Episode 4735: Shake Up At The Fed; China Threat From Within

Summary

---

Bannon’s War Room: Episode 4735

Date: August 26, 2025

Main Theme:
A deep dive into national security threats from China—especially through student visas and academic infiltration—continued U.S. support for Ukraine, and significant developments at the Federal Reserve. The War Room panel explores how these issues intertwine, revealing concerns over espionage, U.S. managed decline rhetoric, internal battles within intelligence and government institutions, and the politicization of economic policy.

---

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Chinese Student Visas & National Security

• Opening Discussion:
  The show begins with an exchange about the Trump administration's stance on Chinese student visas, with Donald Trump stating a preference to keep such students coming to the U.S. (00:26–02:40).

• Natalie Winters Critique:
  Winters sharply criticizes the policy, arguing these "aren't students, these are spies" and that the issue is more than just visa numbers: "The short term consequences are IP theft, espionage, cybersecurity incidents... at best training the next generation of CCP leaders, at worst the people we'll be meeting on the battlefield." (04:12–07:08)

• Sam Faddis’ Perspective:
  Former CIA officer Sam Faddis asserts every Chinese student can be compelled to spy for the CCP. He likens this to "an offer you can't refuse" and warns, "We are already watching them put stealth jet fighters in the air that are pretty damn close to being carbon copies of what we are flying." (07:08–13:40)

  "Every Chinese citizen that comes here will, if the CCP wants, be compelled to spy on us. Not because they want to... but because they have no choice."
  — Sam Faddis (08:09)

• American Academic Compromise:
  Winters and Faddis discuss how U.S. universities may be more anti-American than Chinese ones, citing programs (like Harvard’s Ash Center) that directly trained Chinese officials—even those tied to Xinjiang repression. (09:36–11:11)

  "We're basically doing their research and their development for them already."
  — Sam Faddis (13:23)

• Macro Narrative:
  Both see Chinese infiltration in academia as a well-organized, billion-dollar operation for intelligence and influence, not just individual abuse.

---

2. Internal Battles in U.S. Intelligence & Ukraine

• Gabbard’s Intel Sharing Restriction:
  Sam Faddis explains that Director Gabbard issued an unusually high-level order designating all Russia-Ukraine negotiation intel as "NOFORN" (not to be shared with foreign nations). Faddis sees this as an indictment of trust within U.S. intelligence, “so concerned... she cannot trust her own agencies not to basically stab the president in the back.” (17:16–19:38)

  "She's so concerned that somebody's going to pass The Brits or somebody else intel they shouldn't see that she felt it necessary to issue that order."
  — Sam Faddis (18:39)

• War for Influence:
  Winters and Faddis agree powerful factions want to "turn Ukraine into the next forever war," and media will spin any move away from intel sharing as “pro-Russia.” (20:18–21:20)
  They further expose deep-state tactics by highlighting locked-in Pentagon contracts for Ukraine lasting through 2032-33.

---

3. Fed Shake-Up, Lisa Cook Controversy, and China’s Influence

• Trump on the Fed:
  President Trump calls Jerome Powell “Too Late” and blames high interest rates for hurting “phenomenal” housing markets. Allusions are made to upcoming leadership changes at the Fed, with Rich Stern and Natalie Winters speculating on replacements. (25:23–27:22)

  "Because of him and his high interest rates, the housing is less than it could be... His nickname is Too Late."
  — Donald Trump (26:10)

• Lisa Cook’s Alleged Mortgage Fraud:
  Rich Stern reports on "serious crime" allegations against Fed Governor Lisa Cook—accusing her of claiming two different homes as primary residences for loan advantages, politicizing the firing as warranted for cause. (30:23–31:48)

  "The deep state always makes a lot of noise on the way out the door."
  — Rich Stern (30:23)

• China & the Fed:
  Winters draws attention to Fed research co-authored with CCP academics and a Senate report on PRC infiltration of the Fed—including attempts to extract documents from U.S. Fed officials in China. (34:11–36:30)

---

4. U.S. Territories & Loopholes in Chinese Entry

• Northern Mariana Islands as a Security Loophole:
  Cleo Pascal details how Chinese nationals can still enter the U.S. visa-free via the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands ("the only part of the United States where Chinese can come in without a visa"), easily reaching Guam and even military bases. Congressional efforts—ostensibly bipartisan—to tighten this have failed. (36:31-39:35)

• Political Influence and Corruption:
  Pascal and Winters discuss how officials with CCP ties lobby Congress (i.e., Jim Jordan, Brian Mast) under economic pretexts. FEC findings of campaign donations from Chinese companies to U.S. island politicians are highlighted—raising the specter of local officials appointed to key federal defense posts. (49:57–52:38)

  "What this is about at the end of the day is money."
  — Congressman Brian Mast recounted (46:23)

• Congressional Complicity:
  Winters lambasts representatives who "talk tough on China" but support policies facilitating Chinese access for economic gain, calling out "the mask dropping" when Rep. Mast says, "We're not anti-China, we want their money." (46:23–48:00)

---

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On CCP infiltration of academia:
  "We're essentially creating our own demise... managed decline."
  — Natalie Winters (06:00)

• On the reality of intelligence sharing:
  "In the normal course of business, that would always be true. Nobody in his right mind would pass this information to foreign countries."
  — Sam Faddis (17:54)

• On Fed governor Lisa Cook:
  "It really does look like Lisa Cook probably did commit mortgage fraud, which really is a serious crime."
  — Rich Stern (30:38)

• On Congress and China:
  "All these people talk very tough on China... in reality, they talk tough on China to inflate the defense spending and we never see anything in return while pushing bizarre programs like this."
  — Natalie Winters (43:38)

---

Timestamps for Major Segments

• 00:26–02:40 — Trump on Chinese students, espousing openness but "careful" vetting
• 04:12–07:08 — Natalie Winters’ critique: “These are not students, these are spies”
• 07:08–13:40 — Sam Faddis explains the espionage threat; technology theft
• 17:16–19:38 — Sam Faddis on Gabbard's order: intelligence community infighting
• 20:18–21:20 — Deep state motives to sustain Ukraine “forever war”
• 25:23–27:22 — Trump discusses Jerome Powell, possible Fed shake-up
• 30:23–31:48 — Rich Stern on Lisa Cook’s alleged mortgage fraud, politicized firings
• 34:11–36:30 — Winters details PRC infiltration of the Fed
• 36:31–39:35 — Cleo Pascal on Northern Mariana Islands visa loophole
• 41:25–46:23 — Rep. Jordan and Mast: caught supporting loopholes for economic reasons
• 49:57–52:38 — Pascal details corruption and strategic negligence in U.S. territories

---

Tone and Takeaways

• Tone:
  Combative, alarmist, patriotic, conspiratorial; heavy with references to national decline, corruption, “managed decline,” “deep state,” and the existential threat of China.

• For Listeners:
  This episode pulls back the curtain on the nexus between Chinese state activity and systemic vulnerabilities within U.S. education, territorial law, intelligence sharing, and even economic policy. While presenting a strongly partisan and sometimes conspiratorial viewpoint, it provides an unfiltered look at the War Room’s perspective on the internal and external threats facing America in 2025.

---

For more details or to follow the guests:

• Sam Faddis: Substack
• Rich Stern: X/Twitter @RichAStern, Heritage Foundation
• Cleo Pascal: X @CleoPaskal, Getter @RealCleo

---

Transcript

[Interviewer]

Issue, Mr. Secretary, for, I think the base of the Republican Party, certainly for the Ingram angle for many, many years conservatives, is this idea of foreign students coming to the United States and taking spots that would normally be, you know, obviously open to American students. The president addressed this issue as part of the Chinese trade deal, which might be in the offing.

[Steve Bannon]

Watch.

[Donald Trump]

We're going to get along good with China. I hear so many stories about we're not going to allow their students. We're going to allow their students to come in. We're going to allow. It's very important. 600,000 students. It's very important.

[Interviewer]

Mr. Secretary, with all due respect, how is allowing 600,000 students from the communist country of China putting America first?

[White House Official]

Well, the president's point of view is that what would happen if you didn't have those 600,000 students is that you'd emptied them from the top. All the students would go up to better schools, and the bottom 15% of universities and colleges would go out of business in America. So his view is. He's taking a rational, economic view, which is classic Donald Trump looking at higher education and saying, but why are you helping until we modify that.

[Donald Trump]

Look, we're getting along very well with China, and I'm getting along very well with President Xi. I think it's very insult to say students can't come here because they'll go out and they'll start building schools and they'll be able to survive it. But I like that their students come here. I like that other country's students come here. And you know what would happen if they didn't? Our college system would go to hell very quickly. You'd have. And it wouldn't be the top colleges. It would be colleges that struggle on the bottom. And you take out 300,000 or 600,000 students out of the system. I like having. And I told this to President Xi, that we're honored to have their students here. Now, with that, we check and we're careful and we see who's there. And Marco wants that. We spoke. We're in the same position, but we have a tremendous college system, the best in the world. Nobody even close. That's why China sends them here. And you can call it an industry if you want, but you're talking about millions of people. And I'm honored to have the students from China come here. And they're. We're just getting along very well with China. We've also found many bags of information. I think they call them burn bags. They're supposed to be burned. And they didn't get burned having to do with how corrupt the 2020 election was. And when will that all come out?

[Intelligence Official]

Mr. President, I will be the first to brief you once we have that information collected. But you're right, it's. We are finding documents literally tucked away in the back of safes, in random offices, in these bags and in other areas, which again, speaks to the intent of those who are trying to hide the truth from the American people and trying to cover up the politicization that was led by people like John Brennan and James Clapper and others that have caused really immeasurable harm to the American people and to our country.

[Donald Trump]

Great job. Thank you. We look forward to hearing it. The public looks forward. Thank you very much.

[Steve Bannon]

This is the primal scream of a dying regime. Pray for our enemies because we're going.

[Rich Stern]

Medieval on these people.

[Steve Bannon]

Reasons I got a free shot on 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 to going, going to happen.

[Natalie Winters]

And where do people like that go.

[Steve Bannon]

To share the big lie?

[Natalie Winters]

MAGA MEDIA I wish in my soul.

[Steve 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. Banner. Foreign.

[Natalie Winters]

You'Re in the war room. It's Tuesday, August 26th, in the year of our Lord 2025. Natalie Winters hosting today, filling in for Stephen K. Bannon. We've got a packed show. So many things that we want to hit. But I think the number one thing that we've learned from the Trump administration is that they are very responsive. If we make noise, we get results. And I think that this Chinese student visa issue is one of those things. Just like it was the fema, aid to or rather counties or citizens who what was it? It was disrespectful or weren't supportive of the Israeli government. When we made enough noise, we saw that provision very swiftly removed from the new DHS guidelines. And I think that we need to hold a similar line here on the Chinese visa front, which, by the way, the current number hovers, maybe it's a little lower than around 300,000 students. So I don't understand. Even if you think that's great, which it's not, we're certainly going to get into that why we would be doing doubling that number. I think the brief summary of the argument is these are not students, these are spies. The short term consequences are IP theft, espionage, cybersecurity incidents, stealing all of our most valuable information. I don't understand why we should be training the next generation at best of Chinese Communist Party leaders and apparatchiks, at worst, the people that will be meeting on the battlefield. But I think the longer term implications, implicit implications and frankly their republic ending are that we are essentially creating our own demise. This might be the best example that I've ever seen of managed decline. The idea that we should hollow out American universities, take seats in classrooms from the people I went to high school with, the people that you raised as your children, grandchildren, and give them to foreigners who are mandated per China's Article 7 of their National Intelligence Law to advance the interests of, of the Party. And spare me the cultural immersion idea. How many American students are in China? I think it's what, less than 500. So that's not really the best two way street, shall we say. And I don't think we need more young American students adopting a communist indoctrination, but definitely more to drill down on that front. Like I said, this is a hill to die on. I don't. There's no explanation for it, let alone the doubling down, let alone doubling the caps to 600,000. It's absolutely ludicrous. And I think our first guest, Sam Faddis, I would wager that you probably agree with me. I won't get too far over my skis, but I think you understand the PRC to be America's probably largest existential, if not really only real existential threat. Your thoughts on this continued discourse course, if not outright doubling down on broadening student visa caps for, for Chinese students here in the States?

[Sam Faddis]

Well, Natalie, I, I was listening to your introductory comments there and I'm tempted to just respond. Amen. Look, I get it that the President is trying to manage a complex situation. He's trying to get the Chinese to agree to all sorts of different considerations and there's a certain give and take. I don't think this is an issue on, on which we can accept this position. There are, like you said, I think I have the same number. There's something slightly less than 300,000 Chinese students in the United States already. That's too many. The idea that we're going to double them, very ill advised. I mean, look, let's just start with this. The Chinese come here to study hard sciences and engineering they come, they don't come here to study English literature or read Chaucer, Right? They come here to take away our key advantage. That, that one thing that we count on that will assure us victory if God forbid, we end up in a shooting war, which is our technology, our technological edge. And they may individually be great people, but every Chinese citizen that comes here will, if the CCP wants, be compelled to spy on us. Not because they want to, not because they love communism, because they have no choice, because they are subject to that compulsion, because they are pressured, because literally they will bring them in to the embassy, the consulate or some other office and put them on a video call with grandma if they hesitate. And that's not a joke and I'm not hyperbole. There is a hammer hanging over their heads and every one of their relatives. So you. It's like the Godfather. It's an offer you cannot refuse. And they are stealing us blind. And we cannot get our hands around the threat with the current number. So there is no prayer that we will get our hands around the threat with twice as many of them here. They will just steal that much more and we will ultimately pay on the battlefield, as you suggested.

[Natalie Winters]

Yeah, and it's an interesting, I think like concurrent straw manning and steel manning of the argument. In other words, these Chinese students are totally straw manned and made to look like these individuals who are, and I'm sure maybe like one of them is, but are coming here to, you know, altruistically learn and absorb the American way of life. Although then the steel man, I think is that these American universities are these wonderful, you know, free thinking places where they're going to be indoctrinated with pro America thought. I would almost posit that American universities are probably more anti west and more anti America than some universities that are, that are actually in Beijing. I mean, what was it? It was Harvard, that was of course with the Chinese Communist Party. They were running, it was through the Ash Center. They were literally running a Chinese leaders development program where they were training the next cadre of Chinese officials. Even working with the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps, which was a sanctioned entity basically overseeing the Uyghur genocide up in Xinjiang. So this is not run of the mill stuff. And I also think too, I'm curious your thoughts. I think a lot of this discussion, making it about the students really is sort of a limited hangout in the sense that the students are just sort of the foot soldiers of what is a massive multi billion dollar effort for China to own our universities. Right. It sort of gives them the pretext, the ability to plow all this money where they're curating not just what the Chinese students are learning, but even, I think more nefariously this very whitewashed version of China's rise, which is one of, oh, it's an economic miracle. Right. I'm curious your thoughts on that asset or facet, rather of compromise.

[Sam Faddis]

Yeah, look, let's just. This is not about Chinese people as an ethnicity, right? Nobody is saying that Chinese people are somehow genetically bad, evil, that this is about them. This is about an evil, horrible, totalitarian regime. The Chinese Communist Party, nobody suffers more under that than the Chinese people themselves every day. But these guys, the ccp, have one objective that is to supplant us and become the dominant power on, on the planet. And you know what? They're getting dangerously close to that. So, yeah, they're stealing our technology, they're taking over our university. They are moving on all sorts of fronts. I mean, I'm all for negotiating with them and dealing with these economic issues in the real world, but the fact of the matter is the CCP doesn't want to have a better life for its people, build a better economy, you know, they. More luxuries, more creature comforts. It is an evil, totalitarian thing and it wants to take over and supplant us. And if we are dealing with them on, on any other basis, I mean, we're, we're in la la land. Would we have dealt with the Soviet Union and talked to the Polit Bureau in Kremlin and had any idea that what these guys were looking for was to just climb in bed with us and get comfortable and be just like us? No, we were never in any. Well, I mean, maybe some of us were, but as a nation, thank God, we kept our eye on the ball and focused on the fact that these guys want to destroy us. That's what the CCP wants across the board in every regard. So when we're negotiating with them, we have to keep our eye on that. And I will just say again, as an old, an old spook, if you think you're going to keep your eye on 600,000 Chinese students crawling around our laboratories and in and out of our institutions and have any clue what they're stealing, you know, you're lost. I mean, we are already watching them put stealth jet fighters in the air that are pretty damn close to being carbon copies of what we are, are flying. We're basically doing their research and their, and their development for them already.

[Natalie Winters]

Yes, students can very easily become spies, can very easily become sleeper cells, consensually or non consensually. Sam, if you can hang with us through the break, I want to get into what Director Gabbard was talking about. The latest on the Ukraine front, but just a quick message from our sponsors. We love Birch Gold. Is the continued divide between Trump and the Federal Reserve putting us behind the curve again? Can the Fed take the right action at the right time or are we going to be looking at a potential economic slowdown? And what does this mean for your savings? Consider diversifying with gold through Birch Gold Group. For decades gold has been viewed as a safe haven in times of economic stagnation, global uncertainty and high inflation. And Birch Gold makes it incredibly easy for you to diversify some of your savings into gold. If you have an IRA or old 401k you convert can convert that into a tax sheltered IRA in physical gold or just buy some gold to keep in your safe. First get educated. Birch Gold will send you a free info kit on gold. Just text span to the number 989-898. Again that span into 989-898. Consider diversifying a portion of your savings into gold. That way if the Fed can't stay ahead of the curve for the country, at least you can stay ahead for yourself. We got more Sam Fatis, we got Cleo Pascal, we got Rich Stern on the latest developments over at the Fed right after this short break. Stay tuned.

[Steve Bannon]

This July there is a global summit of BRICS nations in Rio de Janeiro. The bloc of emerging superpowers including China, Russia, India and Persia are meeting with the goal of displacing the United States dollar as the global currency. They're calling this the Rio Reset. As BRICS nations push forward with their plans, global demand for US Dollars will decrease, bringing down the value of the dollar in your savings. While this transition won't not happen overnight, but trust me, it's going to start in Rio. The Rio Reset in July marks a pivotal moment when BRICS objectives move decisively from a theoretical possibility towards inevitable reality. Learn if diversifying your savings into gold is right for you. Birch Gold Group can help you move your hard earned savings into a tax sheltered IRA and precious metals. Claim your free info kit on gold by texting my name Bannon. That's B A N N o N to 989-898 with an A plus rating with the Better Business Bureau and tens of thousands of happy customers led Birchgold army with a free no obligation info kit on owning gold before July and the Rio reset text. Bannon B A N N O N to 989-898. Do it today. That's the Rio reset text Bannon at 989-898 and do it today.

[Natalie Winters]

America's Voice family.

[Steve Bannon]

Are you on Getter yet?

[Donald Trump]

No.

[Sam Faddis]

What are you waiting for?

[Steve Bannon]

It's free, it's uncensored, and it's where.

[Natalie Winters]

All the biggest voices in conservative media are spreading, speaking out.

[Steve Bannon]

Download the Getter app right now. It's totally free. It's where I put up exclusively all of my content 24 hours a day. Want to know what Steve Bannon's thinking? Go to Getter.

[Sam Faddis]

That's right.

[Natalie Winters]

You can follow all of your favorites.

[Congressman Jim Jordan]

Steve Bannon, Charlie Kirk, Jack Posoba, and so many more.

[Rich Stern]

Download the Getter app now.

[Natalie Winters]

Sign up for free and be part of the new thing. You're back in the war room. We still got Sam Battis with us. Sam, I'm curious your thoughts. There's been a lot of reporting over the last few days about the changes that Director Gabbard is making with regard to intel sharing on Ukraine. Can you walk us through the developments there?

[Sam Faddis]

Yeah. So without getting lost in all of the arcane intricacies of how documents are classified in the ic, which nobody wants to suffer through, what Gabbard said was all the intelligence, the intelligence we have on the ongoing Russia, Ukraine peace negotiations that the intelligence community has will all be marked no foreign N O F O R N standard designation used in the intelligence community. It means no foreign nations. So basically, she issued an order that this really sensitive intelligence we have regarding negotiations to end a war which are being conducted personally by the President of the United States should not be passed to foreign countries. So just. Just to understand the implications, in the normal course of business, that would always be true. Nobody in his right mind would pass this information to foreign countries. This incredibly sensitive intelligence on the negotiations being conducted by the President of the United States. You wouldn't have to tell anybody not to pass that to a foreign nation. That would be standard procedure. I think every document I ever created at CIA had no foreign on it, just for context. So what the real story is here is that Gabbard is so concerned about people inside the intelligence community passing intelligence to other countries that should not be passed, that she felt it necessary to issue an order directly as Director of National Intelligence. Again, a classification decision that would normally be made at the working level routinely, not by a Director of anything. And yet she's so concerned that somebody's going to pass The Brits or somebody else intel, they shouldn't see that she felt it necessary to issue that order. So that tells, I commend her for doing so. But it says something very troubling about how she feels about the state of the intelligence community, that she cannot trust her own agencies not to basically stab the president in the back.

[Natalie Winters]

And do you think this is sort of a representation of how there are a lot of factions, obviously globally, but even domestically here that are trying to continue this, this war and using sort of intel or whatever it may be to just sort of, you know, it's easier to call out a lie. Right. If you, if you can see what's going on. Like you said, sort of bizarre that we would be giving them access to what would likely be classified discussions between President Trump and another world leader. But do you think this is now sort of being used as another, you know, Crimea river, you know, media crying wolf example that we're somehow, you know, becoming pro Russia and we're soft on Russia and we're not sharing, sharing information, just another kind of iteration of that?

[Sam Faddis]

Yeah, look, 100% this war is ongoing 247 in Washington, as you're well aware. They, there are plenty of people in powerful positions that want this war to go on, that don't want these peace negotiations to succeed. And they are trying. They're going to grab a hold of anything. So if the intelligence had been leaked, I mean, if it goes to the Brits or it goes to somebody else, it's going to leak.

[Rich Stern]

Right.

[Sam Faddis]

It's the same as might as well hand it to the Times in London. It's, it's once it's out of our hands, it's going everywhere. So in addition to that, the fact that the information would have been used if it was leaked, now the fact that she's not passing the information is going to be used. I mean, any decision that's made, the chant on the other side, the mantra is going to be, it's going to be harmful to American national security and Putin owns us and we're too pro Russian and all of that. A lot of really powerful people want this war to continue forever, as far as I could tell.

[Natalie Winters]

Sam Faddis, as always, thank you so much for joining us. If people want to follow you, read and magazine all that stuff, where can they go to do that?

[Sam Faddis]

Before you're back on, find us to substack at substack and magazineand magazine.substack.com and that'll take you everywhere else. We are on the Web. Thanks, Natalie.

[Natalie Winters]

Thank you, sir, for joining us. I appreciate it. Like, I always bring up too so many of these huge, what, several billion, $100billion contracts that we've seen go to Ukraine, itemized on the USA spending website as primarily to the big defense contractors, Boeing, Raytheon, take your pick, Lockheed, they're all authorized through the year 2032. In some cases, there's dozens of contracts that are active through the late 2000s, but or rather 2033, that's not even affecting just this presidential cycle. That's the one after, in the campaign season of the one after that. It's absolutely ridiculous. If you want to talk about what the deep state or the permanent political class exists, or I guess as we called it during the first impeachment, the steady state, the idea that there is a consensus driven group of people who push that Washington consensus of foreign policy, I think there's no better evidence than frankly, there's the outrage to Tulsi's decision to do this with intel sharing or even a lot of these government grants and contracts which show that they want to turn this into the next forever war. And to their credit, it's been going on for so many years, maybe we'll put it forever with a little F. But they're very clear, no clandestine activity there about what they want the Ukraine situation to turn into. Speaking of intel, although not that kind, the company, the chip, all the tech stuff going on, the drama there with Intel, Nvidia, all the semiconductors and everything, that again, I think sort of goes back to what we started the show with, which was talking about the threat that is the Chinese Communist Party. It seems like a lot of these deals that are being negotiated or export restrictions that are being lifted and implemented and this sort of back and forth at all is being viewed, I think sort of alarmingly through the paradigm of national security, particularly giving China an unnecessary leg up on us in the realm of advanced chips. And Rich Stern, who we love here in the war room, I wanted to have you on to talk about the Fed. But before we pivot to that, just because we were talking about China with Sam, I'd love if you could bring us up to speed on this sort of intel chip debate.

[Rich Stern]

Oh, well, you know, I always like my Fed drama mixed with a little industrial policy as well, you know. So I think the big thing here we got to keep in mind is as much as you might be concerned, and I certainly am with a military industrial complex, you should be more concerned about one we share with the Chinese Communist Party. And some of the concerns, of course, is that the CEO of Intel has connections to the Chinese government. And of course, you know, we have these export controls on our chips to ensure that our high technology does not get into the hands of the Chinese Communist Party. And instead, tragically, the Trump admin seems to be allowing them to be to be lifted so that AMD and Nvidia and intel will be able to make these chips and sell them in China. And of course, you can see that separate from intel in the negotiations directly between the admin and Nvidia and AMD will allow them to sell these chips in China and pay merely a 15% sales tax back to the US federal government. And so this really seems to be an attempt to put money over the national security interests and a hollowing out of those guardrails against China getting these chips. And it's unclear what the American public gets out of this.

[Natalie Winters]

And Rich, I want to play a clip from the Cabinet meeting today. President Trump talking about the latest developments at the Fed. Denver, let's roll it. And we'll get Rich's comments on the other side considering for the replacement to.

[Steve Bannon]

Nominate for Lisa Cook.

[Natalie Winters]

And what economic background or history are you?

[Donald Trump]

Well, we have some very good people for that position and I think we have some very good people we're down to. I mean, I think I maybe in my own mind have somebody that I like, but I deal with Scott and I deal with Howard and we're dealing with a lot of people actually that are going to be involved in that decision. Ultimately. It's a very important decision, as we see. I mean, I got a bad recommendation when I went with Jerome Too late. You know, he's too late. His nickname is Too Late. Costing us a lot of money, hurting the housing. I mean, our housing industry is good, but it could be phenomenal. Most, most of this country in terms economic terms has been phenomenal. We've never seen anything like it. Because of him and his high interest rates, the housing is less than it could be. We're going to get that straightened out very quickly. He gets out very quickly. Fortunately, he's been the wrong guy. Not a bad person, I don't think. But, you know, I do think he has motives, by the way, but I don't consider him. I've dealt with worse, but he hasn't done the job. The recommendation from a certain person was not a great recommendation. That person vouched for him. But we're doing a very careful study. We'll see what happens. Look, we have we just put a very good man in that. In one position, we might switch him to the other. It's a longer term and pick somebody else. But we're very happy with the person we have in there and we'll have a majority very shortly. So that will be great. Once we have a majority, housing is going to swing and it's going to be great. People are paying too high an interest rate. That's the only problem with housing. We have to get the rates down a little bit. And when we do, it's going to be a tremendous difference. The country, the country is doing so well. It sort of, it sort of blows through the fact that we have a man who's too late and not doing a very good job.

[Natalie Winters]

Is the continued divide between Trump and the Federal Reserve putting us behind the curve again? Can the Fed take the right action at the right time, or are we going to be looking at a potential economic slowdown? And what does this mean for your savings? Consider diversifying with gold through Birch Gold Group. For decades, gold has been viewed as a safe haven in times of economic stagnation, global uncertainty and high inflation. And Birch Gold makes it incredibly easy for you to diversify some of your savings into gold. If you have an IRA or old 401k, you can convert that into a tax sheltered IRA and physical gold. Or just buy some gold to keep in your safe. First, get educated. Birch Gold will send you a free info kit on gold. Just text ban into the number 989-898. Again, Bannon to 989-898. Consider diversifying a portion of your savings into gold. That way, if the Fed can't stay ahead of the curve for the country, at least you can stay ahead for yourself. If you guys recall, it wasn't too long ago that we broke the story here on war about how the Chinese Communist Party, their researchers were actively commingling with Fed researchers and pumping out papers that they were using to advise the Fed. Absolutely wild. We'll be right back.

[Steve Bannon]

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 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 [e-mail] 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 24,7 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 home title lock.com now. Use promo code Steve. That's hometitle lock.com promo code Steve. Do it today. Here's your host, Stephen K. Band.

[Natalie Winters]

Welcome back to the war room. We are still joined by Rich Stern. Now Rich, there are a lot of truth social posts flying. There is a lot of legalese and lawfare flying. There's a lot of firings, attempted firings and people saying that they're gonna stay. Can you help us cut through the noise? What is happening with Lisa Cook if she's still there, what your sort of assessment is of what her future looks like and you know, people who should be filling that role in lieu of her.

[Rich Stern]

Well, you know, the deep state always makes a lot of noise on the way out the door.

[Sam Faddis]

Right.

[Rich Stern]

But you know, I will tell you this. You know, Bill Pilti had made a criminal referral out of the housing department about her mortgage application. And I gotta tell you, looking at it, it really does look like Lisa Cook probably did commit mortgage fraud, which really is a serious crime. I mean she bought two different homes in two different states two weeks apart from each other, claiming both as a primary residence to get better loan terms. And then frankly there's a whole question about what she did with her taxes because you can also use that to get better taxes. So you know, a lot of people are trying to politicize the firing, but the truth is he's firing her for cause, which is something the President's got legal authority to do. And if she committed a crime that certainly cause enough. But to the other part of your question, there's look, the Fed has made a lot of decisions that are very suspicious. Cutting rates half point before the election certainly was looked politically time. There's good reason. The question that there's a lot of people that have done so and then you know, going forward it's important that the Fed Makes decisions that are transparent, that people trust. It's important to have people there that, unlike Lisa Cook, don't have a DEI background. I don't mean her. I mean her work focused on promoting di. So it's important we have people there that really are focused on the American economy, the American public, and a transparent process of the Fed.

[Natalie Winters]

And just give us a few minutes on, you know, are there names being floated of people who could, who could replace her? Obviously they're making it like it's some hyper political witch hunt, but I think you hit the nail on the head. She's actually the really politicized one. It's just about the economy, the data, the numbers don't lie. But what would the sort of timeline look like for replacing her? And are there any names or people that you think would be logical picks for the president?

[Rich Stern]

Well, certainly Judith Shelton's been somebody that's been talked about a lot. There are other people in there. The impression the President gave is that he might move Moran over so he's got more time in the term, something like that. But I think there were a lot of good conservative economists and people who frankly understand how markets work, who are not like the liberals that get in going to go in and try to use the Federal Reserve as a state bank to promote WOKE and DI operations and activities, which frankly, the new prime Minister in Canada, a lot of people don't realize this. He was a central bank chairman for two different central banks and came up with the architecture of these WOKE focused central banks. So it's time to clear that out. There are a lot of good economists who would do the job well, who understand what matters, who would come in without an agenda. Now, in terms of timeline, the one critical thing here is it's a little unprecedented, it's frankly unprecedented to have a Fed governor who seemed to have committed a crime of this kind of caliber. And so we'll have to see how the legal proceedings go over that. I'm sure there's going to be a lot of legal drama getting her out the door and adjudicating what crime she may or may not have committed and how that's going to work. But I think once that's cleared up, if she's gone, I think the president will want to move quickly, he'll want to reassure markets, make sure we have a good board of governors at the Fed who can get right into it, you know, boots on the ground, so to speak.

[Natalie Winters]

Rich Stern, as always, thank you so much for joining us here in the war room. War room. If people want to follow you, hopefully we can have you back on giving us analysis of the new member. Not her, she's gone. Maybe facing some investigations for her, her mortgage fraud, allegedly. Where can people follow you in the meantime?

[Rich Stern]

Well, fingers crossed on that one. It's always a pleasure and an honor to be here. You can find me at Rich A. Stern on Twitter and of course you can go to heritage.org and find everything I read and that of all my colleagues and what the whole team out at the Heritage foundation put together. So thank you again as always.

[Natalie Winters]

Thank you sir, for joining us. As I was briefly alluding to before we jumped to break, obviously there's a lot of research papers that are published directly on various Fed or regional Fed websites that are actively advising either through conference forums or the papers themselves, Fed policy that are co authored by researchers from Chinese Communist Party run universities. Try to make that make sense. You can't. But there was also a very robust Senate report that was released about two years ago talking about PRC infiltration of the Fed, even including but not limited to Fed officials being detained in China several times while Chinese authorities tried to steal documents from them. Compelling, coercing these individuals into signing documents to say that they wouldn't talk about it. And of course there's the very high profile case I think being worked out right now. But a man who I believe resides in Northern Virginia was the Trump administration that I think issued it. Was the doj, sealed, sealed the deal on it. But a guy who was leaking classified documents under. Might I go back to where we started this show, the false pretense of being a university professor at a China based school. Further proof that they use academia as yet another arrow in the quiver to take down the United States of America. It's unrestricted warfare at its finest. But that the Fed has really created a full out, very concerted effort to, to get former and even current Fed officials to leak them documents, to leak them classified numbers, figures, you name it. If they're going after the Fed, I can guarantee you they're going after every department, every agency here in the United States, which is something that our next guest, Cleo Pascal knows. Not just something, but frankly everything about, if it's even possible to know everything about such a robust political warfare operation. But you've really been at the forefront keeping not just this show, but really, I think the country really on the front lines of what's going on in the Mariana Islands, everywhere, Saipan, you name it. You've really been doing some wonderful reporting and you're here to bring us some updates. You got some good clips for us, as we call them, the receipts here in the War Room. So give us a little redux of everything you've been talking about, but then give us the updates. But please, ma'.

[Rich Stern]

Am.

[Steve Bannon]

Yeah, sure I will. And I have to say I was at a think tank in the UK called Chatham House for about a decade and I still have the related scars to show it. So I can, if you want, at some point we can talk about, about what's going on in the UK academic community, which is kind of off the charts and does have a direct effect on US security around things like the Diego Garcia base. But today we're going to update what's been going on in the Commonwealth of Northern Mariana Islands, which is something that the War Room posse has really touchingly committed to following, especially since the death of Governor Palacios on July 23rd. So this is a US territory. This is, these are US citizens. It's just above Guam. The closest island in the Northern Marianas to Guam is about 60 miles away, which is within a legal boating distance. If you're one of the Chinese, many, many Chinese who come into the Commonwealth of Northern Marianas legally without a visa, it is still the only part of the United States where Chinese can come in without a visa. They're not supposed to leave the Commonwealth of Northern Marian Islands, but they are. They're getting to Guam. They're buying, illegal, illegally buying U.S. driver's licenses in Guam. They've been found on U.S. military bases. This is something that has been of great concern to Congress for a long time. In November 23, 32 members of Congress, including current Secretary of State Rubio, wrote a letter to then Secretary Mayorkas saying, close this loophole. Make it so that every Chinese who comes into the US has to get a visa. But it didn't happen. And when the Trump administration came in, there was, the Biden administration had just put in something called EVS tap, which is basically an online form. So the people who were pushing to let Chinese come without a visas were saying, don't worry about it, don't worry about it. We've got this enhanced vetting. They have to do this EVS tap, which can sound quite convincing, but when you actually look at it, why isn't it a visa? Why don't they just have to go to the embassy like everybody else, or the consulate and apply so that an American official can take a look at them? Why do they get away with just doing this online form? Why was that such an important thing for China and those pushing the Chinese line to try to advance in the US it's very hard to say. But the woman who represents, who's the delegate from the Commonwealth of Northern Mariana Islands in Congress, she sits in Congress, she's on committees, has been very aggressively going around to her congressional members to try to convince them to support this EVS tap so that Chinese don't have to have a visa. And I think you found a couple of very good clips of her describing how she's been getting congressional support. So I don't know if you want to play either one of the clips, one from Jim Jordan maybe.

[Natalie Winters]

Yeah, let's go ahead and play the Jim Jordan clip.

[Steve Bannon]

Denver so the, that whole thing with.

[Sam Faddis]

Ebsf, it's still vetting for folks who are coming in.

[Natalie Winters]

Yeah.

[Steve Bannon]

And it's an opportunity to have a.

[Sam Faddis]

Way better vetting than what they had before that parole stuff. And so basically we, we saw there was a problem with what was going on before. Right.

[Congressman Jim Jordan]

That was an acknowledgment from the CNMI that something needed to be done. And, you know, that additional, an additional layer of scrutiny with regards to the visa waiver program, everybody calls it the China Visa Waiver Program, but actually this, this is a waiver program that gives entry to the CNMI from various different countries. Right. Not just China. And so, you know, this additional layer of scrutiny was recognized by both sides. Right. That it was something that was needed to be done and was negotiated through the 902 process during Governor Torres's administration. Right. And, and that's where we, we, you know, we worked with the Trump administration. And so that was Trump 1, now Trump 2. They're, you know, reviewing all these different programs. So that's why it was on pause. And, you know, there was a lot of effort that was put into to get them to expedite their, their review and get the, that program moving. A lot of folks from Congress, folks that, that you met, you know, as a matter of fact, Jim Jordan, I saw him at a conference meeting just before I came out here Monday. And, you know, he was so excited as soon as he heard because, you know, he's at the, as you know, he sits on the Judiciary. So he got a direct phone call saying, hey, it's back online. And he calls me and he's like, did you hear? And I'm like, evs. And he's like, yeah. And then he was like, I'm so excited for you guys. And I'm like, thanks, for all your hard work.

[Natalie Winters]

So, so, you know, I'm sorry, but I thought Representative Jordan presents himself as Mr. Tough on China, not making back channel phone calls to, like, CCP assets, pushing very detrimental policies to our national security. Can you walk us through? Am I, am I crazy? What did we just hear?

[Steve Bannon]

What did we just see? So there were a lot of inaccuracies in there as well. So this is EVS tap is just a China program. And it's, and it's just so that people in her position can say, you know, there's this enhanced vetting. Well, there's, why not a visa? Just, it's not complicated. Every Chinese coming into the US should have to have a visa. There's just, it shouldn't be complicated. But they sold it to these members of Congress in a way that kind of must have convinced them. And what's been great, because you tweeted about it, you did a great tweet thread. I don't know if they want to put it up, but I think on maybe August 12th or something. And Tyler O' Neill from the Daily Signal, I recommend people that you've got many more receipts in there that people might want to take a look at. And Tyler o' Neill from the Daily Signal picked up on your thread and, and on another aspect which we can talk about. And he called those congressional offices. So he called Jim Jordan's office and asked, or, you know, what's going on? And the reply from Jim Jordan's office was, you could sort of hear the backpedaling. I'll read it. Chairman Jordan simply inquired about the program with DHS on behalf of a colleague. But ultimately the Trump administration decided to push the program forward. It is not something that he is actively pushing out of the Judiciary Committee. So that's the Jim Jordan position. And the question is sort of what is behind this for somebody in her position? And I don't know if you want to play the other clip, the Brian Mast clip, which gives a little bit more insight into some of the thinking or some of the phrasing behind it.

[Natalie Winters]

I don't know if it's possible. Perfect segue, because we are just coming up against a break. But we will come back. But this is the point. All these people talk very tough on China. It's very cool. We hear it's bipartisan, but in reality, they talk tough on China to inflate the defense spending. And we never see anything in return while pushing bizarre programs like this. We'll be right back.

[Steve Bannon]

You missed the IRS tax deadline. You Think it's just going to 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.

[Congressman Jim Jordan]

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 tomorrow, Largo, 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.

[Natalie Winters]

You're back in the war room. I think there, Cleo, another sort of interesting moment of the mask dropping. They think they're just talking on some show, but there's an interesting tell there where it's like they are targeting People, because of their proximity, an influence to President Trump. I think the operative question there being like, who is they? Right. She doesn't really specify. I think you and I can probably fill in that blank. But can you just sort of explain how this is like a pattern that is more broadly replicated, even down to the level of personnel infiltration in the Trump administration?

[Steve Bannon]

Yeah. Well, this has been a consistent problem. And the other thing that was highlighted in that great Tyler o' Neill Daily Signal piece is what he was actually writing about was this man called Angel Demipan, who was her former legislative director, who has now been appointed Deputy Assistant Secretary for Insular and International affairs in the Department of Interior. Now, that doesn't sound like a very important position, but it actually is. Core to hemispheric defense. The Department of Interior oversees Guam, the Commonwealth of North Marianas, Palau, Federated States Micronesia and Marshall Islands. This is this whole center of the Pacific. That's what's between Hawaii and the Philippines and onward to Japan. That whole core of the Pacific falls under the Department of Interior for historic reasons. And this is now this guy who, according to the reporting by Tyler o', Neill, the fec, found that he took money from at least two Chinese companies when he was running as a politician in the Commonwealth of North the Marianas. One of them a major Chinese casino that was running billions of dollars through the CNMI economy, through the Marianas economy. And the other one with that classic name, Honest Profit, you've always got to trust a company called Honest Profit. Chinese company had both and others contributed to his election campaign. And FEC found him guilty of that, but because of the statute of limitations, didn't pursue the. He was also the chief of staff to the previous governor before Governor Palacios, under whose administration about $1.6 billion of federal funding hasn't been properly accounted for. And remember, this is a location that has a population of about 45,000 people. This is a lot of money, highly strategic location. There was a Senate Armed Services Committee congressional delegation in Tinian, which is part of Commonwealth and North Marianas, yesterday, looking at the new installations that are going in on Northfield that will be critical to hemispheric defense. Highly strategic, very small population, large amounts of Chinese money flowing through directly into the pockets of local politicians, one of whom is now the face of the Trump administration in one of the most strategically important locations for US national defense.

[Natalie Winters]

So where do we stand on the personnel front? Have we seen any movement? I saw the Warren Posse lighting up a lot of these members of Congress, but I haven't seen any retractions. I think in that Daily Signal article you mentioned, it seemed like. I think it was the nel's office basically doubled down in their support for it. So have we seen any movement?

[Steve Bannon]

No. I mean, I think that as you know better than anybody, Congress is a little bit like high school. And she was the new girl. She got elected this term. And, you know, I don't want to denigrate, you know, a hardworking female politician, but that's if you're using that analogy of it being like high school. So she came in, nobody really knew who she was. She tells a good story, very convincing. And she basically burned a bunch of colleagues. She's a Republican and she has made it so that Jim Jordan, Brian Mast Nels are getting very uncomfortable calls about, like what you said. You say you're tough on China, but you're supporting a program that lets Chinese into the US Without a visa. So I think she's going to find her return to Congress a little bit less warm and fuzzy than her initial introduction to Congress. There was a congressional delegation that was supposed to go out from the small business in August that has been postponed. So I don't know what's happening behind the scenes, but what there really needs to be is a Treasury investigation into what happened to that $1.6 billion of US taxpayer money because it certainly didn't go to benefit the people of the Commonwealth of Northern Marianas. Their economy is in shambles. They could have really used that money for rebuilding. So that' snobody quite knows where it is. And now that Governor Palacios has passed away, he was really holding the front for all of us, for America. And you're starting to see things like they've announced the resumption of direct flights from Hong Kong to the Commonwealth of Northern Marianas. Sheet that same member of Congress is pushing for reinstatement of Annex 6 of the U. S. China Transport Agreement, which would allow unlimited flights from mainland China on Chinese carriers into the Commonwealth of North Mariana Islands. Again, this is the United States and into Guam. Annex 6 allows those direct flights to go into Guam as well. So there's this undermining of US Security every turn. That defunct casino that was running billions of dollars, its assets were just purchased by another very shady company that looks like it also has ties to China. Every single day you see headlines in the newspaper in the Marianas of things like Chinese drug dealer who is importing methamphetamine and lava lamps. Other Chinese drug dealers who are selling meth near elementary schools. The former chief of parole was found guilty.

[Natalie Winters]

Coming up against the end of the show, we'll have to have you back on. I just want to give you time. If people want to get in contact with you, follow. Stay up to date with everything you're working on. Where can they go to do all that?

[Steve Bannon]

On X, it's just my name, Cleopatra. Pascal C L E O P A S K A L. And on Getter, it's real Cleo because somebody is unreal. Cleopas on Getter.

[Natalie Winters]

Thank you, ma', am, for, for really fighting on this issue very hard. There are not many other people. Warren posse. Thank you for joining me. I will see you guys soon. Have a good evening.

[Steve Bannon]

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 to Rickards War room dot com. That's all one word. Rickards War Room records with an S. Go now and claim your free book. That's rickardswarroom.com do it today.