THE WAR ROOM WITH STEPHEN K. BANNON (EP. 5106)

Summary

Podcast Summary:

Podcast: Real America’s Voice – War Room with Stephen K. Bannon
Episode: 5106
Date: January 30, 2026

Overview

This episode of “War Room with Stephen K. Bannon” covers breaking news about President Trump announcing his nominee, Kevin Warsh, as the next Chairman of the Federal Reserve (FOMC), reactions from financial markets and experts, ongoing civil unrest in Minneapolis connected to immigration enforcement and ICE operations, and escalating tensions in the Middle East, particularly the US/Israel-Iran dynamic. The episode is conversational, rapid-fire, and blends live reporting with analysis.

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Key Discussion Points

1. Kevin Warsh Nominated as Fed Chair

• Announcement: President Trump chooses Kevin Warsh as his pick for Fed Chair, posting the news on Truth Social.
• Credentials: Warsh is a distinguished fellow at the Hoover Institution, former youngest Fed governor (age 35), partner with Stan Druckenmiller, and has extensive experience in monetary policy.
• Market Reaction: Stock and bond markets largely applaud the choice, viewing Warsh as a “safe pair of hands.”
• Analysis:
  • Warsh’s hawkish stance contrasts with Trump's traditional dovish, weak-dollar leanings.
  • The choice is described as “surprising but inspired,” signaling professionalism and market stability.
• Notable Segment & Quote:
  • [05:35] Jason Trennert: “I wholeheartedly agree. I have to say I'm somewhat surprised, but I'm very pleased because I know Kevin quite well. And I think that he is a perfect choice at a perfect time.”

Ideological Contrast Between Trump & Warsh

• Bannon breaks down for audience:
  • Trump is “dove” (prefers lower rates/weak dollar—classic real estate developer mindset)
  • Warsh is a “hawk” (strong dollar, inflation watchdog, resist political rate cuts)
• Explanation:
  • [06:38] Trennert: “President Trump wants lower rates ... he believes his program of tax cuts ... will keep inflation at bay. Kevin, I think, agrees ... but he's not going to cut rates just because the president wants him to ... It's a very good pick for the financial markets.”
  • [07:46] Bannon: “Every sophisticated guy I know on Wall Street ... think it's great for the markets … little bit of rebellion in the bond market against President Trump's plan already.”

Why Markets Like Warsh

• “Temperament, experience, independence”—qualities desired by capital markets
• Importance of the Bond Market:
  • [10:20] Trennert: “It’s the risk-free rate. Everything is priced off of it … if long rates increase for the Treasuries, rates go up across the board for the economy.”
  • Warsh’s steadiness is seen as an assurance for both Wall Street and global markets.

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2. Civil Unrest and Immigration Enforcement: Minneapolis Protests

• Live Reporting: Ben Bergquam on the ground amid protests, flashbang grenades, law enforcement/sheriff activity as ICE deportation operations continue.
• Context: President Trump reaffirms he is not pulling ICE out of Minnesota; protests erupt in response.
• Notable Details & Commentary:
  • Sheriffs (not ICE) threw flashbangs—“a shift” from previous enforcement patterns.
  • Ongoing friction between local/federal law enforcement and protestors, with the latter demanding “Abolish ICE” and no deportations.
  • Sanctuary policies complicate ICE’s ability to operate and increase volatility.
  • [18:47] Bergquam: “The base of the Democrat party doesn’t want any deportations … to the base that's out here. They don't care … They want ICE abolished, so nothing's going to change.”
• Bannon on Broader Trends:
  • [25:00+] Frames the unrest as part of an ongoing “invasion” and threats to US sovereignty, tying it to historical struggles and American values.

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3. Legislative Deadlock over Immigration & Security

• Pending Bill in Congress seeks reforms such as requiring ICE body cams, banning masks, and mandating warrants for enforcement actions.

  • Bannon and guests claim such measures would cripple ICE effectiveness and “destroy the base of MAGA.”
  • Quote:
    • [24:30] Bergquam: “It will destroy the base of MAGA … you cannot bend the knee right now. Anybody who votes for this … cannot.”

• Government Shutdown Looms:

  • Negotiations are at an impasse; Bannon expects the government may shut down over lack of consensus on immigration enforcement provisions.

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4. Escalating US-Middle East Tensions

• Brandon Weichert Analysis:
  • Asserts US is on the brink of military action against Iran, with significant naval assets deployed.
  • Predicts “next week we’re going to be dropping bombs on Iran … not just nuclear sites, but regime targets.”
  • Outlines consequences: possible Iranian retaliation, blockade of Strait of Hormuz, oil spikes, Israeli vulnerability.
• Notable Quotes:
  • [37:06] Weichert: “I think we’re going in. Trump is being given really awful advice … in the next week we’re going to be dropping bombs on Iran … that means the regime is going to be in a use it or lose it mentality.”
• Bannon's Caution and Historical Analogy:
  • [39:28] “This is why I was so opposed to the regime change the first time. Israel, they couldn’t finish what they started … We had to become a combatant.”
• Final Strategic Advice:
  • [47:21] Weichert: “Do not strike. Focus on the home front, get the economy fixed … Do not get into a regime change war.”

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Notable Moments & Quotes

• Bannon’s Tone: Combative, urgent, highly partisan:
  • [03:00] “This is the primal scream of a dying regime. Pray for our enemies because we're going medieval on these people."
• Re Warsh Pick:
  • [11:53] Bannon: “It’s a quite surprising pick. But you’re right, Kevin is a safe bare hands.”
• On Minneapolis Protests:
  • [21:29] Bergquam: “This is the difference — when law enforcement works with ICE, then you get a perimeter of protection … in sanctuary jurisdictions, they don’t protect law enforcement officers.”
• Immigration Crisis Framed as Existential:
  • [27:10] Bannon: “There are … at least 15 million (illegal aliens) here. And they’re all going to go. Whether you throw a temper tantrum or not.”
• On Government Response:
  • [32:50+] Bannon lambasts moderate Republicans and Democrats for “surrendering” and “blinking” in the face of unrest.
• On Iran Crisis:
  • [44:06] Weichert: “Had the Iranians continued with the operational tempo … they were probably going to completely annihilate the Israeli economy … Trump broke that fever and he saved Netanyahu politically.”
  • [47:54] Weichert: “Do not get into a regime change war. Not over this. Not now.”

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Timestamps for Important Segments

• Kevin Warsh Fed Announcement & Credentials: 00:02 – 03:00
• Wall Street/Expert Reaction to Warsh: 05:35 – 12:00
• Minneapolis Protests & Immigration Enforcement: 15:14 – 24:58
• Debate Around Congressional Bill & ICE Restrictions: 24:13 – 27:00
• Historical Framing of the Immigration Debate: 27:10 – 33:40
• US/Israel/Iran Military Tensions: 37:06 – 47:54
• Strategic Advice & Close: 47:00 – 48:15

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Flow & Speaker Attribution

• Bannon drives the show—provocative, framing stories as existential threats.
• Jason Trennert, financial markets expert, provides professional reaction to Fed pick.
• Ben Bergquam offers live, chaotic reportage from Minneapolis protests.
• Brandon Weichert discusses Middle East strategy gravely, warning of dire consequences.

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Conclusion

This episode weaves together domestic political drama—a surprise Fed pick, exploding protests over immigration, and a looming government shutdown—with urgent foreign policy analysis, all delivered in Bannon’s combative, populist tone. It mixes real-time reporting with in-depth insider analysis, painting contemporary American politics as a battleground both at home (streets, Congress) and abroad (Persian Gulf).

Transcript

[Steve Bannon]

This is an iHeart podcast.

[Unidentified News Commentator]

Guaranteed Human visual. The breaking news that we've all been waiting for. It is now out on Truth Social. President Trump saying that he has picked Kevin Warsh as his choice for the next Chairman of the fomc. We were next chairman of the Fed. We will continue to get some of these numbers up. I have some of this information up. It is literally just hitting. But this is what we've been talking about since last night.

[Steve Bannon]

Really.

[Unidentified News Commentator]

The news was first out, kind of been reported in several different outlets that President Trump had honed in on his choice.

[Jason Trennert]

He said that.

[Stephen K. Bannon]

Have you seen the actual truth?

[Jason Trennert]

No, I haven't.

[Steve Bannon]

I got it.

[Stephen K. Bannon]

Because he's really got a lot that he's saying here. We should probably go. Is that all?

[Unidentified News Commentator]

We're going to go ahead and read what you guys.

[Stephen K. Bannon]

Kevin currently serves as the Shepherd Family Distinguishing Distinguished Visiting Fellows in Economics at the Hoover Institution. Lecturer at Stanford Graduate School of Business. He's a partner of Stan Druckenmiller at Duquesne Family Office LLC. Received an A.B. from Stanford. Guess he couldn't get in anywhere else. And a J.D. kidding. From Harvard Law. Also, he has conducted extensive research in the field of economics and finance. Issued an independent report to the bank of England proposing reforms in the conduct of monetary policy in the uk.

[Steve Bannon]

Wow.

[Stephen K. Bannon]

The President went wild here with all this. Parliament adopted the report's recommendations. He became the youngest Fed governor ever at 35 and is a member of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve from 2006 until 2011 as the federal representative to the Group of 20G20, as the board's emissary to the emerging and advanced economies in Asia. This is really long. In addition, he was administrative governor, managing and overseeing the Board's operations, personnel and finance financial performance. And prior to his appointment to the Fed from 2000 to 2002 to 2006, he served as Special Assistant to the President for Economic Policy and Executive Secretary of the White House National Economic Council. Previously, Kevin was a member of Mergers and Acquisitions Department at Morgan Stanley in New York. And I think. Did Bonson mention he knew him at Morganson?

[Jason Trennert]

I think that's right. Is that what he said?

[Steve Bannon]

Yeah.

[Stephen K. Bannon]

Serving as Vice President and as an Executive director. I've known. And here's. This is the last then maybe most salient thing here. I have known Kevin for a long period of time. Have no doubt that he will go down as one of the great Fed chairman, maybe the best. On top of everything else, he is central casting and he will never say that yeah. And he will never let you down. Congratulations, Kevin. President DONALD Trump.

[Steve Bannon]

This is the primal scream of a dying regime. Pray for our enemies because we're going medieval on these people. There's no got a free shot at all these networks lying about the people. The people have had a belly full of it. I know you don't like hearing that. I know you try to do everything in the world to stop that, but you're not going to stop it. It's going to happen. And where do people like that go to share the big lie? MAGA MEDIA I wish in my soul, I wish that any of these people had a conscience. Ask yourself, what is my task and what is my purpose? If that answer is to save my country, this country will be saved.

[Stephen K. Bannon]

War Room here's your host, Stephen K. Ban.

[Steve Bannon]

It's Friday, the 30th of January, year of our Lord 2026. Kind of an avalanche of news. We're going to get through all of it with some of the top experts in the country. Obviously, one of the most important picks in President Trump's term will be his chair of the Federal Reserve. Kevin Warsh was the COVID bid when we went through this exercise last time, 2017, 2018, when Mnuchin pushed Powell. There was others of us that were very pushing Kevin Warsh at the time, John Taylor. And Kevin was John Taylor of Stanford. Dave Bratz guy and Kevin Warsh are the two cover bids. I happen to believe that Kevin was really in second place and Taylor in third, but there is dispute over that. However we've come along, we've come a long way since 2017 and 18. He's an interesting pick. He's an institutionalist. He knows the Fed inside and out. He's a guy that may reform, but he's certainly not going to deconstruct. And on monetary and fiscal policy, I think he's a little different than President Trump. President Trump, I would say, is a dove. And for a weak dollar, Kevin is a hawk. And for a strong dollar, to show you what markets thought, stock markets, I think bond market's fine. Gold, it hit 5,500. I think yesterday. It's at around 5,000. Gold is off and silver backed off, I think because people are looking at the situation as the thesis we put out in the end of the dollar empire. But let's get an expert in here. Jason Trenner joins us. Jason, it seems like Wall street is applauding this, really saying this is a brilliant pick by President Trump. Your thoughts?

[Jason Trennert]

I wholeheartedly agree. I have to say I'm somewhat surprised, but I'm very pleased because I know most of the candidates pretty well. I know Kevin quite well. And I think that he is a perfect choice at a perfect time. I'm surprised that President Trump picked him because he is a hawk. But from a financial markets perspective. Perspective, it's terrific. It's good for the bond market. It's good for the long.

[Steve Bannon]

But hang. But hang on. But hang on. But hang on. But hang on, Hang on one second. Let's go. Because the audience loves you and you, you and I can have smart repartee. I'm shocked. And I was Kevin Warsh's, I think, one of his biggest advocates seven years ago. It's just things have changed. I mean, President Trump. Explain to the audience when I say President Trump is a dove when it comes to monetary policy, and he's for a weak dollar, which traditionally presents for strong dollar. And Kevin, ideologically has always been a hawk and he's always been for a strong dollar. Explain to the audience what that means.

[Jason Trennert]

Well, it means simply that President Trump wants lower rates. He's obviously beat up Jay Powell pretty good on that. I don't think that's been helpful for the financial markets. I'm a big fan of the president, but some of the actions versus Jay Po not market friendly, I'll put it that way. But President Trump wants lower rates. There's no two ways about it. And he believes that his program of cuts and taxes on capital spending, particularly R and D or so on, are going to lead to massive productivity gains, which will keep inflation at bay. Kevin, I think agrees with that and will ideologically believe that. But he's not going to cut rates just because the president wants him to, or at least I would say, at least not for a while. And I think in that way, it's a very good pick for the financial markets. And personally, I think it's great.

[Steve Bannon]

No, no. Every sophisticated guy I know on Wall Street I think is one, shocked, but two think it's great for the markets. I only got a couple minutes with you. Yeah, the last couple of days, maybe the couple weeks, people are saying there's a little bit of rebellion in the bond market against President Trump's. Now President Trump's plan already, I think we're looking at, and you're the one that broke that story, 4, maybe even 5% growth in the real economy, not just the government economy. President Trump is telling people internally he thinks he can hit 6% or 7% if he gets enough Runway here. There has been a little reaction in the bond market. So talk to people. What has that been? There's a little nervousness. And why does Kevin Warsh maybe solve that problem for President Trump?

[Jason Trennert]

Well, the first thing is I don't think I am of belief that it's not mutually exclusive to have strong economic growth and low inflation, especially if the strong economic growth is coming from productivity gains, which is what President Trump is hoping for. So I think four to four is doable, I think. And as you know, that would be out of sight in terms of what we've been doing for a long period of time. Then you would add inflation to it. So maybe two and a half. So then you're looking at nominal GDP of 6.5, which is amazing. So in my opinion, it's quite good. The real question is whether these cuts, these supply side parts of the one big beautiful bill will really result in big capital spending and research and development. Because if that happens, in my opinion, the growth will be fantastic and inflation will remain low.

[Steve Bannon]

And that's the bet that Scott Besson, the president made.

[Jason Trennert]

Right.

[Steve Bannon]

Also the forcing function of the terrorists, which haven't added to inflation so far. Tell the audience before we lose you, why are the capital market particularly we talk all the time that the bond market has turfed out more governments than howitzers and it turfed out the previous prime minister of the United Kingdom. You know, the bond market right now they've got Macron wrapped around the axle. They could end the was it the fourth or fifth Republic? Because they're having a tough time pulling together government. Why is the bond market so vitally important for President Trump and why is Warsh, although President Trump and Warsh have differences of view on monetary policy, why is Warsh probably for capital markets the smartest pick at this time?

[Jason Trennert]

Yeah, I think to answer your first question, the reason why the bond market's so important is that it's the risk free rate. Everything is priced off of it. Mortgage, mortgages, corporate spreads, high yield spreads. All of that is priced off of the high of the U.S. treasury market. So if long rates increase for the Treasuries, rates will go up across the board for the economy. Economy is very leveraged and so big increases in interest rates at the long end will turf out the turf out leaders. Right now it looks like the longitude is behaving very, very well. And, and that's good for stocks. We found if right now, let's say bond yields are about four and a quarter, we found that if rates get to 4 and a half or 4.75. The stock market could have some indigestion. So we're pretty bullish on this pick and I think it's great for the capital markets. As far as your your second question, I think Kevin represents a temperament which I think let's say is not always visible from the administration, which is to say he's a little bit of a common force in something that can seem like a little bit of a circus. And I think for the financial markets, they love that. I love it. I think it's again, great pick and I'm surprised President Trump made this pick but I think it's a very inspired one.

[Steve Bannon]

I am with you. It's a quite surprising pick. But you're right, Kevin is a safe bare hands. He was back and as I said and I'm not shy about rubbing people's noses in this, if they'd listened to either the brats of the world or the bandits of the world, you would have had John Taylor or Kevin Warsh back in 2018 and the world would be a very different place right now. Instead of having Powell, where do people go on your social media for your Twitter Also the funds you've got kind of a MAGA fund. Where do people go to find more information about it?

[Jason Trennert]

So they can just go to strategus asset management.com the symbol is SAMT for the thematic portfolio which includes this idea of de globalization and populism. So that's what we have.

[Steve Bannon]

Jason, thank you so much. I know you've got a lot of clients to talk to. Thank you for putting us to the top of the pile. Appreciate you.

[Jason Trennert]

Thank you. Thank you, Steve. I'll talk to you soon. All right, man.

[Steve Bannon]

So Kevin as a, as a hawk on interest rates and a advocate for a strong dollar that's why he saw the gold and precious metals. We're going to try to get Philip Patrick we can't give him a sworn in this afternoon to talk about was more than just profit taking. So people are like hey you're going to have a new sheriff in town. And this sheriff's got a very different idea about things because as you know the the decline in purchasing power of the dollar the 25 lost in four years and Biden is his tectonic that is what's hurdled gold forward one of the principal reasons one of the central banks are buying so why the bricks make are in volt and that like you said that's that's tough to recover. That's why Gold's gone from 1,000 to 5,000 and it's right now at 5,000. It was a 5,500 heading to six with the pick last night because there were a couple of doves in the, in the group. I think, I think Reeder could be considered a dove. I think Hassett could be considered dove because he works the president head at nec. Very surprising pick given President Trump's philosophy. President Trump comes out as a, obviously a real estate titan. Real estate titans and developers always looking for lower rates. President Trump is the first to admit that and he thinks it fuels the economy. He's been all over power. Some of the biggest fights issue folks have sat ringside for these over the last couple of years have been between the head of the Federal Reserve and the president. United States President states probably I think the most sophisticated businessman that's ever, maybe General Washington. You know, General Washington was the richest man in America when he took the presidency. Pretty sophisticated on not just agriculture, on real estate. He knew real estate as well as President Trump. But those are the two most sophisticated businessmen we've ever had in the office. And President Trump's got very, very, very set ideas when it comes to capital markets, finance in the economy. Okay, we're going to go from the halls of power in Washington to the streets of Minneapolis with Ben Berkhom next.

[Brandon Weichert]

But the President was asked, will you.

[Steve Bannon]

Be pulling back immigration agents out of Minnesota? This is what the President had to say.

[Stephen K. Bannon]

We'll do whatever we can to keep our country safe.

[Steve Bannon]

So not pulling back?

[Ben Bergquam]

No, no, not at all.

[Steve Bannon]

No, no, not at all. I told you. Told you. Okay, we're gonna go to the streets of Minneapolis right now. I think they just dropped the, the flashbang grenades. I think they're getting ready to tear gas. Ben Bergwam's there live. Ben. What? I thought things had calmed down. I thought, I thought the insurrectionists were all happy because Homan, our friend Homan has, has, has stood down, sir.

[Ben Bergquam]

Yeah, no, it's anything but. So what you have now is you've got the same people basically on Fridays now, they're doing protests. They're going to be protesting all over the city, basically trying to shut down the city. It's a boycott, stop working. And so this, this is at the Whipple right now. They're blocking the street. They just deployed the flashbang.

[Jason Trennert]

The cops.

[Ben Bergquam]

So the sheriffs are actually here today working with them to help provide security. Security. So it's Steve, you know this, I know this. It's not going to get better. You can't bend the knee to terrorists, you can't negotiate.

[Steve Bannon]

But hang on. But, but hang on. But. Yeah, but hang on for a second. You're breaking news. The actual. The law enforcement, the sheriffs of Minneapolis, the people that report up to that police chief, they're actually there today to. To. Are they there as actual law enforcement so that ICE doesn't have to be out in that crowd.

[Ben Bergquam]

Sheriff, not sheriff, not pd but we did see Minneapolis PD at the site at Alex Preddy's memorial yesterday. So they were there actually providing security. I'd never. I haven't seen that. So there appears to be a shift, at least in seeing law enforcement helping protect and serve, which is actually their job. They're moving us back. We're gonna have to move back a little bit so we don't get tear gassed.

[Steve Bannon]

But there definitely is.

[Ben Bergquam]

But when it comes to deportations, I don't see anything changing.

[Steve Bannon]

Ben, what officers threw the flashbangs? Was it local law enforcement or was it more ICE and customs and border patrol or border patrol who threw the flashbangs grenades?

[Ben Bergquam]

It was. It was ice, so it came out of the federal building. And we're in Bloomington. Technically, we're right in between. Between St. Paul and Minneapolis. It's the sheriff's department, though, that's working with them.

[Brandon Weichert]

So it's actually.

[Ben Bergquam]

The sheriffs are actually providing the security.

[Steve Bannon]

So. Excuse me.

[Ben Bergquam]

It was the sheriff that did the flashbang. The guys that are all suited up right now.

[Steve Bannon]

Those are.

[Ben Bergquam]

Those are county sheriffs that are here providing security for the. The federal building.

[Steve Bannon]

Okay, hang on. That were deployed, which we haven't seen before. Not ice, actually, through the flashbang grenades. You sure about that?

[Ben Bergquam]

I. From what I could see, these are the guys pushing the guys in the street. I didn't actually see who threw it, but it came from the guys swatted up and they're all sheriffs.

[Steve Bannon]

Ben, what is the. Are these protests? You told us yesterday that this weekend was going to be a massive demonstration of antifa, and all these outside groups are all pouring into Minnesota. Minneapolis. I thought. I would assume that would have been called off given the fact that Homan said, hey, we're gonna. We're gonna try to de. Escalate here. Of course. The president said last night, we're not pulling any of the ICE people out. So what ended up. Why did. Why did we end up in a situation where you've got a protest today?

[Ben Bergquam]

Well, because, look, the base of the Democrat party doesn't want any deportations.

[Jason Trennert]

That's.

[Steve Bannon]

It's.

[Ben Bergquam]

Again, we they chat. No borders, no walls, no USA at all. So it doesn't matter if they, you know, President Trump or Tom Holman say, we're going to, we're going to stop the street raids and, you know, walking the streets and doing arrests on the streets. We're going to do target enforcement to the base that's out here. They don't care that they don't want any deportation. So you're not going to see anything change. They want ICE abolished, so nothing's going to change. You're going to see this increase, increase, increase again until the 2026 elections. This is going to continue to increase. And it plays right into this whole argument over the debt ceiling and this debate with Schumer and potentially compromising, which would be an absolute disaster for maga.

[Steve Bannon]

Okay, let me ask you right there. I want to get. First of all, let me go back to Homan in your understanding with your sources. My sources say, hey, they've got all the ice skies are essentially standing down. They're going to do targeted raids, but right now, no street patrols. Is that although the president said, I'm not withdrawing any ICE officers or any of the 3,000 right now, they're not doing street sweeps. They're not doing what we've seen over the last couple of weeks. Is that your understanding?

[Ben Bergquam]

That's what he said. And he never answered the question. The question was brought up in the press conference. Is that just for Minneapolis or is that nationwide? As far as I know, that's not. Well, again, it's questionable. There was a memo that went out to Border Patrol apparently saying that as well. We'll wait and see. But I can tell you the only reason those street sweeps, or whatever you want to call them, were going on was because of the sanctuary policies and because of the activist organizations that were obstructing ICE from even doing the targeted enforcement. So when you go and sit on a house, you're doing surveillance on a house with an admin warrant, you're sitting there for four hours. That gives the activists time to surround your vehicle and attack you. So the leftists knew that. The activists knew that. So they're fine with the target enforcement because they can obstruct them all.

[Steve Bannon]

We're coming in.

[Ben Bergquam]

Hang on, I'll get out of the shot. It looks like sheriffs are coming back in here. They started throwing objects on the cars. But, yeah, everyone you see in SWAT gear right now, everyone of those guys that I can see are sheriffs. I don't know if you can zoom in on any of the vests. I don't see any dhs, any Border Patrol or ICE out here. It's all sheriff, all local law enforcement.

[Steve Bannon]

Now, now, now, Ben, you would agree that that is different than what we've seen. We haven't seen the sheriffs or the, or the metropolitan police that engage today. Correct.

[Ben Bergquam]

And this, and this is such a, this is such an important point. This is the difference between why what you see in places like Florida and Texas, why the operations. You don't hear about the attacks. You don't hear about people getting shot for the most part, other than illegals, criminal illegals that, you know they're going in and doing criminal warrants on or shooting inside the house. This is, this is the difference in places like Minneapolis is you don't have law enforcement. You didn't have law enforcement working with ICE or Border Patrol. Well, people, people, hang on a second. So this is the big difference. This is a big difference, Steve. When law enforcement works with ice, then you get a perimeter of protection. So when you get things like, like this that happen and ICE operations are happening, you get a perimeter and you have security. When, when you have a sanctuary jurisdiction, they don't, they don't protect law enforcement, ICE officers. And it allows things like the Alex Freddy to happen, like the Renee Good to happen. So you want to blame anybody for their deaths besides their own actions? It's the fact that they allowed this to happen.

[Steve Bannon]

No illegals.

[Ben Bergquam]

Well, if you came.

[Steve Bannon]

Ben, Ben, Ben, Ben. Let's focus on us, okay? Not focus on her. We're doing the interview, not her. Ben, you asked a question yesterday of Homan about any of the groups financing this or in back of this, and he said, stand by. People are going to be held accountable. Do you have any updates of anybody you've checked? I've done some checkings and people say there's massive investigations underway with treasury, with irs, with doj. But have you heard anything from Holman's team?

[Ben Bergquam]

So I know they're doing the, the investigations on that. Apparently there are arrests that are coming. Ironically. I don't know. I haven't seen the details on it, but apparently Don Lemon got arrested. But as far as the organizers is the leaders behind it, what he told me was they're working on the investigation.

[Steve Bannon]

We don't want to hear. Ben, this, this bill. Ben, Focus, focus. Ben, the bill that's up in now in the Senate and you've got this thing in the House there looks like we're going to shut the government down. This Democratic Part of the bill where the Democrats are saying that you got to have body cameras, you can't wear a mask. I mean, they've got a whole litany of things. So they're going to carve that out and for two weeks they're going to pass everything else, keep the government open in two weeks, negotiate, that we just heard. I've talked to some people in the House today. They're not sure the House will even pass that, even consider it. Anything that you've heard about that or how big a difference would that make in the ICE efforts.

[Ben Bergquam]

If they pass that bill and they remove those actions, those abilities from ice.

[Brandon Weichert]

By the way, it is getting a little hostile here.

[Ben Bergquam]

Steve, agitator here. It, it will, it will destroy the base of maga. We talk about.

[Brandon Weichert]

Excuse me.

[Ben Bergquam]

It will destroy the base of maga. This is, and by, by the way, Chuck Schumer is one of the guys who signed off on, on grants going to these open borders, leftist organizations. But there's no way. You cannot bend the knee right now. Anybody who votes for this, this cannot. Go ahead.

[Jason Trennert]

Steve.

[Steve Bannon]

Cannot bend the. Great report.

[Stephen K. Bannon]

Great report.

[Steve Bannon]

Ben, why don't you get someplace a little quieter and we'll come back to you later, okay? Great report. Don't engage in a debate, Ben. You're not going to debate. This is not debatable.

[Jason Trennert]

Okay.

[Steve Bannon]

Thank you, Ben Berkwam. You see right there, the savages in the streets. This is what the, this is what the ICE agents have to put up with every day. Ben Berkwam's just reporting on an American street, a story. And what's happens, you see, they're nothing but savages. That's why you can't bend the knee to this. You can't look the other way. And all the pontificating on Fox News and the Wall Street Journal and the wusses in the United States Senate and the pressure that's coming from the House on the president and on Kristi Noem, on Stephen Miller. Stephen Miller and Kristi Noem should not go anywhere. They've been giving great advice to the president. Look, it's not Kristi Noem or Stephen Miller or Commander Bavino or Tom Holman or Real America's Voice and Ben Berkhwe, Steve Bennett. We did not bring 15 million. Yes, ma'. Am. Illegal alien invaders into the United States of America. And I'm sorry to break your heart, precious, but they are illegal and they're all going to go home. And this is what you've got. Because right there, what you saw on the streets attacking Ben as he's just trying to give you a report and information are the very folks that want to destroy this republic. So we can either bend the knee to them or blink or say, fine, we're just going to walk away and go live our lives. Or you can get down into it and say, no, all illegal aliens, just not the criminal illegals, but all illegal aliens are going to be sent back to their point of origin full stop. Full stop. They're going to try to intimidate you, they're going to try to shut you down. It's going to. Who's blinking? Saw the president last night. Hey, I'm not withdrawing any forces. And the more of this he sees, the more that he sees. Now you got the sheriffs involved there and you see the sheriffs just do some flashbangs. These are local law enforcement finally getting into the fray. Everybody's going to have a belly full of this quite quickly.

[Brandon Weichert]

Short commercial break.

[Steve Bannon]

We're going to return War Room.

[Stephen K. Bannon]

Here's your host, Stephen K. Ban.

[Steve Bannon]

Okay, you see what's happening on the streets. Okay, so I think we're going to end up shutting down the government tomorrow. I don't, I can't imagine the House gets their arms around this. Like I said, they're going to try to prove all aspects of the government are basically six big bills for the government. Carve out DHS and have a two week negotiation on that. Now here's the problem. What has been listed that they're going to negotiate is you can't, I mean it's taking the mask off the ice officers, it's body cams on the ice officers. It is changes in techniques of the sweeps that they do. Most important and there's a bunch of other stuff most importantly, they're going to require a warrant for every time that they have an action or every time that they see have probable cause. It's just not going to happen. The Democratic Party, the radical Democratic Party and don't sit there for all those guys like Chris Murphy and all those guys look like a church vestryman that they're so moderate, you know, the Roy Coopers of the world, although he's running for governor of North Carolina. But that type of, that kind of older white guy who looks like he's, you know, calm and you know, a safe pair of hands. These people are radicals. If you agreed with those items, you would not deport anybody. We have to draw a line and we have to have standards. If you're here legally, you're going home. You're leaving. You're not going to live here. You're not going to have health care. You're not going to have. You're not going to be the education system. Your kids aren't going to go to school. I'm sorry. Somebody has to stand up for this country. America first. This is about the sovereignty of our nation. Just to make sure you understand the scale of it. There's 12 to 15 to 20 million. Can you imagine sitting there in World War II and telling George Patton and Omar Bradley and Chester Nimitz and Douglas MacArthur that 80 years after they led us this victory and all the blood and turmoil that we shed, much less the Russians and the Lao Beijing in fighting Japan and Italy and the Nazi Germany, that brutal. That brutal sweep across the Pacific, a place like Peleliu and Tarawa, where we have Cleopascal coming today. That's American territory. Given the blood of the Marines, every one of these is big and as horrendous as Normandy. If we told those folks, hey, folks, at the end of those battles, by the way, in about 80 years, there's going to be 15 million people who are not citizens, going to invade our country by a president who was not illegally elected, gonna have an illegal president and a illegal regime. And what they're going to do is they're going to make it so 15 million people and strategically put them throughout the country. So you get this Somalian situation. That's what you're fighting for. They wouldn't believe you. They couldn't believe you. Go back to the 1940s, they would say, what are you talking about? That will never happen in the United States. What did Lincoln say? That any destruction of this country would come internally. That the greatest powers on earth and Attila the Hun and the Roman legions and Caesar himself, the greatest armies in the world, could not for a second, what, Dip their hand in what the Ohio River. Could not take one drink of water in the Ohio River. Impossible, he said. Impossible to conceive it. And they were on the cusp of a civil war. Well, he was telling, hey, we can only do this to ourselves. This is worse than the Civil War in many regards. Obviously not the slavery issue, but in some of the other issues that they fought about and what the insurrection is in the South. And I come from Richmond, Virginia. So you're taught the military history and the history of the Confederacy basically every day of your life as a little kid. But this is actually far worse because we have 15 to 20 million people who are not citizens in this country. And now you have an entire credential class that that's out of their mind. And you have elites all over the world, the Chinese Communist Party and the Mexican government. And I dare anybody to refute the research Peter Schweitzer has done. It's the reason the book's in New York Times number one bestseller. It's the number one bestseller because it talks to you about the people that are in back of this. What's the subtitle? How American elites and foreign powers used immigration as a weapon. They use it as a weapon against this country and against you, the citizens of this country, particularly the African American, Hispanic and white working class. That's who they're replacing. That's who they're replacing. So they can have a more malleable crowd. But they all have to go. It'd be so easy for everybody in the sauce. It'd be so easy for everybody. So easy for President Trump to say no. It's too hard. They got too many whistles. They have too many. They're going to sit there and yell in Ben Berkram's face, there are no such things as illegals. Well, ma', am, I beg to differ. There are. And there's at least 15 million here. And they're all going to go. Whether you throw a temper tantrum or not, whether you throw your toys out of the pram, whether you whistle, whether you cry, whether you have what you did with, you know, the nurse, Remember, he was so calm. As President Trump said, I think his stock is going down. You see how out of control. He's a domestic terrorist. He's a violent domestic insurrectionist terrorist. That's what he is. That's what he is. And you see that in living color in that shot where he goes after the car and goes after the agents. He's out of control like these people are. This is the formation they've had. They're demons. You're dealing with a demonic power. You have to understand that either going to stand in the breach and have people's back. But the Senate, it's so disturbing when you. I hope the house kills this thing today. I mean, I would say all of those are non negotiable. It's non negotiable. If you take the mask off, all their family's going to be docs and they're going to be terrorizing their families. You can't do it. The individuals, you're not going to have a force. They know that. That's what they're asking for the body cams. And they're going to make it easier to sue this. They're going to make it a bill. You see that crowd right there around Ben Berkwam? They get to sue.

[Jason Trennert]

The.

[Steve Bannon]

The sheriffs. The sheriffs now, not ice. The sheriffs throw a flashbang grenade. And they get to sue. Oh, you know, I can't. I got a ringing in my ears. Well, that's too damn bad. It's going to get worse this weekend. And you got them all cheering on. You got all the media, you got all the cultural people. They're all cheering them on. You see the same crowd. Bruce Springsteen. That's where we. We play that. We play that song, the Streets of Minneapolis. So that you're sitting there pulling your hair out, going, please stop. I want you to fully understand what's going on here. It's your own whistle into your own ear. And we can't say enough. Chief Commander Bovino. America says thank you. Or at least the little slice of America that is the War Room Posse. And we realize it's a small slice. That's okay. We punch way above our weight. We're fine with that. But they say thank you. You're a hero, and we love what you did there. Okay? We're not. Brett Hume, all these guys. Because it's the same crowd that always blinks. Let's go back in time. Brandon Weickert joins me, an author that's written so many great books, including one about Iran and the craziness of the mullahs and the ayatollah and everything about the revolution that threw out the throat, the Shah. He's now working on a book about hemispheric defense. Brandon's one of the smartest guys I know about strategy. You know what, what interests me here is that the people that are getting soft and blinking right about here, the Carl Rose and the. And the Lindsey Grahams and the Brit Humes, you know, he's got. He gets all puffed up, right? Gets all puffed up like a big old toad. When he starts giving. He starts thinking deep thoughts. He's going to give me some deep thoughts. That entire crowd were the same crowd. They did two things. Number one, it's the same crowd that had the pom poms out, cheerleading. We had to go to Iraq. We had to go to Iraq. They're going to be throwing roses, you know, crystal in the crowd, being throwing roses in the streets. And they're going to be welcoming us and embracing. It's going to be like Paris in 1944, in July and August of 1944, that's what's going to happen in Baghdad. And as soon as that didn't happen and it got tough and those kids and those young American men and women that were there, it looks like Minneapolis, right? It looks like you got a small contingent of military there and these crazies in the street terrorizing them every single day. And these are the first guys that cut and run. Fox News stopped showing anything about the Iraq or Afghan war except what they were kind of forced to show about some of the combat. It was pretty obvious, I know. Cuz I talked to senior Fox executives time when I launched Breitbart Jerusalem and Breitbart Rome and Breitbart London, they told me no, what are you doing? Nobody cares about international news. They don't care about that. We can see that from our ratings on when we cover the war. And I said, well hold it you guys. We're the biggest cheerleaders of the war. Now that gets a little tough. You just want to look the other way. And guess what? I'm going to give you a surprise. It's the same cheerleading contingent that want us to go over and bomb the Ayatollah right now. They're foaming at the mouth. They just can't wait to do this. Brandon, what your strategic assessment Right now we are putting the assets into place that would give the President a broad range of options. Your thoughts sir?

[Brandon Weichert]

I think we're going in. I think you know the last time we did it I got the day and almost to the hour correct of when we did Operation Midnight Hammer. And that's just because I can read the room. Trump is being given really awful advice. He's being given advice from those people you're talking about. We know the President also likes to listen to the Fox News crowd as well. Understandably. It's his generation and you know he, he puts a lot of, a lot of stock in that. Unfortunately that that group are all on board with this war and therefore it's created a feedback loop. I believe in the White House that carrier that we deployed is positioned just over the horizon. And it's very interesting to me because even though there's all this pom pom waving, people in D.C. understand that the carrier is highly vulnerable to Iranian anti ship ballistic missiles. So they're keeping it tucked away right behind Oman, keeping it out, just out of range. But that won't last for long. But the President I think has been given really bad advice and I think he's going off that advice and I think in the next week we're going to be dropping bombs on Iran. And Steve, what that means is those are not going to be limited targeting only nuclear sites. That's going to be targeting the regime. And that's a very different thing than what happened last summer. And that means the regime is going to be in a use it or lose it mentality. They built up one of the region's largest missile cities. They have missiles that will annihilate Tel Aviv and Haifa. They also have their partners in the Houthis. They also have Hezbollah to the north of Israel. They are going to slam Israel for days and, and then they're going to seal off the straight of Hormuz. And now I've talked to a former Navy submarine captain who poo pooed this whole thing of mine and said, no, no, I know these, these sub commanders, they've been, they've been planning to break open the straight of Hormuz. But as I pointed out, and he didn't refute this, even a temporary shutdown and it would be temporarily shut down at least of the Hormuz straight will spike the price of oil catastrophically at a time in which the US Dollar is at its weakest. The worst case scenario, Steve, of a straight or Hormuz closure is 90 to $130 barrel per gallon oil, which basically means that you and I are going to be paying exponentially more at the pump and that's going to destroy the economy.

[Steve Bannon]

Look, look, I just want to go back in time. This is why I was so opposed to the regime change the first time. Israel, they couldn't finish what they started.

[Brandon Weichert]

That's right.

[Steve Bannon]

We had to become a combatant. And I'm sorry if that hurts people's feelings. I'm just giving you the facts. We had to step in immediately and provide the Aegis Cruisers in the Eastern Med. We had to provide Patriots. Thads, the Navy submarines come up with potentially ability to strike with the Tomahawk missiles. Tel Aviv, and this is a fact, talk to your friends in Israel. Tel Aviv was getting hammered when President Trump came up with the concept of the massive expeditionary strike of the B2s and then the submarines with the Tomahawks to, as he said, hit it with total obliteration, of which we now know because the Times of Israel has released the war Cabinet meetings. We know that it was not an emergency. It was two years according to what they told the Cabinet. But Tel Aviv was getting hammered. This has never been reported really factually. It was getting hammered, let's tell you. We're going to take a break. This is one of the reasons President Trump did it, to shut the whole thing down and stop it. That is one of the fears right now, is why the Israelis didn't push this for a couple of weeks ago. So we'll get into all the technical details. Short commercial break Big news out of Georgia, too. An amazing report that we're going to have everybody read about what happened. Short commercial break we will fight till they're all gone. We rejoice when there's no more. Let's take down the CCP war room.

[Stephen K. Bannon]

Here's your host, Stephen K. Ban.

[Steve Bannon]

Brandon, just back on a technical detail. Why would they want so the regime is very damaged because of President Trump's sanctions. Clearly, the military operation, the expeditionary strike on the nuclear weakened them, I think as much with their people as military damage over and above whatever nascent because it was nascent nuclear program they had. But it's President Trump's sanctions that have brought the country to its knees and brought people out into the streets because the economy's so bad. Why would they stop? Why would they block the Straits of Hormuz? Yes, obviously, Qatar, uae, Saudi, huge. And this is one of the reasons I think UAE doesn't want to go as be gunslingers over there. But the only way they get cash from the Chinese Communist Party, they have to get that through the straits or moves. I've been an advocate of a naval blockade and a quarantine on their oil because their oil is supposed to be sanctioned anyway. The cash flow they're getting from the ccp so why would they if if they block Hormuz themselves? Surely they put the Gulf Emirates in jeopardy. But those guys got a lot of cash to fall back on. The the mullahs are hanging on by their by their by their thumbs, are they not?

[Brandon Weichert]

They are. And the the regime may fall on its own. We don't need to do anything, just let the people handle it in Iran. It's their business. But as for the Strait of Hormuz, this is my theory on this is since we would likely be targeting not just military targets, we would we would be targeting actual regime targets. The rumor now is the New York Times, take it for what you will, is reporting this morning that commando raids are being planned on a larger scale, but similar to what we did with Maduro. That could go, you know, upside down very fast. So in that situation, though, it's basically the end of the regime and we're pushing it over the edge. They're not just going to sit there and take it. They're going to do something drastic. And they know, or they think that shutting down the Straits of Hormuz would probably do a lot of damage to us economically. It might even force a quasi regime change here because they know that the midterms are so close and that Trump is really, you know, having trouble here because people are not fully on board with everything he's doing. So this might be part of the final fu. The Iranians, the regime give as their regime is collapsing and we're pushing it over the ledge.

[Steve Bannon]

So. So you're saying that. That Israel took huge hit in the Tel Aviv.

[Brandon Weichert]

Tel Aviv. I saw, I saw pictures, Steve, that are not allowed to be posted, but Tel Aviv was much more damaged than they let on.

[Steve Bannon]

Yeah. This is one of the reasons President Trump stepped in is no doubt the word was out that absolute hammered Netanyahu owes him big. So why? What do you mean by that?

[Brandon Weichert]

Well, look, look, in my opinion, in my opinion, had the Iranians continued with the operational tempo they were doing, and with their size of missile arsenal, they were probably going to completely annihilate the Israeli economy. That would have then forced a political backlash against Netanyahu, which with all of his other issues he's dealing with domestically, politically, he. He probably would have at the very least been kicked out of office and maybe even thrown in jail by Trump intervening with the, you know, very limited effective strikes that he did. Trump broke that fever and he saved Netanyahu politically. Whether that was the intention or not, I don't know. But it certainly reset the game for another eight to nine months.

[Steve Bannon]

What about why they've. They slowed it down, Supposedly, according to reports, they slowed down a couple weeks ago when President Trump was thinking of this the first time. They weren't ready. Do you think there any cause my. I've advocated. We don't. The Persian people brought this on themselves. They kicked us out. And the Shah. The Shah is no beauty. Right. They had problems, they kicked him out, they took the deal over. They held us hostage for what, a couple a year and a half or a year and 15 months? They brought an Islamic republic on themselves. They wanted it. People have to take their destiny in their own hands. If we do regime change from the top, then all of a sudden you own it. And people say with the 20 or 30,000 people being killed in the streets, you know what, that's a terrible thing, but it's not. There are people here man, it's really not our business.

[Brandon Weichert]

That's right.

[Steve Bannon]

Yes, that's right. There's not our business. But the Israelis, knowing that they are at jeopardy too, and probably more jeopardy because of the proximity, why would they be pushing this? If you're arguing you don't think they're militarily ready now on the defensive side, because clearly they weren't last time and, or the. We had to finish what they started. So why do you say now they're pushing this?

[Brandon Weichert]

Well, I think that they think that it's basically now or never. And Netanyahu said this a few weeks ago, we can take 700 plus missile strikes from, from Iran, so long as it means that the regime in Iran is no more. Of course, he said that while he was hiding out in Crete. But you know, the bottom line here is the Zionist regime is extreme. The Islamist regime is extreme. They're both operating off of these kooky, you know, notions and worldviews. And so they're both basically like these two, two bull bulls circling each other trying to get the best shot in first. And so the Israelis believe, yes, they'll snail get struck, but somehow with America's help, they'll be able to survive and then they will go on and it will be a completely broken down Middle east that they will then have hegemonic control over. And this is the Netanyahu plan for decades. It's being implemented, it's in the final phases, but I think it's going to blow up in their faces.

[Steve Bannon]

If we got about a minute, I know you got to get back to work on this hemispheric defense book you're working on. If you were over in the Oval Office having a cup of coffee with the President, United States Commander in Chief this morning and you had a minute to give him your best advice on the 30th of January, where we stand with this entire thing, knowing the assets are getting in place, what would you tell him?

[Brandon Weichert]

I would tell him, do not strike. Focus on the home front, get the economy fixed. No, no American voter in 10 months is going to care about how successful or unsuccessful. Well, they'll care for care. If it's unsuccessful, which it likely will be, we will likely get stuck in another Middle east war. I would say do not do this.

[Steve Bannon]

Would you, Would you, would you quarantine the oil. Would you shut off the Straits of Hormuz and have the Navy blockade like they did in Venezuela?

[Brandon Weichert]

I. Yeah, I think we can. We can. That's probably more doable. But do not strike. Do not get into a regime change war. Not over this. Not now.

[Steve Bannon]

Where's your where do people get you on social media? You're putting you're coming in a little hot on Twitter. Twitter where they go.

[Brandon Weichert]

Yeah. Well you so you can get me on Twitter @we the Brandon or you can find me at I just got hired 2 minutes ago 1945. Com Harry Casey Annis. I'll be starting there on Monday.

[Steve Bannon]

Thank you, sir. Maybe have you back on Monday. Tell us about the operation. Thank you, sir. Appreciate you. One my favorite guys is going to join us. We are going to go there's going to be a press conference. Just got called at the Justice Department with Todd Blanch was just on with us about a week ago. We're going to go to the Justice Department and see what they've cooked up today. There's so much news going on signal, not noise. We've also got ordered to kill the Chinese Communist Party. You know those beauties, the industrial strength organization harvesting business, one of the operations they run that is so absolutely pleasant. Short commercial break Back in a moment. This is an iHeart podcast. Guaranteed Human.