Episode 5209: Mixed Messaging With The War With Iran; Russian Intel And Leaks To Iran

Summary

Podcast Summary: Bannon's War Room, Episode 5209

Title: Mixed Messaging With The War With Iran; Russian Intel And Leaks To Iran
Date: March 12, 2026
Host: Steve Bannon (WarRoom.org)
Guests: Jim Rickards, Newt Gingrich, Eric Bolling, Beau French

---

Overview

This episode dives into America’s ongoing military conflict with Iran (“Operation Epic Fury”) and the complex political, economic, and strategic landscape surrounding it. With multiple military and strategic experts, the panel critiques the White House’s lack of clarity, discusses intelligence leaks from Russia to Iran, analyzes energy markets, and debates regime change in Iran. The conversation threads together military tactics, economic ramifications (especially oil), domestic vulnerabilities, and global geopolitical implications—especially with China and Russia.

---

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Confusion and Mixed Messaging from the White House

• Theme: The administration’s public messaging about objectives in Iran is inconsistent, leading to confusion among both the public and military analysts.
• Highlights:
  • Initial Goals Shifted: The war started as “regime change”—then became about destroying Iran’s nuclear program—then dropped both goals for less defined objectives.
    • Newt Gingrich [00:13]: “It is clear that the White House did little to no strategic planning for this war. You can see that in the shifting objectives.”
  • Unclear Endgame: President’s statements on victory fluctuate: at one point declaring it’s nearly over, then suggesting weeks remain.
    • Steve Bannon [08:24]: “The president declared victory today. And then just a few minutes later, he kind of undeclared it.”
    • Jim Rickards [09:47]: “It’s both. It’s an excursion that will keep us out of a war. And the war is going to be ... for us, it’s turned out to be easier than we thought.”
• Strategic Gap:
  • Jim Rickards [26:06]: “You have to separate the military performance from the strategic vision. ... The military performance has been about flawless. ... The problem is, there’s no strategic vision now.”

---

2. Iranian Deterrence, Capabilities, and Leverage

• Hormuz and Economic Warfare:
  • Iran’s ace is its ability to threaten the Strait of Hormuz, a global oil chokepoint.
    • Newt Gingrich [01:07]: “That’s the ace card that they have in the hole.”
    • Eric Bolling [06:43]: “Keeping the Strait open is the number one job because it buys you time for the other two jobs.”
  • Iran responded to military setbacks by attacking Gulf shipping, raising oil prices, and leveraging economic pain.
    • Steve Bannon [02:35]: “They tried to jack up the price of oil so the base felt the pain at the pump ... That didn’t happen. The market is stabilized.”
    • Jim Rickards [20:09]: “As long as that’s the case, then that traffic is closed. No one’s going to fill up a tanker. No one’s going to set underway.”
    • Insurance, not just mines and missiles, is shutting down traffic.
• Proxy and Asymmetric Threats:
  • Iran’s history of using proxies, terrorism, and sleeper cells continues to be a threat.
    • Eric Bolling [04:26]: “I have been [briefed about sleeper cells].”
    • Steve Bannon [04:27]: “A lot of people came in through Biden with this stupid open border.”
    • Jim Rickards [04:48]: “We’ve got our eyes on all of them.”
• No Regime Change—Yet:
  • U.S. bombing has failed to trigger a popular uprising; IRGC (Revolutionary Guard) continues to consolidate power.
    • Jim Rickards [30:40]: “Regime change, failure. ... Now we got the, the mini Ayatollah. ... He’s just going to do what he’s told. The Guard Corps running the [country]. So there’s no uprising.”

---

3. U.S. Military Successes and Strategic Limitations

• Military Results:
  • The U.S. military campaign is described as technically flawless—air supremacy, destruction of Iranian naval and air assets, but...
    • Jim Rickards [26:06]: “The military performance has been about flawless. We sank the Iranian navy, we sank their minelayers. ... We achieved air supremacy.”
• No Clear Strategic Vision:
  • Victory is claimed, but with no coherent endpoint or “what next.”
    • Jim Rickards [30:40]: “My point is they’re projecting confusion. You don’t say those two things within three days of each other and expect people to think that you have a coherent strategy, which they don’t.”
• Potential Quagmire:
  • Panelists express concern that the U.S. may be headed for another ambiguous or inconclusive conflict.
    • Steve Bannon [39:33]: “Since World War II, we haven’t had definitive victories.”
    • Jim Rickards [39:33]: “We lost the war in Vietnam, but we never lost a battle ... Something like that is playing out in Iran today ... We won that battle, but we lost the war.”

---

4. Economic Fallout / Oil Markets & Energy Security

• Oil Prices & Strategic Reserves:
  • U.S. efforts to stabilize oil (including release of strategic petroleum reserve, SPR) are considered inadequate band-aids.
    • Eric Bolling [42:07]: “It doesn’t solve the problem. It just puts a piece of gauze on a hemorrhage and sure enough, oil went straight up.”
  • Critics argue for regulatory rollbacks and increased U.S. energy production.
    • Beau French [48:25]: “The first thing is we’re going to roll back the new Biden era EPA type environmental regulations ... reduce the break even point for operators ... We need energy dominance here in Texas.”
• Natural Gas Disruption:
  • Force majeure invoked, contracts nullified, leading to a potential global natural gas shortage.
    • Jim Rickards [36:39]: “Gutter has declared force majeure ... This is like 40% of the world’s natural gas. The US has a lot. Australia has some, but not enough to make up the difference. ... Europe is going to have to buy natural gas from Russia.”
• Global Economic Risks:
  • Threat of severe recession or market panic if oil and gas do not flow freely.

---

5. Broader Geopolitical Dynamics: Russia and China

• Russian Intelligence:
  • Claims Russia is providing targeting intel to Iran, playing both sides globally.
    • Steve Bannon [37:41]: “Russia and Russia’s playing both sides. They’re giving targeting information to the Iranians and telling us how they’re, they’re buddies and they’re going to play in India.”
• China’s Position:
  • China, needing stable energy imports, acts diplomatically but eyes strategic dividends as the U.S. is distracted.
    • Steve Bannon [10:01]: “China ... now U.S. officials say they’re watching signs Beijing could soon provide more crucial financial support to Tehran. ... Prolonged war could pull American attention and military resources back to the Middle East and away from Asia, allowing China to flex its military muscle.”

---

6. Domestic Security Concerns

• Sleeper Cells:
  • Significant anxiety about Iranian operatives reportedly entering the U.S. via southern border policies.
    • Steve Bannon [04:27]: “A lot of people came in through Biden with this stupid open border.”
    • Eric Bolling [04:26]: “I have been [briefed about sleeper cells].”
• “Soft Power” and Cultural Influence:
  • Bannon links New York City’s challenges to “war of conquest through soft power,” reflecting a blend of internal and external threats.
    • Steve Bannon [19:28]: “The problem we have is not in Tehran. The problem we have is in the streets of New York City ... you understand they’re in a war of conquest here through soft power.”

---

7. Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Operation Epic Fury:
  • Bannon [00:00]: “Operation Epic Fury. Is that a great name? Well, it’s only good if you win.”
• On Iran’s Leverage:
  • Newt Gingrich [01:07]: “That’s the ace card that they have in the hole.”
• On U.S. Strategic Failures:
  • Jim Rickards [30:40]: “You don’t say those two things within three days of each other and expect people to think that you have a coherent strategy, which they don’t.”
• Comparing U.S. Wars:
  • Jim Rickards [39:33]: “We lost the war in Vietnam, but we never lost a battle. ... That was urban fighting. And they prevailed. It was brutal, but they prevailed. We won that battle, but we lost the war. And in Iran ... we sank the Navy ... wiped out the leadership ... The point is, that’s not regime change.”

---

8. Action Items and Policy Proposals

• Energy Production & Policy:
  • Beau French argues for regulatory rollbacks, increased Texas oil production, and elimination of DEI contracts at regulatory agencies ([48:25]).
• Maintain Pressure, But Know the Limits:
  • Newt Gingrich urges the administration to focus on three jobs: keep the Strait open, disable Revolutionary Guard, and organize opposition within Iran ([06:43], [18:06]).
• Public Vigilance:
  • Bannon encourages his MAGA audience to stay alert, think strategically, and follow events closely ([12:55]).

---

Time-Stamped Segment Breakdown

• 00:00–03:33: Opening thoughts on Operation Epic Fury, shifting U.S. war aims, and Iranian leverage through Hormuz.
• 03:33–09:47: Military progress, concerns over sleeper cells, the complexity of Iran’s deterrence, and U.S. public opinion.
• 09:47–11:48: China’s potential moves, global energy risks, and the danger of a strategic vacuum.
• 12:55–15:00: Bannon’s call for grassroots vigilance and summary of recent administration energy moves.
• 18:06–20:09: Eric Bolling and Newt Gingrich outline the three key U.S. challenges in the region.
• 20:09–24:00: Jim Rickards details the complex reality of oil markets, insurance chokepoints, and Revolutionary Guard power.
• 26:06–30:40: Assessment of military success versus lack of strategic planning; “unconditional surrender” debate.
• 30:40–36:39: Iranian mindset, failed regime change, the economic power of the IRGC, American misapprehensions.
• 36:39–39:33: Comparisons to Vietnam and past U.S. military efforts; warnings about overreliance on military victory.
• 39:33–42:44: Role of the Texas Railroad Commission in U.S. energy security; practical steps for “energy dominance.”
• 46:15–49:40: Beau French’s campaign and energy policy outlook.
• 50:10–52:07: Eric Bolling critiques the administration’s temporary fixes for oil supply; skepticism about current strategies.

---

Conclusion

This episode is a vivid window into U.S. conservative war-room thinking at a time of international crisis. It underscores the chasm between tactical military achievements and uncertain strategic goals in Iran. The panel is united in criticizing current policy for mixed messaging, lack of preparedness, and insufficient vision—while highlighting the enduring dangers posed by Iranian leverage, domestic vulnerabilities, and the maneuverings of Russia and China. On the domestic front, energy policy and national security are defined as inseparable, with calls for deregulation and vigilance against Iranian influence.

---

Notable Closing Quote:
Jim Rickards [40:38]: “We can kill five more supreme leaders and they'll pick another one. That's not regime change.”

---

For a full breakdown of U.S. strategy, economic fallout, and insider perspectives, this episode offers a critical (and at times, alarmist) perspective designed for the MAGA grassroots.

Transcript

[Steve Bannon]

Operation Epic Fury. Is that a great name? Well, it's only good if you win, you know, you can only do. And we've won.

[Jim Rickards]

Let me say we've won.

[Newt Gingrich]

I think we're at a very dangerous moment. It is clear that the White House did little to no strategic planning for this war. You can see that in the shifting objectives. Where at first this was a regime change war, then it wasn't. It was to re obliterate the Iranian nuclear program, and now that's not one of the objectives they list. You can see it in the failure to plan to get American citizens out of harm's way in the Gulf, to evacuate our embassies that were put in harm's way. You can see this in the fact that they were surprised that the Iranians have launched attacks against Gulf nations, even though the Iranians have threatened that multiple times over the years. And you see that, I think, most of all in the White House's lack of any plan for Iran closing the Strait of Hormuz. Something that everyone that's worked in the national security community can tell you has always been their number one kind of point of leverage.

[Beau French]

That's the reason.

[Newt Gingrich]

That's the ace card that they have in the hole. And so now what you see is a president who clearly gets that this is a political problem for him. You can see a couple of days ago, he started trying to talk about how we, you know, we're getting close to ending the war. Although then an hour later, he'll come out and say, but we still have weeks to go. You can tell he feels the problem. What I worry about now, look, I think the president is likely to end the war sooner rather than later. I think the military campaign probably has two weeks or so to go until it reaches its objectives. But the president may decide to stop the bombing. That doesn't mean Iran is going to end the war. They may decide that they have lost all of their other deterrent measures. They've lost their proxies that they had throughout the region. Their missile program has been decimated, first in the attacks last June and then over the course of the last almost two weeks. The one deterrent they have is the economic pain that they can cause us. And they may decide that they want to ramp the pain up. Even if the president wants the war to end, to send a message to Donald Trump in the future and to future American presidents and future Israeli prime ministers that they do have leverage and they're willing to use it. You can disagree with the war, but not the war effort.

[Steve Bannon]

We are accelerating these bombing runs, and their offensive output is collapsing.

[Newt Gingrich]

You have to look at it honestly.

[Steve Bannon]

Like these two colleagues to my left said, everything that the Iranians have tried has failed. They tried to have a war of attrition, hunker down, let us run out of munitions and interceptors. That didn't work.

[Newt Gingrich]

Hit the Arab allies.

[Steve Bannon]

All it did was force them into America's arms. And then they tried to jack up the price of oil so the base felt the pain at the pump, and the market could pressure Trump to take a knee. That didn't happen. The market is stabilized. Oil's down to 80 bucks a barrel. And right now the strait's open. It's not completely, but they are moving tankers, and we have things we can do there. We can use ships as sentries. We could do escorts, or we could seize Carg island and they just, like, turn off their revenue with a little spigot. We When Trump and Hegseth say that we're only just getting started or, oh, they ain't seen nothing yet, that's not saying the war is gonna last forever. That's a psyop to the Iranians to say we're holding a lot back. We could be hitting their electrical grids, bridges, oil depots. What we're doing is if they act stupid, we're gonna reserve those targets for that punishment. Right now, we're almost executing this war compassionately. This thing could be much, much bigger.

[Newt Gingrich]

The timing of the war is really

[Steve Bannon]

intelligent because the volley of these drones and ballistic missiles. Imagine five years from now how much blood and treasure the American alliance would have to spend busting down these barrages to take out the nuclear program. Their goal was to build a shield around it so we couldn't even consider the strike. People have to be a little bit more patient. We took 10 years to nail bin Laden. Two years for Milosevic, eight months for Gaddafi, nine months for Saddam. Hitler died after six years. We got this guy in 50 seconds. You have to acknowledge how great that was. Ten years that way.

[Newt Gingrich]

And if they try to hit us back.

[Steve Bannon]

Have you been briefed about how many

[Newt Gingrich]

Iran sleeper cells there could be inside

[Steve Bannon]

the US Right now?

[Eric Bolling]

I have been.

[Steve Bannon]

And a lot of people came in through Biden with this stupid open border,

[Jim Rickards]

but we know where most of them are.

[Eric Bolling]

We've got our eye on all.

[Jim Rickards]

I think.

[Steve Bannon]

Is it something.

[Jim Rickards]

They came in through the open border policies of sleepy Joe Biden, one of

[Eric Bolling]

the worst and the worst president in

[Steve Bannon]

the history of our country.

[Jim Rickards]

And we've got our Eyes on all of them.

[Steve Bannon]

But the war itself is being prosecuted at a level that nobody's seen before. It's pretty, it's pretty amazing to watch.

[Beau French]

I mean if the US were to stop, why do you think the Iranians would continue?

[Newt Gingrich]

Might be in part expression of domestic politics.

[Steve Bannon]

You know, this is a regime that

[Newt Gingrich]

since 1979 has defined itself in part

[Steve Bannon]

as, you know, it's anti Zionist but also anti American.

[Newt Gingrich]

The Great Satan. Nothing that's happened, shall we say in

[Steve Bannon]

the last two weeks has changed any of that.

[Newt Gingrich]

They also want to show that they've

[Steve Bannon]

got the ability and will to push back. They may want reparations, they certainly are

[Newt Gingrich]

going to want the relaxation of sanctions.

[Steve Bannon]

So by continuing to act against energy

[Newt Gingrich]

to make it impossible for tankers to go through the straits, this gives them an awful lot of leverage.

[Steve Bannon]

My own sense is no matter what

[Newt Gingrich]

the President says, we are moving towards some kind of a negotiation with Iran and they want to have some leverage. And by continuing the war that puts pressure on the United States.

[Steve Bannon]

They read the polls, they look at

[Newt Gingrich]

stock markets, they look at the price of energy internationally.

[Steve Bannon]

They know that by continuing the war,

[Newt Gingrich]

war, that gives them an awful lot of leverage.

[Jim Rickards]

Treasury Department buying oil futures as a means to keep the oil prices down.

[Steve Bannon]

We're going to be in very good shape. You see what's happening.

[Jim Rickards]

They are pretty much at the end of the line.

[Steve Bannon]

Doesn't mean we're going to end it immediately, but they are. They've got no navy, they've got no air force, they've got no anti air traffic anything. They have no systems of control. We're just riding free range over that country.

[Eric Bolling]

And now we're going to look very

[Steve Bannon]

strongly at the strike. The Straits are in great shape. We've knocked out all of their boats.

[Eric Bolling]

They have some missiles, but not very many.

[Steve Bannon]

I think we're in very good, we're

[Jim Rickards]

in very good shape.

[Eric Bolling]

Look, there are three huge challenges that this administration has tackled. The first is that, and they should have frankly moved on this on day one. They have to keep the strait of Hormones open.

[Jim Rickards]

Yes.

[Eric Bolling]

I don't care what it costs. If they can't keep it open, this war will in fact be an American defeat before very long because the entire world, including the American people will react to the price of oil if the strait stays closed very long. So I lived through this with Reagan, as you did in the late 80s. Keeping the strait open is the number one job because it buys you time for the other two other jobs. The second job is we're going to discover that the Revolutionary Guard is tougher than we thought it was better connected and have at least 200,000 people who are true believers. And they have no future. I mean, right. Trump can say unconditional surrender. These folks know if they lose power, they have no future. And the third challenge is how do you arouse and organize the street? The 85 million or so people in Iran who do not want the current regime, but they're unarmed, they're unorganized, and that has to be solved. These three problems are going to decide whether this was a stroke of genius or, frankly, a step into quicksand. And I think that the president has to focus very hard on solving these three issues.

[Steve Bannon]

Jake reserves victory would also mean the enemy and its surrogates would no longer

[Beau French]

be pouring missiles into northern Israel.

[Steve Bannon]

But they are again tonight. This is new video of it yet. The president declared victory today. And then just a few minutes later, he kind of undeclared it.

[Jim Rickards]

We don't want to leave early, do we, huh?

[Steve Bannon]

We got to finish the job, right? He said it several more times. We've got to finish the job. Yet this morning, he also suggested there was little left to do, telling Axios Barack Ravi there was, quote, practically nothing left to target, a little this and that and saying, quote, any time I want to end, it will end. Now, if you're not already confused about

[Beau French]

that or whether we've won or not,

[Steve Bannon]

listen to the president also today on

[Beau French]

what to even call what we are

[Steve Bannon]

or aren't yet winning. And we did a little excursion.

[Jim Rickards]

We had to take this little couple of weeks, few weeks of excursion, but it's been incredible. Our military is unbelievable. The job they're doing, I would say, to put it mildly, way ahead of schedule. So had to take an excursion, but it's doing well.

[Eric Bolling]

The market's holding up.

[Jim Rickards]

Well, oil will be coming down. That's just a, it's just a matter of war. That happens very. You can almost predict it.

[Steve Bannon]

You just said it is a little excursion and you said it is a war. So which one is it? Well, it's both.

[Jim Rickards]

It's both. It's a, an excursion that will keep us out of a war. And the war is going to be. I mean, for them, it's a war. For us, it's turned out to be easier than we thought.

[Steve Bannon]

Publicly, President Xi Jinping's government is striking a more diplomatic tone, calling for restraint. China's foreign Minister Wang Yi says this is a war that should never have happened and a war that benefits no one. China has long been Iran's economic lifeline. Beijing buying most of their oil exports despite years of U. S led sanctions. And now U.S. officials say they're watching signs Beijing could soon provide more crucial financial support to Tehran. The war is shaking global energy markets. Oil prices surging to four year highs. Attacks threatening shipping routes in the Middle East. For China, the world's biggest energy importer, that's a serious risk. But strategically, Beijing may also see opportunity as the two superpowers compete on the world stage. With the CIA putting out these official recruitment videos brazenly and openly luring Chinese officials to spy for the U.S. analysts say a prolonged war could pull American attention and military resources back to the Middle east and away from Asia, allowing China to flex its military muscle around Taiwan in the South China Sea and disputed islands near Japan without US Interference.

[Beau French]

We have crossed the Rubicon here, Anderson. We're in a very difficult situation. I believe it's important to carry out what is left of the military campaign. I can't put a timeframe on that. I'm sure within CENTCOM they have a sense and they're probably briefing the President. But if, if we cut this short and Iran has reconsolidated its hardline elements within the system, which they appear to

[Steve Bannon]

have done, although we don't know exactly,

[Beau French]

and they can still reconstitute because they have enough of the capability on the missiles and the drones and maybe even the nuclear, we could be in an even worse position. And a final point, you know, Iran has had a strategic policy for decades, Anderson, to spread the revolution through terrorism, through proxies and to deter any blowback inside their own borders. And they've done that through what they see as deterrence. They used to have very good air defense systems. Hezbollah very strong, used to be very strong on Israel's border with hundreds of thousands of missiles and rockets and missiles, drones. So there was a deterrence against an attack. It's one reason no president has ever actually done this if you've taken out those deterrent elements. But they have now restored their deterrence because they control the vital artery of the world and have now demonstrated they can use it and it really bites. You might actually come out of this where Iran might be weaker, but they have deterrence against any future attacks. So I'm looking at this strategically. It's a really precarious moment, Anderson, and I think the President's mixed messaging is not helping.

[Steve Bannon]

It is Thursday, the 12th of March in the year of our Lord 2026. We're going to get to the bottom of all this. Break it all down for you so you can see every element of it and come to your own conclusion which is most important right now. We need MAGA and we need the, the mega grassroots folks that would be this audience to really think this situation through. You're in the war room. We're going to start with Jim Rickards. We have Jim up in a moment. We got Eric Bolling here. Eric Bolling called shot yesterday about the release of the, the first off, the IEA petroleum reserve, which I think they said there's going to be 400 million barrels released. Also the, the, the Strategic Petroleum Reserve. Anyway, we'll talk about oil, the straits, the Gulf. We will compare and contrast what you just heard. Jim Rickards, one of the best geopolitical strategists and capital market strategists we'll start with. We're absolutely packed this morning. You're here in the war room. Take your phone out and text Bannon B A N N O N at 989-898. Get the ultimate guide for investing in gold and precious metals in the age of Trump. Check it out today. The it's no obligation. It's totally free. And you get, and you get to get to Philip Patrick. And Philip Patrick will be on the show this evening. We'll go through all of this short commercial break. Natasha Owens will take you out. Jim Rickards is going to bring you in. You breach from your mansion, but you

[Jim Rickards]

don't know the cost.

[Steve Bannon]

I thank God you're not the boss. What about Lake and Riley? It's Charlie too. Hard to say.

[Jim Rickards]

What about when you took your shot and the one you call K? Where is your song for justice?

[Steve Bannon]

Think about this this. In 2006, $20,000 equaled roughly 33 ounces of gold at spot prices. At today's prices, those 33 ounces of gold will be worth $165,000. Smart Americans diversify a portion of their savings into precious metals. And that's why you need to consider buying gold from my friends at Birch Gold Group. For thousands of years, gold has been a store of wealth and today it is a crucial part of any balance strategy. Even better, Birch Gold can help you convert an existing IRA or 401k into a tax sheltered retirement account in gold. Just text my name, Bannon B A N N Owen to the number 989-898 to receive your free info kit on gold. There's no obligation, just useful information with an A plus rating with the Better Business Bureau and Tens of thousands of happy customers. Let Birch Gold help you diversify with Gold. Now that's peace of mind. Text Bannon to 989-898. Again, my name, Bannon. B A N N O N to the number 989-898. Do it today. Here's your host, Stephen K. Band. Okay, welcome back. Philip Patrick Tonight, Jim Rickards this morning. So you can't get two better thinkers about this. I'm gonna play Newt Gingrich and bring Jim on. We got to hear this Newt again, because when you lose Newt, of course, Newt's a regime change guy. Guardian newspaper has a story this morning very well sourced from Israeli intelligence and Israeli political class about how they admit they were not ready for and they wanted regime change. They basically said it was a hope and a prayer. Do some bombing and people were going to rise up. That's why Netanyahu went public yesterday with, you have to rise up and overthrow the ayatollah, the mullahs, the Revolutionary Guard. That's not happening. And that's because of their many reasons. But the bombing on Saturday night, the firebombing of Tehran made this a Persian nationalist situation. So now we're in it. So everybody's talking about, hey, why do we get in this? Yes, there'll be plenty of time later for that. But we're in it now. We're in it and we need victory. Now. We got to define victory, be very precise about it. But this is as dark as it possibly gets. Let's play Newt Gingrich, and I want to bring Jim Rickardson.

[Eric Bolling]

Look, there are three huge challenges that this administration has tackled. The first is that and they should have frankly moved on this on day one. They have to keep the strait of hormones open.

[Newt Gingrich]

Yes.

[Eric Bolling]

I don't care what it costs. If they can't keep it open, this war will, in fact be an American defeat before very long because the entire world, including the American people, will react to the price of oil if the strait stays closed very long. So I lived through this with Reagan, as you did in the late 80s. Keeping the Strait open is the number one job because it buys you time for the other. The two other jobs. This the second job is we're going to discover that the Revolutionary Guard is tougher than we thought. It was better connected and have at least 200,000 people who are true believers and they have no future. I mean, front can say unconditional surrender. These folks know if they lose power, they have no future. And the third challenge is how do you arouse and Organize the street. The 85 million or so people in Iran who do not want the current regime, but they're unarmed, they're unorganized and that has to be solved. These three problems are going to decide whether this was a stroke of genius or frankly a step into quicksand. And I think that the president has to focus very hard on solving these three issues.

[Steve Bannon]

I gave a speech in June and said the problem we have is not in Tehran. The problem we have is in the streets of New York City. Mandami today in a budget crisis. I think they're four or five billion dollars short and they're supposed to have testimony today. His director, I think of his omb, can't testify because he's fasting for Ramadan. If you've seen these photos coming out of New York City and New Jersey over the last couple days, you understand they're in a war of conquest here through soft power. We're in a crisis, folks. Hope you take your number two prince a lot and write that down. Jim Rickards, your thoughts and observations. Sir, where are we? Is Jesse Waters right or is Newt Gingrich right?

[Jim Rickards]

I take it Jesse Waters is a nice guy, but he's on another planet. I listened very carefully to the open of the show and what he was saying in particular. He got about everything wrong. But in fairness to him, he's suffering the same confusion that I think most analysts and commentators are suffering. We'll talk about that in a second. As far as Newt Gingrich is concerned, he was exactly right. So he said three issues. Keep the straight open, disable the Iran Revolutionary Guard Corps, IRGC and encourage an uprising in the streets. So that's the right analysis. But the United states is over 3, the straits are not open and there are a lot of reasons for that. They're not mined. There's no Iranian navy. But the insurance companies won't underwrite the cargoes and the vessels. The owners of the vessels, Norwegians, Greeks, whatever they want through the owners of the cargoes, Chinese and Asians, they don't want them blown up. The naval escort, fine, but Iran still has a lot of land based power. No air force, no navy. Got it. No mine, but they've got a lot of land based power. But what Iran has done, they've started blowing up tankers near Basra in Iraq. They're not in the Straits of Hormuz. You can't even get to the Straits of Hormuz. The point is it's not. Yeah, the straits are a choke point, obviously, geographically but it's not just the Straits. They're blowing up tankers in the Persian Gulf all the way up to Iraq. And as long as that's the case, then that traffic is closed. No one's going to fill up a tanker. No one's going to set underway. Jesse Waters said, you know, price of oil spiked to $120, which it did for about a minute. There was panic buying on Monday, and it's back down to 80. Well, he said 80. Right now it's 95. I checked my ticker a few minutes ago. So oil's $95 a barrel, but regardless, it was $60 a barrel a month ago. So even if you go 60 to 90, that's a 50% increase. So, okay, forget 120. That was a super spike. But even at 90, you're going to shut down the global economy and you can't even get the oil. Iran Revolutionary Guard Corps, get rid of them. Yeah, good idea. They control 40% of the economy. They're not just an armed force and a Praetorian Guard. I mean, they perform functions like that. They control 40% of the economy, the oil industry, the transportation industry, et cetera, minerals and mining, et cetera, and they have for years. So they're a military force in one sense, but they've really taken over the Iranian economy. So you're talking about shutting down Iran as far as an uprising is concerned. They had an uprising about two months ago, and the, the ayatollah killed 5,000 people, just gunned them down in the streets. So, you know, you want to be the first one to, you know, come out of your apartment and start waving a banner? I don't think so. And it reminds me of, you know, Dick Cheney saying, when we, you know, in the Gulf War, well, 2003, when we get to Baghdad, they'll be lining the streets with flowers and American flags and greeting us, not what happened. What you had was, you know, hundreds of thousands of people killed. They were. They didn't have guns. They were using electric drills to drill people in the head between the shields. So we're repeating all the same, Jim,

[Steve Bannon]

but hang on, Let me just ask you this. If we started in, the proposition was, and we hear this from Admiral Cooper and General Kane every day on the military, and Captain Fennell comes on here and helps us walk through the degradation, if we started with the nuclear program of whatever reality it was. If you start with the radars, if you start with the air defense systems, if you start with degrading their ability to project power to, you know, against Israel and their Gulf neighbors as the starting proposition. And you weren't for regime change like we weren't. The issue is, and the problem is, is that they, the game has changed. The game has changed from Saturday night when you, when you, because there was this thought that the Iranian people would, would rise up. Not the 30,000 that were killed a couple of months ago, but, or a month ago, but even more to overthrow this, this, this radical and detested Islamic theology. But since the, the Revolutionary Guard and these guys have punch, they very, they

[Jim Rickards]

focus on two things.

[Steve Bannon]

This is why I said in the first couple days, folks, the center of gravity, a Clausewitzian sense, is not Tehran and what they're bombing, it's the Gulf. They're going after our Gulf allies and they're hitting desalination plants, water, and they're hitting their oil storage and refineries. And that's why Lindsey Graham comes on here after five minute juleps on TV and says, hey, Saudi Arabia will offer you a pact in perpetuity. Right? But you've got to step up here. You've got to start attacking. And why the Gulf nations are not attacking Iran. What they're doing is calling the President United States and saying, you got to get us out of here. We never signed up for this. Plus the fact that with drone technology, I was there at the beginning of this thing 47 years ago. My kid brother was a helicopter pilot on the Reisner USS Reasoner during the tanker wars that you talked about with Reagan, the 86, 87, 88 tanker wars where American Navy had to escort these ships through, as Captain Fennell laid out the other day. The difference is you didn't have drone technology that can swarm. The Navy goes in to stop the speedboats from coming along like they did the coal, although that was anchored the speedboats from coming and dropping a torpedo. And they had some radars, but the radars is very tough in the Persian Gulf and the Straits, as you know, Jim, for those radars now you have this swarm technology, these cheap drones that are just all over the place. The Navy said today, the Secretary of Energy said from the White House this morning that the Navy's not going to be prepared to even escort the ships to the end of the month. And I'm telling people that's not a panacea. It's not as simple as say, oh, we're going to put a Navy combatant on every ship. It doesn't work like that. It's quite difficult to. It's quite difficult on the military evolution to actually escort the ships and it's very difficult today. And the Revolutionary Guard knows how to play that game.

[Jim Rickards]

Jim Rickards well, that's exactly right. If you want to lose the war and lose the American people and lose MAGA all at the same time, just have a, you know, US Navy destroyer struck or badly damaged, doesn't even have to sink. The Navy said we're not going to escort these tankers because we can't secure the Navy which comes first. The key thing to all this, Steve, you have to separate the military performance from the strategic vision. People mush them together. You got to separate. The military performance has been about flawless. We sank the Iranian navy, we sank their minelayers. We've eliminated practically all their S3 hundreds, 400 anti aircraft systems. We've achieved air supremacy which is one notch higher than air superiority. We've blown up a lot of their missile launchers, not all of them. We wiped out their leadership. If we want to go into Cargill and with Special Operations Command, we haven't done that, but that's feasible. So the military performance has been brilliant. You could say mission accomplished. The problem is there's no strategic vision now. About four or five days ago, President Trump said I demand unconditional surrender. There are only two presidents in U.S. history who have demanded unconditional surrender. One of them was Ulysses S. Grant, the Civil War. He wasn't president at the time, but he got the nickname Unconditional Surrender Grant and he achieved it. The Other one was FDR in World War II who along with Churchill said we insist on unconditional surrender of the Nazis and the, and the Japanese. And we, and we got it. They were both most successful in that. So those are, those are powerful words.

[Steve Bannon]

Hang on one second. I want to get into all this in the next break. Rickardswarroom.com It's a landing page. You go there, you get access to Strategic Intelligence, which is a newsletter read by chairman of the board, big time investors, CEOs throughout the world. It puts you right into the C suite where you show could be. It's predicated on predictive analytics of which we'll have Jim talk about when he returns. Strategic Intelligence available for you [e-mail] okay, can we talk about what's really happening right now? New data shows financial stress is at an all time high. Millions of Americans are at a breaking point. Debt maxed out, no extra money, no room to breathe. And this isn't just lower income households anymore. Middle Class families are hitting their limits too. This isn't about reckless spending. Everyday people are running out of options. So if debt has been weighing on you, you're not alone. And when it comes to debt, waiting usually makes it worse. Interest piles up. Minimum payments keep you stuck. You don't need another loan and you don't need bankruptcy. You need a strategy. That's why I like Done with Debt. They've built a smart personalized plan around you, their experience and knowing what it takes to get you the biggest reductions possible. Whether you owe $10,000 or much more. Done With Debt has one clear gold lower what you owe so you keep more of your paycheck every month. It's very simple. Let's repeat that. Lower what you owe so you can keep more of your paycheck every month. Start with a free consultation. Just takes minutes. Share your situation, your tale of woe and find out what's possible. You do not have to stay stuck. Go to donewithdebt.com that's donewithdebt.com and do it today. Here's your host, Stephen K. Banner. Okay, Bowling who had a called shot yesterday as he has been on the situation oil as the traders mentality. Beau French also running to head the railroad commission in in Texas which is about the oil and gas industry, not about the railroad industry and are on deck and Jim Rickards is with Jim Rickards. Continue on Unconditional surrender. Abraham Lincoln had his instrument to destroy the Confederacy and the army of Northern Virginia. That was Ulysses S. Grant who understood that it had to be unconditional surrender or the Confederacy would have fought on forever. Same with Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan. You got to tell them there's no way out of here. President Trump put that message out a week ago. Continue on sir.

[Jim Rickards]

Well, Trump put that message out again. The word is very powerful. You're talking about Grant and fdr. Then four days later he says it's an excursion and technically it might be expeditionary force. Well, Excursion, in 1916, General Blackjack Pershing, one of only two Six Star Generals in US history invaded Mexico to chase Pancho Villa. And then he got, then they came back. That's an excursion. But my question for the President is which is it? Is it unconditional surrender or is it an excursion? I can debate both of those. Maybe you can even defend both of those. But. But my point is they're projecting confusion. You don't say those two things within three days of each other and expect people to think that you have a coherent strategy which they don't. So this is the problem now in terms of the other thing that Americans don't understand. The White House does not understand and I don't know why they don't understand it. This is a radical theocracy. They don't understand the religious aspect of this. Samuel Huntington laid it out in 1991 and the clash of civilizations. He said, take a map of the world, put a transparency over it and draw the line where blood is being shed. Every battle in the world, take another transparency and draw a line where all the, where the religious divides are overlay one on the other. They're the same whether it's Shiite, Sunni, Christian, Islam, etc. Now the Muslim, but these particular Shiite Muslim, they welcome death. They welcome it. They consider it the divine will of Allah. They're going straight to paradise. There's even a thesis which I don't have any strong evidence, but it's interesting that they, they gather the Ayatollah and the head of the Revolutionary Guard, Korean Defense Minister, they gathered intentionally, knowing they were going to be hunted, hunted down and killed so they could all die at once and be martyrs. That's a mentality that is so distant from what people in the United States and the White House think. They don't understand what they're up against. So, and the second. So I'm going down the list. Regime change, failure. We've had a leadership change, but we haven't had regime change. Now we got the, the mini Ayatollah is. Moshtaba is the son of Ayatollah Khomeini. He's clearly a puppet. He's going to do what the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps tell him. He's not a distinguished scholar. You know, he's got some mid level, you know, you know, religious credentials, but nothing, nothing personal. He's just going to do it. He's just going to do what he's told. He's a puppet. The Guard Corps running the. So there's no uprising. The Guard.

[Steve Bannon]

Because they're not, they're, they're, they're not, they're not into, they're not into, they're not into hereditary. So by the show's continuity. But what are they into? Because now we were all for. Hey, you, get over there. Get your stuff done. Get your punch list or your, or what the Navy and the, and the Air Force are doing with the, with your degradation and then get an offer him. Let's get the hell out of here. However, the shift to go against the Gulf allies, which trust me, they Ain't allies. Okay? We pretend they're allies because they're all bailing out and going after the Straits of Hormuz. Although, as you know, it doesn't really affect right now the supply of oil. It disrupts it. And the speculators get in there. We've allowed the Iranians to change the nature of this conflict.

[Jim Rickards]

Correct.

[Steve Bannon]

And that's why Newt Gingrich. When you lose Newt Gingrich. When you lose Newt Gingrich, they've changed the nature of the conflict. And so now the Gulf, and keeping the Gulf open becomes paramount, doesn't it?

[Jim Rickards]

That's exactly right. There are two. Theoretically, there are two kinds of escalation. And, you know, President Eisenhower, I rank him maybe top five presidents, and he's brilliant. He once said, when you can't solve a problem, enlarge the problem, make the problem bigger. And then you might see the solution now in terms of escalation, vertical escalation, if you want to call it that, is, you know, my weapons are bigger than your weapons. You send a bomb, I send a bigger bomb. Instead, we keep going up. That kind of is the dynamic that was in play between the Soviet Union and the US during the Cold War. What the Iranians done is not vertical escalation. They can't do that. They can't match this weapon for weapon. This is horizontal escalation. They spread out the problem. They enlarged the problem, as Eisenhower would put it. Yes. And now they're blowing up oil tankers, not in the Straits of Hormuz, but in Iraq. They're bombing Dubai. I know people who were moving a lot of wealth from Singapore to Dubai in recent months. They're like, hey, Singapore's a little too close to China. Dubai looked pretty safe. Not anymore. I mean, I've been there many times. Their places that are burning, they disabled to a great extent. People don't know. The Fifth Fleet, the United States Navy Fifth Fleet is based in Bahrain. They have disabled those port facilities. Those vessels might have to go to Diego Garcia, which is four days each way. And so they. And they. But they've been doing this with drones. They still have some ballistic missiles. They've been substantially degraded, and we have air supremacy, but they've widened the war very inexpensively. By the way, as you know, these drones are about $10,000 a piece of. So, yeah, they're driving a wedge between the Gulf states, but here's here.

[Steve Bannon]

Okay, here's the question, though. For those of us. For those of. For those of us that were adamantly opposed to Regime change. Right, regime change. Is Newton saying it the reality or because of their ability to have a vote in this, they've now forced the issue around the Gulf, in the Straits of Hormuzzi that you almost have to have a regime change. I'm not saying I support that, but I'm saying just strategically, otherwise they're going to continue on and Iran's going to say hey, for all the great American effort, for all the great American military, for all the Israelis bombing us, we control the Gulf. Saudi Arabia doesn't control it. Big tough talking. MBZ doesn't control it. The Americans don't control it. We control it. Your thoughts, sir?

[Jim Rickards]

Well, I think that's exactly right. And by the way, we talked about the military aspects of this where our performance has been great but we're losing. And then we talk the strategic aspect of it which is a muddle. The White House just has not had a clear message from day one and they still don't. We haven't talked about the economy. I mean obviously everyone understands the importance of, well, you're going to drive the entire global economy into a global recession at best and maybe a market panic because it's not just oil. We've been talking about it all but natural gas. Gutter has declared force majeure. It's a technical legal term but it says, you know all those contracts we signed, they're negated. You can't sue me, no damages, no contractual lawsuits. I'm just not performing because a greater force, force majeure has come into play. Well, this is like 40% of the world's natural gas. The US has, has a lot. Australia has some, but not enough to make up the difference. You know, Europe is going to have to buy natural gas from Russia. Think about that the last four years. Russia's horrible. They're evil.

[Steve Bannon]

Oh no, we're giving, we're given, we're given India, we're given Russian, Russia's. Russia and Russia's playing both sides. They're giving targeting information to the Iranians and telling us how they're, they're buddies and they're going to play in India. Let me, let me it the military performance, the valor of our arms, the courage of our troops, the tenacity of our war making capabilities in Korea and in Vietnam in the global war on terror in Iraq. The march up country in Iraq and Afghanistan originally with those volunteers unparalleled can't be questioned because you see the results of what these folks did in Korea and Vietnam in the global war on Terror. And guess what? We lost in Korea, we lost in Vietnam, and we've lost a global war on terror. You got Mandami sitting on rugs having what the IFTAR dinner or whatever it is, sitting on rugs with the portrait of Washington in front, in front of you. You seen that in New York City. You got that? We're going Brandon hall on here from Texas on the state education board. You see what they're doing to change the history books in Texas? Understand what I've been saying about it ain't in Tehran, where your problem is. They're coming here and they're winning here. They control New York City. And today, in the midst of a budget crisis, the director of the budget can't talk because he's fasting for Ramadan. Suck on that. Right? Korea and Vietnam, the global war, terror. We're here where we are today. Yes, we've got a military and this training and the kids, the young men and women that do it are the best that we got. Like they were the best in Vietnam and like they were the best in Korea. And look, Since World War II, we haven't had definitive victories. Go ahead, sir.

[Jim Rickards]

We lost the war in Vietnam, but we never lost a battle. We never lost a single battle in the, in Vietnam, but we lost the war. And something like that is playing out in, in Iran today or in the Persian Gulf. Look at what the Marine Corps did in Hue after the Tet offensive. I mean, that was door to door, street to street. That was urban fighting. And they prevailed. It was brutal, but they prevailed. We won that battle, but we lost the war. And in Iran, like I said, we sank the Navy, disabled the anti aircraft systems, wiped out the leadership. If we found many Khomeini today, I mean, I'm not being glib, what's his name? Let's say we killed him and that may happen. That could happen tonight. They'll just pick somebody else. The point is, that's not regime change. He's a trumpet.

[Steve Bannon]

They don't even believe in heredity. They did that to, they did that to get in Trump's grill. He's kind of a nobody. They did it to show continuity. They only believe in hereditary. It's, it's kind of against their thing. They did it to say, suck on this. Here's how much we fear you suck on this. Because they're dead enders. Okay, we got to bounce. Jim, I, I need. Go ahead, sir, go ahead.

[Jim Rickards]

I'm just going to say they'll keep doing it. We can kill five more supreme leaders and they'll, they'll pick another ones. That's not regime change.

[Steve Bannon]

JIM Rickards, Strategic Intelligence Give me a minute on why people should care and why should they go to your site? Why should they go to rickardswaram.com why they should they subscribe, sir.

[Jim Rickards]

Thanks, Steve. When you go to rickardswarroom.com you can subscribe to our flagship publication. Strategic Intelligence comes out once a month. We put a ton of work into it, but what's behind it are predictive analytics. We have, we have the best systems. And when I say that, you know, we're using base theory, behavioral psychology, history, complexity theory, et cetera. When I say we have the best systems, we have the track record to back that up. We called Brexit in 2016 when it was 70% remain. We called Trump's victory in 2016 when it was 92% Hillary. We were the only forecaster, the only one that said 312 electoral votes in 2024, including Michigan, seven out of seven swing states. You know, Nate Silver, all these other big names and not disparaging anyone. We were the only ones who got that right. So we have the track record to back it up. But what we say to our readers is we don't tell you what happened. We tell you what's going to happen next. That's our, that's our hallmark. That's our claim to fame. But we have the track record to back that up.

[Steve Bannon]

Thank you, sir. I appreciate you. Jim Rickards, rickardsworld.com and if there wasn't a free book on fiat currency and artificial intelligence, just to make your night even tougher, I've got about a minute here bowling. I don't have time to play what you did. But dude, you're so good. You told us. Hey, the IEA strategic reserve of 400 million, what is it, barrels? The, the, the Strategic Petroleum Reserve. If you do it, it's going to go up. We did it. And I think it, I think oil went up eight bucks at one time. Is that, tell us again. Give me 30 seconds for a break.

[Unidentified Oil Market Analyst]

So last night we've been talking about how useless tapping into SPRs are, whether it's the messenger International. Steve, you text me last night with a headline, Axios. By the way, great call on, on that pipeline. Axios headline saying Trump said he's going to tap our spr. And my answer to you was terrible idea. It's never worked. And it doesn't solve the problem. It just puts a piece of gauze on a hemorrhage and sure enough, oil went straight up. I'll just very quickly the reason why Steve Oil traders are smart. They realize there's no real plan to solve this thing. Tapping an SPR is very, very temporary.

[Steve Bannon]

Hang on for one second. Beau French running to head the railroad commission in Texas. That means the top oil and gas guy, Eric Bolling in the pits with amazing insights and a called shot yesterday right here in the war room. Short commercial break Back in a moment. Fellow patriots, the Federal Reserve has betrayed America for over a century. Printing fiat, inflating away your savings, serving globalist masters. But President Trump is ending it. President Trump is wielding a 112 year old law to reclaim control over the rogue Federal Reserve. He's replacing Jerome Powell, slashing rates and igniting America's re industrialization. This isn't theory. Government backed industry plus low rates unleashes super cycles. History repeats. Gold's already exploding. Miners are up 400% in the last year. What Rickards is calling Trump's gift is wealth for American patriots, not global handouts. Now it's America's turn. Gold to 27,000 in the coming years. Jim Rickert, CIA and Pentagon veteran says act now. Go to insider2026com that's insider2026com to get Jim Rickards Strategic Intelligence Newsletter today, here's your host, Stephen K. Band. For those of you old enough to remember back to the early 70s, the the Arab oil crisis, remember the lines of cars around the corner and one of the things that brought down, one of the many things that that brought down Carter's presidency but also with Nixon, there was this big issue all sudden the Middle east, which we'd never really paid that much attention to, all of a sudden became had an impact in everybody's life. Where that cartel that kind of met in Geneva of these Arab nations, the oil producing nations based their cartel nature around a relatively obscure institution in the great state of Texas and that would be the Railroad Commission. It is not about the railroads. It is about the control of oil and gas. Beau French is running for that and say the head of it's a publicly elective office. Beau, you're in the middle of this. Why is the railroad Commission important? Why should people pay attention? And most importantly today when we talk about what's happening in the Straits of Hormuz and we're Takarg island, we're gonna send the 82nd Airborne in to seize their assets. We're taking incoming from drones. Why is the position you're running for one of the most important positions in the United States of America. Sir.

[Beau French]

Steve, thanks for having me on. You're absolutely right. Texas produces almost half of the oil and gas for the United States. And as President Trump rightly recognizes, you know, energy is national security. And so given the focus here in Texas, given President Trump's focus on Venezuela, his focus on Iran, his recent announcement two days ago of the new first in 50 years refinery that they're building in South Texas, I think this just shows that he recognizes how important it is. And so I'm running for this position because, you know, I'm running against an incumbent who performed the worst ever for an incumbent in an election, which is why we're in a runoff and because he's straddled the industry with, or, excuse me, saddle the industry with new regulations, environmental regulations, increased cost on operators, which is just the wrong direction. We need energy dominance here in Texas and in the United States. And so look, I think that when you talk about energy, when you talk about what's happening in the world, there's lots of criticisms to be thrown around about how things are prosecuted militarily around the world. But I think at the end of the day, what we have to do is, and I think this is really important, I never judge President Trump on what he says, I always look at what he does. And so we'll see how this ends up in Iran. But, you know, control of the first largest oil reserves in the world in Venezuela, the third largest oil reserves in the world in Iran. Clearly this is an important issue when just a little military action over there around the Straits of Hormuz spikes oil prices. I think consumers recognize how important the free flow of oil around the world really is. And so given how much we produce here in Texas, we need to be producing more here in Texas. We need to be drilling more. We need to free up our operators to produce more oil.

[Steve Bannon]

Okay, so that's why I'm running for. I hear that, I hear that if we want, if we want full spectrum energy dominance, I think a lot of people thought, well, heck, we're there. You're saying we're not. So what is, give me two or three things you're going to do immediately to get us back to full spectrum energy dominance from the state of Texas.

[Beau French]

Yeah, you're exactly right. The first thing is we're going to roll back the new Biden era EPA type environmental regulations that they saddled the industry with just this last July. So we really haven't even felt the effects of those yet. Which means we can reduce the break even point for operators which is good for consumers, it's good for jobs in Texas. The other thing we have to do is they've had this like bizarre obsession with dei. We're going to roll back all of the DEI contracts they've been awarding. We're just going to eliminate that totally. So those are the two big things I would say. And then just as a statewide elected official I view that we need to have elected officials who fight for the values of America. Right. And so just having that platform doing what I've been doing for the last couple years, just being a fierce advocate America first warrior for the values that make America great.

[Steve Bannon]

Bo where can people find out more about you and your campaign? Where do they go?

[Beau French]

Yeah Steve, the best place is my website beaufrench.com or on X. I'm their prolific poster on X. Beaufrench Tx

[Steve Bannon]

comes in a little hot folks. Go follow Beau French, one of the most important positions elected positions in this country. Thank you Beau, appreciate you.

[Beau French]

Thank you Steve.

[Steve Bannon]

A real warrior right there. So yesterday 24 hours ago you did called shots on, on this petroleum reserves and you also had some, you've had some ideas you put, you've put forward to the White House. So 24 hours later bowling as we rolled you out of the rack. Are we, are you feeling better? Directionally aware this is going hopefully to the sunlit uplands or is Eric Bolling not feeling better, sir?

[Unidentified Oil Market Analyst]

No, feeling I'm feeling like we're headed into some badlands. Couple of things. So Steve, we talked yesterday about don't release SPRs certainly not in America ours for emergency use only. We don't have an emergency supply problem in America. And then you texted me last night, Trump just said he's going to release it. And I said this is a terrible idea. And sure enough, overnight oil traded on the Brent crude oil traded $100 a barrel. We trade around $95 a barrel in west Texas intermediate. I would like to just tell you there's a. And it won't work. Releasing SPR oil never works. It's a temporary and I think traders realize that if this is all we got. Oh. So what happens just now some breaking news right now per Reuters, Trump announces that he's going to suspend this Joan Jones act. Suspend The Jones Acts 100 Year Old act law that will when he suspends it allow foreign tankers to help supply our ports. Like right now you have to have U S built and manned tankers that pull into U s ports for 100 years it's happened, it's been suspended a couple times. Here's the point. These SPR releases and suspending these Jones acting, they, they don't have any effect. In fact, it was just announced and oil is still over $100 a barrel for the Brent in 95 for us. I'll tell you what's happening, Steve. Like it or not, they've got the solution. I sent it in via of you and me talking about it to, to all they have it. I'm just hoping that they're going to show him and they're not going to hold it back because they didn't come up with it internally. Because the ideas are coming up internally, unfortunately are band aids on hemorrhages. And it's going to get worse. Oil prices are going to go up. And I will tell you this, I said this to you. I'm going to play this oil market to go down. I'm gonna, I hope it gets to 120 because it is going to be back at 80, 70, $80 in no time. There are so many simple solutions that for whatever reason, the administration seems to be ignoring.

[Steve Bannon]

Okay, let's take a, let's take a short commercial break. I'm gonna keep Eric. We've also got the Mass Deportation Coalition. Huge story, one of the lead stories in Politico today because why. Let me hang on, wait for, oh, polling. Just like, just like the Brownstone guys and Dr. Jeffrey Tucker came out with their massive polling about the Make America Healthy Again movement. And the reality were two thirds of the American people support many things that Bobby Kennedy's working on. So you're going to be shocked. Folks in this country support deportations, lots of them. The math is there. It's going to be presented. Eric Bolling, Rosemary Jenks, Mike Howell. Next in the war room, 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. 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 waves 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.