Episode 5160: Iran Tensions Grow; President Of Korea Sentenced To Life In Prison

Summary

Podcast Summary: Bannon's War Room — Episode 5160

Date: February 21, 2026
Title: Iran Tensions Grow; President Of Korea Sentenced To Life In Prison
Host: Stephen K. Bannon (WarRoom.org)
Featured Guests: Captain Jim Fennell, Spencer Morrison, E.J. Antoni, Richard Haas, others

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Overview

This episode covers three major themes:

1. A Supreme Court ruling against President Trump’s use of emergency authority to impose tariffs (and its implications for economic nationalism)
2. Escalating U.S.–Iran tensions (potential for military action and its risks)
3. The sentencing of South Korea’s former President Yoon Suk-yeol to life in prison (impact on South Korean democracy and U.S. policy in Asia)

The roundtable includes in-depth analysis from economic and national security experts, critiques of current U.S. strategy, and contentious debate on the future of American populist nationalism.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Supreme Court Strikes Down Trump’s Tariffs

Main Story:
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled 6-3 that President Trump unlawfully applied tariffs under emergency powers, invalidating a large part of his trade agenda—even Gorsuch and Barrett (Trump appointees) ruled against him.

• Bannon’s Reaction:

  • Criticizes the Supreme Court, calling their decision “an embarrassment to their families.”
  • Frames the ruling as a blow to presidential authority but a testament to separation of powers.

  “I'm ashamed of certain members of the court... They’re very unpatriotic and disloyal to our Constitution.”
  —Stephen K. Bannon [00:45]

• Spencer Morrison:

  • Points out that the ruling was about presidential powers, not Trump personally.
  • Emphasizes that tariffs are essentially taxes and must have Congressional approval.

  “They said, look, if you want to get tariffs, the way to do it is to go to Congress and ask for authorization... In America, the stroke of the president's pen is not enough to impose taxes on the American people.” —Spencer Morrison [02:00]

Notable Moment:
Trump, in response, signed a new executive order for further tariffs—prompting legal and political controversy.

Long-Term Impact:

• Experts (E.J. Antoni, Spencer Morrison) note that Trump still has old statutory authority (e.g., 1930 Tariff Act Section 338) to impose significant tariffs with broad justifications.
• The Supreme Court’s ruling limits executive flexibility but doesn’t end the overall tariff toolkit.

  “This changes nothing in the long run. It has a short term impact on the President's trade policy. Absolutely.”
  —E.J. Antoni [33:37]

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2. U.S.–Iran Tensions and Military Buildup

Background:
The U.S. is moving large military assets into the Middle East amid unclear objectives regarding Iran. Media and expert opinions differ: some note incoherence in U.S. policy, others urge decisive military action.

Richard Haas:

• Critiques ambiguity in U.S. objectives and potential for escalation:

  “It's hard to make sense of US policy because it's somewhere between incoherent and opaque.”
  —Richard Haas [03:53]

• Warns that Iran could easily escalate any limited strike into a broader regional conflict.

Captain Jim Fennell:

• Provides a detailed assessment of U.S. deployment:
  • Hundreds of combat aircraft, multiple carriers, preparations for possible air supremacy.
  • Argues that a decisive attack could cripple Iran’s military but warns of civil chaos afterward.

  “If President Trump decides to use military force, we will destroy Iran’s military, 100% of it... This is what's coming to them.”
  —Captain Jim Fennell [11:31]

Debate: Incrementalism vs. Decisive Action

• Bannon & Fennell debate Trump strategy (“incremental limited strikes” vs. overwhelming force).
• Fennell: Limited strikes historically fail (cites Vietnam); advocates for a full strike.
• Bannon: Questions who “owns” the post-strike chaos.

  “If we make the arguments about terrorizing their people and we take out the military... then we've come to the defense of the people, then we own everything thereafter... We own that, do we not?”
  —Stephen K. Bannon [20:10]

Risks of Escalation:

• Possibility of Iran retaliating against U.S. interests or regional allies.
• Russian, Chinese, and Iranian naval drills signal increased great power competition.

Watchpoints:

• Movements of U.S. and allied naval assets in Mediterranean.
• Signs of Iranian attempts to disrupt shipping or conduct sneak attacks.
• Back-channel diplomacy vs. direct confrontation.

  “All the pieces are moved in. Maybe we have another option to ratchet up if they don’t come to the table cleanly.”
  —Captain Jim Fennell [24:16]

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3. South Korean Political Upheaval: President Yoon Sentenced

Event:
Former President Yoon Suk-yeol sentenced to life in prison for imposing martial law during a political crisis in 2024. The episode examines the trial’s implications for democracy.

In-Depth Analysis:

• Martial law lasted only six hours but tested the durability of South Korean democracy.

• Critics rejoiced; supporters felt betrayed by the process.

• Prosecution had sought the death penalty; other officials also received long sentences.

• Frank Januzzi (via quote):

  • Notes this is “the most momentous domestic trial in more than 30 years” in Korea.

  “South Korea has emerged from this process with due process, sustained rule of law. Democracy itself was in the docket in this trial, and the South Korean people affirmed the value of that democracy, the resilience of that democracy, without personalizing the crime.”
  —Captain Jim Fennell quoting Januzzi [06:53]

• Captain Jim Fennell’s Perspective:

  • Suggests the outcome signals a possible tilt towards China, not Japan or the U.S.
  • Warns of unusual hostility from the new government (not escorting U.S. bombers, dressing down U.S. commanders).

  “They’re moving into the sphere of the PRC. ... If they're going to treat us like this, we need to talk to them about that and where we're at.”
  —Captain Jim Fennell [21:33]

Bannon’s Critique:

• Compares Yoon’s near-death sentence to moves against other populist leaders worldwide (Bolsonaro, Le Pen, Trump).
• Suggests the West must act before allies drift, calls for stronger U.S. engagement in Asia.

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4. Populist Economic Nationalism and the Path Forward

E.J. Antoni:

• Stresses that, despite legal setbacks, Trump (or any president) can still pursue tariffs using old statutes if discrimination against U.S. commerce is found.

  “It actually gives the chief executive the ability to issue tariffs up to 50%... as long as he can demonstrate some kind of discrimination against US commerce... it’s a blank check.”
  —E.J. Antoni [33:37]

Spencer Morrison:

• Argues for using this moment to make tariffs and protectionism permanent features, not just executive whims.

  “We have to get back to the situation where tariffs... were baked into the fabric of the American legal and economic landscape... packaged as a national security issue.” —Spencer Morrison [39:32]

Political Reality:

• Bannon and his guests lament congressional reluctance—especially among Republicans brought up in the Milton Friedman school of economics.

  “If you go back to the Republican conference... would not do it because they’re still neoliberals. ... The problem is maybe more so, we have to change the hearts and minds of more voters out there.”
  —Stephen K. Bannon & E.J. Antoni [41:03 – 43:19]

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Bannon:
  “This is the primal strike dream of a dying regime. Pray for our enemies because we’re going medieval on these people.”
  [09:39]

• Richard Haas:
  “The United States has assembled all these forces. It’s not clear what the objectives would be, what would be our definition of success.”
  [03:53]

• Captain Jim Fennell:
  “We will destroy Iran’s military... sit over the top of Iran and call fires down on anybody that tries to shoot off an air defense missile or a ballistic missile.”
  [11:31]

• Spencer Morrison:
  “The entire country... has been integrated into a global economic system... The economy is now dependent on foreign countries' products.”
  [39:32]

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Key Timestamps

• Tariff Supreme Court Ruling & Implications: [00:00 – 03:20], [33:37 – 43:19]
• Iran Policy Uncertainty (Richard Haas): [03:20 – 05:15], [08:16 – 08:42]
• South Korea Martial Law, Trial, and Sentence: [05:15 – 08:16], [21:33 – 23:55]
• U.S. Military Buildup in Middle East: [11:31 – 13:58], [24:16 – 25:95]
• Economic Nationalism Deep Dive: [33:37 – 43:19]
• Political Obstacles in Congress: [41:03 – 43:19]

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Conclusion

This episode is packed with fast-moving analysis of major international and domestic developments:

• The Supreme Court redefines the scope of presidential power on tariffs and taxes.
• U.S.–Iran tensions are at a boiling point, with experts differing on strategy and risks of escalation.
• The drama of South Korea’s internal politics underscores rising strategic uncertainty in Asia.
• The populist-nationalist economic vision faces entrenched interests not just from the left, but from within the GOP and Wall Street.

The panel’s tone is combative, urgent, and deeply skeptical of both U.S. establishment figures and allied governments abroad. For listeners, the episode is a clear call to vigilance and political action.

Transcript

[Stephen K. Bannon]

Tonight, Trump's signature economic policy, it is in shambles. The sweeping tariffs he falsely promised would liberate hardworking Americans have been illegal all along. Today, the Supreme Court struck down a huge chunk of the president's trade agenda. The court ruled he illegally deployed emergency powers authority that he does not have to slap crushing tariffs on nearly every country. The historic decision on presidential power was handed down six to three. Even two of Trump's appointees, Justice Neil Gorsuch and Amy Coney Barrett, ruled against him. Trump then unleashed this unhinged tirade against the justices who dared to put him in his place.

I'm ashamed of certain members of the court, absolutely ashamed for not having the courage to do what's right for our country. They're very unpatriotic and disloyal to our Constitution.

[Spencer Morrison]

They don't want to do the right thing.

[Stephen K. Bannon]

They're afraid of it.

Justices Fortunes and Barrett, are you surprised in particular by their decision today?

Do you regret nominating them?

[Spencer Morrison]

I don't want to say whether or not I regret.

[Stephen K. Bannon]

I think their decision was terrible. I think it's an embarrassment to their families.

[Spencer Morrison]

You want to know the truth?

[Stephen K. Bannon]

The two of them,

There's a reason why Trump is attacking our country's separation of powers. The New York Times writes the court's ruling, quote, amounted to a declaration of independence. But let's be real, it took more than 10 months to get here. Trump's illegal tariffs were in effect for 321 days before the court stopped the president's unlawful tax on the American people and voters. Well, they have felt the pain with 60% of Americans disapproving of Trump's whiplash trade policy. But that is not stopping Trump breaking. Just minutes ago, Trump says he signed a new executive order imposing an additional 10% tariff on on all countries, a new effort to bypass the court's ruling.

[Spencer Morrison]

They really strongly said President Trump's tariffs policy is unconstitutional and illegal. They said, look, if you want to get tariffs, the way to do it is to go to Congress and ask for authorization. And so, you know, it's not a decision about any particular president. It's a decision about the presidency. And the Chief justice, writing for six justices, used very strong language about the president to the president saying, you know, the Constitution requires you to get this affirmative approval of the Congress, and you can't just do this on your own. In America, the stroke of the president's pen is not enough to impose taxes on the American people. And terrorists are nothing else but taxes, the Chief justice said. And I think it's notable that this decision wasn't just written by some group of lefty justices, to the extent there even are any. It was written and joined by six justices, including two justices appointed by Donald Trump himself, Neil Gorson and Amy Coney Barrett, both of them say, saying in full that these tariffs were unconstitutional. And so, you know, when I presented the argument to the Supreme Court on November 5, I made about six key points. Every single one, Nicole, of those six points was accepted 100% by all six justices. Today on the Supreme Court, where do

[Stephen K. Bannon]

you think things stands there? There's obviously some competing narratives here. The US still maintaining that the bottom line is zero enrichment for Iranians. But then you had the foreign minister come on Morning Joe yesterday saying actually diplomatic negotiations are apace and that that is not the bottom line that the administration has, at least in private meetings offered in discussions. What's your take on where things stand and whether or not you think limited strikes, which is what the Wall Street Journal has been reporting, could potentially be effective?

[Richard Haas]

Well, Jackie, first of all, it's hard to make sense of US Policy because it's somewhere between incoherent and opaque. The United States has assembled all these forces. It's not clear what the objectives would be, what would be our definition of success. It's not even clear what triggered it. The only new thing coming out of Iran the last couple of months is not their nuclear program, not their missile program, not support for proxies, it's their slaughter of Iranian dissidents. And it's not at all clear how American aircraft carriers and the like and airplanes could protect individual Iranians or bring about regime change or anything else. So I literally do not understand American policy. And by the way, the administration hasn't bothered to explain it. Congress hasn't bothered to hold hearings and ask questions about it. This idea of a limited strike. Yeah, the president may feel compelled to do something because threats don't seem to have moved the Iranians. The problem with limited strikes, by definition is what happens if they don't do the trick. Do you then double down or triple down? Then we find ourselves in a large war. And by the way, Iran has all sorts of ways to inflict pain on oil shipping, on oil refineries and wells, on American forces in the region. So we shouldn't kid ourselves that simply because we want to keep an interaction limited. The Iranians do. It only takes one to start something, but it takes two to manage it and end it.

[Spencer Morrison]

Today in Seoul, they watched and cheered as if it were A play by play. A judge making the final call on the sentencing of former President Yoon Suk Yul. And after Yoon's fate was sealed, his critics celebrated.

[Stephen K. Bannon]

I was watching the martial law, which

is something I'd only seen in history

books, unfold in real time.

[Captain Jim Fennell]

I hoped for a harsher punishment so

[Stephen K. Bannon]

that history wouldn't repeat itself.

[Spencer Morrison]

His supporters were left shocked,

[Stephen K. Bannon]

watching what

[Spencer Morrison]

appears to be a collapse of rule of law.

[Stephen K. Bannon]

Today, I am compelled to question whether we should proceed with an appeal or continue to participate in these criminal proceedings at all.

[Spencer Morrison]

It was December 2024 when President Yoon declared martial law. His middle of the night announcement sent members of the military to Parliament. Protesters protected the building and their democracy inside. The only thing that stopped soldiers from parliament floor furniture deployed by opposition staffers. That bought time until a unanimous vote lifted martial law. From start to finish, it was only six hours, but it was and has been a test of South Korean democracy.

[Captain Jim Fennell]

To me, the most remarkable story is the resilience and the sustainability of South Korean democracy in the face of unprecedented challenges.

[Spencer Morrison]

Frank Januzzi is the president of the Mansfield foundation, which works on US relations with Asia. He calls Yoon's the most momentous domestic trial in more than 30 years. In a country that has a history of Pres. Presidents who've been impeached, jailed, or overthrown

[Captain Jim Fennell]

over the last 14 months, South Korea has emerged from this process with due process, sustained rule of law, sustained democracy itself was in the docket in this trial, and the South Korean people affirmed the value of that democracy, the resilience of that democracy, without personalizing the crime.

[Spencer Morrison]

The outcome from Yoon could have been much worse. The prosecution asked for the death penalty. And it wasn't only Yoon. Five other former officials were also convicted, including the former defense Minister, who will spend the next 30 years in prison. Current President Lee Jae, Myung, Yun's longtime rival, has refrained from politicizing the trial, says Januzi.

[Captain Jim Fennell]

This allowed him to cool down the temperature a bit and also allowed him to focus really on where he needed to focus, which was his foreign policy priorities. Sustaining an outreach to Japan and reassuring the United States that South Korea would be a loyal, faithful ally.

[Spencer Morrison]

Over the past year, South Korea has faced pressure over trade and promise to increase defense spending. It's been a balancing act for a democracy that has now sent a former president to prison for life. Richard, real quickly, let's say the president does indeed does some kind of kinetic action in Iran.

[Stephen K. Bannon]

How destabilizing will that be to the region?

[Richard Haas]

Again, it all depends upon the Iranian response. I think internally Iran has institutions can probably absorb it. The real question is whether they retaliate and whether they go after the Saudis or go after shipping, in which case the oil prices go up. So in a funny sort of way, after we strike, if we do it cedes the initiative to Iran. They've got to decide how they want to manage the crisis.

[Stephen K. Bannon]

The markets are driven at this point largely by AI, right? We talk about this, the magnificent seven mega tech companies that are not largely impacted by tariffs or mass deportations. But if you look under that seven, things are much shakier. And we've talked about it before, so many businesses are in this. No hiring, no firing, no growth. They're bracing themselves, right? Foreign investors are not feeling great about investing in the US and the funny thing, as happy as people have been about the markets in the last year, look abroad. Markets abroad have been stronger than ours have. Well, the amazing thing is that they don't react badly to Trump anymore. They just kind of grin and bear it and hope to get through. And the positive for the markets is that they hope that Trump won't like regulation. But when something like this happens today, they really like it because it means that we do adhere to the rule of law here. And if we're a country that doesn't adhere to rule of law, then expect your markets to fly out the window because nobody is going to invest a red cent here.

This is the primal strike dream of a dying regime. Pray for our enemies because we're going medieval on these people. You're just not going to free shot all these networks lying about the people. The people have had a belly full of it. I know you don't like hearing that. I know you try to do everything in the world to stop that, but you're not going to stop it. It's going to happen. And where do people like that go to share the big lie? MAGA Media I wish in my soul, I wish that any of these people had a conscience. Ask yourself, what is my task and what is my purpose? If that answer is to save my country, this country will be saved.

War Room here's your host, Stephen K. Ban.

It's Saturday, the 21st of February, in the year of our Lord 2026. Obviously, a lot of forces in the world are coming together to try to thwart President Trump's populist nationalist revolution here in the United States. We're gonna get to all that. I've got two of the top experts, E.J. antoni and Spencer Morrison. Spencer Morrison of the great classic book reshoring. We're gonna walk through in a moment. All of this with tariffs and really economic nationalism is what it is. And putting the country first. The American system as thought up by Alexander Hamilton. I want to get to the Mobile. I got Captain Fanell for an update. Two things. Number one, Captain Fanell, latest we continue to pour assets into the Middle east, into the region. What they call effect is a breaking story about Portugal, the air bridge. More assets coming on the air bridge from Portugal in real time. Your assessment of where we stand with this as President Trump refers to a vast armada?

[Captain Jim Fennell]

Well, Steve, I think right now we're seeing, as you said, all the chess pieces are getting into the region, into the eucom, European Command and Central Command's area of responsibility. So from the eastern Mediterranean down into the Gulf of Oman over on Friday night the was reported that the USS Gerald R. Ford and its carrier battle group had chopped through, went through, transited through the Strait of Gibraltar and is now in the Mediterranean Sea. And the latest reporting from Air on Air asset updates. We basically have over 350 combat aircraft that are in the region both afloat and ashore. And more importantly, we have over 100 tankers, which allows our combat aircraft, the F16s, the F22s, the Strike Eagle F15s, F A18s and the F35s that have shorter range those tankers on your screen can get now fuel to be able to sustain what is called air supremacy over a combat area. Normally we talk about air superiority, which is a temporal time and space where you have combat air control over a geographic area. But air supremacy is where you can control the air at all times in that whole geographic region for a sustained long, long period of time. And so it seems to me that we are moving in and preparing our forces for air supremacy. And I would just say to Mr. Haas, who talked about managing if we do a strike, we'll have to manage some kind of deal with the Iranians. No, we're not going to manage anything. We're going to come in and if President Trump decides to use military force, we will destroy Iran's military, 100% of it. We will take down their SRBMs or medium range ballistic missiles and their naval forces and their remaining little air forces that they have and their air defense forces. And we will sit over the top of Iran and call fires down on anybody that tries to shoot off an air defense missile or a ballistic missile. They may get off one or two here and there that they are not going to be able to sustain any kind of campaign against our allies in the region and against our forces. And this is what's coming to them.

[Stephen K. Bannon]

Captain Fanell, hang on for a second. I want to hold you through the break. I want to talk to you briefly about the this President Trump's incrementalism, what they're thinking about at least leaking to the Wall Street Journal. We're going to leave you with Bruce Springsteen in the streets of Minneapolis, the revolt insurgency in this country, I might add. We're going to talk about South Korea. Also, the president got life in prison, almost got a death sentence, Bolsonaro in Brazil, Le Pen in France, Yoon in South Korea, and President Donald Trump in the United States of America. Remember Bonnie Willis? And these people want to put him away for 20 or 30 years. We're also going to go to Georgia. The government has responded, responded to Abby Lowell and Norm Ison and they came in full on. We are packed this morning in the war room. Short commercial break Back in a moment. Do doctors have Black Friday sales? The doctors at Brick House Nutrition do. They just announced the Black Friday 30% off sale, the biggest sale of the year. The most impressive health and nutrition products in the industry are now 30% off, like Lean the Doctor formulated weight loss supplement for people who want to lose meaningful weight without injections. Let me repeat that. Lean, the doctor formulated weight loss supplement for people who want to lose meaningful weight without injections and 30% off creatone creatine, designed just for women to help you look leaner in shape and tone without extra dieting or exercise. Even 30% off field of greens, the only super fruit and vegetable drink shown in a university study to actually slow aging. And only Field of Greens promises better health results. Your doctor will notice every Brickhouse product, from better sleep to Superior collagen is 30% off. But hurry because these Black Friday deals go fast. Visit BrickHouseSale.com that's all one word. BrickHouseSale.com and save 30%. That's BrickHouseSale.com one more time. BrickHouseSale.com here's your host, Stephen K. Band. Okay, we're gonna get to EJ And Tony and Spencer Morrison in just a moment, but there's updates and Sam Faddis going to join us in the second hour to go down and take another cut at this. Captain Fennell. The Wall Street Journal has done pretty good job reporting cuz the Pentagon and the national security folks leaked to them a lot and it's a leak to try to put out into the public President Trump's thinking and get responses. What they're putting forward is President Trump's got a strategy and it's kind of Trumpian. You saw that when he didn't do regime change back in June, when he took down the total obliteration of the nuclear program. And in Venezuela, where he took Maduro and the wife and cut a deal with the rest of the regime. This would be. He would. He's got this deal he wants. If they're not there, he'll do a limited strike, dust them up a little bit, see if that opens up to him. If not, if it is, they'll go back and talk. If they tap him along, he'll hit it again and he'll continue to do this until he reaches some point where he goes full kinetic. Is that a strategy that you think works, sir, from your years as in Naval intelligence?

[Captain Jim Fennell]

It's a. Clearly a strategy that doesn't work. And we know that from the Vietnam War with Lyndon Johnson. It was a failed strategy that ended up us losing that war even though we were winning it. So the idea that President Trump's gonna tap this along, I, I'm not really sure that that's what he'll end up doing. He may be signaling that now, as you mentioned, but I think what we saw at Midnight Hammer was not something that was incremental. That was a full on strike against our nuclear facilities.

[Stephen K. Bannon]

No, no, no. That's just not true. That's not true. That's not true. The Israelis wanted a regime strike. They started as a regime strike. They couldn't defend themselves. President Trump, that was a very limited engagement. You're just wrong there. Let me ask you. Captain Finnell, let me ask you a question.

[Mr. Duncan]

Hang on.

[Stephen K. Bannon]

Let me ask you a question. If, if, if we do the. What you want is unload fire on the Iranian military, the ayatollah and the mullahs, and crush it all. Who owns the civil war that follows? Who owns the chaos that takes place in Iran? Do we own it? Does Israel own it or the Iranian people own it?

[Captain Jim Fennell]

The Iranian people own it, obviously. And that previous event from last June, that was our action. We took the strikes on, on, on Midnight Hammer. That was Operation Midnight Hammer. That is a US Military operation.

[Stephen K. Bannon]

But Captain F. But Captain Fanell. Hang on, Cap, hang on. But that was a limited strike. President Trump took out total obliteration of the nuclear program. The Israeli initiation of that entire war was a regime change strike. They took out Woff's counterparties on the, in, in, in the negotiation. They Hit the military. They had Mossad guys killing people. They continued to push for a regime change strike. And President Trump wouldn't do it. The reason he had to bail it out is that, as you remember, and this is why the ballistic missiles are on the target list now, is that Tel Aviv was getting crushed. Tel Aviv. And now Israeli media reports that the Tel Aviv was taking incoming. President Trump had a very targeted limited strike for obliteration of a program, but it was not a regime change strike. You agree with that?

[Captain Jim Fennell]

Back in June, I 100% agree. He said, my objective is to take out the nuclear program, which he did in 100%. Full. Full capacity. Venezuela, the same thing. I have to get rid of Maduro. 100%. I got rid of Maduro. So this time when the president comes out and says, I am going to take action because the Iranian regime will not give up nukes or will not stop terrorizing their people and murder people, we don't know exactly what the president will say is his final rationale or the full scope of his. But when he says it, he will.

[Stephen K. Bannon]

In fact, why do we care.

[Captain Jim Fennell]

Forces.

[Stephen K. Bannon]

Yeah.

[Captain Jim Fennell]

That he has in the region to do that.

[Stephen K. Bannon]

I got it. But if we make the arguments about terrorizing their people and we take out the military in the ayatollahs and the mullahs, then we've come to the defense of the people, then we own everything thereafter. You just can't say, oh, because terrorizing people and then we take them out and then. Then you fall into chaos. We own that, do we not?

[Captain Jim Fennell]

I don't know how you say it falls into chaos. The people have been in the streets protesting to take their government back. They only cannot take it back because the Iranian regime is murdering them in the dark of the night and in the streets, and they're terrorized.

[Stephen K. Bannon]

So these are all.

[Captain Jim Fennell]

So these are.

[Stephen K. Bannon]

These. These are. These are all. Jeff. These are all Jeffersonian Democrats that we have. Fine. We'll have this discussion later. I think you're just 1000% dead wrong. But let's pivot to Korea. Let's pivot to South Korea. The mainstream media is covering this up like it's a return to democracy and that this new South Korean government is some great ally of the United States and Japan. Gordon Chang's got a tweet out that I think is reality. Yet two days ago, we came very close to having a death sentence on a conservative politician that at least tried to work with the United States as an ally. Do you believe the Chinese Communist Party and others are in back of this move in South Korea. And do you think you can count on South Korea now as a full ally in the, in East Asia?

[Captain Jim Fennell]

I think the cold open with the MSNBC analyst on saying that South Korea is moving towards Japan is not correct. It's. They're, they're moving into the sphere of the PRC. And we just saw on the 18th of February, as Gordon puts in his tweet, we had B52 bombers fly into the region, which is a routine operation for our air forces. And, and the South Koreans did not help escort those bombers. Only our FNA 18s did that are there in the theater on peninsula. And after that occurred, the South Korean Minister of defense called the commander of US Forces Korea in and dressed him down for why we were doing that. This has never happened before, as Gordon notes, and he's correct. And this is not. This is an indicator of where Lee is and where his head is at. So we need to be very careful and not allow the same people that told us that we should go along with six party talks and all these other crazy schemes on the peninsula. We should not follow their advice. We need to be careful where we're proceeding with South Korea and we need to hold them to account. We have 25,000 plus American soldiers, sailors, marines and airmen on the peninsula and they're there to defend them. And if they're going to treat us like this, then we need to talk to them about that and where we're at. And I'm afraid, though, that this could be a ploy for them to justify removing our troops there, which would be something that would be very dangerous for America and the region's national security.

[Stephen K. Bannon]

Do you think, President Trump, should we insert ourselves now, since you've seen Bolsonaro Le Pen, should we insert ourselves now in this situation with the South Korean government and say it's just not acceptable to us, the guy got life in prison, sir.

[Captain Jim Fennell]

Well, we should have said something before the presidential elections and influence the elections to the extent that we said this is what we stand for and we didn't do that. And so we're eating the results of that inaction. So today we should be saying something. I would hope that President Trump and Secretary Rubio would be contacting the South Korean president privately first to express our displeasure, how they reacted to our flights in the Yellow Sea and the West Sea and their lack of support and that in fact dressing us down. And if they don't want to deal with us on that, then you have to take it public. But first try it in private, Captain.

[Stephen K. Bannon]

We're not going to be back on the show until Monday and we'll get you back on. You've been, you've been, as much as I may not like it, you've been correct and everything about this Iran buildup. What, what are you looking for over the weekend, the next 24 to 48 hours? What are you looking for as tells of what actually is going to happen here, sir?

[Captain Jim Fennell]

Well, I think the Iranians came out today or last night and said that they're trying to pin together some kind of compromise or some kind of deal. We'll see how that goes. I would expect to see the forward transit from the western Mediterranean Sea to the Eastern Mediterranean Sea. It may even come down through the Suez, but it may just sit off in the eastern Med to be used there. But we should watch for any kind of lash out. The Iranians, the Chinese and the Russians were doing them naval drills here in the last 24, 48 hours. What goes on with that? And do the Iranians try to play any games with sneak attacks or shutting down the strait or attempting to shut down the strait that they may try. So I think for now it's back in the diplomatic court. All the pieces are moved in. Maybe we have another option to ratchet up if they don't come to the table cleanly. Maybe President Trump says, hey, I'm going to send the Bush now and we'll have three carriers over there. So he's still got room to maneuver to get across to the mullahs that we're not going to accept this anymore.

[Stephen K. Bannon]

Last thing we got about this is

[Captain Jim Fennell]

about not Israel and other things, even though there's issues there and I know you like to talk about them, but we have to remember in 1983 the Iranians killed 241Americans in Beirut and they've killed Americans in Khobar Towers, the USS Cole and a host of other things. So this is not exclusively about Israel. This is about what Iran's done to us for 47 years. And the pimple is about ready to be popped.

[Stephen K. Bannon]

Let me, let me, I also will remind you that President Reagan removed every other military and says the biggest mistake he made and of course we made decisions to not hit back at the others, which I think you're correct there. We should have. Last question though. You've brought up something here that I think people need to get their arms around the great power struggle. Your point? We got about a minute. Your point is, hey, when you put this amount of assets in. As commander in chief, you don't really have options of not using it. Is that where we are right now in the greater war with the China and unfortunately the Russian partnership, that right now if we get this many assets in there, they're going to be used?

[Captain Jim Fennell]

Well, there's nothing as determinist, so we can always and I think President Trump has demonstrated that he is ability to make decisions contrary to popular opinion or determinism. But I think we're in a position right now where everything's moved forward and the Iranians are not compromising. So if they're not going to compromise, there's only one other solution.

[Stephen K. Bannon]

Captain Fennell, where do we get your writings? I know occasionally you're putting stuff up on American greatness. Is that, is that where we should go and look?

[Captain Jim Fennell]

Yeah, that's probably the best for me. Yeah.

[Stephen K. Bannon]

Captain, thank you so much for taking time away. We look forward to seeing you on Monday and tracking this.

[Captain Jim Fennell]

Thank you.

[Stephen K. Bannon]

Captain Jim Fennell, former head of Naval Intelligence for the Pacific Fleet okay, we're going to pivot now to economic nationalism. Yesterday. Was it a death blow, as the media once reported, to President Trump's redoing of commercial relationships through trade deals and tariffs, or did they shut the front door but open up the back door? We have two experts, Spencer Morrison of the classic book reshoring, and of course our own E.J. antoni, one of the smartest guys out there about the American worker. We'll take a short a commercial break. Take your phone out now more than ever. You should be talking to Birch Gold. Take your phone and text Bannon B A N N Owen at 989-898. You get the ultimate guide, totally free, no obligation for investing in gold and precious metals in the age of Trump. Short commercial break we'll be back in a moment. The world is getting more unstable and chaotic every day. It seems like everywhere you look there's another crisis, another controversy, another conflict or just outright catastrophe. You can't control what happens out there, but you can control how you prepare for it. You can make sure that no matter what happens, you have the basics covered in case one of these disasters reaches your doorstep. You know, things like having enough food to eat when the shelves are empty. And when it comes to my family's food security, I trust my Patriot supply. They've helped millions of Americans get prepared and they have over 90,000 five star reviews right now. You can get their best selling three month emergency food supply kit for a hundred bucks off my Patriot Supply. Almost never offers a deal like this to take advantage of it. Go to preparewithbannon.com that's all one word. Preparewithbannon.com this food kit gives you 2,000 calories a day, last up to 25 years. And best of all, it's $100 off for a limited time. Go to preparewithBannon.com and get yours right now. That's preparewithBannon.com make sure you know all one word. PreparewithBannon.com Special deal, 100 bucks off. Do it today.

Here's your host, Stephen K. Bannon.

You know, one of the things we try to do here, whether it's geopolitics, capital markets, everything related to the fight, the legal aspects, the fight for our country, obviously lots of economics, populist, economic nationalism, we always try to put you ahead of the curve by bringing the smartest people that really talk, understand topics and really talk it through. That's why Captain Fanell. And look, obviously I disagree with a lot about this Iranian situation, but the reality is he's been dead spot on about the military aspect of this. What's interesting, Sam Fad is going to join us later. It's going to come down to intel. I think a lot of this is going to come down to intelligence. Exactly where the military in Iran is, where the ayatollahs are, not physically where they are. But what this really is President Trump's incremental because obviously he's running that up the flagpole. Is there a chance to do incrementalism here or are the Persians just going to negotiate, which they're famous for? Negotiate to have another negotiation? That's why we had Trita Parsi on last night. Now, he's quite pro Iranian, but he brought up the part that I think has to be addressed immediately. We're not in direct negotiations with them. It's all this Kabuki theater where they talk to, you know, they're in Mona, they got Oman, they're here, they talk and they go in another room and talk. Even Trita realizes that with this type of military surrounding them, you got to stop with the formalities and drop the intermediate. You got to get in a room with Kushner and you got to get in a room with Steve Witkoff, the president's emissaries, and see if there's a deal. If there's not a deal, then the balloon's gonna go up. Folks, I wanna pivot now. Okay? President Trump and trying to re. He's doing something to change 50 years of sellout of the American worker. Number one is the big beautiful bill, which is the supply side. It maximizes, to the extent you can, the reinforcement of investment in capital equipment in the United States to bring manufacturing jobs back. Because President Trump has seen through the folly of gutting our manufacturing and trying to turn us into a service economy. Everybody that told you on Wall street and all these puns were not kind of wrong, they're dead wrong. Now he's redoing the commercial relationships. He's using trade deals and tariffs as a forcing function to force international operations to make their plant and equipment here and therefore hire American workers and have this whole ecosystem around manufacturing that will rejuvenate our economy based upon a plan written by Alexander Hamilton that is just one level down from the Declaration of Independence in the Constitution, the report on manufacturers that the genius Alexander Hamilton wrote in his earliest days as the first Secretary of the Treasury. And you heard Scott Besson talk about it yesterday at the Dallas Economic Club. And I want to reinforce Rob Sig and Parker Sig to play that entire thing yesterday shows you the difference between real America's voice and other channels. Other channels are gonna run around and talk about the noise of the day here. It's pure signal all the time. Now, the Supreme Court has stepped into there. E.J. and Tony, we read your text message you sent me from the train. You're coming from Wall street back to the Capitol. Walk me through what you had to say yesterday, your feelings, because the left's out there today. There's a spike in illegal. It's illegitimate. Trump's a dictator. The Supreme Court stood up to him as separation of powers. But also, you brought up this act from 1930 that gives Trump even more leverage, President Trump even more leverage. Give us your assessment, sir.

[E.J. Antoni]

Yeah, Steve, it's amazing to hear the people on Miz now and all the. All the other loser networks talk about how Trump's a dictator. He's the worst dictator ever. The people that he got on the Supreme Court voted against him. Are you kidding me? I've never seen a dictator fail to get his way on so many different things. Regardless, doesn't matter. Let's. Let's get into the meat of this. Steve, you're absolutely right. You can go back to the Tariff act of 1930, section 338 of that law. And again, this is almost 100 years old here. All right? This is not as if it's some newfangled thing. Along with the tariff acts in. And the trade acts in the 60s and 70s, we've seen them be used, we've seen them be held up in court. If we go back to this particular law though, from 1930, it actually gives the chief executive the ability to issue tariffs up to 50%. And if he wants to go beyond that, he can issue outright embargoes. So again, this is an incredibly powerful law. And what he, in order to do that, Steve, what he needs is to find as a fact the law says that there has been some kind of discrimination against U.S. commerce. Well, that is an incredibly broad definition. It's a very large umbrella under which you will find everything that Trump is trying to fight against. When the Chinese engage in intellectual property theft, when they engage in subsidization of industry and dumping of products here in the United States, when Canada imposes quotas on, on US Dairy, when you have American automotive manufacturers who face unfair trading practices, whether they be tariff or non tariff barriers in the eu, I mean, you name it, all of the different things that were cited in that book that Greer and his folks put together last year, all of the different unfair trading practices from around the world, all of these different discriminations against US Commerce that are faced, that are instituted by other nations, again from literally around the globe, everything falls under the umbrella laid out in Section 338 of the Tariff act of 1930. And I believe, actually, if I, if I remember the opinion correctly in Justice Kavanaugh's dissent, I think he actually mentioned this law as well in his list of about half a dozen different tariff authorities the President can use. So Steve, what I'm getting at here is this, although getting rid of ipa, saying IPA no longer can be used, institute tariffs, that does limit the President in terms of his speed and his flexibility with which he can implement tariffs, but that's about it. This changes, in my opinion, this changes nothing in the long run. It has a short term impact on the President's trade policy. Absolutely. And again, it affects, I think, the speed and the flexibility he has in terms of making decisions with these negotiations, he can't necessarily make the snap decisions turning tariffs on and off. But again, as long as he can demonstrate some kind of discrimination against US Commerce, as the law says, he finds it as a fact. It's a blank check.

[Stephen K. Bannon]

Spencer, you've written the definitive. E.J. we're going to come right back to you. Spencer, you've written the definitive book on reshoring the Tommy Couldn't have Been Perfect came out last year. Your assessment, E.J. saying, hey, 301s, 232s, all the stuff we used in the first term. And I know Navarro and those guys, Jamison, Greer, they got all the analysis done. They're going to springboard this thing.

[Spencer Morrison]

Forward.

[Stephen K. Bannon]

Your assessment, sir, since you're the expert.

[Spencer Morrison]

Thanks for having me on the show, Steve. No, I agree with. I agree with my friend. The reality is, is that there are many, many different legal avenues for President Trump to impose further tariffs. This is sort of a hiccup along the road, but ultimately, I think this is a good opportunity for the President to sort of take stock and look at what we actually need to do to set up a trade policy that's not going to just be something that's at the whim of the presidency, but change the entire sort of economic, cultural shift. Right. What we have to do is we have to get back to the situation where we were 50 years ago, where tariffs were not simply being imposed on an ad hoc basis, but were baked into the fabric of the American legal and economic landscape. America prospered under the American system, which was derived again from Alexander Hamilton's report on manufactures all throughout the 1800s, that period where America industrialized and the average worker grew to become the most prosperous worker in the world, all of that was done under a high tariff regime. America had the highest average tariff rates in the world, over 40%. Over 40%. And that was at a time in history when we didn't have bulk shipping. That was at a time when, you know, foreign trade was not such a large proportion of, of our overall economy. So what President Trump wants to do at this stage.

[Stephen K. Bannon]

Yeah. How do you bake it in? President Trump can move mountains. You're saying, hey, the individual trade deals and redoing the commercial relationships is fine, but you're saying we have a deeper. He has a deeper challenge here. We gotta bake it into the. Into basically a tech bro oligarch and Wall street lords of easy money that are adamantly opposed to what you're saying, sir. Right now they're spending all day in these fricking frontier labs trying to get rid of the American worker. So how are we gonna. I agree with you, a million percent. Tell me how President Trump's gonna do that when you got both Wall street, the corporate America, and most importantly, the tech bros that spit on the floor as soon as you mention that, sir.

[Spencer Morrison]

I mean, it's an uphill battle, but it begins and ends with the American people. President Trump has to take this case directly to the American people and have people understand exactly what's going on. I think that this needs to be packaged in a way that people can understand. Everybody understands, you know, that national security is, is an important, you know, national security is of utmost importance. Package tariffs as a part of that. I mean, think about the national security concerns when America doesn't manufacture its own GPUs when we're in entering into the AI age, right? I mean, what about the fact the country doesn't manufacture, you know, like light bulbs, ball bearings, engines. Right. The entire country is over the last 50 years has been integrated into a global economic system and in such a way that the economy is now dependent on foreign countries products.

[Stephen K. Bannon]

Hang over a second, Spencer. E.J. are you buying Spencer's argument? And if you buy it, how do we do it?

[E.J. Antoni]

Well, Steve, it's a great question. Again, I think the President has a lot of options here, right? He has a lot of, of paths forward. Now. Would it be a whole heck of a lot easier if Congress gets on board? Absolutely. And I, I think that's one of the reasons why it's important to recognize all of the problems with international trade.

[Stephen K. Bannon]

But ha. Hang on. This is why you guys are gonna be the forefront of change this. The House Trump could not get. If you put it to, if you go back to the Republican conference and you go to the Hassett rule, which you have to have a majority of. Of the majority, right. You have to have enough in the House conference to put forward his trade policies today, if put to a vote of the House, let me be brutally Frank, would not do it because they're still neo. They're neoliberals. They're believing that school. They're raised on the mother' of Milton Friedman. They're not with Spencer Morrison, they're not with EJ Antoni, they're not with Donald Day Trump or they're not with Stephen K. Bannon, the populist nationalist. I mean, E.J. you know these guys better than I do. And I'm not even talking about the Senate. Forget the Senate. I'm talking in the House. They may all sing out of the hymnal of President Trump and maga, but if you went in, put your, what you and Spencer Morrison are talking about, which I think is absolutely logical. How many votes do you think we get, sir?

[E.J. Antoni]

Well, not enough, that's for sure. And Steve, look, this is why, and I'm not necessarily sure you need to get different people in there. You know, it, I think it actually was Milton Friedman. One of the things he said that I definitely agree with was that getting the right things through Congress is not necessarily a matter of getting the right people in there, but giving the wrong people the right incentives. In other words, it doesn't matter who you put in Congress. Necessarily. Necessarily. But if they know that voting against these things will result in their loss in the next election, then chances are they're going to change their mind and they're going to vote the way the people want them to. So I think the problem is maybe more so, we have to change the hearts and minds of more voters out there. We need to get people to understand that the kind of ivory tower world from which Milton Friedman was often speaking is not what we have today. Look, if you are coming at this problem, or I should say if you're coming at any kind of situation from a perfectly idealistic world, then you would never want to impose tariffs. In other words, if everything is already fine, if there is no problem, you don't want to then impose tariffs. If the patient doesn't have cancer, you don't want to give them chemotherapy. But that's not the world we live in.

[Stephen K. Bannon]

The mercantilist in the mercantilist strategy of the Chinese Communist Party. Right. Which they learned from the British East India Company. We're gonna take a short commercial break. Spencer Morrison, the author of Reshoring and the great E.J. antoni, who knows more about the American working man than anybody in the United States of America. Also, we're going to Georgia in the Crime of the Century next in the War Room. Imagine having the world's most connected financial insider feeding you vital information, the kind of information only a handful of people have access to and that could create a fortune for those who know what to do with it. That's exactly what you get when you join our frequent guest and contributor Jim Rickards in his elite research service, Strategic Intelligence. Inside Strategic Intelligence. You'll hear directly from Jim and receive critical updates on major financial and political events before they hit the mainstream news. He'll put you in front of the story and tell you exactly what moves to make for your best chance to profit as a proud American. You do not want to be caught off guard. Sign up for Strategic Intelligence right now at your our exclusive website. That's Rickards War Room.com Rickards War Room.com you go there, you get strategic intelligence based upon predictive analytics. Do it today right now. Rickards war room.com here's your host, Stephen K. Ban. Okay, Spencer, we're gonna have you back on. We have more time. Where do people go? Get it. Get reassuring. Where they go to your site Sir Hi Steve.

[Spencer Morrison]

You can follow me on Real SP Morrison on X. The book's available on Amazon. It's also available directly from Kalamo Press. Reshore How Tariffs Will Bring Our Jobs Home, Revive the American Dream. You can also find my work on

[Stephen K. Bannon]

National Economics editorial.com you do amazing job and great Delaney. What brilliance. The timing of your books are exquisite. Thank you so much. Spencer. Feel better. We'll talk to you over the weekend. See back here. We'll see you back here Monday. Spencer is very ill with the flu but joined us. EJ Also we're going to get back. We've been sending your clips to everybody. Where did people go on us on Twitter this weekend to follow you? Sir we'll have you back on early in the week.

[E.J. Antoni]

Yeah, that'll be the best place to follow me. Steve. The handle there is at Real EJ Antonio and thank you so much for having me on. Steve. It's such an important issue. There's so much misinformation going around right now. So again, thank you for having me on and for helping to clarify all this.

[Stephen K. Bannon]

No, we're going to have you on more. You have the back of the American working man and woman, Sir. Okay. Harry MacDougallen is going to join us but we have a long cold open. You have to see from the mainstream media about Georgia. They're very focused on Harry. They're very focused on the team of Georgia. They're very focused on the war room. Let's hit it.

[Captain Jim Fennell]

Trump's visit comes amid escalating threats to

[Spencer Morrison]

federalized state run elections which would go against the Constitution.

[Captain Jim Fennell]

Just that old thing. For now, a Trump aligned Georgia election

[Spencer Morrison]

board has declined to intervene in Fulton county.

[Captain Jim Fennell]

But notably one of the five members left the door open to further action, telling reporters, quote, I'm waiting for to see what happens with the DOJ and the FBI seizure and see what comes out of that.

[Mr. Duncan]

Yeah, look, Donald Trump and his cast of characters that follow him as Republicans, this is all a solution in search of a problem and they want to try to fit their narrative of this election being rigged through this shiny object and this shiny object, it's all been lies and continues to grow and they're doubling down on it. Look, if somebody shows up to the the voter rights conversation, access to voting conversation fairly and squarely, then they're not trying to limit crowds. They're trying to open up access and just validate. That's what this should all be about. And it's all about those exceptions. What about that nurse who works a 24 hour shift to support her family that can't show up on election Day, that has to mail in that ballot early. What about that person that's homebound due to an injury or an illness? The list goes on and on. Look, this is, this is an outright attempt for Donald Trump to put his thumb on the scale. You have to look no further than the FBI raids that had nothing to do with the 2020 election. That's been validated, certified, hand counted, double cap, all of it. It has to do with sowing little seeds of doubt so that he can claim fraud when they lose the midterms in 26.

[Stephen K. Bannon]

Mr. Duncan, I want to stay with you a sec on this though, because in 2020, you. You were one of a handful of Republicans, really, across the country that actually stood up against Trump and maintained that you had seen no evidence of voter fraud that Trump was claiming. Do you think that there's anyone left in an elected position or an election administration position in Georgia who, if there were similar efforts to overturn the results of a future election, would actually be there and be in place to stand up to President Trump and the Republican apparatus?

[Mr. Duncan]

I certainly hope so. I mean, that's the backbone of democracy. And it's interesting to see how Republicans react to me in my stance to push back as hard as I possibly can. In private, they're very supportive. They can't wait for Donald Trump to get out of the scene. They cannot explain tariffs or Greenland or weaponizing the Department of Justice or these ICE raids or even these vicious attempts to try to limit voting just to steer the election towards Republicans. But publicly, most of them lack the courage to say it out loud. Until Republicans have the courage to call Donald Trump out for being the worst mistake this country's ever made, they're still going to have those problems. And the best thing we can do as Democrats is win these elections, continue to win them fairly and squarely, continue to harness the momentum of this movement to push MAGA back into the closet and let us run this country in a way that's fair and equitable, even for the people that don't vote for us. I think that's an important cornerstone of democracy.

[Spencer Morrison]

Trump says he will issue executive order

[Stephen K. Bannon]

to get voter ID requirements before midterms to TS point. And as you well know, elections are up to the states. So if the president issues this executive order, would it be illegal on its face? Would states be obligated to comply?

[Mr. Duncan]

Well, if you believe in the Constitution like I do and every American should,

[Captain Jim Fennell]

the answer is yes.

[Mr. Duncan]

Yes, it would be an illegal attempt to usurp democracy as we know it. These elections are not about the outcomes, they're about the process. And there's going to be ebbs and flows throughout time. Donald Trump wants to win through any means necessary. We've seen that since 2020. We've seen the disgusting attempts. He cares nothing about the law. He cares nothing about the Constitution. He only cares about the person looking at him in the mirror.

[Stephen K. Bannon]

The thing that makes me continue to worry about the unique threat that this administration at this hour, poses to the constitutional order is the unfolding January 6th. Not just the insurrection at the Capitol, but the recruiting of fake electors, the challenging of the results. If Mike Pence had not done the courageous thing, and I have liberal friends who say, why do you give him credit? I said, because you've never been in the Oval Office being yelled at, so shut up. Right? This is our point about knowing people. Mike Pence and the braying mob out front saying, hang Mike Pence with a gallows, Right? So he did the right thing. The strategy, as we know from Peter Navarro and others, was that they were going to delay the certification into the next week, week and a half, get toward the 20th, and then take it to the House because there wouldn't have been a result out of the election. So what do you do if President Trump had prevailed in the House, thereby offering a constitutionally sanctified remedy to an illegitimate result? What do you do? I don't know. And I think if he could do it, I think President Trump would do that again tomorrow. And if you want to be optimistic and say, well, yes, but it didn't happen, I just don't think we should be running that, making it that close. Run a thing. It's why I thought he was a unique threat, argued against it. No one cared. And by the way, the folks who voted for him, their votes count absolutely as much as mine does, right? I don't think he is an illegitimate president. I do not. You know, they said that about President Biden. I don't share that. A big, big part of this moment, and whether we emerge from it, is whether people are going to have the citizen capital, if you will, to accept a loss and to see a loss as seasonal as opposed to existential, you

[Spencer Morrison]

know, you still need help from the boss.

[Stephen K. Bannon]

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