Episode 5350: Epic Fury Is Over; Redistricting Fights Break Out Across The South

Summary

---

Bannon’s War Room – Episode 5350: “Epic Fury Is Over; Redistricting Fights Break Out Across The South”

Date: May 5, 2026
Host: Stephen K. Bannon
Notable Guests: Dr. Peter Navarro, Neil McCabe, Alex DeGrasse, Steve Cortez, Caroline Ren (out on maternity), and others

---

Overview

This two-hour episode pivots between global and domestic political battles shaping the landscape: the U.S. military’s confrontation with Iran and the winding down of “Operation Epic Fury,” and a heated, high-stakes battle over congressional redistricting across southern states. Host Stephen K. Bannon and his guests provide insider analysis on national security, supply chain threats (especially in food and agriculture), the mechanics of power in D.C. and state legislatures, and the “war” over congressional maps—with a special focus on how Republican and Democratic strategies are reshaping the balance of power for upcoming elections.

---

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Operation Epic Fury’s End and the Iranian Crisis

• Epic Fury Concluded: The White House officially declares the military operation against Iran—targeting its navy, air force, and missile stockpile—has achieved its main goals. (Major segments: [02:14]–[07:52])

  • Asserts Iran's conventional defensive “shield” enabling its nuclear ambitions is destroyed.
  • New U.S. focus is on “Project Freedom”:
    • Guiding trapped merchant ships through the Strait of Hormuz.
    • Maintaining pressure for diplomatic negotiations with Iran.

• International Law and U.S. Leverage:

  • “No country can control them (international waterways)...There is no international law that allows you to say, I’m going to put mines in an international body of water...That’s what Iran is doing. This is a criminal act.” — [01:51] D (White House spokesperson)
  • U.S. “holds all the cards,” increased leverage with blockade and sanctions biting at Iran’s economy.

• Nuclear Negotiations:

  • Ongoing talks include Iran’s nuclear material: “...aware of the centrality of that question and that will have to be addressed one way or the other.” — [03:28] D

• Presidential Authority & War Powers Act:

  • Reiterated position that the War Powers Act is unconstitutional; all Presidents contest it, though they notify Congress for relations’ sake. — [06:14]–[07:52] D
  • “We don’t acknowledge the law as constitutional. Nonetheless, we comply with elements of it for purposes of maintaining, you know, good relations with Congress.” — [06:55] D

• Memorable Moment:

  • “They should check themselves before they wreck themselves...” — [05:43] D, warning Iran on escalation.

---

2. Food Supply Chain and Antitrust—Focus on Beef and Foreign Ownership

• Cartel Power in U.S. Meat Processing:

  • “Four firms is a magic number...when you approach even something like 60%, you invite collusion...Half of the four are Brazilian.” — [07:52] G
  • Brazilian companies (JBS, National Beef) own nearly half of U.S. beef processing, allegedly colluding, influencing supply, and impacting prices along with U.S. companies Tyson and Cargill.
  • China’s Smithfield purchase highlighted as parallel national security concern for pork supply. — [12:47] H

• Trump White House’s Aggressive Antitrust Efforts:

  • “On our watch, we’re much more vigilant...this Department of Justice has an antitrust department which actually has both some teeth in it and some cojones.” — [12:47] H (Navarro)
  • Reference to Agri Stats trial—settlement possible to expose cartel pricing practices. [17:04] H

• Policy Solutions Proposed:

  • Forced divestiture of foreign-owned (Brazilian) U.S. processors.
  • Decentralization and development of local meat processing capacity.
  • Government initiatives to hit inflation “across all points of that inflation compass.”

• Memorable Quote:

  • “What we need to do is break up the Brazilians. Divestiture’s on the table and basically decentralize some of this processing.” — [18:57] H (Navarro)

---

3. Affordability and Cost of Living Solutions

• Analysis by Wade Miller & Conservative Partnership (CRA):

  • New study indicates the average U.S. family of four needs $105,000/year for basic participation in society. CRA plan claims to reduce this to $41,000 with 63 proposed action items in key categories (housing, healthcare, energy, etc.). [20:25] A

• Navarro’s Comment on Trump Administration Speed:

  • “We move in Trump time.” — [21:37] A

---

4. Redistricting Wars Across the South

• Supreme Court and State Battles:

  • The Supreme Court scaled back the Voting Rights Act, stoking partisan and racial tensions over control of state legislatures and congressional maps—especially in the South (AL, LA, TN, SC). [28:48]-[32:27] Multiple speakers

• Democratic and Republican Maneuvering:

  • Democrats resolve not to “unilaterally disarm.” [30:00] E
  • “This is about power. It’s about Black political power. It’s about the people of color in this country having a say, and they are attacking it directly.” — [31:00] K
  • Republicans position court victories and state control as payback for the Trump coalition.
  • “You see the smears right there on the South and the patriotic South. It makes you want more than ever to smash all this and take every freaking seat.” — [33:55] A

• Strategic Importance:

  • “Redistricting wars are the predicate...before you get into particularly midterms, you’ve got to win the redistricting war.” — [36:32] A
  • Focus on South Carolina (Clyburn’s seat), Indiana, Virginia, and Louisiana as battlegrounds; calls for grassroots action and state-level vigilance.

• Republican Critique of Own Party:

  • “Some of these guys in the South, you really got to do a full look at really, who these people are at your local state level, because it’s key.” — [39:37] M (Alex DeGrasse)
  • Bannon: “This South Carolina situation is emblematic... President Trump shouldn’t have to be whipping votes and calling state senators in South Carolina. This upsets me no end.” — [41:13] A
  • “This is payback—for everything [Clyburn] did to force the illegitimate Biden regime down the throats of the American people...” — [41:51] A

• Technical Points:

  • Allegation that illegal immigrant and student populations distort apportionment via the census, cheating Republicans out of seats.

• Learning From Democrats:

  • “They are gangsters, okay? They leverage power when they have it...When we have earned [power] from the people, it’s time to employ it correctly and ruthlessly.” — [51:12] C (Steve Cortez)

---

5. Memorable Quotes & Moments

• On Iran and Military Policy

  • “Their ability to build a shield behind which they could hide their nuclear program was wiped out. That’s a very substantial achievement.” — [02:59] D
  • “Epic Fury is over. The President also said that the US Would bomb them off the face of the Earth if they tried to go after US Ships.” — [04:47] F

• On Food Inflation & Supply Chain

  • “The rent is too damn high and the food prices are too damn high. And the beef is particularly too damn high.” — [16:30] A

• On Redistricting Partisanship

  • “In America, America’s policy is made in the state legislatures. What happened after Reconstruction? The 14th and 15th amendments were never repealed. They just stopped being enforced...This is about power. It’s about black political power.” — [30:23] K

• On Republican Inaction

  • “Sometimes...the reddest states are actually the laziest when it comes to these kinds of tasks, which is really infuriating.” — [49:08] C (Steve Cortez)

---

Timestamps for Key Segments

• White House statement & Iran Summary: [00:59]–[07:52]
• Antitrust, Brazilian beef cartel, and food supply chain: [07:52]–[14:17], [16:30]–[22:29]
• Affordability and cost of living campaign: [20:25]–[21:26]
• Redistricting Wars: Democrats and Republicans Spar: [28:23]–[43:23]
• Deep dive on South Carolina, Indiana, and district targeting: [38:19]–[43:23]
• Steve Cortez analysis on state-level power and lessons from Democrats: [48:38]–[52:05]

---

Where to Find More

• Dr. Peter Navarro: peternavarro.com – Social channels, columns on Real Clear Markets, Washington Times, and others. [21:54]
• Alex DeGrasse updates: X/Twitter @Degrasse81 and allies’ feeds. [47:12]
• Neil McCabe: @reportermccabe on social platforms. [27:50]

---

Tone and Takeaways

• Language/Tone: Combative, unapologetically partisan, framing issues through a lens of existential struggle for control—over America’s security, economy, and democratic processes. Frequent references to “wars,” “payback,” and “smash all this.”
• Usefulness: This episode is essential for understanding how each side frames the redistricting battle—as either a defense or an assault on civil rights—and how the Trump-aligned GOP is intertwining foreign policy wins with domestic political maneuvering.
• Call to Action: Bannon repeatedly calls the “War Room posse” and state-level Republicans to action—especially in South Carolina and other southern state legislatures.

---

End of Summary

Transcript

[A]

Abandoned with a date. President hold it. President no, first off, I'm not a politician. Number two, President Trump just, just agreed with me. He's going to be at the White House for nine more years. He said that the other day in the, in the East Wing, I think was. They all melted down. Eric Bolling, it's always a pleasure. I look forward to seeing you tomorrow. We're going to talk about what happens overnight if they, if they get more than 11 loves above the belt. Loves above the belt. I didn't realize. I didn't realize. I didn't realize that all those years at fox. What? It didn't. I'm just kidding.

[B]

That's one of those haymakers on the

[A]

way out of the ring.

[B]

See you tomorrow.

[A]

Eric Bowling. Thank you so much, sir. Appreciate you. The great Eric Bowling. We'll have Eric back on tomorrow.

[C]

Okay.

[A]

We're gonna play a cold open. A lot went on this afternoon. We're gonna play a cold open. And then I've got Dr. Peter Navarro from the White House, Alex Degrasse and Caroline Renner going to join us about redistricting. Let's go ahead and let it rip.

[D]

As President Trump has said, and the facts clearly bear out, the United States of America holds all the cards. There is no scenario here in which if they decide to join a ladder of escalation, they wind up getting the last say. But our preference is for these straits to be opened to the way they're supposed to be opened back to the way it was. Anyone can use it. No mines in the water, nobody paying tolls. That's what we have to get back to. And that's the goal here every day. The conflict continues. However, our leverage on Iran will continue to increase and their position will continue to weaken, especially as the blockade really begins to bite in conjunction with the sanctions. This is an international waterway. This is an international waterway. And international law is very clear. And I love it because everybody always talks about international law. International law on this is very clear. International waterways, no country can control them. There is no international law that allows you to say, I'm going to put mines in an international body of water and I'm going to blow up ships that don't listen to us and try to go through. That's what Iran is doing. This is a criminal act and someone needs to do something about it. Something needs to be done. It's completely illegal, completely illegitimate, and completely unacceptable. And that's why the United States military is guiding stranded commercial ships safely through the strait and is working to restore Freedom of navigation and putting an end to these efforts to hold the global

[E]

economy hostage on the rising oil and gas prices. The President has said that this is a small price to pay for getting rid of a nuclear weapon. But 10 weeks in, are we any closer to getting rid of Iran's nuclear material?

[D]

Yeah, but look, here's the way to think about Iran. And this is what I described at the very beginning of this. What was Iran's plan? You have to understand what their plan was. Their plan was they were going to build this conventional shield where they would have so many thousands of missiles and drones and rockets that they couldn't be attacked. And behind that conventional shield that they were trying to build, they would then break out and do whatever they wanted with their nuclear program. They no longer have that conventional shield. Okay, we told you guys from the very beginning, and we're very consistent in this messaging. The operation that has concluded was going to destroy their navy. They have no navy left. They don't. Not a navy. They have small boats and Boston Whalers, but they don't have a navy left. They don't have an air force. I challenge you. When is the last time you read or heard about an Iranian jet flying anywhere? They don't have an air force. Their missile launching capability has been substantially degraded. And their industrial base, their defense industrial base has been severely, severely damaged. So their ability to build a shield behind which they could hide their nuclear program was wiped out. That's a very substantial achievement. And that was the purpose of this operation from day one.

[E]

They need their nuclear material in order for this war to end.

[D]

Well, that's one of the topics that needs to be discussed. I don't know about. I think you're linking it. The operation is over. Epic fury. The President notified Congress. We're done with that stage of it. Okay. We're now onto this project of freedom as far as the negotiation is concerned. I think the President's been clear that part of the negotiation process has to be not just the enrichment, but what happens to this material that's buried deep somewhere that they still have access to if they ever wanted to dig it out. That has to be addressed, and that's being addressed in the negotiation. I'm not going to go further on what progress has been made on that topic because I don't want to endanger the negotiations. But suffice it to say that the President and this entire team is aware of the centrality of that question, and that will have to be addressed one way or the other. The President, our President has proven time and again that his preference is peace. But Iran must accept the reality of this situation and come to the negotiation table and accept terms that are good for them, but ultimately good for the world. The diplomatic path, if there's a real diplomatic path, I'm not always going to be one. But if there's a real diplomatic path and we continue to explore it, Steve and Jared are working on that very hard. If there is one there, it could be one that leads them to reconstruction, to prosperity and to stability, and to not posing a threat to the world. The alternative is growing isolation, economic collapse, and ultimately total defeat. I know what the right choice is for Iran. I hope that the people over there making decisions will make the right one.

[F]

Operation Epic Fury is over. The President also said that the US Would bomb them off the face of the Earth if they tried to go after US Ships. So if the fighting resumes. Are you saying that it would resume under Project Freedom? And I ask, as it relates to the War Powers Act.

[D]

Yeah. Look, the Operation Epic Fury is concluded. We achieved the objectives of that operation. I'm not going to. You know, we're not cheering for an additional situation to occur. We would prefer the path of peace. What the President would prefer is a deal. He would prefer to sit down, work out a memorandum of understanding for future negotiations that touches on all the key topics that have to be addressed. A full opening of the Straits so the world can get back to normal. That he. And he preferred that that be negotiated through the route that Steve and Jared have been working and that all of us have been supporting. That's the route he prefers. That is, so far, not the route that Iran has chosen. And so the result has been that the United States has to do something about the fact that we're the only nation on Earth that can do anything to open up a lane within the Straits of Hormuz to get product and to rescue these people that are trapped in there. And that's what we're undergoing now. What that may lead to in the future is speculative. I'm not going to speculate about what it would take or what it would do. But look, the message to Iran these guys are facing, they are facing real catastrophic generational destruction to their economy, generational destruction to their economy, generational destruction to the wealth of their country imposed on themselves by the actions that they're taking. They should check themselves before they wreck themselves in the direction that they're going.

[F]

But does the White House believe that these votes coming up in Congress are a moot point then.

[D]

Mr. Look, guys, I love talking about this topic. It's about the War Powers act, okay? I love it. I was hoping somebody would ask. All right, hold on, hold on. No, no, you don't. Let me answer. I got to answer the question, okay? And I love it. I'll tell you why I love it. Because even as a senator, I said something. The War Powers act is unconstitutional 100%. Now, this is not the position of me, not the position of the President of the United States. Now, this is the position of every single president that has occupied this position since the day that law passed. It's completely unconstitutional. Now, we comply with it in terms of, like, notification because we want to preserve good relations with Congress. Right? And we do that. But even as a senator, I would say that the War powers Act is 100% unconstitutional. And look, I know some of you, whatever you want to say, but this is not this president's position. That has been the position of every single presidential administration since the day that law passes an infringement on the President's constitutional powers. We don't acknowledge the law as constitutional. Nonetheless, we comply with elements of it for purposes of maintaining, you know, good relations with Congress. And we want them to be involved, and we want them to be informed. I have gone on Capitol Hill, I don't know, four times this year for all senators and all House members and Intel Committee and Gang of Eight. We want them to be involved in this. But I want to be clear on the point of the War Powers Act. It's unconstitutional. And every president and every administration has taken that position. All right, guys, I gave you 50 minutes. Thank you. Thank you, guys. The last point I would make, and it really is important for them to understand this, is they really shouldn't test the will of the United States, at least not under President Donald Trump. He has proven time and again that that he will back up what he says. And if they test him, ultimately, they will lose. The hard way, the easy way, the long way, the short way, they will lose.

[G]

Both General Blanch and Secretary Rollins have alluded to this 85% control. I'll give you the nerd view. As an economist who was in antitrust for a while, there's this thing that four firms is a magic number. It's the four firm concentration ratio that's been enshrined in Justice Department doctrine for decades. And it basically says when you approach Even something like 60%, you invite collusion, either explicit or tacit. And that's not only the problem we have here, it's that half of the four are Brazilian, half of the four are Brazilian. And in my tariff world, I remember vividly just recently when the President put tariffs on Brazil because of actions they were taking which were harmful to the American people. What happened? The beef lobby, represented by the Brazilians, quietly threatened the White House. And we saw beef that should otherwise be on the counters sold in American grocery stores going where? China. So it's not just price gouging and price fixing what we have to worry about. It's also the influence of foreigners on our supply chain and the national security issues that are associated that we cannot tolerate that.

[A]

Okay. The press conference today ended wildly, but I think Marco did a solid job of walking through a number of things. Number one, I don't think it quite hit upon me that epic fury was over. Right. I think they said. I thought the letter was saying that it was temporarily suspended and because it didn't have to count. And now I realize what they were talking about this morning is the naval operation is not just a separate operation. That is the operation. So I. I don't know what the Israelis think about the fact that the main target of Iran appears, of course. And Secretary of State and National Security Advisor Rubio said it twice. We'll get back to that. Neil McCabe's at the White House. He was there today. We'll get to Neil in a moment. We're pretty packed this afternoon for the next two hours. Dr. Peter Navarro joins us. Here's what I can't understand about this, what you guys are doing on this beef situation, because I'm hearing from people in the United States that actually have beef that are cattle, and they hate the fact that we're bringing Brazilian. Is the concept here that you're trying to break this cartel so we can bring more Brazilian beef into the United States? Sir.

[H]

No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. The Brazilian angle, Steve, is simply that the Brazilians own US Processing capacity. Four firms. Tyson, Cargill, jbs, which is one of the worst Brazilian actors, and a company called National Beef, which is actually Brazilian as well. So JBS National Beef have come in and bought up our processing capability here in the US On US Soil. And what they do is they, according to information, they collude with the others on price. But then when it comes to things like I mentioned in the. In the cold open, pressuring the United States government on behalf of the Brazilian government, they do things like ship beef here that would otherwise. To China that would otherwise be here. So this is not. Don't conflate these two issues. We're talking about Brazilian companies that have taken over US Processing on US Soil and they're going to be investigated and divestiture.

[A]

Steve, hang on. How did that pass? Was it cfius or of the national security checks and balances are how did these two get and what percentage? You've got four, but Cargill and Tysons are huge. What percentage of the market did the JBS and National Beef, the true Brazilian entities, what percentage of the marketplace do they control?

[H]

Close to half. And Steve, memo to the Admiral, okay, China bought Smith Smithfield Foods and basically owns our pork supply chain here on U.S. oil, okay? So it's like I used, I used to joke, it's like a Greek name for an std. I mean, you know, it's like it does nothing, okay? On our watch, we're much more vigilant, but it's run out of treasury and historically treasury, you know, it's been like a hooker at a brothel, like all comers. So that's been the problem. We've given away so much of our economic capacity that it's become a national security issue. And that's where the Trump administration is different. That's where this Department of Justice has an antitrust department which actually has both some teeth in it and some cojones. And what we did yesterday at that press conference, I mean, Todd Blanche was magnificent, as was Brooke Rollins, the secretary of Agriculture. And we're moving forward. They I'll tell you, Steve, this tomorrow there was supposed to be a trial in Minnesota, okay? And I'm going to channel you back to your Harvard Business School days, okay? And imagine.

[A]

Can you, can you hang on, can you hang on for one second? We just want to hold you Do a break. Dr. Peter Navarro joins us from the White House. Neil McCabe is at the White House. He's also going to join us. We've got Alex, Diane Grass on the redistricting wars. That's the number one news, or at least the number one political news story in the world right now. And Steve Cortez is also going to join us, Wade Miller at cra. So we are jam packed this afternoon. Short commercial break. Back with Dr. Peter Navar in a moment.

[H]

Where is your song?

[I]

Everyone's focused on how the conflict in the Middle east is raising oil prices. But there's another grim reality to this contention. Oil isn't the only resource being constrained. About one third of global fertilizer trade happens through this region. And with spring planting season on top of us, American farmers are sounding the Alarm with some saying they can't afford

[A]

to plant their fields.

[I]

When one piece of the supply chain gets hit this hard, you know what comes next? Higher fruit prices, reduced availability, maybe even panic buying. That's why having an emergency food supply at home makes so much sense. And that's where our friends at my Patriot Supply come in. Right [e-mail] that is preparewithbannon.com we've set up an entire just site for the war room posse. You go to preparewith Bannon.com that's all one word. Preparewith Bannon.com you get a three month emergency food supply. Don't include a free mega protein Upgrade, an incredible $200 bonus you don't want to miss. It's a simple way to protect your family from whatever comes next. Go to preparewithbannon.com that is prepare with ban with bannon.com to get your emergency food supply today. That's preparewith bannon.com do it today.

[A]

Go check it out. War Room.

[G]

Here's your host, Stephen K. Ban.

[A]

The rent is too damn high and the food prices are too damn high. And the beef is particularly too damn high. Peter Navaro, the our trade czar helping President Trump with the, with the tariffs and Liberation Day and all the good that's come out of that is with us. So talk to me. What are you going to do? Are you going to break up JBS National? You're going to force the Brazilians to sell them? Because jbs, that scumbag is the leading financier of the Marxist Lula, sir.

[H]

And it's also one of the big banks for the K Street lobbyists who come around and lobby for things like let JBS buy up all our processing and they get it. I mean, they get a tremendous rate of return. I want to tell you about this case. Tomorrow was supposed to be the trial of a company called Agri Stats. It's straight out of the Harvard Business School class that you probably skipped. And what they do is they use their sophisticated mathematical models to receive data from individual actors in the processing matrix. Think about that. Individual actors. And then they process the data themselves and spit back allegedly the monopoly prices that should be charged in the market. You cannot make that up. Now, the toughness of Todd Blanche's antitrust department has persuaded them to settle. So there should be a settlement announced tomorrow. And if not, we're going to trial. But that settlement will not only solve that problem, it should also reveal some of the bad practices of the various actors in the four firm cartel. So it's a classic like get somebody to turn, right, you get them this turn state's witnesses. So this is a big deal. It's the kind of thing we're doing. And Steve, look in the Trump White House we are acting as aggressively as we can across all points of that inflation compass. The food issue is hard, the beef issue is the hardest because it's a global problem in terms of supply and demand because of things like drought and this, that and the other thing. But the things we can control, we will control and, and we will control and can control price fixing in that market. So what we need to do is break up the Brazilians divestitures on the table and basically decentralize some of this processing. Brooke Rollins is working on that. So you develop like local processing capability at the micro level and disperse some of that power. And it's the kind of thing we're doing. You know, we're doing a chicken and pork and you know we've got whole seafood initiatives this, that, the other thing. And then dealing with the housing inflation. The data has been, been moving well in our favor. And I had another column in Real Clear Markets today about the trade data that just came out that shows how we are under Trump policies rapidly re industrializing. You know, the tariffs are working, the tax breaks for building factories in America are working, the deregulations working and Trump's working. So you know, we got a, we got a lot on our plate but that's what we do.

[A]

Cra, you know, where Russ Vote founded, the team over there that he left behind is absolutely extraordinary. So Wade Miller's gonna be on.

[H]

Fantastic job, Steve, just so you know.

[A]

Go ahead omb. Just amazing. And the team he brought. But the guys he left behind have been working on something I will get to Wade is going to be on at 6:30 this evening on War Room to walk through analysis they've done in an action plan it turns out and their analysis and I'll get this to you Dr. Navarro. It costs for a family of four in the United States, it costs about $105,000 to participate in society, you know, for health care and mortgage and energy and you know, transportation etc. This is without any frills. This is kind of basics. Basics, right. They have a program of 63 action items in those five big categories, you know, rent and mortgages, health care. That takes that down to $41,000. It basically saw. And they call on the left to really talk about affordability because everything that left wants to talk about is another government program. Anyway, I will share that with you. But the audience, the people should know

[H]

very focused on this like that because, I mean, I've seen lists come and go from my office and within 48 hours, when we can, we get them done. So we move in Trump.

[A]

Steve, you move in Trump time. Dr. Peter Navarro, where do people go for your content, sir? You're putting up these videos every day. You're writing these columns for Washington Times, Washington examiner, and of course putting it up on Real clear Politics. Where do folks go to get it all?

[H]

Peternovar.com that'll take you to the X through social and getter social media as well as Instagram. We do the 60 second videos regular column now in real clear markets. Whenever big data reports come out, there's the substack. But you can find all of this and, and look, what we do is we take issues as the war room does, down to the simplest possible level without losing the complexity.

[A]

Yep. Thank you, sir. Appreciate John Tamney, the editor. Fantastic, fantastic. He's putting you up. Thank you, sir. Appreciate you and your hard work. Peter Noir, Dr. Peter Navar over the White House. Let's go. I have Neil McCabe. Neil McCabe. Neil, I was, I was struck. Rubio, I thought, did a very solid job, handled a lot of questions. Caroline's out on maternity. The one thing I was that jumped off at me was that he said a number of times that Epic Fury is over. I thought it was really a notification that had been the ceasefire. Gave you more weeks or more time. What is happening here? It's a pretty bold announcement, sir.

[B]

Yeah, it's interesting because in the morning we had Hegseth and Kane sort of giving the operational and tactical update of how the sort of the operation, the military operations are going. And Rubio came in today and at the White House and really dominated the reporters in that briefing room like we haven't seen in a long time from a cabinet officer. And he laid out sort of the geopolitical understanding of the Trump administration and just sort of setting down the markers. Epic Fury is over. We are now in Project Freedom. And he reframed Project Freedom from really what it was described sort of this morning with Hegseth and Kaine as a military operation. He described it as defensive, but also humanitarian because of the thousands, 23,000 merchant marine who are sort of trapped in the Persian Gulf behind that Iranian blockade and the hundreds of ships. He Talked about the 10 Merchant Marines who have been killed so far by the Iranians. He talked about how these ships are running out of potable water, they're running out of food. And he really created a new construct for the operations in what was Operation Epic Fury. Steve,

[A]

did he give any timeline? You know, today we talked bowling. There were 11 ships, I think, went out the past 24 hours. There was four before that. Did he give any indication of the tempo? We sending in more resources? Is it going to be 11 a day? Are we going to double that? Because even if you double it, you still have, I think, 1500 ships, vessels locked up there. It's going to take you a while, sir.

[B]

No, he didn't go into that. And they're going to be taking that, what's called the southern route, which is along the coast of Oman, and that's the one that's controlled by the United States. It's on the opposite side of those Iranian islands where you have all the mosquito boats and the drone bases. But obviously that's going to speed up. And once you see some momentum, you know, and he also reached out to, you know, our allies, as if they're going to show up. But once you see some momentum, then it'll sort of take on a life of its own and people will see a light at the end of the tunnel. But right now you have basically, you know, hundreds of ships trapped in a bottle. Steve, did he.

[A]

I didn't see the entire thing. Did anybody get a question to him about his upcoming trip this week to. I think he's leaving tomorrow. I think the Pope's on Thursday and Meloni is on. Is on Friday. The head of the Italian government.

[B]

No questions about. He mentioned he was going to Italy. No questions on Italy. He did speak about his visit to the Holy Father, but he really sort of downplayed it as not really crisis management. And he basically said that both he and the President understand why the Holy Father or anyone else would want would be comfortable with the Iranians having nuclear weapons that could strike Catholics. And so the question was, they asked the secretary, hey, what about Trump saying that the Pope wanted or was the pope was encouraging attacks on Catholics? You know how they sort of twist it up. But Rubio's very good at untangling, restating, and that's what he's basically doing for an hour in the briefing room. Steve,

[A]

correct me if I'm wrong, there's still this thing of the pixie dust and the nuclear dust. Epic fury is over. But if you believe President Trump and Rubio, of course Rubio told us that we launched the attack because the imminent attack on Israel, but the objective was to make sure they could never have a nuclear weapon, nuclear program that hasn't totally been finalized. Why is Epic Fury done then? Did they anybody ask him that?

[B]

Nobody asked him. But what you're really saying now, Steve, is what was sort of one large, big, big, beautiful effort against Iran is now being broken up into compartments. And so you're going to have the Project Freedom compartment. You have a fury operation, Epic Fury. The Iranian is going to be another project and they're just going to give it a name and call it something else. But he was absolutely forthright that they are not going to allow the Iranians to have that Iranian weapon program.

[A]

Steve, real quickly, what's your social media? How do people get to you?

[B]

Neil, you can find me on all the socials at reporter McCabe.

[A]

Steve Neal McCabe, thank you for covering today. The White House press conference. Appreciate you, sir. Short commercial break Biggest story in the world in politics, one that the war room posse is at the tip of the tip of the tip of the spear is the redistricting wars. Alex Degrasse joins us on the other side.

[I]

The dollar's convertibility into gold ended in 1971.

[A]

Gold was fixed at $35 an ounce.

[I]

Well, fast forward to today and the US dollar has lost over 85% of its purchasing power. Gold, on the other hand, is increased in value by over 12,000%. That's why Central banks are buying gold at record levels.

[A]

That's why major firms like Vanguard and

[I]

BlackRock hold significant positions in gold. And that's why I encourage you to consider diversifying your savings with physical gold

[A]

from Birch Gold Group. But it starts with education. Birch Gold just announced their Learn and

[I]

Earn Precious Metals event. This free online event rewards you for

[A]

learning the basics of investing in precious metals.

[I]

Sign up to get a free silver on your next purchase.

[A]

Get even larger incentives as you go. The more you learn, the more you can earn.

[I]

But you must act now as this special event only runs through April 30th. The dollar lost its anchor in 1971.

[A]

You don't have to lose yours.

[I]

Text my name, Bannon B A N N O N to the number 989-898 to join Birchgold's Learn and Earn Precious Metals event by April 30th. Text Bannon B A N N O N to 989-898 and do it today.

[A]

The Supreme Court's decision to gut the Voting Rights act is an abomination. Here in the land of Lincoln, we're fighting back, upholding Our values and safeguarding democracy.

[E]

Also today, House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries says he is sending New York Congressman Joseph Morell to Albany to discuss redrawing that state's congressional map, saying, quote, democrats refuse to unilaterally disarm.

[J]

No, they shouldn't.

[K]

No, they shouldn't. Look, I just think this just very frustrates me.

[J]

See, that's how you start the engine, folks.

[K]

No, they should not unilaterally disarm. But to be very clear, this is about power. This is all about power. And at the end of the day, Republicans are able to do what they are doing because they control a number of state legislatures, they control a number of governorships and most of them. Exactly. And in America, America's policy is made in the state legislatures. This is exactly, I'm going to keep saying it. What happened after reconstruction? The 14th and 15th amendments were never repealed. They just stopped being enforced. And the courts aided and abetted in that. The state legislatures aided and abetted in that. The governors, the business community aided and abetted in that. And it took almost 88 years to get back to a place and it took the Voting Rights Act. Now we're in the same place. Section 2 is sure it's intact on paper, but the states have moved with record speed to undo the progress that was made in those 88, in those 87, 88 years in between Reconstruction and the Voting Rights Act. This is about power. It's about black political power. It's about the people of color in this country having a say and they are attacking it directly.

[E]

How this might affect the midterms November?

[L]

Well, it'll have a modest impact on the midterms because Alabama, Louisiana, Tennessee could do away with a black major majority seat each and three seats is a big deal. When Republicans are sitting on such a thin majority, it's unlikely to save the majority from, from falling into Democrats hands given that there are at least 15 Republican seats that are in deep, deep trouble. But this has wider ranging implications. This has changed the way that, that gerrymandering is practice. It's gone from kind of a, a clever, time honored, smoke filled bipartisan tradition to an out in the open, out of control conflagration, conflagration of disenfranchisement where Republican states are eradicating Democrats and, and black Democrats in these previously VRA protected seats. And we could see Democrats retaliate with even more Rorschach test gerrymanders in the North.

[J]

Also about how the country sees itself and it is always seen itself primarily as a white nation. And so consequently, all efforts in the course of history has been to disabuse itself, citizens disabusing it of that notion. Because we are pluralistic. We are a place that welcomes everybody. So you can't be all one thing if you're welcoming the world to your backyard. You can't be all one thing if at some point there are more black people in a state than there are white people in the state. Right in the south at the time. And that's why they didn't want to count slaves as persons, because it shifted to your point, the balance of power. So what this is also about in the power grab, it's about the rise of the south again. They promised it was going to happen, and it is. And you've got a complicit, compliant Republican Party that is aiding and abetting in the rise of an old south that the country worked through a long civil war to move us off of.

[E]

And as if on cue, Ron DeSantis wants to remind you that Florida is, in fact, part of the American South. This is what they did today. DeSantis revealed a new map. Legislative committee hearings were held on Tuesday. The state, state House and Senate approved the map Wednesday. There was virtually no opportunity for public participation.

[A]

You see the smears right there on the south and the patriotic South. It makes you want more than ever to smash all this and take every freaking seat. It's totally, completely unconstitutional. And the south has been suppressed. Southerners have been suppressed, their votes have been suppressed, their voices have been suppressed for decade after decades, decade after decade after decade. And because President Trump won, when people run around smack talking, just remember, hey, there are greater themes going on here. We control the Supreme Court because of the Trump victory in 16 and then coming back in 20 or in 24. So this is the fruits of Trump's victory and it's a massive victory. 6, 3. Alex Sagrasse this is not only the number one political story in the country, probably the world, but I have never seen the Democrats having watched these guys up close and Personal now for 10, 12, 15 years, they are in full meltdown about this, are they not, sir?

[M]

Yeah, I mean, it's probably one of the, it's probably the biggest meltdown other than, yeah, I guess Trump's victories, of course. But you know, we've, we've been talking about it for, for four years, Steve. So they should, they should watch the show, of course, so at least they can mentally prepare themselves. But you know, actually, it's funny that they're mentioning the Constitution and the founders because obviously, you know, know what we had in place was totally unconstitutional. And. And it was a 6, 3 ruling. And also our founders and framers of the Constitution were really clear that they don't want a majority of the masses. They don't, you know, you shouldn't be able to consolidate power in the cities or something like that. And so that's why, you know, it's their problem that the Democrats have reduced themselves to a party that is really only competitive in, you know, dense suburbs and in the cities mean that's their problem. And if they happen to no where

[A]

it's illegal, they only competitive where there's illegal alien invaders and. Or universities have tons of foreign students. University town, if you. It's the coastal areas in the big cities where all these illegal aliens like New York City and la. Who in the hell knows who votes there? And. And then you've got the university towns. You look at the little patches of blue in Austin or in these university towns because they've got tons of foreign students and Marxist professors that have warped these kids. I want to go back to when they're all. This started really, this modern version of it started with Hochul Back in 2022, when you said, hey, these guys in New York are just grabbing seats randomly because they control things. We got to get focused and we have the opportunity to pick up eight or 10 seats. You went to war. The war room was your platform. Eleven seats changed hands. The Democrats took three and we took eight. And those eight were the difference between us taking the House and not taking the House. This gave us control of the House of Representatives and took it away from Nancy Pelosi. We learned a lesson. Redistricting wars are the predicate. Before you get into particularly midterms, you've got to win the redistricting war, sir.

[M]

Yeah, that's right. I mean, it was a huge lesson. And then I think, you know, that was going to 22 and then you saw 23. They tried to mid mid decade. That's their term. Mid decade redistrict in New York. We ended up suing about it. They did end up changing the map. They actually weakened Brandon Williams's seat by about six or seven points in a compromise, which is a bad compromise, but I guess was better than what they were offering at the time in New York. So these guys are all crooks. This whole thing is manufactured and phony. You know, once we get to the heart of it, Steve, and we go after what you mentioned, which is the millions of illegal immigrants that are founding the basis of the census. And then, of course, the equation that's used to figure out the House seats. We're Talking about another 25, 35 seats, probably minimum, to be honest with you. That's included with the demographic shifts legally across states.

[C]

Right.

[M]

People moving to blue, red states from blue states. I mean, the next four years, it's going to be continued legal warfare while we try to juice this thing through. Not only is the next presidential really important in the context of the census, but of course, you know, President Trump has ordered a census. I'm unsure where that is, but that's super important that we rectify not only the last one, but certainly that we work to put in place for the next one. And obviously that we hold the presidency, since that will be who oversees it.

[A]

What. What's the latest update? I know there's a firestorm down in South Carolina. There are other things happening. Where do we need the war room posse? President Trump is now fully engaged in this. We've also got the vote in Indian Indiana, which is a sore topic for us because we thought we had this thing pretty well handled before La Civita, and these guys came in and try to be, you know, tried to play the heavies. And of course, now we're gonna. We're gonna have zero pickups there because of that. But what. What's going on in the rest, particularly South Carolina.

[M]

So it sounds like South Carolina. President Trump spoke directly, I believe, with the state senators. They've got the votes in the state House, but the state Senate's unclear. So I think that seems to be the major focal point, and I think for the posse to be locked in on the South Carolina Republican state Senate. And I think, hey, this is a great exercise, Steve, because you really kind of learn, like, who's with us, who's not. And some of these red states you've got, got these state representatives. You look at Indiana, I mean, these guys are a disaster. I. I mean, I really can't believe it. As a New York, you know, originally New York Republican, moved to Florida. I mean, you know, at least, you know, when you're a Republican, either they're honest about it or they're not, or they're maybe a moderate or they're not, and you kind of know what you get. But with some of these guys in the south, you really got to do a full look at really, who these people are at your local state level, because it's key. And so there's no excuse in South Carolina. I mean, this is critical. I mean, I think we're on track, Steve, for that 10 pickup, which was the goal, by the way, that I set out and we talked about. Right. 10 is solid. I think if we hold Virginia, we could be looking at 14. That's kind of based off what's been sort of in motion that does include South Carolina, does include only one in Louisiana. And so that's where we're at. So, I mean, I feel great about it.

[A]

This, this, hang on. This, this South Carolina situation is emblematic of the problems we have, like in Georgia, that, you know, I think President Trump was on the horn with a group called a couple of senators, but I think it's the Senate leader down there that's the obstruction. He's already talked to McMasters and these guys go out of their way to come up with every excuse. That's Clyborne's. What we're talking about in South Carolina is Clyborne's seat, is it not?

[M]

Yeah, that's right.

[A]

We not want to take.

[M]

That's how Biden got in there.

[A]

You know, Caroline's is Benny Thompson. Now, Benny Thompson should be the top of my list because he's one of the guys that sent me to prison. He's not. I mean, I'd love just in logic, it ought to go. But Clyburn's seat is totally unconstitutional and he sits on that perch like some grand political strategist. He made Biden essentially the Democratic nominee.

[H]

Correct.

[A]

This ought to be something that conservatives and Republicans in South Carolina ought to be a once in a lifetime opportunity to do this and to fulfill the promise of the Constitution, shouldn't it? And they come up with a million one excuses. It's always a million different things. We didn't say all this was easy. If it was easy, you wouldn't have the position you're in. These people are supposed to do hard things. That's when there's positions of leadership. And the President of the United States is, you know, running a war, trying to solve all the issues with the economy, trying to turn the country around, trying to fight the people that are trying to assassinate him. You know, it seems like every other day he shouldn't have to be whipping votes and calling state senators in South Carolina. This is when, once again, we've put the entire burden on President Trump. This upsets me no end. And this is Clyburn. C. Clyburn, first off, it's about the Constitution. But number two, let's face it, Clyburn, it should be our Number one political target. Should he should. This is payback for everything he did to force the illegitimate Biden regime down the throats of the American people in those four years. It's called payback.

[M]

Yeah. I mean, what I'm learning, Steve, is a lot of these Republicans in general, I mean, they've got all these deals, of course, you know, they've got deals with lobbyists that have deals with Democrats that have deals with, you know, they want both sides. I mean, we see it in New York. You know, you've got, you've got areas where it's Republican, but maybe they've got one Democrat because they want to get the gravy train. They want access to both parties. So it's really, actually disgusting and it has to stop. And it is all about the Constitution. It's totally clear cut. Supreme Court ruled. You know, all these guys in the south, they said, well, we're waiting, waiting for Supreme Court. We said, oh, of course it's coming. We're to win this thing because the basis is clear. And so now it's not only, I mean, these are unconstitutional. I love President Trump's truth. I mean, why would you want to have an election or how can you have an election where according to the Supreme Court, there's unconstitutional seats, seats that are drawn by race. So it's crazy to me, but I think we're going to get this thing done, Steve. I think this will play a major role in saving the country. You know, things are hanging in the balance on the midterms, you know, of course, just historically and everything is right now.

[A]

Hang on one second. Just hang on. I'm gonna hold you through break. Steve Cortez is also going to join us, Mike Lindell and brother Miller from cra. This major, not just report but whole line of attack that they've got on affordability, on the cost of what it takes a family to live in this country the right way. Short break.

[I]

Fellow patriots, the Federal Reserve has portrayed 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 from the rogue Federal Reserve. He's replacing Jerome Powell. Slashing rates, igniting America's re industrialization. Now this is not theory. Government backed industry plus low rates unleashes super cycles. History does repeat. Gold's already exploding. Miners are up over 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. Jim Rickards, former CIA and Pentagon veteran, says act now. Go to insider2026.com that is insider2026.com to get Jim Rickards Strategic Intelligence newsletter today, strategic intelligence based upon predictive analytics. It's what chairman and CEO throughout the

[A]

world read and you should, too. War Room.

[G]

Here's your host, Stephen K. Ban.

[A]

Going to get Philip Patrick on hopefully tomorrow, the next day, the quarterly first quarter numbers are out. Central banks buying gold at record rates again. Of course, some of them have to sell gold to meet the obligations they have. Let's say that anyway. We'll break all that down. Go to birchwell.com promo code Bannon. Get to Philip Patrick and the team. That's who you want to talk to about all the different methodologies you can invest in physical gold today. IRAs, 401ks, all of it. But you want to talk to the experts. Gold's been on a tear. Find out why it has been a hedge against times of financial turbulence, particularly when you have the US Dollar as the backbone of the world's financial system and you've seen the new budget with the deficits they got, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera in the Brics nations. President Trump's going over to talk to the Chinese Communist Party in what, less than, less than two weeks. So that's all part of it. You want to understand that and do your pattern recognition of not the price of gold, but what drives the value of gold. Talk to Philip Patrick and the team to it today. You talk about local deals. Remember, we started this in 22. The Florida guys in Tallahassee said, no, we've already made our deals for this session. All the deals are in place. If you start doing it at a federal level, it's going to change everything and new deals are going to be cut locally. We're not going to do that. But you told me that.

[I]

I go, are you kidding me?

[A]

Is that, is that actually what they say? And we had to go in there and get a couple of three seats, I think four seats back then, and then do it again. But you're right. These local guys, they want to, they just want to hunker down and do what's right for them on the local level and not worry about the Constitution or the country itself. And you're seeing this in South Carolina. Alex, your Twitter feed, along with Caroline Renz and Sean Spicer, has kind of been bomber command. People want to go to that. I know there's big News tonight about Indiana will be later. Where do people go to keep up with you?

[M]

Yeah, first off, make sure you get out the vote in Indiana. That's obviously huge. Also, early voting is ongoing in Louisiana, so you've got Julia Letlow there. That's huge. That's Trump's endorsement. Knockout Cassidy. But I'm at the grass 81 on X. Caroline and Sean got updates. We're going to keep things working. South Carolina is the main focal point now. We'll continue to have updates, but thanks, Steve, and thank you to the posse.

[A]

No, when the President's taking that kind of time. When the President's taking that kind of time, it's pretty extraordinary. So thank you, sir.

[M]

Yeah, it's really something. Thank you.

[A]

He's talking to groups of, you know, state senators, which is fine, but I mean, the guy's got a couple, three things to do. Steve Cortez. And Steve, I'm going to ask you to stay through the top of the 6 o' clock hour. Let me just get your thoughts on the redistricting, the redistricting wars and how this is so, you know, so important for us right now. And President Trump basically having to whip his own votes here is once again where people are just, oh, well, you know, let Trump take care of it. Let Trump take care of it. That's, that's. The guy's fighting a war, fighting all the geopolitical situation. We're going to talk in a moment about the Pope. He's got Rubio going to talk to the Pope. He's doing everything in the world. He doesn't have time to talk to state senators in South Carolina. That shouldn't be part of his job description to take an unconstitutional district and flip it to a constitutional district, sir.

[C]

Yeah, you know, you're exactly correct, by the way. The point is these districts are not valid anyway. They're not valid for two reasons. Number one, the last census was not done correctly. And that's not my opinion, that's the Census Bureau itself admitting that it wasn't done correctly. And then on top of that, because of a perversion of the Voting Rights act over decades, we know that we have Americans unconstitutionally and unjustly balkanized into effectively racial silos, which is totally unconstitutional, which doesn't match up in any way with American principles. So it's imperative that we absolutely now redraw these districts. But you're right, we don't have that sense of urgency in far too many state capitals around the country. And it seems like sometimes, Steve, the reddest states are actually the laziest when it comes to these kinds of tasks, which is really infuriating.

[A]

No, that's the thing is that you're now down in Tennessee, you see, president's got to call Bill Lee and say, hey, and that's Cohen. These guys, you got Benny Thompson, you have Clyburn, you have Cohen. I mean, these ought to be top targets, regardless. The fact that they're an unconstitutional district. Just asked to. But give people a minute on the way things roll in Chicago because now they're saying, hey, we're going to take all the dis. All the Republican districts in, in, in Illinois, they play a different. The Democrats play a different game, don't they?

[C]

They certainly do. And they mean business. And by the way, we can learn from them as far as tactics. We don't want to learn from them on principles at all. Right. Because they have none. But regarding tactics, there are things we can learn from them. It kind of reminds me, for example, of Nancy Pelosi. You know, I have to tell you, every. As horrible as she was for America, there were times when I would say, man, if we had a Nancy Pelosi on our side, if we had that kind of a Speaker of the House who's a gangster who used, even though she's not from Chicago, she used a lot of Chicago tactics. So you're right now in Illinois, they're talking about. And the map of Illinois is already laughable. It is so ludicrously gerrymandered. But they might go even further. They want to one up Virginia right now. And what Virginia did with Northern Virginia, where Northern Virginia now dominates the entirety of the state, the entirety of Old Dominion, Chicago is probably going to end up doing to the rest of Illinois. So when they bring a gun to the fight, we can't show up with just our fists. Right. We've got to at least show up with a knife, preferably with a gun. When they show up with a gunfight

[A]

with a gun, are they, Are they proposing. Somebody told me they're proposing. They're trying to work a map that would take all Republican representation in Illinois and get rid of it. I mean, Pritzker wants to go. He wants to top what Newsom did in California, correct?

[C]

Yeah, no, that's exactly correct. And the only way to do it, by the way, because the state is so red once you get out of the Chicago area, is you're going to literally have to draw a bunch of, you know, sort of snake districts that have enough of Chicago and the Chicago area, the Chicago suburbs, to get the, to get the district blue. And then you're going to have to go down and disenfranchise people downstate. I mean, there will be some. It's already a laughable map. It will become truly absurd if Chicago, in fact, does it. But yes, they absolutely are talking about it. I'll actually be in Chicago the next couple of days. I hope I can learn more about it. But my point here is when the Democrats have power, Steve, they are gangsters, okay? They leverage power when they have it. And we don't want to mimic their lack of principles and their soullessness, but we can learn from their tactics. And when we earn power, when we have earned it from the people, it's time to employ it correctly and ruthlessly.

[A]

Amen. Okay, we're going to take a short commercial break. Hour two is going to start momentarily. Steve Cortez is going to stick with me. We got a lot to go over and Wade Miller is going to join me. I want to really get into this whole thing about affordability and cra. Russ votes shop that He Sells set up. Wade Miller and the team running it now have come up with a brilliant, not just analysis of what ails us, but an action plan to really help the American family. We're going to take a short commercial break. We're going to leave you with the right stuff. We'll be back in just a moment.

[I]

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 or 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.

[A]

You move.