Episode 4570: Stopping The Forever Wars

Summary

Bannon's War Room: Episode 4570 - Stopping The Forever Wars

Release Date: June 18, 2025
Host: Stephen K. Bannon
Guests: Tucker Carlson, Ted Cruz, Nikki Haley, Donald Trump (via recordings), Max Boot, Henry Kissinger, and others.

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1. The Media's Role in Shaping Public Perception

Stephen Bannon opens the episode with a critical discussion about media influence, particularly focusing on Rupert Murdoch and Fox News' relationship with former President Donald Trump.

• Bannon (00:00): "Murdoch was very, very upfront. He was never for Trump."
• Tucker Carlson (00:42): "They take Trump and hold their nose because they know Trump brings a massive, massive audience."

Bannon highlights how media outlets have historically preferred alternative Republican figures like Ron DeSantis and Nikki Haley over Trump, emphasizing the manipulation and strategic promotion within the media landscape.

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2. Iran's Nuclear Ambitions and U.S. Response

A significant portion of the episode delves into Iran's nuclear program, discussing the impact of the Ferdowsi nuclear facility and the potential threats it poses.

• Abby Phillips (02:11): "The Iranian nuclear program has accelerated since President Trump's decision in 2018 to exit the nuclear accord."
• Donald Trump (04:26): "Iran's got a lot of trouble and they want to negotiate. You could have done fine."

Phillips explains the reduced breakout time for Iran to develop nuclear weapons and the debate over how quickly Iran could weaponize this material. Trump underscores the unpredictability of military action against Iran, advocating for diplomatic negotiations over immediate military strikes.

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3. Debating Support for Israel: A Clash of Theologies

The episode features a heated exchange between Senator Ted Cruz and former Ambassador Nikki Haley regarding biblical support for Israel.

• Ted Cruz (05:02): "Growing up in Sunday school, I was taught... those who bless Israel will be blessed..."
• Nikki Haley (05:27): "We are commanded as Christians to support the government of Israel."

The debate centers on the interpretation of biblical texts and their relevance to modern political support for Israel, highlighting differing viewpoints within the Christian community.

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4. Historical Parallels: Vietnam War and Modern Military Strategy

Bannon draws parallels between the current U.S. military engagements and past conflicts, particularly the Vietnam War.

• Henry Kissinger (10:02): "The Vietnamese don't want the war. So why does it go on?"
• Bannon (11:20): "Why are we inexorably drawn into this with... how did this all start?"

He criticizes the entrenched military-industrial complex and the persistent system that propels the U.S. into prolonged conflicts without clear objectives or achievable outcomes.

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5. The Burden of Endless Wars on American Society

Stephen Bannon emphasizes the financial and human costs of continuous military engagements abroad.

• Bannon (21:28): "We spent $9 trillion over there, 7 trillion in Iraq and 2 trillion in Afghanistan..."
• Bannon (50:16): "We've come to that moment. But in making that argument to the American people, he's got to now."

He argues that endless wars drain national resources, contribute to massive debt, and result in significant loss of life, urging a reevaluation of U.S. foreign policy to avoid repeating past mistakes.

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6. Financial Turbulence and Global Economic Shifts

The discussion touches on the BRICS summit and the potential displacement of the U.S. dollar as the world's primary reserve currency.

• Bannon (before advertisement): "The Rio Reset in July marks a pivotal moment when BRICS objectives move decisively from a theoretical possibility towards inevitable reality."

He warns listeners about the economic implications of this shift and advises diversifying investments to safeguard personal savings against the declining value of the dollar.

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7. Concluding Thoughts: A Call for Strategic Patience

In his closing remarks, Bannon urges a more measured and strategic approach to national security and foreign interventions.

• Bannon (Ending): "Let's honor this country and this republic. Let's honor its citizens, and most importantly, let's honor our dead by saying, this time we're actually going to think it through."

He advocates for comprehensive deliberation before committing to military actions, emphasizing the need to respect the sacrifices of fallen soldiers and the importance of making informed, strategic decisions to ensure national security without falling into the traps of perpetual warfare.

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Key Takeaways:

• Media Influence: Critical examination of how media outlets may manipulate public perception and political outcomes.

• Iran's Nuclear Threat: Ongoing concerns about Iran's nuclear capabilities and the debate over diplomatic versus military responses.

• Support for Israel: Divergent interpretations of religious texts influencing political support for Israel.

• Historical Lessons: Drawing lessons from past conflicts like the Vietnam War to inform current and future U.S. military engagements.

• Economic Concerns: Awareness of potential global economic shifts and the importance of personal financial strategies in response.

• Strategic Foreign Policy: Emphasis on thoughtful, strategic decision-making to avoid the pitfalls of endless wars and ensure national interests are safeguarded responsibly.

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This episode of Bannon's War Room provides a comprehensive analysis of the complexities surrounding U.S. foreign policy, media influence, and economic stability, urging listeners to consider the long-term implications of perpetual military engagements and to advocate for a more strategic and informed approach to national and global issues.

Transcript

[Stephen K. Bannon]

Murdoch put in.

[Tucker Carlson]

And you know this, I'm not sure they were ever Trump. I'm not sure from day one they were ever Trump.

[Stephen K. Bannon]

You, you know, I don't want to get into the behind the scenes things, but you could tell stories for hours about what the reality was there. And Murdoch was very, very upfront. He was never for Trump. And Those guys in 21 when this audience hunkered down and joined the precinct strategy, got everything done. These, this audience was his core, hardest core followers. They had Ron DeSantis on every night. You talk about Bibi doing, you know, this thing of Bibi over the last 30 years that it's only, you know, 12 months away and they're playing all the time. You could go do Levin of all the times he had Ron DeSantis and all the times that Fox had Nikki Haley and Rhonda Santos and they promoted him all in 21 and 20.

[Tucker Carlson]

2016, they wanted Jeb Bush in 20, they wanted Ron DeSantis. There's no question. They've never been. They take Trump and hold their nose because they know Trump brings a massive, massive audience. I'm eating into your time. I'm guessing because we have another handover, you're going to have some massive media opportunity tomorrow. The viewers, I don't know what ABC.

[Stephen K. Bannon]

Giving you, I'm giving you credit bowling. You're more than a lucky charm. You're actually, you've got media stroke. People pay attention during the hard changeover. Not only do we keep the audience and make the audience even bigger in the 5 o' clock hour, but I've now become even more relevant to the media. So thank you very much.

[Tucker Carlson]

Have a good show. Next time in town we'll sit down, brother.

[Stephen K. Bannon]

Yeah. Can you give me more than two hours notice? Seriously, next time just cause just because some somebody blows you off, you know, just give me a day.

[Tucker Carlson]

Just want to throw me under the bus. Throw me under the bus. Online television. Did you ever open the gift that I sent you? Did you ever open the box that's sitting at the, at the band in war room studios?

[Stephen K. Bannon]

Hang on. That hasn't gone through security has security hasn't signed off.

[Tucker Carlson]

It's safe. It's safe. All right, brother. Have a good show.

[Stephen K. Bannon]

Thank you, brother. Appreciate you. Okay, we got a massive cold open we're going to get into today as only the worm could do. Let's let it roll. Doesn't take out Fordo, for example, has it really damaged Iran's nuclear program? As much as it says that it, that it Wants to.

[Abby Phillips]

Well, as that piece demonstrates, Prime Minister Netanyahu has been very alarmist for a long time about the Iranian nuclear program. And, and obviously, in hindsight, a lot of that alarm was exaggerated. But I think it is the case that the Iranian nuclear program has accelerated since President Trump's disastrous decision in 2018 to exit the Iranian nuclear accord. At that point, we know that the Iranian breakout time, the amount of time they would take to have enough fissile material for a bomb was over a year. Now, I think everybody agrees, including US Intelligence, it's down to a week or two. I think the question mark is how long would it take them to actually weaponize that material? And that's, I think, where you have a dispute between the Israelis, who are saying they could weaponize very quickly, and the US Intelligence community, which is saying would take a longer period of time. But I think you're onto a key point here, Abby, which is what happens if the Israelis do not, or the US or somebody does not take out the Ford outside? And the reality is the Iranian nuclear program will pretty much continue despite all the damage that the Iranians are. Are suffering in this Israeli air campaign. So that's why. But even, but keep in mind, even if Fordo is taken out, that doesn't mean that Iran will never be able to get a nuclear weapon, because the know how, probably a lot of the enriched uranium, all that stuff will remain still in Iranian hands. But clearly, for now, is. Is a very big deal. And I think what, what, what President Trump has to calculate is, is it worth going after Fordow given the risk that, that the Iranians, who have so far been refraining from attacking US Bases or shipping in the region, given the risk that they will escalate. And so, you know, you see all these U.S. bases.

[Stephen K. Bannon]

Yeah.

[Abby Phillips]

Which are very close to Iran and in fact, much closer than Israel. And so, you know, Israel is about a thousand miles from Iran. These bases are much closer. So Iran has a lot more missiles that they can shoot at them. They have drones. They also have the capability to sow mines in the Persian Gulf and the Red Sea.

[Stephen K. Bannon]

So.

[Abby Phillips]

So there's a lot more damage they can probably do even in their weakened state. And so that's what I think President Trump has to balance here. Is it worth the risk of going after Fordo if it means getting the US Involved in the middle of these hostilities?

[Ted Cruz]

Answer questions about whether you are moving.

[Stephen K. Bannon]

Closer or you believe the US Is moving closer to striking Iranian nuclear facilities? Where's your mindset on that?

[Donald Trump]

I can't say that. Right. You don't seriously think I'm going to answer that question? Will you strike the Iranian nuclear component and what time exactly, Sir? Sir, would you strike it? Would you please inform us so we can be there and watch? I mean, you don't know that I'm going to even do it. You don't know. I may do it, I may not do it. I mean, nobody knows what I'm going to do. I can tell you this, that Iran's got a lot of trouble and they want to negotiate. And I said, why didn't you negotiate with me before all this death? Why didn't you negotiate? I said to people, why didn't you negotiate with me two weeks ago? You could have done fine.

[Ted Cruz]

Growing up in Sunday school, I was taught from the Bible, those who bless Israel will be blessed, and those who curse Israel will be cursed. And from my perspective, I want to be on the blessing side of things.

[Nikki Haley]

Of those who bless the government of Israel.

[Ted Cruz]

Those who bless Israel is what it says. It doesn't say the government of. It says the nation of Israel. So that's in the Bible. As a Christian, I believe that.

[Nikki Haley]

Where is that?

[Ted Cruz]

I can find it to you. I don't have the Scripture off the tip of mine. You pull out the phone and use the.

[Nikki Haley]

It's in Genesis, but. So you're quoting a Bible phrase. You don't have context for it and you don't know where in the Bible it is. But that's like your theology. I'm confused. What does that even mean? Tucker, I'm a Christian. I want to know what you're talking about.

[Ted Cruz]

Where does my support for Israel come from? Number one, because biblically, we are commanded to support Israel. But number two.

[Nikki Haley]

Hold on, hold on. You're a senator and now you're throwing out theology. And I am a Christian and I am allowed to weigh in on this. We are commanded as Christians to support the government of Israel.

[Ted Cruz]

We are commanded to support Israel. And we're.

[Nikki Haley]

What does that mean? Israel?

[Ted Cruz]

We're told those who bless Israel will be blessed.

[Nikki Haley]

But hold on. Define Israel.

[Stephen K. Bannon]

This is important.

[Nikki Haley]

Are you kidding? This is a majority Christian country.

[Ted Cruz]

Define Israel. Do you not know what Israel is? That would be the country you've asked, like, 49 questions about.

[Nikki Haley]

So that's what Genesis. That's what God is talking about, is.

[Ted Cruz]

The nation of Israel?

[Nikki Haley]

Yes. And he's. So is that the current borders, the current leadership? He's talking about the political entity called Israel.

[Ted Cruz]

He's talking about the nation of Israel. Yet nations exist. And he's discussing a nation. A nation was. The people of Israel is the nation. They're the descendants of Abraham.

[Nikki Haley]

Is that the same as the country run by Benjamin Netanyahu right now?

[Stephen K. Bannon]

Yes, it is.

[Ted Cruz]

And by the way, it's not run by Benjamin Netanyahu as a dictator. It's a Democrat country that elected.

[Nikki Haley]

He's the prime minister.

[Ted Cruz]

Right.

[Nikki Haley]

What?

[Ted Cruz]

But just, just like, you know, America is the country run by Donald Trump. No, actually, the American people elected Donald Trump. The same principle.

[Nikki Haley]

This is silly. I'm talking about the political entity of modern Israel.

[Ted Cruz]

Yes. And that is.

[Nikki Haley]

You believe that's what God was talking about in Genesis?

[Ted Cruz]

I do, but.

[Nikki Haley]

But that country's existed since when?

[Ted Cruz]

For thousands of years now. There was a time when it didn't exist and then it was recreated just over seven years.

[Nikki Haley]

But I'm saying, I think most people understand that line in Genesis to refer to the Jewish people, God's chosen people.

[Ted Cruz]

That's not what it says.

[Nikki Haley]

Okay, Israel. But you don't even know where in the Bible it is.

[Donald Trump]

Say good luck.

[Stephen K. Bannon]

Say it.

[Donald Trump]

It's already run out.

[Stephen K. Bannon]

That's why we're doing what we're doing.

[Donald Trump]

Yeah, they had 60 days and a big, you know, 60, plenty of time. And they made a mistake. Honestly, they made a mistake. Their country is in ruins. So many people are dead that shouldn't be dead.

[Max Boot]

It's a very sad thing, really. As far as a lot of people that I've been talking to here, they really do want to see the United States get involved. They want to see the United States finish the job. One of the reasons why Benjamin Netanyahu keeps getting elected, keeps getting supported here, is because he tells the Israeli people that he is. And this is something that you hear from people in Israel about Benjamin Netanyahu, that he is an expert on manipulating whoever is in the White House. And that's central to being the prime Minister of Israel. And it's something that he says, he constantly repeats to the voting public here, that he, and only he, can extract what Israelis need out of foreign capitals, specifically Washington. So there is a lot of feeling here that the United States. A lot of confidence that the United States is going to weigh in, that Donald Trump is going to decide to do something against Iran, maybe that bunker buster bomb that we're all talking about, the one that could possibly burrow in and destroy those remaining centrifuges in the Fordo nuclear facility.

[Stephen K. Bannon]

Have you seen the Tucker Carlson Senator Ted Cruz interview? It seems like this issue on whether or not the United States should strike.

[Max Boot]

Is kind of dividing a lot of your supporters.

[Donald Trump]

No, my supporters are for me. My supporters are America first. They make America great again. My supporters don't want to see Iran have a nuclear weapon. Tucker is a nice guy. He called and apologized the other day because he thought he said things that were a little bit too strong, and I appreciated that. And Ted Cruz is a nice guy. I mean, he's been with me for a long time. I'd say once the race was over, he's been with me ever since. Right, but very simple. If they think that it's okay for Iran to have a nuclear weapon, then they should oppose me. But nobody thinks it's okay. People that don't want. I don't want to fight either. I'm not looking to fight. But if it's a choice between fighting and them having a nuclear weapon, you have to. You have to do what you have to do.

[Richard Nixon]

Okay, Bob, we're just wrapping, my friends and I. In fact, we agree on a lot of things, don't we?

[Henry Kissinger]

No, we don't. You say you want to end the war, so why don't you?

[Richard Nixon]

Change always comes slowly. I pulled out more than half the troops. I'm trying to cut the military budget for the first time in 30 years. I want a volunteer army. But it's also a question of American credibility, our position in the world.

[Stephen K. Bannon]

Come on, Mr. Nixon. It's a civil war between Vietnamese.

[Henry Kissinger]

You don't want the war, we don't want the war. The Vietnamese don't want the war. So why does it go on?

[Max Boot]

We should be calling, Mr. President.

[Richard Nixon]

Okay? Please.

[Henry Kissinger]

You can't stop it, can you? Even if you wanted to. Because it's not you, it's the system. The system won't let you stop it.

[Stephen K. Bannon]

There's.

[Richard Nixon]

There's more at stake here than what you want or what I want.

[Henry Kissinger]

Then what's the point? What's the point of being president? You're powerless.

[Stephen K. Bannon]

No.

[Richard Nixon]

No, I'm not powerless, because I understand the system. I believe I can. I can control it. Maybe not control it totally, but tame it enough to make it do some good.

[Henry Kissinger]

Sounds like you're talking about a wild animal.

[Richard Nixon]

Maybe I am.

[Stephen K. Bannon]

This is the primal scream of a dying regime. Pray for our enemies. Because we're going medieval on these people. Christians, I got a free shot. All these networks lying about the people. The people have had a belly full of it. I know you don't like hearing that. I know you try to do everything in the world to stop that. But you're not going to stop it. It's going to happen.

[Nikki Haley]

And where do people like that go.

[Stephen K. Bannon]

To share the big lie?

[Nikki Haley]

MAGA MEDIA I wish in my soul.

[Stephen K. Bannon]

I wish that any of these people had a conscience. Ask yourself, what is my task and what is my purpose? If that answer is to save my country, this country will be saved. War ROOM here's your host, Stephen K. Ban. It's Wednesday the 18th of June, year of our Lord 2025. I want to thank Dave Brad for stepping in this morning at the spur of the moment. Had two things had a, a Christian Science Monitor, had a press availability that we had scheduled actually a month ago and it turned out to be in the middle of this. I want to thank the Christian Science Monitor for doing it. A bunch of stories are coming out and I'm going to get to the details of that about my thoughts about MAGA and President Trump in this war. And then I had a couple of meetings I could not get out of. They're quite important. And over the next, I don't know, week or two, I may be in and out here in the morning show. So we'll have to, we'll sorrow that out. Right there we ended, we ended the cold open with that incredibly powerful scene from the movie Nixon. That was Sir Anthony Hopkins playing Richard Nixon. You saw James Wood there as one of his aides. Haldeman, right with the flat top. It's a true story about going to the Lincoln Memorial in the middle of the night during one of the biggest demonstrations. They had anti war demonstrations and Nixon right there talking about the deep state, talking about the beast, the system. And she said, why can't you end the war? You're the president. And what he was talking about, cut the defense budget. I'm trying to do is a volunteer army inexorably drawn in, inexorably drawn into a conflict that everybody realized was madness. Including the, the amazing young men and women that went over there and served and gave all, put it all on the line. We're in the same situation now. Why are we inexorably drawn into this with, I mean, how did this all start last week Max Boot lays it out pretty bluntly and has gotten no pushback. Thought Abby Phillips did a really good job there. Max Boot made the case. Well, Fedor, you know, only the Americans can do it. And if you don't take that out, then you haven't ended their nuclear program. Well, yo, dude, correct me if I'm wrong. Bibi Netanyahu knew this from the beginning. Was that brought up to anybody? Was that talked about when he started bombing last Thursday? That we would have to finish the job. That we would have to finish the job. Let's ask the cheerleaders over at Fox working for Murdoch taking his money. It's quite revolting. Short break. 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. Let 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 to 989-898 do it today. That's the Rio reset text Bannon at 989-898 and do it today. Here's your host, Stephen K. Bannon. So BB Netanyahu went to and by the way for Ted Cruz. Yo dude, I'm not exactly the churchiest guy in the world and I know you're, you know, Mr. Bible when you talk about the Genesis thing. Isn't our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, the New Covenant? Now, you know I'm a Catholic and the Catholics, as everyone knows, are not as intensely into the Bible. I think that's changing now, but particularly when I was raised. But in the Mass, the Catholic Mass at the most solemn part, the new and everlasting covenant. This whole thing, it was one of the most bizarre things I've ever heard in my life. A grown man, a grown man that professes to be a Christian. The New Testament is obviously very important. It's one of the foundational elements. But the New Testament is called the New Testament for a reason. Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior is the New Covenant. A new Covenant was made. And is that the reason for Israel? Look, we're one of the biggest defenders. I think we're one of the biggest defenders of Israel and the nation of Israel around. But this can't go on. It can't. It's not helping Israel. He's part of the thing there. The guy, you know, promotes himself inside of Israel as a manipulator of American presidents, a manipulator of the American plan, political process. That's got to stop now. Has to stop for the good of Israel. It has to stop. Let me be blunt. We still don't have an answer from them about why. Why the, why the attacks had to be last Thursday. Why did it have to be now? You said on Sunday of Brett Baer that they're not going to have a weapon for 12 to 13 months. So why did it have to happen on a Thursday in, in early June with the 12th, 11th or 12th? Why, why? You talk about Israeli intelligence. Is this the Israeli intelligence that just had the greatest intelligence failure on October 7, a couple of years ago since 9, 11? And people say, well, Steve, you can't, you know, they had their eye off the ball. They were looking at the Persians. I don't buy that. I don't buy it. Mossad, all of it, one of the great. Epic failure, epic failure. That group is now going to have special intelligence. And we know from Rubio and others that it was us that gave them intelligence. Come on, man, we have to have an adult conversation. We're not going to let the shills at Fox. We're not going to let people shilling at Fox the same exact crowd saying the same exact thing about the Iraq war try to force the president of the United States into a corner. He needs a range of options. And yes, they're going through a military option and maybe a direct strike. But then you get to the max boot part of it. And this is what really galls me, and it galls me, and we cannot allow it to continue. Max boot, who is the biggest MAGA and Trump hater on earth or one of them? I put him in the top 25. He just laying it out there for CNN. And he does a very good job because he's kind of an expert on the military. He's written a bunch of books. Very learned man and very pro Israel. He says, as a matter of fact, of course, you have to get to Fordor and only the Americans have the technologies. The Israelis can't finish it. So now the Americans have to finish all these Rus, have to finish It. And if you don't get that, then you're not taking the program. So tell me, why did you start something you couldn't finish? Remember, I was upset at first that we had to do the defense. We had to put up the air defenses. Why did you start something that you knew you couldn't finish? Are we supposed to just step in and say, oh, fine, let's finish it? That is a massive decision for the President of the United States who has to come to the American people and say, hey, I've weighed and measured. Here's what I'm going to do. And yes, we have enough faith in President Trump and his judgment that he will come to the right conclusion. But we have to get all the cards on the table and the behavior of Fox. It's exactly like you got us into the Iraq war. Yes, you. The cheerleading of Fox and the Bush, you know, apparatchiks got us into the Iraq war when they lied. Bald face lied. Bald face lied. Not. Not. You can have misinterpretation of data. People make mistakes. You can make countries make mistakes. You can make mistakes. Hey, here's what I think it is. But these were. They knew what they had and they hid it. They knew they didn't have weapons of mass destruction. They lied to you. President Trump's presidency is predicated upon that. In the financial collapse of 2008, where they lied to you.

[Abby Phillips]

Also.

[Stephen K. Bannon]

This was the rise, the true rise of populist nationalism in this country around a leader like Donald Trump who had the stones to take on the Bush apparatus in South Carolina and tell the nation we never should have done it. What is different this time? The same. Now they're talking about the Iraq revolutionary, the Iran Council that's out there. And they got the shah's son and they have, you know, the people mek. They got all these different guys and they asked me this thing. Are we supposed to do due diligence on this? This. Don't you remember the Iraq Congress? Freedom Congress with Chalabi? Do you not remember that? Remember all this? They're going to be great. They got to Iraq and nobody knew who they were and said, get the hell out of here. And you never heard from them again. Remember, days and weeks they were on Fox nonstop. They had all these great plans for Iraq, except for people there said, who are these guys? Guys been over in the United States making money and pretending they had something. He had the same thing with the revolutionary. Whatever. These Persians are all of them now. And let's go do. Let's have them on tv. What are your thoughts for Persia? Are we playing this game again? Are we doing this again? The exact same thing with the exact same players and we're supposed to trust them. I'll play the Mark Levin clip here in a moment. Questioning people's patriotism. Are you kidding me? Question this Levin. Why did he have to go last Thursday? Answer the question. You don't have an answer. Why did he go on? Bret Baron said it was 12 months away. I thought it was last weekend. Had to go last weekend. Refute the NBC report. He promotes himself as a great manipulator of American presidents and most importantly, refute Max Boot. That's a known thing. It's now talked about. This is why everybody's talking about it. They can't finish the job. Well, hey, you know what? You started it, you finished. We're not sitting here and saying that the mullah should have a nuclear weapon. President Trump had diplomacy and yes, they said, oh, go screw off. But we haven't started any of the economics. Remember when we went off the jcpoa, President Trump put in a whole thing of sanctions and not the heaviest. And that led him into the streets by 22. If you cut off the oil and you went up the escalatory ladder, not on military, but go up the escalatory ladder on economic warfare, you would break these guys and the people would do would not be regime change or regime destruction from the top and particularly from the Israelis and the Americans. And that's. What are they supposed to do? This is an ancient civilization. They're just going to say, oh, this is terrific. The same crowd said, oh, they're going to be dancing and, and they're going to be welcoming arms. It's the same guy said, they're going to be throwing roses in the streets. When you go to Baghdad, did they throw roses in the streets? Do you remember of any of that? How many dead are over in section 60 of Arlington National Cemetery that paid for their lives and destroyed their families because of the lies of Fox News in the same crowd you see pitching this war right now, almost with the same vernacular, oh, it's a weapon of mass destruction. You have to go. Gotta go now. Well, according to Bibi, it's a year away and maybe if he hadn't stepped in the middle of President Trump. Yes, it was a negotiation. Yes, 60 days. And now, let's be honest, you want regime change. We know that. That's obvious. And people are like, no, Steve, they're not saying regime change. Yes, it is regime Change. Let's have an adult conversation. Stop it. Stop the nonsense. If we're going to commit American lives and American resources and not just that American focus, do you honestly think we will be able to complete everything we want to do in this Trump revolution if we're tangled up there? Do you think we can step a stand up to the existential threat of this country? The Chinese Communist Party, that's everywhere. When we just took a carrier battle group out of the South China Sea and sent it through the Straits of Malacca. And now the Nimitz, who initially in 1979, on his first cruise in 1980, was there as I was on a 7th Fleet destroyer squadron with a carrier battle group that did the exact same thing, left that area, went through the Malacca Straits, crossed the Indian Ocean, up to CAMEL Gonzo Station 50 years ago in 1979, whatever that math works out to, we need to have an adult conversation. The pressure on President Trump's coming from the outside and it's coming from people who are not straight with him. Fox News in the Murdochs and Murdoch, given your 92, you better get. You know, far be for me say you got to get right with the Lord, but remember, you're going to be weighed and measured. And right now, all the facts are not coming out. And no Kayleigh McEnany, I'm not sitting there saying we should do this and take the. Put the pom poms down. Need action. You need action. Oh, yeah, let's go. Let's go send some guys over there and go blow stuff up and get America involved. It may come to that. It looks like it might come to that. But let us think it through and understand exactly this time, unlike Iraq, unlike Afghanistan, unlike Vietnam, let's have enough respect for the people over there at section 60, okay? Let's respect them. Let's respect the honored dead. You want to respect them? Let's do an even deeper dive than we do on Memorial Day. Let's have enough respect for them to say, okay, this time we're going to totally think it through. This time we're not going to be inexorably drawn in like Nixon talks about the system. This time we're not going to be manipulated by anybody when we make this decision. We make it as free men and women in the greatest republic, the greatest country in man's earth that have made tons of mistakes. And in fact, we have a leader that has come to power refuting the political class. The Lindsey Grahams of the world. Those little worms yammering away every day The Ted Cruz's and Ted Cruz, you should be ashamed of yourself. Your lack of just a basic understanding of what's at stake here and what it means. Disgraceful, revolting. And you call yourself a leader. Have respect for the honored dead by saying this time we will take the time and we will take the effort and we will put in the work to make sure we looked at a range of alternatives and so be it. If we go to war, we do it with full intentions of understanding exactly what we're doing and what we're getting into. There's a lot of talk about government debt, but after four years of inflation, the real crisis is personal debt. Seriously, you're working harder than ever and you're still drowning in credit card debt and overdue bills. You need Done with debt and here's why you need it. The credit system is rigged to keep you trapped. Done With Debt has unique and frankly brilliant escape strategies to help end your debt fast so you keep more of your hard earned money. Done With Debt doesn't try to sell you a loan and they don't try to sell you a bankruptcy. They're tough negotiators that go one on one with your credit card and loan companies with one goal, to drastically reduce your bills and eliminate interest and and erase penalties. Most clients end up with more money in their pocket month one and they don't stop until they break you free from debt permanently. Look, take a couple of minutes and visit donewithdebcom talk with one of their strategists. It's free, but listen up. Some of their solutions are time sensitive, so you'll need to move quickly. Go to donewithdebt.com that's donewithdebt.com Stop the anxiety, stop the angst. Go to done with debt.com and do it today. Here's your host, Stephen K. Band. So the Wall Street Journal is reporting, if we can put it up, just come across that Wall Street Journal on an exclusive is reporting that told senior aides he approved attack plans for Iran but is holding off on giving the final order to see if Tehran will abandon its nuclear program. So there you have it. President Trump has said for years they can't have nuclear weapons. We kind of got into this as we got into it. He said, hey, I guess we'll finish the job. Finish the job that the Israelis knew at the beginning that they couldn't finish. Right? They couldn't finish. And yet honestly, they sucked us into this. So now President Trump's got to make the decision. President Trump's got to form the American people that we have to get involved in combat operations. Not enough to be in defensive combat operations. Now we have to get into combat operations by someone that NBC News is saying prides himself on being a great manipulator and who from his public statements doesn't seem like it was any emergency that needed to be done by kinetic military action last Thursday. Yes, people were united that they can't have the bomb. Right. There's a lot of ways to go through that. And people say, well, the diplomacy failed. I'm not so sure about that. Maybe his speed bump. There was a meeting scheduled for Sunday, was there? Not that they'd already that that Steve was already set to go to President Trump's right hand and special envoy for all this Witkoff and Muscat Oman, I think the sixth or seventh meeting and just maybe they thought they were tapping the President along. There's a lot of things you can do on course of diplomacy, but they kind of came as a fade, a fait accompli. Oh, we have special intelligence. Well release at least show us a little leg on that. Let's see it. Not so sure I'm that impressed with your intelligence. Oh, Steve, they weren't focused on Gaza, okay? Intelligence services, people there are assigned things, okay, don't tell me that focus. You have groups of, hey, you're assigned here. You're assigned to the Indo Pacific. You're assigned to the Chinese Communist party's navy. What is Captain Fanell, the great Captain Fennell, we get on here, he was an intelligence officer in the Pacific Fleet and they focused on the Chinese Communist threat there. He knows a chapter and verse and oh, guess what the, the emphasis was over at centcom. And let's talk about that. We talk about we're anti institutionalists. Well, the reason that we're anti institutionalist is that the institutions in this government don't work. Don't work. The deep state has control of them. And yes, it ain't that deep. And everybody in this town that's here working knows it. Knows it. It's not that deep. One of the central issues we have is centcom. The men and women there are fantastic. It's done as good a job as it can given the, given the political leadership. The valor and courage of the troops is not and never can be questioned given what they've done. Let's go Back to Section 60 over at Arlington National Cemetery where the honored dead are there for eternity. Eternity. Their young lives snuffed out, their families broken. And what did Cent come. What did Obama try to do? Pivot to Asia? Did that succeed? No, because CENTCOM has such power in the pentagon. We got 50,000 troops over there now. Now we got more of these carrier battle groups. People have to understand the combatant commanders don't think about the Joint Chiefs of Staff anymore. Even the, even the Army Chief of Staff or the Chief of Naval Operation. It's a different deal now, restructured since I left the Pentagon. I left the Pentagon. The CNO was the man. Not anymore. You got combatant commanders. Those combatant commanders are a little bit like God on earth and CENTCOM is the Mack Daddy. Think about it. With everything we've gone through, look at the basis, look at all of it. What is it all there for? What's the purpose? I know the purpose of hemispheric defense. I know the purpose of, I can see the purpose of Greenland. I can see the understanding of purpose in the Arctic. I can see the purpose of the Panama Canal. I can see the purpose of the Central Pacific and the three island chain. It actually makes total and complete sense. You add an iron dome on it, an anti ballistic missile system, and we nurture on the Monroe Doctrine. Our partners in Brazil. When Lula's gone, you get the Bolsonars back in Mile and Argentina and others. I got it. I understand it. That's a hemispheric defense for the United States off of the Eurasian landmass. We then can send expeditionary forces where we need to send them to not be permanently there. I think a lot of people that don't follow that closely, you don't have to. You got enough to do in your own life. But I think a lot of people shock me, man. Look at all these bases. Look at, look at, look at where the Persians could hit us. We've got all these bases, got 50,000 troops spread over hell's half acre in the Middle East. Why? Why? For what purpose? When we just said, President Trump just said, hey, if it's a hemisphere defense, is that incorporated in the ndaa? No, it is not. At a trillion dollars, does any of that happen? No, it's not. You want to see where the trillion dollars is going? Folks start looking at that map that Max Boot had out there. When he starts talking about what's around in the region, what's exposed in the region. President Trump hasn't made a final decision. It rests with the mullahs and it rests with. And they, they've got to give it up. I don't think he's going to mess around Anymore, he's not going to get tapped along. So we've come to that moment. But in making that argument to the American people, he's got to now. And look, it can't be lost in you of how he got here, how we got here in an inappropriate manner. Let me go back, because I want to be very clear about this. Max Boot said, and no one's refuted that. In fact, everybody in this town that focuses on this knows it, that the Fedor, the nuclear power or the nuclear operation of the whole thing they've got of the material and processing the material and then potentially weaponization, they buried it in a mountain because they understand this day might come. And the Israelis knew that. And they started something they knew they couldn't finish. And if they couldn't finish it, it was all for naught. Why weren't we informed of that? Why didn't we know that when they went in? Because then you're dragging us into it. Now. We're in the situation that President Trump, who's trying to stop an invasion of our country, which is more important to us than this. It just is to this nation, to the citizens of this nation who are tired, sick and tired of these wars they're drawn into that have no purpose. We spent $9 trillion over there, 7 trillion in Iraq and 2 trillion in Afghanistan with thousands of dead and tens of thousands of wounded, and people with PTSD committing suicide every day, and massive amount of debt that we have to pay on every single day, and we'll always have to pay on, because we're never going to pay one penny of the principal back. So when we're asked to do it again, we have to make a decision as a country. And yes, President Trump's the commander in chief and he's going to work through this and decide. But he knows, because he looks at the history of Nixon and Johnson and others, Bush, that they have to bring the country along. And these things are much easier to start than to finish. So that's why, again, the Israelis should finish what they started. I keep hearing they have this capability. It may take them longer. You had Yerima Zani on here. Good man. They'll take them longer. But then put your pilots at risk. Go for it. Loosen it up. If it takes you longer. Hey, if it takes you a couple weeks, big deal. They're not going to build a bomb in a couple weeks. Take your time. Do it. If you got to send commandos in, send commandos in. Why do we have to clean up your mess? Oh, because it's going to hit ballistic missiles are going to hit San Francisco. That's not going to happen. And everybody knows it's not going to happen. That's just fear mongering from people that don't respect you enough to actually sit there and try to say, hey, let's reason this thing through. Here's the reason. And then to question your patriotism, particularly people never serve their country a day in their life done nothing but suck off the tit of this country and veterans and you're going to question people's patriotism? Is that what you're going to do? Or question someone like Marjorie Taylor Greene that's worked her tail off for the MAGA movement, gone all over the country, done events time and time and time again? You're going to question her. She's a pipsqueak from Georgia. Who are you? Anybody took a paycheck from Fox in 21. Murdoch, Senate. We're going to make Trump a non person. You sat there and you ran Ron DeSantis and Nikki Haley and all of them that are never going to be present, never going to win national elections ever. Just like the collection of clowns you put up in 2016. And yes, they were by and large not with the program and got turfed out and beaten, although Fox went all in for them. You tried to kneecap Trump in the very first debate. You hated Trump. You hated Trump. And to show much how much you hate him, you won't even deal straight now. It's just propaganda. Propaganda. And Lindsey Graham. And Lindsey. We can play clips. I could do the whole show, one hour. And you know what? You would be so repulsed by it. Be like that. Like that time in Clockwork Orange. Your eyelids are popped open. You got to watch it all the time, over and over and over again. Just like in Iraq. Let's have enough respect for the American people. Let's have enough respect for this republic. They say America first. Isolationists. No, we're not isolationists. No, we're not isolationists. I gave six, seven, eight years of my life to show we're not isolationists. My daughter did the same thing. We're not isolationists. Don't try to smear us with that. Or appeasers. We're not appeasers. But it's easy for you because you're like Murdoch and that corrupt family. You just get the ball rolling. You're the information. You're the propaganda department. Then you just wash your hands of it. Did any of you guys suffer in Iraq? Any of you? Did you suffer in Iraq? The ones that drove this, the Murdochs. You watched succession. They all brokenhearted. How many times have Murdoch's been over section 60? How many? How many, Lachlan? How many, James? How many, Rupert? Have you been over there? Let's honor this country and this republic. Let's honor its citizens, and most importantly, let's honor our dead by saying, this time we're actually going to think it through. And that's what President Trump's doing when he comes to the decision, and particularly he's giving him another chance. And now. But now the other chance is kind of mangled because the Israelis and Bibi move this to what they moved it to, and let's have an adult conversation to regime change or regime destruction. That's what he's pitching the other night. Pitching the other night when he said, this is not America. First America did. Who in the hell are you to lecture the American people? Who are you to lecture the American people? American people are not going to tolerate it, not going to put up with it. Who are you to jam us into this situation which you knew you couldn't finish the job, or if you can't, go finish it. You got plenty of things say, hey, Bennett, don't run his time. We finish, then go finish it. Quit coming to us to finish it. President Trump may come to that conclusion, but it's not something he would just say out of thing, oh, yeah, let's go bomb him and take care of it. He's going to do it because he's got away the options now that you've gotten us into it. That's reality. That's the truth. That's exactly where we are. And, and people should be truthful with each other, particularly in these tough decisions. That's what allies do. Allies don't manipulate and don't inexorably draw people into situations of which the other party has to get them out of. Short break, back in a moment. What if he had the brightest mind in the war room, delivering critical financial research every month? Steve Bannon here. War room listeners know Jim Rickards. I love this guy. He's our wise man. A former CIA, Pentagon and White House advisor with an unmatched grasp of geopolitics and capital markets. Jim predicted Trump's Electoral College victory exactly 312 to 226, down to the actual number itself. Now he's issuing a dire warning about April 11, a moment that could define Trump's presidency and your financial future. His latest book, MoneyGPT, exposes how AI is setting the stage for Financial chaos. Bank runs at lightning speeds, algorithm driven crashes and even threats to national security. Right now, War Room members get a free copy of MoneyGPT when they sign up for Strategic Intelligence. This is Jim's flagship financial newsletter, Strategic Intelligence. I read it. You should read it. Time is running out. Go torickards war room.com that's all one word. Records. War Rooms records with an S. Go now and claim your free book. That's Rickards war room.com do it today. Here's your host, Stephen K. Ban. And there's so much else going on. We're going to go through, we'll go through a lot of that. Make sure you're up to date on everything. Financial turbulence, times of turbulence. I think it may be getting a lot more turbulent and maybe a lot more turbulent soon. The president said Wall Street Journal's reporting just so you have it. And Grayson moving put that story up in the chat so everybody can get a chance to read it. That President Trump has reviewed alternatives and has come to the conclusion that he will use military force to end. To end to I guess do Ford or to end the nuclear program of the Persians. But he has given some time before he pulls the trigger to see if, to see if they end the program themselves. And we know today President Trump said they had called him and contacted him and want to come to the White House. He put that out there. So in these times of turbulence and it's going to be, you know, you saw in la, you see what's happening now with the big, the big industry pressure on immigration, right. On not deporting these people on Capitol Hill, we found out today, Johnson, Speaker Johnson just announced, hey, he wasn't kept in the loop on anything they were doing on the Medicaid, some of the biggest issues they were dealing with. He just says, hey, they never kept me in the loop, so. And he says some of this stuff is not going to pass the House. So I appreciate Senator Hawley's thoughts that we're going to get it out of the House, go to the Senate, get out of the Senate, go to the House. It's all going to be fine. It's going to be a bill on President Trump's desk on 4July. I'm not feeling that since some of the biggest gaps and the biggest issues which still haven't even been solved in the Senate. The House guys weren't even read into not in the loop and we're going to deal with that over the next couple days. We'll get you totally up to Speed and all that. So in every different aspect. And this is why I said today when I did this press thing, as you hear in the show coming down the golden escalator, with everything we've gone through in 10 years, everything President Trump's accomplished, all the triumphs and tragedies, the victories, the defeats, all of it is just a preamble to now, to now to now, because this is the convergence of these multiple crises. Right? Multiple crises. And particularly the guys say it's not in the third world, Third World War. The Third World War has started. There's almost 2 million dead or wounded in Ukraine, by the way. Ukraine, which also Fox News nonstop pitched and pitched and promoted and pitched. Zelensky, he's great. Wear your Ukrainian flag. All of it. Nonstop, nonstop, nonstop. How did that turn out? You'd gone over and said you apologized to Mersheimer or you've gone over and said, hey, we really apologize. We didn't realize you were going to get over, you know, 750,000 killed. And now the British papers reporting the Russians got a million, so it's closer to 2 million dead and wounded. Benini apologize for that. He apologized for the Ukraine scene when on this show from the beginning, which said it was wrong and it was going to destroy the Ukrainian people. And that's exactly what's happened. Merschaumer said they're going to lead them down the primrose path to their own destruction. Did Fox News not the biggest cheerleader of that? I guess they weren't the biggest cheerleader. MSNBC and CNN gave as good as they got there. They were all cheerleaders. Remember Zelinsky? He's so grace, so lovely, so wonderful. Birch Gold. Check it out. We've done these programs at Birch Gold so that you have a deeper understanding of kind of global capital markets and what's happening. Birchgold.com Worm and I didn't get to mention it. Today's New York Times, the Chinese finance minister, you know, he's pitching, I think we're, we're coming up with an alternative currency to the dollar. And they're going to make a fuller presentation at Rio. I'll get that up tomorrow and I'll walk you through it. Plus what the Fed did we get so much. But make sure you go to birchgold.com the end of the dollar empire. Mike Lindell back from Federal Court. Sell me a pillow or a set of sheets. Sir, I think the audience is quite had enough of my ranting.

[Mike Lindell]

Right on.

[Stephen K. Bannon]

Right.

[Mike Lindell]

Well, here's great news, everybody. We're bringing back where it all started. The my pillow. So my employees, they can get to work making you the 1498, the lowest price we ever had in history. Last year, remember, this was. This was the last year we're doing a big blowout sale. This is a war room exclusive. I called him this morning. I said, hey guys, want to thank the war room posse. Get making those pillows. We're going to put a limit of 10 on them. These are wholesale prices. 1498 promo code WAR room. You guys get. Get them for your neighbors. Get them for all the bedrooms. They're absolutely awesome. And tonight, right now, the last few hours, just for today, you get the free with any purchase, the MyPillow 2.0. And with God all things are possible. We just won that case with my pillow and we're very excited. With God it was possible. And with help from the war room posse. Promo code war room.

[Stephen K. Bannon]

Any.

[Mike Lindell]

Any item you buy, you get that free pillow. And then. So go to the website, scroll down. Remember to click on our great leader Steve there. Click on his. Click on him and get the. And there's all the specials. There's that blowout sale, the microservices. You're still going to save 50%. Remember, they're 100% made in the USA, just like the one I have on. And men's and women's. Women's is reversible. Get that. And then we have the sheets. The new set of summer sheets. Per kil sheets came in the war room posse. You get that first as low as 2498. They just came in two days ago. All the percale line. And. And then you have our beds 100% made in the USA. Get yourself a new bed. We put them on sale with the war room policy before the Fourth of July. So you guys get those sales early. 800-873-1062 and you call my employees. Remember, these are moms and dads working from home right here in the usa. You're not. You're going to get a real person on that phone call that appreciates the war room posse. And we appreciate you, Steve, for everything you've done for my pillow. And we feel really good about this victory, I'll tell you.

[Stephen K. Bannon]

Okay, great. Honored to do it. Great company, American and American citizens. Thank you brother Lindell. On your fight. Now that you see coming together like with the Chinese communist party with John Solomon's been break cash has been putting out this information about the Chinese Communist party involved in stealing the 2020 election. Does that shock you? Are you shocked of that? I don't think so. I want to thank you for being here in the five o' clock hour. We're going to take a short commercial break. We're going to come back for the 6 o' clock hour. We've got a lot to go through. President Trump once again has determined that he's prepared to use military force to take out and finish the job of this nuclear weapons program of the ayatollah and the mullahs in Tehran. He has also said and told people he's done that with his advisor, said that he has not picked a date to pull the trigger or is prepared to pull the trigger yet, but that they may have a chance. He's got to see that they're prepared to shut down the program, nothing in between. He's not going to get tapped along. Okay, short commercial break. Going to redo kind of studios. We do for the six o' clock show, Ben Hornwell. Yeah, Ben Hornwell joins us. We're gonna take a short commercial break. We're gonna be back in the war room in just a moment. You missed the IRS tax deadline. You think it's just gonna go away? Well, think again. The IRS doesn't mess around and they're applying pressure like we haven't seen in years. So if you haven't filed in a while, even if you can't pay, don't wait and don't face the IRS alone. You need the trusted experts by your side. Tax Network usa. Tax Network USA isn't like other tax relief companies. They have an edge, a preferred direct line to the irs. They know which agents to talk to and which ones to avoid. They use smart, aggressive strategies to settle your tax problems quickly and in your favor. Whether you owe $10,000 or $10 million, Tax Network USA has helped resolve over $1 billion in tax debt. And they can help you, too. Don't wait on this. It's only going to get worse. Call Tax Network USA right now. It's free. Talk with one of their strategists and put your IRS troubles behind you. Put it behind you today. Call Tax Network USA at 1-800-958-1000. That's 800-958-1000 or visit Tax Network USA tnusa.com Bannon do it today. Do not let this thing get ahead of you. Do it today.