
Episode 4677: Clearing The Corruption Out Of The MAGA Administration ...
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Steve Bannon
For the weekend, he's going to go out to the South Lawn. I think they're going to take Marine One and then they're going to leave and go to Andrews Air Force Base. We're going to cover it all as soon as it becomes, as soon as it manifests itself. For right now, do we have a cold open? We have Senator Lee. That's even better. We get. We don't need a cold open. We got Senator Mike Lee. Senator Lee, thank you so much for joining us here in the war room. Have you made progress? Your name came up about 100 times in the morning. Show people talking about the recess appointments or a new package getting sent up. Can you give us an update, sir?
Senator Mike Lee
That biggest development since we last spoke was that President Trump put out an excellent statement on Truth Social last night in which he explicitly called for the Senate to not recess until we've cleared the backlog, until we've gotten through the entire executive calendar. This is what needs to happen. And here's the point, Steve. We've got massive bargaining power here. We've got Democratic senators who do not want to be here. They want to leave town, they want to get out of Dodge. As long as that's the case, and as long as we've got this unique circumstance where we've got a Republican president or Republican Senate and a Republican House, this ship doesn't pass our way all that often. And we need to take advantage of it when it does happen. And we need to make sure that we don't disempower the, the Republican president, Donald J. Trump, after the American people have resoundingly elected him by failing to confirm his nominees, because, of course, that defaults back to the deep state regulatory bureaucrats and they lean overwhelmingly left. And so we got to get it done. We can do it. We can keep them here. And the very worst case scenario, if, if for some reason the Senate ends up taking a recess, which it shouldn't do, it should stay here and clear through all of them. But at a bare minimum, we should make sure that any recess we take is a real recess. None of these pro forma sessions that are designed simply to block the president of the United States from making recess appointments, as he's authorized to do under the Constitution.
Steve Bannon
Now, I understand he put, they've taken him in blocks that Estude worked out some with Schumer, that you guys are at least going to stay around tonight and maybe over the weekend and move a block or try to move a block of these. And has there been any overall Plan to really address your target of 150, the backlog, or are we just doing this incrementally right now?
Senator Mike Lee
Well, it's incrementally. It's not uncommon. Whether we're dealing with setting up votes on amendments for legislation or votes on presidential nominees, it's not uncommon for us to stack groups of votes together. So there have been some blocks that get cleared by both parties and they get moved onto the Senate floor. But the fact that we've got a block that we're about to launch into right now doesn't mean that that's the end of it. In fact, that's just the beginning of it.
Steve Bannon
There was a tweet out that Thune is sitting down with Schumer and there's some sort of negotiation going on. Do you have any idea what that's about yet?
Senator Mike Lee
They're. They're talking through what might be acceptable to each party. You know, you've got three principal players here. You've got the Senate Republicans, you've got the Senate Democrats, and you have President Trump and the White House. So they're just trying to figure out what might be acceptable to whom. Now, the Democrats understand that their bargaining power is not immense, and for that reason, they're negotiating and they're proving some of these nominations to be confirmed. But my goal is to make sure that we stay here as long as it takes to get through all of them. There's no reason why we should make it this easy for them. We haven't even begun the stage at which we could start moving a lot faster, in part because we're still dealing with some appropriations bills on the Milcon VA Approps vehicle that we're addressing right now. But as soon as that's behind us, we should be in a better position to stack more and more presidential nomination votes and have them addressed one right after the other. In the Senate, meanwhile, John Thune is the Senate Majority leader, is continuing to file cloture on more and more nominations. I would love to see him file cloture on every one of 150 or so now pending on the executive calendar so that we can show that we're serious and we can open the door toward getting all of these people confirmed.
Steve Bannon
Just talk about the landscape and the reason. You either have to me, it's pretty obvious you have to do either Mike Lee's plan and clean the schedule, clean it up now, this backlog up now before you go on recess, or do the real recess, not pro forma, where you actually do wrist Appointments, correct me if I'm wrong, when you guys get back after Labor Day, it looks to me that September 30th, you have massive budget, you have appropriations, you've got whether it's going to be a cr, whether it's going to be a minibus. There's talks about omnibus. Those days in September are going to be totally overwhelmed with trying to get the government funded for fiscal year 2026, is it not?
Senator Mike Lee
Yeah, that's exactly right. We'll be dealing with trying to keep the government funded for 2026. I think there are only something like between 10 and 12 legislative days scheduled for us to be in session in September. And with that, we've got to get the government funded. And then after that's done, presumably we'll be moving on to the Defense Authorization act, the ndaa. And so look, we do have a legislative agenda. And if we don't get the executive calendar, meaning presidential nominations, out of the way now, then we're going to end up with another backlog. And that backlog is in turn going to impair our ability to fulfill the legislative part of the agenda. That's why this has to be done now. This doesn't get easier, Steve, it just gets harder. And so that's why I ask, all within the sound of my voice.
Donald Trump
If.
Senator Mike Lee
You agree that we ought to get these cleared, that President Trump ought to have the benefit of his own nominees and being in office. And if you don't want the Senate just punting on this issue, reach out to your senators, especially if they're Republicans, and say, clear the backlog. Clear it, clear it before you take any recess in August. President Trump and those who elected him deserve nothing less.
Steve Bannon
By the way, we've been our, our team, the war and pot's been working the phones all day. Just Tommy Tuberville, Senator Tuberville was on this morning, said he had a meeting with yesterday, says he was shocked by some of the senators kind of lack of understanding of, of particularly the going into taking it off of pro forma, going to a real recess. They brought the things yesterday you said he said Senator Lee had to correct him, that people wouldn't get paid. It couldn't be done. There was only a rudimentary understanding. They said you did a great job of answering the questions. I think was kind of shocking that we could be, you know, 24 hours before August 1st, the day before late July, and senators not know the basic fundamentals of what the tools they have available. Have you now, do you personally feel comfortable that You've gotten the word out to everybody about the constitutionality. The federal regulations and people are, are up to speed on, on what's available for them to actually act upon.
Senator Mike Lee
For the most part, yes, we've made a significant amount of progress in the last few days on that front, at least with Republican senators. Although I'm shocked, Steve, still, at the number of questions that continue to come up constantly where, just as I think it's been clarified, somebody will come up and say, wait a minute, I thought we couldn't pay them if President Trump recess appointed them. And then I walked them through the statute, 5 USC 5503A, and I explained the reasons why we can pay them, why there's historical precedent for us paying them. There's no statutory prohibition against us paying them. And then I'll get another question about wait a minute, why couldn't the president make recess appointments if we're holding pro formas And I have to walk through that is sort of what happens. The legislative muscle, as I like to put it. The legislative muscle starts to atrophy with nonuse, just as actual muscle does if you don't use it. And so because we have been asleep at the wheel as a Senate for so long and we don't talk about these things as we should, we've just been reflexively holding pro forma sessions for more than a decade. And as a result of that, people have forgotten how those muscles work. It's time to put them back into action. Because, Steve, the stakes are simply too high right now. We have seen what happens when this deep state bastards take control of our government, and it's not pretty. They will do it again. They're trying to do it again right now and we cannot let that happen.
Steve Bannon
Certainly make us smart. What should we look for overnight to see if there's any breakthrough on your plan or the other, your alternative plan of going on recess? We're going to be live tomorrow morning. We'd love to have you on if you're still in town. Right. So can you guess? Make us smart. What you anticipate we should look for in the next 24 hours.
Senator Mike Lee
Okay, look number one, for additional rounds, additional tranches of votes that will be agreed to for consideration on the executive calendar, tranches or clumpings of presidential nominees that will be moving forward to vote for. Look also on the other end of the spectrum for any discussions, the possibility of an adjournment resolution that does not contain any provision for pro forma sessions. Either one of those things will trigger that we're resolving this in one direction or the other. Again, I would still prefer that we do this the right way, that we actually confirm them rather than just leaving and allowing the president to recess appoint them. If we have to recess for some reason, then that's better than nothing to have it that way. But it is much better for us to confirm them because we still have to address it. The piper still has to be paid if they're recess appointed. Those recess appointments last only until the end of 2026, so we'll still have to get to them at some point anyway. We might as well get them done now. But like I say, it's nice to have the recess appointment option available to us should that become necessary.
Steve Bannon
Senator Lee, your social media, both your official and your personal, sir.
Senator Mike Lee
Yep. NMikeLee is the official side. And then I've got a separate account that's Mike Lee based. Mike Lee, I talk about this ad nauseam at great length. I've been talking about recess appointments. I've been talking about the need to clear the backlog on the executive calendar so that we don't leave President Trump in a lurch and subject yet again to the ravages of the deep state.
Steve Bannon
We've made tremendous progress on this, sir, because of your leadership. I'm telling you, everybody looks to you on this topic. So thank you very much and thank you. I know the president and everybody over there appreciates all the hard work you do in the Senate. So thank you.
Senator Mike Lee
Thank you.
Steve Bannon
Senator Mike Lee of Utah War Room Posse. We still got some work to do here. Got some work to do in Texas. Brian Harrison will be here later to join us. Let's go ahead and play. Would you have EJ up? Can we play? Okay. Okay. Let's go ahead and. Can we go to the. Can we go to the gaggle? Let's go, let's. President Trump is having a gaggle. Just had a gaggle with the press, the media. Let's go ahead and do it.
Donald Trump
See what happens. We're going to have some meetings and we'll see what happens. Mr. President, you said the jobs report today were rigged. Oh, yeah, I think so. And if you look at before the election, the same kind of thing happened. And I think you'll see some very interesting information come out. But we got rid of. You have to have honest reports. And when you look at those numbers or when you look at just before the election and then after the election, they corrected it by eight or 900,000 jobs. Yeah, I would say so.
Press Secretary
Korea and the United States.
Donald Trump
We have a great relationship.
Steve Bannon
Tell me talk and when do you have it?
Donald Trump
Yeah, we have a great relationship with South Korea.
Press Secretary
Are you ready?
Donald Trump
Are you open to negotiate with Brazil? We have.
Steve Bannon
Brazilian President Lula said he'd like to call you. He request a conversation.
Natalie Winters
Would you talk to him now?
Donald Trump
He can talk to me anytime he wants.
Press Secretary
So are you open the character?
Donald Trump
Yeah, he can talk to me anytime I want.
Steve Bannon
What is on the table for Brazilians?
Donald Trump
Well, we'll see what happens. But I love the people of Brazil. Why you? I love the people of Brazil. 2 Marine too close to right now because the people running Brazil did the wrong thing. Seven years. Seven years from the time that you learned that people were being stolen from Mar a Lago to the time that you picked up that you took on.
Press Secretary
The Jeffrey EP team.
Donald Trump
I don't understand your question. Where are being deployed the nuclear submarines? Oh, yeah. Well, we had to do that. We just have to be careful. And a threat was made and we didn't think it was appropriate. So I have to be very careful. So I do that on the basis of safety for our people. A threat was made by a former president of Russia and we're going to protect our people.
Steve Bannon
President Trump, will Hillary Clinton finally be investigated for election fraud?
Donald Trump
I hope so. I hope so. I don't know whether or not that'll happen, but I hope so. Mr. President, why did you fire the head of the Bureau of Labor Statistics? Because I think her numbers were wrong. Just like I thought her numbers were wrong before the election. Days before the election, she came out with these beautiful numbers for Kamala, I guess, Biden Kamala. And she came out with these beautiful numbers trying to get somebody else elected. Then right after the election, I think on the 15th, November 15th, she had an 8 or $900,000 massive reduction. Said she made a mistake. No, that woman, that woman's number. Do you have any evidence that she.
Press Secretary
Takes Said Governor Coogler is going to resign.
Donald Trump
Say it.
Press Secretary
Said Governor Coogler is set to resign.
Donald Trump
Yeah, the. One of the governors, as you know of the Federal Reserve has just announced he's resigning. I understand it was over the fact that she disagreed with somebody from her party she disagreed with Too late. You know, Too late is she disagreed with too late on the interest rate. So we'll see what happens. But we just found out that I have a open spot on the Federal Reserve Board. I'm very happy about that, John.
Press Secretary
And what did McBettum say to that made you really mad?
Donald Trump
Well, you just have to read what he said he was talking about nuclear. When you talk about nuclear, we have to be prepared and we're totally prepared. Mr. President, on the monthly jobs report going forward, why should anyone trust the numbers? Well, that's the thing. You're right. No, you're right. Why should anybody trust numbers? You go back to election, election day, look what happened two or three days before with massive wonderful job numbers, trying to get him elected, or her elected, trying to get whoever the hell was running. Because you go back and they came out with numbers that were very favorable to Kamala, okay? To trying to get him elected, trying to get her elected. And then on the 15th of November or thereabouts, they had an 8 or 900,000 overstatement reduction right after the election. It didn't work because you know who won, John? I won. Your supporters have had issues with these numbers now that you with the numbers for a long time. But today's we're doing so well. I believe the numbers were phony, just like they were before the election. And there were other times. So you know what I did? I fired her. And you know what? I did the right thing. If any government official going forward is presenting data or information you don't like, should they fear for their. I've always had a problem with these numbers. You know, I was thinking about it this morning before the numbers that came out. I said, who is the person that does these numbers? And then they gave me stats about before the election. I had a similar problem. I mean, she gave out numbers that were so good for the Democrats, it was like unbelievable. And then right after the election, she corrected those numbers with I think almost 900. I think nobody had ever seen anything like it. Well, today she did the same thing with the 253,000, whatever the number was. No, no. We need people that we can trust. I mean, your question, your question is a very good one. We need people we can trust. I've got about three very good. I have a lot of good candidates. I will say everybody wants it. I've had more phone calls, but I have three people that. Do you have a background in labor? You know, I could do a long term thing or I could do a temporary. It's a 14 year term. Right. But you put someone in who actually has labor statistics experience. I put somebody in. I put somebody in who's going to be honest. That's all we want. I have a choice. I can have four months. I could do a short term or I could do a 14 year deal. So we'll see. We have a lot of people that. We've got a lot of good people around Switzerland.
Press Secretary
That was a stock.
Steve Bannon
The tariff rate with Switzerland, it was.
Press Secretary
Pretty higher than other Europeans.
Donald Trump
Well, the problem with Switzerland, we have a. We have a 40. We have a $40 billion deficit with Switzerland. And I spoke yesterday to Switzerland, but we have a $40 billion deficit with Switzerland. That's a big deficit. Question on the construction. Can I ask you a question on the construction? You say you're raising $200 million. You're donating a bunch others are as well. Are you blocking foreigners from donating money to build that edition? Honestly, I never even thought of it, but it doesn't matter. I'm putting up my money, but it doesn't even matter. They've wanted a ballroom at the White House and it's been very popular. You know, when we put it out yesterday, pointing out that a crown prince or some European. I'm not looking. I'm not looking for that. You know, you have very strong restrictions as to who can donate. And we go by the restrictions a lot of. I mean, it's not that much money. It's funny. Yeah, I'll do that. I didn't. I didn't even start yet, by the way. But when I do, I'll release it. How many donors do you think it's going to take to get to 200 million? Maybe one. Me. But you would cut that check yourself? I would, yeah.
Press Secretary
From his journey to Gaza, did you talk to Steve Witkoff?
Donald Trump
I did. I spoke to Steve Witkoff. He had a great meeting with a lot of people and the primary meeting was on food. And he also had some other conversations that I'll tell you about later. But he had a meeting on getting the people fed, and that's what we want. And I'll see you later on. Well, I understand India no longer is going to be buying oil from Russia. That's what I heard. I don't know if that's right or not, but that's a good step. We'll see what happens. Okay. On tariffs, obviously, the treasury is taking in so much money right now. Some Republicans have been pushing for tariff checks to go out. The basic idea is move the money back. A lot of people that would like to see us do sort of a dividend to the people of our country. It's something I consider. I'd also want. I want to pay off debt, but there's a possibility. I do. A dividend.
Steve Bannon
Obviously. Is that unbelievable right there is the press gaggle, the president going out To Marine One, out to Marine One, to Air Force One at Andrews Air Force Base and then up to Bedminster. Bedminster is his New Jersey summer home. Absolutely magnificent. A incredible golf course and and country club there that he's put a lot of money into to refurbish and just made top of the line. And he really enjoys himself there. Although this weekend I hope it clears up. It's not the rainy, muggy summer we've had so far. Let's. Okay, so a lot of news there. I mean this is a great thing about these press gaggles, these availabilities. I mean, who does that? Did Obama ever do that? No. Did George Bush ever do that? No. Did Biden ever do that? Forget about it. That's couldn't even, that's so ridiculous. Can't even contemplate an answer. Look at President Trump on every topic just off the top of his head, understands and knows when to pull it back and say, hey, I'll give you some information on that later. The situation in Gaza, okay, about half the questions about the termination of the Bureau of Labor Statistics head about screwed up numbers. Where did we hear that before? I don't know. In the war room every month for the last four years from a guy named E.J. antoni. Let's go and play a cold open for E.J. who's going to join us briefly. Let's go ahead and let her rip. Complained about and that is the Bureau of Labor Statistics and whether we get accurate numbers. Now everybody's talking about the number here. It's a quarter of a million jobs. They're like on the downside, it turns out we didn't get. And now it's a restatement. What in the hell's going on there? And have we put in our own person into bls is, is, is a MAGA Republican that President Trump knows and trusts. Are they running the Bureau of Labor Statistics yet, sir?
E.J. Antoni
No, unfortunately, Steve, we still haven't gotten there. And I think that's part of the reason why we continue to have all of these different data problems. You know, the guy we had previously, Bill beach, is actually a great guy, brilliant statistician and he recognized some of the problems that we had in the data. He was taking steps to fix that. But unfortunately he was removed by the Biden administration. He's not there anymore and he's been replaced by someone who frankly I think is incompetent. And that shows with the fact that the problems in the statistics that first became evident all the way back in the spring of 2022, those problems are still there. And if we can go to the first chart here, I think helps, really helps illustrate that where essentially what you can is the fact that the disparity between the number of people who are saying they have a job who are employed, that's in brown there, versus the line in gray is the number of non farm payrolls we have. As you can see, before the pandemic, they tracked very, very well together. But since then, they've really started to spread apart and that problem has never actually been fixed. In other words, we're not correctly estimating either the number of people with jobs or the number of actual jobs in the country or both.
Henrietta
Henrietta, starting with you, the Commissioner of Labor statistics fired by the president, in Trump's words, for faking the jobs numbers and quote, manipulating them for political purposes. Let's just fact check that this is offensive in the extreme when we traffic in economic circles. I mean, I speak with chief economist folks at bls, Federal Reserve folks, Treasury folks, all day, every day, and I have for 15 years now. What is happening here is about the worst case scenario that you could envision. Our data collection, our statistics, our professors, the economists at all these agencies are the envy of the world in terms of their data collection. And it really recalls to me Trump's first term when he started telegraphing that he felt like democracy was a disadvantage versus President Xi's situation and a communist governing system wherein he can famously manipulate the data coming out of China. And he, Trump, viewed that as a disadvantage that the United States had to adhere to because we have open, free data collection and reporting that is outside of his purview. And that's what he's undermining today. And it is about the worst thing you can do in economic circles right now.
Unknown Analyst
I thought I was going to come on here and talk about tariffs because that was the news that we were reacting, completely honest. Five minutes ago, I learned about what happened here. So I'm reacting in real time. And I think my initial reaction is this is what cartoon dictators do. You know, if you don't like the data, you say that the data is lying, you blame the numbers. And I'm just, I'm amazed at how shameless all of this is. And it is true. It rings true of what happens in China where you have an authoritarian regime, where if economists speak out and say that there's anything wrong going on with the economy, suddenly the economist disappears and we don't know what happened to them. And so I don't want to start getting alarmist. But it is exactly what you would imagine a, a dictator in, in a Marvel movie would start to do. That is my live honest reaction. I'm going to keep paying attention to what's happening to the markets. We've seen a lot of taco type reactions from the markets thus far. The market saying, okay, we don't really believe you, it's fine. He's, he's not really going to do it. I mean, first he said July 9th was the deadline, then August 1st. Now he's pushing it to August 7th. But with this, I don't know, maybe this cuts it. I'm not sure.
Steve Bannon
Okay. These people haven't looked at this over the years. Remember, every month we have, we have E.J. come on. And he goes back to how they've downgraded numbers for they want under Biden, they want to put up a big employment number and then later kind of tuck it in. As Eric Bolling said when we did the handoff. E.J. antoni joins us right now. E.J. walk us through what today means. You've criticized this now for years. You really did a very detailed job today. The president shortly thereafter terminated the head. Put it in perspective. Where are we, sir?
Unknown Analyst
Well, Steve, I think we're certainly in a better place. And what today demonstrates is just how powerful this show and its audience is, quite frankly. And also the fact that, that the president is among the audience, clearly, because it was this show that brought the issue to his attention. So what this really means is the fact that we are holding federal bureaucrats accountable. I mean, this woman oversaw a survey with a response rate of 42%. The majority of people don't even respond to the survey. That's why we have had such irrational or I should say such irregular responses. That is why we have had such inconsistent results here and why we have needed such massive revisions. On top of that, it's also clear that the models and the methodologies need to be revised, that is the ones that compute these actual jobs reports. That has not been done despite the fact that for a little over three years now there has been evidence of significant problems in the statistics. So I would say if there's any big takeaway from this, it's the fact that this president is holding federal bureaucrats accountable. It's not a matter of the jobs report today wasn't as good as the president wanted it to be. The people who are alleging that are basically making or they're basically playing politics with the situation. Okay. The reality is the president is not happy with the inconsistencies in the numbers. He's not happy with the unreliability of the data. And he's going to put somebody into that position now, I hope, who is going to make sure that that is the priority. It's not a matter of making the numbers look good, it's a matter of them being accurate.
Steve Bannon
E.J. antonio, pictures, I know you're out. Thank you for stepping out of your meeting to call us. Big day and monumental for you social media so people can now follow you more closely.
Unknown Analyst
Sir, the it's going to be on X and the handle there is at real. E.J. antony and Steve, thank you so much seriously for having me today so we could highlight this issue for the president. It's because of you, your show, this platform, that something happens.
Steve Bannon
E.J. and Tony, thank you very much. Very kind words. Audience is very focused on that. We've talked about this now for years. Air Force One right there pulling away the, they're pulling away the, the ramp. President Trump's going to take off. Are we going to blow the brake or just it's Denver's calling this. I would love to stay with it, but just stay with it. We can to see it taxi out. Maybe we will anyway. Okay, let's go to break and we'll come back and see the president lift off. Came too late for that. I have two recommendations. A governorship on the board of the Federal Reserve came available today with a resignation. What about Judy Shelton for that? I have the audience in on that. Judy Shelton for the governorship of the Fed and E.J. antony to head up the Bureau of Labor Statistics. A straight shooting guy. Sound good, Warren Posse, you've been on it. Mike Lee knows you're on it. Got his back. Brian Harrison down in Texas. We're going to get a vote tonight or tomorrow. That committee fixed bayonets. Let's get up on the ramparts. We're going to take a short commercial break. President Trump's at Andrews Air Force Base, aboard Air Force One. He is heading to Bedminster, his summer home, where he will spend the weekend working. Short commercial break. Back in a moment. According to the Department of Energy, blackouts could increase by 10,000% over the next few years. It's because of massive energy demand from artificial intelligence data centers. We talk about that all the time here in the war room and we have a fragile power grid. It just cannot keep up with that demand. I don't know about you, but I don't like the idea of being without power, even For a day. That's why I got the grid Dr. 3300 from my patriot supply. It's a powerful solar generator that runs refrigerators, AC units, medical devices, power tools, anything you need to ride out a blackout. And right now, for their Christmas in July event, they're including over $1,000 in free survival gear with your generator, including emergency food supply, water, filtration, survival tools and more. You heard that, right. Over a thousand bucks in free gear for a limited time. Head to my Patriotsupply.com Bannon that's my Patriotsupply.com Bannon and grab the Christmas in July bundle before it's gone. Blackouts are coming. Go to mypatronsupply.com Bannon and get prepared today. Hey, I realize you got many choices when it comes to who you choose for your cell phone service and there are new ones popping up all the time. But here's the truth. There's only one that boldly stands in the gap for every American that believes that freedom is worth fighting for. And that's the team at Patriot Mobile. For more than 12 years, Patriot Mobile has been on the front lines of fighting for our God given rights and freedoms while also providing exceptional nationwide cell phone service with access to all three of the main networks. Don't just take my word for it, ask the hundreds of thousands of Americans who've made the switch are now supporting causes they believe in simply by joining Patriot Mobile. Switching is easier than ever. Activate in minutes from the comfort of your own home. Keep your number, keep your phone or upgrade. Patriot Mobile's all US based support team is standing by to take care of you. Call 978 Patriot today or go to patriotmobile.com Bannon that's patriotmobile.com Bannon use the promo code Bannon for a free month of service. That's patriotmobile.com bannon or call 972 Patriot and make the switch.
Unknown Guest
Today I had a chat with Representative Mass out of Florida and you know, it was recommended to me to develop a relationship with Congressman Mass because he has direct ear of the President and often travels down to Florida because the President goes down there to Mar a Lago, right on Air Force One with the President. So he has the ear of the President. I went up to him and I said, listen, you know, I hear this about you, I need some help. This is the situation, right? And you know, coincidentally, the following day, following day I'm getting messages from the tour operators here on the ground that we're seeing movement in terms of the Processing and on. You know, the following morning, I had a transportation and infrastructure meeting. So I went up and I was like, hey, I don't know if it's a coincidence, but, you know, here we are. I just wanted to say thank you. Right. And what he tells me is that, listen, we're not anti China. We want their money. You know, there's a clear differentiation between national security concerns and wanting money. Right. And what this is about at the end of the day is money.
Steve Bannon
Whoa, whoa, hang on. My head's blown up. By the way, that's Air Force Two. I think I got my glasses on now. I think it's Air Force Two or even lower than that president, because it's a short hop. You don't need Air Force One. It's a short hop. You also can take a much smaller contingent of both the press pool and even White House staff. So we'll watch that. That's at Andrews Air Force Base is what we recall, not Joint Base. Andrew, come on, man. Andrews. It's Andrews Air Force Base. So the president getting ready to leave. We're going to watch in its entirety. Why don't we bring. So I'm going to do some directing here, right? Let's get Cleo up and let's get her in the box. Not me, just Cleo. People know my lovely voice. Cleo, you get to share the screen with the president. United States and Air Force Two getting ready to leave Andrews to go to Bedminster for his weekend. Explain to the audience who was that person because there was more bad information given right there. No, Brian Mass, he's a congressman. He's a war veteran. I think he's a double amputee. He's a great guy. I have some big problems with him. He wore his IDF uniform or some IDF uniform to Congress one time, which I thought was very inappropriate. But he's a solid guy. But he's a backbencher, right? So she's sitting there saying, oh, Brian Mass told me, and this is what we want and everything like that. We don't want. And we're not going to tolerate these Chinese nationals coming through and blowing through there. And who made the comment, we want their money. You know, what do you mean we want their money? And that's what this. This is a national. This is a national security issue with. Between the United States and the ccp. And it's very important. The folks out there got to understand a lot of people are. Got their eyeballs on this now. And in fact, to the degree that it's Important enough for us with everything we got going in the war room. We're going to actually stream live the state funeral of the governor starting at 7pm Eastern Time, in which I will host Cleo. What's going on? Ma'?
Unknown Analyst
Am.
Press Secretary
Thank you. So, yes, I'm here in the Commonwealth of Northern Marianas and the governor's funeral is going to to start in a little over an hour. I wanted you to see what it's like because it's beautiful here and he loved it. He loved the people, he loved the place. Come visit. This is one of the most beautiful parts of the United States. The person that you just saw speaking is the representative to Congress of the Commonwealth of North Marian Islands. So she represents here in Congress. And the processing she was talking about was the speed, speeding up of the entry of Chinese coming in without a visa. They've got this other program called EVS Tap, which the Chinese used to come in with no visa and now they realize that wouldn't fly. So they've got this EVS TAP thing which is they call enhanced vetting. It's enhanced more than zero, but they want it because it's easier for them to get in. And just so that you know, because the argument is always, oh, it takes too long with the B1, B2. I checked on the State Department website. Currently if you're in Delhi and you want to apply for a B1 B2 visa, the wait time is about five and a half months. They do it in month increments and if you're in Beijing, the wait is zero months. So there's no logical reason why they can't just go and apply for a visa like everybody else, every other Chinese coming to every other part of the United States. But what she was talking about there, somebody professor from the US Naval War College, Colonel John Atkinson, saw that and was like, she does not understand how national security works. If she thinks this is just about the money, she doesn't understand how the Chinese operate. She doesn't understand what goes into political warfare. This is a complete misunderstanding and I would hope a mischaracterization of what Congressman Mass said and believes. And she is hurting her colleagues. This is a piece of film that if somebody was running against mask, they now have a legitimate question about do you support Chinese coming into the US Without a visa? Would you like me to pause while the President takes off?
Steve Bannon
No, no, no, it's good. There's president right there.
Unknown Analyst
I feel a little.
Steve Bannon
I feel like I should. Right there.
Press Secretary
I feel like I should be more.
Steve Bannon
Sure no, no, no. The President's very interested in your topic. So he's leaving right there. Wheels up. Very fantastic. I think hopefully we're going to grab some footage. It's not long. I think it's a quite short flights within the confines of the show. We'll be able to show you the President Trump arriving, maybe even to another availability or a gaggle. The one at the. On the lawn of the White House was just spectacular. I'll get into some of that in a moment. No, Claire, because I want to make sure you make the. I want to make sure you make the. You're on time for the funeral. No, this is, I'm sure, Mass. Look, Mass is a national security guy now. He's very focused on Israel, but I think he's been very strong against the anti ccp, you know, one of the contingent. I'm sure he was misinterpreted, but, but here's. I just want the audience to understand something. You, you've taken a flight to Tokyo and then down to the Northern Marianas Islands. You're how many. You're how many hours by jet away from the United States and you're in the United States. I want everybody to know this. This is not us going to look in, you know, the Eurasian land mass or the Middle east and looking for trouble. This is the territory of the United States of America. And there's been more blood, American blood shed per square inch of this territory than any place else in the world, except for maybe the battlefields of Antietam and Gettysburg and Cold harbor, maybe I'll throw that in there. This is sacred. These are sacred. If you believe in the greatest generation, if you believe the sacredness of their cause, what they gave their lives for, the Northern Marianas Islands and those islands in the Pacific which those people opted to stay, it's part of the United States. When they saw the brutality of what Japan tried to do and the co, you know, the co prosperity sphere, and they see the CCP's trying to do the same thing. This is why this is so important. And this is why this governor was kind of revered. He knew that. He knew the dangers of doing this. And right now to be looking for. They could come in. Now, could somebody get on a plane in Saipan or somebody could get on a plane and just come to California, come to Hawaii, come into the United States once they get there, unvetted, ma'. Am.
Press Secretary
So they're technically not supposed to leave here without. The Chinese are not supposed to leave here, but they're illegally going by boat to Guam, at least in the hundreds. And we know that they're illegally buying us IDs here in Siena. The woman that ran the Bureau of Motor Vehicles was convicted specifically of selling US Driver's licenses to Chinese who were here unlawfully. It cost, in case you're curious, about seventeen hundred dollars for a US Driver's license and three hundred dollars for a renewal. And if you can see that building towering over the hotel behind me, that's the Chinese casino that I was standing in front of before. You can see that casino from pretty much everywhere you are in downtown Garopan, which is the capital. And if I may just very quickly in that longer interview, she also talks about Jim Jordan being very supportive of her EVS TAP program. And we know that Congressman Nels wrote a letter in support of it. So I don't know what she's saying to her congressional colleagues, but I don't think she's saying, please support letting Chinese into the US Without a visa. And what's interesting is I would like to know who recommended she target mast if that's indeed what happened. And also this is her number one legislative agenda. If she was to approve approach. If this did happen, she could have asked for anything. She could have asked for cabotage waivers, which would have helped the tourism sector in other ways. She could have helped ask for a million different things. But what she wanted was this. She wanted Chinese to be able to get in to the Commonwealth and Northern Marianas with less vetting.
Steve Bannon
Very, very suspicious. And she should understand we're not backbenchers and we're making this going to make this a big deal. Cleo, just give us the order of battle of what's going to happen today with the state funeral.
Press Secretary
So the state funeral, which will be live streamed, starts in about an hour and 15 minutes. This is a very religious part of the country, mostly Catholic. They were colonized for about 300 years by Spain. So then there will be a mass, then he will, his body will be taken to the cemetery. And this is the cemetery. This part of the US has had a hard time with cemetery space. They're burying them four people deep. And one of the things that Governor Palacios was veryhe, really, he really loved his people and he wanted them to have a dignified resting place. And he has been working for a long time to get a public cemetery open. And yesterday there was a consecration ceremony for the public cemetery. And Governor Palacios will be the first person laid to rest there. It's at the foot of Suicide Cliffs, which is where the Japanese threw themselves off of during the Battle of Saipan. But it's a very beautiful, peaceful spot. And the key speaker at the consecration of that was one of the highest level people to come out from Washington that I've seen so far, which was the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Insular affairs who used to be the legislative director for Representative King Himes, who you just saw. He also was involved in writing legislation to enable this casino to come in with lessening of the bonds. So you've got the highest ranking person. I mean, he's originally from here, but he's currently working as Deputy Assistant Secretary for Insular affairs at the Department of Interior. Who is. What was Washington's face at the consecration of this cemetery for where Governor Palacios will be the first person laid to rest. So when you're watching the service, keep an eye out for Angel Demipan, the Deputy Assistant Secretary. And remember that he was very involved in facilitating the entry of the Chinese casino. He was the chief of staff for the governor whose family made money selling, leasing, landed inflated profits for the casino. And he was legislative director for King Heinz, who may also be speaking at the funeral.
Steve Bannon
Yeah, yeah, Cleo. Of course, one of the suicide Suicide cliffs was not just the Japanese army, but many civilians. The propaganda had been. They'd been given so much propaganda about the American forces, they threw themselves off and killed themselves instead of surrendering. They would not surrender in Saipan, as in many of the places in the Pacific American territory. All Cleo social media. We'll see in about. We're going to start streaming here at 7 o'. Clock. I'll be hosting this. We're going to stream the entire service, including the burial. We think of that importance in this battle against the Chinese Communist Party. Your social media, ma'. Am.
Press Secretary
Thank you. I'm on X just my name. Cleo Pascal. C L E O P A S K A L and I have to. Many people have come up to me here and have been grateful for the war room coverage and they've felt quite abandoned. And if you want, you can go. The main media here is Mariana's Variety. They have a Facebook page and you can leave messages of condolences. But just knowing that you care has made an enormous difference to many people here.
Steve Bannon
Well, thank you and thank them. It's a way we honor the greatest generation and also the new young greatest generation that's coming up in back of us to fight all this. Thank you, ma'. Am. Appreciate you. We're going to take A short break here. Natalie's going to join me on the other side. First question I'm going to ask Natalie, given that she's, from the time she's 17 years old, become one of the top investigative reporters in the world about the Chinese Communist Party. There's no problem letting Chinese nationals in with no visas, totally unvetted into the United States of America. If one thing you take away from what we're doing here in this situation is that, you know, in the Battle of the Pacific and the war in the Pacific, these islands were so important. There's so much American bloodshed for these, so many boys from Kansas and Missouri and Virginia and New York City and the Bronx and Chicago that gave their lives for this, for a reason and a purpose. And we're going to make sure we honor a short commercial break. Nelly Winters on the other side Spread the word all through Hong Kong we will fight till they're all gone we rejoice when there's no more. Let's take down the ccp. If you're a homeowner, you need to listen to this. In today's AI and cyber world, scammers are stealing home titles with more ease than ever. And your equity is the target. Here's how it works. Criminals forge your signature on one document, use a fake notary stamp, pay small fee with your county and boom. Your home title has been transferred out of your name. Then they take out loans using your equity or even sell your property. You won't even know it's happened until you get a collection or foreclosure notice. So let me ask you, when was the last time you personally checked your home title? If you're like me, the answer is never. And that's exactly what scammers are counting on. That's why I trust home title lock. Use promo code steve@hometitlec.com to make sure your title is still in your name. You also get a free title history report plus a free 14 day trial of their million dollar triple lock protection. That's 247 monitoring of your title, urgent alerts to any changes and if fraud should happen, they'll spend up to $1 million to fix it. Go to hometitle lock.com now. Use promo code Steve. That's hometitle lock.com promo code Steve. Do it today. Here's your host, Stephen K. Banner. Okay, we want to thank Cleo. Right there is the president. That is Allentown, Pennsylvania. I sure not to get involved in New York airspace on a Friday afternoon. They're going To Allentown, the other direction. It's about an hour away from Bedminster by car. I would hope that they would have one of the. They would pre. Deploy for deploy. One of the. Look at that landing right there. Air Force Two, that they would have the. One of the helicopters started taking. We'll see all this. This is Allentown, Pennsylvania, about an hour away from Bedminster. We'll be able to hopefully cover this entire thing for the duration of the show. There you go. Natalie Winters joins us. Natalie, given your research over the last, I don't know, six or seven years, you don't see any problem at all with allowing Chinese nationals into Saipan, Guam, other places unvetted with no visas, ma', am, to kind of wander around and do what they want, anywhere they want, any time they want.
Natalie Winters
I would say while we're at it, let's let them make up, what, like 50% of the Harvard and Duke graduating class. But I think we're probably our already approaching those numbers. But you and I know it, right? It's infiltration, not invasion. And obviously we say that World War 3, the kinetic part hasn't necessarily started yet, at least in the context of China. But I think if you look not just the numbers of the people who are crossing into the United States, either through the open southern border or through these sort of proxy cutout territories, I mean, these are people who have military backgrounds. Remember, it was the Biden regime that overturned stopped the really vetting of these people, asking if they had any weapons training, if they had ties to the pla. And frankly, I mean, think about all the weird train derailments that we had under Joe Biden. If you look at all the, I think, critical infrastructure attacks, whether it's the hacking or the weird, you know, batteries and the solar panels that they've been hacking into, it's all part of a broader plan that I think we've really been been sounding the alarm over for years.
Steve Bannon
Natalie, how do they take our elites seriously? How do they take us seriously? I mean, China to get into Shanghai, even to get into Hong Kong, it's hermetically sealed. They know everybody. They got the face recognition. It's a total surveillance site. You know, there's no piano playing. These are hermetically sealed entities. How can they take it seriously when you have a situation in the Western Pacific with our territories where they can just go in and, you know, the graph you just heard Cleo talk about, you know, one of the officials there was selling California driver's license at 1700 bucks a pop. Because as soon as you got a driver's license, you know you can do everything, including voting. I mean, how are they supposed to take us seriously when we're so open and so soft and they're so hermetically sealed and rock hard? Ma'.
Unknown Analyst
Am.
Natalie Winters
Well, look, Steve, I think the answer to this question dovetails with what you're probably going to ask me next, which is what have we done on the treason front? What have we done on the Chinese Communist Party spy front? I mean, think about Eric Swalwell or Hunter Biden, right? They're obviously kind of the laughing stock examples of Chinese Communist Party infiltration, but there are dozens, if not hundreds of people like them in the highest levels of government. As Cleo was alluding to the people who have embedded and burrowed in, even in the Trump administration, that are proxies of the Chinese Communist Party. It's not just ideological compromise. It's monetary compromise. It's blackmail. Right. It's the whole gamut that I think we've really honed in on. And to your point, you know, I wanted to come on and give us some good news about what they're doing on, on the treason front, on the Obama front, on the Russiagate front. But unfortunately, I can't sit here and give you that. You have breaking news coming from Laura Loomer. I know we're pulling that, but if we want to, I guess we won't cut away from that. But if we can, if we do, scroll, scroll the tweet and let's see who the Trump administration is considering putting in as the Deputy director of the nsa. That's John Edwards, the former Chief Information Officer at the CIA under Obama. I mean, full stop, why are we even considering people who worked in the intel agencies, intel community under Obama under a president that weaponized against the American people? If you actually read his personal bio, he actually says that, you guessed it, Director Brennan personally asked him to come back and work at the CIA. Laura also reports her sources telling her that he and John Brennan are so close that they actually vacationed together. And this is the guy who now is going to be essentially, what, the number two over at nsa. But, Steve, the signal, not noise here, what really got this whole Russiagate thing started when Tulsi was declassifying these documents, it was that Obama refused to to release the Presidential daily brief on December 9th of 2016 because it showed that there was no evidence of Russia collusion. Now that they're trying to jam through this, obviously Brennan apparatchik, Brennan crony into the upper echelons, if not the most upper echelons of the nsa, which as you know, is responsible for the overwhelming majority of what's contained in the Presidential daily brief. I mean, this is not just a cover up. This is. I'm sorry, do you think Joe Biden would consider anyone from the Trump administration for any position, let alone the number two over at the nsa? Absolutely not. Last time I checked, they tried to what, debank, disbar like Jeff Clark and absolutely destroy anyone who is even tangentially associated with the MAGA movement, even if it was for just one day on January 6th. I don't understand why it takes Laura Loomer to have to vet these people. Right? This should be such, should be a no go from the start. But this is, this is something, I mean this is an issue that I think really, really matters.
Press Secretary
Right.
Natalie Winters
Personnel is policy. How in the heck are you going to hold John Brennan to account when his buddy is busy probably being promoted, if not outright elevated to the number two position at the NSA potentially as we speak? That's not accountability, that's not retribution. That's laying the groundwork for retribution against maga, which is not what I voted for.
Steve Bannon
Natalie, give your social media. Thank you for carving out some time to jump on here because I want to get this update. Thank you so much. What's your social media? Where can people track you down over the weekend?
Natalie Winters
You always say I take a long time to get ready. I think you take a longer time than I do. It's Natalie G. Winters on all social media platforms. Thanks, Steve. Have a good weekend.
Steve Bannon
I need more, I need more hair and makeup. Natalie Winters, thank you you so much, ma'. Am. Appreciate you. Great job as usual. Want to thank Clear. We're going to pick up Cleo Pascal in the 7 o' clock hour. I'm trying to track down Laurel over there. President's plane, Air Force Two right there. We're going to take a short commercial break. Oh, we have, we have. Oh, we're taking a gold clock. Okay, fine. Taking all the way to the top. Let's give. I tell you, let me, I want to hold Trevor Comstock over into the next hour. Mike Lindell, we got, we got a minute. Can you go ahead while we're looking at Allentown Airport, Pennsylvania. President, United States leaving for a working weekend. Trump works 24 7. Gonna play a little golf, I think this weekend at Bedminster. What do you got? You got a special deal for us, sir? We got, we're doing War Room Posse is Killing it today, sir, on so many different fronts. They need something big. What do you got for us? We got the biggest thing ever of the year.
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Podcast Summary: Bannon’s War Room
Episode 4677: Clearing The Corruption Out Of The MAGA Administration
Release Date: August 1, 2025
Timestamp: 00:00 – 05:55
Host Steve Bannon welcomes Senator Mike Lee of Utah to discuss the pressing issue of Senate recess appointments and the backlog on the executive calendar. Senator Lee emphasizes the strategic advantage the Republican majority holds in the Senate, especially with a Republican president and House. He states:
“We have massive bargaining power here. We’ve got Democratic senators who do not want to be here. … We need to take advantage of it when it does happen.”
[00:33]
Senator Lee outlines the necessity of clearing the executive calendar to ensure President Trump's nominees are confirmed, preventing the "deep state" from benefiting from unfilled positions. He urges constituents to pressure Republican senators to act swiftly:
“Reach out to your senators, especially if they’re Republicans, and say, clear the backlog. Clear it before you take any recess in August.”
[05:55]
Timestamp: 11:31 – 20:10
The episode features a press gaggle with President Donald Trump, where he addresses various topics including the integrity of the jobs report, international relations, and administrative decisions. Trump controversially alleges manipulation of job numbers:
“You have honest reports. … They corrected it by eight or 900,000 jobs.”
[12:05]
He also discusses relationships with South Korea and Brazil, hinting at ongoing and future negotiations:
“I love the people of Brazil. … He can talk to me anytime he wants.”
[12:16 – 12:25]
Trump addresses the termination of the Bureau of Labor Statistics head, attributing it to inaccurate job reporting:
“I fired her because I believe the numbers were phony, just like they were before the election.”
[13:35]
Timestamp: 22:00 – 28:37
E.J. Antoni, a critic of the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), joins the discussion to highlight longstanding issues within the BLS:
“We’re not correctly estimating either the number of people with jobs or the number of actual jobs in the country.”
[23:17]
Antoni criticizes the Biden administration for removing competent leadership from the BLS, leading to persistent data inaccuracies. He underscores the importance of accurate statistics for economic policymaking.
Senator Mike Lee commends the War Room's efforts in holding federal agencies accountable:
“This is what’s happening here is about the worst thing you can do in economic circles right now.”
[24:26]
Timestamp: 32:18 – 43:55
The podcast covers the state funeral of Governor Palacios in the Commonwealth of Northern Marianas, emphasizing its significance in the broader context of national security and Chinese Communist Party (CCP) infiltration concerns.
Press Secretary provides details about the ceremony, noting the presence of high-ranking officials and the cultural importance of the event:
“Governor Palacios will be the first person laid to rest [at the public cemetery]. … It is a beautiful, peaceful spot.”
[35:33]
Steve Bannon connects the funeral to ongoing battles against CCP influence, highlighting the strategic importance of U.S. territories like the Northern Marianas Islands.
Timestamp: 48:53 – 54:12
Natalie Winters, a top investigative reporter on the CCP, joins the podcast to discuss the severity of Chinese infiltration into the United States. She warns of espionage and the undermining of critical infrastructure:
“These are people who have military backgrounds. … Think about all the weird train derailments … it’s all part of a broader plan.”
[49:52]
Winters accuses the Biden administration of weakening vetting processes, allowing individuals with potential ties to the CCP to enter and influence U.S. institutions:
“Personnel is policy. How in the heck are you going to hold John Brennan to account …”
[53:51]
She criticizes the consideration of appointees from previous administrations that may compromise national security, urging for stricter accountability.
Timestamp: 55:36 – End
The episode concludes with Steve Bannon recapping the discussions and reinforcing the importance of combating corruption within the administration and safeguarding national security against CCP threats. Bannon emphasizes the role of the War Room in informing and mobilizing listeners to take action:
“We’re going to actually stream live the state funeral … We have to honor the greatest generation and also the new young greatest generation.”
[43:55]
Bannon wraps up by encouraging continued vigilance and support for initiatives aimed at purging corruption and protecting U.S. interests both domestically and internationally.
Senator Mike Lee: “We have massive bargaining power here. … We need to take advantage of it when it does happen.”
[00:33]
President Donald Trump: “I fired her because I believe the numbers were phony, just like they were before the election.”
[13:35]
E.J. Antoni: “We’re not correctly estimating either the number of people with jobs or the number of actual jobs in the country.”
[23:17]
Natalie Winters: “These are people who have military backgrounds. … Think about all the weird train derailments … it’s all part of a broader plan.”
[49:52]
This episode of Bannon’s War Room delves deep into the intersection of legislative strategy, administrative integrity, and national security, providing listeners with a comprehensive analysis of the current political landscape and actionable insights to support the MAGA movement.