
WarRoom Battleground EP 824: Reality Of A Ceasefire Situation In Ukraine; Cutting The Bureaucratic Bloat ...
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Steve 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.
Ben Harnwell
You'Re not going to stop it.
Steve Bannon
It's going to happen. And where do people like that go to share the big lie? MAGA MEDIA I wish in my soul.
Ben Harnwell
I wish that any of these people had a conscience.
Steve Bannon
Ask yourself, what is my task and what is my purpose? If that answer is to save my country, this country will be saved. War ROOM here's your host, Stephen k. Banner. Thursday the 7th of August year of alert 2025. What a day. Packed, packed, packed with news. Major events that are driving us to peace and prosperity. And yes, it gets bumpy every now and again. I want to thank Birchgold, our sponsor. We get all types of free access to tons of information. We've really worked with the Birch Gold guys for four years to make sure this information is out there, that you can understand it. Let me say this and I'll say it all the time. It's not the daily price of gold. It's the process, the converging forces that drive the price and therefore the value of gold. That's what you need to understand. And that's what at Birchgold, we hope to give you the information so that you can teach yourself. First start, take your phone out, text Bannon B A N N O N at 989-898. You get the free guide for investing in gold and precious metals in the age of Trump. It's not an era, this is an age. And also if you want to understand the BRICs and Lula and everything that's going on there in the world, also debt, deficit, all these huge fights we're going to have in some September when everybody returns to the imperial capital. Go to birchgold.com bannon the end of the dollar empire. Not that we want the end of the dollar empire, but our leads are kind of driving us to that. Endothedollar. Birchgold.com Bannon Everything's free, totally free. And we're working on more installments, so you get to have the originals. Ben Harnwell from Rome, our Rome bureau head of International for There were something we have now talked about daily on this show since 22nd, March, February, March 2022 and long before that. Right. You know, when the, when the show first started the show first started in I think late September, early October, either the 29th, 30th or 1st of October, around there of 2019 about, wait for it, the impeachment based upon what a perfect phone call to Zelensky. Think about this for a second. How long have we struggled with this, with this issue? If you remember me, from the days of Breitbart and Breitbart News Daily, the morning show that I host, I had one in the evening, 7 to 10 in the evening on SiriusXM first off on KBC out west and then on Sirius, then Saturday mornings ten to one and then we went daily. So we were seven days a week. People remember. We talked about Russia a lot then and a potential Russian rapprochement as Obama and these guys were trying to demonize it and demonize it and demonize it. Ben, you've got some pretty important news coming out of the White House. Russia, Ukraine, all of it. Why don't you walk us through it?
Michael Pack
Steve, before I get there, I'm going to tell you it's going to take all the willpower in the world I possess not to allow myself to be distracted by your opening introduction there talking about the perfect phone call and the impeachment and the whole year of legislative agenda that was stolen by the corrupt Democrats from the president in the first term. I'm not going to let myself get distracted by that because we have breaking news today. However, however, that said, right, because we're talking about this every day. President Trump is in a prime position here not just to end this war and bring it to a peaceful conclusion, but he's in a prime position now to insist that the papers relating to the sacking of the chief prosecutor, Shokin, I think Victor Shokin, right then Vice President Biden boasted about publicly, famously with the words, well, son of a bitch, when he gave the guy gave the government the orders to fire him and he was fired. And then the money from the US That Biden was holding up came through. No congressional inquiry into that, by the way. Have those papers. Let's get that smoking gun and find out the details behind Burismas paying of that money into the joint bank account between Joe Biden and Hunter Biden. Let's President Trump is in a perfect position now to, you know, Zelensky didn't want to help the first time out in that perfect phone call. President Trump is in a perfect position now to legitimize and to restore I think the integrity of the first, the first administration which was so badly damaged by The Democrats. And whilst we are at it, Steve, and you can see the willpower that I'm displaying, not allowing myself to get dragged into this subject today. Whilst we're on the subject, let's have those details about the biolabs. President Trump is in a position to insist that President Zelensky releases these things. MAGA would be very satisfied, very happy finally to get these things out. Okay, so you've seen my willpower, how I haven't been allowed. I've disciplined myself not to get distracted by those two issues. Breaking news today. Steve, this is, it's coming out, it's changing hour per hour, but there appears to be the consensus. All sides have agreed to a summit in the coming days between President Trump and President Putin. This will obviously be the first time the two leaders have met since the, since Russia's invasion of Ukraine. And I think it builds on the incredible work that US Envoy Steve Witkoff has been doing. He finished his third summit yesterday directly in talks with President Putin and Sergey Lavrov. And on the back of those final discussions yesterday, it appears that the terrain now finally is there to have these two leaders to sit down. Zelensky obviously wanted to muscle into this. The Kremlin said no. So it's just going to be a bilateral at the moment and then we'll see. I have to say that the actual facts on the ground behind this seem to be scarce and slightly contradictory. First, it was put out that the Kremlin had, Putin had asked for this, and then the Kremlin said, you know, that the Russia has acceded to this request, has granted this request for a meeting. It is important to find out who actually pushed for the meeting to get some of the background here. Steve, the reason I'm saying, even though the facts on the ground at the moment, and they're sort of changing and being refined hour by hour are important, I have to say there is something going on here that I think this is serious in a way that I never truly bought into the earlier peace round talks that we've seen over the last three and a half years because the ingredients didn't, the ingredients didn't seem to be there. I think they are there now and something will happen. I don't get ahead of myself. Obviously, we're going to see how this maps up, but I think the needle can move this time round as these two sit together. If you give me 30 seconds, Steve, there is some background going on in Ukraine. I think that will, that will, that will perhaps be part of the context behind These meetings. The first is that a poll from Gallup, one of the most respected pollsters in the world, pushed out these results. And Semaphore carried this analysis this morning that 7 out of 10 Ukrainians now want a negotiated deal with Russia. And obviously the reason is because they're fed up with being fed into the meat grinder. And the only thing to show for that is territorial losses. There are also soundings coming out, Steve, that say really the Ukrainian front line could probably crumple in around three months or so time. So those things there are in the background of these forthcoming talks with regards to the viability of the Ukrainian position in the long term. I will simply close with this and hand back to you on the fact that the Kyiv Independent was reporting a couple of days ago that protests in Ukraine, not to do with the anti corruption legislation this time, but anti protest against the centers, the drafting centers where people are being press ganged. Thank you very much, Denver, for putting that up on the screen. People are so frustrated with young guys being press ganged off the streets. They now had protests which sort of raided and entered these military drafting centers. The Western press hasn't particularly carried that, but it does show the degree to which the war fatigue has set in now in Ukraine.
Steve Bannon
Well, you see this, I mean they just allowed, like you said, the 60 year olds, I mean they have a massive manpower crisis. And people, I think this is one of the issues on the Western front in World War II. The guys that fought, particularly the British army fought all the way from North Africa to Sicily to Italy, then Normandy when they saw the end of the thing in sight. When you can see the door, you kind of sit there and go, hey, you know, is my ticket going to get punched now or can I avoid this? It's just human N that was an issue in World War II, right? The people that had fought for so long and were so had, were really worn out is thinking, you know, what do I have to do to get out of this thing, right? This thing is just a grinder. And I think you're seeing the Ukraine side. The casualties are horrific here. The Russian casualties are almost unbelievable. But the Ukrainian civilian in particular, the fact that parents from the beginning and now they're really adamant about it. Why are my sons and daughter is going to get into this meat grinder with the Russians as they continue to grind when there can be. There looks like there may be a cease fire. There looks like there may be some peace deal. And particularly when they're so desperate they're allowing 60 year olds. I don't think they're being drafted, but to volunteer. So how real? Because they've got a battlefield advantage. How real do they think that Putin's coming? If he's coming to the White House, they're coming to make a deal. You don't come to the White House not to make a deal. That's not what Trump, President Trump wants. So how real do you think it is, Ben, that we would actually see either a ceasefire or some framework for peace in this area?
Michael Pack
Well, my ears prick up when you suggest that this meeting will be held at the White House. I haven't seen any press confirmations of the venue yet. That has yet still to be announced. The one country that I have seen referred to is the uae. The United Arab Emirates is potentially hosting these discussions. Obviously, if it's hosted in the White House, that sets, you know, that, you know, the implication will be is that President Trump will be. They're primed to push out the victory message.
Steve Bannon
Look, I don't know if you're going to have Trump go to. I don't know if you have Trump go to the UAE. But even if it's some 30 party location, President Trump's not prepared to come and have it, particularly at the level with him and Putin where they don't think that there's something they can't hammer out here. Correct?
Michael Pack
Yeah. I mean, both of them aren't going to want to be invested in the hype of this imminent meeting if there's any possibility that it's going to end in diplomatic failure. Neither of them, neither President Trump nor President Putin will want that. Which is why I think Steve Witkoff has done such an important role here over these sort of meetings that he's been having four meetings, as I was saying, directly with Putin and Sergey Lavrov, the Foreign minister. And I don't think Witkoff is going to allow the president to enter that meeting either. President Trump, that is, he's going to, will allow this meeting between the two heads of state to take place if it could rebound in any way badly on President Trump. So if the meeting takes place, I think it's because all sides expect it to produce something positive.
Steve Bannon
Exactly. So let's President Trump drive me. We're going to have, we're going to have the situation in Armenia in the second half of the show. So hang on for a second. Let's bring in Tom Dance. Tom, you're back from the Arctic conference. I wanted to get you on today about the, to kind of talk about this meeting with Putin and President Trump, the new great game is shifting from, you know, places like Ukraine to the Arctic. And this is part of our hemispheric defense. Give us some updates coming out of the conference. Particularly, this is a great power struggle. This is Russia, this is the Chinese Communist Party, and this is the United States of America. What coming out of that conference, do you feel more confident that people in the United States are understanding the importance of the Arctic as far as the defense of the United States of America.
Tom Dance
Sir, I do, certainly at the top level of MAGA from President Trump on down, the key thing now is going to be to get the people who can actually implement these plans putting them into place. One thing I think Steve Witkoff's an exceptional job, as Ben was just talking about with Russia, but we need to kind of realize that the US And Russia are neighbors. Right. We never really think about that way. But we have a 1500 mile maritime boundary, Right. That's the second longest in the world except for Canada and Greenland. And I'm not counting Greenland as part of the US for these purposes. But at one point we're separated by two and a half miles between Big Diomede and Little Diomede Islands. Right. So what we need to do is focus more on our Arctic. I think that's a key part of this conversation that's going to occur. And like we talked about in Alaska, the posse is ahead of the news here. Right. The other big pacing threat that we have is China. China and the Pacific. Right. We talked about the Aleutians and their relevance as kind of a key first island chain, if you will, for the US and the gateway to the Arctic. Well, just today we read not only one Chinese vessel, five Chinese vessels in icebreakers in a conga line heading up to the Arctic. What's more, Russia and China together in the Pacific taking target practice on mock enemy submarines. Right. Blowing them up. I wonder who that could be. Right. So this is all going on in our Pacific. We, we need to, you know, Secretary Noem Hatch off. She's going to be up in Alaska next week commissioning a new icebreaker for our fleet. It's actually, it's actually anchor handling ship that's been repurposed. Key it will, it's going to be put into work. That's a great first step. We need to also get more active on these Al Islands and protect them. Remember we talked about Attu and the American sacrifice there in World War II. This is our westernmost point in the United States, a part of Alaska Only miles off the Russian coast of Kamchatka, but today abandoned with all the World War II infrastructure still in place. We have Adak island that has a 22 million gallon fuel depot there. It's shut down. These were shut down by the Obama administration and the Clinton administrations. We need to reactivate our Arctic. Russia has 10 bases across their Arctic and they keep going. China is sending five research, you know, research vessels right past Alaska. They're actually picking things up off the shore. Remember in the Aleutians we have plenty of these rare earth minerals. You can actually pick up scandium, which goes in our F35. So you can pick it up right on nodules off the seabed floor.
Ben Harnwell
Right.
Tom Dance
So you've got to kind of wonder what the, what the Chinese are up to up there. So. But we need to build more vessels. That's in the way. One big beautiful bill gave us eight and a half billion to do that. I think we're going to see some action here shortly from the DHS and the Coast Guard, which is great. There's been a lot of noise about Canada and Finland, but I think we also have to look at other groups. Actually one of our partners in NATO, the Dutch, is. And one of their leading shipbuilders has probably built more icebreakers on the water in the last 10 years. Over 100 that are in service around the globe, including the. The most sophisticated polar research vessels on the water. And that's in it, that's in Australia ship called the New Yena. So and I understand they may be able to have vessels newly built on the water in 2027, which would be fantastic for the United States. So all these things are coming together. I think we have a fantastic team. President Trump, Secretary Rubio, Secretary Noem, they all get this. Secretary Hegseth, Bridge, Colby, obviously. But then you don't have America first people at the level seven. You don't have an ambassador to Russia, you don't have an ambassador to the Arctic. You don't have a lot of the kind of from the DAS level up, Under Secretary Stale, people who really understand Russia and do it look, hey, the CIA started teaching me Russia, Russian as a seventh grader in a Baltimore public school. I studied in the Soviet Union as an exchange student. I spent 30 years over there doing business. I like to think I have a little picture into the way they think. But we cannot focus all the time on the eastern border. Ukraine. I spent years over in Ukraine. I was there for the Rose Revolution. It's not Donetsk, Lugansk, Zaporozha that's important. It's our United States boundary. It's our hemisphere where we have to focus.
Steve Bannon
We got to bounce back really quick. Give me a minute. Go back to the five icebreakers, the CCP icebreakers. Where are they, where are they coming from and where are they headed?
Tom Dance
They're steaming right up from China, different ports. They've. They've kind of been doodling around Alaska, our Aleutians up in the Bering Sea, the Chukchi Sea, they're kind of dividing up into the Barents Sea. And you know, they're going to be working up there. We're not really clear where they're headed. We have one of our, the Healey, our medium icebreakers up there on a tour. And we've got our one last research vessel that's kind of on a tour up there. But that's it in the US Right, Our Polar Star or other icebreakers. That only works half the year. So the question is, we don't know the answer.
Steve Bannon
Tom, social media, where do people go to get you your writings? Everything on social media. This is obviously for hemispheric defense. Nothing would be more important. I'm going to have Tom on back. I think next week we're going to talk about Alaska as one of the most important strategic assets that the United States has. Sir, where do people go?
Tom Dance
I'm at Tomdan CFA on X and if I might, Steve, I want to give the posse a summer reading list assignment. Great book. If you're going on vacation, pick it up. It's Hampton sides. It's in the Kingdom of Ice. It talked about Wrangel island and the discovery that the Long island very pertinent to our discussions now with Russia and the arc. These are islands that today are controlled by Russia but were discovered by Americans with tremendous lives lost. So really a fantastic heroic tale. People will enjoy it. We're talking about the 1880s here. So in the Kingdom of Ice reading.
Steve Bannon
Simon I will pull that up and make sure. I say it's a fantastic book. Hampden sides one of the great, great, great historians, popular historians, narrative historians, did a great job on Kit Carson in the west. The Kearney, General Kearney and of course, just incredible, incredible. Tom Dance, thank you and thank you for adding to the reading list. Appreciate you. Ben Harnwell, you got your work cut out for you. As Dan says. Hey, it's not the Russian speaking Eastern border, Ukraine. That killing field hopefully President Trump ever got deserved the Nobel Peace Prize. It's President Trump and you'll See that in the second half of the show we talk about Armenia and Azerbaijan, but now the Arctic for the defense of the United States in our hemisphere. Ben, where do they go to get your social media? You're putting up great stuff all day long. Where do folks go on getter?
Michael Pack
Steve, thanks very much. Under my profile, Arnwell, which is simply my surname. Look, if I just follow on and conclude with what Tom Downs was saying, anyone listening to him will have reminded for them just the absolute disaster in America's interest perpetrated on America by President Biden and his administration. Russia should never have been allowed to slip into China's clutches like this. It should have been enticed into joining the Western, the Western political philosopher philosophical block. And of course, Russia has, I think, 53% of the control to the access to the Arctic. And China is pushing in. There's no trying to muscle in there. There is a, even in the Arctic, there is a common line of alliance between the United States and Russia. This is one thing you say, you mentioned that President Trump should get the Nobel Peace Prize. I tell you what, I don't know what prize would be more important than the Nobel Peace Prize, but there should be a prize for President Trump if with his personal authority and charisma, he is able to do something to bring President Putin and Russia back into the Western orbit ever so slightly and away from China, in which case the Nobel Peace Prize would be something to hold the door open with.
Steve Bannon
Ben, thank you. I promise next week you and I are going to spend time, we're going to go back to the perfect phone call and we're going to go back to that situation in Ukraine because you're absolutely, absolutely correct, it stole at least a year of President Trump's presidency and that all that nonsense. Ben Harnwell, thank you so much. Great, great, great to have you on.
Michael Pack
Thanks, Steve. God bless.
Steve Bannon
Very special guest about to join us. We got a cold open. I've been waiting for her to come on. Let's go ahead and play it.
Jessica Jackson
Supervised release stopped me and my siblings for coming together to release my parents. Ashes. My two brothers and I spent almost 20 years in prison for a non violent drug offense. Both of our parents died while we were in prison. It killed me and my brothers that we couldn't be there for them in their last days. When we was free, all we wanted to do was spread their ashes together as a family. But being on supervised release, we had to get permission to be around each other. Even though we are brothers, we hadn't seen each other in 20 years. When my brother's probation officer denied the request, we had no violations while supervision and no violence in our case. But we weren't allowed to come together as a family to mourn and heal. It wasn't just devastating, it was heartbreaking. Supervision is supposed to help people rebuild, reconnect and reenter society, not keep families like ours apart.
Steve Bannon
Jessica the timing of this couldn't be couldn't be more perfect. I went up to Danbury to collect my cellmate, who finally got released, 44 years old, and I think he spent 18 or 20 years, something like that, in either state or federal prison on these kind of RICO charges of, you know, the distribution of drugs, where they don't really find you selling drugs, but they get you in some sort of conspiracy. And he's going to a halfway house, but then to supervise release. Talk to me, we got a couple minutes on this side and then we'll hold you through the break. What's the purpose, task and purpose of your organization, ma'? Am?
Jessica Jackson
Yeah, so the Reform alliance was founded in 2019, and our purpose is to transform probation, parole, supervised release. We've been working all across the country, passed great bills, 22 of them in states like Georgia, Mississippi, Louisiana, Florida, and now we're working on the federal system and coming to reform supervised release so that families don't have to go through what Duke Tanner there, who you just heard from, has gone through.
Steve Bannon
Hang on. We're take a we're going to take a short commercial break. Jessica Jackson joins us and she's one of the reformers and here's I met her through the new team over at Bureau prisons. Jared Kushner, Peter Navarro, myself are all kind of in an informal committee to help folks. We've got a new reform group at bop, the first time, I think, ever, and Jessica is one of the people very involved in this and what she's talking about could not be more important. This whole issue and concept of supervisor release to get people back out into the community and get them productive again. So she's one of these great unheralded, unspoken about heroes that are really trying to reform our system of justice in the United States of America. And nothing could be more maga. I gotta tell you, President Trump's effort on the first step act absolutely heroic. Short commercial break Burch Gold understand that the dollar is under attack not just by the elites in this country, but the de dollarization effort by the Chinese Communist Party and their running dogs in Brazil. Make sure you understand it. How it affects your community, your family, your country and yourself. BR Gold.com promo code Bannon the End of the Dollar Empire short break Back in a moment this July there is a global summit of BRICS nations in Rio de Janeiro. The block of emerging superpowers including China, Russia, India and Persia are meeting with the goal of displacing the United States dollar as the global currency. They're calling this the Rio Reset. As BRICS nations push forward with their plans, global demand for US Dollars will decrease, bringing down the value of the dollar in your savings. While this transition won't not happen overnight, but trust me, it's going to start in Rio. The Rio Reset in July marks a pivotal moment when BRICS objectives move decisively from a theoretical possibility towards inevitable reality. Learn if diversifying your savings into gold is right for you. Birch Gold Group can help you move your hard earned savings into a tax sheltered IRA and precious metals. Claim your free info kit on gold by texting my name Bannon that's B A N N O N to 989-898 with an A plus rating with the Better Business Bureau and tens of thousands of happy customers. Let Birchgold army with a free no obligation info kit on owning gold before July and the Rio Reset Text Bannon B A N N O N to 989-898 do it today. That's the Rio reset. Text Bannon at 989-898 and do it today. 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 rickardswarroom.com that's all one word. Rickards war Room Rickards with an S. Go now and claim your free book. That's Rickards war room.com do it today, if you're a homeowner, you need to listen to this. In today's AI and cyber world, scammers are stealing home titles with more ease than ever. And your equity is the target. Here's how it works. Criminals forge your signature on one document, use a fake notary stamp, pay small fee with your county, and boom. Your home title has been transferred out of your name. Then they take out loans using your equity, or even sell your property. You won't even know it's happened until you get a collection or foreclosure notice. So let me ask you, when was the last time you personally checked your home title? If you're like me, the answer is never. And that's exactly what scammers are counting on. That's why I trust home title lock. Use promo code steve@hometitlelock.com to make sure your title is still in your name. You also get a free title history report, plus a free 14 day trial of their million dollar triple lock protection. That's 247 monitoring of your title, urgent alerts to any changes, and if fraud should happen, they'll spend up to $1 million to fix it. Go to hometitlelock.com now. Use promo code Steve. That's hometitle lock.com promo code Steve. Do it today.
Jessica Jackson
America's voice family.
Steve Bannon
Are you on Getter yet? No.
Tom Dance
What are you waiting for?
Steve Bannon
It's free, it's uncensored, and it's where.
Jessica Jackson
All the biggest voices in conservative media are speaking out.
Steve Bannon
Download the Getter app right now. It's totally free. It's where I put up exclusively, all of my content 24 hours a day. You want to know what Steve Bannon is thinking? Go to get her. That's right. You can follow all of your favorites, Steve Bannon, Charlie Kirk, Jack POS and so many more.
Tom Dance
Download the Getter app now.
Jessica Jackson
Sign up for free and be part.
Steve Bannon
Of the new thing. Jessica Jackson. So, Jessica, explain to people exactly what supervised release is. You know, what are the different aspects of being incarcerated and why is this become such a focus for you and your group? Ma'? Am?
Jessica Jackson
Yeah. So supervised release is what most folks might refer to as, you know, probation or parole. It's mostly people who have been in the federal system incarcerated. Now they're home. And in addition to the amount of time that the judge gave them to be in prison, they now have a period of time under which they're on supervised release. And while that may sound like a step down from prison, and it is, it still comes with A risk of people ending up back in prison. And that's not even for committing new crimes. In fact, we saw with First Step act, we saw about 70,000 people come home from prison having benefited over the last five years from those earned time credits from the good time credits that the President put in place during his last term. Of Those folks, about 9% of them ended up going back to prison, which is actually a really low number, because before President Trump signed that bill, it was about 45%. Almost half of everybody coming home from prison was ending up back in prison after they had been released. But when you look at that 9% number, you actually see that about half of it is people who haven't even committed new crimes. They just haven't been able to comply with all of the onerous conditions that are being placed on them with supervision. So you might have somebody like Duke Tanner, who you saw there in that video, who can't associate with his brothers. Well, now he can, because President Trump just gave him a pardon. But until then, he couldn't even associate with his brothers because they also had criminal convictions. We've heard from a dad who couldn't go help his daughter in the next state with a flat tire in the middle of the night because he wouldn't be able to reach his probation officer to tell them, hey, I'm going to have to leave my county. We've heard from a man who couldn't even take his trash out at night because it was against the conditions that were placed on him. So we're seeing how these conditions are holding people back, especially from the workforce, as opposed to actually helping them. And even worse, they're actually making it harder for the supervision officers, because instead of focusing on the cases that really need it, the people who really need to be supervised, they're instead running around with huge caseloads, trying to keep up with whether or not people are at meetings on time, whether or not they've gotten a job, whether or not they're leaving the county, et cetera.
Steve Bannon
So you. You've done this work at the state level, and I want to add, President Trump is really, with everything else he's doing, he's leading a massive prison reform movement in the First Step Act. And I can tell you, having been in prison, that it is, and leave the politics aside, because the politics are very smart. It is really rejuvenating people's belief in their families, getting families together. I mean, it's really breathtaking. And, Jessica, you've seen all the different aspects he's doing. Why has this not been done at the federal level? You just said, I think you've passed 21 states at the state level, some of these reforms to supervise release. Why has the federal level been so hard to break or it just hasn't gotten around to it?
Jessica Jackson
It, yeah, it's, it's actually incredible that it hasn't. Look, I came to this issue from personal experience. My first husband was incarcerated, unfortunately for his drug addiction. And instead of getting the help he needed, he was put in prison. He was able to navigate prison and get out on an early release. And when he did, he got his life back together, was able to get a job, was able to get everything moving in, in the right direction while our marriage didn't make, you know, that's what drove my interest in this issue. And then he got pulled over for by law enforcement for having a busted tail light. And unfortunately, that contact with law enforcement being pulled over violated his probation, violated his parole. And so he was actually sent back. It took about 60 days to sort it all out, get him back out. But as you might imagine, an employer can't wait 60 days just holding somebody's job open, right? So he had to really rebuild his life once he came out. And it's not just me that this is personal for. In fact, 8 out of 10 Trump voters say that they or somebody they know, somebody they are close to has been impacted by the criminal justice system. We've got 70 to 80 million Americans right now who are walking around with a criminal record and you've got about 4,4 million of them who are on some form of supervision. So you ask why this hasn't been addressed yet. It's just absolutely mind blowing that it hasn't. And now is really the time to go ahead and do so.
Steve Bannon
Jessica, where do people go? And I know you're going to have legislation come up, we're going to have you back on in the rollout of it. But where do people, in the interim, where they go to find out more about your group and more about you, Ma'? Am?
Jessica Jackson
Yes. So you can follow us on X, it's eform. You can also go to our website, reformalliance.com or to safersupervision.com if you want to learn about the federal bill, wanna sign up to help us. We've got folks from all across the country who have joined the effort. We've got a monthly call for our coalition. We'd love to have people help. We'd love to have people calling on their legislators saying this is so silly. That we're wasting all this money. We want to not only increase public safety, but we also want to reduce the federal deficit. And this is a bill that will do it.
Steve Bannon
Amen, Sister. Thank you so much. Honored to have you on here. Great warrior. A great warrior. Todd woods joins us. Todd, everybody's talking about Putin and maybe a White House meeting, maybe somewhere else, of rapprochement peace. But, but tomorrowand you followed this better than anybody. Tomorrow is actually a peace conference at theat the White House. Tell us who the participants are, why this is such a big deal and why President Trump's been a driver of this. Sir.
Todd Woods
Well, as you know, Steve, Armenia is the first Christian country, and we were just spent two weeks in Yerevan looking at the history there and why this is so important because nobody's talking about the persecution of Christians. And luckily, President Trump is, is doing something about it. The president of Azerbaijan, Aliyev, will be there as well as the prime minister of Armenia. And they will be discussing the Trump route for international trade. It's called Trips Prosperity and something. And it is a corridor along southern Armenia, along the other border of Iran, between an exclave of Azerbaijan and the mainland of Azerbaijan. So many people see this as a brilliant move and that Trump is giving Armenia the Christian country which has been attacked for, as you know, a hundred years. The Apostolic Church is now going to have a soft security guarantee with US Contractors on the ground guarding this corridor along the Iranian border. And it's really freaking out the Russians and the Iranians also, because that gives the US Access to that area and basically cuts them out, China as well, from the trade up into Europe. So many see this as a brilliant move. With what's going on in Gaza and contractors, there's a lot of, I guess, worry that you will have Americans in harm's way along the Iranian border. And that hasn't worked out well many times in the past. But I think this is going to be signed tomorrow. So it's a huge deal and most people are not aware of it.
Steve Bannon
So hang on for a second. Two things. Number one, because I'm pressed for time. Give me this, because you've been on this better than anybody, I think, as well as the best, the persecution of Christians. Talk to me about that, because that does not get a lot of, that does not get a lot of attention here in America.
Todd Woods
Well, and I fault the Christian Ministries for this. I mean, they're not talking about this. You just had thousands of Syrians killed in Syria and, you know, there wasn't a peep out of anyone. And so we decided we're going to go there and talk about it. And Armenia has a decade long history of being murdered. I mean, the first genocide of the 20th century was in Armenia where the Turks killed over 2 million of them. And it's still happening in many ways. You just had the war with Azerbaijan and Nagorno Karabakh, which was a historic Armenian Christian enclave. You know, I went to the first Christian cathedral in Etchmyazdin, in Armit, right outside of Yerevan, the capital, last week. I saw the spear that stuck Christ in the side while he was on the cross. I mean, Bartholomew the disciple brought it up to Armenia. The history and the, the real Christian belief system is there in the Apostolic Church, meaning it came from the disciples, the Armenian Orthodox Church. And yes, we have to talk about this much more. We're going to be in Beirut next week to do the same thing with the team talking about what's going on in the Middle East. Christians have been wiped out of the Middle east, as you know and I know you've talked about that. So we've got to start raising the bar on the attacks and persecutions on Christianity globally.
Steve Bannon
So, Todd, we're going to give you plenty of time and a platform to get to this and we're going to have other people, Jason Jones and other. Because it's a massacre going over there. Before I let you go though, because you're as America first as people get when you talk about this corridor, a lot of people going, hey, we haven't emptied the sanctuary cities in the United States. We got so many problems here. What in the hell are we giving any time about some corridor over there is that. How do you make the argument that that's America first, sir?
Todd Woods
Well, I have not made that argument. I've seen both sides. A lot of people are very concerned about, you know, you're supporting Azerbaijan, a Muslim country with Turkey. And maybe the reason for this quarter has more to do with the Black Sea and the Romanian base we're building on the Black Sea than supporting Christians. But the byproduct is Armenia gets a soft security guarantee from the U.S. i was on the ground, people are saying, look, we're going to have another war. Pashinyan, the leader of Armenia is a globalist. He's bringing in migrants. He's attacking the Orthodox Church just like they're doing in Ukraine exactly the same way. So the government there is not building a better Armenia. They're giving it away for the globalist agenda. So being there may stop the persecution and destruction of the first Christian country ever, an organized manner. And so I think that's important as a Christian and for the US it gives us a lot of leverage in the south caucuses. There is a concern, as I said, over exposure. You're right on the Iranian border. Iranians are very good. You know, the IRGC is very good at taking hostages. So we'll see. But I think hopefully the Trump administration, administration thinks through all this from a security perspective. But it the upside is the Christian countries get a guarantee security wise and we get access to the trade and influence in the region. So if you want that, this is going to do that.
Steve Bannon
Okay. Tomorrow we're going to cover this wall to wall. It's at the White House, so we're going to cover this. WALT Pretty historic President Trump's march to a Nobel Prize. EL Todd woods, where do we go to get CDM media? Where do folks go to get all your content?
Todd Woods
CDM Press is the main site where we funnel all of our 13 digital sites into that site. You get it's updated daily. I'm on Real L. Todd Wood on X. And thank you. Steve Good to see you again. You look good.
Steve Bannon
Thank you, brother. Appreciate you. L. TODD woods, Tomorrow peace. It's essentially a peace conference at the White House. We're going to be covering it all day. Our own Brian Glenn will be there. Now I want to turn got Michael Peck. MICHAEL so today the president of the United States on a letter from Tom Cotton, demanded that the board of directors of intel, one of the largest and most important American companies, fire terminate immediately the chief executive officer because of his relationships with the Chinese Communist Party. Kerry Lake has been on a jihad over at Voice of America to say that getting rid of all these different things and basically saying turning it over to the FBI into Capitol Hill police, police. This situation where particularly the Mandarin language service saying, hey, I think there's a nest of agents of influence of the Chinese Communist Party or maybe worse. You spent three years of your life getting tortured and I think eight months of your life running it. Is Kari Lake right? And is President Trump right that they're individuals that have such close relations with the Chinese Communist Party? They're agents of influence and are things like, like Voice of America. Was it infested with Chinese either spies, agents or agents of influence? Sir?
Ben Harnwell
Well, I was pretty shocked to hear what Carrie Lake has uncovered. I think it's a huge achievement that she's found all that stuff out, as she often gives me credit. We began that process when I was There, the end of the first Trump administration, we got notices from odni, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, and OPM that there had been a huge security failure at USAGM, Voice America and the other networks for over 10 years. They failed to clear people fully. A third or a quarter of the people there had not had adequate security clearances, including people with Top Secret clearances. It was an obvious vulnerability. So it was clear and we moved to try to stop it, but we were blocked. Well, I think we started that process and so, yeah, it's been vulnerable. It's been a soft target for a decade. So it's not really surprising that our enemies have used it. Used it. And I had heard when I was there, the beginning of rumors of those things that I was going to look into. It's a disgrace that the Biden administration in the four years since have ignored that and let it fester.
Michael Pack
Hold it.
Steve Bannon
This. I'm shocked. You're saying when you first got there, there was, as you started to investigate, you were already getting from DNI and other agencies that there were problems either with security clearances. People didn't have it hit rewind and hit that for a second. I don't think that's gotten the proper. I don't think it's gotten the proper elevation in the media, sir.
Ben Harnwell
Well, you know, like Carrie Lake, I'm not wanting to spend my time dealing with security issues, but we had these notices from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence and the Office of Personnel Management that had gone on for a decade, series of notices. And I just got the most recent one that we had been ignoring Rose security failures. You know, it's an agency of 4,000 people, and I think over a thousand had failed to get out adequate security clearances, including people with top secret clearances. It was just a vulnerability. It got to the point where people were revoking the agency's ability to clear people. I mean, they were taking steps, and we moved to do that. And I was accused of McCarthyism, of thinking, There's a spy everywhere, the spy under every desk. But in fact, I did not really want to do this investigation, but I was. Was called to do so by the intelligence services of the United States of America. So it was an obvious vulnerability. And I had heard rumors that the CCP was infiltrating the Mandarin service. And even when we were there, we knew that the government of Iran had undue influence in the Farsi service. So it's great that she's uncovering it. It's Just a disgrace that it's gone on so long. And in fact, surely Biden did nothing after we called attention to it. But in fact, there's a record of going back 10 years of both Republican and Democratic administrations ignoring this. When I was on the Federalist Radio Hour, I made this point and I said, you know, we are afraid that spies could utilize these agencies. And I was mocked for using the word spies. My comms department said, if I had only said people in the pay of foreign intelligence services, I wouldn't have been mocked. But what are people in the pay of foreign intelligence services but spies? And even when I was there, one or two of them had been brought to my attention by the FBI and others. So it's great that Carrie Lake is uncovering it. It's long overdue, and it's a sign of how unsupervised these agencies are. As you know, Steve, I wrote a piece recently on the difficulty of reforming these kind of agencies, and I think it's our inability to communicate that adequately that puts Carrie Lake in an impossible position. Whenever Carrie Lake does anything, it looks like she's a lunatic, just like it looked like I was a lunatic. Because there are. We haven't made the case. I think Doge missed a great opportunity by only focusing, as that headline says, on waste, fraud and abuse. That's not the only problem. It seems like everybody would be against waste, fraud, abuse. But of course, they're not. In my article that you highlight there, I give examples from the U.S. agency for Global Media of that failure. But people are not against waste, fraud, and abuse in the government, because the more people you have working for you, the more power you have. But that's only one problem. The other problem is a lot of these agencies, my own included, were doing things that were not, not aligned with what President Trump campaigned on. So when we eliminate, say, DEI programs in an agency, it's not because they're wasteful. We'd be against DEI programs if they were highly efficient. In fact, that might even be worse. So that's another category of problem that Doge ignored. And then finally, there's the problem that you called so much attention to in the first Trump administration. That is the administrative state. There are agencies that are completely unaccountable to the president. And in fact, most of the actual government bureaucracy is essentially unaccountable, like the people on my staff, the career people at the U.S. agency for Global Media, and they undermine the president. But there cannot be a fourth branch of government. So that even if these independent agencies did everything right, they would still be unconstitutional. And we need to bring America back to the vision of the founders, the principles of the Constitution, three branches of government. If President Trump can do anything for the 250th birthday of America, I think the founders would appreciate that. Bringing it back to its constitutional norms.
Tom Dance
Wow.
Steve Bannon
Michael Pack, where do people go to get your films, where they go to get all your content, social media, all of it? Sir, you're an American patriot. And you, sir, are an American hero.
Ben Harnwell
Well, thank you, Steve. They can go to my Palladium Pictures website, which is palladiumpictures.com just to see our videos and our documentaries. Or they could go to the My X account, which is michaelpack underscore, to get my writings. But I encourage people to do both. And I appreciate it, Steve. I appreciate your support.
Steve Bannon
No, you're a hero. Michael Pack was tortured by McConnell and these guys for three and a half years and stuck with it. That's a hero. Michael Pack, thank you so much for joining us here in the War Room. We are back Tomorrow morning at 10:00am Eastern Daylight Time when you will return to the War Room. We're going to leave you with the magnificent music of the Right Stuff. And you get a chance this weekend if you have not watched this film or particularly haven't watched it with your family, I strongly, strongly, strongly recommend it. America at her best. See you tomorrow morning at 10. 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 Tax Network USA. Tnusa.com Bannon do it today. Do not let this thing get ahead of you. Do it today.
Podcast Summary: WarRoom Battleground EP 824
Title: Reality Of A Ceasefire Situation In Ukraine; Cutting The Bureaucratic Bloat
Host: Stephen K. Bannon, WarRoom.org
Release Date: August 7, 2025
In this episode of WarRoom Battleground, host Stephen K. Bannon delves into two pressing issues: the evolving ceasefire situation in Ukraine and the urgent need to address bureaucratic inefficiencies within the U.S. government. Bannon is joined by key experts, including Ben Harnwell from Rome, Michael Pack of Palladium Pictures, Tom Dance from hemispheric defense, and Jessica Jackson, a leader in prison reform advocacy.
Timestamp: 00:03 – 23:24
Steve Bannon opens the discussion by expressing frustration with perceived media biases and emphasizes the importance of national salvation:
Steve Bannon [00:34]: "Ask yourself, what is my task and what is my purpose? If that answer is to save my country, this country will be saved."
Ben Harnwell provides a detailed analysis of the current geopolitical landscape, highlighting breaking news about a potential summit between President Trump and President Putin. He underscores the significance of this meeting, suggesting it could lead to meaningful peace negotiations:
Ben Harnwell [03:43]: "President Trump is in a prime position now to legitimize and restore the integrity of the first administration which was so badly damaged by the Democrats."
Michael Pack adds that the consensus for the summit indicates a genuine possibility for progress:
Michael Pack [09:41]: "These are the first times the two leaders have met since Russia's invasion of Ukraine... something will happen."
The conversation shifts to the war fatigue among Ukrainians, citing a Gallup poll indicating that 70% now favor a negotiated deal with Russia due to prolonged conflict and significant casualties. Protests against military drafting centers exemplify the growing unrest:
Ben Harnwell [09:41]: "People are so frustrated with young guys being press ganged off the streets. They now had protests which sort of raided and entered these military drafting centers."
Bannon draws historical parallels to World War II, emphasizing the human toll and questioning the sustainability of the current conflict:
Steve Bannon [09:41]: "The casualties are horrific here. The Russian casualties are almost unbelievable. But the Ukrainian civilian in particular... Why are my sons and daughters going into this meat grinder?"
Michael Pack counters by questioning the venue of the potential Trump-Putin meeting, suggesting the United Arab Emirates as a possible host, which could influence the dynamics of the negotiation:
Michael Pack [11:19]: "I haven't seen any press confirmations of the venue yet. That has yet still to be announced."
Timestamp: 23:31 – 50:56
Transitioning to hemispheric defense, Tom Dance discusses the strategic importance of the Arctic amidst rising tensions with Russia and China. He emphasizes the need for the U.S. to bolster its presence in the Arctic to counteract Chinese and Russian activities:
Tom Dance [13:50]: "We have a 1500-mile maritime boundary... we have to focus more on our Arctic."
Dance highlights recent Chinese movements in the Arctic, including multiple icebreakers and joint Russian-Chinese military exercises, posing a direct threat to U.S. interests:
Tom Dance [19:00]: "They have five Chinese vessels in icebreakers heading up to the Arctic... Russia and China together in the Pacific taking target practice on mock enemy submarines."
He advocates for reactivating dormant U.S. infrastructures in the Aleutian Islands and increasing naval capabilities to secure critical regions rich in strategic minerals like scandium:
Tom Dance [16:54]: "We need to build more vessels... There's a great first step with the DHS and the Coast Guard."
The discussion underscores the necessity of international collaboration, particularly with NATO allies like the Netherlands, to develop advanced polar research vessels by 2027:
Tom Dance [18:51]: "One of our partners in NATO, the Dutch, has built more icebreakers... end result for the United States will be fantastic."
Bannon reinforces the urgency of these measures, linking them to broader national security concerns:
Steve Bannon [19:44]: "President Trump's not prepared to come and have it, particularly at the level with him and Putin."
Timestamp: 31:04 – 37:42
Jessica Jackson introduces the topic of supervised release, highlighting the challenges faced by individuals re-entering society after incarceration. She shares personal experiences and advocates for reforms to reduce recidivism caused by overly restrictive supervision conditions:
Jessica Jackson [31:49]: "Supervision is supposed to help people rebuild, reconnect and reenter society, not keep families like ours apart."
Bannon commends Jackson's efforts, linking them to broader prison reform movements initiated during President Trump's tenure:
Steve Bannon [34:31]: "President Trump's effort on the First Step Act is absolutely heroic."
Jackson outlines the stark statistics of post-release recidivism and emphasizes the need to alleviate burdensome supervisory conditions that hinder successful reintegration:
Jessica Jackson [34:31]: "About 9% of them ended up going back to prison... they just haven't been able to comply with all of the onerous conditions."
She calls for legislative action to reform federal supervised release programs, which have lagged behind successful state-level initiatives:
Jessica Jackson [37:03]: "We've passed great bills in 22 states... it's mind-blowing that it hasn't been addressed at the federal level."
Timestamp: 43:31 – 51:22
The episode shifts focus to national security, particularly the infiltration of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) within U.S. government media agencies. Ben Harnwell discusses the demand from President Trump and Senator Tom Cotton for the termination of the CEO of Voice of America due to CCP affiliations:
Steve Bannon [43:31]: "Ben Harnwell: ... over a decade of security failures."
Harnwell elaborates on the systemic vulnerabilities, revealing that a significant portion of personnel lacked adequate security clearances, making them susceptible to CCP influence:
Ben Harnwell [46:07]: "Over a thousand had failed to get adequate security clearances... it was an obvious vulnerability."
He criticizes both Republican and Democratic administrations for neglecting these critical security breaches, emphasizing the necessity of accountability:
Ben Harnwell [46:26]: "We are afraid that spies could utilize these agencies... we need to eliminate the administrative state."
Harnwell advocates for a constitutional realignment to ensure that government agencies are accountable to the President and aligned with foundational American principles:
Ben Harnwell [50:44]: "We need to bring America back to the vision of the founders, the principles of the Constitution."
Steve Bannon wraps up the episode by previewing upcoming discussions, including a detailed examination of the Armenia-Azerbaijan peace conference and further exploration of hemispheric defense strategies. He also highlights the ongoing efforts to address bureaucratic inefficiencies and security concerns within U.S. government institutions.
Steve Bannon [51:22]: "We are going to have a panel tomorrow covering this wall to wall... peace conference at the White House."
Listeners are encouraged to follow the guests on various social media platforms and engage with ongoing initiatives to support national security and government reform.
Notable Quotes:
Steve Bannon [00:34]: "Ask yourself, what is my task and what is my purpose? If that answer is to save my country, this country will be saved."
Ben Harnwell [03:43]: "President Trump is in a prime position now to legitimize and restore the integrity of the first administration which was so badly damaged by the Democrats."
Jessica Jackson [31:49]: "Supervision is supposed to help people rebuild, reconnect and reenter society, not keep families like ours apart."
Ben Harnwell [46:26]: "We are afraid that spies could utilize these agencies... we need to eliminate the administrative state."
Takeaways:
Ukraine Ceasefire: There's a significant possibility for peace negotiations spearheaded by President Trump, amidst growing war fatigue in Ukraine.
Arctic Defense: The U.S. must prioritize Arctic defense to counteract Russian and Chinese geopolitical maneuvers, enhancing naval capabilities and international collaborations.
Prison Reform: Reforming supervised release programs is crucial to reduce recidivism and support successful reintegration of formerly incarcerated individuals.
National Security: Addressing security vulnerabilities within U.S. government media agencies is imperative to prevent foreign influence and uphold constitutional principles.
This episode of WarRoom Battleground provides a comprehensive analysis of current geopolitical tensions, internal governmental reforms, and the intersection of national security with broader socio-political issues. Through candid discussions and expert insights, Bannon and his guests underscore the urgent need for strategic action and systemic change.