Just the News No Noise with John Solomon and Amanda Head, December 8th, 2025

Summary

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Podcast Summary

Podcast: Real America’s Voice – Just the News No Noise
Hosts: John Solomon, Amanda Head (iHeartPodcasts)
Date: December 8, 2025
Episode Focus: In-depth analysis and discussions on the Trump administration’s latest support for American farmers, the conservative agenda’s impact on blue states, changes in defense strategy, migration patterns from blue to red states, the left’s shifting ideology, and policy changes at both state and federal levels.

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Episode Overview

This episode of "Just the News No Noise" centers on major policy shifts under the Trump administration, specifically the newly announced $12 billion bailout for American farmers affected by tariff transitions, increasing pressure on blue states resisting federal mandates, notable changes at the Department of War, the demographic and economic impact of population shifts from blue to red states, and the growing influence of Democratic Socialists within the Democratic Party. Special attention is given to expert guest interviews, live reactions to news developments, and highlights from a recent White House roundtable with President Trump and American farmers.

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Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. Trump’s $12 Billion Farmer Bailout

• Summary: President Trump announced a major aid package for American farmers impacted by tariffs, allocating $11B to crop farmers and $1B to other producers.

• Farmer Testimonial (02:32):

  “Thank you for this bridge payment. It’s Christmas early for farmers. …You have a backbone to stand up to other countries for trade. …I’ll be able to potentially pass on a farm to my children because of you.”
  — Unnamed farmer at roundtable

• John Solomon’s Analysis (03:03):
  This payment is characterized as a short-term “bridge” supporting farmers through challenging global trade shifts toward newly negotiated deals.

2. Blue States and Federal Power Struggles

• Interview with Rep. Mary Miller (IL) [04:54 - 14:53]:
  • Blue states (like Illinois) are resisting Trump’s agenda by refusing compliance, especially regarding benefit eligibility checks for SNAP.
  • Miller argues this is part of a broader effort by Democrats to “transform” the country and use illegal immigration for electoral advantage.
  • Notable Quotes:
    • “We’re going to use it [the power of the purse]. ... Governor Pritzker refuses to cooperate with the USDA and release the eligibility rolls for SNAP, and they’re going to have their benefits cut off.” (06:15)
    • “Illinois is a red state if we can get people to come out and vote.” (09:01)
  • Advocacy for stricter voter roll maintenance, proof of citizenship, and eliminating election fraud.
  • Critique of Obamacare and the call for a conservative healthcare overhaul.

3. Reform in Military Policy: Interview with Kingsley Wilson, Dept. of War Spokesperson

• Pentagon Renamed, Strategy Shifted ([16:29]–[27:19]):
  • The Pentagon is now called the “Department of War,” led by Secretary Pete Hegseth.
  • Renewed focus on war-fighting, drone warfare, American border defense, eliminating narco-terrorism, and ending "ideological" distractions in the military’s mission.
  • Quote:

    “Our mission… is to keep America safe. ...No one will be waiting on the Department of War should the time come for us to act.” (20:36)

  • 10,000 troops deployed to the U.S. southern border; 87 narco-terrorists reportedly killed.
  • Dismissal of nation-building, regime change, and “wokeness” (22:26).
  • Congress increased military budget, said to reflect confidence in current defense leadership.

4. Migration from Blue to Red States: Conversation with Brandon, National Taxpayers Union

• Population Shifts ([28:36]–[36:17]):
  • Americans are leaving high-tax, high-regulation states (like California, New York) for low-tax states (Texas, Florida, Tennessee).
  • The concept of eliminating state income taxes is floated, but feasibility requirements are discussed (must cut spending first).
  • Large federal deficits make eliminating national income tax unrealistic in the short term.
  • Quote:

    “If you simply lower taxes without making those spending cuts… you create huge budget problems, enormous deficits that you can’t resolve.” (31:03)

  • Local housing affordability tied to onerous zoning laws; suggested linkage of federal grants to zoning reforms.

5. The Left’s Ideological Shift & Anti-Semitism Concerns: Interview with Dylan Hozier, Israeli-American Civic Action Network

• Democratic Socialism Rising ([36:46]–[46:18]):
  • NYC’s incoming mayor Zoran Mamdani is a self-proclaimed Democratic Socialist. There’s a forecast that Democratic Socialists may hold a majority in Congress’s Democratic caucus by 2030.
  • Hozier warns about the impact of radical appointees, under-addressed anti-Semitism, and politicization of education by teachers’ unions, leading to youth indoctrination.
  • Introduction of the “Mamdani Index” to score state/local candidates on issues related to Israel, anti-Semitism, and radicalization in education.
  • Quote:

    “[CAIR] is fighting to put people in public office who go against, in my view, American values and certainly go against the important special relationship… between the United States and Israel.” (44:04)

  • Hozier, a self-identified Democrat, says there’s no place for “normal Americans” or Jewish people in today’s Democratic Party (45:28).

6. White House Roundtable: Farmers’ Experiences and Trump’s Responses

• Amanda Head Recaps President Trump’s Q&A ([46:42]–[50:46]):
  • President Trump promises quick delivery (by February) of aid checks so farmers can plan planting (46:42).
  • He claims inflation is "essentially gone" and food prices are falling (48:01).
    • Trump Quote:

      "We inherited high prices... We brought it down very substantially. Now inflation is essentially gone." (48:01)

  • On produce quality: Trump says preference is for homegrown, but acknowledges some imports are necessary (49:23).
    • Trump Quote:

      "I like homegrown. ...But for the most part, I like homegrown." (49:23)

  • Farmers at the roundtable credit Trump’s trade efforts for opening new future markets, and directly relay foreign competition challenges (notably from India, Thailand, China via Puerto Rico).

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Memorable Moments and Notable Quotes

| Timestamp | Speaker | Quote / Moment | |-------------|-----------------------------|--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 02:32 | Farmer at Roundtable | “It’s Christmas early for farmers...I’ll be able to pass on a farm to my children because of you.” | | 06:15 | Rep. Mary Miller | “We’re going to use it [the power of the purse]...they’re going to have their benefits cut off.” | | 09:01 | Rep. Mary Miller | “Illinois is a red state if we can get people to come out and vote.” | | 20:36 | Kingsley Wilson | “If you are a narco terrorist...we will hunt you and we will kill you.” | | 22:26 | Kingsley Wilson | On strategy: “We are not in the business of interventionism, undefined wars, regime change, climate change, wokeness, or feckless nation building.” | | 31:03 | Brandon (NTU) | “If you simply lower taxes without making those spending cuts...you create huge budget problems, enormous deficits.” | | 45:28 | Dylan Hozier | “I don’t think there is a place for Jewish people or Israeli Americans in the Democratic Party at all.” | | 48:01 | President Trump | “Now inflation is essentially gone.” | | 49:23 | President Trump | “I like homegrown...for the most part, I like homegrown.” |

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Important Segment Timestamps

• 01:25: Show kickoff, top headlines, Trump’s farmer aid announcement
• 04:54: Interview with Congresswoman Mary Miller (IL) on blue states, SNAP, voter transparency
• 16:29: Interview with Kingsley Wilson (Department of War) on Pentagon, narco-terrorism, military priorities
• 28:36: Discussion with Brandon (NTU) about population shifts, no income tax concept
• 36:46: Interview with Dylan Hozier (Israeli American Civic Action Network) on rising Democratic Socialism, anti-Semitism, Mamdani Index
• 46:42: Amanda Head’s recap of White House roundtable with President Trump and farmers, key Q&A highlights

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Flow & Tone

The hosts and guests maintain a direct, conservative, and often critical tone with pointed skepticism for Democratic policymakers, blue-state governance, mainstream media, and the current state of the Democratic Party. Throughout, there is strong advocacy for Trump’s agenda, traditional American values, increased government transparency, and tough stances on border security and military readiness.

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For Listeners Who Missed the Episode

This episode gives a comprehensive look at immediate farm policy interventions, the conservative case for restructuring welfare and voting systems in blue states, the logic behind rising domestic migration to red states, and alarms about Democratic Party ideology and education policy. It covers substantive arguments, pressing interviews with officeholders and commentators, and offers authoritative conservative perspectives on the key issues breaking in Washington.

Transcript

[Dylan Hozier]

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[Brandon]

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[John Solomon]

Good evening America and Happy Monday. Welcome to the latest edition of Just the News. No Noise. I'm your host John Solomon reporting to you as always from the nation's capital here in Washington, D.C. a quick programming note before we get started, my co host Amanda Headwell, she's on White House pool duty today. You probably saw her asking questions of the President a short while ago. She'll hopefully be back before the end of the show, but until then, I'm going to be taking you through the great lineup of guests and we have for you tonight and we do have a good one. But let's start with some headlines. President Trump, who gave some good news to farmers today and he did it all while protecting American economic interests too. He announced a $12 billion bailout for farmers struggling with the impact of his tariffs. In that transition between the unfair trading practices of the past in the future where new markets are opened up to those farmers. The President made the announcement at a roundtable meeting with his cabinet at the White House and it's being reported that $11 billion will go to crop farmers as part of the Farmer Bridge Assistance Program, while the remaining billion dollars will cover other crops. President Trump had farmers at the roundtable meetings today and one of them explained what this program will mean for him. Take a listen.

[Dylan Hozier]

First off from me, I want to say thank you for this bridge payment. It's Christmas early for farmers. I want my 4 month old daughter.

[Brandon]

To have an opportunity and what you're.

[Dylan Hozier]

Doing here in D.C.

Is working. You have a backbone to stand up to other countries for trade. You're getting things done, tax provisions. I'll be able to potentially pass on a farm to my children because of you.

[John Solomon]

I'll be able to pass on my farm to my children. What a powerful statement. We'll keep you up to date on all of those developments. It's really important to understand that what's going on here is these pavements are a bridge between the past, where farmers were constantly in an unfair trade position, and the future, where President Trump has secured these new trade deals. And we'll be covering that in and out over the next several months here at Just THE NEWS in Real America's Voice. All right. We also have some major news to get to you regarding the D.C. pipe bomb investigation. Chairman Barry Loudermig of the House Judiciary subcommittee that's investigating January 6th asked the witness who first discovered the pipe bomb outside the Republican National Committee to appear for a transcribed interview with the subcommittee later this month. The witness, who later public identified herself as Karen Younger, said she found the pipe bomb in an alleyway while doing laundry on the day of the Capitol riot. Justin News previously reported on that and Younger's account, well, it conflicts with some of the FBI's timeline, which shows the bomb was planted the night before. Despite alerting law enforcement to the bomb. The FBI also did not interview Younger until five days after the incident. Now, that's the old FBI, the Chris Wray FBI, not the Gas Patel FBI, but we're going to be covering that. The Congress has wanted to talk to this woman for some time. They're escalating the pressure. We're going to keep you up to speed on that. Now to kick off the show tonight, earlier today I had a chance to sit down with Illinois Congresswoman Mary Miller. She's a farmer. She comes from a part of Illinois that's heavy on farms. She had a lot of reaction to what President Trump did today, as well as the renewed pressure to use the purse strings of the United States government to force change in blue states like Illinois, which want to resist Donald Trump's every wish and want. Listen to what we talked about. All right, folks, we got a perfect start to the show. Joining us from the great state of Illinois, where ground zero for a lot of these fights are Congresswoman Mary Miller. Congresswoman, great to have you on the show.

[Congresswoman Mary Miller]

Well, thank you for having me and giving me the opportunity to highlight how blue states are thwarting President Trump's efforts to make America great again.

[John Solomon]

They're thwarting now they're also thwarting the will of the American People, Americans want common sense back in government, but these blue states keep tugging back. Why do you think that is?

[Congresswoman Mary Miller]

So Barack Obama made the statement that his dream was to fundamentally transform the country. I think they hate our country and they want a socialist country, Marxist country, and where a half of a percent of the people end up thriving and everybody else are their minions. And Illinois is doing everything to.

Keep it from.

Being a place where the citizens can prosper and flourish.

[John Solomon]

Yeah, There are been lots of frustrations among Republicans on how to deal with it, but I think there seems to be a growing consensus that the most powerful tool that Congress and the President has is the power of the purse. If blue states want to do crazy things, it's going to come at the expense of their tax dollars going forward. Does that seem to have a future, and does it seem to be something that might get the attention of blue states and blue cities?

[Congresswoman Mary Miller]

Well, it better, because we're going to use it. I'm on the House Agriculture Committee, and I fought very hard to ensure that illegals are not included in SNAP benefits. And now the state of Illinois, Governor Pritzker, refuses to cooperate with the USDA and release the eligibility rolls for snap, and they're going to have their benefits cut off. And he can explain it to the citizens in Illinois. But American people have had it. They know that they've been abused and they want what President Trump is trying to do, and that is transparency in the government and accountability.

[John Solomon]

Why do you think a governor wouldn't want to let the people who pay SNAP benefits, the federal government, see what's going on there? What are they trying to hide?

[Congresswoman Mary Miller]

Well, we're a destination state for every rotten thing. Obviously, we're for illegals to come here and sign up for every single kind of benefit. We've spent billions of dollars that we don't have on the health care for illegals. And I'm certain that they're all signed up for SNAP benefits as well. And this is all about elections. It's about getting their votes.

[John Solomon]

Yeah, it is. Right. And then I guess at the end of the day, apportionment, too. Right. Because every illegal that's counted ultimately helps set the formulas for federal funding for representation. Has that been the long game that Democrats have played to use illegal immigration to hijack apportionment?

[Congresswoman Mary Miller]

Absolutely. And we lost one district last time. I kind of think we should have lost two. But, you know, there, again, in light of voter rolls, if they won't be transparent and they won't tend to the voter rolls and make sure ineligible people, dead people and illegals are not on there. They can have their federal funding withdrawn to run the elections.

[John Solomon]

Yeah, it's a simple equation. And sometimes simplicity makes things happen in politics. Just to the north of Illinois, a little bit to the north. Minnesota has given us a really profound example. We began reporting at it here at Just the News last August, August of 2024, when Governor Walts was named the VP. We started looking at all of this food fraud and autism fraud that was in the Somali immigrant community. It brings two forces together to show how they're working. You've got an immigrant community, some with illegal immigrants in it, and the constant waste, fraud and abuse that government often allows itself because it's so poorly managed. Is there any blowback? Does the magnitude of the Minnesota welfare scandal perhaps have some people in Illinois thinking that probably happened here too?

[Congresswoman Mary Miller]

Yes, the regular citizens in here know that they're being abused. They don't trust JB Pritzker. They actually can't stand him. And I just want people to be encouraged. You have to go out and vote in the midterms, for example, Illinois is a red state if we can get people to come out and vote. But I think it will really help for us to. For states to clean up their voter rolls and make sure only eligible people. That means US Citizens are included. And it doesn't help for people just to show a voter id, because states like Illinois, Minnesota, New York, California, they are issuing driver's licenses to people and also signing them up to vote. So we need to have proof of citizenship and they need to be taken off the voter rolls. And people that are involved in election fraud should have very serious consequences.

[John Solomon]

Yeah, no doubt about it. The SAVE Act, a big part of that. Obviously that's the signature House legislation that makes sure that citizenship is checked before someone registers or votes. In America, your colleagues in the Senate sometimes have a hard time getting to that 60 vote threshold. You personally, do you think it's time to get rid of the filibuster or do you like the filibuster in the Senate?

[Congresswoman Mary Miller]

I think it is time to get rid of it, but I don't think we have the votes to get rid of it. We have frauds on our side. And actually people need to pay more attention to primary elections. I said we should start nicknaming the primary elections, fire the frauds. And people need to find out who their representatives are and how they're representing them. It's really a shame. Yes, we do have a narrow majority both in the House and the Senate. And I hate it that I think a lot of times Mike Johnson, I think he has the worst job in the country, the hardest job. He takes the rap for not getting things done as fast as people want him to, but the fact is that he doesn't have the votes. A lot of times we don't have true conservatives on our side and people need to get out to vote in the primary.

[John Solomon]

I think Fire the Frauds would be one heck of a TV series. I have a funny feeling that would be very, very popular. I want to turn to something that's at hand. The enhanced Obamacare subsidiaries subsidies, which are the ones that were thrown in and made insurance companies rich during COVID though they didn't really bring a whole lot more benefit to everyday citizens. They're expiring. Is this a moment where Republicans for the first time put a really remarkable alternative to Obamacare on the table?

[Congresswoman Mary Miller]

Yeah, it's definitely a moment. And I think it's interesting when the Democrats do something how they always name it the opposite of what it is, but it's definitely the Unaffordable Care Act. It's driven health care prices and that for the American citizen, for the American taxpayer up and it's greatly enriched the insurance companies. And there's so much fraud involved there also, because. But it is our moment. And I don't think extending the subsidies is like putting a.

Band aid on that actually has adhesive worn out. I mean, it is not a fix to extend the subsidies for for now. We need true reform that will bring prices down for the American consumer.

[John Solomon]

Yeah. And some of that already because of the good work of Republicans, President Trump, these agreements with the pharmaceutical companies, people are going to start to feel that when they go to the next time they go to the pharmacy. Right. There's some real changes ahead that Republicans have achieved even before this next debate.

[Congresswoman Mary Miller]

Yeah. President Trump has gotten so much done for the country. Just like his first term. He's fulfilling his promises. It's so huge to secure the border. The deportations, deregulation is huge. It's going to drive prices down for houses, for vehicles, for energy. He's doing great work for the American people.

[John Solomon]

It is really remarkable. One piece of that health care equation are these middlemen who take a lot of money but don't bring any benefit to me or you or any consumer. Someone like the pharmaceutical benefit managers, are they some of those that might get extracted out of the healthcare system through good legislation?

[Congresswoman Mary Miller]

Well, they should. And we need, you know, fair pricing for all you Know whether it's the pharmacies small or big. And we need more competition, I believe.

[John Solomon]

Yeah, no doubt about it. More competition always seems to improve things real quickly. Before I let you go, because you live on a farm, you have a lot of great farmers in your district. President Trump today putting some important short term aid to America's farmers who've been wronged by the sort of unfair trade practices of decades. Your reaction to the president's plan today?

[Congresswoman Mary Miller]

Well, we're grateful. President Trump cares deeply about the American family farm and this is a short term help, but long term we need to bring which is what he's doing bringing inflation costs down. When Joe Biden shut down American energy, it caused great inflation on the farm and increased the cost to put a crop in. Also, Joe Biden had a non existent trade policy and President Trump has been so active to try to negotiate better trade deals for us and open up new markets which will help us more in the long term.

[John Solomon]

Yeah, some of these trade deals have some huge new opportunities for American farmers. Very exciting time in the farm industry once we get through this sort of rebalancing moment. Congresswoman, as always, a great honor to have you on the show. We always heard a lot when you come on. Thanks for joining us today.

[Congresswoman Mary Miller]

Thank you. Keep up the great work.

[John Solomon]

Yeah, thank you. You as well. Thanks for a great conversation. All right, folks, we're going to take a quick commercial break. More right after these messages.

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Welcome back America. There's definitely a new sheriff in town when it comes to the five sided building here in Washington D.C. it even has a new title, War Secretary, not Defense Secretary. The Pete Hegseth's reign over the Pentagon has had profound change already in the military. They're back to war fighting, they're back to fixing procurement and they're back to making sure our enemies across the world know we mean business. Joining us now to explain all of that and all of the successes is the Department of War's press secretary, Kingsley Wilson. Kingsley, great to have you back on the show.

[Kingsley Wilson]

Thanks for having me, John.

[Brandon]

All right.

[John Solomon]

I have a fun story this morning because I've been watching the Democrats the last few weeks saying there's no such term as narco terrorism. And of course, this morning we had a story pointing out they used to use the term all the time when Barack Obama was president. Why all of a sudden are Democrats afraid to call narco terrorists what they are?

[Kingsley Wilson]

It's absolutely ridiculous. I think what we've seen from Democrats, unfortunately is a lot of tds, right? We saw this with Operation Midnight Hammer. It was a resounding success. Yet we saw Democrats and their allies in the mainstream media come out and say, oh, you actually might not have obliterated those nuclear facilities. We absolutely did. The Iranians even admitted so all of our intelligence indicated so it was a success. Now we're seeing that same repeat playbook here with the strike against these narco terrorists. They have from the beginning questioned the intelligence, questioned. If we really know who these people are, they might just be poor fishermen. John, you and I both know that fishermen don't have semi submersible submarines. That's absolutely ridiculous. These people are trafficking deadly drugs to the United States of America that poison and kill our people. And as the president has said time and time again, every single boat that we take out saves 25,000American lives. That is fantastic. This department has spent a lot of decades putting other homelands first. Now we're defending our own border. We've got 10,000 troops at the US southern border right now. And we're defending our homeland from these threats, from these narco terrorists that are raining terror across our hemisphere. So The War Department is very proud to be a part of this effort.

[John Solomon]

And.

[Kingsley Wilson]

And the strikes will continue despite the Democrats criticisms and just total lack of facts on these strikes that we've had over the past few months here at the Pentagon.

[John Solomon]

You've had a lot of instances where news reports had a lack of facts, such as in the Washington Post a week ago when they suggested that the war Secretary had made a comment to kill all these people that were floating on a boat. That wasn't. Turned out to be true, according to the admiral, who then followed him. How frustrating is it to have to constantly knock down false reporting in places where it used to be the job to get the facts right?

[Kingsley Wilson]

It's incredibly frustrating. But, you know, I think that people who work in a Trump administration are unfortunately very used to it. We have seen the mainstream media lie time and time again about this president's accomplishments, and this administration is no different. So we will continue to battle the fake news and to push back. And that Washington Post story that you mentioned was particularly egregious. They attributed a quote to the Secretary of War that he never said. That is absolutely scummy journalism. And anyone who reads the Washington Post should rethink where they're getting their news. Thankfully, I think a lot of their readers have gone elsewhere because they've realized they can't trust outlets like the Washington Post anymore. Those outlets used to report the facts, maybe way back in the day, but today they're just biased actors that are looking to take down certain political viewpoints. They've got an agenda, and I think the American people can largely see through that, thanks to independent media like your show and like others who have begun to gain massive momentum with viewers.

[John Solomon]

Yeah, it's funny. Facts are a stubborn thing. If you stick to them, you usually benefit. It's a remarkable thing. I want to turn to Venezuela a little bit more. Obviously. The president since Thanksgiving has indicated there could be some military action to make sure that just like we stopped Venezuelan drug boats were coming in, that drug mules coming by land also are stopped. Is there any insights as to what that might look like and when it might commence?

[Kingsley Wilson]

So our mission remains ongoing to take out these narco terror boats all across the region. If you are a narco terrorist, no matter what country you're from, if Venezuela or another country and you wish to poison the American people, we will hunt you and we will kill you. President Trump designated these groups designated terrorist organizations, and that allows us at the Department of War to really take this threat a lot more seriously than Previous admins have taken it. President Biden, for example, welcomed narco terrorists into our country through the southern border, a totally porous southern border. When they got here, he gave them free phones, free health care. We had no idea who was coming into our border for four years. Now, under President Trump, the border is sealed. And we're beginning to take these threats incredibly seriously. And what we do at the Department of War is we plan right, we have a contingency for everything. We provide the president options. So a lot of the asset buildup you're seeing down there in the southcom region in the Caribbean, now we've got the forward carrier strike group down there, is to do just that, to provide the president options so that if the Commander in Chief directs the Department, Department of War, to take action, we are ready. Our warriors are standing by. And I will tell you, no one will be waiting on the Department of War should the time come for us to act.

[John Solomon]

There was, I think, one of the most profound statements that a defense or war secretary has given in my lifetime the other day from Secretary Hecseth saying, we're not going to be distracted by nation building. We're not in the business of interventionism, undefined wars, regime change, climate change, wokeness or feckless nation building. Making clear that the interest that we have in Venezuela or anywhere else in the world is really an American first agenda. How important is that for the troops, for the people who work in the Pentagon, for the contractors to know that their Secretary of War understands exactly what the mission is?

[Kingsley Wilson]

It's so important. And we've seen a total shift and reprioritization of the threats that we face. Like you mentioned in the secretary's quote, he talks a lot about how the previous administration was focused on injecting ideology into our armed forces that had no business being there. They were focused on the things you said. Climate change, transgenderism, Covid vaccines. Just ridiculous stuff that distracts from our mission. Our mission, at the end of the day, is to keep America safe. And we've unfortunately lost that focus under previous administrations, both Republican and Democrat, frankly. But thanks to President Trump, we have a reinvigored America first perspective and framework that we are going to apply to to every single threat that we face. This is a president and a Secretary of War who always ask, does this serve the American people? And how can our war fighters better put America first? So I think the American people can be very confident in this secretary and this president's administration in terms of making sure our warriors, number one, are able to do their jobs unencumbered, but number two, are always putting America first and always keeping that interest top of mind.

[John Solomon]

There's been a lot of discussion in social media and political circles, policy circles, about the reassertion of the Monroe Doctrine, taking care of business in our own hemisphere, which, during the last administration, we turned a blind eye to. China's infiltration all across Latin America, Central America. What sort of Central America and Latin America did the Trump administration inherit? How quickly is it changing with our America first agenda?

[Kingsley Wilson]

So much like the United States of America, we inherited a total mess. When it comes to the Caribbean, when it comes to South America, there were narco terrorists that were just running terror and wreaking havoc all across the hemisphere. They were totally in charge of what went on. And they were bringing, as I mentioned, those deadly drugs to the United States of America under Joe Biden. That was totally unacceptable. They were actively harming and poisoning our people. The number one killer of young people in the United States today is drug overdoses. And that was a direct result of all of the deadly drugs that were flowing into our open borders. So President Trump and Secretary Hegseth have said, no more. We've seen a total mind shift. And I think it's been really important for our warriors that are down in this area, down in Central America and South America, deployed there. Previously, they'd been working on a lot of stuff like climate change. That's kind of what Southcom was known for. Now Southcom is actively engaging with these narco terrorists, taking out 87 narco terrorists to date, and making sure that the American people are kept safe. And at the end of the day, that's what our warriors signed up to do, and that's what President Trump wants them to be able to do unencumbered. So we're very encouraged by our success thus far, and it will only continue.

[John Solomon]

Remarkable number 87 Narco terrorists gone from the face of the Earth. Pretty impressive. Real quickly, before we go, you can often tell what Congress thinks about a war Secretary, Defense Secretary's work when the appropriations process comes. Today, the House has released a budget that actually gives more money than even the Trump administration recommended. Probably a sign of confidence in what you guys are doing today.

[Kingsley Wilson]

Absolutely. And we maintain great relationships with everybody on the Hill. We're frequently in contact with our HASC and SASC members, making sure sure that everybody is up to date on all the great work that we're doing here. And as President Trump said, this is a huge, historic $1 trillion budget that the Department of War was given through the one big beautiful bill. We want to make sure that we're able to fund all of these critical priorities. Golden dome comes to mind. That's going to be a huge, huge effort that this department is undertaking. So we're grateful to our allies on the Hill who are making sure we have everything we need to give our war fighters all of the weapons that they need and to make sure that the American people are kept safe.

[John Solomon]

Drone warfare. You guys are changing the way wars are fought without even a seeing it. But that's a big priority for the war secretary, correct?

[Kingsley Wilson]

Absolutely. Yeah. Acquisitions is going to be a huge focus for us. You know, John, D.C. is just mired in red tape and bureaucracy and nowhere more than with acquisitions. We are making sure that all of that is cut through, that we're going to have fast weapons processes so we can get our war fighters exactly what they need in record time. And we don't want any more of this kind of backdoor deals with defense companies that get contracts because they've always gotten the contract. We want competition. We know that a capitalist model is going to ensure that our warfighters have the absolute best technology. And we're committed to that going forward.

[John Solomon]

It's important stuff, literally. The Pentagon has changed so significantly in just a few short months. It's a really remarkable story. Now with the new press corps, it's getting chronicled for the first time. Kingsley Wilson, what a great honor to have you on the show today. Thanks for joining us.

[Kingsley Wilson]

Thanks so much. Great to be with you.

[John Solomon]

Yeah, you as well. Always appreciate when you come on. What a great conversation. All right, folks, up next, researchers indicate Americans are leaving blue states in droves. I think you know the reason why. But we're going to examine those a little bit more detail right after these messages.

[Host/Interviewer]

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[John Solomon]

Welcome back, America. And welcome back to Amanda Head. She just got back from the White House a few seconds ago. Amanda, great day. I think the president took like four or five questions from you today, right?

[Host/Interviewer]

Yep, yep.

[John Solomon]

That was quite, quite the honor.

[Host/Interviewer]

Well, as I told you, he's about to leave to go out of town for two and a half weeks, so I figured I better get him all in now.

[John Solomon]

Gotta get them all in now. Absolutely. Well, that was cool to see that he gave so much time to Justin Hughes. Thanks for doing that and welcome here. Well, in Amanda's old home state of California, a person leaves every two minutes. Think about that. The great blue flight has begun and all of these high cost, high tax, high regulations states and it doesn't seem like it's subsiding. In fact, more and more red states are gaining from the demise of blue states. Joining us now to discuss this dynamic is the executive vice president at the National Taxpayers Union, our good friend Brandon. Brandon, good to have you on the show.

[Brandon]

Thanks so much for having me.

[John Solomon]

We love having you on. We always get a healthy dose of common sense when we talk to you. This. You would think at this point that this would be an existential issue for blue state governors, the Gavin Newsoms and the Whitmers and others. But in fact, they seem to be completely oblivious to this dynamic or not willing to address it. What's up with that?

[Brandon]

Yeah, it's pretty unbelievable when somebody is leaving your state every two minutes. A little less than two minutes in the case of California and just over two minutes in the case of New York. You would think you would reevaluate how you're running your state. Look at your taxes, look at your spending, look at all your regulatory policies. But that doesn't seem to be the case. You know, we elected, they elected Mondani in New York City. We can't really expect much in the way of pro growth tax reform, I think from that administration. And in California, they're batting around the idea of a wealth tax which would only further push wealthier residents out of California to those low tax states like Texas, Florida, Tennessee, the Carolinas, all of which are picking up residents at a breakneck pace, matching the demise of these big blue states that don't seem to know how to get their ducks in a row.

[John Solomon]

Pretty wild.

[Host/Interviewer]

Brandon, numerous times in the past, President Trump has flirted with the notion of no income tax. And I just saw Chad Bianco, one of the candidates for governor in California, floated the notion of removing the state income tax in California. I know it's very popular among Republicans. But in a blue state like California, does that matter to liberals because it of seems like they want to be taxed?

[Brandon]

Well, it's smart on one level here because you look at these states that are attracting residents and attracting businesses, many of them have no income tax. Texas, Florida, Tennessee, just to name a couple of them. But they also have actually lowered their spending considerably. You look at a state like Florida, they're spending less than half of what New York spends on a per person basis. So if you drive down the street spending that gives you the fiscal space that allows you to lower taxes. If you simply lower taxes without making those spending cuts as well, you create huge budget problems, enormous deficits that you can't resolve. So that has to lead with the spending and then those lower taxes can follow suit. So there's a lot of work to do in Sacramento.

A lot of work.

[John Solomon]

To be done in Washington as well. Republicans have been charging you. I mean, they take a little bit out of the budget, a couple hundred billion over ten years, but barely a drop in the bucket for the deficits and debt that we're accumulating. Do you see any major move before the election year 26 for Republicans to get spending under control or we just wasted another two year cycle?

[Brandon]

Well, I sure hope so. I've been on the Hill better part of today, talked to a number of members of Congress who are very, very upset with the state of our nation's fiscal health right now and who want to do something about it in a meaningful way. There is considerable talk about doing another round of recognition, reconciliation, this budgetary tool that Republicans can pass independently. They wouldn't need Democratic votes at all. A lot of that focus, of course, has been on health care. With all this talk about the Obamacare premium tax credits that will hopefully be shot down this week. But in addition to that, there is some additional talk about addressing our budget deficits. The $38 trillion and counting national debt that we have is an enormous problem. It's going to drag down our, our economic growth for generations to come if we don't do something about it. And I do think there is a willingness, particularly amongst more conservative members of the House to start tackling this enormous problem.

[John Solomon]

Yeah, historic if they did.

[Host/Interviewer]

Absolutely. So Brandon, as you wisely pointed out, it is the Red states with low or no income tax that people are flocking to something else that would be incredibly. I mean, this would just be a galvanic shift in Washington is wiping out the income tax. I know President Trump likes to throw that out there. It's red meat for his base. But what would that even look like? Is it even feasible?

[Brandon]

It's not feasible right now. Again, we're running deficits on an annual basis that are about $2 trillion. It was just under $2 trillion for the fiscal year that just ended. It'll probably be over $2 trillion unless we can make some serious cuts going forward here. So that even includes the tariff revenue. I do think that tariff revenue could increase, but we'll see what happens at the Supreme Court in the next couple weeks here, maybe a couple months there. But even if you're talking about hundreds of billions of dollars in tariff revenue, which we could end up receiving, you're at the same time talking about an income tax that brings in about $2.7 trillion. $2.7 trillion. So the notion that we can offset that $2.7 trillion loss with a few hundred million. A few hundred billion dollars, I should say, in tariff revenue, that leaves a pretty sizable gap there that we would need to address, again, with enormous spending cuts, which sign me up for. But realistically speaking, it's going to take Herculean task to make those kinds of changes in Washington.

[John Solomon]

Yeah. Even though there's quite a roadmap, the GAO has given us plenty of places where we could slice and dice to save some money. Before we let you go, Brandon, I want to ask a little bit about the phenomenon of affordability, because on some things like housing, the federal government actually isn't the primary driver of the cost of housing. It's those regulatory demands, like what we've seen in California, which has made it impossible for people, the Palisades fire victims, to even rebuild on the land they own. How do we tackle the local regulation stranglehold on our housing market?

[Brandon]

Yeah, that's a very good question. Because the zoning issues have become enormously problematic at the local level. There are things that can be done by the Congress that is, for instance, using grants that go from.

The federal government to municipalities to localities to actually require them to open up their zoning. If they want to receive money from the federal government, they have to be less restrictive when it comes to zoning laws. That would make a huge difference in the way that we construct homes. That's not the only thing that we can do. But I think fixing the Zoning laws, as you point out, would go a long, long way, along with hopefully lower interest rates. And we've already seen interest rates start to dip, not nearly to the level of where we were in the pandemic, but moving in a positive direction. That's really good news for the housing market and for prospective home buyers as well.

[John Solomon]

And lower debt would also give us some lower interest rates, something that we could also work on where the government be pretty, pretty impressive. Brandon, it's always an honor to have you on. What's the best way for folks to stay in touch with all the great work that you do at the National Taxpayer Union?

[Brandon]

Well, Our website is ntu.org for National Taxpayers Union. We're all over social media, Facebook, X, you name it. So please check us out.

[John Solomon]

I've been reading it for two decades. It's such an important site. Great to have you on, Brandon. Thanks for joining us.

[Brandon]

Thank you to you both.

[John Solomon]

Good stuff. Yeah. Well. All right, folks. Coming up next, the Democrat Party is swinging further left and a new report says if trends continue, they'll have a majority Democratic socialist wing the in their party by 2030. That'll be in Congress, of course. What's that mean? We'll get to that next right after these messages.

[Host/Interviewer]

Welcome back, everybody, to just the news. No noise. This past November, we saw the Democrat Party win some major elections in New York, Virginia, New Jersey, obviously those are pretty reliably blue states. It's still worrying, though. For example, the mayor of the biggest city in the United States, New York, of course, is going to be Zoran Mamdani come next year and he's a self described Democrat socialist. And Democrats are not scared of using the word socialist anymore to describe themselves. And that's not the only troubling thing going on in the Democrat Party either because we're seeing the rise of anti Semitic rhetoric and even policy from candidates and office holders alike. And if these trends continue, one group says we may see a democratic socialist majority among the Democrats in Congress by 2030. Think about what that might mean. So joining us now to discuss this is the CEO of the Israeli American Civic Action Network, Dylan Hozier. Mr. Hozier, Dylan, great to see you.

[Dylan Hozier]

Amanda. John, thanks for having me. Good to be with you.

[Host/Interviewer]

All right. Terrifying prospect for New Yorkers come January 1st when Mamdani officially becomes mayor. Is there any recourse for New York if he just serves one term or is the damage just going to be too great?

[Dylan Hozier]

So first and foremost, I think we need to send a message that's very Clear that we need to pay closer attention to state and local government in general.

The issue with Mamdani being in office may not be him in particular, but it may be the people that he chooses to put into certain positions. We've already seen significant.

Appointments that are radical, that represent certainly not the mainstream of America. So I'm less concerned with him as a central actor and more concerned with the commissioners and other people that he will put in place that maybe people won't be looking at that may have power and authority over key decisions, and that could have a lasting impact. So I think that this administration, depending how he executes and depending how the city council tries to check his power or check the things that he's intending to do, could have a major impact moving forward on the city of New York.

[John Solomon]

So amazing. I want to talk a little bit about the education gap. It's clear to me that most young voters who are leaning towards socialism don't truly understand it. They may not even have the context to understand how Venezuela went from being the second richest country in our hemisphere to literally an annex of Cuba. How do we get young people who are deprived that education in school, the details, so they can understand the evils of socialism?

[Dylan Hozier]

Well, you're asked. That's a big question. I think that the big challenge that we're seeing now in K through 12 is that the teachers unions have really politicized our schools. So this is what we're seeing through. Whether it's an ethnic studies curriculum or even just.

History or social studies in English classes. We are seeing this kind of radicalism in our public schools that's being funded by taxpayers. And actually, it's really interesting. We're seeing a lot of.

Teachers looking to get into politics, looking to actually get into elected office. And so the problem of education in our youth isn't just that.

The curriculum isn't good or anything else. It's just to us, to understand our mind, the big issue is that teachers are using their positions of power and authority in the classroom to indoctrinate these kids, to push this fringe curriculum. Again, ethnic studies is one of the major ones. And we're seeing these people then go to Sacramento, go to Boston, go to Albany, at these state capitals, and push this fringe agenda. So I think that we really have to start at the state capitals, also start in our local governments as well, looking at our school board members and making sure that we get the right people in. Otherwise it's, you know, these. I hate to say it, but these schools are becoming centers of Indoctrination rather than education. So it's a huge issue.

[Host/Interviewer]

Absolutely, yeah. All right, Dylan, I want to talk about this Mamdani Index. What are some of the metrics that you consider when you give a score? And are you concerned that the Mamdani mold is something that others are going to try to propagate in more races across the country?

[Dylan Hozier]

So, thank you. So the Mamdani Index is a tool that we created to essentially.

Assess state and local candidates on the issues related to items that we work on as an organization. That is things like the US Relationship with the state of Israel, that is their position on what I just talked about with regard to ethnic studies, which by the way, most people don't understand what that even is. People don't understand that ethnic studies is not a cultural competency or.

It'S not even the study of ethnicities. This is the promotion of certain doctrines and ideologies in our classroom. So that K12, that education piece, it may not appear to have a foreign policy component, but it is actually being used to promote major anti Israel and frankly anti American content. So that K through 12 measure with ethnic studies is a major issue that we're tracking. Also things like the Abraham Accords, which people, they say they want peace, they say they want ceasefires and they want Gazans, for example, to live in peace and other Arab and Islamic societies to live in peace. But they don't support the Abraham Accords. Doesn't make sense. So there's a whole range of issues that we measure these people on. We've done five states with this Mamdani index so far. We've rated 683 candidates in the past or sorry, public officials who are now in the state legislatures. Now, in these five states, out of 683 state legislators, 70 of them, about 10%, are on the Mamdani scale. So that's not a good thing. Now, on the bright side, we see a lot of people who are very proud who are still with us. So the, on balance, there's a lot of people in the state and local levels who are still pro America, pro Israel. But there is a growing and I would even say surging population of DSA style candidates that are following exactly the Mamdani mold. And there are some who are even trying to outdo Mamdani. So I think that'll be the interesting thing that we see in 2026.

[John Solomon]

The counteroffensive for some of this. Anti Semitism and hatred in America continues to happen mostly in the states. Obviously, President Trump's had really profound effect in the universities. But just about an hour ago, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis designated the Muslim Brotherhood and Care as terrorist organizations under state law. Following Texas, President Trump actually called just the news and told us he was designating the Muslim Brotherhood at the federal level. This counteroffensive pretty important not only as an education, but in giving tools to combat these groups going forward, correct?

[Dylan Hozier]

Absolutely. Look, the fact that These groups like CAIR, the Council for American Islamic Relations, have 501C3 and 501 status, although their C4 status is being questioned now. A new report actually just came out from the ncri. The national or the.

Research for National Contagion research institute. Sorry, NCRI just put out a report challenging their C4 status. So there is a lot to look at with care. I will tell you that. You know, we're based here in Los Angeles in the state of California, and CARE is a really caustic actor in our local and state politics, constantly pushing fringe policies. And frankly, the scary thing that Americans should know is that, and this is the message I want everybody at home listening to tonight to kind of internalize. If you're a pro Israel American, there is no one at the state and local level advocating for your views. There is no organization out there that is representing your perspective. Now there is. There's an organization out there representing the opposite view, and that's cair. And CAIR is fighting to put people in public office who go against, in my view, in my opinion, go against American values and certainly go against the important special relationship that we have between the United States and Israel. So I think we look at CARE as a major issue and we applaud the states of Texas and Florida and we look forward to the president's plan being implemented and executed at the federal level.

[Host/Interviewer]

Dylan, before we let you go, if you are a Jewish American or an Israeli American, is there a place for you in the Democrat Party anymore?

[Dylan Hozier]

So I'm glad you said that because I think it's important for people to know that even though I am the CEO of the Israeli American Civic Action Network and I'm the founder, I am neither Israeli nor Jewish. And frankly, and I'll say this too, I am a registered Democrat here in the state of California, and I don't think there is a place for Jewish people or Israeli Americans in the Democratic Party at all. Frankly, I don't think there's any place for normal Americans in the party. The only reason I'm staying in the party is so that we can challenge these viewpoints and have a voice and push back. But increasingly, I don't think there's place for any normal thinking American in the Democratic Party.

[John Solomon]

No.

[Host/Interviewer]

Been scary to see. Dylan Hozier, CEO of the Israeli American Civic Action Network, thanks so much for being with us tonight.

[Dylan Hozier]

Thank you so much. Good to see you.

[Host/Interviewer]

Absolutely. All right, everybody, next we're going to get to some of the questions that I asked President Trump earlier today at the White House. We're going to relive it. We'll be right back.

Welcome back, everybody. A really exciting day today at the White House. John, you know, I was in that roundtable with President Trump, and of course, you had Director Kevin Hassett, you had Secretary Bessant, you had a gaggle of members of Congress and senators, but you also had farmers from Arkansas, from Iowa, from, I mean, every state it seemed like, was represented, even though that's not possible because there were only 20 or so of them. But it was really wonderful to hear their perspective. A rice farm, Merrill Kennedy was sitting to President Trump's left and hearing the plight, hearing what they experienced under Joe Biden and also now what they are experiencing with the tariffs. So President Trump is obviously trying to extend them a lifeline, along with secretary Brooke Rollins, $12 billion, an aid package for them that I can't believe this. So the checks will be delivered in February, but by the end of this month so that they can plan accordingly. They will know how much they will be given for, you know, as far as stimulus for their own farms. But I asked President Trump because there's been so much chatter about affordability. Republicans, Americans in general are not feeling that things are getting more affordable other than gas and then, of course, eggs. But I asked President Trump, because I said, I, well, let's just watch it. Interest of affordability with this aid package. I assume that that's something you want consumers to see before midterms next year. How quickly will that affect prices at the grocery store?

[Dylan Hozier]

Well, I think the prices are going to be good going down already. I mean, the prices are way down. We brought prices way down from what it was. We inherited high prices. We inherited the biggest inflation in the history of our country. That means prices going up. And we brought it down very substantially. Now inflation is essentially gone.

[Host/Interviewer]

You know, President Trump, everything President Trump does is calculated and sequential. He knows exactly what it looks like. And so I think that absolutely. And I think this affordability is going to hit just about at the beginning of spring and maybe the beginning of. So it's going to be interesting to see.

[John Solomon]

All right.

[Host/Interviewer]

I also asked President Trump, because this is. This was kind of blended with the Maha movement, because as all of us learn more and more about what we're putting in our bodies, we're also learning about how a lot of things like soybeans that they were talking about at the early part of this roundtable, how they are so much more low quality when they come from other countries. And it's not just that, it's other produce as well. So I asked the president on the quality of foreign produce. You spoke about soybeans and how the quality here in the United States obviously is a lot better.

[John Solomon]

That's what I heard.

[Host/Interviewer]

Yeah. Is the default of this administration, because that's an issue I. I understand with root vegetables, citrus as well. Is the default of this administration that even if it's more, a little bit more expensive, homegrown, you will choose homegrown over cheaper produce abroad.

[Dylan Hozier]

I like homegrown. You know, some things we can't grow because we don't have the heat. There are some things, you know, little delicacies, or maybe not such delicacies, but they grow better in warmer climates, very warm climates, actually. But for the most part, I like homegrown.

[Host/Interviewer]

And the president's right, John. There are some things. Avocados. I know we get a lot of avocados from Mexico because they just grow better down there. And, you know, and so President Trump, obviously that is worked into President Trump's trade deals with these other nations.

[John Solomon]

I was really struck by the farmers understanding that even while there's this temporary aid problem program that they're having, that they understand that these new deals that he's opened up are going to open up mass new markets for them. It's interesting because none of that gets through in the reporting in the mainstream media, but it does get through in places like Real America's Voice, Justin News. They get it. They know what's coming down the pike, and they're willing to wait it out with the president. That was the most interesting sentiment I.

[Host/Interviewer]

Picked up watching that Merrill Kennedy, who is a rice farmer in Louisiana, was sitting next to him. And President Trump asked her point blank, if your business is suffering, why is what countries are responsible? She said, India, Thailand and China through Puerto Rico. She came through our back door. And President Trump said, I'm ready to make stuff happen. He turned around to Secretary Bessant and said, write that down and make sure you include it.

[John Solomon]

What an amazing, amazing. You're a farmer and you're suddenly creating world history.

[Host/Interviewer]

I know. Absolutely incredible. All right, everybody, that's all the time we have for you tonight, but we appreciate you being here. John, I appreciate you for taking us through the first half hour of the show without me. All right, everybody, we're going to be here tomorrow night at 6pm Eastern. Grant Central is going to take you through the next hour. Have a great night.

[Dylan Hozier]

This is an iHeart podcast. Guaranteed Human.