Steve Bannon (5:35)

Thank you.

Jorge Mas (5:44)

Mr. Brent says USA 250 on the front which we have on our jersey. And this is from 47. This Lionel Messi's number 10 is the best selling jersey in the world. The ball which we made, which hopefully will have a rightful place in office in dedication of you dedicated for our championship. That's for you, Mr. President.

Pete Hegseth (6:14)

Thank you very much.

Steve Bannon (6:16)

Thank you.

Jorge Mas (6:17)

And then most importantly, this is a very, very special limited edition Inter Miami pink Tudor watch. It's etched on the back with your name in a tribute to you. And special because time is a precious element. Time has a lot of meaning, I think, to all of us. And we wanted to give you that. And also we have an additional gift which is another jersey for very luscious Chico staff. So we do have. We do have her Jersey somewhere. Number two. Number 32. But thank you, Mr. President.

Steve Bannon (7:09)

Thank you very much. And I want to just invite the team to the Oval Office. Very, very special place. It's sort of the center of the world, especially now, but always it's the center of the world. We have a little present for you there and anybody would like to come, you can just follow me on down there, okay? You'll see the Oval and you'll have some fun.

Jorge Mas (7:27)

Thank you all very much. Mr. President.

Steve Bannon (7:47)

Bring it in to me. Okay. There's the President, United States East Room, packed house for this great soccer team.

Mike Lindell (7:59)

Right?

Steve Bannon (7:59)

And President Trump spending a good part of the day celebrating excellence. He's now going to go as traditional President Trump to take these teams into the, into the Oval Office. You're in the war room. We are momentarily going to go to the CENTCOM briefing down. I think they're doing the briefing in Tampa, I think. Is that correct? I think they're doing the CENTCOM headquarters in Tampa. Of course they got a Ford deployed in Doha, but they're doing the CENTCOM commander, Admiral Cooper. Okay, we're going to go to it right now. Let's cut live

Pete Hegseth (8:38)

entirety of this, this operation, Operation Epic Fury. And Admiral, I want to thank you for everything you do in your incredible leadership, for your dynamic thinking, the way you're attacking this problem set on every level. In just days of Operation Epic Fury, you and your team have delivered nothing short of devastating, precise strikes, taking out the better part of Iran's Navy, making it combat ineffective. Neutralizing missile sites and launchers and establishing total dominance over the skies we fly over and seas we fly over. Our forces are executing with unmatched skill and the mission is advancing decisively. This is the kind of no nonsense results driven war fighting that America demands and you're delivering it in spades. You are the man for this moment, Admiral Cooper. On behalf of the President, the Department of War and every American watching, I want to thank you for your outstanding job you and CENTCOM are doing. Keep pressing the fight. And we are with you all the way. A few thoughts before I hand it over to the Admiral for an update. Iran is hoping that we cannot sustain this, which is a really bad miscalculation for the IRGC in Iran. You see, there's no shortage of American will here. We remember and honor our fallen. Those six that we will soon welcome at Dover who gave everything for their country and this mission. We remember them. But we remember them by rededicating ourselves even more fervently to this mission. Our commitment to our mission objectives only increases as our advantages continue to increase. We've got no shortage of munitions. Our stockpiles of defensive and offensive weapons allow us to sustain this campaign as long as we need to. Again, our munition status only increases as our advantage increases. Our capabilities. We have only just begun to fight and fight decisively. Having a chance to hear from Admiral Cooper. If you think you've seen something, just wait. The amount of combat power that's still flowing, that's still coming, that we'll be able to project over Iran is a multiples of what it currently is right now. When you add up our capabilities and those of the Israeli Defense Force forces and we have no shortage of authorities, the Admiral knows we have clear objectives with maximum authorities on the battlefield. The dumb, politically correct wars of the past were the opposite of what we're doing here. They had vague objectives with restrictive, minimalist rules of engagement. No more. Our authorities, his authorities sent comms authorities through the President and myself, are maxed out. Our capabilities are overwhelming and gathering still, as are those of our Israeli partners. Our munitions are full up and our will is ironclad. Which means our timeline is ours and ours alone to control as long as it takes to ensure the United States of America achieves these objectives. And as we flow more forces and as we flow more capabilities and as our munitions, as we're flying over the top, have even more devastating effects. We set the tempo. We set the timeline. Led by the commander on the ground. Our ear is to the ground to listen to Admiral Cooper. What he needs and what he needs, he will get. We are built for this fight and we are in it to win it. And we have the right commander in the lead. So I'll now hand it over to Admiral Brad Cooper to give you an update right here from CENTCOM.

Mike Lindell (12:30)

Admiral.

Admiral Brad Cooper (12:30)

Mr. Secretary, first, thank you very much and good afternoon and welcome to U.S. central Command headquarters, America's war fighting headquarters. It's great to be here alongside the Secretary and representing the more than 50,000 men and women in uniform currently executing Operation epic fury. So, Mr. Secretary, first, thank you very much for your leadership and support and the very clear vision and objectives that you've given us to allow us to use overwhelming force against the Iranian terrorist regiment. And thanks to all of you for attending today and welcome to Tampa. We are now starting our sixth day of a historic mission to eliminate Iran's ability to threaten Americans. We are, if I could channel my inner Navy officer, we are at full speed ahead in executing orders given by leadership in Washington. The President and Secretary Hexath have been crystal clear in their expectations, and we are at a high level of execution, as described by the Secretary and earlier this week by me. US Combat power is building. As Iranian combat power declines, our air dominance allows us to hit Iran's center of gravity with overwhelming power and reach a couple of examples. In just the last 72 hours, America's bomber force has struck nearly 200 targets deep inside of Iran, including around Tehran. And in just the last hour, US B2 bombers dropped dozens of 2,000 pound penetrator bombs, targeting deeply buried ballistic missile launchers. Notably, we've also struck Iran's equivalent of Space Command, which degrades their ability to threaten Americans. Then, if I just look back over the last 24 hours of the operation, compared to where we were at start, ballistic missile attacks have decreased by 90% since day one. Drone attacks have decreased by 83% since day one. Having said this, we remain vigilant. Our strikes against the Iranian navy have intensified. You may have heard the President say just a little while ago that we, we have sunk or destroyed 24 ships. That was true. At the moment, we're now up over 30 ships. And in just the last few hours, we hit an Iranian drone carrier ship roughly the size of a World War II aircraft carrier. And as we speak, it's on fire. The President gave us another task. To raise or level Iran's ballistic missile industrial base. So we're not just hitting what they have, we're destroying their ability to rebuild. And so, as we transition to the next phase of this operation, we will systemically dismantle Iran's missile production capability for the future. And that's absolutely in progress. This is going to take some time, but our forces are well supplied, as the Secretary said, and we are absolutely ready to prosecute this missile. This mission decisively. Our combined joint forces have relentlessly destroyed Iran's air defenses over the past few days, and they've continued hunting for more systems to kill. Our air defenders are Operating at the very top of their game. I couldn't be prouder. Shoulder to shoulder with our partners in the region, in many cases providing the most integrated air defense network in Middle east history. We are fighting to win through combined US And Israeli combat power. We will continue decimating Iran's ability to project power outside its borders. And if I can just conclude by saying a strong salute to the brave men and women who are out on the pointy edge of this, really doing exceptional work, I just couldn't be prouder. And I know the American people share in that same pride. So thank you very much.

Pete Hegseth (15:55)

Absolutely. And with that, we'll take a few questions. Yeah, right here, sir.

Steve Bannon (15:59)

Appreciate it. Admiral, I wanted to ask or.

George Papadopoulos (16:02)

Mr. Secretary, the Ukrainian President said today that the US has asked for specific

Steve Bannon (16:08)

capabilities to deal with shattered drones, Iranian drones.

George Papadopoulos (16:11)

Can you guys talk about what you asked for?

Pete Hegseth (16:13)

And has there been any surprise, any

Steve Bannon (16:16)

surprises from Iranian capabilities that you guys

Jorge Mas (16:18)

have seen in the past six days?

Pete Hegseth (16:20)

Go ahead.

Admiral Brad Cooper (16:21)

We're very familiar with Iranian's capabilities, and as you might imagine, we plan for it right from the outset. And I feel good about what the plan was. Like any good organization, we adjust as necessary to meet the environment, and we've made those appropriate adjustments.

Pete Hegseth (16:37)

Absolutely.

Jorge Mas (16:37)

Right here.

Steve Bannon (16:38)

Thanks, Secretary.

Mike Lindell (16:39)

I had to refer both of you.

Steve Bannon (16:41)

One, was an American pilot shot down today in Iraq.

Pete Hegseth (16:44)

And two, I've heard reports that there's

Steve Bannon (16:47)

enriched uranium stored in Isfahan.

Pete Hegseth (16:50)

I also heard reports that there's not

Jorge Mas (16:52)

a lot of bombing there.

Pete Hegseth (16:53)

Is that on purpose?

Steve Bannon (16:54)

Do we believe there's enriched uranium there and would we ever send special forces to secure it?

Pete Hegseth (16:59)

As CENTCOM pointed out that those reports of an F15 being shot down are false. As you can imagine, Iran is doing everything it can to peddle in lies, deception, and inflation of numbers and reality, mostly to propagandize to their own people. Right. They don't. They've shut down the Internet. They're hoping they can convince their own population that they're having success. One thing one of their leaders said recently is that, you know, 500Americans have been killed. They claim these are lies. The lies will continue. CENTCOM will continue to debunk those lies. So. And as often is the case in conflict, first reports are, are often wrong as it pertains to nuclear material and things like that. One of the objectives, the President has always said, is that Iran will not have a nuclear bomb, nuclear capabilities. But we would never disclose what we will or will not do inside operational plans. So Admiral Cooper's got a plan. We're working that plan and, and targets will be struck or not struck according to what we want to achieve. Yeah, right there.

Steve Bannon (17:56)

Secretary Heff, the President said earlier today

Pete Hegseth (17:59)

in an interview that he would like to have a say in who's the next leader of Iran.

Steve Bannon (18:04)

Is this an expansion of your military objective? Do you view it that way? And additionally, you spoke earlier today about

Pete Hegseth (18:12)

how previous leaders have drawn resources from our hemisphere to the Middle East. How do you avoid that? Well, there's no expansion. Ultimately, I think the President is having a heck of a say in who runs Iran, given the ongoing operation we have. So there's no expansion in our objectives. We know exactly what we're trying to achieve. I think today is a great example of what this War Department is capable of doing. I was just another part of Florida today where we announced, you know, America's counter cartel conference. 18 countries coming together from central South America and the Caribbean coming together to fight cartels. That is something that is ongoing. We're focused there. We're focused in the Indo Pacific. We can mass combat power in centcom. EUCOM is able to support that as well. So we know we're laser focused on our hemisphere and our homeland. That's why we lock down the border. That's why we're working with partners to take on cartels. That's why we're sinking drug boats. That's why we're on the offense there. But the beautiful things about Combatant Commands is that, you know, Brad Cooper's laser focused on Central Command just like Frank Donovan is laser focused on Southern Command. We can do both. That's what a global power can do. Ultimately, this issue of Iran's nuclear pursuit and their unwillingness through negotiations to stop it was something President Trump has said for a long time, needs to be dealt with. And after 47 years, he's doing something that no other president was willing to do. And we're doing it overwhelmingly and we're doing it decisively, while also in other parts of the globe having the desired effects. I mean, take for example what we displayed yesterday. The, the Iranian ship in the Indian Ocean sunk by Indo Pacom. Another Combatant Command who coordinated with us in order to make that happen. So America's reach is global. Our focus here, though, those missions, these missions are narrow, they're scoped. And Admiral Cooper is well on his way to ensuring that we reach those objectives right here. Yes, sir.

Steve Bannon (20:13)

Do the Ukrainians are talking about providing

Jorge Mas (20:17)

low cost interceptors given their experience, is

Steve Bannon (20:20)

that something that the Pentagon is looking for?

Brandon Weichert (20:22)

If Rama Cooper, can you walk us through a little bit about the how

Jorge Mas (20:26)

effective the Lucas drones have been, what kind of targets they hit and how

Pete Hegseth (20:30)

much that's helped, given that they're low

Jorge Mas (20:32)

cost alternative to more expensive helium.

Steve Bannon (20:36)

Go ahead. Sure.

Admiral Brad Cooper (20:38)

I'm not familiar with the, the particular offer, but the interceptors in general, we've had a number of new capabilities being fielded. Obviously, I'm not going to talk about it from an operational perspective of what those are, but I think you have seen over a period of time us kind of get on the other side of this cost curve on drones in general. If I just walk back a couple of years, you remember you used to always hear we're shooting down a $50,000 drone with a $2 million missile. These days, we're spending a lot of time shooting down $100,000 drones with $10,000 weapons from ours. So that's one aspect with Lucas indispensable, as many of you know. And if you don't know, this was an original Iranian drone design. We captured it, pulled the guts out, sent it back to America, put a little made America on it, brought it back here, and we're shooting at the Iranians. Good targets.

Pete Hegseth (21:30)

Good targets. Absolutely. Right there.

Steve Bannon (21:33)

Yes, ma'.

Pete Hegseth (21:33)

Am. Thank you so much, Secretary. President Trump, in his first speec the

Steve Bannon (21:39)

launch of the Operation Epic Fury, he

Pete Hegseth (21:42)

addressed Iranian people and he said that

Steve Bannon (21:45)

there is going to be a time

Pete Hegseth (21:46)

for you to come out, but it's not now.

Dr. Bradley Thayer (21:48)

Stay home.

Pete Hegseth (21:49)

It's not safe. I want to know if there is a timeline for that, that you're going to urge Iranian people to come out, how that is going to play out and how are you going to protect the protesters?

Dr. Bradley Thayer (22:02)

You know that they're going to be

Pete Hegseth (22:03)

shot probably as we business in January. That's what happened.

Dr. Bradley Thayer (22:07)

How are you going to protect and support the protesters?

Pete Hegseth (22:11)

And Admiral, I have one question for you.

Dr. Bradley Thayer (22:14)

How are you going to minimize the civilian harms?

Pete Hegseth (22:19)

We have a lot of evidence that the Basij units, IRGC commanders, they are

Dr. Bradley Thayer (22:25)

now gathering in schools and hospitals, in

Pete Hegseth (22:29)

pure residential areas because their headquarters are bombarded.

Steve Bannon (22:33)

They are ruined, of course. So how are you going to protect

Pete Hegseth (22:37)

the civilians while you're attacking the IRGC people? Har.

Dr. Bradley Thayer (22:42)

Thank you.

Pete Hegseth (22:43)

I understand the protests obviously a lot. Iranian people, the Iranian people showed a lot of courage in those protests. And we saw the Iranian regime was revealed for what it is in the way they reacted to that. The world saw that. No one's done more than President Trump to reopen the opportunity for those who want a Free Iran to do so. Ultimately, it's common sense, as he said up front, don't go out and protest while bombs are dropping inside Tehran and elsewhere. So there will come a moment where he determines or they determine that it's the time to seize that advantage. But there's a lot of things we're doing and the Israeli military is doing, targeting those individuals who are targeting those who protest. The more you do that and you erode their will and you erode their capabilities, the more you create an opportunity for. For people to boldly stand up.

Admiral Brad Cooper (23:30)

Yeah, I would just reinforce the point. We're targeting the people. We're targeting the headquarters and the people who are targeting the protesters. You know, first and foremost, I'd also just double down on the President's comments that he previously made to the people. Stay in your homes, keep things calm, you know, stay out of the way. There's a lot of US and Israeli capacity coming over. We're hitting a lot of targets. The best thing for them to do for right now is just to lay low right here.

Steve Bannon (23:58)

Secretary, one common outcome of American military

Jorge Mas (24:01)

action in the past has been taking in thousands of refugees into the American homeland. And I'm wondering if there's any safeguards put in place to make sure that the American people aren't having to have

Pete Hegseth (24:13)

another wave of refugees from the Middle east or anywhere else come and stay here. I can safe to say say there's no plan for a wave of new Middle Eastern refugees to the United States of America. I think, as the President has pointed out for a long time, there are a lot of countries in this, in the region who would be capable of providing that kind of support if need be, but that's certainly not something we're planning on.

Steve Bannon (24:37)

Yep.

Pete Hegseth (24:38)

Back there.

Admiral Brad Cooper (24:38)

Yeah.

Steve Bannon (24:39)

Yes, sir.

Mike Lindell (24:40)

Michael, in Washington Times, I wanted to

Steve Bannon (24:41)

ask, I know, you know, separate Gumby

Mike Lindell (24:44)

is always a truism in the military.

Jorge Mas (24:47)

Did the British decision to refuse Diego Garcia have any impact on the mission itself? Did you have to adjust, or were you able to just completely go with the mission without even worrying about that?

Pete Hegseth (25:00)

Well, as the President stated, it was unfortunate that the Brits didn't from day one say, hey, go ahead and have access. But we got there. We got there. And that's now part of the way that we're operationalizing bomber runs.

Admiral Brad Cooper (25:14)

And.

Pete Hegseth (25:14)

And as part of when we say more to come, it's more fighter squadrons, it's more capabilities, it's more defensive capabilities, and it's more bomber pulses more frequently, the amount of firepower over Iran and over Tehran is about to surge dramatically. And part of it is that we're going to have even more basing. And it's not just the UK We've had other friends step up, and we're grateful for that. Maybe. Maybe one more right here. Yeah. The Azeri president earlier today basically authorized

Steve Bannon (25:42)

his minister of defense to begin preparing

Admiral Brad Cooper (25:44)

troops for some type of retaliatory action

Pete Hegseth (25:46)

at the airport strait.

Steve Bannon (25:48)

Has the Department of War and CENTCOM

Admiral Brad Cooper (25:50)

been working on deconflicting with the Azeri if they were to move in or attempt something in retaliation?

Pete Hegseth (25:56)

I'm sure there are plans. I'll let the admiral speak to that. But that does allow me to kind of address this idea that the war might be expanding or there's chaos and nothing could be further from the truth. If anything, what Iran is doing by targeting allied countries that would otherwise want to stay out of this, they've actually pulled them into the American orbit. So now you've got UAE and Qatar and Bahrain and Saudi and Kuwait and others saying, hey, we're with you. Here's we'll shoot with you, we'll fly with you, we'll defend with you. We'll allow you more basing and other. A lot of which, you know, we can't talk about and won't talk about, but it's actually firming up the unity of the resistance in order to focus exactly where we need to. So this idea that it's expanding or going. No, it's actually. It's actually simplifying in a number of ways exactly what we need to achieve and how we'll achieve it. I don't know if you will.

Admiral Brad Cooper (26:48)

I won't get ahead of policy in terms of what we might do. What I will point out is this is now the 12th country that Iran has attacked. 12 countries. And it goes right back to the secretary's point. Those 12 countries are none too happy. And I look forward to working with all the partners who are willing to join us in this.

Pete Hegseth (27:06)

And I would just close by saying,

Steve Bannon (27:07)

Mr. Secretary, one more question.

Dr. Bradley Thayer (27:10)

Would you.

Pete Hegseth (27:11)

What is your message to Americans who are concerned about security here at home

Steve Bannon (27:15)

with the change up that we're going

Pete Hegseth (27:17)

to see at the Department of Homeland Security? Well, I think Kristi Noem did an excellent job over there securing our border and keeping us focused on threats and President making a change. We all serve at the pleasure of the President. I'm sure Mark Wayne Mullen will do a fantastic job. He's been a friend of mine for a long time. But Christie did A great job setting us up for success. So I don't have any concerns about whether or not the homeland will be covered down on. And I'll just end by saying I wish every American could get a chance to see what we see. I had a chance to go into the control room, into the tactical operations center, go see these young men and women that are doing this, the dedication that they show at every level, the way they've refined their craft. And I'm talking to a young colonel who's iterating on how we target and how we, how we find and fix different aspects of what the Iranians are trying to do. If they, they don't know what they're up against and if they think they've got it solved for, they're wrong. And ultimately the combination of our ingenuity, the skill, the professionalism, the discipline, and then the sheer weight of the capabilities of the US military, what you're going to see may look routine. It may start to be like, oh, another boat, oh, another launcher, oh, another drone facility. What it takes to do this with the precision that we do is world class. No one else can do it. And it's world class Americans like the ones I saw here, like the ones that are coming home, that we're going to greet home, that are the engine of what makes our country great. And so I'm so grateful for folks like those here at centcom, at Central Command who are under your command. Thank you for your decisive leadership. And all I'll say to you is what I say to them. Keep going. Because the President and myself, we have your back. Thank you, Admiral. Appreciate it.

Admiral Brad Cooper (28:59)

Thanks very much.

Pete Hegseth (29:00)

Thank you all.

Steve Bannon (29:04)

Okay, you're head, that's at CENTCOM headquarters in Tampa you had Admiral Bradley Cooper, the Secretary War, Pete Hexith, let's go. We got Brandon Weickert, Dr. Bradley Thayer, George Papadopoulos to start it off. Brandon Weickert, tell me, discern for me what was signal and what was noise in that briefing.

Brandon Weichert (29:26)

A key takeaway is that we do have localized air superiority, which means that we can start bombing these sites. But I just want to make it clear this is not the same thing as air dominance. There is no indication yet that we have achieved air dominance. So that's another signal noise issue. Another thing they kept repeating was the missile launchers. It's true. We have destroyed the missile launchers we can find and see. The Iranians have switched now to popping off these missiles from within the entryways or in these covered positions near these underground tunnels. We have no idea how many they have. So I think it's a little misleading on the part of the Pentagon to say that, oh, well, you know, we're going to be able to get all these things. We will eventually, over time, likely be able to find many of them, but it requires them to shoot off the missile first. So it's sort of like closing the barn door after the horse has already left.

Steve Bannon (30:22)

I just want to be. Hang on, hang on. I want to be specific. The, the term of our superiority and their air supremacy. I don't think I heard air supremacy. They said they had local air. Local air superiority, correct.

Brandon Weichert (30:37)

Yeah, that's what, that's what it's. That's what they're saying. And then Hegseth said, we, we have total air dominance. And that is just not accurate. That is a, that is a, a turn of phrase. And I understand he wants to do that. But just so we're clear, there are many steps between what we have achieved at great cost, mind you, to our stockpiles and what is happening or what he wants to happen, which is total air dominance.

Steve Bannon (31:01)

But I just want to make it. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I think those, I think those briefings. I think those briefings, particularly from centcom would be better if you had CENTCOM do more. I think people want more numbers, more. This is exactly what combat operations are.

Brandon Weichert (31:17)

That's right.

Steve Bannon (31:17)

But let me go. Let me go back to something. It does seem like an Admiral Cooper reiterated this, unless I missed it, that we continue to flow more systems, more weapon systems, more platforms into the region and have consistently. And that degradation. We're still going down their target sets while it seems more scattergunned, you know, a guy coming out thing and popping something off. These are random pops instead of systematic retaliation. Is that, do you think, the same way?

Brandon Weichert (31:50)

I'm not convinced of that. That's just my personal take and I'm sure other guests will disagree with me, but I, I'm not convinced of that. That this is just random dead enders. If you will remember, that was the Rumsfeld term back in the day. Dead enders. This doesn't seem like dead enders to me. This seems like a very organized. And now maybe the C2 functions we know have been degraded, but the Iranians were anticipating this and this is why they desegregated or decentralized rather as many command authority to their local field commanders as possible. I would also like to remind everybody that the weapons that the Iranians are firing now, the CENTCOM is running around with this percentage thing. They're playing a numbers game. Well, it looks like that the systems that are being fired at the region are increasingly more complex. They're merving in many cases, which means they're separating into smaller warheads. I was witnessing one strike from, I think about 12 hours ago in Israel, where this thing let out a series of decoy systems which basically forced the air defense system in Israel to go after the decoy. This is happening repeatedly, Steve. So I, I want to make it clear that we this thing is not over and the Iranians are still very much in the fight. And the fact of the matter is Hegseth says this thing isn't expanding. Well, the Iranians just expanded it into Azerbaijan. They just blew up the Zenger Corridor pipelines. You know, you've got the Kurds coming in. So this thing is very much expanding and they're saying it's not going to be done until September now. So, so this is a very big problem.

Steve Bannon (33:21)

Hang on, hang on. Okay, hang on. Actually, and also expanded into Beirut today. There was kind of a mass evacuation out of Beirut. In fact, George Papadopoulos is going to join us here in a second actually, to talk about Azerbaijan and other areas up there that it looks like is expanding. Just go back, though, to what you just said. Where have you seen for the audience, is there any place in the Gulf or even Tel Aviv or Jerusalem where you've seen a consistent, looks like counterstrike by the Iranians, but something like they did in the 12 Day War or anything close to what they did in the first couple of days here?

Brandon Weichert (34:01)

Well, I mean, they've flattened large portions of Tel Aviv. They continue to strike. They flattened our Fifth Fleet headquarters, which we are not getting back after this. I mean, to me, this is a very significant and consistent offensive capability. Yeah, we've degraded them in key areas, but they planned for this. They have. They are. And they are continuing to execute their strategy. And I want to say something else also. NBC interviewed Erici, who's the foreign minister for Iran, and asked him point blank, are you worried about a U.S. invasion? And his response, and this might have been braggadocia, but we shouldn't just take that at face value. His response was, the Iranian military has prepared for this contingency. And he smiled. He said, we are waiting for the Americans to come. This could end up being the Vietnam of our era with a protracted insurgency on our hands.

Steve Bannon (34:54)

What did you. And when you say September, who, who, where did, who said September today?

George Papadopoulos (34:59)

I must have.

Brandon Weichert (35:00)

This is coming out. This is coming out. I think there was a Politico report where they mentioned this, this is coming out of context at the DOD where now they're talking about these intelligence analysts being tasked with for 100 days now. And they're talking about. I think it was Politico.

Steve Bannon (35:16)

Tell the audience about that. Politico broke a story.

Brandon Weichert (35:19)

Yeah.

Steve Bannon (35:20)

Poso and I talked about because he was an intelligence officer, talk about this 100. It turns out that's not rumored. They actually do it. They're forward deploying 100 intelligence analysts or officers from the Department of War, D.C. or D.C. environment to actually forward deploying them now into the region. Correct.

Brandon Weichert (35:38)

Yeah. I have a friend in Naval Intelligence that he did this during the Afghan war as well. Usually this is because we are. It's part of a surge, if you will. That's my word. That's not the President's word. But it's for lack of a better term, it's part of a surge. And the reason you do this is because you are anticipating a bigger fight on your hands. You are anticipating having to do more. I was talking also with somebody who has a lot of ties to this Mujahedini Kalk group, MEK who point blank told me that the US Special Forces is going to be linking up with these guys at some point in the next several weeks so that we can begin doing joint operations on the ground in Iran. Not a normal invasion, but with Special Forces. But the point is this is not ending anytime soon. And I argue the reason we're even talking about doing even Special Forces on the ground is cuz the air war has been limited in effectiveness at best.

Steve Bannon (36:35)

Yeah. There is a bunch of rumors going around and this is in addition to the paramilitary CIA.

Brandon Weichert (36:43)

And they're all over with the Kurds, right? Exactly, exactly.

Steve Bannon (36:47)

That's that whole group up with the Kurds. There's also all rumors flying. It's probably just rumors right now, but there is some talk about joint Special Forces operations maybe in different parts of

Brandon Weichert (36:59)

and I want to say something also real quick about the Kurds here. The Kurds are very angry with us because of our treatment of the Syrian Kurds. Next store. I do not trust the fact that the Iraqi Kurds are going to take the guns and money we're giving them and use it on the Iranians. I think they're going to turn on the Turks because that's their big number one threat. And I think that this thing that's another side story that's about to blow up in our face because this thing is a disaster in the making in my opinion.

Steve Bannon (37:25)

You mean the bringing the Kurds in?

Brandon Weichert (37:27)

Yeah, the Iraqi Kurds. That's correct. In northern Iraq. And we're giving them money and weapons and telling them, hey, go fight the Iranian backed Shiite militias in Iraq. And they might do that a little bit, but they're going to save that stuff to fight their big enemy, which is turkeys.

Steve Bannon (37:45)

Yeah, I'm sure Erdemon's got something to say about that. Brandon, where do people go and get you where to get you on social media? Follow all your analysis.

Brandon Weichert (37:53)

You can find me at we the Brandon on Twitter X find me natsec guy on Emerald TV and I'm a senior national security editor at 1945. Com.

Steve Bannon (38:03)

Thank you sir.

Brandon Weichert (38:04)

Appreciate you. Thank you. Have a good one.

Steve Bannon (38:07)

Dr. Bradley Thayer, your assessment of what you heard from Centcom also, do you agree with Brandon, do you think the air campaign here has been less effective than what CENTCOM and General Raisin Cain is saying?

Dr. Bradley Thayer (38:22)

Well, Steve, on that it's difficult to say. It's attritional war. So the air war is going to be fought between the Iranians who want to preserve their assets because once they emit their radars or once they fire a surface to air missile, for example, there's going to be a response. So they want to husband their capabilities as they do their ballistic missiles, their drones and UAVs. They want to keep the fight going, but they don't want to use up all of their capabilities because they want to draw out the fight. So it's difficult to assert whether and of course our choice is to attrit them as rapidly as possible to find them by whatever means and destroy them. And that's the entire chain where they're being produced, how they're being transported, how they're being generated and then how they're being fired. So we need to keep that in mind. So what comes out of Hegseth's remarks and Admiral Cooper's remarks to my mind are three things. First, Hegseth stressed the will is ironclad. Right. One thing that he repeated time and again was that the United States is in this to stay as long as it takes. Secondly, as he stressed, of course again repeatedly, more forces, more capabilities are going to flow to the region. Iran hasn't seen, just a paraphrase, but Iran hasn't seen all of US capabilities and allied capabilities. So again, that's important. Third, both Hegseth and Cooper independently of course stressed that we have the means, right? That we have the offensive and defensive capabilities to sustain the fight. So that's a very important point to keep in mind. But, Steve, if we take a step back, I think when we think through the war as attritional, we need to understand that that attrition is taking place really in five fronts. First front is going to be the missile war, if you will. That's the ballistic missiles, the Cruise missiles, the UAVs, and the drones. A second front is going to be the air war, as Brandon was describing. A third front is the naval war, now largely fought in the Gulf. A fourth front is the ground war, which is heating up The Kurds, obviously, U.S. special forces, Israeli special forces, perhaps the Azeris will send in a force as well in time. And then fifthly, the fifth front of the war is the proxy war being fought in Lebanon between Israel and Hezbollah and perhaps broadening out elsewhere in the world. So that attritional dynamic is taking place in each of those areas. And we need to understand that attritional wars are going to be like two heavyweight boxers pounding on one another. Right? It's like Muhammad Ali and, and, you know, pounding against one of his heavyweight.

Steve Bannon (41:47)

But that's my point. I haven't. Hang on. But that's the point I haven't seen in day what, day six. We've have a pretty substantial target package. We're going down that, that punch list. I just haven't seen the, the response of the Iranians at any kind of scale or depth. Yes, they've gotten some shots off. They've hit some ore refineries, they've taken out a tanker. They're hitting even. What Brandon said, what Brandon was talking about were things that happened over the first or second day. We're in day six. And it's not that they don't have certain weapon system that can hit and particularly deliver a lot of carnage to Tel Aviv. But it looks like, for the limited information they give, it looks like we are having some sort of degradation to their systems, which is supposed to be what this whole thing's about. So if you're looking for an off ramp anytime in the next 72 hours, you want to make sure that you can look and say, okay, the nuclear weapons system's gone, their air defense are gone. Their capabilities are producing any more missiles are gone. Their fighters are gone, their navy's now sunk. You just go through that punch list. It looks to me like centcom because there's two different briefings. Pete's got one. The Secretary of War is more policy and Overview and then Centcomer, actually that's the combatant commander, he's kind of telling you what we're doing and how we're doing it, sir.

Dr. Bradley Thayer (43:19)

Right. So that's the key issue, Steve. Are we winning that attritional war? In some areas, Obviously in the Navy we are. Are we winning in the missiles, for example, the drones, the UAVs, or are they husbanding their capabilities for a longer fight, sending a few every day? Right. Recognizing that they have been attrited, recognizing their command and control is greatly damaged, recognizing their leadership is greatly damaged. Right. Their brain has been damaged, their nervous system has been damaged. How much muscle do they really have? And that's the key question. Are we successfully treating the brain, the nervous system and the muscle, or are they doing what they want to do, which is to ensure that they're going to be able to hit every few days, they're going to be able to keep up a trickle or a flood at some days to attack allies, to

Steve Bannon (44:18)

attack us before we, before we, before I only got a few minutes, but I just want people should understand these are tough people, particularly the people in charge, the citizens too. But these are, and I think they understand what Trita Parsi told us over and over again. To capitulate to the Americans, it looks like in either deals or negotiation or diplomacy, they think is to end the regime. And so they're hunkering down now to try to fight this, it looks like, to the bitter end. And so that's why, you know, this contin. And it looks like we're going through our punch list to take this thing down pretty systematically. So I think both sides have their strategy and it looks like it's being pursued from my perspective, at least on the limited information we're getting. Right.

Dr. Bradley Thayer (45:04)

So the Iranian regime is in the domain of losses, so they're going to be risk accepting.

George Papadopoulos (45:09)

Right.

Dr. Bradley Thayer (45:09)

They're like a gambler who's losing and what do gamblers who are losing, do they bet more? And so when you're in the domain of losses, you're going to be risk accepting. So we should expect the Iranian regime to lash out by any means necessary. They have the intent, do they have the capabilities. So that's critical. Do they have the capabilities to hurt us significantly, either using their missiles, either using terrorists, either using the other proxies or using closing down the strait and hinting energy. So they've got the intent to hurt us again because they recognize they don't have a future.

George Papadopoulos (45:53)

Right.

Dr. Bradley Thayer (45:54)

Their future is. You don't want to sell these guys a life insurance policy. Right. But do they have the capabilities to hurt us? Hegseth and Admiral Cooper are saying we're successfully attritting their capabilities in the missile realm in the Navy, which I think is quite clear in the air realm and in five realms in air defenses, which is also there's strong evidence that the air defenses are suppression of enemy air defenses.

Steve Bannon (46:24)

Dr. Thayer, we gotta bounce. Where do people go to get your updates on all your observations and analysis?

Brandon Weichert (46:31)

Sir?

Dr. Bradley Thayer (46:32)

Brad Thayer at X and Bradley Thayer at Truth and on Getter as well. Steve, thanks very much.

Steve Bannon (46:39)

Thank you, sir. Appreciate you. Great, great breakdown. Thank you for joining us this afternoon. George Papadopoulos. We're going to talk about the expansion of this war up to a region outside of Iran next. A new year means new financial goals like making sure your savings are secure and diversified. Will this be the year you finally listen to me and talk to someone from Birch Gold Group? Honestly, they're great people. I appreciate their educational approach and their understanding of macroeconomics. There are forces pushing the dollar lower and gold higher, which is why they believe every American should own physical gold. So until February, if you are a first time gold buyer, Birchgold is offering a rebate of up to $10,000 for on qualifying purchases. To claim eligibility and start the process, just text Bannon at 989-898. Birch Gold can help you roll an existing IRA or 401K into an IRA in gold and you're still eligible for a rebate of up to $10,000. Make right now your first time to buy gold and take advantage of a rebate of up to $10,000 when you buy by by February 27th. Text my name, Bannon 989898 and claim your eligibility today. Remember, text Bannon B A N N o N to 989-898. You've got to the end of February, the 27th of February to qualify up to a $10,000 rebate. Patriots, listen up. For a limited time, Patriot Mobile is running their Red, White and Blue Friday promotion. Your once a year chance to get a free smartphone just for switching to America's only Christian conservative wireless provider. A brand new phone absolutely free while supplies last. For over 12 years, Patriot Mobile has defended faith, family and freedom while giving you the same or better premium coverage on all three major US Networks. Unlimited data, mobile hotspots, international roaming, they do it all. When you switch, you never sacrifice quality or service. Hundreds of thousands have joined the movement because every bill supports the First Amendment. The Second Amendment, the sanctity of life and our veterans and first responders. Switching is easy. Keep your number, keep your phone or upgrade to that free smartphone today. Their 100% U.S. based team can activate you in minutes. Go to patriotmobile.com Bannon that's all one word. Patriotmobile.com Bannon or call 972 Patriot and use promo code Bannon. Don't wait. This limited time offer won't last. That's patriotmobile.com Bannon or call 972 Patriot with promo code Bannon. You're going to get an East Texas, an East Texas accent and you're going to get an American citizen on the phone. So join me today. Make the Switch today at 972-patriot promo code BANNON. If you could make one holiday wish, would you wish to be free from your credit card and other debt? Let's see if we can help you with that. If we could give yourself one gift this holiday season, would it be finally to get some relief from your credit card and other debt? I might have a solution. Here's why. Now's the time to make a move. This time of year, credit card and loan companies close out their books. They clean up past due accounts. They sell or write off the debt to clear their books. That means if you have credit card debt and unpaid bills, lenders may be more open to negotiating and settling your account before you're in. That means right now, and I mean right now, you may actually have leverage and done with that. Knows how to use this to your advantage. They monitor lender trends and understand the year end pressure on creditors. They use that timing to negotiate hard on your behalf. Now's the time to get out from under crushing debt and interest payments without bankruptcy or taking on new loans. Done with debt goes to work for you month one with one clear goal, to reduce your total debt and leave you with more money every month. Get started now because your leverage may disappear at the end of the year. Chat with a done with debt specialist@donewithdet.com that's donewithdebt.com donewithdebt.com do it today. War room.

Pete Hegseth (51:26)

Here's your host, Stephen K. Ban.

Steve Bannon (51:28)

Okay, markets are in turbulence. You want to talk to the folks at birchgold about why physical gold has been a hedge in, I don't know, 5,000 years of mankind's history? Birchgold.com, end of the dollar empire, you might know that. Did approve today. Working this afternoon with the Birch Gold team. The eighth free installment of the end of the dollar empire that'll be up online hopefully, I don't know, a couple of weeks. As soon as we get all the graphics correct, birchgold.com, promo code Bannon ended the dollar empire. Talked to Philip, Patrick and the team today as markets, commodity markets, oil markets, stock markets, bond markets, all in turmoil because of geopolitical risk. That's fancy talk for war. George Papadopoulos, you join us on another aspect. Do you agree with the statement the war is actually not expanding, at least geographically? Sir.

George Papadopoulos (52:20)

Hi, Steve. Look, I think what the Secretary of War was absolutely correct on is that Iran's capabilities domestically have been degraded. But what I disagree with is whether the war has metastasized across various borders and has now involved foreign countries, many of which are critical to this war of attrition, including countries like Cyprus, Azerbaijan, the GCC states Israel itself. What Iran has calculated is that there's no way that they will take on the United States 1v1 and actually win. So that what they're looking at is the soft underbelly. And that basically has underwritten the United States economy, sea lanes, global trade routes, and of course, how Israel operates in the entire region, given its abilities to depend on various oil reserves from countries like Azerbaijan. So what has Iran just done? The last 48 hours? They haven't really hit American facilities, but what they are hitting are different nodes in energy pipelines in countries like Georgia, Azerbaijan, and they attempted to do it in Turkey. Now, what the pipeline that your viewers are looking at does is it provides Israel with 30% of its entire oil consumption. So what has Iran done? They said, we're going to hit Tel Aviv, we're going to hit Jerusalem with our ballistic missiles and our drones, but we also are going to hit the economy of Israel. That's what this logic was behind hitting this pipeline. Why are they hitting the GCC? The GCC not long ago pledged over $2 trillion in FDI to the United States economy under the Trump administration. So now the GCC members, seeing their cities hits, their airports hit, and their civilians living in bunkers, are recalibrating whether they can even earmark those trillions of dollars to the U.S. that's why this has now not only become a war of attrition, but it's also evolved how Iran has approached this war. It's no longer Iran versus the United States, but Iran versus the soft underbelly that has underwritten both Israel's and the United States economies.

Steve Bannon (54:28)

Why did the GCC means the Gulf Council that's bringing the Gulf The Emiratis and the Saudis. Why would they take a risk, something they haven't done before, Although they hate each other and they've been mortal enemies for a long time, although there has been a rapprochement between the monarchy in Saudi Arabia and the Persians, why would they risk bringing the Gulf Council in here with a tax, particularly on the oil and gas assets? Do you think that's a roll of the dice that was smart for them to do in the opening gambits of this?

George Papadopoulos (55:01)

I think they understand that the GCC does not have the appetite for a war of attrition or a prolonged conflict. Now, of course, oil hitting going up 15, 20% in a matter of days and the Strait of Hormuz closed. That really affects how the Europeans and their energy security. And that's something what I believe the Iranians calculated when they did hit Saudi Arabia. We can't forget that the United States is now the largest oil and natural gas producer. It's a net exporter of energy for the first time since World War II under the Trump administration. But the European Union, in which NATO is predominantly a part of, is energy scarce. And it can't actually depend on $100 oil for their crippled economies. It also can't depend on losing various energy sources from Azerbaijan, which is a critical source of natural gas and oil, also to the European market. So that's really what this calculated risk that the Iranians took so quickly was really all about. It's about getting the Europeans out of the game, crippling the Arab countries from actually investing in the United States and forcing Israel's hand at the negotiation with by cutting off their oil from Azerbaijan. That is the risk that the Iranians have taken, I believe, because they understand that they're not going to defeat the United States militarily. So they are lashing out. They are a desperate regime. But the most important thing we have to understand is, Steve, desperate regime means desperate measures.

Steve Bannon (56:29)

George, we're have you on here more often. Where do people go for your social media in the interim?

George Papadopoulos (56:34)

Sir, thank you. You can follow me on x at George Papa 19.

Steve Bannon (56:39)

Thank you. Thank you, thank you. Okay. Programming announcement in Worham, Texas. Peter Tickton has a full report on Tina Peters. He's the lawyer that got the part for President Trump. Peter's going to join us in the 6 o' clock hour. Also, Matt Boyle and Caroline Wren are going to talk about this proposal that Paxton has put forward about Cornyn. So we're going to get to all of that in the next Hour. Now I want to turn to Mike Lindell. Mike, how's the factory move going and how is our deal going?

Mike Lindell (57:10)

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Steve Bannon (59:01)

We're going to do live from the factory floor tomorrow. Mike Lindell, thank you. We'll see you in the morning. Peter Tickton is Tina Peters a gold star mother that's in prison right now. Her lawyer gonna be on war in Texas as is the great Matt Boyle, national editor of Breitbart and Caroline Wren all next in War room Texas. Do you owe back taxes or you haven't filed your taxes in years, now is the time to resolve your tax matters. With the national conversation around abolishing the income tax, the IRS is fighting back and proving it's here to stay by becoming more aggressive than ever before. For they're sending out more collection notices, filing more tax liens, and collecting billions more in recent years. If you owe, the IRS can garnish your wages, levy your bank accounts, seize your retirement and even your home if you owe or haven't filed. It's not a question of if the IRS will act, it's a question of when it will act. Right now, Tax Network USA is offering a completely free IRS research and discovery call to show you exactly where you stand and what they can stop before it's too late. Their powerful programs and strategies can save you thousands or even eliminate your debt entirely if you qualify. Don't make a costly mistake. Representing yourself or calling the IRS on your own waives your rights and cost you more money. They are not, and let me repeat, the IRS is not on your side. Get Protected the Right Way with Tax Network USA and start the process of settling your tax matters once and for all today. Call 1-800-958-1000, that's 1-800-958-10000 or visit tnusa.com Bannon for your free discovery call with Tax Network USA. Let me repeat, 800-958-1000. Tell them Bannon sent you. Don't let the IRS be the first to act. Take advantage of first mover advantage. You move.