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Podcast Host (possibly Julian)
all right, we gotta talk about Joe Kent. Because what started as a controversial resignation over the Iran war is rapidly turning into one of the most dangerous intelligence scandals of this administration. And honestly, things are looking more nefarious by the second. So we've got the story behind the story on Joe Kent. And then once again, it seems that Trump is playing 4D chess, possibly switching Russia back to the petrodollar, utilizing the Strait of Hormuz crisis to crush the BRICS nation's agenda. Trish Regan is here to tell us what the heck is really going on. And as always, if you're digging the show, please like, comment, share and subscribe. It helps us out a ton with the algorithm. Here we go. Keeping it real with Jillian Michaels. Joe Kent, Trump's director of the National Counterterrorism Center. He stepped down over Operation Epic Fury a little over a week ago and he stirred up a solid amount of controversy, sending rumors swirling, including ones that come from a pretty credible source suggesting that Joe Kent was the FBI employee leaking info to Candace Owens regarding Charlie Kirk's assassination. And honestly, when you take a closer look at this, which we're going to be doing today, the whole thing is really bizarre. So on its face, here are the reasons that Kent cited for his resignation. First, he says that Iran posed no imminent threat. Kent stated that he could not in good conscience support the conflict because he claims the intelligence did not show Iran posing any immediate danger to the American homeland. Second, the Israel lobby. So he bluntly claimed that the United States only initiated this war due to pressure from Israel and its powerful American lobby. And third, a misinformation campaign. So he accused high ranking Israeli officials and pro war American media pundits of running a coordinated deception campaign to undermine the America first platform and trick the administration into a disastrous, never ending Middle Eastern conflict. Tell me when legacy media could trick all of our intelligence agencies into a war. But, you know, whatever, let's, let's keep going. I want to examine these claims and then get into some of the crazier rumors and accusations. Now, off the top, I have to give it to Joe Kent. He's a former Green Beret. This Guy has done 11 combat tours. He's a badass. And his first wife was an absolute badass. She was a Navy cryptologist who would deploy with the seals. And she was tragically killed by an ISIS suicide bomber in Syria in 2019. And I also want to point out that the President himself is the one who, who tapped Kent to become the Director of Counterintelligence. So this is not a guy who can be casually dismissed as a kook or a quack, but that double edged sword cuts both ways. And I say this because Kent's total 180 of the issues at hand make no sense. Why the sudden flip flop in the last three months? I mean, the guy certainly Kent claim that new info came to light that made him reverse his Middle Eastern policy opinions entirely. I mean, Kent claims Iran is not an imminent threat, but Kent himself has gone on the record numerous times, by the way, for years stating that Iran is a threat and must be dealt with. Here's one of his tweets to the President that resurfaced from back in 2020 and it says at the real Donald Trump, we shouldn't sit back and wait for the next attack. Wipe Iran's ballistic capability out and get our troops out of Iraq. They're only targets now. No US wounded in action or killed in action is a tribute to the professionalism of our military and intel. Meaning if there are no deaths and there are no injuries, it's not because Iran didn't try to kill our people. It's because they were so awesome they managed to evade death. All right, and then we've got a clip of Kent going on Sean Ryan's podcast as recently as 2025 stating that our troops have been attacked over 150 times by Iranian proxies. Take a look.
Military Analyst or Veteran Commentator
They're still registering for the draft, aren't they? Like that's, that's the logical conclusion to the direction that we're heading in right now unless we make some serious changes.
Podcast Host (possibly Julian)
I mean, it's already, it's. I've already heard rumors that fifth group is going to be sending guys to
Military or Defense Expert
Iraq because of the escalated situation with Iran.
Podcast Host (possibly Julian)
Now.
Military Analyst or Veteran Commentator
Yeah, I mean, most Americans aren't aware of it.
Victor Davis Hanson
We've.
Military Analyst or Veteran Commentator
Our troops in Iraq and Syria have been attacked 150 plus times by Iranian proxies. And when we say Iranian proxies, we got to be clear on what that is. That's the Iraq government that we pay. Because after the Iraqi military we spent 2 trillion on surrendered to ISIS, we had to go back in there in very short order and stand a military back up again. And guess who filled the breach? The Shia militias controlled by Iran did. And the Iraqi government's controlled by Iran.
Joe Kent
So these are.
Podcast Host (possibly Julian)
And one more for good measure, here's Sebastian Gorka. He's the deputy assistant to the President himself. He's the senior director for counterterrorism and a longtime friend of Kent's, saying that up until only three months ago, Kent was singing a different tune.
Interviewer or Host
Wrote in his resignation letter, iran posed no imminent threat to our nation and it is clear that we started this war due to pressure from Israel and its powerful American lobby. In response, you wrote on X, quote, he was a man without honor and you disgrace. Just to be clear, was he wrong about those allegations?
Sebastian Gorka
Well, you could ask him. Because three months ago he said the exact opposite of what he said in his disgraceful resignation letter. So either he was lying then or he's lying now. Or most likely because he's not a principal, he's not a cabinet member. He is not in those meetings where that exquisite intelligence is provided. He said, Iran has to be dealt with. The President is correct. A scant a few weeks ago. So what changed, Joe?
Interviewer or Host
What do you think?
Sebastian Gorka
Personally speaking, I stand by what I said. He's an utter disgrace. Well, I'll tell you the voicemail I left him yesterday, you are an utter disgrace to the uniform you once wore to the republic for which it stands. And the fact that you used the name of your late wife is a political cudgel against the elected president. Commander in chief is utterly inexcusable.
Podcast Host (possibly Julian)
So this flip flop is just totally bizarre. It's bizarre. It's one thing for this guy to know nothing and give information, but he was hired because of his knowledge base. And he's been consistent throughout his entire career, claiming that Iran was a threat until three months ago, which also strangely coincides with when Kent was supposedly put under investigation by the FBI. So a senior official from inside the Trump administration apparently told Fox News as well as NBC News that Kent was being investigated for being a known leaker. So, of course, Kent denies this. And Kent was left out of the President's intelligence briefings, which I find totally odd. But what's even more odd is, is who he's rumored to have been leaking information to. So, according to administration and law enforcement sources cited by outlets like Axios Notice and the New York Times, Kent is suspected of sharing secret intelligence and details of a presidential meeting with disaffected MAGA media figures. Most notably, the reports specifically name Tucker Carlson and at least one other podcaster as the primary alleged recipients of this leaked information. And now Charlie Kirk's friend, Rabbi Pesach Waliki Hope I'm pronouncing that right. Claims that Kent was the person leaking information about Charlie Kirk's death to Candace Owens.
Anonymous Insider or Investigator
Joe Kent was someone that we. We knew that there was a relationship there between Charlie and Andrew and Joe. We knew that when Charlie would visit Washington, D.C. he would talk to Joe. And we kind of put two and two together. And eventually, I'll leave out some of the details that I shouldn't say. We've. We kind of verified that the messages had been given by Andrew to Joe Kent and that Joe Kent had been the one to pass them on to Candace. And I was thinking about this when I saw that interview that Tucker did with, you know, so Tucker did this interview with Joe, and Joe was talking about the Charlie Kirk assassination. And you have to remember that Candace kept saying that she has information from the. From the top levels, that there's questions to be asked. Okay. This is all Joe Kent because he's the head of county. Now. You have to think of it. Think of it from Candace's perspective. This is someone who's the head of the Counter Terrorism center, and he's saying that there's something there, right? And he. But he gave her the text messages. So when he was on that, when he was being interviewed by Tucker and he said to Tucker, well, you know, we all know about the text messages which were made public. That was his exact words, which were made public.
Podcast Host (possibly Julian)
Now, what seems to provide some circumstantial evidence that this might be true is that before the ink on this guy's resignation letter was even dry, he begins a press tour. So he's lined up to speak alongside Candace Owens and appear immediately on Tucker Carlson's podcast. So Is it a coincidence or is it premeditation? Even stranger. Okay, an organization called Honest Reporting found that Joe Kent's clip on Tucker Carlson, the one asserting that the Israelis drove the decision to go to war with Iran, that was clipped and posted across hundreds of accounts almost simultaneously. Now, this wasn't minutes after it trended. This was during the broadcast. And then there's the claim that we're only in Iran because of Israeli misinformation. Okay, well, here's Kent talking about how we have to support our ally Israel against Iran's terror proxy, Hamas.
Joe Kent
Today we learned that Marie Peres is taking money from pro Hamas, anti Israel Pramila Jayapal. But most importantly, we know that Marie Peres voted against giving Israel the military support it needed following the terrorist attacks of October 7th. That's right. After Hamas terrorists went into Israel, killed 1500 civilians in the most horrific way as possible, and took American citizens hostages, Marie Peres voted not to give Israel any assistance, leaving our American hostages high and dry, leaving our ally, the Israelis, high and dry in their fight against Hamas. Her record matters here. Her rhetoric doesn't. But today we also learned exactly why she's voting the way that she's voting. She's receiving money from Pramila Jayapal to vote against Israel and for Hamas. Pramila Jayapal gets out there and says it all out loud on the news, while Marie Perez quietly takes the check and votes accordingly. We cannot afford to have leadership like this. We need people who understand exactly what threats we face here and as a country. Marie Perez also voted to leave our troops in the Middle east as Iranian proxies continue to shoot at them. We don't have time for incompetent leadership like this. She is going to get people killed. This is completely and totally unacceptable. I know exactly what dangers that we face. I spent the vast majority of my adult life fighting terrorists overseas. I need your help to take out Marie Perez here in 2024. Please go to joe KentForCongress.com to support my campaign. Thank you very much and God bless.
Podcast Host (possibly Julian)
What I also find crazy is that he's pointing out, I believe this was in his run for Congress. Right? He's pointing out that the person running against him was paid off. Weird. I want to know how we went from Kent's claim that Israel has filled our president's head with misinformation to trick him into going to war with Iran. And the Kent that we just watched saying we have to defend Israel from Iran. How do we.
Trish Regan
What?
Podcast Host (possibly Julian)
How. What am I missing?
Trish Regan
Here.
Podcast Host (possibly Julian)
And by the way, Trump has always maintained a zero tolerance policy when it comes to the Islamic regime. Here's Victor Davis Hansen laying it out for us.
Victor Davis Hanson
I don't know what Kent means when he's. They tried to kill Trump. They tried to kill Pompeo. They put a, they put a hit out on John Bolton. They tried to kill the Saudi ambassador in Washington D.C. this is, aside from what they're doing. They just killed 30,000 people. They butchered them. And we were told that there was genocide and all this going on in Gaza was a war zone. This wasn't a war zone. They just took and went in and slaughtered their own people. So there was a lot, there was a lot of provocations. And I, I don't. Other, I don't. Otherwise I don't see why a person joins an administration when you know what the administration is going to do. Because the Internet, as we're reminded now, Jack, is awash with clips of John, of Donald Trump going back to. Have you seen these things? I have 30 years. We've got to take out. Right at 1980, he should have taken out Iran after the hostages. You've got to take Cargill. And he's been saying it for years. And he was never a MAGA isolationist. He never said that. He said forever wars that were fought stupidly. He was a Jacksonian from the get go. No better friend, no worse enemy. Don't tread on me. We don't want to go in there. But you keep pushing it, pushing it. Soleimani, isis, Baghdadi, keep pushing it. Keep cutting people's heads off, keep killing Americans. We're going to hit you and then we're going to say, make you great. Bye. See you, wouldn't want to be you. And we don't want to get an endless ground war. That was what he always said he was going to do.
Podcast Host (possibly Julian)
So Victor Davis Hansen is one of the greatest military historians of all time. He's a renowned political pundit. So you're telling me Victor Davis Hansen's getting it wrong? Condoleezza Rice is getting it wrong. All of our intelligence agencies are getting it wrong. The previous incarnation of Kent for decades, he also got it wrong. Nobody would be incapable of ferreting out Israeli misinformation. And despite the fact that the President himself has maintained his stance of a hard line with Iran for 45 years, all of a sudden Israeli misinformation is what moved him to take action. He's already taken action. It all just, I, it all seems so far fetched. Guys. If one was to say, hey, Trump promised us no new wars and no war with Iran, Trump's current position is going to be that this isn't a new war, he's already told us. It's a series of strategic strikes to amend or replace a horrific regime that slaughters its own citizens, funds terror, promises, death to America, destabilizes the Middle east and is of course a top ally to America's top adversaries. And when it comes to the Israel lobby, this is where you lose me again. Because they get outspent by nations like Qatar to the tune of billions. And out of all the Arab nations, Qatar's the one that didn't come out and back Operation Epic Fury like Saudi Arabia did. Here are a few possible reasons why okay, Qatar notoriously has complex ties to Iran and its terror proxies, and this stems from a mix of geographic necessity and deliberate geopolitical balancing, because Qatar shares the world's largest natural gas reservoir with Iran. And if you remember, they relied heavily on Tehran for survival during the 2017 Gulf blockade, which was over the fact that they refused to label the Muslim Brotherhood a terrorist organization, like Saudi and UAE did.
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Podcast Host (possibly Julian)
So Doha maintains a deeply pragmatic cooperative relationship with the Iranian regimental. Qatar is a critical political and financial safe haven for Iran's terror proxy network, despite the fact that they host the largest U.S. military base in the Middle East. Qatar also openly hosts the political headquarters of Hamas for over a decade, and they have facilitated the transfer of hundreds of millions of dollars to these terror organizations. Funds, the critics argue, directly enabled Hamas's military and terrorist infrastructure. And furthermore, the United States Treasury Department has explicitly sanctioned multiple Qatar based financial facilitators for working closely with Iranian elements to launder and funnel tens of millions of dollars directly to the military wings of Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, cementing the country's highly controversial role as both a Western diplomatic mediator, but also a vital lifeline for Tehrans militant network. Now, I bring this up because I promise you, Qatar did not want us to attack Iran. So if money talks here, Qatar spent more, lots more, billions more, and Trump still attacked Iran. So if Trump is such a puppet and he's a bitch for the money, and everybody in the administration is a bitch for the money, Qatar's got more money, much bigger bag. And what's also ironic about Kent's concerns regarding misinformation is that his new wife works with a publication called the Gray Zone. So this is the same self proclaimed independent news organization that started the rumor that Charlie Kirk was killed by Israel. And when that happened, I looked into the Gray Zone and its founder, Max Blumenthal. After Charlie's assassination, of course, and here's what I learned. In June of 2024, the Washington Post published a major investigation that appeared to link the site's leadership directly. Directly to the Iranian government's payroll. Okay, and then there's China. So while we don't have leaked financial ledgers from China to the gray zone, researchers point to a system where Chinese state media has heavily promoted gray zone articles. And of course, this is going to act as a massive operational incentive that provides the gray zone with global reach, traffic, and audience growth in exchange for narrative alignment. And finally, you got Russia. So turns out the key gray zone of figures like the founder himself, Max Blumenthal, and one of his key editors, Wyatt Reid, have contributed to and been employed by Russian state media outlets like RT and Sputnik. And additionally, there are reports from the Institute for Strategic Dialogue and others that show official Russian government and embassy accounts systematically coordinating to amplify gray zone content. Kent's wife works with this organization. Let that sink in for just a moment. Weird. Weird. I think weird is gentle. I think that's a gentle way of looking at it. He's literally mirroring many of their talking points. So now let's circle back to whether or not Iran posed an imminent threat to the United States. So while Kent is on Tucker's show, all right, he says the Iranian regime has a religious ruling of fatwa against using nukes. But it turns out that that isn't really the case, as my friend Kaizen Asiadu ends up exposing here. Was Iran on the verge of getting a nuclear weapon?
Joe Kent
No, they weren't. You know three weeks ago when this, this started.
Military Analyst or Veteran Commentator
And they weren't in June either.
Joe Kent
I mean, the, the Iranians have had a religious ruling, a fatwa, against actually developing a nuclear weapon since 2004.
Kaizen Asiadu
Okay, he's saying the Islamic Republic has a rule against using nukes. But how much do you trust the rule? Would you trust it if you found out that the rule was never written, just spoken? What if you knew that all the other fatwas were listed on the Supreme Leader's website, but not this one? And what if in 2021, Iran's intelligence minister said of that rule, but a cornered cat may behave differently from when the cat is free? And why did 71 of their own parliament members call for changing the unwritten rule? And if the rule is ironclad, why did the Islamic Republic enrich 440 kilograms of uranium to 60% when there's no peaceful use for uranium at 60%? But let's grant that it's just a deterrent. Well, if it's a deterrent, doesn't that only work if we believe there's a chance they'll use it? If the rule is real, it's not a deterrence. If it's a deterrent, the rule isn't real. So you tell me, should we believe what they're saying or what they're doing? Look, you should have a healthy skepticism of US And Israeli politicians, but can you spare some leftovers for the guys who hanged an athlete for protesting today, killed thousands of people for protesting in a month, and have raped women in prison for years? But maybe you think, well, North Korea has a bomb and they haven't used it, they just got it to protect themselves from. From the U.S. okay, well, is the Islamic Republic like North Korea and just trying to preserve their own life, or are they the kind of people who arm suicide bombers because they welcome death? What if they name their streets after child suicide bombers? Does that sound like North Korea to you or something else? Look, it's fine to disagree with the President, but when you hear people say Iran definitely didn't want a nuke, there's definitely not an imminent threat and we definitely shouldn't be at war. Ask yourself what makes them so sure.
Podcast Host (possibly Julian)
Come on, guys. Given Kent's background in counterintelligence and Middle Eastern politics, I find it hard to believe that he doesn't see the non written fatwa as an intentional deception. Okay. And he would also be well aware that enrichment of uranium up to 60% is not meant for simply turning on street lights. Now let's Play devil's advocate here, okay? To his credit, you need 90 plus percent enrichment for a nuclear bomb. And the White House itself did say that they wiped out Iran's nuclear program during Operation Midnight hammer in summer 2025. So while Iran was likely rebuilding, right, one would still presume that the threat of nukes isn't imminent. But what about terror proxies or ballistic missiles? We now know that Iran took the money they got from the Obama administration and during the Biden Admin to fund terror and build their missile program.
O
To say that there are a lot of tensions within this regime that may come to play. And whatever we do, I hope we keep pressing for maximum pressure on this regime. One of the really big mistakes of the Biden administration was returning that money to the Iranians because we know what they did with it. They didn't relieve the economic plight of their own people. They started funding Hezbollah again. They funded Hamas and by the way found out because somebody leaked the budget. If you keep maximum pressure on this regime borrowing from Kennan, do you want to deny them the easy course of external expansion until they have to turn to deal with their own internal contradictions? And this regime is one big internal contradiction. It is unpopular, it may well be unstable, it is deeply penetrated by its enemy, Israel. And so maybe it takes some time. But I wouldn't just write that the Iranian regime has, quote, survived this. We will see, we will see in the future.
Podcast Host (possibly Julian)
We also know that they were getting weapons from China and North Korea. So many are still not convinced. But guess what happened over the past weekend, Iran sent an intermediate range ballistic missile toward a UK military base that was 4,000 kilometers away from Iran. Let's take a look.
Military or Defense Expert
One of the things we hear a lot about in these conflicts is an escalation ladder. And when Iran fired the intermediate range ballistic missiles at Diego Garcia that Trey mentioned, 4,000 kilometers from Iran, that was an escalation that not only stunned the US but the entire world. Because Iran had not publicly stated that they had anything that could go more than 2,000 kilometers. And yet here, now we know they have two 4,000 kilometer range intermediate missiles that fortunately did not impact anything. But it's a warning, it's a message that they have these capabilities that they didn't publicly state. In fact, under President Obama's jcpoa, there was no restriction on Iran's missile capabilities. They said they weren't building it. Now we know. And what is the danger? Why is the world on notice? Because look, from Rome, Munich, Paris, London, Berlin, Oslo, all now within this radius, these capitals, in many of these capitals in these countries do not have the missile interceptor technology like we have and like Israel has. So should a nuclear tipped intermediate range ballistic missile be fired at one of these capitals, it could change the trajectory of humanity as we know it.
Podcast Host (possibly Julian)
Now, I want to go full blown America first. F the allies, right, they could take out all of Europe. We don't care. Iran's missiles still can't reach the United States, which means they're not an imminent threat. I'm going to do the mea culpa here. I'm going to give it to you. They're not an immediate threat.
Trish Regan
All right?
Podcast Host (possibly Julian)
But if this is the case, I still don't understand why would anyone want to wait until they are one? What is the logic or the upside of waiting until Iran is stronger and better equipped? I have yet to see a convincing argument on waiting to deal with Iran. And ultimately, Iran has bragged about being a threat. They have shouted death to America for decades. They've made their intentions very clear. They slaughter and torture their own people routinely. They told Witkoff and Kushner they have enough uranium for 11 bombs. They have attempted to assassinate our President. Their terror proxies have attacked the US and our allies for decades. They've killed hundreds of our soldiers. And Kent himself said so. His wife was one of those soldiers. The Saudi Crown Prince himself likened the Ayatollah to Hitler. But again, I'm going to defer to world class military historian Victor Davis Hanson to explain this again.
Victor Davis Hanson
But let's just review what's taking place right now. For the second time, we're bombing Iran. And this time the negotiations clearly were not going to lead to this 47 year old problem resolution. Iran's theocracy has no intention of stopping nuclear proliferation. It wants a bomb to dominate the Middle east, to intimidate the petro kingdoms of the Gulf, to show its dominance over Sunni Islam and to destroy eventually Israel, threaten Europe for blackmail, concessions and eventually us. We've known that every president, all seven of them before Trump said that. And they were going to take care of the problem or prevent it from exacerbating. None did anything. Trump tried to negotiate, take out the nuclear facilities and then he learned that they were still trying to, after the bombing, restore them, expand their Russia, North Korean, Chinese ballistic missile force, ensure that nobody they ever had such deterrence that nobody would dare attack them again. And Trump did. And this time his plan is to removed either now or so detrite the theocracy that it would Be it would erode in the next few months by a popular uprising or maybe have a Venezuela solution. Barring that, at least make it inert militarily.
Podcast Host (possibly Julian)
Okay, so listen, I completely understand the people who say not one life is worth it. And I know that if it was one of my kids, there's nothing in the world that would be worth it to me. But that said, for Kent, the argument isn't sound. We've lost 14 servicemen and women since Epic Furry began several weeks back. And it's understandable that people are really upset over that. Rightfully so, of course, but where is the upset about the Americans the Iranian regime has taken from us while we weren't at war with them over the last 47 years? It's far more than 14 people. So if this works, right, if Trump pulls this off, it could end up not just saving Iranian lives or Israeli lives or European lives, but American lives as well. And as always, I want you guys to reach your own conclusions. My opinion on these matters should always be absolutely irrelevant, to be fair, but for the sake of entertainment, here it is. Okay, I don't buy Kent's story at all. Joe Kent was put in charge of the National Counterterrorism center because he knew exactly who the enemy was. And somewhere along the line, the reality of that threat was traded for foreign backed misinformation. And that coincides with Tucker Carlson's change of heart. Candace Owens change of heart. And as mentioned, these people know this stuff inside out. And suddenly there's an epiphany that invalidated decades of knowledge and expertise that would literally be like me just out of the blue saying big food is fantastic. Ultra processed foods, they're healthy. You would call bullshit so fast. I just do not think that any of this is a coincidence. I think it's coordination and I think it's coordination by the same people that are paying the gray zone, that are amplifying this message through bot accounts that are buying off both legacy and new media. I think all of this is a projection. The ones that are labeling people genocidal Zionists because they don't blame Israel for all of the world's problems, or neocons because they entertain the concern that Iran does pose some kind of a threat at some point, or Islamophobes because they think the Iranian regime is evil. Those people are not the ones who've had an about face. And by the way, seven grand, everybody's getting paid seven grand by Israel. That is nothing for these monster sized podcasters. You think Ben Shapiro and I'm not. Listen, I don't agree with everything Ben Shapiro says, but do you? He's loaded. You think he's doing this for seven grand? You think Victor Davis Hansen is doing this for seven grand? Condoleezza Rice wants her seven grand, Guys, Come on. Or me. I mean, not to be an a hole here, but I don't need the seven grand. I don't need it. I turned down a lot more money from big food and big pharma. I don't need the seven grand. I happen to think the shoe is on the other foot. And I think that the ones who made the sudden about face are the ones in the position of being paid. And not to the tune of seven grand, but rather millions. All I can tell you is that on this show, we're going to keep tracking this FBI investigation closely to see who else is involved and how deep these ties to organizations like the Gray Zone really go. Because when you strip away the spin here, the only people truly benefiting from this orchestrated outrage is the Iranian regime, the terror networks that want to see America fail. Okay, when we come back, Trish Regan is going to be here and she's talking to us all about the 4D chess that Trump seems to be playing with. The straight of Hormuz. High blood pressure is the number one risk factor for mortality. And one in two adults has it. So that means there's a 50, 50 chance. You're a walking dime bomb. But here's the good news. 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Trish Regan
Well, the straight of Hormuz is obviously really, really, really, really important, Julian, to the overall oil markets.
Podcast Host (possibly Julian)
Right?
Trish Regan
You've got about 20% of the world's supply, so not necessarily our oil per se, but you can think of it like our oil versus their oil because oil is priced in dollars, right? We're going to get to that. It's priced in dollars. And so it's a global supply that you're talking about. So if you shut off 20% of the world's supply, it doesn't matter if it's over there next to Iran and it's only China that's getting its oil from there. It matters in that it affects the overall supply, therefore creating pressure on pricing. And that's why you've seen oil kind of go crazy and people are freaking out. Oh, my gosh, they're, you know, how are we going to get this oil? What's it going to mean for oil prices? We've just shut off 20% of the supply. So if you can curtail that anxiety by making sure that the strait is open and the strait is safe and you're ensuring the flow of oil for decades to come, that's a big fricking deal. That's a big deal for oil markets overall, and it means less pressure, therefore less anxiety in pricing. Lower oil prices is really important at a time like this, especially as we go into, into an AI driven economy and we need a ton of energy for this stuff. Right?
Podcast Host (possibly Julian)
Okay. Okay.
Trish Regan
So I know it's a lot.
Podcast Host (possibly Julian)
So my question is, right, is everyone's kind of freaking about, out about the temporary pain of, oh my gosh, you know, they're, they're closing the straight and now we have an oil shortage and everything's costing more. Like, I got all of that. I'm following you. But it seems like the big picture here is that if we can take the initial hit and solve this problem in the long term, and we're working to control the strait with arguably an amended regime in Iran, or, you know, a regime that, God willing, would become pro west, that the benefit of this, the upside Should Trump be able to pull it off would be huge in the long run.
Trish Regan
Without a doubt. Without a doubt. I mean, absolutely. That's. Look, think of all the challenges that we've had over the last several decades. Well, you know, 47 years, to be exact, with Iran. And it all relates to what the straight of Humu is like. We don't really care that much about this country other than the fact that, well, they hate us. Right. So if they get a nuclear weapon, that would be quite deadly and quite problematic. But the other reason we care about them is because they are a lifeline to a very critical commodity, a commodity that we can't really live without. Now, if we shut off the strait. All right, maybe you open it up to China and you open it up to, you know, Russia can do its thing there, but then you kind of get that whole access evil thing going on. So you don't want that either. Right, right. You want to make sure that you have the most free, biggest supply of oil going all over the world. And so that's really, really, really important. I think, look, if he can, if he can accomplish this, Jillian, like he's going to go down as one of the greatest presidents ever because you're taking out this threat that was, that is rather significant and becoming more significant again by the day as we move increasingly towards a very technologically driven economy that's going to eat up energy like you can't even imagine.
Podcast Host (possibly Julian)
Right, okay. And China gets like 80% of their crude from Iran. Right. And they don't pay in the petrodollar. So I'm wondering if you could explain a little bit about the BRICS nations. I have a very remedial understanding of that and the petrodollar and where these two things are at odds and how we use sanctions here.
Trish Regan
Yes. Okay, so you've got brush brics, which is Brazil, Russia, India and China. And so basically any emerging market or developing country out there is kind of in that camp. But we use brics kind of as a, as a loose term. The brics, well, you know, they don't always get along with us. And so because they don't get along with us so well, they're always vulnerable to things like sanctions. I mean, look what happened with Russia, for example, and given what was going on with Ukraine, we made the decision to sanction Russia. When you sanction Russia, it means that you're not allowing any of any business to be done with Russia and possibly no business between our allies and Russia. So Russia gets put off in the Corner. And this is threatening, you see, for Russia, obviously, from an economic standpoint, because they're like, well, gee, if I can't play at the big kids table, then I don't have much of an economy going on. So to try and basically thwart that threat or to work around that threat, they're like, well, why don't I just create my own kids table, right? And I'll do that with Russia and China and Iran and Venezuela and hey, India, if you want to join in. Brazil, if you want to join in. So they're trying to create their own little world where they don't need the U.S. because right now, the U.S. hey, hey, we are the head hegemonic power of the world. And we price everything in dollars. Oil's priced in dollars, so everything's got to go through the clearinghouses of the US So remember all that money that Obama gave back to Iran and people like, oh, he gave the money. And Iran's like, well, it was our money. Well, you see, we had sanctioned it. We put holds on it. It all comes through our clearinghouses and through our banks. And so we're like, yeah, we're not going to give you that money back. We have that kind of power. We have that kind of power because everything goes through the US Clearing system anytime you're trading in oil. And so you can understand why they're like, we want them to have that power, right? We want to have our own big kids table over here. So. So therein lies the tension. And that's how you've seen them. They buy a lot of gold, they buy a lot of cryptos. They're trying to diversify themselves away from the dollar. But here's the reality check, I think, for everyone. You know, if you're a Chinese billionaire millionaire, where are you putting your money?
Sebastian Gorka
Money?
Trish Regan
It's not in the Chinese currency, the yuan. It's still back in dollars. I mean, even the Russians, right, were buying all these properties in Manhattan because they wanted to have some kind of investment in the US So it's very hard for these countries as much as they're trying to get around it, because when push comes to shove, everybody still wants to be in the US Dollar. We are the supreme currency of the world. Wow.
Podcast Host (possibly Julian)
Okay. So I saw that Trump, in order to put an influx of oil into the system, has lifted temporary sanctions on Russian oil. I think I'm getting this right up until April 11th. And it's only the oil that's, like, at sea, I guess. Okay.
Trish Regan
And natural gas as well. I think there's some. Some lifting of the sanctions on natural gas, okay?
Podcast Host (possibly Julian)
So he gets attacked, right, by people saying, oh, man, now you just flushed Russia with cash and they can continue this war with Ukraine, and you had them on the ropes. But to me, I'm thinking, wait a second, is this going to be part of a negotiation to get Russia to use our dollar again and bring them back into the fold and triangulate China? Like, which do you think is happening here?
Trish Regan
Because one, what I actually think it's actually more simple than that. And the Treasury Secretary has actually run through the numbers on the. Because there's a very specific math equation that I'm not gonna. I'm not gonna get into right now. But what I can tell you is, look, when oil is priced in dollars, right, and you have a certain amount of supply out there, it, you know, having that supply means, you know, okay, maybe you're at $80, maybe you're at a hundred dollars. Gosh darn, I hope we don't go to 200.
Anonymous Insider or Investigator
Right?
Trish Regan
But that's talked about. You don't want to be at 200. You don't want to be at 200 because it means it's bad for us. So when you say, okay, you know what, nobody's going through the strait, and no, you know, we're going to put all these sanctions on this, that and the other, you're actually influencing prices higher, right? So you're causing that price to go up, up, up, up, up in a way which is ultimately bad for you. Now, as for your enemies, this is what treasury has figured out. And so they're really, you know, they're operating at a pretty sophisticated level. I'd say, you know, Besant Besson took down the bank of England. So he's got that in his back pocket, and he's thinking through this, and he's like, wait a second. If we allow for those prices to keep skyrocketing, one, it hurts us. Two, it hurts our allies, and guess what? It only helps our enemies. Why does it help our enemies? Because then China's like, okay, it's at 200, 200 going once, going twice, going. In other words, they can then command higher prices for their oil that they're sending to China. So we don't want to do that. We want to make sure that the oil market doesn't go totally crazy over the next few weeks as we try and accomplish these goals.
Podcast Host (possibly Julian)
Okay, okay. What do you think the pain tolerance is for this? Because I have to believe the midterms are obviously around the corner at this point. Trump is taking this insane risk. He could have just kicked the can down the road like all of the presidents have. Which leads me to believe that he's, he's shooting for the stars here. He wants to go down as one of the greatest of all time. I do think he is a peacetime president. I do trust his intentions. Do you think this works or do you think it is in a catastrophe that, that makes his presidency one of the greatest failures?
Trish Regan
You know, look, I, I totally think it works and I don't. Take my word for it. Just look at the markets. Okay, if the markets did not think this was going to work, although I, I do think you also need to discount that because I do remember during March 2020, the markets complain completely overly freaking out. And I was like, hey, you know that the Fed's going to be there, you know, it's all going to work out. Don't bet against the US of A. I would just say, look, the markets are totally taking it in stride. You know, when everybody in the media is freaking out. And I mean freaking out. I'm looking at Bloomberg, I'm looking at the Wall Street Journal, I'm looking at the Financial Times. I mean, financial journalists tend to be a little bit more level headed when it comes to this stuff, but they aren't level headed right now. They are freaking out full on. And then they're oh, you know, this, that and the other. And then you see the market is like down half a percent, 0.3%. It's like, guys, get a hold of yourselves. And I think now the market's like, okay, we're going to have some resolution here. And so they're looking ahead towards that resolution, which is why things are calming down considerably. I think it's going to work out and I think it's actually going to be really important that we did this. Listen, I know the present. We've had conversations in the past about military action. I can tell you, Julian, he feels very passionately about not taking unnecessary risk. Like it is a huge part of his DNA, if that makes sense. He once got really annoyed with me when I was asking about us getting out of Syria and this was an off record conversation, but he wouldn't care that I'm sharing it with you. He said to me, you try looking those families in the eyes when they've lost their son or daughter, I am not going to risk American blood. So this is where he's coming from fundamentally, which is tells me that there is something There is a reason that this was necessary. And I think, you know, it's a leap of faith. And you got to go out on this leap of faith right now and say, hey, you know, we elected him as President of the United States. Whatever intelligence he's receiving, he has determined that it is a credible threat. The other thing I'd point out is Iran itself went on to MSNBC and said, yeah, you know, we're not trying to brag, but we do have all this. All this uranium that we're enriching at 60%, right? So if Iran is. Is bragging about how it's got uranium that it's consistently enriching more and more and more. If you're that much closer to having a nuclear weapon, you have to understand, both from a security and safety standpoint of all of our allies and us included, you can't have them equipped with a nuclear weapon, on top of which you then have the economic component. That would be disastrous. Right. If they just completely shut things down. And I think, you know, you add those two things together, and you were in a situation, or he found himself in a situation where he had to act. And ultimately, where does this get us? I'm actually a big believer that it gets us to a much better place with a much more secure oil supply and secure basic safety there in the Middle east, which is so critical.
Podcast Host (possibly Julian)
You know, you end up feeling stupid, though, or at least I do, because I think all these pundits are saying, like, oh, jeez, this is disaster. This could be a disaster. Or they're ideological. This could just make it worse. How are you gonna deal with this? And I feel like I'm seeing things that you're saying, things that Victor Davis Hansen is saying, and it's making sense to me. And I'm just wondering, like, what do I not get that some of these pundits are getting or some of these mainstream media outlets are seeing when they're, like, telling you the sky is falling? Which brings me to kind of. My last question is a lot of people who are being told the sky is falling, then believe it, and they're freaking out about their portfolios. I had a few friends actually write me to ask you, what would you do right now with your money? Leave it. Invest in something. Buy something.
Trish Regan
Oh, leave it for sure. Whatever you do, don't get out. I mean, you know, unless you. You're retiring tomorrow, you. You definitely. I mean, over and over and over again, we've seen this throughout history, every single major catastrophe. And this is not A major catastrophe. But during every single challenging time, you are so much better off not only staying invested, but you know, if you can dollar cost average and if you're putting money into the market every single month, if you have a 401k and you're continuing, keep, keep doing it. Whatever you do, don't shut it off. Granted, you know, everybody has to have a certain amount of set aside, a nest egg. And those are all sort of personal questions that a person can address with themselves or their financial planner, however that works. But I would just say keep investing throughout this. You want to be investing because that's where you have the potential to create upside if in fact things get very rocky. And whatever you do, if you take your money and run, then you're not going to capture the upside for years to come. So it certainly depends on one's personal profile and when they're looking to retire. But I would just say no, like, don't, don't, don't run for the hills as soon as things get rocky. Because if you can just remember you have X number of shares and something I always said, don't look at the number, just say, you know what, I get this many shares of that. I get this many triple Q's. I got this many diamonds or spiders, S and P or, you know, the Dow Jones Industrial Average, I've got this many. And you know, it goes up, it goes down. It's just the reality of being in the market and you have to be willing to kind of take that pain.
Podcast Host (possibly Julian)
Okay, Trish, thank you so much. I really appreciate it. Where can everybody find you and get your expertise, watch your show, get your financial advice, tell them everybody.
Trish Regan
Oh, thank you very much. So the Trish Regan Show Daily on YouTube. We're live every single day, every single afternoon. And you can go to 76research.com 76research is my financial research entity. And we've got lots of great portfolios and ideas for people depending on your level of risk. So you're welcome to take a look at that stuff too.
Podcast Host (possibly Julian)
Thank you so much. I really appreciate you allowing me to call on you. You've given me. You've calmed me down quite a bit.
Trish Regan
Thank you, buddy.
Podcast Host (possibly Julian)
Hopefully we'll talk soon.
Trish Regan
It'll be okay.
Podcast Host (possibly Julian)
I trust you. I trust you.
Trish Regan
Thank you so much.
Podcast Host (possibly Julian)
Thank you so much for watching. If you enjoyed the podcast, please, like, comment, subscribe and share. And make sure to let me know what guests you want to see on in the future.
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Date: March 25, 2026
Host: Jillian Michaels
Main Guest: Trish Regan
Featured Voices: Victor Davis Hanson, Sebastian Gorka, Joe Kent, Kaizen Asiadu, other analysts and insiders
This episode takes an unflinching look at the controversies and geopolitics swirling around Joe Kent's resignation as Trump’s Director of the National Counterterrorism Center, the wider implications for US-Iran policy, alleged internal sabotage, media misinformation, and President Trump's high-stakes maneuvering in the Middle East — particularly involving the critical oil chokepoint of the Strait of Hormuz and the international economic chess match with Russia, China, and the BRICS nations.
Jillian Michaels and her lineup of expert voices, especially guest Trish Regan, dissect the motivations behind Kent’s dramatic about-face on Iran, examine explosive rumors of leaks, and probe the credibility and motivations of various media players. The final segment unpacks the economic and geopolitical calculus of Trump's response to the Iran crisis, including the management of oil flows, sanctions, and the prospect of bringing Russia back onto the petrodollar, with Regan providing grounded financial advice for a nervous audience.
"It's bizarre. It's one thing for this guy to know nothing and give information, but he was hired because of his knowledge base. And he's been consistent... claiming that Iran was a threat until three months ago." (07:43)
Shifting Allegiances (11:19–13:14):
“How do we go from Kent’s claim that Israel has filled our president’s head with misinformation... to defending Israel against Iran?”
Trump’s Longstanding Stance:
“He was never a MAGA isolationist... No better friend, no worse enemy. Don’t tread on me.” (13:26–15:13)
Lobby Influence (15:13–18:13):
Gray Zone Connections:
“Would you trust it if you found out that the rule was never written, just spoken?... If it's a deterrent, the rule isn’t real.” (22:11)
“The only people truly benefiting from this orchestrated outrage is the Iranian regime, [and] the terror networks that want to see America fail.” (32:57)
Risk, Reward, and Intention (47:11–51:25):
Financial Guidance for Listeners (51:25–52:56):
Sebastian Gorka (on Kent’s credibility, 06:40):
“Three months ago he said the exact opposite... either he was lying then or he's lying now... You are an utter disgrace to the uniform you once wore.”
Kaizen Asiadu (on Iran’s 'nuclear fatwa', 22:11):
“If the rule is real, it's not a deterrent. If it's a deterrent, the rule isn't real. So you tell me, should we believe what they're saying or what they're doing?”
Jillian Michaels (on Kent’s reversal, 32:30):
“That would literally be like me just out of the blue saying Big Food is fantastic. Ultra-processed foods, they're healthy. You would call bullshit so fast.”
Trish Regan (petrodollar vs. BRICS, 44:24):
“If you’re a Chinese billionaire…Even the Russians…wanted to have some kind of investment in the US. We are the supreme currency of the world.”
Trish Regan (investor advice, 51:25):
“Leave it for sure. Whatever you do, don’t get out… If you take your money and run, then you’re not going to capture the upside for years to come.”
Closing Thought:
Jillian and her guests remind the audience to scrutinize the sources of “truth” in an age of weaponized narratives, and to separate genuine debate from coordinated disinformation — all while taking actionable steps to secure personal and national well-being.