your country great. That's what nationalism is. Go back and make your country great. It's not that we have any problem with foreigners. What we have is foreigners taking billets, limited billets in Silicon Valley at these great jobs. And these universities are teaching, you know, artificial intelligence and computer science and electrical engineering at the Ivy Leagues and the public Ivies. Where's the letter? We should send a letter today to the University of Michigan and University of Wisconsin. You got to break. You got to bring to heel these public Ivies. This is the MSNBC immediately goes to the globalist argument, right? We want to invite the world and do all this for the world and screw American students. This is why American students aren't in Silicon Valley. Also, the reason I love this more than anything. I don't know how you send this in. The next logical conclusion is not H1B visas. Oh, yeah. The logical extension of this is H1B visas. Ben Harnwell let's talk about Ben. Let's talk about talking national and globalism. President Trump is furious this morning that true social. He ain't happy with what happened at the G7. And I think the growing frustration is that he's got a trillion dollar defense bill and part of it is still because we've got troops and everything deployed on the Eurasian landmass. Now yesterday there's a discussion inside the administration about pulling out a lot of the combat troops of Korea. But you still got, you know, you still got carrier battle groups protecting the Suez Canal for the trade of Europe. Is President Trump right to be frustrated with the EU given that the United Kingdom did a deal with us in four weeks?
Jonathan
You know, of course he's right. Of course he's right. The point about the European Union for the last 70 years that it's been operating a grift at American taxpayers expense. And the European nations, thanks to the consistent pressure that Donald Trump has been applying now on these EU nations, is confronting them with a choice and America has a choice. We've been watching this just yesterday over the big beautiful bill. If you want to spend money, you have to tax or you have to borrow or you have to print. Those are the three options. And for various financial and economic reasons the ability to print is becoming ever more sort of difficult even for the United States with its historic dollar supremacy. The Europeans don't have that. So they're basically either talking about borrowing, which would go against the mastricht criteria of the single currency, the euro, or it would have to print new dollars. And of course that goes against for example Germany, the most important economy in the Eurozone, its own constitutional requirements that it just amended just before the last election in order to finance the increased defence spending. Now. So Donald Trump is putting this pressure on the European nations and you have the historic center right Christian Democratic parties that are Atlanticist, which means that they are open to, to the dictates of the American military industrial complex. The problem is, is that you have these groups on the right of them who are actually nationalist iterations and they want to represent their peoples. Steve so the very consequence of Donald Trump putting this pressure on the European nations is that they either do what they're trying to do here in Europe which is pacify, or they don't pacify the, they don't have the political courage to go against Donald Trump. And what they're going to do is create a massive sort of 30, 40% of the electorate which will go to the nationalist iterations. So Donald Trump yes, you're right. He is absolutely right to be frustrated with the European Union. But this pressure that he's giving will have fruit on the European continent far beyond what his specific first degree intentions are.
Dave Walsh
I want to go to something you just said. I don't want to bury the lead here and this is why. Make sure you go to berschgold.com Bannon the end of the dollar empire. Learn about currency. This is all free. Seven free installments including the latest. The real reset. You got the bond market bouncing around. President Trump is both in a trade war trying to redo the commercial relationships of the world. Also he is making a huge bet, let's call it a bet on a supply side tax cut that generates real growth, over 3% growth, but it's a bet. That's one of the reasons I want the White House and others to come out and put more information, more about the plan, particularly the growth rates, the tariffs, cash coming in to show, to make an argument that the deficits that are shown by CBO and others are kind of artificially high potentially because they're not including everything. But go back. This is about currency and that's why you got to learn about currency. This is why we did the end of the dollar empire for 40 years of birch gold. Because before you can understand gold, you got to understand fiat currency. Did talk to people. We got a minute or two. Did Britain have the ability even to have their get their sovereignty back because they kept the pound and they didn't go into a common currency? Has going into a common currency and giving up their own currencies, has that really limited the European nations to kind of break free and stand on their own? And this is why they have to. They're negotiating as a block. And you can tell Italy and others would probably like to break out and cut their own side deal. Sir.
Jonathan
Not sure whether Italy would like to cut out. I mean that's really the problem with the heart of Giorgio Meloni and her philosophy and her administration. Open brackets in this big story of the last couple of days over the World Health Organization and this pandemic treaty. Italy abstained. It was, I think one of the 11 states that abstained. Perhaps we'll dig into that a little later on in the show because that's very important, that pandemic treaty. Look, it was absolutely imperative for the UK if it ever had an idea of itself on the world stage as a proper sovereign nation, that it wouldn't enter the eurozone, take the euro and that gave it the independence to pull out. Your question is absolutely perfect because to a certain degree, even if there were an appetite in like a plus 50% and there isn't here in Italy, but if there were a Brexit movement in Italy that had the same sort of strength, they would find themselves far more handicapped practically to pull out of the union if it having already given up their currency. That's how. Because you know, sovereign nations, one of the attributes of sovereignty is the ability to have your own money, to print your own money, even though that that power is massively abused. So the European peoples like the Italian people that I think Italy seen like 5% growth over the last 30 years compared to 30% in Germany. Italy has been betrayed by the last two generations by its class of political leadership. And joining the single currency, as you correctly put your finger on, was very cunning maneuver on behalf of the European elites to stop a future independent movement pulling back that, that power in election time.
Dave Walsh
Short break. Ben's going to stay with me in Rome, but we're going to go to the White House. Natalie Winters breaking story that everyone kicking off a Memorial Day weekend talking about the black hand of the Chinese Communist Party. Is it in back of an attack on the grid and the electoral grid of the States United, United States of America.
Natalie Winters
Short break.
Dave Walsh
Back in a moment.
Natalie Winters
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.
Dave Walsh
So here's the question.
Natalie Winters
Have you switched to Patriot Mobile yet? You'll get exceptional nationwide coverage because unlike most cell phone service providers, Patriot mobile utilizes all three major U.S. networks. Switch today without sacrificing quality or service. They even add two numbers on two networks on one phone. Let me repeat, they can even add two numbers on two networks on one phone. It's like you're carrying two phones in one. They have unlimited data plans, mobile hotspots, international roaming, Internet on the go devices and Internet backup. Switching is easy. Keep your number, keep your phone or upgrade. Their 100% US based team can activate you in minutes. Best of all, switching to Patriot Mobile supports your values. If you believe in our first Amendment and second amendment rights, the sanctity of life, supporting our veterans and first responders. This is where you belong.
Dave Walsh
Right now.
Natalie Winters
Go to patriot mobile.com bannon or call 972 Patriot. Get a free month of service with promo code Bannon. So if you call in, tell them Bannon also switch today. That's patriot mobile.com Bannon or call 972 Patriot.
Stephen K. Bannon
Here's your host, Stephen K. Bannon.
Dave Walsh
Okay, welcome back. The the bond markets bouncing around, stock markets bouncing around. Now more than ever, you need to know about a hedge that would be gold, not fiat currency. Make sure you go to take your phone out, text ban and B A N N O N 989-898. Get the birch gold. The ultimate guide to the ultimate guide for investing in gold and precious metals in the age of Trump. It's no longer the era of Trump. Also, the Rio reset. Get all the information about currency, about debt, about all of it. A lot of controversy about the big beautiful bill. Did it cut enough? Do we show enough economic growth? It's going to. The Senate semaphore is reporting and they're pretty dialed in that the core of the bill is going to stay the same. They may change it on the margins. However, people like Senator Johnson and others are saying, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, this doesn't cut enough. And we're really going to get down to this and really make some, really make some cuts. Ben Harnwell's with me in, in Rome and I want to bring in. We got Natalie, we're trying to get her up in at the White House. I've got Dave Walsh. Dave, one of the reasons the president's driving down cost and inflation's being driven down is full spectrum energy dominance. They just had the G7. And you know, Trump's not happy with the progress being made for a deal. It took it. As they said, guys, June 1st are 50%. One of the reasons you have this problem is Germany. And now you're getting reports out of there that Germany is now panicked because not only have they done this net carbon zero, but they also got rid of all their nuclear power. I guess France did a lot of it, too. The president's been signing executive orders. He's throwing down hard on nuclear power across energy, across the board. And then I want to get into and Natalie's got some information about maybe a potential problem with the American energy grid. Let's start with nuclear power. These executive orders, President Trump's looking at Europe and saying, no way we're going to do what the Europeans did. We're going to do the exact opposite. Your thoughts, sir?
Stephen K. Bannon
Well, Europe, Spain, who had the big outage two weeks ago, are hard fast to shut down their seven remaining nuclear reactors, which is insanity. You know, over here, even now, on a bipartisan basis, nuclear is fully supported by all parties. Nuclear power, which had been damned and abandoned by the left FOR and Democrats 60 years now back in vogue. It is. It is an essentially important ingredient provides baseload continuous duty power. What he's looking at are incentives that would provide some loan guarantees to spur the building of a lot more nuclear capacity. De risk it somewhat. We just had a bad experience with plant vogel in Georgia seven years late, eight years late. 22 billion over budget. So the support for loan guarantees he's seeking but also more importantly deregulating the construction of existing technology nuclear plants, BWRS, PWRs, GE technology, Westinghouse technology. It's been around for 65 years. Doesn't need the same degree of NRC oversight as it's had over a 65 year period. Is proven technology. He appears to be all about streamlining that which is essentially important and allowing for US fuel reprocessing. This is the ability to reprocess not turn it into nuclear weapons but reprocess spent nuclear fuel to reuse once again in a reactor which would be essential to driving the cost of nuclear power down. It is expensive. The as built at plant Vogel was 32 billion for a 2200 megawatt plant that just got opened up. So the actions he's taking to streamline the regulatory space around it essentially important and to localize yellowcake mining in in Utah, in Nevada, in Idaho. We had been 91% self sufficient on uranium mining in this country as recently as 1992. The Clinton era and the Uranium One deal basically sent all that to Russia.
Dave Walsh
Since I One of the reasons I was brought into the principal reason I was brought into the campaign in 16 was about Clinton cash and about uranium. Take a second. Give. Give me a minute. So the audience members, particularly our newer audience members may not be up to speed on this. What Hillary and Bill Clinton did about uranium in the United States vis a vis the great mortal enemy Russia, Sir.
Stephen K. Bannon
Well they hid behind a theory of displacement. Not as well. If we can get the Russians to use their enriched uranium and uranium resources for nuclear power in this country by importing it from them, we can get them to use less of it making nuclear weapons. That whole naive theory was then surrounded by personal interest in the Uranium one deal. That they had personal interest in causing the US nuclear fuel supply to be shifted entirely from a domestic one over time to a Russia, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan 58% of our nuclear fuel comes from those countries. Even through this so called war that supply chain has been unabated to the US and Western Europe. The yellow cake uranium coming from Russia and allied states that can easily. There is no shortage of it here in Idaho, New Mexico, Arizona, Nevada. We need to restart and I think the EO will get at the appropriate boundary conditions off now to begin to restart mining uranium in this country which we once again can be self sufficient with completely. But no, the Clinton, the Clinton aspect of that was very, very suspicious and drove under false pretenses of denuclearizing Russia's military presence, a shifting of transition to buying their nuclear fuel.
Dave Walsh
One of the reasons I want, one of the reasons I want to have you on today, because I don't think we're putting forward the best case of President Trump's overall economic plan in regards to the big beautiful bill. The big beautiful bill looks the way it's being scored by the official people that scored because of the constraints of reconciliation process. These deficits in the first couple of years are big and nobody can doubt that. My point is that you don't have to just stick with that. You can actually put forward a true business case of exactly what you're doing. Incorporate tariffs, incorporate the growth rate. The growth rate of 3% or above which they're pitching is the foundational element of that is full spectrum energy dominance. Now, four or five months into this, you're our expert. How would you grade President Trump of going after the entire waterfront on this, the full spectrum, to make sure he's driving down energy cars? Because Trump gets something that it appears that other political leaders throughout the world don't get, that the fundamental foundation of an industrial economy is plentiful, consistent and cheap energy.
Stephen K. Bannon
Dave Walsh well, on the full spectrum energy dominance, grading A plus on freeing up federal lands and for oil and gas production offshore, onshore, in the Arctic Refuge, everywhere. That's an A plus. And then reopening the LNG export permitting through the DOE to go ahead and more rapidly build LNG export facilities. That's all great. The part that's been a little bit slow to emerge here is the electrification issue. Electrification is 40% of the cost of US energy all in. And we need a profound return in the near term. Not to nuclear, just nuclear. Still 10, 15 years out, there is no supply chain left here for building nuclear power plants. That's going to take a long time. We have an immediate urgent crisis of an energy shortage depicted by grid leadership in miso, PJM and wec. We need more combined cycle gas fired plants built rapidly in this country. That's the technology that's known. That's the American fuel. That's the drill, baby, drill plus, use the gas domestically to provide low cost abundant American electrification with known existing clean technology, gas fired combined cycle is that we need to move more strongly in that. And the way forward really is to remove the incentives on all this trivial stuff that really doesn't matter and produces very little electrification. Solar, wind, battery storage, carbon capture, which is in the way, all drive up the cost of electrification hugely, minimize the quantity of it, put us in net zero electricity growth. That stuff is so deficient in supply, but most importantly has us rely entirely on China who build 88% of the solar panels, battery storage and inverters in the world. So we've got, we're actually presently incenting Chinese supply if we need to get in front of the Chinese supply. But more importantly get back to power generation aspects and technology that works is proven and is decidedly low cost and is presently available. And that's combined cycle gas fired power with US natural gas at its, at its core. And that, you know, the best way forward is eliminate the incentivization of things opposite that wind, solar and battery storage.
Dave Walsh
At the federal level. What can he do? So, so much of this is done at the, and maybe I got this wrong, but so much of this done at the state level. You got the issues in Florida, you've mentioned the issues in South Carolina, the issues in Texas. Right. I'm not talking about blue states, I'm talking about the core backbone of the Mecca movement and President Trump's political power. We're all upside down on this very issue at the federal level. Is there much he can do about this? Is this still that, Is this still? We got to, we just got to get down the trenches on the state level and get this sorted out.
Stephen K. Bannon
Well, because you have now deregulated power generation markets in a lot of the country. Pjm, MISO in the Midwest, the Northeast, WEC out in the far west, ercot, all deregulated, where the generation companies are disaggregated from distribution. You have investors following the incentives and the incentives are as high as 52, 53% when adding in the PTC, the ITC and the depreciation benefit of accelerated depreciation and this stuff. The incentives are too hard for independent investors who form the bulk of power generation build out to resist. So that's all they're building. Even ERCOT and Florida, the next 5 year and 10 year plans respectively are all 91% renewables, solar mainly now and battery storage because of the incentives. Then you move over. Okay, regulated markets like the utility ones, you've got people like Florida Power and Light and Duke Energy in regulated markets actually starving consumers of electric power, sending out notices about hey, we're going to give you a cheap rate to use power between midnight and five in the morning. Because they're running into massive shortages due to over applying solar power that works only five hours a day in utility scale farms. So the incentives have to be removed from paying Duke Energy, paying Nextera, paying Iberdrola, Exxon. These are the firms that enjoy the benefits of the incentives to build this stuff out. There's no cost benefit to ratepayers four to five times more costly to rely on this kind of equipment for electric power supply. So you've got massive, massive large cap utilities and investors benefiting from the incentives they need to be eliminated.
Dave Walsh
Obscene. Obscene isn't this big rush for nuclear power and now that you're seeing even President Trump on what he's doing on power overall, you're not seeing the pushback before, which is hysteria. You know, they just. It's the end of the world. It's climate change, isn't it? Because the progressive rologarchs who have now flipped to kind of our side need unlimited virtual. They need power for artificial intelligence. They're thirsty for it. And that's why you're seeing Google come up with their own compact nuclear power plants. Right? Plug and play. And you don't see anybody melting down, isn't it? We got about a minute here. I'm gonna hold you through the break. Natalie's gonna join us. Also, isn't the drive here is because the, the folks that run the country essentially know they need unlimited power now to drive artificial intelligence and it's devil catch the hindmost on this.
Stephen K. Bannon
Yeah, I mean Fink and Morgan Stanley both out there acknowledged this a year ago. You can't have AI in data centers without baseload continuous duty. Huge, huge quantities of power. Nuclear is one of the options. Absolutely. Combined cycle gas is another one of the options. They're all over it. But we've even had blue states, Michigan and California, Whitmer and Newsom respectively running out of electricity, acknowledging, well in the case of California, we've got to keep Diablo Canyon open and subsidized that. Michigan keeping the Palisades plant open, now favoring nuclear after 70 years of adamantly resisting it. So you know, we have general bipartisan support now for nuclear power. The trouble is the supply chain to begin making lots of these plants, building them is way out there. We've got, we've built 320 combined cycle plants in the country in the last 25 years. That supply chain due to a six year timeout from 2000 to now is half gone. Half the contractors are gone and now lead times just to build those that easy. Technology is now six, seven years. Nuclear is going to be quite a ways out.
Dave Walsh
Hang on for a second. We're going to talk when we get Natalie in here. We're talking energy as a driver of President Trump's growth plan. Next in the war room.
Natalie Winters
Okay, folks, this doesn't happen often, so you want to jump on this and jump on it right away. Brickhouse Nutrition's Memorial Day sale is on for a limited time. You can save 25% off everything with my code memorial25. The code is memorial25. That includes lean, the weight loss supplement that targets the goals of GLP1 injections. But without needles or prescriptions. People are seeing real results and they're seeing them fast. And they love that it curbs those cravings that drive all that unnecessary eating. Check out the website reviews. Also on sale is Field of Greens, the super fruit and vegetable drink that literally promises your doctor will notice your improved health or your money back. If you're doctor and say, hey, I notice you're looking and feeling better, you get your money back. Whether it's collagen, creatine or any of the other doctor formulated products, it's all on sale for 25% off everything with Brickhouse Nutrition. Kick off a healthy summer and save big. While you're at it, go to brickhouse nutrition.com and use promo code memorial25 for 25% off. But don't wait. The sale's only a few days, just over Memorial Day weekend. That's brickhouse nutrition.com brickhousenutrition.com here's your host, Stephen K. Ban.
Dave Walsh
Welcome back. Home title lock 1 million dollar triple lock protection. Remember, 90% of your net worth is tied up in in that little piece of paper called a title for your real asset called your home. Don't let anybody, either cyber artificial intelligence or maybe just a rogue accountant, lawyer or even family member get their mitts on it. The way you do that $1 million triple lock protection 24. 7 coverage in the middle of night, anything happens, you will get alert. And if all else fails, they have a $1 million restoration project to make sure you get your title back without it being encumbered by, I don't know, a hard money second mortgage that you have to pay off and that takes you off the ramparts of being a war room posse member. And helping change the direction of this country and save your republic. Hometitlelock.com promo code. Steve, today over on World Day weekend, go talk to Natalie Dominguez and the team and work it all out. Okay. I'm gonna go to the White House now. Our own Natalie Winters joins us. Natalie, it looks pretty quiet at the White House. You're the hardest working White House correspondent by far or any other. Is any other media, is any other White House correspondents there today? Are they all gone to the beach a day early?
Grace
You know, I think they're maybe too busy stealth editing all their old articles and tweets, tweets about Joe Biden's health or they're too busy on the book tours, I guess. There's a lot of coverage for them to catch up on, particularly on that vertical. This is probably the most quiet I've ever seen it, which is absolutely wild given the big beautiful bill, of course, back ending and what I want to come on to talk about, the idea of China's off switch for the United States of America segues quite nicely with what Dave Walsh was talking, talking about. But I think important just to set the stage. You know, people might say that talking about these EMP attacks, the sort of technological attacks on America's critical infrastructure are hyperbolic or fear mongering. But I think those are the exact same attacks that we heard in the early 2000s, right. About China's ascent to the World Trade Organization and more broadly their integration into the global economy. And I'd also add, just as a humble, I would say, warm warning to all of our media betters, the people who got Joe Biden's mental health so wrong. I'm so glad that they're going on their mea culpa book tours right now. But we've been vindicated not just on Joe Biden, but of course on the threat the PRC poses. And if we allow the mainstream media narrative to dominate, particularly on the threat that the EMP poses, their apology tour that'll come. You know, 10 years from now is not going to be in the form of book deals. It's going to be in the form of the United States States becoming a failed state that has been replaced from a geopolitically hegemony perspective by the prc. So I want to get into this story, this article published on the Hill, of course, coming on the heels of President Trump's EO to counter a lot of these sort of alternative unrestricted warfare tactics. But they highlight a myriad of sort of unconventional war strategies, including but not limited to EMP attacks. Deep sea fiber, the undersea cables cuts, anti satellite weapons, and of course cyber attacks. And I know our audience is always ahead of the curve, but just for those of you who aren't aware what exactly EMP attacks are, there's been a lot of discussion about these sort of behind the scenes, but these are basically bursts of electromagnetic energy that are capable of disabling electronic devices vastly. We're not talking about cyber attacks, we're talking about dismantling physical systems, whether it's financial systems, water system, hospitals, critical infrastructure, essentially reverting the United States to a pre electric age. And why it's so concerning sort of springboarding off of what Dave Walsh was saying is even in terms of repairing our systems, right. We are so reliant on China, not just from a critical mineral and energy perspective, right, the rare earths, but more importantly and almost more nefariously on the processes processing side of things. So even take the Ukraine mineral deal, that doesn't solve the issue that 90% of all processing, whether you're talking magnets, batteries, you name it, is done in China. They have not just a monopoly, an overwhelming monopoly on that. The other 8% in Japan, and I think there's about 1.5% being done in Australia, which of course is essentially a proxy state of the prc. But what's really interesting and what I think is the really, really concerning aspect of the push for solar and the Green New Deal, beyond just the fact that it fails time and time again, is that there was just a story last week where communications modules, essentially kill switches were found embedded not in Chinese solar equipment, but in solar equipment right here in the United States, manufactured, operated and controlled by the prc, which is really concerning. We're not talking about, you know, toggling on and off and messing with the power. You're talking about a complete kill switch on the United States of America. And to make this, I think really go global. When you talk about what's going on in the Middle east, of course I would raise the fact that it's the PRC that essentially dominates Iranian airspace. Not that we're advocating for any troops on the ground or kinetic movement there, but if it were to get to that point because of the deep state warmongers, you know, that's an interesting proposition. And when you look at the fact that, what is it? Indo Pacom, they're headquartered in Horizon, Hawaii. So they're relying on these deep sea cables to be able to connect and talk with the mainland. If China were to preemptively strike from the cable cutting perspective, which they've done against Taiwan and in the Baltic. And we've already seen some of these funky technological manipulations go on at the Denver airport, obviously in Spain and Portugal. That would be a really, really bad thing to see the complete severance between indopacom and the broader United States military. So this is a huge, huge, huge concern. President Trump, like I said, has been ahead of this with the eo. He pushed very early in the administration and a lot of what the golden dome could do could potentially prevent against these EMP attacks as well.
Dave Walsh
So Natalie, his exit interview with 60 Minutes, Chris Wray actually said they asked him what's the greatest threat to the United States and he says embedded technology or kill switch of the Chinese Communist Party throughout all the infrastructure, communications infrastructure, health care infrastructure, logistics infrastructure. But he particularly highlighted the electrical grid and electrical infrastructure. Now, Wray had been, had lost so much credibility that even on this warning, nobody paid attention to him. We're hearing chatter. We got about a minute here. I'm going to hold you through the break. There is a lot of discussion behind the scenes now of senior level people that you know from the Frank Gaffney's in war room. We've been pounding this for years. It's like the early parts of the COVID pandemic. Well, we were banging on. It came from Muhan. You got to look at this. And was dismissed. There's a lot of people now really talking about this EMP threat, are there not?
Grace
Well, look, for all of Ray's faults, one thing that the FBI did very well under him was go after these CCP linked researchers at American universities. And to link this to what the Trump administration did at Harvard, all of these technological capabilities that the PRC now has, right. Rather overtly or covertly being able to hack into these grids. These are technologies and chips and just in general knowledge that is being given to them by Western institutions. So that's why cutting them off, creating the chokehold, not letting them in, not creating this class of Western educated elites who right now are waging, you know, electrical and information and economic warfare, not basically training the soldiers that we may very one day come to meet on the kinetic warfare battlefield. So the, so this is why this is all part of one very important plan.
Dave Walsh
Natalie, hang on. Natalie. Winner's at the White House today with none of the other mainstream media there. Obviously they're already at the beach. Ben Harnwell's at Rome. We got Dave Walsh. Oren Cass is going to join us. We're packed in the second hour. Stick around. 90 seconds. We'll be back.
Natalie Winters
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.
Dave Walsh
They're happening.
Natalie Winters
You see it here in the war room, and we all know it. The question is simply, are you ready? That's where Jace comes in. This isn't just a kit. This is a Jace case. It's a lifeline. 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.
H
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 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 4507: "Who Really Is Pope Leo The XIV; Our Power Grid Is Compromised"
Release Date: May 23, 2025
Host: Stephen K. Bannon
Description: WAR ROOM: Pandemic is the first and most comprehensive program to bring the most up-to-the-minute information on the news of the day. Stephen K. Bannon brings medical experts, politicians, business leaders, and those on the front lines for a comprehensive look at the latest news from all fronts and provides their insider insights.
Stephen K. Bannon sets the tone by discussing the importance of national loyalty over personal loyalty, warning against the rise of autocratic and monarchical systems.
Quote:
"Misunderstanding loyalty to a person versus loyalty to a country brings us dangerously close to the autocratic monarchical system we fought a revolution to avoid."
(00:00)
Ben Harnwell reports on the Trump administration's decision to revoke Harvard University's certification to enroll international students. The Department of Justice cited reasons such as fostering a hostile environment for Jewish students, promoting pro-Hamas sympathies, implementing racist diversity policies, and coordinating with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). Harvard has contested these claims, labeling the action as unlawful, and is seeking to support affected students.
Key Points:
Quote:
"Harvard called the action unlawful and says it's working to provide guidance and support to students and the community."
(00:28)
Oren Cass analyzes the Republican Party's current standing, emphasizing the significant influence of right-wing media in shaping party narratives and maintaining voter loyalty. He critiques the party's support for certain legislation, like Medicaid expansion, suggesting that while there's enthusiasm among media outlets, there is insufficient consideration of long-term fiscal impacts.
Key Points:
Quote:
"The real whip when it comes to counting votes is the larger right-wing media. They build and organize power."
(01:57)
Dave Walsh and Ben Harnwell discuss President Trump's dissatisfaction with the G7's progress on trade deals, especially regarding the European Union (EU). Trump criticizes the EU's slow negotiations compared to a swift agreement with the United Kingdom, expressing frustration over the deployment of carrier battle groups in the Red Sea without substantial progress in trade discussions.
Key Points:
Quote:
"Trump put them on blast and said, 'Yo, June 1st, we don't have a deal.'"
(04:26)
Ben Harnwell introduces the topic of Pope Leo The XIV as a potential intermediary in the Ukraine-Russia conflict. Recent statements from Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov have dismissed the Pope's involvement, raising concerns about the Vatican's stance on China.
Key Points:
Quote:
"We need to know where Pope Leo stands on China. Hence, is something we've suggested a potential joint statement condemning the practice of forced organ harvesting."
(07:14)
Oren Cass and Ben Harnwell delve into China's ongoing efforts to build a "digital fortress" and prepare for potential trade and cyber warfare. Reference is made to historical interactions, such as the disrupted trade deal discussions in 2019 and the emergence of COVID-19 as a strategic tool.
Key Points:
Quote:
"China has been preparing to build a digital fortress and really a fortress around their own technology and preparing for a trade war, also preparing for a cyber war."
(09:22)
Stephen K. Bannon and Dave Walsh examine the fragility of the American power grid in the face of potential Chinese attacks and technological sabotage. The discussion transitions into energy independence, emphasizing nuclear power and combined-cycle gas plants as solutions to energy shortages and external dependencies.
Key Points:
Quote:
"Nuclear power provides baseload continuous duty power. What he's looking at are incentives... to spur the building of a lot more nuclear capacity."
(32:04)"Combined cycle gas fired power with US natural gas at its core... is proven and decidedly low cost."
(39:27)
Stephen K. Bannon praises President Trump's initiatives toward energy dominance, including unlocking federal lands for oil and gas production and accelerating LNG export facilities. However, he critiques the slow progress on electrification and the overreliance on incentivizing renewables, which he argues are not cost-effective.
Key Points:
Quote:
"Plentiful, consistent and cheap energy is the fundamental foundation of an industrial economy."
(37:07)
Natalie Winters raises alarm about the vulnerability of the U.S. infrastructure to EMP attacks orchestrated by China. She explains that EMPs can disable electronic devices and critical systems, effectively reverting the nation to a pre-electric age. The discussion includes the strategic significance of undersea cables and the potential for China to sever military communications.
Key Points:
Quote:
"EMP attacks are bursts of electromagnetic energy capable of disabling electronic devices, essentially reverting the United States to a pre-electric age."
(51:09)
As the episode progresses, the hosts discuss ongoing efforts to influence energy policies, counteract Chinese technological dominance, and secure the nation's infrastructure. They emphasize the need for strategic planning, bipartisan support for nuclear energy, and robust defense mechanisms against unconventional warfare tactics.
Key Points:
Quote:
"Removing incentives for renewables is essential to minimize costs and avoid overreliance on Chinese manufacturing."
(41:43)
Episode 4507 of Bannon's War Room provides a comprehensive analysis of the interplay between national security, energy policies, and geopolitical strategies, particularly focusing on the influence of China and the internal dynamics of the Republican Party. The hosts advocate for energy independence through nuclear and gas-fired power, warn against foreign dependencies that threaten national infrastructure, and call for strategic policy reforms to secure the nation's future.
Notable Quotes with Timestamps:
Stephen K. Bannon (00:00):
"Misunderstanding loyalty to a person versus loyalty to a country brings us dangerously close to the autocratic monarchical system we fought a revolution to avoid."
Ben Harnwell (00:28):
"Harvard called the action unlawful and says it's working to provide guidance and support to students and the community."
Oren Cass (01:57):
"The real whip when it comes to counting votes is the larger right-wing media. They build and organize power."
Stephen K. Bannon (32:04):
"Nuclear power provides baseload continuous duty power. What he's looking at are incentives... to spur the building of a lot more nuclear capacity."
Natalie Winters (51:09):
"EMP attacks are bursts of electromagnetic energy capable of disabling electronic devices, essentially reverting the United States to a pre-electric age."
Disclaimer: This summary is based on a provided transcript and aims to encapsulate the key discussions and insights from the episode. For comprehensive details and full context, listening to the complete episode is recommended.