The O'Reilly Update, March 28, 2026

Summary

Podcast Summary: The O’Reilly Update, March 28, 2026

Host: Bill O’Reilly
Guest/Newsreader: Mike Slater
Date: March 28, 2026

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Main Theme & Purpose

This weekend edition focuses on significant national news events—specifically, government action during the shutdown, executive decisions regarding TSA and Iranian policy, ongoing debates about affirmative action, presidential actions involving US currency, and listener Q&A on timely political issues. Bill O’Reilly and Mike Slater offer analysis on current events with a critical and opinionated angle, consistent with the show’s “No Spin. Just Facts.” ethos.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Government Shutdown & TSA Compensation

[00:10–00:55]

• President announces an executive order to pay TSA workers amid the partial government shutdown (now on day 42), aiming to mitigate chaos at airports.
• O’Reilly and Slater say this is a response to Democratic policies, describing them as having “almost destroyed our country” by allowing 25 million people to enter from “prisons, mental institutions and insane asylums,” including “drug dealers” and “thousands of murderers.”
• Quote (Mike Slater, 00:21):
  “The president announced that he will sign an executive order to pay TSA workers during the partial government shutdown... to quickly stop the Democrat chaos at the airports.”

2. Iran Policy & Energy Strike Pause

[00:55–01:36]

• The president extends a pause on strikes against Iranian energy plants by 10 days, responding to what he claims are overtures from Iran seeking a deal.
• The administration boasts about being ahead of schedule in their mission, framing Iran as having been “decisively defeated” and needing to negotiate, despite public denials.
• Quote (Mike Slater, 01:14):
  “The Iranian regime is now admitting to itself that they’ve been decisively defeated. They now have a chance to make a deal, but that’s up to them.”

3. Medical School Admissions & Affirmative Action

[01:48–02:22]

• Federal investigations open into Stanford, Ohio State, and UCSD for possible misuse of race in admissions post-2023 Supreme Court ruling prohibiting affirmative action.
• Trump administration presses universities to prove compliance and challenges the use of essays as proxies for race.
• Quote (Mike Slater, 02:04):
  “Trump has raised concerns that colleges and universities are using these personal statements as a proxy for race, which he said is illegal discrimination.”

4. President Trump’s Name & Image on US Currency

[02:22–02:51]

• Trump to be first sitting president whose signature will appear on paper US currency; additionally, new coins will feature his image.
• Only precedent: Calvin Coolidge had a dollar coin during his presidency.
• Memorable Fact (Mike Slater, 02:39):
  “Calvin Coolidge was the only other sitting president to have a coin with his image on it.”

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Bill O’Reilly’s Message of the Day: Political Perks, TSA, and Border Policy

[03:32–05:21]

• Delta Airlines suspends all perks to Congress members, including security escorts and preferential screening—a move O’Reilly praises.
• Links the TSA pay issue to a broader political strategy: claims the TSA workers are being used as leverage to impact immigration enforcement.
• Criticizes Senator Chuck Schumer for insisting on judicial warrants for detaining undocumented migrants, calling this an impossible logistical demand.
• Points to Senator Schumer’s past support for open borders, correlating it with over 10 million migrants entering the US under Biden’s term.
• Quote (Bill O’Reilly, 03:54):
  “The failure to pay TSA personnel is a contrived gambit to force Homeland Security to basically stop immigration enforcement.”
• Argues that by holding up TSA pay, politicians are “using TSA agents as hostages to try to achieve” immigration policy goals.
• Summary: While Schumer’s approach is likely to fail, O’Reilly says “everybody suffers” from these political tactics.

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Listener Mail Segment: Iran, Trump’s Legal Status, Nukes

[05:24–07:29]

• Iran and Uprising (05:21–06:18):

  • Responds to a listener on whether recent events have only delayed Iran’s nuclear plans.
  • O’Reilly argues a surrendering deal could trigger an uprising from the Iranian people after the regime loses face.
  • Quote (Bill O’Reilly, 05:50):
    “The thinking is that if the Iranians sign a deal pretty much surrendering… they will lose so much face. Okay, that the Islamists would be so angry. It’ll be easier for the people to rise up after the deal and throw them out. Hopeful thinking, wishful thinking.”

• Trump’s Conviction Appeal (06:18–06:43):

  • Addresses inquiry about a protest referring to Trump as a “convicted felon.”
  • Says the appeal in the New York criminal case is underway, predicts conviction will be overturned, but comments that NY legal processes are slow.
  • Quote (Bill O’Reilly, 06:36):
    “It takes forever. This is New York State. It takes forever.”

• Countries with Nuclear Weapons (07:04–07:21):

  • Lists: U.S., Russia, China, UK, France, Israel, Pakistan, India; mentions unclear status for North Korea, and South Africa’s disarmament claim.

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Historical Context: Affirmative Action in America

[07:51–11:41]

• Deep dive into the origins, evolution, and controversies of affirmative action.
• Explains the policy’s beginnings under JFK, key court cases, and the landmark 1987 Johnson v. Transportation Agency Supreme Court decision.
• Describes growing backlash, pointing out the 2023 Supreme Court ruling against Harvard and ongoing debates over university admissions practices.
• Shares current Pew poll data—country remains split on support for affirmative action.
• Quote (Bill O’Reilly, 10:29):
  “In 2023, the Supreme Court ruled that race-based admissions at Harvard University were direct violation of the equal protection clause of the 14th Amendment. Regardless, many colleges continue to make race a factor in their admission process.”

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Democrats and Immigration:
  Mike Slater, 00:14:
  “They almost destroyed our country, allowing 25 million people to enter from prisons, mental institutions and insane asylums, those that are drug dealers and thousands of murderers…”

• On Using TSA Agents as Hostages:
  Bill O’Reilly, 04:28:
  “Now Schumer wants all but extremely dangerous migrants to stay in the country, and is using TSA agents as hostages to try to achieve that.”

• On Delta’s Ban on Congressional Perks:
  Bill O’Reilly, 03:37:
  “Good for Delta.”

• On Affirmative Action Backlash:
  Bill O’Reilly, 11:16:
  “Today, the public remains mostly split on the issue. According to a poll from Pew, 36% think affirmative action is a good thing, 29% a bad thing, 33% have no opinion at all.”

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Timestamps for Major Segments

• Opening Headlines and Presidential Orders: [00:10–02:51]
• Delta Airlines & Message of the Day: [03:32–05:21]
• Mailbag (Iran, Trump Legal, Nukes): [05:24–07:29]
• Historical Context: Affirmative Action: [07:51–11:41]

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Overall Tone and Style

The episode maintains an assertive, critical tone—leveraging pointed critiques of Democratic policies and presenting O’Reilly’s analysis as pragmatic and no-nonsense. The news segment (Mike Slater) is brisk and heavy with context, while O’Reilly’s commentary and mailbag add personal perspective, direct listener engagement, and in-depth historical background.

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Summary Takeaways

• The episode spotlights contentious presidential and Congressional actions around the government shutdown, border security, and Iran policy.
• O’Reilly ties current events to wider themes of political gamesmanship, national security, and longstanding American debates on race and justice.
• Listener Q&A segments provide further clarification and additional context on breaking stories and perennial issues.
• The analysis is unabashedly right-leaning and detailed, providing both news updates and an argumentative analysis for listeners seeking a conservative viewpoint.

Transcript

[Bill O'Reilly]

Foreign.

Here you are listening to the weekend edition of the O'Reilly update. Coming up next, the news with Mike Slater.

[Mike Slater]

Thanks, Bill. Here's what's happening this week in America. Pay the tsa begging for a deal, med school discrimination and signature on money. That's all coming up. Then Bill's gonna be here with your message of the day. But first, the president announced that he will sign an executive order to pay TSA workers during the partial government shutdown. Speaking of Democrats, he wrote, they almost destroyed our country, allowing 25 million people to enter from prisons, mental institutions and insane asylums, those that are drug dealers and thousands of murderers, many of whom killed more than one person. I'm going to sign an order instructing the secretary of Homeland Security, Mark Wayne Mullen, who was just confirmed the other day, to immediately pay our TSA agents in order to address this emergency situation and to quickly stop the Democrat chaos at the airports. We are now on day 42 of this partial government shutdown. The president said he is extending the pause on strikes of Iranian energy plants by 10 days, stating that Iran is begging to make a deal. He wrote, as per Iranian government request, please let this statement serve to represent that I am pausing the period of energy plant destruction by 10 days to Monday, April 6, 2026 at 8:00pm Eastern. He said in the Oval Office yesterday we estimated it would take approximately four to six weeks to achieve our mission. 26 days in, we are extremely, really a lot ahead of schedule. The Iranian regime is now admitting to itself that they've been decisively defeated. They now have a chance to make a deal, but that's up to them. And they'll tell you, we're not negotiating. We will not negotiate. Of course they're negotiating. They've been obliterated.

[Bill O'Reilly]

Who?

[Mike Slater]

Who wouldn't negotiate? The federal government has opened up investigations into how race is considered an emissions at three medical schools, Stanford University, Ohio State and University of California, San Diego. There was a 2023 Supreme Court decision forbidding affirmative action in college admissions. And the Trump administration is demanding that these universities show proof that they are abiding by this Supreme Court decision. The Supreme Court said that race could be considered if the student talks about how it has affected their life in a student essay, for example. But Trump has raised concerns that colleges and universities are using these personal statements as a proxy for race, which he said is illegal discrimination. President Trump, his signature will be added to future US Paper currency. He will become the first sitting president whose name will appear on paper money. Also, two coins with his image will be on them, a dollar coin and a special 24 karat commemorative gold coin. Calvin Coolidge was the only other sitting president to have a coin with his image on it. I'm Mike Slater. YouTube.com politicsbyfaith Bill O'Reilly has your message of the day next,

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[Bill O'Reilly]

Time now for the O'Reilly update. Message of the day. Delta Airlines has cut off all perks to Congress people flying out of Washington, D.C. the company has suspended personal security escorts as well as preferential security screening. Good for Delta. The failure to pay TSA personnel is a contrived gambit to force Homeland Security to basically stop immigration enforcement. Senator Charles Schumer is demanding judicial warrants be issued before undocumented foreign nationals are detained. Schumer well knows that's impossible. There aren't enough judges in our entire country to analyze millions of immigration cases. When President Biden decided to open the southern border to migrants, more than 10 million poured in here during his catastrophic four year term. Senator Schumer had no problem with that, despite the chaos that followed. Now Schumer wants all but extremely dangerous migrants to stay in the country and is using TSA agents as hostages to try to achieve that. Who gets hurt? We do. Waiting on lines for hours, Schumer is likely to fail. But in the meantime, everybody suffers. I'm Bill O'Reilly. I approve the message by writing it. You can reach me billorilly.com, billorilly.com name in town.

If you wish to opine, go to the mail.

Robert Land, Chabolo, Texas. Bill said the mullahs will continue to lead Iran.

That is so. Then all that has happened was only delaying the nuclear plans. Has the window for Iranian uprising closed?

No.

But the thinking is that if the Iranians sign a deal pretty much surrendering to America and Israel, they will lose so much face. Okay, that the Islamists would be so angry. It'll be easier for the people to rise up after the deal and throw them out. Hopeful thinking, wishful thinking.

But remember, any deal is going to

have American inspectors coming in to look at the uranium situation. So it's not going to be able to reconstitute it.

John Newport, R.I. there's a no Kings

protest in Middletown, which is just north of Newport. One of the headliners refers to President Trump as a convicted felon to please investigate the status of the NYC criminal case appeal.

It's underway.

I don't expect, I expect the conviction to be overturned.

It takes forever.

This is New York State. It takes forever. ROSANNA salient, where does Rosanna live? She doesn't tell me. Now, Roseanne, I'm going to scold you, okay?

Got to tell me where you live.

Neyman Town.

Hey, Bill, what countries beside the U.S.

and Russia have nuclear weapons?

Here they are, China, U.K. france, Israel, Pakistan, India.

Now South Africa says it did away

with whatever nuke it had. And North Korea.

We just don't know about what their status is. But the others have nukes.

In a moment,

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[Bill O'Reilly]

Something you might not know. Now the O'Reilly update brings you something you might not know. 39 years ago, the Supreme Court issued a landmark decision. In a 6 to 3 ruling, the justices said organizations can consider race and gender when hiring new employees. Here is the story behind affirmative action in America. The term was first coined by President John F. Kennedy, who believed race and gender hiring decisions were necessary to promote civil rights and reduce the lasting legacy of slavery. The issue divided the nation. Supporters say affirmative action is necessary to correct historical injustices. Critics say it is a direct violation of constitutional rights for equal treatment. In 1978, Paul Johnson, a male worker at the Santa Clara County, California Transportation Agency, filed a lawsuit after he was passed over for a promotion. Though he scored higher on the test, the position was ultimately given to a female employee. On March 25, 1987, the Supreme Court sided with Santa Clara county and against Mr. Johnson. The justices ruled that race and gender could be considered when hiring, firing, promoting or demoting employees. Nearly four decades later, affirmative action is a part of everyday life in America. Policies designed to increase underrepresented communities are now required in almost every city, corporation and educational institution in the usa. And here's something else you might not know. A backlash against these policies is now growing. In 2023, the Supreme Court ruled that race based admissions at Harvard University were direct violation of the equal protection clause of the 14th Amendment. Regardless, many colleges continue to make race a factor in their admission process. Today, the public remains mostly split on the issue. According to a poll from Pew, 36% think affirmative action is a good thing, 29% a bad thing, 33% have no opinion at all. Back in a moment.

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[Bill O'Reilly]

that is the weekend edition of the O'Reilly update. For more news and honest analysis, please go to billoreilly.com.