
WarRoom Battleground EP 763: Columbia Lays Off 180 Staff After Trump Cuts, Time For Accountability For Border Invasion...
Loading summary
Stephen K. Bannon
This is the primal scream of a dying regime. Pray for our enemies because we're going medieval on these people. Reasons I got a free shot. All these networks lying about the people, the people have had a belly full of it. I know you don't like hearing that. I know you try to do everything in the world to stop that, but you're not going to stop it. It's going to happen.
Natalie Winters
And where do people like that go to share the big lie? MAGA MEDIA I wish in my soul, I wish that any of these people had a conscience.
Stephen K. Bannon
Ask yourself, what is my task and what is my purpose? If that answ is to save my country, this country will be saved.
Evita Duffy
War room.
Stephen K. Bannon
Here's your host, Stephen K. Bann.
Natalie Winters
You're in the war room. It's Wednesday, May 7th, in the year of our Lord 2025. It's Natalie Winters filling in for the one and only Stephen K. Bannon. But as you can imagine, we have a very packed show. We're gonna hit everything. The illegal alien invasion, I guess past tense on that one, though we do need to get those deportation numbers up. All things tariff reconciliation. But I'm honored to start with someone who I consider a dear friend, and that is Evita Duffy of the wonderful Bongino Report, who had a fire show this morning. So I thought naturally I should have her on to talk about a lot of things. But I want to start with the news of, what was it, Columbia having to lay off about 180 people or so after 400 million in federal, federal funds were cut from their institution. I think a bit of a different strap line than we're hearing from Harvard, which is now pitching itself as, you know, the new stronghold of resisting anything that President Trump does. There's also been some wild protests that have broken out on the Columbia campus, though I guess that's maybe just their, their culture. Now at this point, history tends to repeat itself. But Evita, I'd love to get your thoughts. People may know we Both went to UChicago. We've had our own taste for the flare of far left radicalism. But your, your thoughts on what's going on with the Columbia.
Brianna Morello
So it was 180 administrators, staff that were laid off. And I saw this and I was so excited, Natalie. I was like, this is what we need. Because most schools, including University of Chicago, have way too many administrators. In the past at universities, it used to be you had the professors, you had the students. There was maybe a few department heads and that was it for administration. Today, part of why schools are so radical and also why they're so expensive is because there are so many administrators. At some schools, there are more administrators than there are even students. At Columbia, there are about two administrators for every three students. So I was, initially I saw this, I was like, great, they're firing these people now because they have these, these financial restraints because they've lost all this funding. And then I realized actually the firings were only people related to research grants. And I actually think this is a great opportunity for the Trump admin to reassess and say, you know what, if we really want to put pressure on these schools to change their ways, we have to actually requ. Require them, if they want to receive federal funding, to be financially responsible to say, let's get rid of 95% of these administrators. The cost of school is going to come down, the student debt's going to come down, and they're actually going to be less radical because studies show that administrators are far more left wing than even the professors. It has to be addressed.
Natalie Winters
And I'm curious, broadening out this sort of critique to the Harvard front. What's, what's your take? I think maybe just again, across the board on going after these institutions. I would assume, like I said, we're both, I guess what, we won't be woke. We won't say victims were survivors of educational institutions like UChicago, but the rebrand potentially of these universities. Do you think that going after their federal funding is the best way to try to bring about change on these campuses? Or what other tactics do you think that you would dip into to try to, I guess, restore these universities to their original founding and the visions that the founding fathers had oftentimes when they created these schools?
Brianna Morello
Well, I think right off the bat, the government is very limited in what it can do to reform these schools because the universities have lost sight of their mission. We can't pull funding and hope that they reclaim their mission. The mission of the university system, if you go back to the Middle Ages, was religion was seeking the truth, which was seeking Christ. That has been completely abandoned by the university system. We can pull all the funding we want. Something much more spiritual and deeper needs to happen at these schools. If you want to talk about surface level things that we can do. I like a lot of what the Trump admin is doing. My one critique is that I'm not sure forcing the ban of certain student groups at Harvard and Columbia is the way to go about creating the change that we want to see, because I think we have to have the standard of free speech among the students. At least we can get rid of crazy departments that have no reason to exist on campus. CRT, we have it at, we had it at UChicago. It's a fake field of study. But when we say we're going to ban certain pro Palestine student groups, that reminds me of when I was at UChicago and I tried to have this Turning Point USA chapter and the school actually said, you're. Well, the, the student government that was. Had to approve my, my student organization said this is actually a dangerous thing on campus. We don't know kind of beliefs that she could be exposing the other students to and causing, causing danger to other students. So I think there are really good things that are happening that the admin is doing. Getting rid of promoting merit based hiring practices, getting rid of CRT and other things that are terrible on these, these universities. And another. And on the flip side, I also think they have to be supportive of free speech because I've seen the other side of it. They can come after us just as easily.
Natalie Winters
I'll never forget I was once sitting in some poli sci class at UChicago and I believe the instructor was talking very positively, lauding the efforts of, I kid you not, the Clinton Global Initiative in Haiti. I was like, what planet am I on? But nonetheless, I defended, I would have defended their right to be able to say that. And I agree we need to be very careful with how we use these free speech, I think tactics because they will very easily be used against us. It's like opening Pandora's box. And obviously we can never rely on these activist judges to take our side. I think we've seen that time and time again. Just today, breaking that, a judge who, speaking of academia, decided that it would be a good idea to block President Trump's efforts to claw back $1.1 billion in Covid aid for schools. I guess the pandemic is still going on according to some radical federal judge up in Manhattan. Well, it turns out that this judge was also a fundraiser for triple threat Andrew Cuomo, Hillary, Clint and Barack Obama. But somehow nonpartisan. Try to square that logic train. But I guess the Supreme Court, Evita, as you noted today, has been stepping in on President Trump's transgender troop ban. Seems like common sense to me. Quite oxymoronic, at least the first part of that phrase. Can you walk us through your thoughts on that?
Brianna Morello
Well, I think it's, I mean it's a huge win for the admin and what the Trump admin has been doing across the board here is rebuilding our institutions. This is happening with the university system, now it's happening with the military. You can get denied from certain positions in the military if your eyesight is bad, if you're flat footed. That we had a policy where we were allowing transgender individuals to serve in the military creates a problem. What unit do you put them in? Male, female, we don't know. Also, having the taxpayers foot the bill, it's over an estimated $8 million a year that the taxpayers were paying for transgender surgeries and hor hormones. Completely unnecessary. So this is a, this is a big win for the admin. Of course. And it comes back to, Natalie, this idea that we as conservatives don't tear down. That is what the left does. They destroy things. They burn it down. We know our institutions are broken and we are rebuilding them from the bottom up. And this is so important. This is the difference between the two camps here.
Natalie Winters
And I know you have been going after. We have two in the war room. Senator Tillis for his just absolutely feckless, ridiculous seed all the territory. I was going to say to Democrats, but I guess more precisely to Judge Boasberg, you know, the man who wants amnesty for illegal aliens that illegally entered this country. But apparently Ed Martin wanting to defend Americans who entered a building with open doors on January 6th, that's where he draws his red line. I could think of a lot of words to describe him. I would not go with Patriot, Republican or conservative or maga. But more more broadly to this point, I think of when we've seen the courts intervene really only to sabotage or subvert President Trump's agenda. I think it fits in quite nicely with the Tillis critique. But I know you've been going off on him. You guys obviously support Ed Martin. Your thoughts on where we stand with Senator Tillis still not looking like he's going to budge.
Brianna Morello
Well, I mean, it's just absurd, Natalie. I mean, it's funny because we talk about the Supreme Court and the way that the liberal judges on that court, they never step out of line. And we have this route with the constitutionalists and the originalists and somehow we continue to lose with all of our nominees time and time again. They make very bad decisions. And the same, I think, goes for a lot of our members of Congress. They make really bad decisions. They are not New Right. They don't care about their own base. What, what the January six witch hunt was, was a way to demonize Trump supporters, to squash dissent in this country. It was deeply authoritarian. It was frankly unconstitutional. They hid evidence from the January Sixers lawyers. The whole thing was botched. That this man, a Republican senator, is going to, I don't know, be angry that somebody actually stood up for the persecuted January Sixers. It's absolutely absurd. And what's more absurd is that he actually not only voted for Merrick Garland, but he enthusiastically voted for Merrick Garland for his confirmation the most corrupt attorney general in American history. So to me, I just take a step back and say, wow, we really need to reassess these members of Congress and start primaring people who clearly are our own enemies.
Natalie Winters
I am fully for primary people like Senator Tillis. Frankly, to me, we could probably primary all of Congress and I really wouldn't have an issue with that. I'd say maybe MTG Burchett. That's probably about it. A few other good ones, but I guess their names escape me. Evita Duffy, you have a wonderful show. If people want to follow you, get all the podcasts, let us know. Totally. Tell us where we can get it. Rumble. I know the streaming, but tell us where we can watch all your stuff.
Brianna Morello
So my Instagram and my X account is Evita Duffy_1. I live stream on Rumble at 9am Eastern Time five days a week. Rumble.com Evita thanks so much for having me on.
Natalie Winters
Natalie, of course. Thank you so much for joining us. Evita and I recently did an episode that you guys should go watch too, talking all about our PTSD from our days at UChicago. And I would also just add to Evita astutely pointing out that Senator Tillis, who I'm sure is enjoying all of his nice handshakes and, you know, pats on the back at the nice swanky D.C. cocktail parties that he's been invited to while he's busy shilling for Ukraine. Because apparently in the D.C. social Credit Score system that gets you the nice invite. Said he also voted for. Who was it? I believe Matthew Graves, Ed Martin's counterpart. Pete Buttigieg saw nothing wrong with that one. Gina Raimondo, Lloyd Austin, Janet Yellen, and virtually, I think everyone else, I'd be hard pressed to find a no vote. So that shows you what what we're up against. Remember, he found it debatable that Ed Martin decided to defend some some January Sixers who had quote, breached building, but he saw nothing debatable in Merrick Garland's record. I don't think the war Room exists. Or maybe rather this is the raison d' etre of the War Room to Call out people like you, Senator Tillis. You guys know the drill. It's 202-224-3121. You can call maybe just for good measure, call peacefully and patriotically. I'm sure Senator Tillis would love to hear those words. Speaking of Janet Yellen, I've got a cold open that I want to play for our next guest, Richard Stern, who will join us shortly. But Denver, if you want to roll some MSNBC stuff, let's go. All right, Christine, I'll begin with you. No change from the Fed.
Rich Stern
Yeah.
Christine
And just looking through what the Fed has to say here, unchanged at four and a quarter to four and a half percent, as you pointed out, but a higher chance of, of rising inflation and rising unemployment. The Fed didn't use the word stagflation, but that's what that means. When you have inflation rising and unemployment.
Rich Stern
Basically the worst case scenario, that's bad.
Christine
Right. So there's higher chance of rising inflation or rising unemployment and a further increase in uncertainty to the outlook. What does that mean? They don't know what the, what the damage and pain will be in the end of the president's trade war. So that is one reason why they don't really have much move to maneuver here. They pointing out also that the economy started from a pretty solid pace. So really you had a solid backdrop to the economy until about the beginning of April. And then now, since then, we have seen all of this disruption from the president's trade war. So The Fed here, TBD, I will say at 230 in about 27 minutes, the Fed chief is going to be speaking. So that's when reporters will really be able to ask him more about about the trade war. And then of course, we'll wait to see if the president puts expresses any displeasure or pressure on the Fed for.
Natalie Winters
Not lowering, call it a hunch, but probably a lot of lies and media spin detected there. So of course, naturally we want Rich Stern on the program to help us walk through why the Fed is keeping their interest rates steady. I guess the ongoing what is tussle between President Trump and the Fed, shall we say, and the Fed. I think we support that here in the war room. But Rich Stern, can you walk us through what they were sort of talking about in that clip? And then I'd love to get your thoughts on where we stand on all things tariffs and reconciliation.
Evita Duffy
Oh, yeah. Just a few soft topics to talk about today. Right. So I'll start. Look, I agree with you. I hate the Fed. I would get rid of The Fed. Here's the important thing to keep in mind about this. The Federal Reserve is the getaway car driver for the federal government's deficits and tax policies. So if you think of it like this, the federal government, when it spends, when it taxes, when it runs deficits, it steals that money from hardworking American families. And then the question is, do you feel that burden as more money coming out of your paycheck, as fewer jobs opportunities or as lower wage growth? Or do you feel that as inflation? It's the Fed's decision whether the economy has higher unemployment or higher inflation as a result of government deficit and spending policies. Now, Powell financed every single thing Joe Biden was doing. He'd have any problems from that. But what you're looking at is a politicized Fed who doesn't want to be the getaway carver for getaway car driver for the federal deficit. And instead. But Powell is blaming Trump for everything of the legacy of Biden and decades of government spending. And really, at the end of the day, that is the only thing that was going on that announcement is Powell just blaming Trump for decades of things he's contributed to and liberals in government have contributed to for decades. That's all that's going on there.
Natalie Winters
Now look, I've been called, I mean, many things by the media lately, you know, dense, vapid, known for wearing skimpy outfits. That's a Daily Mail special, state media propagandist. But I don't, I like to think I'm intelligent and I just don't quite understand all these people talking about, you know, they use the deficit fear porn, how we need to cut spending, cut spending. And then these very same people are then presented the chance to actually do it. Choose your vertical, whether it's, you know, doge empowerment, take your pick. And then just today you see them canceling the votes to strip the funding from, for example, usaid, PBS and npr, which I think should be the opening salvo. Right, that's, that's pretty non controversial. Am I wrong in making that analysis? Is it really that simple? Is this just pure politicking and lying? The fact that most Republicans, I guess on the congressional side of things, just do not want to make these cuts the deficit talk as much like how they, you know, talk tough on China but then don't ever really end up actually doing anything about it?
Evita Duffy
Oh, absolutely. You know, I think the only thing that they're actually good at doing is hurling insults. And yes, I know you've been at the, the other end of the Barrel of a lot of what they're doing. But it's really because you're doing a lot of that good media coverage and actually holding a spotlight to what they're doing. And that's exactly it. We all know that when the government spends money not just as it's stealing from Americans, but think of the programs you just talked about, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, npr, these are funds that are spent to destroy our culture and our values. These are funds spent to push the woke agenda, to push the agenda of mutilating kids through trans surgeries and trying to convince them that they're in the wrong body. Things like that have been financed with your tax dollars. And you're absolutely right. We put these politicians in place. They promise that they'll let us keep the money we've earned. They promise they'll get rid of the deep state. And you're right, here it is a real vote. And they voted to keep the deep state. They voted. They keep the state propaganda arm going on the real one. And at the end of the day, I think what we all know here is that the government is run by people who like concentrated benefits at the expense of diffused costs. They will push the cost onto you, the average American, so that they can benefit their friends, their donors and as you pointed out, the people that invite them to swanky cocktail parties.
Natalie Winters
And it seems like there's at least today it's kind of breaking. I saw earlier this morning in Politico they had the exclusive. It seems like Chip Roy was sort of, you know, talking his five requests to Speaker Johnson or the reconciliation request. Can you sort of walk us through? I know we're in sort of the beginning stages, perhaps the fog of war on a lot of these negotiations, but first and foremost, sort of where we stand. But what you think our audience needs to stay, you know, very clear eyed and frosty in terms of looking for, like you were saying these, you know, the idea what was at the cr that you had to vote for the CR because otherwise we won't have election integrity. Really, Mike Johnson, then where were you on your first day as speaker? I think you're voting for more Ukraine aid. But just walk us through, we stand on this, I guess horse race when it comes to reconciliation.
Evita Duffy
Well, I think you're right. The, the horse that always wins the race is Ukraine aid. So always watch out for that one. Right. But yeah, beyond that, look, I think the important things about reconciliation and the way I've been saying this is, you know, normally to get a major bill passed, you need 60 votes. In the Senate, conservatives only have 50 or 53 at best, depending how you think about it. But there is one bill that can get through with that kind of a low vote number, and it's reconciliation. However, there's only a handful of things you can do in there. So we have to shoot this narrow gap to get all the things we want in the bill. And leadership's using those requirements to say that a lot of things we want to do simply can't be in there. But they go through the bullet points of what's, what conservatives are calling for. What's important is that this bill is a perfect opportunity to actually secure the border, to deport millions of illegals, to make sure that those resources are available. Then there's an important ability here to put money down to restore national defense, to rebuild a military that's been gutted by the Biden administration that Trump wasn't able to reinvest in after Obama the first time. And then there's an ability here, there's an opportunity to deregulate our energy production, to make it easier to build factories. You know, right now there are mines in the United States who have been waiting for permits to expand for 35 years. Not 5, not 10, 35. And so if we can do that kind of permitting and regulatory reform and reconciliation, we can expand the economy and grow like you've never seen. And then the last two points, and these are important, is we can use it to cut taxes, to extend Trump's tax cuts and to cut spending. And you're absolutely right. It's the cutting spending part of that that's in jeopardy, as these members don't really want to take on the challenge. And then we have to keep the pressure on them to really use all the opportunities on the table here.
Natalie Winters
And obviously this is all sort of inextricably linked on the tariff front too, I think. You know, you hear these people talk about how they want nice, good paying manufacturing jobs in their district and how the supply chain threat that the Chinese Communist Party poses, all of which are valid and we actually support here in the war room. But then when push comes to shove, you don't really, you know, it's kind of crickets, right? You don't see a lot of people hitting the airwaves defending them. Your thoughts on where we stand on sort of the ongoing tariff negotiations, which I guess I would compartmentalize one into the China camp, ccp, PRC camp, and then secondly, kind of everyone else just more broadly reorienting trade with A, you know, non nefarious seeking to replace the United States as a global hegemon type enemy.
Evita Duffy
Yeah, absolutely. Well, and I would say that to your point on that one, it's a little linked as well because a lot of the negotiations with these other countries and you know, keep in mind, and you've talked about it before, a lot of these other countries we trade with, they have their own trade barriers that prevent our exporters, they steal our ip. But the other thing is a lot of them allow the Chinese government and the Communist Party to buy their infrastructure, to have Huawei set up that infrastructure to funnel Chinese products through their country into the United States. So I think that Trump is doing a good job here in terms of the negotiations broadly with countries to try to get some real wins. With China in particular, I think it's still very much, you know, the jury's out on this one. We'll see exactly what deals we get. But I think it's crucial that we go in with the right thing. So I think the president's very committed to dealing with the threat of China, to boxing them out of global affairs. But, you know, there are other people around him who are, I think, being distracted by other issues who are taking their eye off the ball of making sure that we stop not just China directly, but stop the indirect access from China through these other countries that are our trade partners. So, again, think Trump's always, he's the negotiator in chief. He's doing a good job, but we need to make sure we keep our eye trained on the ball. China's the real threat here, and not just us directly, but the empire they're trying to build around with our trade partners.
Natalie Winters
Rich Stern, as always, thank you so much for distilling this and breaking it all down. Not, not for audience. I'm sure they can hang, but at least for me, if people want to follow you, stay up to date with everything that you're working on, write in tweeting about where can they go to do that?
Evita Duffy
Well, I appreciate that beyond, as always, thank you for having me. And if you want, you can always follow me at Rich A. Stern on Twitter and of course, go to our heritage.org website, see everything that I write and that of the whole team. So it was a pleasure again. Thank you.
Natalie Winters
Thank you, sir. I think that's probably a perfect, shall we say, testimonial for why you got to go to birchgold.com bannon or text Bannon to 989-898, get the latest installment of the wonderful books and pamphlets that Steve writes with the Birchgold team or give Philip Patrick and the team great guys over there a call. And I just have to say on the idea of negotiating, I think Rich sort of got to it. The idea that you have people who are, I guess he described it as maybe a little, you know, off their game, not focusing on the China stuff. Well, I would posit that that's people who have been paid off and captured, if not outright merged with the Chinese Communist Party. And this is why I love working in the war room, because I just look to my right and there's a copy of Unrestricted Warfare, translated of course from the original PLA documents about how the Chinese Communist Party Party has waged a people's war against the United States for so long. Which I guess K Street neocon globalists love to sneer in my face and laugh and say, well, why would you want to then cut usaid? Soft power is so important. To which I would say, well, considering that 90% of Africa is on the belt and road, I don't think United States soft power is doing all too. Considering that when we hurl tariffs against, like I said, a evil authoritarian state capitalism, maybe I'll just call it Marxist because that's what it is. Regime that has repeatedly not just declared war, kinetic information, economic warfare, lawfare and otherwise against the United States. When we try to reclaim some of our fiscal sovereignty or, I don't know, actual territorial sovereignty, I'm inclined to bring up the Chinese spy balloon or I don't know, maybe just reparations for Covid instead of. Instead of what? The entire business community and Wall street elite saying, yeah, we love the war room strap line, let's get some of our sovereignty back. No, they're basically puppets. If not, I would maybe call them prostitutes for none other than Xi Jinping. Some good old capture, some good old elite merger. It's not conspiracy. You should look up the United Front work department. It's the multi billion dollar political warfare operation that Beijing runs. They train their analysts how to essentially infiltrate western politicians political systems. And I'm of course excluding the Ministry of State Security, which is just straight up, you know, human and rather human sigint. All those good things that they're collecting on us every single day. TikTok probably being the least offensive example of all that. Maybe if we have time after our next guest who has a wonderful exclusive story about missing migrant children, we will get into, I think just love this book. Some more unrestricted warfare and I will make the case as to why we need to deport not just some but every single, not just frankly illegal Chinese national, but Chinese student on our college campuses. Certainly the state subsidized the federally subsidized ones. I'll make you wait until after the break for that. We will be right back. Brianna Morello joining us after this short break.
Stephen K. Bannon
You missed the IRS tax deadline. You think it's just going to go away? Well, think again. The IRS doesn't mess around and they're applying pressure like we haven't seen in years. So if you haven't filed in a while, even if you can't pay, don't wait and don't face the IRS alone. You need the trusted experts by your side. Tax Network usa. Tax Network USA isn't like other tax relief companies. They have an edge, a preferred direct line to the irs. They know which agents to talk to and which ones to avoid. They use smart, aggressive strategies to settle your tax problems quickly and in your favor. Whether you owe $10,000 or $10 million, Tax Network USA has helped resolve over $1 billion in tax debt and they can help you, too. Don't wait on this. It's only going to get worse. Call Tax Network USA right now. It's free. Talk with one of their strategists and put your IRS troubles behind you. Put it behind you today. Call Tax Network USA at 1-800-958-1000, that's 800-958-1000 or visit taxnetwork USA tnusa.com Bannon do it today. Do not let this thing get ahead of you. Do it today. Health isn't just a personal issue. It's a family issue, a community issue issue. We're living in unpredictable times. Supply chains can break down, hospitals can get overwhelmed. And let's not even start on the natural disasters. These aren't hypotheticals. They're happening. You see it here in the war room and we all know it. The question is simply, are you ready? That's where Jace comes in. This isn't just a kit. This is a Jace case. It's a lifeline. It's a personal supply of prescribed emergency medications that puts the power back in your hands. Whether it's an unexpected illness or a global disruption of supply chains, you can act fast and protect yourself and your loved ones. This February, show them you care in a way that really matters. Be prepared. Get the Jace case today so you'll have the right meds on hand the moment you need them. Visit jacemedical.com and use the code Bannon B A N N O N at checkout for a discount on your order. That's Jace medical.com promo code Bannon. Get the Jace case and do it today. There's a lot of talk about government debt, but after four years of inflation, the real crisis is personal debt. Seriously, you're working harder than ever and you're still drowning in credit card debt and overdue bills. You need Done with debt and here's why you need it. The credit system is rigged to keep you trapped. Done With Debt has unique and frankly, brilliant escape strategies to help end your debt fast so you keep more of your hard earned money. Done With Debt doesn't try to sell you a loan and they don't try to sell you a bankruptcy. They're tough negotiators that go one on one with your credit card and loan companies. With one goal, to drastically reduce your bills and eliminate interest and erase penalties. Most clients end up with more money in their pocket month one, and they don't stop until they break you free from debt permanently. Look, take a couple of minutes and visit donewithdeck. Com. Talk with one of their strategists. It's free, but listen up. Some of their solutions are time sensitive, so you'll need to move quickly. Go to donewithdebt.com that's donewithdebt.com Stop the anxiety, stop the angst. Go to donewithdebT.com and do it today.
Evita Duffy
War Room.
Stephen K. Bannon
Here's your host, Stephen K. Ban.
Natalie Winters
Welcome back to the War Room, where I really like the idea that I came up with earlier in the show. So when these Republican senators, like I'm looking at you, James Lankford, the people who think that what, 5,000 legal aliens passing breaching the border a day is somehow deserving of the title border security bill. Maybe it was what, Norah o' Donnell's husband, who, who came up with that one, always busy hiring illegal aliens while his wife is pumping, you know, pro open borders propaganda on cbs. That's quite the odd couple, shall we say? I've never heard these people call for due process when it comes to anything going on in Ukraine and Russia. Because it's an invasion. Right? So you can, I guess last time we called for suspending habeas corpus, that didn't go too, over too well with the legacy media. So I guess we'll double down on that. But it is quite interesting when they say that these illegal aliens are awarded due process. It's, you know, so important that James Lankford has To go on legacy media outlets and demand that. I think it's a quite a tacit admission showing that these people do not understand that what happened under Joe Biden was a state sponsored and state sanctioned, in some cases foreign involvement too, through NGOs, UN take your pick, invasion. And these people need to be expelled. Maybe we can apply the standards of due process and rule of law from the countries that they're hailing from. Although I don't know how many of them even have written constitutional. I digress. On that point we are joined or I guess actually I don't digress because speaking exactly of that, the, shall we say, remnants of Joe Biden's horrible thought you maybe thought I was going to say Afghanistan withdrawal, but no, in this case southern border policies leading to what, 100,000 unaccounted migrant children where I guess we just don't know where they went. Brianna Morello has some exclusive reporting. She's an intrepid reporter. She's obviously been on War Room before. You've certainly seen her all over over X. But she reached out to try to get the numbers of how many of these children have been, you know, at the very least found, let alone reunited with their families. And she joins us now. I want her to break down her really her bombshell report. I'll let you, I won't bury the lead. I'll let you give the number because it's quite staggering.
Rich Stern
Well, thank you, Natalie. It's always a pleasure to be with you. Yeah, it is staggering, as you know and your audience is well aware of. Joe Biden lost over 300,000 unaccompanied migrant children and now it's up to the Trump administration to find those kids. Sadly, they're really struggling with doing just that. Hsi, according to my source, has only been able to locate about 5% of the hundred thousand kids that they've been looking for. Now, I reached out to DHS on this and to see if they had any matching statistics and they kind of did confirm it, telling me that they were able to reconnect about 5,000 unaccompanied migrant children to a guardian so far. So again, that's just 5%. Now, if you're wondering why that is. Well, unfortunately, the Biden administration didn't seem to care when it came to verifying who they were handing these children off to. And we know that we've heard this before. Whistleblowers came forward to report that, but sadly nobody really did much about it. As you just mentioned, we have a lot of Rhinos in the Senate and they look the other way on this issue. So what DHS and HCI is dealing with right now is they've been given fraudulent addresses, and it's in regards to where those children were going to be sent to when they did some digging and tried to check up on these kids. Well, in a lot of cases, these addresses didn't even exist. There's no houses there. It was something simple that the Biden administration could have looked into, but they decided not to. Now, I'm also told by my sources that a lot of these sponsors were poorly vetted by the Biden regime. But it's really not surprising, Natalie. I mean, you and I have spoken about it. We knew what was happening for a very long time right now, and that was the Biden administration was participating in one of the human, the huge, like the biggest human trafficking scandals. It's going to be a black eye in American history, and it's very, very unfortunate, of course, but again, none of these people are going to be held accountable. You know, we were constantly being critical of the Biden administration, but there's very little being done on all of this. And it's absolutely heartbreaking because we don't know where these kids are. But a lot of experts believe that these kids are either being sex trafficked or they're being used for slave labor. And, you know, I know Democrats love slave labor. They've actually advocated for a lot of these illegal aliens to be placed on these farms to work for cheap labor. Democrats, again, going back to their roots of slavery, of course. But it's, and it's absolutely heartbreaking because there's a lot of great people over at HSI and they really want to help find these children, but unfortunately they don't have the material to do just that because they were intentionally given false information.
Natalie Winters
So you say intentionally given false information. Between that the improper vetting, these fraudulent addresses, do you think that this is something that can be more accurately categorized as a result of incompetence, or do you think there's some level of orchestration and intentionality behind it, whether it's, you know, labor, human trafficking, child trafficking, sex trafficking? What are either, you know, you, you think, or what is your reporting or your source of sources led you to believe?
Rich Stern
Well, Natalie, I have to say that this was intentional at this point, because when you look back at who came forward to report this years ago, it's people like DHS whistleblower Aaron Stevenson, who said that he was well aware and DHS was well aware under the Biden administration, that these children were being shuffled off to likely the cartels and they being trafficked here. And he tried his very best to come out and speak out on this issue, but the mainstream media never covered it. And all of his efforts really kind of just fell. Nobody wanted to pick up the pieces and help him out. I know there was a couple of members in the GOP who did actively sound interested in this, but nobody did anything. This was all preventable. So we could sit here and say that, yes, maybe this was incompetency, but that's letting them off easy. I believe this was intentional. There's no way they didn't understand what was going on. They had several instances where they could have just shut this all down, and they chose not to. I'll give you another example. As many of you guys at home are well aware, during President Trump's first term, he was conducting DNA testing, and he was trying to test the DNA of these migrant children to make sure as they were coming over as family units that they actually did belong with the adults who were bringing them in. Now, unfortunately, Joe Biden decided to stop all of that, and he put an end to it. And so what happened as a result of that? Well, how many children were passed off to people that weren't their family members? How many children were shuffled into this country with fake family units, and they weren't family units at all, and these kids needed our assistance? So, yes, at some point, we have to be honest and say that Joe Biden intentionally set these kids up. Now, obviously, you and I both know he wasn't running the White House at the time. So it's the people behind him who are really involved in this. But I think it's one of the many reasons why they're going so aggressively hard on people like Ed Martin, who's been nominated for the U.S. attorney for D.C. they don't want you to figure out how deep this swamp goes and to see who is really calling the shots behind all of this. And people like Ed Martin are the individuals who will get us to that point where we find out these answers.
Natalie Winters
Yeah, I mean, where is the due process? That's the word I've been hearing a lot lately for all of these. These children. I guess they didn't. They weren't afforded any. I'm curious, though. You know, this is an issue that you would think, maybe naively, that the legacy media would be all over. I mean, they've certainly shown their willingness to cover immigration, particularly unaccompanied minor Children or unaccompanied minors under the, you know, Trump won. Right. We heard the, what was it? The fear porn every night. The kids in the cages. The kids in the cages. So they'll cover it if they can attack Trump. But I haven't really heard much about this, at least under Joe Biden or, you know, President Trump's efforts to get these kids back and sort of their, you know, unsuccessful efforts because of the stonewalling from Joe Biden. Why do you think that is? Why do you think there's such a media blackout?
Rich Stern
Yeah, they were all in line with this. They didn't want to call out the Biden regime for what they were doing to this country. Key characters like you just mentioned, aoc, she loved her overly dramatic photo opportunity in front of that fence where she was facing a parking lot. But you wouldn't tell that from the images itself. But all of them just love to sit here and pretend like President Trump was separating families at the time. And it was very convenient. But how many families were separated under Joe Biden when children were potentially kidnapped from their parents and taken to the border because, well, these human smugglers wanted to sex traffic them into the United States? That's a legitimate question that we should all be asking because I have a feeling that the numbers are going to be absolutely massive. Now. I'm deeply, deeply concerned that we're not going to be able to find at least half of these children at this point because is, you know, this is a cover up scheme and so many people are involved in this and I know it's a very uncomfortable topic for so many, but, you know, these children. I've got a lot of questions for. You know, there's a lot of experts who believe that organ harvesting is real and it's happening amongst children. I've had experts on my program who've detailed just that and how these kids are taken from their parents in South America and brought to Mexico and their organs are harvested. So one must wonder if that was also taking place here in the United States. You know, my sources tell me that, that the organ harvesting angle of all of this, that the United States is one of the biggest consumers of those organs. So again, if they could shuffle these children into our country and do just that, I'm deeply concerned that it took place and we're never going to be able to find these children again. It's just heartbreaking because again, why were so many people silent on this issue? Natalie, we heard time and time again people coming forward and trying their very best to call attention to this. And sadly, agencies like the FBI were too focused on J6ers and not focused on innocent children who are being shuffled around our country secretively.
Natalie Winters
Pivoting. Real quick, before I let you go, you've done wonderful reporting on that issue. Really, the only person wild in the, you know, MAGA of new media, press or whatever, they want to demean us that's willing to ask those questions. Maybe I'll have to ask my White House press corps, brothers and sisters why they don't care about missing children. And I'm sure they will have wonderful answers for me. But you have another thing that made my my head blow up. The idea that New York Democrats are now trying to get taxpayers to foot the bill. If I'm getting this right for Tish James legal bills for the probe into her potentially fraudulent real estate deals, am I getting that right?
Rich Stern
Yes. Yes. The New York Post is reporting that New York Democrats, who are very, very sneaky people, are trying to push forward their New York operational budget bill. And, and in that, there's about $10 million being allocated for any state official, and it's usually only gonna be Democrats who have reasonable attorney fees and expenses. Now that $10 million comes from taxpayers, of course, it doesn't come out from their own pockets and it could be shuffled into anything that they want. So the New York Post is trying their very best to call attention to this. Now, it wouldn't be the first time Andrew Cuomo also force taxpayers to foot his legal expenses as well. So it's not very surprising, of course, that they're trying to do this yet again. New York Democrats are notorious for trying to push forward budget bills without reading them. They did it back in 2018 with the 2019 budget bill where they stuffed in criminal justice reform, as they like to call it, when it was really a criminal bill of rights. And in it, pedophiles got more, or alleged pedophiles, I should say, got more rights than their actual victims. If you were caught with child pornography in your possession in New York and you were arrested, you actually weren't taken in, you were given a bench warrant, and that was shuffled into the state's budget. So what New York State tends to do, and since it's dominated by Democrats, we could say with confidence that this is New York Democrats, is they tend to stuff the worst of the worst things inside of these bills like you see in D.C. and they have rushed everyone to vote on it. So again, not really surprising that they're doing this with Tish James, they know Tish James has a legal battle that she needs to go pay for and she's not looking to foot the expense, which is so strange because she claims to be a fighter. She claims to be out there fighting for New Yorkers. So why not fight at your own expense, Ms. Tish James Strange.
Natalie Winters
Brianna Morello, the one and only. A very intrepid investigative reporter. I wish we had people like you in the White House with me. Where can people go to stay up to date with every everything you're working on and follow everything you got going on?
Rich Stern
Well, Natalie, we're right by your side every day when you're fighting out there. We appreciate all that you do in the White House. Folks, you can head over to the Independent Newsroom. That is my newsletter. You could sign up over there and you could find me on X at Brianna Morello.
Natalie Winters
Brianna, thank you so much.
Rich Stern
Thank you.
Natalie Winters
Warren Posse. I think you guys would probably agree with me. I love the mass deportations. Obviously we need 10 million, bare minimum. I'd probably push it closer to 40 because I think, I think that's what is it. The Bear Stearns analysis shows that that's the probably actual number of illegal aliens living here. It's probably closer to 20 million that were let in under Joe Biden. But I think the issue to me is that it's not just about deporting these people who were, you know, to no fault of their own. Though I hesitate in using that framing because they still committed crimes by crossing the southern border. Don't worry, I'm not going soft. But it's not as if they came totally on their own accord or their own financing or direction. Directionality, I guess.
Rich Stern
Right.
Natalie Winters
These people were essentially shipped here, sort of a, I guess, you know, modern day triangle trade. Although maybe instead of a triangle, it's in the scary, what is it like colored circle that the UN has all the Sustainable development Goals, but. Right. They were brought here, whether it was the foreign NGOs. But when you hear people say that it was an invasion, that implies that it was orchestrated and coordinated, which it was. And I think I just take issue that while all of this is going on, even while these people are being sent to Seekot, you know, Alejandro Mayorkas is Busy out in D.C. having dinner at Nobu. I saw him last week at a bar on Capitol Hill, just hanging out with the bros. Those people should be prosecuted for, I mean, murder, maybe the treason and you know, whatever. Traitor charges can come later. But these people have blood on their hands. And I think that that is the other sort of secondary component to the mass deportation stuff. When you talk about accountability, yes, accountability for these criminal, illegal aliens is very important. But accountability, I think has two sides. And the people who brought them here, who led them here, who funded and incentivized them to come here, I think it's only, shall we use a term, just perhaps retribution to have those people be held to account too. And I haven't really seen much, much movement on that front. I would like, as Steve always says, you know, one name at least of people who were involved in coordinating that. I mean, you're talking about 100,000 missing migrant children and we still haven't gotten a name on anyone who was involved. I mean, I guess Mayorkas is a name, but that one's a little, a little obvious. But I think the people under him, the bureaucrats behind the scenes, a lot of these NGOs, I'm glad we can strip them of their funding if these radical judges will, you know, let us do that. But I think that it's equally important to actually investigate because I do think that you could very easily make the case for criminal charges against a lot of these NGOs on the human trafficking, sex trafficking, money laundering, who knows, probably arms trafficking, doing the bidding of cartels, foreign terrorist organization stuff up front. That, that's at least my take on the mass deportation. So we've got a few minutes left and like I said, since unrestricted warfare is in my, my vantage point, I have to talk about it. You know, we were talking with a video or Evita early in the show about sort of, you know, deportations happening on campus. I think we've been pretty clear in the war room. If it were up to me, and I think, think Steve shares my viewpoint, I would deport every single Chinese national student. And I'll tell you why. Obviously people love to hear about the Confucius Institutes, right? That's sort of the explicit, in your face form of CCP propaganda. Also a hub for espionage activities, but that's more the kind of cultural subversion, particularly the language immersion programs. They even have what's called Confucius classrooms, which is the K through 12 component to these Confucius Institutes. So yeah, the CCP is in your local kindergarten classroom. In some cases, these initiatives have actually led to, I believe it was a second grade class in Washington. I broke this story years ago, but actually engaging in a pen pal relationship, writing letters to Xi Jinping, I guess Xi Jinping in between, I don't know, you know, killing Uyghurs and Xinjiang had time to write to American second graders talking about how great China is and how awesome actually the Chinese military is. I'm not kidding. That actually happened. But more precisely, I think the Confucius Institute, everyone can agree, you know, the CCP has a strong presence on these college campuses. I'm not even talking from the professor. Buy off the sort of thousand talents programming, right? The joint research funding, both your tax dollars, but also coming from Chinese institutions that kind of big, I would say the, the gateway drug to a lot of these professors leaking, either intentionally or unintentionally, inadvertently giving IP trade secrets, in some cases nuclear secrets, military secrets. But what's an entity that I think this audience should really pay attention to that it doesn't get a lot of COVID because coverage rather because of these Confucius Institutes. And that is the cssa, that's the Chinese Students and Scholars Association. So these are the sort of hubs on a lot of these college campuses which have a more direct control over most overseas Chinese students studying in the United States. It's sort of like the, for lack of a better word, gestapo, which can essentially requisition, if not to use a word you guys are familiar with, weaponize any Chinese student at anyat any point. And keep in mind the leverage they have if their families all back in China. Oftentimes these students or members, or at least their families are of the Chinese Communist Party. But per Article 7 of China's National Intelligence Law, it stipulates that any Chinese person, company business, you name it, can be requisitioned by the state, by the Ministry of State Security, and be tasked with gathering intelligence, doing essentially anything, they leave it intentionally, very vague to advance the interests of Beijing, of the Chinese Communist Party. So every single Chinese national student that is on campus, and sure, call me racist, media matters, I really don't care, but every single Chinese national student that is here in the United States, frankly, any Chinese businessman, anyone who's a Chinese national, it is a valid risk, extremely valid in their words, not mine. I'm not even paraphrasing it, that they can be essentially coerced, probably you don't even need that much coercion by Beijing into being essentially a spy on behalf of the Chinese Communist Party. That's why you see no coverage of this. The media is bought off. All of these professors are on the take. Harvard's Ash center, for example, trained the officials that essentially set up and run the Xinjiang concentration camps. They've been doing that since 2011. And they're funded up the wazoo by Chinese Communist Party money and I guess Qatari money too. But they'll never disclose their funding because it would show you that these people, it's all pay for play. I don't understand why we haven't deported these Chinese nationals. I would have done it on day one. It's such a national security threat, ideologically, but also from a kinetic perspective. You know, when things heat up in the South China Sea, like China just seized, what was it, Sandy K. And you have what, a couple hundred thousand Chinese nationals here in addition to the illegal border crossers? I'm not going to want to be on Harvard's campus when that happens. I'll put it that way. Or I guess any of these state institutions either. Probably not University of Michigan, probably not Yale either. CCP actually runs their endowment, but that's a story for another time. Warren Posse, thank you for hanging with me. I think Steve will be back tomorrow. Hopefully. But if not, I will see you tomorrow. Or Dave Brat. I hope you guys have a good one.
Stephen K. Bannon
What if he had the brightest mind in the War Room delivering critical financial research every month? Steve Bannon here. War Room listeners know Jim Rickards. I love this guy. He's our wise man. A former CIA, Pentagon and White House advisor with an unmatched grasp of geopolitics and capital markets. Jim predicted Trump's electoral College victory exactly 312 to 226, down to the actual number itself. Now he's issuing a dire warning about April 11, a moment that could define Trump's presidency and your financial future. His latest book, MoneyGPT, exposes how AI is setting the stage for financial chaos. Bank runs at lightning speeds, algorithm driven crashes and even threats to national security. Right now, War Room members get a free copy of MoneyGPT when they sign up for Strategic Intelligence. This is Jim's flagship financial newsletter, Strategic Intelligence. I read it. You should read it. Time is running out. Go to Rickards War room dot com. That's all one word. Rickards War Room records with an S. Go now and claim your free book. That's rickardswarroom.com do it today.
Trevor Comstock
Hey War Room. Hope you're all doing well. My name is Trevor Comstock. I'm one of the co creators of Sacred Human. And I wanted to share just a little bit more about our brand. For the those who may not know of us yet, but about six months ago we decided to launch Sacred Human with really the simple mission being to provide American made natural supplements without all the artificial nonsense. So unfortunately as many of you know, a lot of these big corporate supplements will include things like preservatives, artificial ingredients, and other additives that really aren't benefiting your health. So that's why we created Sacred Human, really trying to trying to fill this gap of quality supplements. And of course, the beef liver being our flagship products. For those who don't know, beef liver is loaded with highly bioavailable ingredients such as vitamin A, B12, zinc CoQ10, etc. And because it is 100% grass fed and natural, your body is able to absorb these nutrients far better than taking any other synthetic multivitamin or any other synthetic vitamin in general. So we have some other amazing products, but if you'd like to check us out, you can go to sacredhumanhealth.com and cheers to your health.
WarRoom Battleground EP 763: Columbia Lays Off 180 Staff After Trump Cuts, Time For Accountability For Border Invasion
Release Date: May 8, 2025
Natalie Winters steps in as the host of this episode of WarRoom Battleground, previously helmed by Stephen K. Bannon. With a packed agenda, Winters navigates through critical topics including university layoffs, border security, tariff negotiations, and the ongoing debate surrounding illegal immigration.
The episode opens with a discussion on Columbia University's recent decision to lay off 180 staff members following a significant reduction of federal funds by approximately $400 million.
Natalie Winters highlights the contrast between Columbia and other prestigious institutions like Harvard, noting Columbia's shift away from resistance toward President Trump's policies. She underscores the implications of these layoffs, questioning the sustainability and ideological direction of such universities.
Brianna Morello (likely Rich Stern, based on context) provides an in-depth analysis:
"Today, part of why schools are so radical and also why they're so expensive is because there are so many administrators. At some schools, there are more administrators than there are even students." ([02:37])
Morello praises Columbia's decision to cut administrative roles, suggesting it as a model for reducing costs, decreasing student debt, and mitigating radicalism on campuses:
"Studies show that administrators are far more left wing than even the professors. It has to be addressed." ([04:02])
The conversation shifts to Harvard University, examining its recent rebranding as a bastion against Trump's initiatives. Morello argues that merely pulling federal funding won't realign universities with their foundational missions:
"The mission of the university system... was seeking Christ. That has been completely abandoned." ([04:46])
She emphasizes the need for deeper, systemic reforms rather than superficial budget cuts, while also advocating for the protection of free speech on campuses to prevent the suppression of conservative voices.
A significant portion of the episode critiques recent judicial interventions affecting President Trump's policies, particularly the transgender military ban. Morello views these decisions as victories for the Trump administration, highlighting the rollback of transgender policies in the military and associated taxpayer costs:
"This is a big win for the admin." ([07:57])
She contrasts conservative approaches to rebuilding institutions with what she perceives as destructive leftist tactics.
Winters and Morello delve into the controversies surrounding Senator Rick Scott and Judge Boasberg, accusing them of undermining President Trump's initiatives. Morello criticizes Senator Tillis for his stance on the January 6th events and his support for controversial figures like Merrick Garland:
"They make very bad decisions. They are not New Right. They don't care about their own base." ([09:54])
The discussion underscores the perceived disconnect between Republican leadership and conservative base expectations, advocating for primary challenges against ineffective or opposing Republican senators.
Transitioning to economic matters, Rich Stern (interacting as Christine) discusses the Federal Reserve's decision to maintain interest rates between 4.25% and 4.5%. The dialogue critiques the Fed's cautious stance amid rising inflation and unemployment, attributing economic instability to the ongoing trade war orchestrated by President Trump.
Stern explains:
"The Fed is the getaway car driver for the federal government's deficits and tax policies." ([16:32])
Evita Duffy further comments on the politicization of the Fed, blaming Jerome Powell for exacerbating economic issues through failure to mitigate the effects of government spending.
Winters and Duffy examine the complexities of ongoing tariff negotiations, particularly with China. They express support for Trump's aggressive stance against the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and emphasize the necessity of safeguarding American economic and national security interests.
Duffy asserts:
"China's the real threat here, and not just us directly, but the empire they're trying to build around with our trade partners." ([22:22])
The discussion highlights the challenges in securing favorable trade agreements and the broader implications for the U.S. economy.
A poignant segment addresses the alarming issue of over 300,000 unaccompanied migrant children lost under the Biden administration. Brianna Morello reports that only about 5,000 of these children have been reunited with guardians due to flawed vetting processes and fraudulent addresses provided by former officials.
Morello laments:
"This was intentional. There's no way they didn't understand what was going on." ([36:53])
The segment criticizes the Biden administration for negligence and potential complicity in child trafficking and organ harvesting schemes, urging accountability for involved officials and NGOs.
The episode advances to discuss the need for stringent deportation policies targeting illegal immigrants and Chinese nationals on American campuses. Winters strongly advocates for the removal of Chinese students and officials affiliated with the CCP, citing threats to national security and cultural integrity.
Winters argues:
"Every single Chinese national student that is here in the United States... is a valid risk." ([45:13])
She calls for immediate action to deport individuals linked to the CCP's United Front Work Department, emphasizing the necessity of protecting American institutions from foreign subversion.
As the episode wraps up, Winters reflects on the systemic challenges facing the U.S., from educational institutions to immigration policies. She reiterates the importance of accountability and proactive measures to safeguard national interests.
The episode concludes with advertisements, which are omitted from this summary per guidelines.
Stephen K. Bannon:
"This is the primal scream of a dying regime. Pray for our enemies because we're going medieval on these people." ([00:27])
Brianna Morello:
"Studies show that administrators are far more left wing than even the professors. It has to be addressed." ([04:02])
Brianna Morello:
"The mission of the university system... was seeking Christ. That has been completely abandoned." ([04:46])
Brianna Morello:
"This is a big win for the admin." ([07:57])
Brianna Morello:
"They make very bad decisions. They are not New Right. They don't care about their own base." ([09:54])
Rich Stern:
"The Fed is the getaway car driver for the federal government's deficits and tax policies." ([16:32])
Evita Duffy:
"China's the real threat here, and not just us directly, but the empire they're trying to build around with our trade partners." ([22:22])
Brianna Morello:
"This was intentional. There's no way they didn't understand what was going on." ([36:53])
Natalie Winters:
"Every single Chinese national student that is here in the United States... is a valid risk." ([45:13])
WarRoom Battleground EP 763 offers a comprehensive analysis of pressing national issues from a conservative perspective, emphasizing accountability, national security, and institutional reform. Through incisive discussions and critical viewpoints, the episode aims to inform and mobilize its audience toward proactive political engagement.