Episode 4917: WarRoom Veterans Day Special 2015

Summary

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Bannon’s War Room – Episode 4917: Veterans Day Special 2025

Date: November 11, 2025
Host: Stephen K. Bannon
Guests:

• Patrick K. O’Donnell (Military Historian)
• Tage Gill (Navy SEAL Veteran and Entrepreneur)
• Mo Bannon (West Point Graduate)
• Scott Bessant (Secretary of Treasury)
  Theme: A wide-ranging discussion on the significance of Veterans Day, the legacy and challenges facing American military institutions and veterans, reflections on historical and current conflicts, and the state of America's economy and strategic competition, particularly with China.

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Episode Overview

This Veterans Day special brings together voices from military history, recent veterans, and the current administration to honor the sacrifices of America’s servicemen and women. The episode touches on the meaning and evolution of Veterans Day, lessons from past conflicts, the unique strengths—and flaws—of America’s military institutions, and the challenges modern veteran communities face. The show also covers pressing economic policies, the state of national manufacturing, and the global tech race, particularly against China.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Opening Reflections on Remembrance and Armistice (00:11–06:30)

• Historic Context: The episode begins with evocative narration echoing 20th-century commemorations of armistice, emphasizing the enduring symbolism of monuments like the Cenotaph and the importance of remembering both the fallen and the living wounded of war.
• Historical Lessons: A historian stresses the obligation for America to reverse its historical isolationism and embrace global leadership, warning against selfish withdrawal from world affairs.

"We should inevitably be forced by the moral obligations of freedom and honor to retrieve that fatal error and assume once more the role of... help." — Historian/Commentator (04:00)

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2. Bannon’s Veterans Day Address & Defining the “Short 20th Century” (07:12–11:00)

• Veterans Day vs. Memorial Day: Bannon distinguishes the two holidays, underscoring Veterans Day as a commemoration of living service members and the enduring legacy—and challenges—of America’s military institutions.
• Institutional Strength: Points to the remarkable endurance (250 years) and global impact of the Army, Navy, and Marine Corps, drawing attention to their ability to resolve internal problems and deliver when called upon.
• Lessons from Past Wars: Cites World War I and its devastating impact on Britain, with WWII as the “knockout blow” to the empire, and America’s role in global security.

"Our Army, our Navy, our Marine Corps, our institutions—unparalleled." — Stephen K. Bannon (12:11)

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3. Frontline Reflections: Iraq, Afghanistan, and the Modern Warrior (11:02–14:57)

• Personal Memories: Marine and SEAL veterans recount raw memories from Fallujah and other theaters of war, describing camaraderie, resilience, and the immense cost of modern conflict—dwindling platoons, repeated acts of bravery, the toll of injuries.
• Generational Comparison: Discussion about how younger generations, particularly current serving members, face unique pressures, including “woke” cultural critique and the devaluation of masculinity, but continue to rise to the occasion.
• Recruitment and Inspiration: War films like “The Last 600 Meters” serve as recruitment inspiration, showing young men still seek meaning and challenge in the armed services, even in a culture hostile to traditional military values.

"A generation... just blew me away... Many guys had multiple Purple Hearts but would consistently leave the aid station to come back with their brothers." — Veteran/Marine (11:25)

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4. Veterans’ Transition: Entrepreneurship, Health, and Recovery (16:33–23:29)

• Entrepreneurial Spirit: Tage Gill discusses finding purpose after service by building a coffee business, seeing entrepreneurship as a natural transition for those accustomed to operational autonomy in the military.
• Challenges for Vets: Homelessness, PTSD, and bureaucracy (especially the VA’s reliance on pharmaceuticals) are ongoing issues.
• Alternative Healing: Gill shares his personal journey—healing from brain injuries via hyperbaric oxygen therapy and from PTSD through ayahuasca (psychedelic) ceremonies, lamenting how most vets lack access to innovative treatment options.

"I had a lot of brain injuries... did about 80 dives in a hyperbaric chamber over six weeks... It restored [blood flow]... was life changing for me." — Tage Gill (22:22)

"Now I'm aligned with God, I'm married with kids... no drinking... all parts of my life are getting better by the day." — Tage Gill (21:50)

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5. Traditions & Symbolism at West Point (23:29–25:23)

• Sacred Ground: Mo Bannon delivers a vivid on-the-ground report from West Point, describing the procession of history and tradition among the barracks and on the parade field, and the transformation of militias into professional armies.
• Significance of the Plains: Honors the birthplace of the Continental Army and the symbolic continuity between past and present service members.

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6. Modern Military Culture and Recruitment (28:52–32:58)

• A New Generation: Mo Bannon and Stephen K. Bannon discuss the pride in a generation that volunteered for war, contrasting today’s self-selecting cadets with the draftees of WWII—a strength in current service culture.
• Resisting “Woke” Trends: While acknowledging some cultural shifts and controversies at the academies (e.g., diversity initiatives), Bannon argues the “based” spirit of cadets and their resilience remain.
• Academic Rigor: West Point still mandates engineering coursework, reinforcing the intellectual demands of military leadership.

"These kids have had...culturally...the pressure on them...but they're not having it. And they've fought this one kind of on their own." — Stephen K. Bannon (30:30)

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7. Economic Strategy & Competition with China (33:56–40:38)

• Globalization vs. American Manufacturing:
  • Scott Bessant explains the rationale behind tariffs and deficit reduction, and why current trade and financial policy aims to restore domestic industry and economic sovereignty.
  • Bannon fiercely criticizes past offshoring, arguing that the “arsenal of democracy”—America’s industrial heartland—was gutted by globalist policies.
• Tariffs, Bailouts, & Supply Chains: Discussion of using tariffs to drive reindustrialization and the wisdom (and risks) of economic interventions like the $20 billion “bailout” of Argentina.
• Economic Risk: Bannon highlights that risk is inherent in any transformation, but criticizes the lack of transparency and follow-through by both foreign partners and domestic institutions.

"Trump, for all his imperfections... understands that, hey, we've got to redo these commercial relationships and start to bring manufacturing jobs back here." — Stephen K. Bannon (38:00)

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8. Foreign Students, Higher Education, and National Security (44:36–50:15)

• Chinese Students in U.S. Universities:
  • Sharp debate over dependency on foreign tuition, especially from China, and its implications for both national security and opportunities for American students.
  • Bannon argues “woke” universities have become dependent on foreign money, suggesting a radical rethink and prioritization of American students.
• AI Arms Race: Bannon claims the U.S. is locked in a technological race against China, and universities—while powerful assets—are also a vulnerability if educational and technical assets are shared too freely.
• Nationalism & Access: Asserts that America should stop subsidizing the education of potential adversaries and ensure American kids get first access to national resources.

"If you're in an arms race...why would we ever in a billion years give them access to anything? So you can't play both parts, you can't play both sides. We've got to now shut it down." — Stephen K. Bannon (48:57)

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9. Closing Notes: Institutional Resilience & Calls to Action

• Bannon reiterates the importance of American institutions—military and economic—and the need for vigilance in defending national interests, both on the battlefield and in economic/technological domains.
• Veterans are honored not just for their past deeds but also for their continued leadership and initiative in civilian life.

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Notable Quotes & Moments

• On Valor and Sacrifice:

  "One house after another. The platoon went from 60 men down to 20 men standing... would consistently leave the aid station to come back with their brothers." — Veteran/Marine (11:25)

• On Modern Generation’s Resolve:

  "I can tell you right now, the young men in this current generation are as based as possible... I can see the makings of the greatest generation right there." — Stephen K. Bannon (29:58)

• On Alternative Therapies for Veterans:

  "Through hyperbaric oxygen, psychedelic treatments, guys are healing." — Tage Gill (20:11)
  "It brought everything out and let me deal with all my problems." — Tage Gill (20:47)

• On “Woke” Institutions and National Security:

  "If that's just to pay a bunch of tenured professors in these woke universities... no thanks. If half the system would collapse... then let capitalism work." — Stephen K. Bannon (50:17)

• On American Manufacturing:

  "The manufacturing base drives everything else. You can't be just a service economy." — Stephen K. Bannon (38:26)

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Timestamps for Core Segments

• 00:11–06:30 — Opening historical reflections & lessons from the past
• 07:12–11:00 — Bannon defines Veterans Day's importance
• 11:02–14:57 — Veteran frontline experience & generational comparisons
• 16:33–23:29 — Veterans’ transition, entrepreneurship, and therapy
• 24:15–25:23 — West Point tradition & symbolism
• 28:52–32:58 — Modern cadets, recruitment, and academic demands
• 33:56–40:38 — Economic policy, trade, and China strategy
• 44:36–50:15 — Foreign students, higher education, AI arms race

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Tone & Atmosphere

The episode is patriotic, deeply respectful of military tradition and sacrifice, and combative regarding political and economic adversaries (especially globalists and the Chinese Communist Party). The discussion oscillates between somber reflection and impassioned critique, with a strong undercurrent of urgency about the nation’s future.

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Summary

For those who missed the episode: this War Room Veterans Day Special honors the legacy and living reality of America’s service people, explores the deep challenges faced by both military institutions and modern veterans, and argues forcefully for economic and policy changes to secure America’s future in an era of global competition. The hosts and guests offer candor on battlefield trauma, post-service entrepreneurship, and the necessity of both remembering past mistakes and addressing current threats—whether they come from without or within.

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Transcript

[Narrator/Documentary Announcer]

Nineteen years have passed, and once again, in silence, the nation observes the Day of Remembrance. The Home Secretary, Sir Samuel Hoare, and his under secretary, Mr. Geoffrey Lloyd, receive their Majesties on their arrival at the Clive Steppes. And once again, the Cenotaph is the central focus of the Empire's remembrance. Although a new king comes out to face the simple monument, the scene is the same as it always has been, but it has lost nothing in impressiveness with the passing of time. Once again, the King's act of homage is the symbol of the homage of his people. The music fades away and remembrance is united in the common silence around the common memorial. But this year it isn't quite the same. The silence is marred by an incident. A man breaks through the guard of honor just on the left of the Cenotaph and rushes towards the King. The police seize him and drag him away. We show this brief scene again so that you can see the incident more clearly, just on the left of the Cenotaph. And while the nation remembers the million dead, it is well too that we should not forget those living, the men who 20 years after, bear the scars of Europe's tragic mistakes. For them there can be no compensation for the toll on their health and streng. A few moments after the silence, His Majesty the King walks along Whitehall to lay a second wreath at the foot of the memorial to Earl Haig, which was unveiled the day before. And then, for the 19th time, the great pilgrimage begins.

[Historian/Commentator]

Lifted the nations of the world with high levels of vision and achievement, upon which the great war for democracy and right this fallen won. Although the stimulating memories of that happy time of triumph, however marked and embittered for us by the shameful fact that when victory was won, won be it remember chiefly by the indomitable spirit, ungrudging, psychopathic, incomparable soldiers we turned our backs upon our associates refused to bear any responsible part in the administration of peace, or the term and permanent establishment of resolve to war, one that took parallel cost of life and pleasure and withdrew. It was sudden and selfish isolation, which is deeply ignoble for it manifestly cowardly and dishonorable. This must always be a source of deep mortification to us. And we should inevitably be forced by the moral obligations of freedom and honor to retrieve that fatal error and assume once more the role of cour of self respect and helpfulness, which every true American must wish to believe to be the true part of a true part in the affairs of the world. That we should thus have done a great wrong to civilization. And one of the most critical turning points in the history of mankind is the more to be deplored. Because every anxious fear that has fallen has made the exceeding need for such services as we might learn more and more manifest and more and more pressing as demoralizing circumstances which we might have controlled have gone from bad to worse. Until now, as if to furnish a sort of sinister climax, France and Italy between them and made waste paper paper. The Treaty of Versailles and the whole field of international relationships is in perilous confusion. The affairs of the world can be set straight only by the firmest and most determined exhibition of the will to believe and make the light the right prevailing. The present situation of affairs in the world affords us an opportunity to retrieve us and to render mankind the impossible service of proving that there is at least one great and powerful nation which can put aside programs of passing for interest and devote itself practicing and establishing the highest ideals of 50% and the consistent means resulted standards of consciousness of rights. The only way in which we can show our true appreciation of the significance of our history today is by resolving to put health interest away.

[Advertiser/Promoter]

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[Stephen K. Bannon]

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[Advertiser/Promoter]

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[Stephen K. Bannon]

WAR ROOM here's your host, Stephen K. Banner. It's Tuesday the 11th of November in the year of our Lord 2025, the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month, the guns went silent. That was to bring down the curtain on what they called the Great War, the catastrophe that basically kicked off what we call the short 20th century, really. From August, let's say July, August of 1914, until, I don't know, November, December of 1989. Follow the Berlin Wall. Today's Veterans Day. It was called Veterans Day, was shifted to Veterans Day, I think, in 1954. General Eisenhower, because to call it Armistice Day was a little, I don't know, a little uncomfortable since that armistice essentially laid the foundation for even A greater war, greater catastrophe for humanity. That was World War II. And so they shifted it to Veterans Day here in the War Room. As you know, we bifurcate Memorial Day, which is for our honored dead, and Veterans Day is for we the living. The President Day, though, is going about 10:30. He will go to Arlington National Cemetery. There will be a wreath laying. We will cover that. Obviously, all live. We're going throughout the day. Talk about veterans, obviously, but the institutions that they were are veterans of these. Our army, our Navy and our marine Corps, all 250 years old. And how unique that is in human history to have institutions that are basically more powerful, more focused, a greater global presence after a quarter of a millennia. That happens very, very, very rarely. And there's something to how does that happen? How do these institutions which have problems? I mean, the Navy's got a huge shipbuilding problem, I think a ship handling problem, just basic seamanship. Army's got tons of problems, Marine Corps, but all of them work through those problems and can deliver when you need it. As we said last night in the last 600 meters, and by the way, it was so extraordinary to see that play on national TV and all the great comments the Warren Posse had that watched it. Can, you know, take them off the chain. The fighting men and women of our armed services have never let us down. Where you've had problems is political interference. As they said the other night when we had the premiere of last six or the screening of the last 600 meters here, one of the Marines said, you just take the Marines off the chain and they will deliver a victory. Right now, people may not like the way that victory comes about, but when you're in war fighting, it's only about victory. Okay? It's about victory. I've got Tage Gill is riding shotgun with me, Patrick K. O'. Donnell. Patrick, you've done so much about the First World War, really today, for so long, was Armistice Day. That's why the British, they said right there, 1 million dead in the United Kingdom. That's why Great Britain never really recovered from World War I. World War II was essentially the knockout blow for the empire. And I think Churchill knew that. That's why he was so adamant and anti Nazi and anti Hitler in those years in the wilderness in the 1920s and 1930s, because he realized any kind of concentration of power on the European continent would put the empire at great risk. Your thoughts today, sir? Veterans Day. Patrick K. O', Donnell, our greatest in his generation, the greatest combat historian.

[Advertiser/Promoter]

Sir.

[Veteran/Marine]

Steve, it's an honor And a pleasure to be with you today. I think about the men, the Marines that I was with in Fallujah on every Veterans Day. And last night I had the privilege to be with them on the Marine Corps birthday. We celebrated last night the Marine Corps birthday and just celebrated being alive after Fallujah and that charnel house of, you know, some of the toughest urban combat Since World War II where you had bunkered enemies like the Japanese that would fight to the death. And you know, I was with some of the greatest Americans I've ever, ever met and a generation of Americans with the Marine Corps in particular. I was with Lima Co. 3 1. I was with Recon before that. And I just, I saw a generation that, it just blew me away that, you know, one house after another. The platoon went from 60 men down to 20 men standing. Many guys had multiple Purple Hearts but would consistently leave the aid station to come back with their brothers.

[Stephen K. Bannon]

No, this is, you know, last night, you know, I had Michael Pack co host it and I told the story when Michael Pack went and screened the film for the Force Recon Marines of Peleliu and Tarawa. These two amphibious landings were absolute slaughter pens. And you could argue the Force Recon of the Marines is, you know, the top 1%. It's the greatest of the greatest generation. And when they saw the film, their admiration for the courage and valor and tenacity of the young Marines was overwhelming. They said they couldn't do that. In the Force Recon of the landings at Tarawa and Peleliu, they clear cut everything in front of them. They were told, hey, these are 17, 18, 19, 20 year old marines. Hey, you're going to hit that beach and everything in front of you is dead. You're not going to back up an inch. You just go until you can't go any farther. They said, hey, not kicking in these doors. And you got women running around and had jobs and you got little kids running around have IEDs that said the pressure on these kids is unbelievable. That's why I keep saying in this country today, particularly this young male generation that's so based, you can't say enough about them. They have had everything pressed against them from the woke culture to the absolute hatred of masculinity. And they've come through. Michael Pack told me a story last night I had not heard. Michael said that in the last couple of years he took the film to a private school in New York City, one of the best private schools in New York City. But they're all totally woke and as he screened the film afterwards the teachers are all over him, you know the war and everything, you know all the politics of the war and blah blah blah blah. But at the end of it the young boys that have been in this environment and demasculate, you know, the demascul, the anti patriarch of being ripped apart by these viper terrorist teachers every day in one of the most woke schools in New York City all came up to they took a couple of Marines with him and they wanted to find out how to be marines. That's why I say the last 600 meters, as bloody as it is, as horrible as is, is the one of the best recruiting films ever seen. Young men in the United States of America will watch that film and say, hey, I want to be part of that. That's why after 250 years, our army, our Navy, our Marine Corps, our institutions unparalleled. Short commercial break Veterans Day in the.

[Advertiser/Promoter]

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[Veteran/Marine]

No.

[Historian/Commentator]

What are you waiting for?

[Stephen K. Bannon]

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[Advertiser/Promoter]

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[Stephen K. Bannon]

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[Advertiser/Promoter]

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[Stephen K. Bannon]

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[Scott Bessant (Secretary of Treasury)]

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[Advertiser/Promoter]

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

[Stephen K. Bannon]

Download the Getter app now. Sign up for free and be part of the movement. Okay, welcome back. Tage Gill, you're joining us. Your thoughts on Veterans Day, brother?

[Tage Gill (Navy SEAL Veteran)]

I'm just happy to be here, Steve. I'm happy to support the war room and I'm happy to be part of this Veterans Day celebration. As you know, I was a veteran. I was in the the Navy for 10 years in the SEAL teams, and then I was a contractor for about nine years. So I was in and out of Afghanistan and Iraq from 01 to 2014. And I am very happy to support and celebrate veterans and for all those who served in every branch of service, living and dead, and also the families of veterans who sacrificed so much when the veterans went off to war. The families, I don't think they get thanked enough for the sacrifices that made for being home alone and not knowing if their spouses are going to come home from these wars. I'm just happy to be here and happy to celebrate this. And of course, on the coffee, we're having a Veterans Day sale. But that's not the reason I'm here. I just wanted to celebrate veterans and celebrate the cycles.

[Stephen K. Bannon]

I don't know, man and women, we have an issue with veterans being homeless. I promote all these veterans companies. I think it's great.

[Tage Gill (Navy SEAL Veteran)]

We have huge.

[Stephen K. Bannon]

I think it's great that you vets come back and become entrepreneurs. You've been, you've been part of large organizations which do, which do support entrepreneurial activity in combat, right? That's kind of the whole mission is you got to think on your own and kind of, you know, ride to the sound of the guns and get stuff done. But there are large bureaucratic organizations, as you know better than anybody, that's the reason we got such crappy coffee in the Navy is just because of the bureaucracy, because of the system. I couldn't be prouder of veterans coming out and saying, hey, I've worked inside the system. I worked to defend my country in whatever role it was, right? I've worked to defend my country and now it's time to do something different. So I think it's, particularly with the homeless issues and the PTSD and all that. I think it's great. And I think that's how we honor veterans for their service, also for the institutions they served, which is the Army, Navy, Air Force, Coast Guard, all of it. And remember, for the longest time, the Air Force was part of the Army.

[Veteran/Marine]

The.

[Stephen K. Bannon]

The Army Air Corps. Taj Gill, thoughts?

[Tage Gill (Navy SEAL Veteran)]

I agree with you. 100, Steve. Last week, I was out at Salt Lake City. I was part of a veterans group called Warrior Rising, and they. It's basically like a shark tank for veterans. I went through their program a few. Few. Few years ago, but they invited me out to pitch Shields in Salt Lake City. I did that last Friday. But we need more groups like this that support veteran entrepreneurs. And not only that, but, like, you're saying the PTSD stuff, guys are still killing themselves in record numbers, and there's not enough help out there. And the. The veteran. The va, The Veterans Administration, you know, they're still throwing these antidepressants and all this stuff at guys. And, you know, I did hyperbaric oxygen therapy that helped with my. I had a lot of brain injuries that helped with that a lot. Like, it was, like, night and day difference. And then for the PTSD stuff, I didn't even know I had that. I. And then somebody told me how I used to be really angry, and I went down to South America and I drank this stuff called ayahuasca. It's a psychedelic medicine from Peru, and it changed my life. Like, it completely changed my life. But you can never get that.

[Stephen K. Bannon]

Okay.

[Tage Gill (Navy SEAL Veteran)]

I don't know. You can never. You can never get that in the United States because it's illegal. But, you know, through these.

[Stephen K. Bannon]

Yeah.

[Tage Gill (Navy SEAL Veteran)]

Hyperbaric oxygen, psychedelic treatments, guys are. Guys are healing.

[Stephen K. Bannon]

We're gonna get you on the mics. We're gonna get you on Mike Cernovich's Twitter feed about the. Was it ayahuasca?

[Tage Gill (Navy SEAL Veteran)]

Ayahuasca.

[Stephen K. Bannon]

We're not pitching ayahuasca.

[Tage Gill (Navy SEAL Veteran)]

That was eight years ago. And I've been.

[Stephen K. Bannon]

He had a vision. He had a vision. He had a vision of. He wanted to get in the coffee business while he's down there. Right, Hang on for a second. Hang on for a second. You had P.T. they finally diagnosed you with bad PTSD, right?

[Tage Gill (Navy SEAL Veteran)]

Right. Yeah.

[Stephen K. Bannon]

Okay.

[Tage Gill (Navy SEAL Veteran)]

I thought back. Back in the day. I remember talking to one of my SEAL team buddies about it, and I was like, oh, that stuff. You know, only conventional forces, guys get that, and blah, blah, blah. You know, we used to think we're the tough guys, that special operators. And he's like, no, we all get it. And then I realized I was getting angry all the time, and I didn't know why. And I. I went out and seeked a solution, and I found it, and for me, it was the ayahuasca. It just brought everything out and let me deal with all my problems. And I dumped it and moved forward. And since then, I've emotionally and spiritually healed. I don't know about 100, but a lot. And I feel great now. You know, now. Now I'm aligned with God. I'm married with kids, and January 1st will be eight years. No drinking. And then, you know, the coffee business. And just all parts of my life are getting better by the day, and we need. But most veterans don't have access to any of this stuff, and they don't even know about it. The VA just gives them pills on top of pills on top of pills, and then guys go kill themselves.

[Stephen K. Bannon]

Yeah, you can't. You can't solve it. You can't solve. With the antidepressants. We see that all over tay. Just hang on for a second. And. And just a. Was. Was the brain injury came from concussions we saw in the last 600 meters. Jan Benner was with us last night. That scene in it, when the Abrams tank and these guys have trained, they've just never trained. Live fire with the Abrams tank right next to Abrams tank lets off its. Its main gun. These guys are, like, rattled. The. The fillings in their teeth come out, and they're just standing next to it. Did you get it from. Did you get it from concussion?

[Tage Gill (Navy SEAL Veteran)]

Yeah, from. From breaching. I was a breacher. So we, you know, blown up, blown doors and blowing holes in walls. And then. Then they also say it comes from firing heavy weapons. All the times. I did. For a little while, I did ground mobility in the SEAL team, so we did a lot of heavy weapons, you know, the.50 caliber machine guns, mortars, stuff like that. And then also parachuting. I had a hard landing where I got knocked unconscious on the landing. Skydiving accident. And, you know, all these things, they just add up. They're cumulative. So over the years, it gets worse and worse. And I went. I went through. They're actually through Debbie Lee's program, America's mighty warriors, another 501c3. We did a spec scan of my brain and my brain. It measures the areas in your brain that have blood flow. And I had a lot of areas in my brain that weren't getting blood flow at that time. And I did about 80 dives in a hyperbaric chamber over six weeks, just knocking them out, two a day, Monday through Friday. And at the end of that, it restored. It was crazy, the amount of blood flow restored, but I could sleep better, I could think better. It actually fix my eyesight and got rid of the tinnitus. The ringing in my ears. Like it was life changing for me. It was amazing.

[Stephen K. Bannon]

Debbie Lee is fantastic. What she's in memory of her son. Another great warrior who died killed in action. Mo Bannon is Mo. You're up at the the Academy. I know you're in the board. Big weekend you guys had up there. Where are you. Can you. Can you geolocate and let the audience know where you are?

[Mo Bannon (West Point Graduate)]

Right in front of Washington hall, the mess hall and the two of the barracks. Actually you can see more of the barracks behind me. But those are two of the main barracks. Eisenhower Barracks and MacArthur Barracks. And then my barracks where I lived were actually over behind me.

[Stephen K. Bannon]

Right in back. You just. Just so the audience understands that that's the famous plains of West Point. Correct. That only you only do passing reviews there. Civilians are not allowed to step on it. And quite frankly it's kept pristine. Unless you're actually doing a formal military drill.

[Mo Bannon (West Point Graduate)]

Correct. You do parades on it. You do parades before football games. Graduation week. Since I was more of a. I'm going to say athlete student. Not student athlete. But I graduated. I had my diploma from West Point so that's what matters. But I paraded I think three times in my cadet career. R Day A day and graduation parade. However we were up here for my 15 year reunion this weekend and the grads were actually that's the one time that we got to step onto the plane after graduation is.

[Stephen K. Bannon]

Yes.

[Mo Bannon (West Point Graduate)]

Is out here to watch the pass and review. And I believe that some of the current cadets were heckled by my classmates.

[Stephen K. Bannon]

The it is. We got those great photos of you in your cadet uniform after the. On the. On the plane or right off the plane for the. For folks at home. The reason that is sacred ground. That is also where in fact the statues there are to the Polish officers who came over and helped form the Continental essentially a militia into an army. It had been formed army. The reason West Point is strategic. It's above the Hudson. You've got this stunning view and they do a chain across there to block the British from going either up or down. Either take New York City or try to cut the the country in two to cut New England off. Because the Hudson Valley and the Hudson river were always strategic asset that was being fought over. But it's on that plane on that field right there where the Continental army was taken from a bunch of ragtag colonists to almost like a militia into an army with drill. Drill and concentrate. Drill. Of course the memoirs of all the leaders of the Civil War and everything is they would come and their beast barracks at that time would be right on that plane in commemoration of, of how they hammered, how they hammered an army together. Mo just hang out there. I know it's a little chilly, but hey, you're, you're, you're, you're army so you're tough. We're going to go out with the Kons, go marching along. You're in the war room today. It's Veterans Day. The president, United States, the commander in chief of the armed forces. If we stay on schedule, we'll momentarily leave for Arlington National Cemetery. There'll be a wreath laying today. We'll by the president at Arlington. We're going to cover it all. We've got a lot to go through and actually some current news. The secretary of treasury gave a great interview or Morning Joe where they kind of ganged up on him. But Scott Bessant, you know, you can go four or five on one at Morning Joe and he can bench press them all. Also got some clips last night from the president's interview with Laura Ingram, including my favorite topic, 600,000 foreign nationals here in American universities, including 350,000 Chinese. Big topic here in the war room. We'll break it all down.

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[Stephen K. Bannon]

Here's your host, Stephen K. Bannon. We're gonna get to, we're gonna get to some of the interview with Scott Besson, some of the economic issues that are pressing upon us. Mo, you're on the board up there. Now talk to me about these young cadets. The thing I was impressed about the generation that was with you when I went up there and spent a lot of time when you were at West Point was the fact that all of you volunteered as tasia. All you guys volunteered during a war. You knew that you guys were going to the Middle east as failed a policy that was set aside. All these kids knew they were going. And in fact the force recon of World War II, they will tell you most of those guys were draftees. There were some volunteers, don't get me wrong. But a lot of them were draftees. And that's the other thing that the people were very impressed at, that all of these young men and women had volunteered in a time of war to actually go to a place that you'd be trained and then go into really into the teeth of the war. Which is one of the reasons I've always admired your generation of being people that stepped up and so people that it smack talk them. I don't think I've had the opportunity to see these young men and women in action. And I can tell you right now, the young men in this current generation are as based as possible. And if that's what we have to depend on going forward in the United States, we're going to be just fine. We're going to be just fine. I can see the makings of the of a greatest generation right there. These kids have had culturally, I'm not talking about economically, but the pressure on them economically will be enormous. It's enormous right now. Decisions they're going to have to make with things like the singularity. You just had people announcing last week how they're going next step on genetic engineering. You understand Artificial intelligence is out of control. Starting to show up in the jobs reports now, all that pressure on this current generation. But as they've been under pressure with the propaganda in these schools, I don't care if it's a private school or public school unless you're homeschooled or maybe a handful of Christian and Catholic schools. And I'm saying a handful, you're getting propaganda from these teachers who are nothing more than terrorists who try to. Who try to form these kids into being these radicals, beta male radicals. And they're not having it. And they fought this one kind of on their own. So that's what's so impressive about Them Mo. What about the current. You know, West Point's gone through some issues with woke, et cetera. But the cadets. I'm always impressed with the cadets. What can you tell? You spent the weekend up there with cadets. What can you tell us about them?

[Mo Bannon (West Point Graduate)]

I'm extremely impressed. I know, like you said, when my class entered West Point, we knew that most likely we entered during a time of war, that most likely we were going to deploy shortly after we graduated. We are currently not in a time of war. And these cadets are still coming to learn and train and get ready for. God forbid we get involved in another war and it's not going to be a war like we were in in Afghanistan and Iraq. And they're learning many great things. You know, there's new majors from when I was here. There's 36 majors now. I believe there were less than 20 when I was a cadet. So it's the cream of the crop that are coming here. And just seeing that the cadets go across posts and getting to talk to them, it's truly amazing to see. I know. Wind tunnel. Now.

[Stephen K. Bannon]

Does everybody still have to either major or minor in engineering?

[Mo Bannon (West Point Graduate)]

Correct?

[Stephen K. Bannon]

Either. You have to major in engineering. You have to have a minor in engineering.

[Mo Bannon (West Point Graduate)]

You do. So you have to take an engineering track. If you aren't an engineering major. So you have plenty of majors to include engineering. But you see a lot of. No matter what, you have to take an engineering track. So you will take engineering classes.

[Stephen K. Bannon]

Yeah, no, that makes it tough. Hang on there. We're gonna get some other shots from the historic sacred soil of the United States. Part of it. President Trump's gonna be at Arlington National Cemetery. That's former General Lee's and his wife, Mary Custis Lee. Their home that was turned into a federal cemetery in the middle of World War II. Excuse me, the Civil War. And of course the plains of. The sacred plains of West Point, which is where the Continental army came together and actually learned how to be an army. Can I play? We'll take a break. Mo. You can warm up and maybe give us another shot of the. Of trophy point. I got Patrick K. O' Donnell Atage Gill with me. Can I play the. Because we're gonna get a little jammed here for time. I can tell with the president getting ready to leave on a motorcade to go to Arlington National Cemetery. Can we play Scott Besance? Well, let's play his interview this morning with. With the folks over at Morning Joe.

[Scott Bessant (Secretary of Treasury)]

I think that the tariffs help consumers. They have. Because the. We are able to if you go back and look, we have the. Brought down the budget deficit. And if you. MIT came out with a study that said that 42% of the great inflation was caused by the big deficit spending. So as you bring down deficit spending, inflation will come down. And the tariffs right now we take in substantial tariff income over time that will rebalance as the factories move to the US and that will become the corporate income or wage income. And by bringing down the budget deficit, we are bringing down inflation.

[Stephen K. Bannon]

Amid this discussion of costs and prices and affordability, how does a $20 billion bailout of Argentina help Americans? You're the President's point person on that. Can you explain to those here who are feeling the pinch, including America's farmers, why the United States is helping out Argentina?

[Scott Bessant (Secretary of Treasury)]

Well, can you. Do you know what a swap line is?

[Stephen K. Bannon]

It's currency swap.

[Scott Bessant (Secretary of Treasury)]

Yes, yes, but what, what is that?

[Veteran/Marine]

That's.

[Stephen K. Bannon]

You're the Treasury Secretary.

[Scott Bessant (Secretary of Treasury)]

Yes, but why would you call it a bailout? That is how in most bailouts, you don't make money. The US Government made money. We used our financial. We used our financial balance sheet to stabilize the government. One of our great allies in Latin America during it all election, the president there won in a landslide. The government's going to make money. And I would rather use peace through economic strength than have to be shooting at narco boats coming offshore. If the government collapsed, we have a generational opportunity in Latin America to create allies. We just saw an election in Bolivia. We're probably going to see an election action in Colombia. We've seen them in Ecuador, we're going to see them in Chile. So by stabilizing the economy there and making a profit, then that's a very good deal for the American people. And there's a lot we could have been doing for American farmers, but Democrats closed the government.

[Stephen K. Bannon]

So. Morning Joe. Here's the thing. The economy is a. The Trump administration, Scott Bessant, have a very definitive plan about how they've gone about and tried to not just jumpstart the economy, but really do a major and fundamental restructuring of the American economy. In fact, part of this and a big part of this is in front of the Supreme Court now even questioning does the president himself have the ability under emergency powers to do this? He is trying to, you can say, rebalance. I say just reorganize the commercial relationships of the world based upon manufacturing. The theory of the case of the globalists for the last 30, 40 years is just wrong. It's dead wrong. And it has weakened this country and as importantly, weakened the citizens in this country. And this is what we were going to go to, the religion of globalization. And we were going to ship all the manufacturing out of the United States that was too low value added and we were going to ship it out of the United States. That's the excuse they used. What they wanted to do was to get to countries with lower wage, lower wage costs, no social safety net and no environmental concerns so it could turn China into a dumping ground and poison the entire environment of the world. These capitalists, the private equity and hedge funds and Wall street guys that worked in unison with a murderous dictatorship, let's exactly say what it is that shipped all they gutted, particularly starting up in the industrial heartland of this country, I might add, the arsenal of democracy that won not simply the First World War, but then came back and won the Second World War and oh, to top it off, won the Cold War. Yep, a trifecta, that arsenal, democracy. Here's the thanks you got. They gutted it. They gutted it in front of your eyes. And everybody stood around and kind of had all this happy talk and all this highfalutin talk. Trump, for all his imperfections and he's quite imperfect. This is why his rise to greatness is so fricking impressive. Trump understands that, hey, we've got to redo these commercial relationships and start to bring manufacturing jobs back here to the United States of America. The manufacturing base drives everything else. You can't be just a service economy. The people on Wall street that sat there, the Gary Cohen's, are upsetting a ton of these meetings and argue that it's just dead fricking wrong. And now we got China. You know, the great Mike Rowe and the CEO, it's a piece up on Fox that Mike Rowe, the kind of dirty hands guy talking about jobs, and the CEO of Ford Motor Company are both warning that China is doubling and tripling down right now to continue to hold all the manufacturing jobs, including manufacturing jobs related to artificial intelligence. This is an economic war and President Trump's the first guy to sit there and go, no, this is why Liberation Day was so important, that we are going to redo the commercial relationships of the world. So you got two choices to get to the number one consumer market in the world. That would be the United States. You got a golden door. You're either going to pay a fee to do that or, and what we'd like to do is to bring your manufacturing here. That's why Scott Bessem was down last Friday on the show with the Secretary of Treasury took about an hour and I think gave a very enlightening. A very enlightening. A very enlightening interview. A very enlightening interview. Because we weren't asking one gotcha question after the next. The Morning Joe thing kind of loses itself. And let me give some advice to the mainstream media. You sit there four or five on one, bop, bop, bop, bop, bop. This is why nobody watches mainstream media. You could have had a very enlightening discussion with the Secretary of Treasury and gotten down to some of the important issues that are risk. This plan is not without risk. It's like anything in business or anything in economics. There are risk involved in everything.

[Advertiser/Promoter]

Always.

[Stephen K. Bannon]

The question is how do you mitigate that risk smartly and keep upside and keep driving the upside while you're mitigating the risk?

[Advertiser/Promoter]

Risk.

[Stephen K. Bannon]

This is kind of business 101. It's kind of finance 101. It's no, there is no endeavor you have that is risk free. You can try to mitigate it to get the risk down to, I don't know, as close to risk free as you think at the time. That is an enlightening conversation to have. And this plan has got some risk to it. This plan has. This plan is on one level a gamble on this theory of supply side tax cuts and to basically have massive investment and give incentive, tax depreciation, all of it to incentivize people to put capital into plant and equipment to do what? Oh, to rebuild the manufacturing base just like the tariff policy is to rebuild the manufacturing base. Now it turns out the revenue from the tax, the revenue from the tariff policy is much greater than everybody thinks and that's going to offset the, the deficit. And Scott Bessant said right there, I got the Secretary of Treasury on record that the deficits are, wait for it, driving, you know, the price. The issue with the prices is not totally, maybe not even principally, but to a large extent driven by these massive federal deficits of $2 trillion per year. We ought to talk about the risk. We ought to talk about are all these $19 trillion, all that, is that actually happening? This is why I called for in that Politico interview I gave Lutnick or somebody pick somebody, pick them. Don't pick Besson because he's got too much to do. Pick Lutnick or somebody else. Let's get a spreadsheet and let's see where the investments are and let's see where they're coming in. I don't want these foreign leaders. I don't want these people to tap us along. Let's see where it is. These companies are say they're going to do it. Let's see where they're doing it, when they're going to do it, how they're going to do it. Let's go. Let's see it. You're going to have an economic rejuvenation to get back to manufacturing. Short Commercial break From the arsenal of democracy, the United States of America. Back in a moment.

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[Stephen K. Bannon]

The doctors and the experts told me.

[Advertiser/Promoter]

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[Stephen K. Bannon]

Read the university study.

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[Stephen K. Bannon]

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[Interviewer/Journalist]

Are not thrilled about this idea of hundreds of thousands of foreign students in the United States. We have about 350,000 Chinese 1.3. You were going to, you know, push to, you know, get them out, but that was pulled back. You've said as many as 600,000 Chinese students could come to the United States. Why, sir, is that a pro MAGA position when so many American kids want to go to school and there are places not for them and these universities are getting rich off Chinese money?

[Scott Bessant (Secretary of Treasury)]

Sure. Never said about China, but we do Have a lot of people coming in from China. We always have China and other countries. We also have a massive system of colleges and universities. And if we were to cut that in half, which perhaps makes some people happy, you would have half the colleges in the United States go out of business.

[Interviewer/Journalist]

So what?

[Scott Bessant (Secretary of Treasury)]

Well, I think that's a big deal.

[Interviewer/Journalist]

Are they fancy?

[Scott Bessant (Secretary of Treasury)]

You would have the United States. Yeah, but you would have, as you know, historically black.

[Stephen K. Bannon]

When we look at the global competition right now, let's go back to artificial intelligence because I'm in my mind becoming more adamant every day that we are in a race with China. I don't think it helps when you have Jensen Huang, which this country has done so much for with Nvidia actively. And he's the head guy, right, Makes the chip everybody needs. Actively promoting the Chinese Communist Party and that we should share the chips and that it's logical for us to share the chips because we want the whole world off of his chips. And that we should give. And that we should give. By the way, when we get the President and we'll go to it. Okay, fine, maybe for security reasons, who knows. But the President I think has left the White House in a motorcade with the beast, I think or maybe the suv. We'll find out, but we'll hopefully get a shot of that and we'll see him going to Arlington for wreath laying ceremony. The we'll get to that as soon as we get some live footage. We got Mo at West Point, we got Taj Gil with us, we got Patrick K. O' Donnell can tell us a lot about Armistice Day. And I think where the President's going is up to the tomb of the unknown. So we'll give you the background of that. So we're in a race and you have the lead guy saying, oh, we should just do this. And then you got David Sacks. I get these comments out of the newsletter from Jake Sherman's shop that he's promoting that we gotta make chips available to everybody. Now you get this huge thing today about Microsoft's cutting the deal with UAE to get them advanced chips. Let's just go full stop. If this is a fairly dangerous technology, it's got potential, huge upside. Upside, potential huge upside. Right now we see it taking essentially lower level administrative, managerial and tech jobs in our, you know, post industrial economy. And that's going to have. This is why I keep saying they've got to sell the supply side tax cut. We did it. The big beautiful Bill did it. You made a bet. You're not Going to be. You cannot unwind that bet. You just cannot do it. The way the American economy works and the application of capital into the system, these are long term plays. You couple the tariff situation, the trade reorganization, the reorganization of all the commercial activities in the world to basically drive American manufacturer. You add on top of that a tax cut that should turbocharge that because the advantages it gives to capital and depreciation of capital and return on investment, all of it kind of a whole cloth. You're going to get to be a driver in this industry. All the research we've done are the universities, right? The great universities, the research labs, the weapons labs, that advanced AI. But when it gets down to it, if you're in a race, and essentially an arms race, because I'm hearing over and over again they're trying to get there in back of us, where they're trying to catch us, it's very simple. You cut them off of capital, right? So their cost of capital is higher and they got a scrounge. You cut them off from access to markets. You cut them off from. This is the Chinese Communist Party. You cut them off from all training and education because we're training our enemies right now. You cut them out of all the company, get the Chinese nationals out of here. And look, we're the pro Lao Beijing organization and I'm the head of three or four organizations that represent the Lao Beijing in trying to get their country back. But these kids that come over here don't have a choice. You got to sign that document once you get over here, once you come here, that you got to be basically an intelligence asset you got to feed back to them. And more importantly, it's taking space up from American citizens. So you cut them off of every possibility, every. If you're in an arms race on a technology supposed to be the defining technology of the 21st century, and it has such major defense and national security and war making capability, why would we ever in a billion years give them access to anything? So you can't play both parts, you can't play both sides. We've got to now shut it down or start to shame people like David Sacks and like Jensen Huang, who are essentially agents of influence for the Chinese Communist Party of trying to get China access to chips, access to education, access to training, access to technical expertise. How about this?

[Advertiser/Promoter]

Nothing.

[Historian/Commentator]

Nothing.

[Stephen K. Bannon]

It's like the scene in the Godfather. How about this? You pay for the senator, you pay for the gaming license. This is what you have to do. You have to play hardball and you have to play smash mouth. And if our college system, I don't know what Lutnick who completely botched the HB1 visa explanation to the President, United States. I don't understand what he or the Department of Education is explaining to the President of the United States and showing you the math about the college system here. Yes, the foreign students pay more. But if that's just to pay a bunch of tenured professors in these woke universities because they're all woke except for a handful to pay their tenured salaries in retirement, no thanks. And if half the system would collapse, you'd like foreign students, number one. Let's open it up. Look at the acceptance rates. Let's open it up to American students. Let's open it up to African Americans, Hispanics, whites, all of it. If you're a US citizen, boom. Your kid's going to get a shot. Guess what? They're just as intelligent, just as hardworking. Just give them a shot. I'd rather give them a shot than somebody from overseas. Hey, full stop. Does that make me a nativist? Does that make me a xenophobe? It makes whatever. Hey, if that makes me anything, I don't give a shot. A tinker's dam. I care about American citizens. I care about the kids of American citizens. I don't care about the Chinese Communist Party. I don't care about the elites of Europe sending their kids. I just don't. Once every kid wants every one of those bills like the HB1s, they can't show any any technical expertise the foreigners have. They don't. It's all a scam to suppress and destroy American workers. And whoever givens President Trump, I'd like to see the business model that they're giving President Trump the financial model of the university system. And hey, if 10% of the universities and colleges country are not going to make it because you're not taking foreign students and inundating it with foreign students, then see the time to rethink your model or let capitalism work. Short commercial break the President's en route to our wreath laying ceremony. We're here on Veterans Day in the war room. Okay, let's be honest. You never thought it would get this far.

[Advertiser/Promoter]

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[Stephen K. Bannon]

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