Episode 5428: Who Is Directing Who In The War With Iran

Summary

Podcast Summary: Bannon's War Room

Episode 5428: Who is Directing Who in the War With Iran
Date: June 8, 2026
Host: Stephen K. Bannon

---

Episode Overview

This episode centers on the spiraling conflict between Israel and Iran, the U.S. government’s role—particularly former President Donald Trump’s mediation attempts—and intrigue over U.S.-Israel intelligence sharing. The panel discusses who really holds decision-making power in this conflict, analyzes recent missile trading, questions political narratives about election integrity, and debates U.S. strategy in the Middle East. Blunt exchanges and fiery rhetoric highlight deep skepticism about both American and foreign intentions.

---

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Escalation Between Iran and Israel

• Breaking the Ceasefire: Both countries traded missile attacks overnight, despite U.S. calls for restraint ([00:00-01:04]).
• Trump’s Mediation: Trump publicly insists “I call the shots,” but events on the ground indicate Israel is operating with a degree of autonomy. There is debate whether Israeli retaliation was pre-approved or conducted against Trump’s wishes ([01:04-02:44], [13:29-14:41]).
• Foreign Affairs Perspective: The actual effect of Trump's calls is questioned; it seems he does not fully control Israeli actions ([01:31-02:44]).

Notable Quote:

"Either way, I did not get the impression that Trump calls all the shots."
— Foreign Affairs Expert ([02:39])

---

2. US Political Dynamics & Narrative on Election Legitimacy

• California Election Allegations: Trump claims a “rigged” mayoral race in Los Angeles after his favored candidate, Spencer Pratt, was eliminated ([02:45-03:01], [04:52-09:47]).
• Media Critique: Panelists note that such allegations fuel public distrust, and call for journalists to aggressively fact-check claims ([04:52-05:50]).
• Trump's Repetition of 2020 Claims: Trump reasserts the motif of “stolen” elections—both in 2020 and currently in California ([07:21-09:47]).

Memorable Exchange:

Moderator: "Just to be very clear, there's no evidence of what you're saying."
Trump: "Tremendous evidence, there's nothing but evidence."
([07:49-07:56])

---

3. Complications in US-Israel Intelligence Relations

• Espionage Allegations: Reports suggest Israel may be spying on the U.S., though both Israel and the White House deny it ([11:54-13:29], [25:01-26:11]).
• Panel View: Espionage is seen as a matter of “tradecraft”; partners and allies routinely monitor each other ([12:34-14:41], [25:01-26:11]).
• Lindsey Graham’s Take: Dismisses reports as attempts to divide allies and describes intelligence scrutiny as mutual and routine ([26:11-27:12]).

Notable Quote:

"That's just tradecraft. That's just very basic tradecraft."
— Stephen K. Bannon ([31:04])

---

4. The Power Dynamic: Who Is Really in Control?

• Bannon’s Rhetorical Question: Poses whether American citizens truly “call the shots” in the U.S. government amid foreign and domestic crises ([14:41-15:00]).
• Trump as Mediator: Trump's current role is described less as commander-in-chief and more as “mediator” between volatile parties ([21:33-24:36]).

Key Insight:

"President Trump’s role has shifted ... to be not an active member in the conflict. ... He's playing the role of mediator between these two sides now."
— Stephen K. Bannon ([23:26])

---

5. Military Assessments and Strategic Options

• Iran’s Capabilities: Despite claims, Iran can still fire ballistic missiles; their weapons are partly hidden and possibly replenished by allies like China ([20:25-21:33]).
• Ceasefire Realities: The ceasefire is fragile, with both sides actively rearming ([21:33-24:36], [36:45-39:16]).
• “Three Bad Choices”: Jim Rickards frames Trump’s dilemma as a choice between surrender (unacceptable), stalemate (current state), and escalation (risking another Vietnam) ([36:45-39:16]).

Notable Quote:

"There are no good choices. But that's where Trump is and that's where we are right now."
— Jim Rickards ([39:15])

---

6. Alternative Strategies: Mark Levin’s Proposal

• Maximalist Response: Mark Levin suggests a total bombardment of Iranian and IRGC targets for several weeks, then a withdrawal—arming Iranian freedom fighters in the process ([03:01, 39:26-41:18]).
• Panel Pushback: Rickards and others call this a fantasy, equating it to past regime change wishful thinking in places like Iraq and Ukraine ([42:11-44:00], [45:45-47:45]).

Memorable Quote:

"That's fantasy. ... Now, to hear the same thing repeated in Iran ... No, that's not what happened."
— Jim Rickards ([43:12-43:50])

---

7. Economic & Market Impacts

• Oil and Shipping: Gulf shipping is recovering slightly but remains threatened; markets now largely “discount” missile exchanges ([49:15-50:13]).
• Wider Economic Risks: Supply chain disruptions and inflation, especially from persistent conflict, are highlighted as threats to the U.S. economy ([44:13-45:31]).

Notable Quote:

"Oil has been elevated up over $90, up to $110 a barrel ... That means prices are going through the roof. That is an Achilles to a political ... administration."
— Eric Bolling ([51:44])

---

8. U.S. Surveillance, FISA, & Personnel Debates

• FISA Controversy: Ongoing fights about surveillance authority and the assertion that the surveillance state undermines Trump’s power ([28:10-29:36], [35:00-36:12]).
• Bill Pulte as DNI: Discussion on whether a business outsider (Pulte) is fit to overhaul and streamline the intelligence community ([32:50-35:20]).

---

9. Historical and Generational Change in Iranian Leadership

• Leadership Evolution: Killing senior Iranian leaders has resulted in younger, more secure, and robust leadership—suggesting U.S. strikes strengthen, not weaken, Iranian unity ([45:43-47:45]).

---

Timestamps for Critical Segments

• Ceasefire Frays, Trump’s Mediation: [00:00-02:44]
• Mark Levin’s Maximalist Proposal: [03:01 & 39:26-41:18]
• Trump Decries California 'Rigging': [07:21-09:47]
• Espionage Allegations & Response: [11:54-14:41], [25:01-27:12]
• Who Runs America?: [14:41-15:00]
• Iran’s Missile Barrage & Israel’s Retaliation: [18:42-24:36]
• Jim Rickards’ “Three Bad Choices”: [36:45-39:16]
• Panel Analysis of Strategic Options: [41:34-47:45]
• Economic/Market Fallout: [44:13-45:31], [49:15-53:14]
• Evolution of Iranian Regime: [45:43-47:45]

---

Notable Quotes & Exchanges

• On Foreign Policy Decision-making:

  • "Either way, I did not get the impression that Trump calls all the shots."
    — Foreign Affairs Expert ([02:39])
  • "President Trump’s role has shifted ... He's playing the role of mediator between these two sides now."
    — Stephen K. Bannon ([23:26])

• On Election Legitimacy:

  • "Tremendous evidence, there's nothing but evidence."
    — Donald Trump ([07:56])
  • "We all must be more aggressive than ever in getting the facts out to viewers ... his lies must be met with facts ..."
    — Political Analyst ([05:10])

• On Military Strategy:

  • "That's fantasy ... that's like Victoria Nuland and the whole idea of Ukraine ... No, that's not what happened."
    — Jim Rickards ([43:12-43:50])
  • "That's just tradecraft. That's just very basic tradecraft."
    — Stephen K. Bannon ([31:04])

• On Economic Impact:

  • "Oil has been elevated up over $90, up to $110 a barrel ... prices are going through the roof."
    — Eric Bolling ([51:44])

---

Conclusion

This episode provides a heated and multifaceted look at Middle Eastern tensions, challenging narratives of U.S. control while acknowledging the complexities of alliance and adversarial relations. Listeners hear strong skepticism of mainstream reporting, a deep mistrust of the intelligence community, and varied perspectives on America’s future military and political options. While Trump attempts to project authority, the reality—reflected by both expert and panelist opinions—is one of limited leverage, persistent escalation, and few if any, easy solutions.

---

Transcript

[News Anchor]

The breaking news this morning. President Trump just wrote, israel and Iran must stop shooting. That's what he wrote. But there are signs they've stopped listening. Both Iran and Israel. Iran fired missiles at Israel and overnight Israel fired back. That's despite a report first in Axios that the President told the Israeli prime Minister not to retaliate. And despite the grandiose claim to the Financial Times that he, Trump, calls all the shots. He did not seem to call this one. Israel says it hit targets in western and central Iran. And Iran's state media says an aerial attack hit a petrochemical plant, damaging part of the facility. This morning, Iran says the US Quote, bears responsibility for Israel's actions. And as we were coming to air this morning, the president posted again just a few seconds ago that both sides, Israel and Iran, are looking to do an immediate cease fire.

[Donald Trump]

We will see.

[News Anchor]

Of course, the administration also says a cease fire has been in place since the beginning of April.

[Political Analyst]

This despite Axios reporting that President Trump urged Netanyahu to hold off on any retaliatory act in a Sunday phone call. That's according to a senior U.S. official and an Israeli source familiar with details of the call. President Trump also told the Financial Times on Sunday that Netanyahu had no choice but to accept a deal with Iran, saying, quote, I call the shots. He doesn't call the shots.

[Foreign Affairs Expert]

This was probably a couple of hours after Iran had launched its salvo ballistic missiles at Israel. And I think he had just spoken to Netanyahu when I called him, and he was very insistent that he calls the shots. He, Trump calls the shots, not Netanyahu. That this is the kind of thing that happens all the time. Although, of course, it was, as you've said, it was the first a breach of the ceasefires on this scale since April 8, since the ceasefire began. And he insisted that the deal, it would have no impact on the Iran deal. Now, shortly after that, Israel struck Iran. So whether, you know, whether Trump's call with Netanyahu had agreed that the Israeli strike would be limited, it would be mostly theatrical, and that it wouldn't go for decapitation, it wouldn't go for political leadership, and that that was what they agreed, or possibly that he spoke to Netanyahu, asked him to do nothing, and Netanyahu said, sorry, I have to do something, and went ahead anyway. Either way, I did not get the impression that Trump calls all the shots.

[News Anchor]

He's doing it this morning.

[Stephen K. Bannon]

This morning he is on Truth Social

[News Anchor]

questioning the results of Los Angeles mayor's

[Stephen K. Bannon]

race because his favorite candidate, Spencer Pratt, has now fallen out of the top

[Jim Rickards]

three, is going to top two, and

[News Anchor]

therefore won't make the runoff.

[Stephen K. Bannon]

And Trump is propagating the lie of

[News Anchor]

election fraud in that race as well.

[Moderator/Interviewer]

Good.

[Mark Levin]

Here's an idea. We spend the next two or three weeks hammering the hell out of every target that matters, including the so called enriched uranium, 20% or more, I don't really care, whatever it is, and just hit them with everything we've got with those fabulous bombers and bombs. Take out everything we can find in coordination with our Arab and Israeli allies, identify every IRGC facility we possibly can and level them. Do as much military damage as we possibly can, dual use damage as we possibly can, and then leave rather than giving them money, which to me would be a disaster. And tell the Israelis and tell the Saudis, the uae, which has been very good, and anybody else in the Arab world, we will provide you with whatever intelligence support, training, military equipment that you need. We will continue to use our posture in the region to defend our forces and our mutual interests. But as far as Iran and Hezbollah go, you go at it. If you want to blow Hezbollah off the face of the earth, then you do it. If you want to blow the Iranian regime off the face of the earth, then you do it. And in addition, what we, the United States, will do finally, is arm the people of Iran as we have as a country, armed people throughout the world, freedom fighters who want their freedom. And I don't want to hear that the Iranian people don't want their freedom. That is baloney.

[Political Analyst]

Yesterday, Donald Trump continued stumbling over facts, got red faced, and then he started screaming about how the California elections were being rigged because officials were still counting votes six days after the June 2 election. Now, one would have to assume that the President of the United States is a stupid man to not know that almost all states count votes well beyond a week after Election Day. When Republican Arnold Schwarzenegger was reelected to governor in 2006, the vote count took 30 days as required by California law. When Republican congressmen get elected in California this November, it will take 30 days to count and certify those votes in their districts. Donald Trump knows this, but his howling protests toward Kristen Welker and his insults to her was aimed not at the Meet the Press host or regular viewers, but rather at Americans who don't follow the news or follow specific news sites that are geared toward him and will likely only see a clip of his outbursts on social media. And so many will accept Donald Trump's ravings At face value. That's why the media has to up its game going into an election that Mr. Trump desperately, as proven there, wants to undermine and so distrust. We all must be more aggressive than ever in getting the facts out to viewers and go into every interview armed with facts, but also be ready to fight back and get into those clips. His lies must be met with facts and he must. Lies must be run over and not allowed on decent broadcasts that represent journalism. His insults must be answered with the truth that he does not want to hear. And his cabinet's efforts to blur reality must be knocked down at every turn. The lies and we don't need to light our hair on fire, but we have to protect the truth. The lies and insults toward the free press must be answered. If we fail, we will be no better than the broadcast network and cable channels that act like the pillow channel, like nothing more than state run mouthpieces.

[Donald Trump]

I don't know what's going to happen with the weaponization fund. I love the idea because people like you, the fake dirty press, the crooked press, people like stupid Biden, he's not smart enough to know what's going on, but people that surrounded him, surrounded his beautiful Resolute desk in the Oval Office. What they did to the lives of people, they destroyed people, they sent people to jail who did nothing.

[Moderator/Interviewer]

Just to be very clear, there's no evidence of what you're saying. But Todd, Blanche, listen to me, listen to me.

[Donald Trump]

So let's talk tremendous evidence is nothing but evidence. The election was rigged. It was a dirty election and it's happening again right now in California. Right now in California, right now. It's, look at, look at what's happening in California. That it's the report doing well in California. It's. No, they're not. They're dropping fast because it's a rigged election. Let me tell you, it's four days and they aren't even close to coming up.

[Moderator/Interviewer]

That's how they know why they're doing

[Donald Trump]

that, because they're cheating on the election.

[Moderator/Interviewer]

There's what? Do you have evidence to support?

[Donald Trump]

I have to do is look. All I have to do is look and I listen and I listen to people and let's see what happens.

[Moderator/Interviewer]

So that's not evidence.

[Donald Trump]

You think it's appropriate.

[Moderator/Interviewer]

That's how they count the votes.

[Donald Trump]

Do you think it's appropriate that they have an election and five days later they're nowhere close to picking state, local

[Moderator/Interviewer]

officials acknowledge they are low. They're urging no, they're crooked. They're Urging the votes to be counted quick. That's how they crooked.

[Donald Trump]

Just like you're crooked. Your press is crooked and Meet the Press is crooked.

[Moderator/Interviewer]

To be fair, I'm not crooked, but really.

[Donald Trump]

Well, you play right into their hands.

[Moderator/Interviewer]

Let's continue.

[Donald Trump]

You're either crooked or you're stupid. You play right into their hands with this rap. You know that these elections are rigged. Your network knows that they're rigged. You know that I won an election in a landslide And I got 94% bad press.

[Moderator/Interviewer]

But Mr. President, you know why I got that present?

[Donald Trump]

Because you have no credibility.

[Moderator/Interviewer]

But you've never presented evidence that it was rigged. Let's keep talking about. I want to talk about.

[Donald Trump]

You have more evidence. There's more evidence than ever presented. Let's talk your elections in this country. We're like a third world country. Your elections are crooked and you're crooked and Meet the Press is crooked. And so is ABC and CBS and CNN. But Mr. President, one sided crooked network. So let's call it quits because I've had enough. Thank you, darling. Have a good day.

[Moderator/Interviewer]

Mr. President, let's please. I traveled all the way to Wisconsin.

[Donald Trump]

I've sat in the rain.

[Moderator/Interviewer]

I know I sat in the rain

[Donald Trump]

for an hour, on and off in the rain. And I've given you enough time. You ought to straighten out your press because you know what? A country can never be great travel with a dishonest.

[Moderator/Interviewer]

Listen, we traveled all the way to Wisconsin, Johnson, for this interview.

[Foreign Affairs Expert]

Israel, as you know, Jonathan, has a general election this September or early October, which is as ever, a do or die election for Netanyahu. And his platform is really twofold. First, I'm the guy who finally finishes off this regime in Iran. And second, I have got the American president right with me, standing there with me. And both those are now in jeopardy. But from Trump's point of view, Netanyahu, with his operations in southern Lebanon, with the strike yesterday, of course, on that suburb of Beirut where it believes as a Hezbollah stronghold keeps, keeps up the fight in Lebanon and keeps jeopardizing Trump's ability to reach agreement with the Iranians. Because the Iranians say that a precondition of any deal is that Israel stops attacking Hezbollah. So this leaves President Trump, I think, really a prisoner of other people's actions, including Netanyahu's. Well, principally Netanyahu and the Iranians. But Netanyahu is not in a comfortable place either. He's not going into this election campaign, which he must win for his own personal freedom as much as anything. Else he's not going into this campaign being able to boast of the things that he thought he was going to be able to boast of when this war began in late February. And of course, I don't need to remind you, he was instrumental, he was really critical in persuading Trump that this war could be won and could be won quickly.

[Reporter]

Officers serving our country. And we have this Pentagon, this report first in NBC, now in New York Times. The Pentagon saying that Israel may be spying on the U.S. the Israeli embassy to the U.S. is denying it, saying Israel does not gather intelligence on American entities, let alone US Government officials. Israel intelligence collection efforts are aimed at its enemies, not its allies. The White House also pushing back, saying this entire story is false and sourced to someone who doesn't have any knowledge of what's going on. But in these reports, this is allegedly coming from a DIA report. What's your take?

[Stephen K. Bannon]

Yeah, so there's always going to be an official denial of espionage activities from both sides. That's nothing new. But this is also something that I remember back when I served, that when you're dealing with a partner force nation, whether it's Israel, whether it's any country in Asia, when it's anywhere in the world, you're always going to be looking at a situation where if I'm conducting operations, if I'm working on the intel side, if I'm working on that picture, are they looking over my shoulder? Are they trying to figure out what I'm doing in the other room? And in fact, that's obviously the case here, and this was the case with Israel back when I served as well, that there were always questions, that they seemed to know more about our operations than we had told them. And there would be times, of course, where people had found evidence directly speaking to these that raised that critical threat in terms of these reports, when operations were ongoing. And of course, this comes at a time where President Trump is working hard to create what

[Jim Rickards]

Monday, the June, year

[Steve]

of our Lord 2026. Bosobuk's going to join us along with Rickards and Bolling and Faddis in this first part to get our heads around what's going on, make sure the audience has a clear path framework of which to look at all the facts here. Jack Bosobic, so walk me through the timing on this and that America's greatest ally, President Trump, is now, I guess not pleading, but asking very nicely

[Jim Rickards]

that

[Steve]

don't fire back, don't instigate anything. We got to be very tight on this. Of Course, he talks to Ed Luce and says, I call the shots. At the same time on Friday, Thursday and Friday, the this house we're moving for, this NDAA that merges the industrial bases of Israel and the United States so you can't unlock them. Plus there's efforts to do basically the same thing in the intelligence apparatus. We'll take a short break, Jack. We'll be back. We're going to cover Los Angeles, some of the races tomorrow, but particularly this war. And ask a question, given what you're seeing in Los Angeles, who actually runs this country today? Is it you?

[Jack Vasobic]

Is it you?

[Steve]

The American citizens? The American citizens call the shots in the United States of America. Jack Vasobic, on the other side,

[Stephen K. Bannon]

Do

[Jim Rickards]

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, improving its 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 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.

[Stephen K. Bannon]

You move. Here's your host, Stephen K. Band.

[Jim Rickards]

I hope,

[Steve]

I hope what happened over the weekend in Iran and with Israel coupled with what happened in Los Angeles is a wake up call. The one thing about Spencer Pratt, I say he's very trumpy and what he was doing was a very Trumpian campaign. But one thing they never mentioned and never talked about was the big steal. Because remember, he's not maga. He makes goes out his way say he's not maga. And one of the underlying core principles of MAGA is these stolen elections in la. He got welcomed to the National Football League. They stole it in broad daylight. This will look at the President, United States and the president Station understand that was taped, I think on Friday was in Wisconsin talking to the farmers. Don't even include last night anybody in America and particularly establishment Republicans. Just see this is the way the Democrats roll. What have I said? What is the mantra here?

[Jim Rickards]

If they can't steal it, they can't win.

[Steve]

Hey, you know who knows that very well? The Democrats. And they don't care. That thing in LA is so in your grill, Jack Bosobic. Also, what's happening in. I'm gonna get to your thing on Fox and I wanna thank Trace Gallagher for being bold enough to go there. We'll get to that in a second and Brian kil me we got a response. Brian Kilmeade doesn't think Jack's with the program, but we'll get to all that. So what's happened over the weekend?

[Jim Rickards]

Right.

[Steve]

I thought America's greatest. Of course, I call him Protectorate. Oh, Fox and Friends.

[Stephen K. Bannon]

Even better. Yeah.

[Steve]

Griff Jenkins. Wow.

[Jim Rickards]

Whoa, Fox and Friends.

[Steve]

I thought that was your late night hit with Trace Gallagher.

[Jim Rickards]

This is what I want to explain.

[Steve]

You got the biggest pop earlier.

[Jim Rickards]

Israel first.

[Steve]

Yep, go ahead.

[Stephen K. Bannon]

Look, this was the, this was the early show and that's why when we got into some of those comments, I, you know, Israel had had yet, Israel and Iran had yet to have their missile exchange and that's why it didn't come up at all. So that was about, yeah, we taped that about 6 in the morning. And then come throughout the day, you see, you have the series of attacks. So Hezbollah launches some rockets into northern Israel. Israel then takes that as a provocation. They respond with a massive salvo into the southern suburbs of Beirut. They're hitting, you know, what they say is Hezbollah stronghold. But then also, you know, you get these videos out as, as is is typical where, you know, it seems as though there are a lot of people who are being hit that don't look a lot like Hezbollah. In addition, I'm sure to the direct targets. Then what. But what happened that was quite significant, quite significant is that Iran attacked Israel in as they say in defense of Lebanon yesterday. And that changes the Calculus, because this has not happened before. What's happened here is that this is the axis of resistance now taking form. And Iran showing, number one, showing that they still have ballistic missile capability, which by my count there were at least four salvos that they fired at targets like Tel Aviv, like Haifa and others Jerusalem last.

[Steve]

So Jack, hang on, but, Jack, hang

[Stephen K. Bannon]

on, but hang on, you don't have,

[Jim Rickards]

you can't, you can't, you can't have.

[Steve]

The ballistic missile capabilities have been totally wiped out. I've been told that time and time and time again we watch all this stuff and cut. Couldn't have been a ballistic missile assault. They're all, they've all been destroyed, sir.

[Stephen K. Bannon]

Well then, then perhaps Iron Dome was firing at Phantoms last night, Steve, but they seem to find quite a few of the boosters and quite a few of the warheads that were able to make it through. Some were shot down to intercept and these were not drones. These were ballistic missiles that were fired through the air. And so, and this really, by the way, Steve speaks to Iran's capability of deception and their capability of hiding how much of their production is out there. And I don't fault DIA at all when they go and do the bean counting of their, their order of battle in Iran, whether it comes to missiles or whether it comes to drones. The problem is, is that we just don't have the sources deep within those bunkers, the ability to penetrate, to know exactly what's going on in those underground missile cities.

[Steve]

Tell, tell the audience once again, hit rewind why this is so important of why they hit Israel after Israel launched into Lebanon against Hezbollah and obviously other targets there. Why, why is that another game changer? This is the, this is the strategic equivalent of shifting the center of gravity of the battle to the Persian Gulf in straight of Hormuz, is it not?

[Stephen K. Bannon]

Well, Steve, what they've done and, and just to, to carry out the story. So, so then Israel responds with strikes on Tehran, strikes on this petrochemical facility which they say was tied to the ballistic missile program, tied to irgc. And, and then interestingly enough, Iran announced after that that they were going back to the cease fire. They would not be following up with further attacks. So that's where things stand as of right now. President Trump has a truth up saying that he believes that both sides do want to abide by the cease fire. But here's what's key. What Iran is doing now is they are extending the fight. They're changing the shape of the battlefield, they're moving the borders further. So they're saying if Israel comes in to southern Lebanon, they are going to respond to Israel. The Houthis have come out and said that they would be prepared to perhaps close the Red Sea yet again if this continues. And so they want to come up with their ballistic missile capability. Also, the Houthis potential strikes on. There's, there's some reports that the Houthis were conducting strikes on Saudi Arabia as well, although that is yet to be completely confirmed as of right now. And so what you're seeing, Steve, is this axis of resistance has not gone away. The Iranians, the Houthis do still have these capabilities. What percentage, what is left? Is it a fourth left? Is it a fifth left? 20, 25%? 30%? It's, it's, it's somewhere in that range, but it's hard to say exactly what's going on. There's also these reports that they may have been backfilled by China, they may have been backfilled by other elements, other allies. And again, what they have in these underground bunkers that are extensive, there are tunnels networks all throughout Iran, all throughout those mountain ranges that they have there, these massive mountain ranges that are very deep underground, very hard to pe. Penetrate, very hard to attack. You can close the, you know, some of the, the covers to them. Certainly that was done at the nuclear facilities, but we just don't have the ability to penetrate deep into them. And Iran has the ability to strike back. That's what it comes down to. The Houthis have the ability to strike back. That's what it comes down to. And so Israel over the weekend had said, we don't view our operations in southern Lebanon as part of President Trump's negotiations with Iran. We are going to continue. Iran says you will make them part of the negotiations. President Trump, of course, asked them to both sides, of course, Iran and Israel to set down to not conduct these attacks. Both sides conducted the attacks regardless of what the President said. And that's what's created President Trump. He's now in this sort of role, Steve, where he's actually playing a mediator role. I would say President Trump's role has shifted at this point to be not, not an active member in the conflict. He, of course, reserves that capability. And the United States Navy is there, willing, ready, willing and able to provide that capability. But it seems as though he's playing the role of mediator between these two sides now. So you've got Israel at the Gulf nations on one side and the axis of resistance on the other.

[Steve]

I want to go to. You brought up your point. Can we play kill? Me don't want to play a couple of minutes. Can you stick around? I want to play kill. So your response on Fox and Friends was to give the response that you know from being an intelligence officer and being very close to the White House in the first term and the second term. Right. It was pretty straightforward. You didn't really. You weren't untoward to Israel. Correct.

[Stephen K. Bannon]

Well, Steve, look, when we operate with any partner force nation, whether it be the Gulf nations, whether it be Israel, whether it be the South Koreans, of course, espionage is something that you always have to watch out for. There are always threat levels that that come into play because everybody knows we have the best intelligence and everybody wants to know what we know. That's what the game is.

[Steve]

And also know our intentions. I mean it's an open secret. Grab Sam Fatis on here. It's an open secret about that. Let's go and play kill. Meade's response

[Reporter]

forces shooting down Iranian drones that threatened the traffic in the Strait of Hormuz. It comes as new reports from NBC News and the New York Times allege that the Pentagon has raised their threat concerns over Israeli spying. Brian Kilmeade, Fox and Friends co host and host of One Nation and bona fide Knicks fan, which we will get to. But Brian, there is this reporting about that Israel could be spying on American officials like Steve Wykoff and others during the Iran talks. The White House and the Israeli embassy in D.C. pushing back aggressively against this. What are you hearing about it?

[Lindsey Graham]

What am I hearing about it? It is total bs. It's another anti Israel story planted in a major media organization put forward to help divide the two of the good guys, the US And Israel. The problem in this whole thing is Iran and the other problem is Hezbollah. Hezbollah is an unwelcome force in Lebanon. They have taken over that country and they're finally being pushed back. They did not sign to onto any peace agreement when it comes to Israel. I was in touch with some of the highest level ARV intelligence apparatus. They say this is a dumb story. It is well known that we do the same exact thing with France, with Britain and Israel. We are known to share intelligence and also monitor each other. This is just another example of people going out of their way to try to create a dividend between us and Israel and it does not exist. Yes, you have real arguments that's caused what friends do all the time. And that's really.

[Steve]

People have to understand we're going to get to the bottom of this intelligence situation for, for why we are in this situation that we're in currently with President Trump having, as Jack said, having to be mediator, like he doesn't have enough on his plate now he's got to insert himself. It's almost like doing the whipping votes down in South Carolina to get things done or in these other House races to get things done or the redistricting to get things done or everything he's got to do on Capitol Hill. Jack, that's not what the stories, that's, that's not what this is claiming. It's not about keeping an eye even on your allies or people close to you. This is about active, active measures they've taken to make sure that they have, are fully. I'll tell you what, let's go to break. Going to go to short commercial break. So stick with us. I know you got to bounce, but I got to get through this also. Jack, I want to talk to you about fisa. All of President Trump's enemies and all the neocons are just over the top

[Jim Rickards]

that we need fisa.

[Steve]

You have to get FISA in order to get Pfizer. Got to get rid of Pulte as dni.

[Jim Rickards]

Nothing could be dumber. Nothing could be dumber. The very tools that the deep state needs.

[Steve]

This is why Lindsey Graham and Tom Cotton and the, the typical crowd, Tom, you know, are just relentless, non stop. The same guys that are trying to push through this merger of our defense base, defense base, industrial base and the intelligence services. Jack Vasobic with us after a short commercial break.

[Jim Rickards]

The American health care system is broken and for most Americans, nothing changes.

[Steve]

There's still delays, denials, high cost insurance, roadblocks.

[Jim Rickards]

So when I find people doing things differently, I talk about it all. Family pharmacy is not your typical big chain pharmacy. This is an independent family owned pharmacy that gives you access to over 400 medications delivered straight to your door. They've got ivermectin, antibiotics, antivirals, nad, plus even your daily maintenance medications and so much more. If you already have a prescription, your doctor can send it directly. If you don't, their doctors handle it. As long as there is a medical

[Steve]

necessity, they'll take care of you.

[Jim Rickards]

And I'll tell you this, the feedback from people listening to this show and watching has been incredibly strong. People are using it, it's working for them and they're sticking with it. That's because it cuts out the delays, the middlemen and all the usual nonsense. This is about being ready before you need it. Go to allfamilypharmacy.com that's all one word. Allfamilypharmacy.com Bannon and use code Bannon10 to save 10%. The healthcare system is broken.

[Steve]

Your pharmacy doesn't have to be.

[Stephen K. Bannon]

Here's your host, Stephen K. Ban.

[Steve]

Home title I got a special once you go check it out. Hometitle.com promo code Steve25. Two years of of coverage. A two year plan to protect your title against artificial intelligence Cyber. The combo platter of the attacks. All of it 25% off. Talk to Natalie and Dominguez and the team today. Hometitle lock.com promo code Steve25. Go check it out. The $1 million triple lock protection. Go check out 25% off in commemoration of the 250th commemoration of the birth of our nation. Post real quick because I know you're jammed for time. Your response to kill Mead. And then we got to talk about Bill Pulte and this phony push for fisa. Sir.

[Stephen K. Bannon]

Well, yeah, Steve, I mean, look, of course the intelligence agencies on, on all sides are always going to give blanket denials of ongoing operations. There's nothing new there. Of course you're not going to ever avow an operation that's currently going or count or a counterintelligence operation at the same time. That's just, that's just tradecraft. That's just very basic tradecraft. And as far as the threat level going up, you know this. I've spoken to multiple sources throughout the weekend since these stories came out, and all of which have confirmed it and all of which confirmed that the move was made because of recent activity. So recent activity that was discovered that went into the assessment to say, hey, what's going on right now? Has necessitated this to come up. Keep in mind, Steve, that's also because we have more of our sailors and more of our Marines that are in that region. So sailors and Marines that are on the ships, we've got more army that's all throughout these bases. Air Force as well. So, you know, it's not just within, when you're, when you're in, in Israel, it could be anywhere in the region or anywhere that's related. So it's something that goes out to the entire force so that everyone understands what they're dealing with and what the potential.

[Steve]

I just want to, I just want to hang on for saying don't bury the lead. But you have ascertained, given your contacts at DIA and other parts of the intelligence apparatus that the threat level against Israel was raised. Correct.

[Stephen K. Bannon]

I'm not going to confirm any agencies, but I, everyone I spoke to across the board says yes, it's real. And, and by the way, that this report had widespread, that it was wide dissemination, widely disseminated throughout the ic, that there are multiple versions of it and that depending on classification level and that it's something that a lot of people had eyes on.

[Steve]

Bill Pulte and fisa, sir, this big rush for FISA announced, it's like everything, it has to happen by this Friday. Why do we need to confirm that right now? And we must get Bill Pulte in. Right. He's an armor piercing show. We need a DNI right now.

[Stephen K. Bannon]

Well, Steve, I've said before a number of times, you know, the complaint. And the President, of course, said it as well himself in the Oval Office, I believe last week before he flew out to, to Wisconsin and I was going New York for the Knicks game, that he said the same complaints that they're making about both Bill Pulte being a businessman and having a business background are the same things they said about President Trump, about being a businessman who was successful, that then went into politics, which obviously has included a lot of national security. So that's how President Trump was able to use a businessman's understanding to go to North Korea and sit down with Kim Jong Un and said, forget about these talks, let's go and sit down with them. He did the same thing with China, he's done the same thing with Russia multiple times, including Anchorage. That's President Trump using his business acumen to look at something differently than the swamp and the blob. Look at things. That's why Bill Pulte could be such an asset. And of course he can put whatever team together that he wants. But having a guy like that in their Bill, the Bulldog Pulte going over to odni, number one, the President has said, I want to start pruning back the intelligence community. I want to understand we want this thing to be lean and mean. Do we need thousands of people tracking this stuff when we have the ability now with, with computers and we have the ability to, to do this? And Steve, I'll tell you right now, when you say, oh, we have thousands of people, what does that mean to me? I'll tell you the truth. It means there's redundancy. It means you need a doge over there. You need a kind of department to say, wait, are you guys actually conducting the work of keeping Americans safe? Are you keeping an eye on Iran. We just talked about the fact that you heard in the last segment here that, you know, we're having trouble actually pinning down the percentages on the Iranian stockpile. I want people focused on that in my intelligence community. I don't want people focused on all the other crap die and wokeness that they've been pushing for years. And that's a huge problem in the intel community.

[Steve]

The phony FISA vs. Pulte is about the surveillance state. It's who controls America. Who controls America? American citizens. A guy like Pulte is going to go in, he's going to be a bull in the China shop. He's supposed to be. That's what we need, Jack, your social media. You're the Associated Press, the American First MAGA movement. So where do people go?

[Stephen K. Bannon]

Yeah, and Steve, as far as far as Pfizer goes, just to say it, President Trump called her bluff. No one has been more abused than Pfizer by fisa, than President Donald J. Trump himself, his family and his supporters. So if he wants to call their bluff, then call it because the president has all the leverage here. The president has all the cards here. They're sitting there saying, oh, we're going to hold up Pulte. Why should the president sign off on it when they haven't put in any reforms to this thing, when they haven't updated at all to say, how can we prevent this from happening to any other individual within the United States? And so they did the backdoor collection on, on General Flynn as well as we talked about last week when he was talking to Kislyak. So again, this is a system where President Trump has the advantage. Follow me Jack Posobic, Twitter, Instagram, Telegram. We got a ton of stuff on Telegram, true social and of course, G.

[Steve]

Jack, thank you for joining us. And coat and tie. I mean, you're raring to go the work week. You're Tanya Tay packed your lunch and told you get out and get down to D.C. and don't worry.

[Stephen K. Bannon]

Steve, I got, I got my, my slippers on down here.

[Steve]

Thank you. Thank you, brother. Appreciate you. Jim Rickards, we got you on Monday because what happened over the weekend make

[Jim Rickards]

it make sense to us.

[Steve]

Where are we strategically and how important is this that the Iranians decided to hit after an attack on Lebanon and Hezbollah? Not an attack on them, sir.

[Jack Vasobic]

Well, see, we're exactly where we talked about, where I described it three months ago, which is Trump has three choices. I've said this before. There's three choices. They're all bad one is surrender. He can do that. He can. The reason he's trying to get this memorandum, whatever it is, and it doesn't exist, by the way, they. Each side has rejected all the other's suggestions or demands, so there is no negotiation. But the reason Trump wants to just have a piece of paper to wave, see, I got the greatest deal ever, victory, whatever. It's not. It's surrender. It would be seen as such, and therefore Trump won't actually do it. And the Iranians are not going to give him that piece of paper because they don't want him to be able to do that. The second option is stalemate. That's about where we are right now. Not much of a ceasefire. Jack said after Iran said we won't shoot and we're back to the ceasefire. Well, if you have to get back to the ceasefire, it's not a ceasefire. I mean, you're shooting at each other. I know it's intermittent, I know it's not high intensity. Right now, not much of a ceasefire, but it is a stalemate. Both sides are rearming. That's really what's going on. In the Iranian case, they're digging up missile launchers, going to mobile missile launchers in the US Case, trying to get, you know, Raytheon, Lockheed to make a few more missiles. And then the third choice is escalation, which I've always said, I think is where we're going to end up, which is. Which is bad in some way. That's just another Vietnam. So there are no good choices. But that's where Trump is and that's where. Where we are right now. I don't understand the whole Israeli spying story. I understand it, I follow it. But have these people not heard of Jonathan Pollard? I mean, that was 40 years ago. Israel has been spying on us the whole time, and they're really good at it, and we spy on them. You can make news out of it, but it's not news. It's just steady state. So that's. And as far as Iran shooting at Israel, Iran will take advantage of the ceasefire to do what I said, which is to rearm, build more drones, dig out the missile launchers, etc. So, yeah, they could use a breather and they're taking it, but they're not out of this, and they're not going to. And they have all the leverage, and they have all the leverage in the straight Hormuz. You know, Trump talks about a decapitation strike. Well, yeah, on day one, we killed 40 of their top religious, military and civilian leaders. That was decapitation. Then they replaced them all and about a week later, we killed the next group. And a second decapitation. This is what the Greeks call Idra. It has multiple heads. You can't chop your head off, you know, further ahead. But

[Steve]

hang on one second. Yeah, hang on one second. I want to play Tel Aviv. Levin, you gave your three alternatives. Mark Levin gave another alternative over the weekend. Let's play it. I want your response.

[Mark Levin]

Here's an idea. We spend the next two or three weeks hammering the hell out of every target that matters, including the so called enriched uranium. 20% or more, I don't really care, whatever it is, and just hit them with everything we've got with those fabulous bombers and bombs. Take out everything we can find in coordination with our Arab and Israeli allies, identify every IRGC facility we possibly can and level them. Do as much military damage as we possibly can, dual use damage as we possibly can, and then leave rather than giving them money, which to me would be a disaster. And tell the Israelis, and tell the Saudis, the uae, which has been very good, and anybody else in the Arab world, we will provide you with whatever intelligence support, training, military equipment that you need. We will continue to use our posture in the region to defend our forces and our mutual interests. But as far as Iran and Hezbollah go, you go at it. If you want to blow Hezbollah off the face of the earth, then you do it. If you want to blow the Iranian regime off the face of the earth, then you do it. And in addition, what we, the United States, will do finally, is arm the people of Iran as we have as a country, armed people throughout the world, freedom fighters who want their freedom. And I don't want to hear that the Iranian people don't want their freedom. That is baloney.

[Steve]

Tel Aviv. Levin is clearly looking for an alternative, but this is the first time this is an alternative. So what do you think about if you're looking for an off ramp? Because here's the, the mediation role that President Trump's trying to do. You just said about the ceasefire. He's trying to move heaven and earth.

[Jim Rickards]

They ain't ready for it.

[Steve]

They both hate each other. Both sides think they're winning. The Israelis going to continue to expand in Lebanon. The Gulf Arabs, I'm sure, have had enough of all of this, right? They thought they were going to be crypto capital of the world. That's not, that's not quite. The influencers are not on with bikinis on the beach in Dubai anymore. Right. They all marched through the desert, got the hell out of there.

[Jim Rickards]

Is Tel Aviv Levin offering an alternative that you think could work? Hey, couple more weeks, come in, then pull out.

[Steve]

And when he says our interest in the region. We don't have any interest in the region. Just pull out. Tell the Arabs and the Israelis and the Persians. Have at it, boys.

[Jack Vasobic]

Well, where he started was my third option, which is escalation. So, you know, he's saying, do it faster, do it heavier, give it everything we got. Yeah, our bombers and our pilots and our systems are great. They actually are. So you start blowing up bridges. All right, So I need a ferry. I gotta drive the long way around. So much of what Iran has is. I mean, remember in 2025, we went at it with B2 bombers and did a lot of damage, but we did not get the uranium. We did not completely eliminate Iran's ability to continue enrichment. So now we're trying to do it again. So I don't doubt that you could blow up a lot of targets and you could start tomorrow, but what good does it do you? You don't get regime change. You can get people change, but that's not the same as regime change. And so I think. And the last part of what he said, arming the Iranian people. So the. That. That's fantasy. That's like Victoria Newland or every name is the whole idea of Ukraine. Ukraine was never about Ukraine. It was about getting the Russian people to rise up and overthrow Putin. It was a fantasy that shows no appreciation of Russian history and politics whatsoever. But that was the idea. Now, to hear the same thing repeated in Iran because we all know Iraq, Rumsfeld, Cheney, they'll greet us with flowers and flags and everything. No, that's not what happened. A million people got killed with. They were using power tools to drill holes in people's heads. That's what was going on until the surge. So that's a total fantasy. But can we drop a lot of bombs? Yeah, that's escalation, but doesn't get you anywhere. And then if you pull out, it's still a loss because they're still standing. Now, Valiant Assar was a brilliant scholar. He was the dean of the School of Advanced International Studies in Washington. That's where I got my graduate degree in international economics. He wrote a really good column in foreign affairs. And he said the following. I said, yeah, we wiped out 40 leaders, and then we wiped out 40 more.

[Steve]

Sorry, hang on one. Hang on one second. I want to get to this. We're gonna take A short commercial break. Jim Rickards, Eric Bowling, Sam Faddis in

[Eric Bolling]

the War room,

[Jim Rickards]

Everyone's focus 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

[Steve]

of us, American farmers are sounding the

[Jim Rickards]

alarm with some saying they can't afford to plant their fields. 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

[Steve]

up an entire just site for the war room posse.

[Jim Rickards]

You go to preparewithbannon.com that's all one word. Preparewithbannon.com you get a three month emergency food supply. They'll 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 preparewithbannon.com to

[Steve]

get your emergency food supply today.

[Jim Rickards]

That's preparewithband.com do it today.

[Steve]

Go check it out.

[Stephen K. Bannon]

War room here's your host, Stephen K. Band.

[Jim Rickards]

Jim Rickards, continue on.

[Jack Vasobic]

Sir Billy Nasser made a point. He said, okay, we killed 40 leaders and we killed 40 more, etc. But in the process, they replaced them. And here's his point. All the people we killed were the revolutionaries going back to the Iranian Revolution in 1979. The group that replaced them, now the third group, basically they were born after the revolution. They were born after 1979. These are not the 80 year olds. They're not even the 60 year olds. These are 40 and 45 year olds who grew up in this environment and are completely acclimated to it. And he makes the point, naturally, makes the point that revolutionaries can be a little insecure because they're looking over their shoulders saying, hey, is somebody going to do to me what I just did to the other guy? And they don't want to push things too far. Having been successful in the revolution, this younger generation, they're much more secure, much more robust, nationalistic, yes. But they're completely at ease with what they have. So what Trump has done is he's brought in really a third generation of leaders who are much more grounded, much stronger. He's made the Iranian nation more united and actually with better leadership because they needed, needed a change of leadership. So that's one thing, Levin thing. I mean we can bomb that. We bombed Hanoi for 10 years and lost the war. So tell me what good bombing does. If you're not going to put boots on the ground and we're not going to put boots on the ground, at least we shouldn't. In my view, we need to basically go to financial warfare, which you've talked about, although that's a two edged sword. Scott Besson said, well, maybe we'll take the Iranian assets and use them for reparations in the Gulf. Okay, interesting. But then after Europe said we're going to take the Russian assets and use them for reparations in Ukraine, people around the world from Shanghai to Singapore started saying, well, why do I want to buy US Treasuries if you're going to keep stealing them from me? So, so that's difficult also. And Levin is just fantasizing about the Iranian people rising up. So I'm back to the three bad choices. I would get kind of face saving, deal and get out. But I don't think it's what's going to happen. I think we're going to see escalation.

[Steve]

You've given a special deal of strategic intelligence. Think 49 bucks. It's a no risk deal. $49 for 90 days for three months. Give me a minute about strategic intelligence. Why is this a great deal for the people that watch this show and love your contribution so much?

[Jack Vasobic]

Yeah, thanks, Steve. Our landing page [e-mail] that's rickardswarroom.com you can subscribe to Strategic Intelligence. A $49 introductory offer, money back guarantee if you don't like it. Most people love it and stay with it. This is actually our biggest product. We put the most effort into it the longest and we specialize in predictive analytics. We don't tell you what happened, we tell you what's going to happen. We'll be zooming in on the midterm is probably around August. Right now we're looking at China actually in the next issue and have done a lot on the Iranian war. But our track record speaks for itself. From Trump 2016, Brexit, 312 electoral votes in 2024. It's better than anyone. So we're going to keep at it and we hope people enjoy it.

[Steve]

Jim Rickards, thank you for joining us on Monday morning with good guidance. Thank you sir, appreciate you. Recordswarroom.com you get a free, basically a free shot at strategic intelligence. 49 for 90 days. If you don't love it, they'll give you your money back. Not bad. Check it out. Predictive analytics. Speaking of predictive analytics, Eric Bowling from the from the pits of the all markets. What do they make of this week? And they thought it was all behind them. But it's never behind you, sir.

[Eric Bolling]

No, it's never behind, Steve. They're, I wouldn't say confused anymore. I think they've gotten kind of disgusted with what's going on. The writer going back and forth. It's all clear. It's not all clear. Bombs fly. I think they've gone from the traders and certainly the oil markets have almost discounted missiles now. Remember, A missile flew 90 days ago and then you have a massive upswing in the oil markets. Well, now it's come down to, yeah, missiles, we get that missiles are going to fly because pretty much what we've been saying here, I've been saying here since the beginning of this is that there's never going to be peace in the Mid East. That's a pipe dream. But now it's where are the trend? What's the transit look like? So the Strait of Hormuz saw 10 ships transit the Strait of Hormuz in the last 24 hours. That's up from two or three a couple of weeks ago. I've seen 35 in the last few days. So they're getting mixed signals because although it seems like there's a little bit more transiting the Gulf, it's not fully open. There's no indication it's going to be fully open.

[Steve]

When you say, hang on. When you say, when you say mixed signals, President Trump has said, hey, I call the shots, stop shooting at each other.

[Jim Rickards]

I'm the mediator here.

[Steve]

Essentially, he's taking on the mediation role. That signal is pretty clear. President Trump wants peace. He wants everybody to lay their guns down and let's figure out a deal. Is there any question? Okay, go ahead.

[Eric Bolling]

The view is that that's what he wants. Now, first it was we are going to demand their incapacity to deliver a nuke out. That incapacity to we wanted a regime change, may or may not. Got that with little ayatollah. And now we're going to demand the strait open without any interference from Iran. Well, I'll tell you what the perception is, like it or not, the perception in the trading community is Iran. Has Trump backed into a corner I mean I think Rickards said it, but he said it in a way that these guys would say it more plainly and more blatantly. Iran has Trump backed in the corner because he doesn't have any good options left. I agree with Rickards. None of those three options that are left are good for Trump. Certainly not kinetic. All out warfare would be horrible for the base. Extending this in perpetuity. We'll have prices you don't like, you don't like.

[Jim Rickards]

You don't like your former colleague, your

[Steve]

former colleague, your former colleague like Tel Aviv Levin. You don't like his alternative. Two weeks, bomb the hell out of him and then leave.

[Eric Bolling]

You could have done that 89, 92 days ago and maybe have a different result. Right now Rand's laughing like you bombed the crap out of us. And we're here. We are. We still got the straight closed. Guess what? They, they've refuted everything Trump has said. We own, we've control, we have control of the straight. Well then why isn't it open? It's pretty clear that they're getting their ass handed to them economically, clearly because there's not trade going through that straight. They need that. But it's also pretty clear that they're not going anywhere anytime soon, evidenced by the fact that they flew missiles into Israel over the weekend. Israel's not helping us. I will tell you here's going to be a big thing and if you look back at the things we've been saying here, all the things that we've been predicting are, I have certainly are coming through. Wednesday's a CPI number. Two days from now, I'll take the over on whatever number it is because oil has been elevated up over $90, up to $110 a barrel for the full month of the data that they collected. That means prices are going through the roof. That is an Achilles to a political, to an administration which you know very well. But early on I said this and everyone said, oh bowling, don't you know, you got to get rid of them or they're going to, you know, they're going to kill us. I said you're never going to get rid of these fanatics. They're religious fanatics. They rather die than give up. And we will have them for our lifetimes, certainly maybe our grandchildren's lifetimes as well.

[Steve]

We'll do a turn, we'll do a changeover today. I'll get the show organ enough and organize enough at 5 that I'll, if you're so kind, we'll join you at the end of it and get data for your.

[Eric Bolling]

Always love it.

[Jack Vasobic]

Okay bro.

[Eric Bolling]

See it for thanks Steve.

[Steve]

The Eric Bolling will do a turn a changeover tonight or handoff, what we call it at about 450. Start the worm a few minutes early and get some insights from Eric throughout the day. Okay. The second hour is going to be pretty jammed because it took a little longer than the first but needed to do it.

[Jim Rickards]

You heard the media.

[Steve]

You heard the media. I don't know why President Trump does these interviews. I just don't.

[Jim Rickards]

For the first time Since World War II, our national debt held by the public has exceeded GDP. America, this is a wake up call. Our sins of the past reckless government spending have finally caught up to us.

[Steve]

So what's next?

[Jim Rickards]

Higher inflation, higher prices, higher cost of living expenses and higher interest payments on the national debt. Every dollar Washington spends on interest is a dollar it has to tax, borrow or print. Smart retirement planners prepare for potential setbacks. And they can do that by diversifying with a time tested asset known for weathering the storm that is physical gold. Now, physical gold you can get from my trusted friends at Birchgold Group. Text the word Bannon B A N N o n to the number 989-898 and Birchgold will send you a free info kit on converting an existing IRA or 401k into a tax sheltered IRA. In physical gold, you don't pull the ripcord on your parachute once you've already hit the ground. Don't wait for economic turbulence to diversify. Text Bannon to the number 989-898. Again, text Bannon to 989-898. Own some gold and own it from Birchgold.