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Real America’s Voice
Just the News No Noise with John Solomon and Amanda Head, February 4th, 2026
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A
This is an iHeart podcast, Guaranteed Human.
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B
Good evening, America. Happy Wednesday and 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, Washington, D.C. now, normally we do headlines and I bring Amanda in and we go over what happened. But tonight we're going to break news right on the show. Let me bring in my co host Amanda had for a second. Amanda, a major bombshell on election integrity tonight. The House Majority Leader, Steve Scalise and Congressman Chip Roy just got off the phone with me a few minutes ago. We're breaking this story right here on Real America's Voice. They have decided to bring a new bill to the floor next week. It's going to require Americans to show citizenship, check to register, and then a voter ID to vote. It combines two things that have passed the House in the past separately. Going to put them together and ramp up the pressure on the Senate, which has been unwilling to take this on. It's a pretty big moment for every senator. They're going to go on record whether they stand for this or not. What's your thoughts?
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C
They should have to go on record because this is not a 5050 issue, John, as you and I have discussed repeatedly, this is not even a republic favorable topic. This is something that independents overwhelmingly support and Democrats do, too. So I think this is great. Force them to get on the record to determine. Let's, let's, you know, separate the chaff, the wheat from the chaff and let everybody know who it is who stands for election integrity and who, for whatever reason doesn't want to have voter id. I can't imagine the reason, John.
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B
Now listen, there's only one reason if you want to have some wiggle room to cheat. That's why you do it. Otherwise, this is simple. You got to do. You got to show an idiot to get on a plane, show an ID to pick up your tickets at will, call at a baseball game to get a drink at a bar, certainly for America's most prized opportunity, the opportunity to vote. Every year we can do the same thing. There were some interesting things. Leader Scalise called into my podcast, the John Solomon Reports podcast. Along with Chip Roy, they gave some information about how they came up with the name for this new bill, which is called the Save America Act. Save Act. We have a little bit of clip from that little conversation. We're going to play that now. Have a listen. Joining me right now with some major breaking news, the majority leader of the United States House of Representatives Steve Scalise and Congressman Chip Roy from the great state of Texas, who have some big news that is going to push the issue of election integrity forward in a big way. Gentlemen, great to have you at the show at the top here. Thank you very much for joining us. Majority Leader, tell us a little bit about what you're going to bring to the floor next week.
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D
Well, thanks, John, and it's great to be on with my friend Chip. We've been working for a long time to ensure the integrity of our elections. We know the problems that are out there. We've been focused and working with President Trump on a number of different fronts. We passed CHIPS Bill, the SAVE act, which makes sure that illegals, you have to prove anybody has to prove citizenship before they read when they register to vote. So you don't have illegals voting. And that's been a problem. And that bill's over in the Senate. But as we've been working with President Trump, we wanted to bring what is now called the Save America act, and that is the SAVE act plus voter id and Chip filed the bill. I'm announcing that we are bringing Chip's bill, the Save America act, to the House floor next week for. So it's on the floor.
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E
Everybody's got to pick a side.
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D
Do you want to make sure that only American citizens vote in elections and that you have to show an ID to vote? You can't get in a bar, you can't get on an airplane without an ID to make sure the franchise of America's democracy is in place? Let's do this as well. And look, Chip's been the leader on this. I know he can go into a lot more detail. But this is critical that we get this bill to the Senate and that they take it up and get it passed to the president's desk.
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B
So I want to get to the congressman, but real quickly, this just got introduced on the 29th. This is pretty historically fast in Congress. The sense of urgency is you want to make sure this next election is done the right way, Right?
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D
Exactly.
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F
Yeah.
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B
Pretty, pretty impressive. Congressman, you have been a driving force on this, and you've had to fight through a lot of flack to get there. You've gotten both of these proposals separately. Combining them together puts a little extra pressure on the Senate, doesn't it?
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G
Yeah.
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E
John, first of all, I want to give a lot of credit to the leader, my good friend Steve Scalise, for his leadership in moving this piece of legislation. The Speaker. I'm really proud of this Republican Team and what we did last year, moving the big, beautiful bill, we've been trying to fight and deliver alongside the President. And now I think we're going to deliver on something really important. Taking the bill that we introduced, as Steve said two years ago, right. Heading into 2024, we introduced the SAVE Act. And we worked hard, by the way, with my friend Cleta Mitchell, who's one of the most respected election lawyers to get that drafted. We worked with Stephen Miller. We were preparing for 24. We passed the bill and the Schumer Democrats blocked it because apparently they think that non citizens should be able to vote in American elections. So we reintroduced the SAVE act, but we wanted to add the voter ID provision and there's nothing really new there. Right. This is something we've had before. We wanted to add that federal voter ID to be one powerful bill. The President, look, he knows how to sell. Save America act is a great name. So we merge the two. We have the Save America Act. And look, everybody wants this, okay? People say, and Democrats are going to say, oh, it's racist. This is Jim Crow. That's nonsense. You look at the polling. CNN had polling that said 80% of people, regardless of skin color, believe that we should have voter id. You got to have real ID to get on a plane. You, you got to have ID to go to baseball games. You can certainly have an identification to go vote in elections to defend the sovereignty of our country. So glad to move it through now. I just hope once we move it through the House next week, that that Leader Thune will force a talking filibuster to get us to have a real fight over in the Senate. But right now, our first job is to get it through the House.
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B
Yeah. And you got a good partner in the Senate in Senator Mike Lee. So you got, you got someone who's going to keep the pressure on. One other part of this bill that I think gets underlooked, overlooked, that you are going to make it mandatory for states to more actively remove noncitizens from the voter roll. A lot of people over there's like tens of thousands of noncitizens that have now been identified as having been on the voter rolls in the last election. These audits are finding them daily. It's a real issue. States are going to face a penalty if they don't do it. Right?
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E
Yeah, no, that's right. I don't want to step in front of Steve here and let him answer, too. Look, Arizona right now, for example, has two sets of election rules, Right. One for State one for federal.
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D
Why?
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E
Because current federal law prohibits Arizona from being able to check the voter rolls to ensure that only citizens vote. So they do it for state rules, but they don't do it for federal elections. So our bill would fix that. It's actually pro federalism. With all due respect, this is helping states, helping people be able to do what we all want to do, we. Which is ensure that only American citizens vote in American elections. So we think it fixes it. I think it's a great improvement.
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B
Yeah, the polling shows it's a great improvement. It's a 70, 80, 90% issue. When you combine the two of them together, there's very few issues in America that have this level of support. Mr. Leader, I want to turn to you. You work an awful lot with the Senate Majority leader. You know the challenges he faces here. Can you give us a little sense of what the Senate is likely to. To do and what, whether you think Senator Thune will be committed to bringing a the standing filibuster as a way to wear down the Democrats?
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D
Well, I'm not going to speak for the senator, but I know President Trump is strongly committed not just at getting this bill through the House. And Chip and I and Speaker Johnson, we're going to work feverishly to pass this through the House. No doubt every Democrat will vote. No. That polling Chip talked about is overwhelming, and it crosses all demographics, by the way, it's not just Republicans. You know, you're over 80% with a lot of Democrat groups, and so people want this across all boundaries. But if it goes over to the Senate, there's going to be public pressure and you're going to see Democrats lining up to block this bill. But what we want Senator Thune to do is however he figures out the way we want that bill moved through the Senate, a public record vote, and, and then get it onto Donald Trump's desk.
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B
Well, there you go, guys. You get the raw audio that came right off that phone call. I just did that phone call just before it came on here. We got another great interview. Second, I just want to get you one more piece of breaking news. It just happened while we were playing that audio clip. Congressman Barry Loudermook, the chairman of the January 6 investigation, the man who gave us so many of those great revelations and turned the tide in the narrative on January 6th. He just announced he will not run for reelection this year. He's the 29th House Republican who's abandoned their reelection bids this year. A lot of open seats going to be in 2026. All right. Earlier this afternoon we had a chance to talk to Senator Ron Johnson. He reacted to the big story we broke this morning. Scores of Chinese scientists tied to the Communist Chinese Party or the People's Liberation army are in American universities working on taxpayer funded research. The list we put out today, it's an extraordinary story. Senator Ron Johnson, the chairman of the public, excuse me, the Subcommittee on Permanent Investigations had a big reaction to it. Have a watch. All right, folks. Joining us now, a man who presides over the most important investigative body in the United States Senate. He's the chairman of the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations. He is Senator Ron Johnson from the great state of Wisconsin. Senator, great to have you on the show.
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F
Well, John. Hello, Amanda. Hope you're doing well.
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B
We are. I know you do a lot of thinking about the homeland and the things that we don't get right, the things we do get it right. There is so much new information out there from the story we did this morning about the Chinese scientists that seem to be embedded all across our government, even though they're tied to the CCP and working with military, Chinese military companies. And then we also saw these Chinese nationals apparently involved in two separate bioweapon labs, one in California, one in Nevada. It seems like we've been asleep at the switch for a while. What do you know? And what do we need to do to get on top of that threat?
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F
Whenever I read these stories, I think back to the start of the Biden administration where they canceled the program within the Department of Justice to investigate the theft of US Intellectual property and universities. I mean, that's where a lot of this intellectual property resides. And so, you know, we have to recognize China, they want to be the world's superpower. They practice Sun Tzu's Art of War, you know, win the war without ever fighting a battle. They'll cheat, they'll steal. You know, to them it's all moral. There's no problem with it whatsoever. So we have to recognize that that's pretty much our attitude. They are persistent, they are tenacious. They're going to do everything they can to steal as much of our intellectual property as possible and potentially use it against us. So we need to be fully on guard.
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A
Yeah.
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C
Senator, I know a lot of folks go by the creed of diversity is our strength, but it certainly seems like when you have an instit, in this case, an educational institution that prides itself on diversity, it brings in, you know, diverse student body. In this case, possibly Asian students with connections to the ccp, diversity is not our strength. It's actually our weakness because it brings weakness to national security.
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F
Well, it's not just diversity. I mean, these universities also are getting funded to a great extent by the ccp, and they're happy to take the money. And then there's, there's, you know, quid pro quo for that. For example, you've got Ralph Baric providing mice with humanized lungs, transferring the gain of function on the coronavirus to his partner over in Wuhan. So, again, these things get set up over a long period of time. But it's just that kind of insidious connection within our universities who take money from ccp. The medical journals do as well. The Chinese are very effective, what they do.
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B
They're.
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F
They're very smart and they use their money effectively.
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B
So I want to talk a little bit about what the Trump administration has already tried to do and then what you may be doing in the Congress to assist that. We know from Secretary Rollins and from the FBI Director Cash Patel and from NIH Director Jay Bhattacharya, that each of them have gone through the 15 or 2000 Chinese students are in current academic programs with access to sensitive technologies, vetting all of them. Again, because many of them were unvetted the first time. They're revoking a lot of people, kicking some people out. What else needs to be done to tighten up this ship so that the opportunity for China to get a leg up lessens?
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F
Well, again, it's better to stop them before they ever get here. So it's good, good news that the administration, again, they have the personnel. Congress really doesn't have the personnel to do these types of investigations, but the administration has to do it. Good news is we have an administration who is willing to do it, recognize the need to do it, and is doing it now. Is it going to be perfect? Probably not. But this is a good step in the right direction, no doubt about it.
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B
Yeah.
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C
Senator, for universities out there who have, who are a part of this, I mean, it seems like a lot of uppity universities. It's Harvard, it's Penn, it's Brown, it's Cornell. But it's also, you know, state universities like University of Michigan and University of Florida. I imagine that it is very tempting to take on grants from organizations that may not seem to be directly tied to the ccp. But should universities be on alert that they need to do more research on their part?
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F
Absolutely. The problem is universities. They have just an insatiable appetite for more money, whether it's from the federal Government, whether it's from the Chinese, wherever, they just want more and more and more money. I would argue they don't particularly deliver the value for what they charge in tuition. I think it's really a tragedy what's happened to our university system, all the DEI, enticing our children to collectively incur about $1.7 trillion of student loan debt, which they've just used to pump up the number of administrators, build beautiful buildings, that type of thing, and award diplomas that employers don't particularly value. And along the way, as they've accepted money from, from the Chinese Communist Party, they've allowed Chinese students in there and allowed them to steal intellectual property.
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A
Right, right.
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F
Right under their nose.
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B
Yeah. It is stunning. China isn't the only external threat that grew on the Biden watch. We now have a full fledged welfare and entitlement scandal in Minnesota centered in the Somali community where so many came in through the Biden refugee program. You have dove in with both feet on this. You've got audit and other records that you're requesting. Are you also looking to see whether people like Governor Waltz and Attorney General Ellison and the people who reported them, whether they were aware and turned a blind eye to this fraud?
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F
That's the primary demand for records we have, is we want communications, we want the documents between the agencies, the organizations and the elected officials. We want to know what people knew and when they knew it, how they turned a blind's eye toward that. But yeah, we're going to focus on Minnesota because we want to find out exactly how this went down. But I recognize this is the tip of the iceberg. I've said this before, the Somalis, they're amateurs. They're relatively new to this country. The fraud that is going on when the Federal government spends $7 trillion, the endemic fraud, the legalized. Frau, one of the things we're looking into is I saw a report, non governmental organizations. I asked Russ Vote, I mean, how much of our $7 trillion flows through NGOs? He didn't know because we don't track it. So I saw, I think it's a St. Louis Fed that keeps track of the assets of NGOs. You know what the number is? It's $14.1 trillion. So again, I'm asking my staff, go back, but let's see whether the St. Louis has kept track of this throughout history. Let's see how this is built up. How much came from private foundations, how much came literally from government. You know, federal funds flowing through NGOs, never quite getting to the recipients, but, you know, gets, gets waylaid in their net assets. So, again, that's, that's a powerful economic block right there. $14.1 trillion. And, you know, so when you start asking who's, who's funding, you know, all these peaceful protests, you know, who's doing the training of these activists that are harassing obstructing ice, you know, who funded, you know, the vans that dropped off ride equipment in the summer of love to those riots during, you know, the summer of 2020. Again, there's a lot of, you know, the question is, who are they? I think they may be included in that $14.1 trillion group of NGOs.
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C
Senator, you've done a lot of things on Capitol Hill that have spurned investigations at the doj. And whether we're talking about the Somali fraud in Minnesota or what we may be seeing in California or Ohio, there's so much fraud. Obviously, there is now this new office under the doj. But you've been so successful in bringing a lot of these things to the surface. But there are a lot of Americans who I think are concerned that the clock is running out. President Trump has less than three years left. I think Republicans will probably hold the Senate in November, but it's anybody's guess what happens on the House side. Are you concerned that the time could run out for recompense?
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F
Absolutely. The older I get, the faster time flies. So now we've got three years. I mean, good news. Working with Russ, vote OMB. I got $100 million in the one big, beautiful bill. The first thing that's funding is an AI system so we can utilize AI to try and uncover fraud. Again, you look at the Minnesota thing, that's, that's just used as an example to find out, okay, how are they doing the same thing in California or, you know, name your blue state. Illinois, New York. So again, you use the Somali investigation into uncovering, you know, the other rampant fraud and all these other states as well. So now we're going to be focusing on this. You know, we need whistleblowers. You know, we need good investigative journalists like you and John. We need all the help we can get. But we also need an American public that is outraged by this. And this supports elected officials who are willing to uncover this. And vote no on some of these appropriation bills that don't address the fraud, that don't put in place controls to save taxpayer money.
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B
Senator, it's always a great honor to have you on. You're doing such amazing work in the investigative realm. I know we're going to have you on again soon. Thanks for joining us. Have a great day. Yeah, you as well. Thank you, sir. Wow, what a great conversation. All right, folks, coming up next, we continue our talk on the government reopening as well as what President Trump is doing to make America affordable. Get more on that next with Congressman Marlon Stutzman right after the break.
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C
Welcome back, everybody. Now that the government shutdown is over, lawmakers must negotiate to fund the Department of Homeland Security as they face a deadline of February 13th. So was this partial government shutdown that lasted less than four days really because the Democrats wanted to keep illegal aliens safe instead of American citizens going to dive into that, as well as what President Trump is doing to make America affordable again? Joining us to discuss these things is Congressman from the great state of Indiana, Marlon Sutzman. Congressman, thanks so much for being here.
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H
Amanda, great to be with you. And John, thanks for having me.
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C
Absolutely, sir. And I mean, compared to the last one, this shutdown was quite ephemeral. But as I understand it, ICE was already funded for the next five years. So what was the point of the grandstanding by Democrats?
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H
You know, great question, Amanda. That's kind of what we were all scratching our head about is the fact that Immigration and Customs has already been funded by the big beautiful bill. And so here the Democrats, again, I guess they're even willing to go out and defend illegals even if the funding isn't real. They just want to make the point to the American people that they really do stand with the illegals in this country. And it's not even about the funding. It's just they want to make that point. And so, you know, what actually the shutdown caused with the defunding or the hesitation, I guess here on DHS funding is that it's going to affect fema, which is really critical for the American people. And then also our Coast Guard. And so it's two agencies that, you know, we all appreciate their work when there's, when there is a time of need. And so I just don't understand the Democrats rational thinking. There was no rational thinking here. And that they really, again, just stuck themselves out there saying that illegals are more important than the American people.
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B
Yeah, it is remarkable that passion or sympathy for illegal aliens invading our country seems to extend to elections. Democrats do not want a citizenship check or a voter ID check for Americans to vote. We just talked to Steve Scalise at the top of the show. He announced next week the Save America act, which Is a combination of Save act and voter ID going to come up for more float? He says it's an effort to pressure the Senate to do something. Your reaction? This seems like two popular measures that most Americans support.
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H
It really is, John. And you would think that this is something that could, you know, would be done easily even in the Senate. I mean you look at, you know, even when CNN reports how popular it is when you are going to express expect people to show a voter ID before they vote or that they have to actually be a citizen of the United States to vote. Those have strong numbers in polling across the country amongst Republicans and Democrats. But you know, as we all know, years ago the Democrat party was the party of the working person. You know, they were the party for the unions, they were the party for Americans and they were actually somewhat protectionist of American jobs. And now it's like they've thrown all that out the window and they're going to the wall for those who are here illegally. Like it just doesn't make sense to any of us. So the fact that we want to be sure that, you know, those who vote actually are citizens of the United States and that they've actually have a photo id. I was actually just with Pastor Lorenzo Sewell from Detroit, a good friend of mine who has church members who went to vote back in 2020 go, you know, they get to the ballot box and they find out that somebody's already taken their ballot and voted for them. They had their vote stolen from them before they even had a chance to vote. So they're suing. They're doing what, you know, any American should do, whether they're Republican or Democrat to be sure that they protect the vote that they are, you know, that we all have the honor and the blessing of doing in this country as we elect our elected officials so important.
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C
Congressman, I want to stay on the citizenship issue for a moment, but bring it to the Minnesota Conversation. Border czar Tom Homan announced that there has been what he characterized, I think as unprecedented coordination. Now, as far as local law enforcement there on the ground in Minnesota, did it take so long and what was the impetus for this to happen?
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H
Well, you know, Amanda, I think a lot of us, we all suspected that this was going on. I think it's, it's not only happening just in Minnesota, but I am sure that it's happening in California, Illinois. Chicago is one of the, you know, the most crime ridden cities in the country. And so I'm pretty sure that, you know, as we saw what happened up there with the Somalians that they just simply, you know, went over the top and they went too far. And finally, you know, there was enough investigations done by the federal government that they found this. And I think they've become blatant about it as well. And I'm just, this is something that has had to happen for a long time as I'm a budget hawk and I know that something's not right. You know, just like if you look at the Numbers in the 2020 election, something happened. It just, it's not adding up. And it's the same thing with our budgetary numbers, that something's not right. And as when President Trump came into office and, you know, Elon Musk and the Doge team, they decided that they're just going to cut the USAID funding. It was a smart move because there was so much of the money that we didn't know where it was going. And, you know, the thought process was we're going to cut it all and then whoever comes back and, you know, gives us a good reason why we should continue to fund it, that that's what we'll do. And it was a great move. And we've been able to save billions of dollars. Well, now, you know, you know, thanks to not only those who are investigating the funds up in Minnesota, but also private investigators who actually, you know, found the leering center, as we will all, you know, know, for years and years to come again, of the abuse and the system that the Democrat Party has built to benefit their own voters, to benefit their people, and ultimately to keep them in power through the funding that is coming through the federal government, us as taxpayers. So it's something that has got to be stopped. We've got to be holding people accountable. People should be going to jail. And so these investigations that are happening in these states are critical. And any, you know, what if this is happening in Republican states, you know, Republican governors have to be the first to say, look, we're going to make sure it's not happening in states like Indiana, which Governor Braun is already doing. But, but our suspicion, of course, you know, we only already know it's happening in Minnesota. It's also happening in other states as well.
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B
Sir, you hail from a proud red state that has great policies. It has a balanced budget, low spending, low taxes. But even Indiana wasn't immune from the Obama, Biden, Green Rebel energy revolution. Your utility rates are soaring. I think average bill in Indiana is $400 right now, one of the highest in the country. How did that happen? And how do we unravel that Obama Biden energy legacy so that the good people of India and other states don't keep paying for it?
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H
Yeah, well, part of it is we've had a utility rate commission that hasn't been held accountable and Governor Braun has made changes there. Holding rate, you know, those who are charging the rates, holding them accountable as well. And, you know, I know this winter has been a hard, harder winter than what we've normally seen. But I'll tell you, people are really, they're seeing sticker shock right now with utility bills. And so that's going to be the next piece that I know the Republican governor in Indiana is going to address to be sure that we don't see this sort of sticker shock, especially for seniors. You know, seniors are the ones that are, are most vulnerable when it comes to this. And, you know, when they open up their utility bill in February and they see, you know, that their bills are almost doubled, something's wrong. And so, you know, I know, I know Governor Braun and President Trump, for that matter, is going to be paying close attention. Supply has to increase. We know the demand is up. You know, there's ways of pointing, you know, Culp, we could point the finger at certain culprits, but we need to make sure that these, these data centers are paying their own way. It should not fall back on ratepayers and also making sure that supply is available so that way the prices stay low. And I know that we've got the right leadership to address this, and we all need to do it soon.
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C
Yeah, we got to keep America's seniors nice and toasty. Congressman Marlon Sutzman, always an honor to have you here with us.
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H
Thank you. Always good to be with you both. Thanks for having me.
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B
Yeah, thank you.
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C
All right, everybody. And coming up next, Secretary of State Marco Rubio confirmed that the US has always been prepared to engage with Iran. So we're going to take a look at what President Trump has planned with Xi Jinping regarding that matter. More on that coming up next.
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B
Welcome back, America. I was at a dinner this week and there was a Democrat there. And they begrudgingly had to admit that even though they opposed Pete Hegseth and Donald Trump, they ain't MAGA at all. This gentleman admitted, you know what, the Secretary of war, Pete Hegseth, he's doing a pretty good job. There's a lot of good things going on at the Pentagon. Joining us now to dive into that comment, former senior adviser to Secretary of War Pete Hexseff Justin Fulcher. Justin, great to have you back on the show.
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A
Great to have you. I appreciate you.
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B
All right. There's a lot of big things going on, but I want to start today with what we're learning about what's going on in the Middle East. Iran, of foreign leaders meeting with the United States directly. All that hardware that the Secretary of War and President Trump maybe set to the region. It's pretty big incentive to negotiate rather than face the wrath of the U.S. military.
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A
Oh, absolutely. I think, you know, what we're seeing now in Iran is pretty clear. President Trump has sent a very clear message to leadership in Tehran, which is abandon all aspects of your nuclear program and stop killing your own citizens. And I think Iran should take President Trump's words very seriously. When he says something, he means it. And the posturing right now that's happening in CENTCOM with US Military assets, I think just further backs up President Trump's resolve. And if I were in Iran, I'd be taking his words extremely seriously.
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C
Kind of a speak softly and send a big ship sentiment, but it really does kind of. It is another one of President Trump's peace through strength maneuvers where he just kind of steps back and he says, you know, I'm going to. I'm going to let you do what you're going to do. But, you know that there is this pressure right off your shores.
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A
Oh, absolutely. And I think, you know, in case we need to be reminded of Operation Midnight Hammer last year, which was, you know, an extremely well executed operation by the US Military. And I think, you know, Secretary Heintseth and President Trump deserve an enormous amount of credit for that. If I were in Iran, I would take his words extremely seriously. And I think, you know, ultimately, you know, President Trump has made his posture very clear. And peace through strength is what happens when you have the US Military, which is the most capable fighting force, you know, to back up any sort of words and to enforce any sort of agreement that needs to be made.
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B
Yeah, such a great point. Some other big thinking, strategic thinking going on, creating a reserve for the first time of critical earth minerals so that we're not hostage to China anymore. This before President Trump meets with Chinese leader Xi. There's a lot of realignment going on in the world, and the US Seems to have a more upper hand on China than it did during the four years of Biden. Tell us where you think this relationship is headed.
- [31:56]
A
Well, I think what we. What we saw today with President Trump and Xi's phone call is preparation and laying the groundwork for that potential April visit by President Trump to Beijing. And I think this is part of the Trump administration laying that groundwork. And it's also very timely, the announcement of the strategic and rare earth mineral reserves, which is we are prepared to act and put real dollars and real investment to secure our supply chain and secure our defense industrial base so that Beijing doesn't have the ability to hold us hostage. And I think this is just President Trump making wise moves before Beijing to best set up the US in those discussions to make sure that, you know, our posture is very clear, which is the US Is back. You know, America first is back, and peace through strength is going to be a critical aspect of that.
- [32:48]
C
Yeah, Justin, there's another region where the United States can get a head start ahead of China. A few months ago, John and I were having a lot of conversations surrounding the renewal of AGOA and making sure that the United States was refreshing those friendships with. With Africa, with African nations, but also making sure that China did not get in there and get a stranglehold on those critical minerals. If we build those relationships in Africa, is that. Is that a major component of making sure that not only we are not relying on China, but no one else is either?
- [33:21]
A
Absolutely. And I think, you know, it's not just one region. I think the US Is sending a very strong signal that the US Is open for business. We're making very strong moves. And the Trump administration has been leading from the front on this issue, which is in order to decouple from China, we need to also be able to provide an alternative, an alternative market and alternative alignments and collaborations with countries both from Africa, but also all over the world. From Australia to Latin America to Africa, these countries are open for business. And I think ultimately, as the US Continues to expand in creating this critical mineral reserve, we now have the opportunity to provide an alternative that's actually there, that China has unfortunately taken advantage of its dominance in this space for far too long.
- [34:18]
B
The combined team of Secretary of State Marco Rubio and special diplomat, I guess is the best way to call him, Steve Witkoff has created so many different and important conversations, so many successes. Even now, there seems to be some subtle signs that Russia and Ukraine are closer to some form of agreement. Russia letting up a little bit, as President Trump asked on some of the attacks, some more meaningful conversations handicap for us where you think those negotiations go? Is it possible in 2026 to have a deal between those two warring partners Borders?
- [34:50]
A
I think it's absolutely possible. I mean, this is the first time that all three countries are sitting down at the table, you know, since the early days of this conflict. And I think just the fact that, you know, Putin and Russia has agreed to sit down in these trilateral talks in Abu Dhabi is a signal in and of itself that this war of attrition, you know, is of course, waning very heavily on the Ukrainians. But the Ukrainians resolve has now forced Russia to the table. And of course, you know, President Trump has made this a very top issue, as he as he should in terms of getting this conflict solved, you know, as peacefully as possible moving forward. And I think these talks are a strong signal that, you know, this year we could really see peace in that.
- [35:32]
B
Region finally, pretty darn historic and extraordinary effort. Justin Fulcher, you were there at the very beginning when this Department of War set out on a new journey behind its secretary, behind its president. It is taking us to new places. Great to have your voice on the show. Thanks for joining us.
- [35:51]
A
Thanks for having me.
- [35:53]
B
Yeah. Great to have you. All right, folks, quick commercial break. A lot more ahead, including what key issues voters are going to want resolved ahead of 2026 midterm. I suspect the economy is a big one. The gubernatorial candidate from the great state of Iowa, just one, the straw poll. Adam Steen joins us after the break. Hey, folks, how many different beauty potions do you have sitting on your bathroom counter right now? Well, I have found the secret serum and it's Vibrance Super C Serum. The ingredients in this one bottle can replace your day creams, your eye creams, the night creams, the neck creams, the wrinkle creams and even the dark spot reducers made in the USA with the highest quality ingredients including vitamin C, hyaluronic acid, vitamin B6 and vitamin E. Super C serum delivers noticeable results. Now simplify your skin care routine, get a healthier complexion and minimize wrinkles and age spots with vibrance. Go to vibrance.com justnews to save up to 37% off and also get free shipping. That's vibrance V-I B R I A N C E.com justnews.
- [37:09]
C
Welcome back, everybody. As Republicans battle Democrats in this year's historic midterm elections, what's going to be the tipping point for voters? We're going to take a look at election integrity and what can be done to reconcile this issue as it remains, of course, a key concern for voters around the country. So joining us now to discuss this and much more is the former Iowa Department of Administrative Services Director and gubernatorial candidate for the great state of Iowa, Adamstein. Adam, great to see you. Thanks for being here.
- [37:34]
G
Amanda, thank you having me on. I appreciate this. John, good to see you.
- [37:37]
C
Yeah, absolutely. And to borrow a phrase from Bette Miller, I do believe you've got a little wind beneath your wings right now, considering you handily won the straw poll on Monday night. But, you know, when you look at the position of governor of a state, it's not unlike president of a country. It is a managerial role. If I. I mean, I guess if I'm being reductive. But you've got that business experience. You're very involved and well known in your community. Talk to us about how that works, plays into your campaign for governor.
- [38:05]
G
Yeah, no, that's a great point. That is one key differentiator in my candidacy versus anybody else in this race, including on the Democrat side. I was 18 years as a business owner, Sort of cut my teeth in the business world in investment banking. My father trained me in investment banking. How businesses operated, how businesses run. I parlayed that into my own company. And then ultimately one of the businesses. Businesses that I started was called the turkey fan. A buddy of mine invented a turkey decoy. I grabbed that decoy out of his garage, wrote a private placement, raised the capital source, the manufacturing, launched that product, and it hit the shelves at every. Every major outdoor retailer across the country. And that business experience got me plugged into the heart of Iowa, got me plugged into rural Iowa. And ultimately, it was my business experience that the current governor of Iowa, Governor Reynolds, recruited me to run the administrative services department of the state. So for five years, I ran the operations of the state. I ran it like a business. We cut waste, we identified fraud, we got rid of fraud. And you're looking at a candidate that's ready to govern. On day one, I resigned my position so I could jump into this race. And I joke, but I'm dead serious. Just give me my badge back. I can badge into the capitol and I'm ready to run the state on day four.
- [39:23]
B
Want? Yeah. That experience is invaluable, especially when people are so frustrated by the signs of fraud that are around you. In Minnesota, California, you have a state that's pretty strong in its management, but obviously money goes down to the cities, and some of them are blue run. There still seems to be a lot of opportunity to root out things. You had a school district that hired an illegal alien as their chief of school. Tell us some of the things you can do downstream from the state government to Root out more fraud.
- [39:55]
G
Yeah, we have a lot of work to do in those areas. One thing I did within my department is we implemented zero based budgeting to ensure that the taxpayer dollar that was going into our department was used appropriately and used wisely. And when we zeroed out our budget and we forced ourselves to prove why money was going into certain programs in certain areas, we found $500,000 in waste immediately. Now, no one would have known if we had not zeroed out the budget and instituted common sense business principle, Business 101. At the end of the day and what I see across the state of Iowa as I travel around, school boards, city councils, county supervisors, we need to be instituting that, instituting that same type of practice from the top all the way to the bottom so we can root out unnecessary spending, so we can root out waste and we can attempt to get rid of as much fraud as possible. Because like you mentioned, look at Minnesota right now, Democrat, run, run state, $9 billion in fraud that we know of. And President Trump was in town last week and he's pointing out that there's probably 18 million or billion in fraud at this point. So we need to be rooting this out into the core areas of the state. And like you mentioned, there are some very large blue cities that I support suspect are spending money inappropriately. We need to root that out.
- [41:16]
C
I want to ask you about the sentiment towards what's happening with immigration and deportation in that state, because I know that there's a church, I think, in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, that was training people at their church how to impede law enforcement, which just seems absolutely crazy. But as you were traveling the state and you're talking to voters, do they reflect what we are seeing with polling, which is that by and large, people support it 100%.
- [41:40]
G
Yes. What that church did was the height of insanity. And we put out posts on that to try to flush it out. So people that are. People are aware. I got some texts from people that they grew up in that church and their comments are, this is just shameful and this should not be happening. But people in Iowa love what President Trump is doing. People in Iowa appreciate what President Trump is doing. And they want, they want law and order. They want to make sure that their families are safe. They want to make sure that their kids are safe. And that is reflected all across this state. And that's one thing I'm excited about, to win this governorship so we can work alongside the Trump administration to ensure our children are safe, to ensure our families are safe. And continue to push Iowa forward with bold conservative policies.
- [42:28]
B
So important. Adam, before we let you go, there is a lot and on people's minds today, but the economy still remains number one. This is definitely going to be a pocketbook election in 26 by all signs. What do you hear for the constituents when you go around Iowa, the state that all presidential candidates court first? What do they think about the economy? Do they see some improvement? What do they still need to be a believer now?
- [42:53]
G
Absolutely. So Iowans in general are very optimistic about the economy. And, and we've done polling, and the polling shows that the pocketbook is still number one. The number one issue, one thing I talk about on a regular basis from an economic perspective, is the need for the state to incentivize and get involved more in skilled trades. And obviously, the Trump administration has the million apprenticeship program. We are looking forward to partnering with that program. But we see all across the state of Iowa the need for skilled trades, the need for entrepreneurs to rise up. That is going to impact not just urban communities, but rural parts of Iowa as well. That resonates with people because Iowans, at the end of the day, they've got grit, they've got faith, they've got hope. They get up early, they go to bed late. They solve problems. And when we talk about the economy, number one, they trust President Trump. They know that Trump, President Trump is a dealmaker. They know he's going to create the best possible deals for America and that will transfer down to Iowa. But then we talk about the ability to work with his administration along the skilled trades route. We get a bunch of head nods, we get a bunch of claps. And at the end of the day, that's why we won that straw poll, is we are the ones that are out there casting forward a vision that's not just going to help the pocketbook, but it's going to help all of rural Iowa, all of urban Iowa. And we're going to usher in a golden age of opportunity, as evidenced by that straw poll.
- [44:17]
C
You're doing a great job of getting that message out. Former Iowa Department of Administrative Services director and current gubernatorial candidate for Iowa, Adamstein. Adam, great to have you with us.
- [44:27]
G
Thank you for the opportunity. Pleasure.
- [44:30]
C
Absolutely. Have a great night. All right, everybody, we've got to take one more commercial break and then we've got a few other topics to wrap up before we head out for the night on the other side. Welcome back, everybody. I want to show you something from Oscar Alblue. He's one of our brave Border correspondents here at Real America's Voice. He was down at El Salvador's seacot and put together a package for us. Check it out.
- [45:01]
I
We're located inside of the prison of Secot. This is what needs to be done in every part in Central America and in South America. This is how you fight terrorism. This is how you clean a country. This is how you bring peace to the citizens. Not stepping away from them, not running away from the problems. This right here is how you resolve a problem. To remove every single terrorist that is located right here. It is because they were terrorizing the Salvadorian people, Central America and South America. This is a message to all of you in the United States of America who they are terrorizing with their domestic violence. This is where you need to be located. If you continue like that. Nayibu Kale, set up the example as a copy paste to bring peace to the citizens. And this goes to all of you. Call out a shambound that protects the cartels to not designate them as terrorists. Look what the example to all the regime in Venezuela.
- [45:48]
A
Nicole.
- [45:50]
I
This is how you resolve a problem. You don't resolve a problem from running away from it. You resolve a problem from attacking it from within and fixing the problem to bring peace to the citizens. To all the Democrats and you, Gavin Newsom, Nancy Pelosi Hill and Omar Rashida Tlaib, all you progressive mercenary politicians, here you are. If you want to take them, go ahead, you know, come and get them and take, take them home. They're waiting for you. Just defend their human rights.
- [47:46]
C
A really great package by our friend Oscar L. Blue John. El Salvador is a great case study in what can happen to a country. I mean, they went from like the top five murder capital of the world way down the list. And, you know, when you impose law and order like President Trump has at our southern border, big changes can happen. They say that the wheels of government move slowly, but with decisive policies, they can move pretty quick.
- [48:10]
B
Biggest drop in the homicide rate in the history of the United states occurred in 2025 on Donald Trump and Cash Patel and Pam Bondi's watch. So we have a little bit of El Salvador data here. Now, obviously there are a few years ahead of us, but law and order works. And I think people are craving law and order. I don't think they like this Minnesota of stuff one bit. They don't like union leaders now out there trying to figure out how they can harm law enforcement officials. This is a, there's a reckoning moment ahead. If the messaging gets right on this.
- [48:38]
C
Absolutely, John. A story that we covered very early this morning over on just the news, Washington Post laying off a pretty sizable portion of their staff. John, I also saw not not as well known of a news organization, but a staple in the south nonetheless. Atlanta Journal, Constitution institution, dropping dozens of their staff as well. I imagine this is going to be happening at a lot of organizations across the country.
- [49:02]
B
Yeah. A lot of these legacy news organizations are scaled to a different era of revenue. The Internet has eaten into revenues of news organizations and if you don't adapt, you end up being upside down in the red. And Jeff Bezos $250 million purchase has not been a good one for him. Most of the the things he touches go to gold, but the Washington Post has never been one of them.
- [49:24]
C
No. John, before we head out for the night, you know the Department of Homeland Security was offering free tickets home to illegal immigrants if they did it on their own. And then they said, all right, we're going to throw in $1,000 bonus to sweeten the deal for you. And then at Christmas time, they spiked it up to $3,000. It has dropped back down, but now it's still at $2,600. A $2,600 departure bonus on top of the free flight home. That is a banger of a deal.
- [49:50]
B
Yeah. And that's why you see so many people self deporting. 1.5 million people self deport. Take the money or hit an ICE detention center. You probably take the money.
- [49:58]
C
Take the money and run. All right, everybody, speaking of running, we've got to tonight, have a great one. We'll see you tomorrow.
- [50:04]
A
This is an iHeart podcast. Guaranteed Human.