B (7:01)

So the women had 250,000, even 500 people protesting a year ago. And they shot women right through the middle of the forehead with snipers. And they didn't have to do many. About 10 went down bleeding profusely. And 250 to 500,000 women went running in the other direction because they can be brave, but they, they're not stupid. And they have no gun. And you have snipers in buildings specifically for this reason. So a woman goes down falling, bleeding from the head, and it doesn't take long for that to spread. And when that spreads, that crowd dispenses. And nobody else has been able to do that. To the extent that these people, these people are violent. They killed a minimum two weeks ago, 32,000 people. So. And they put out actually a notice two days ago. If you protest, if you protest, you will be shot and killed.

A (8:07)

Well, something is going to change. The time is coming. Chief rivals to the Iranian people are being individually eliminated. Right now. The Iranian people have the Americans and the Israelis actually flying air cover for them. Yes, of course they're going to have to brave death to take on the regime. And they did that last time. But last time they did that, no help was on the way. And President Trump said, help is on the way. And then President Trump acted. What happens next will be in their hands. All right, it's time to head over to the daily wire chat, see what's on your minds. If you'd like to join our conversation in real time, head on over to dailywire.com Are you savvy? So why do so many people seem to think we are losing? We'll get to that in a moment. First, you know, starting a business can be a real challenge. I'm glad we took the risk. I hope that you're glad we took the risk. You can launch your business too, with our sponsors over at Shopify. Shopify is the commerce platform powering millions of businesses around the world and 10% of all E commerce in the United States, including our very own daily wire shop. Getting started is super simple. With hundreds of ready to use templates, you can build a beautiful online store that matches your brand's style. Shopify is packed with helpful AI tools that write product descriptions, page headlines, and even enhance your product photography so you can accelerate your efficiency whether you're uploading new products or improving existing ones. Maybe you already know you have a good product, but you need help getting the word out. Shopify helps you find your customers with easy to run email and social media campaigns, making it feel like you have a marketing team behind you. You can tackle all those important tasks in just one place, from inventory to payment to analytics without juggling multiple websites or platforms. And if you ever get stuck, Shopify's award winning 24. 7 customer support is always around to help. Plus, that iconic purple shop pay button isn't just recognizable, it is the best converting checkout on planet Earth, which means more sales for you. We use Shopify here at DW Tell. You're buying your products if you are shopping with us. It's time to turn those what ifs into with Shopify today. So sign up for your $1 per month trial today at shopify.com Shapiro head on over to shopify.com Shapiro that is shopify.com Shapiro Alrighty folks. So if America and Israel are winning, why do so many people have the opposite impression? The drumbeat of lies is absolutely incessant. Iran is striking at surrounding countries. They're on the move. The regime is more solid than ever. Iranians are rallying around the flag now. If you watch X these days, that might be your takeaway from the joint American Israeli action in Iran unending whining caterwauling over a conflict less than three weeks old in which the United States has suffered, by any military historical standard, the lowest casualties in the history of major military conflict and has inflicted more damage by air than any combined air operation in modern military history. Now, part of the problem, surely, is actual false information. The New York Times reported just a few days ago, quote, that they had identified over 110 unique AI generated images and videos from the past two weeks about the war in the Middle East. The fakes covered every aspect of the fighting. They falsely depicted screaming Israelis cowering as explosions ripped through Tel Aviv, Iranians mourning their dead American military vessels bombarded with missiles and torpedoes. Collectively, they were seen millions of times online through networks like X, TikTok and Facebook. The content has become a potent informational weapon for Tehran as it seeks to shake the public's tolerance for war by depicting scenes of devastation and destruction across the region. Now, of course, all of this does play on the inherent weakness of the West. A West filled with moral imbeciles with large Platforms like say, Leigh McGowan, a person who I didn't know, except I guess she was on CNN and has somehow amassed 2 million Instagram followers for brilliant commentary like this.

C (11:50)

Real life.

A (11:50)

We did not need to be in this war. We started a war for no reason.

D (11:53)

We are the bad guys here.

C (11:55)

Iran started the war in 1979.

D (11:56)

We can't go back to 1970.

C (11:58)

Yes, but we can take away the fact are exporting terror and death to all of their neighbors. They're a menace to their neighbors. Every Middle Eastern country is with us on this. Everyone wants Iran taken out of the game.

A (12:10)

We are the bad guys here. Remember, that was her line. We are the bad guys here. Help. Sick and perverse you have to be to look at Iran. A repressive tyranny that forces women into particular forms of garb and hangs gay people and threatens all of its neighbors and spreads terrorism all over the region and tries to develop nuclear weapons so as to better spread terrorism all over the region and say America is the bad guy. How perverse. Or commentators like this over on Ms.

E (12:35)

Now the other piece of this that I found really disturbing in the messaging around the war recently and AIM and I, I really want your thoughts on this in particular is some of the language and the description of their opponent. Sort of the way they seem to create this image of the Iranians and all of their sort of proxies or allies, the sort of imagery that they conjure up. And I think that it takes a certain amount of arrogance and I'm also going to say it, a bit of racism to constantly talk about people like they are savages. That is a word that we have heard Hegseth use. Talk about people as though they are subhuman, too stupid to engage in a war with the United States, incapable of possibly outmaneuvering us, and then find ourselves in the exact position in which it appears they are consistently outmaneuvering us.

A (13:27)

Okay, first of all, they are not consistently outmaneuvering us. We are kicking the living hell out of them. Second of all, if you can't label the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps which shoots people in the streets by the tens of thousands, or the Basij or Hezbollah or Hamas or the Houthis, savages. I don't know when you would ever apply that term ever. The perverse moral sickness of these folks. And then of course there are people who are too dumb even for Ms. Now. So for example, the extraordinarily dim witted Joy Reid who actually compares America to Iran and says that basically America is like Iran.

F (14:02)

Our regime has secret police. They have secret police. Our regime is oppressing women, taking away abortion rights, taking away women's rights in like 26 countries, 26 states, some states where they're trying to have the death penalty for having an abortion. They also oppress women. They have the highest rate of women who are in STEM careers. We're kicking women out of the military, out of university. We're saying that DEI means women can't be hired for high positions in the sciences. So we're marginally better. And we're doing it for Christianity, they're doing it for Islam, right?

A (14:36)

Well, we're doing it for Christianity, they're doing it for Islam, we for Christianity. Would that be allowing people like Joy Reid to have a major platform and continue to be a prominent person talking about how terrible America is in comparison with Iran? And then of course there are dumb asses like Dave Smith, a comedian whose only joke is apparently his understanding of Muslim history. He put out a statement just a couple of days ago, quote, islam is such a violent religion, every time we murder a bunch of their children, they try to kill some of us. Disgusting. I mean, how does Dave Smith think that Islam became a regional power? Literally the entire history of Islamist conquest and killing lots of people like that is a reality. Then of course there is Jim Teacher, stupping Jew, laser theorizing genius Marjorie Taylor Greene, who I have to say the trajectory of her strange new respect is astonishing. Everyone on the left recognized, actually I think quite properly that she is of double digit IQ and a conspiratorial mutt to boot. And now because she doesn't like President Trump, she's given a slot basically every night on CNN or Ms. Now to rip into the President strange new respect. And here's Marjorie Taylor Greene.

D (15:47)

Why would an American president lead his political party into the midterms, waging a full scale major war completely unprovoked on Iran on behalf of Israel? And that's the way most Americans see it. They see this is a for Israel, not for America. Why would an American president do that? Which is forcing gas prices to hike right here going into spring break where families are going to be driving out of town going into summer, declaring and waging a major full scale war that seems to have no end in sight. That is not de Escalating. It's escalating every single day and it just doesn't make sense.

F (16:28)

Sense.

D (16:29)

And the the American people did not vote for this. This is not what we campaign for. Pamela.

A (16:36)

Okay, Marjorie Taylor Greene was basically thrown out of Congress by President Trump. Now, listen, there are a lot of people, as it turns out, who are seeing this moment as a moment to take their shot at President Trump. Now, most of them won't actually cite Trump by name because they're still afraid of him, but they're doing it anyway. One of those people is Joe Kent. He's a failed congressional candidate who was repeatedly backed by President Trump in Washington State. And then he was appointed by President Trump to head the National Counterterrorism center as a deputy of Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard. Well, this morning, Joe Kent quit his job at the National Counterterrorism center and issued a scathing letter designed to undermine President Trump. The letter is deeply, deeply conspiratorial. It states openly that, quote, iran posed no imminent threat to our nation, and it is clear that we started this war due to pressure from Israel and its powerful American lobby. Now, that is conspiracy trash. It's also kind of strange since President Trump has said that it's conspiracy trash. So apparently, Trump is so deeply, deeply enthralled to those strange, powerful American lobbies. We're not gonna say it. We're not gonna say it. We're not gonna say that. He apparently has been so bamboozled by them that he's still under the impression that he's his own man. But here's the thing. President Trump is his own man. He makes his own decisions. And as per our usual arrangement, Trump's critics are cowards who are simply unwilling to acknowledge that Trump is the one making the call. But Joe Kent continued, quote, early in this administration, high ranking Israeli officials and influential members of the American media deployed a misinformation campaign that wholly undermined your America first platform and sowed pre war sentiments to encourage a war with Iran. This echo chamber was used to deceive you into believing that Iran posed an imminent threat to the United States and, and that should you strike now, there was a clear path to a swift victory. This was a lie and is the same tactic the Israelis used to draw us into the disastrous Iraq war that cost our nation the lives of thousands of our best men and women. Again, the idea here seems to be that President Trump is a moron misled into war by nefarious Israelis and unnamed influential members of the American media. Don't say it. Don't say it again. Apparently, President Trump has no agency and no thoughts. Kent's letter is replete with this conspiratorial idiocy, including, as we just saw the idea that it was Israel that forced the original Iraq war. An idea totally and utterly unsupportable by any evidence, given the fact that the actual prime minister of Israel at the time, Ariel Sharon, opposed the Iraq war. This stuff is brain rot. Now, listen, we should all be thankful for Joe Kent's long and honorable military service. We can also be glad that he's leaving, since his ideology is the same as that of Tucker Carlson, the guy who says that the war is disgusting and evil and who has been busy sexting with the mullahs. Tucker Carlson calls Kent a personal friend and, quote, the bravest man I know. Frankly, I think that it is a good thing that Kent is not in this position. We cannot have a director of counterterrorism who is somehow advocating preemptive surrender to the world's leading state sponsor of terrorism in the middle of a war. Now, the question here is not why Joe Kent would do this. He's been a longtime devotee of a foreign policy utterly at odds with the peace through strength foreign policy of President Trump. President Trump, we played clips on the show, has been advocating for ending the Iranian threat by military force for, I don't know, 47 years. Joe Kent, by contrast, is a devotee of Ron Paul. He's also the same guy who suggested that the west was trying to manufacture a war with Russia and backed Vladimir Putin's aggressive play for Ukrainian territory as, quote, very reasonable. The real question is why Joe Kent was appointed in the first place and also which other members of the administration are trying to undermine the President from within. It's not all that hard to tell, to be honest with you. If you see a pro isolationist story printed at Politico or Axios, or a story from the administration, doubts inside the administration about the President's war arguments behind closed doors, the President was misinformed. You can bet money where it comes from. Spoiler alert. It likely rhymes with Tulsi Gabbard's office. I would assume that is why Dave Smith is now calling on Tulsi to quit too, and throw her own punches at the President in the process. It is also presumably why Candace Owens has been out there tweeting in support of Joe Kent and suggesting that the President of the United States is, as always, the real problem. It's not just the grievance, right? Of course, some of these folks, like Pete Buttigieg, choo choo train lover, former failed mayor of South Bend, Indiana, but at least he's gay, simply spewing silly lines about how diplomacy with Iran was totally, totally, totally working. I mean, it wasn't working, but it was totally working. You see?

C (21:06)

So the Trump administration argues that they needed to take action to take out Iran's nuclear weapons program and Iran's ballistic missile program. Because when they came into office, the Biden administration, your administration, had done nothing in four years to stop Iran from building a nuclear weapon, developing ballistic missiles, funding terrorism around the world. Are they wrong?

G (21:27)

Yes, of course they're wrong. I mean, for one thing, the president assured us that the nuclear program, President Trump assured us that. That the nuclear program was, in his words, obliterated just a few months ago. And let's also remember that in the past, Iran's nuclear program was contained without a shot being fired. President Trump thought he could get a better deal than the Obama administration did. He failed to get that better deal, and he went off and launched a war without planning.

A (21:55)

I mean, I think that we should probably listen to Pete Buttigieg, whose latest tack is hanging out at diners and trying to look more tough and rough so he can run for president. I mean, he does have longer facial hair than he used to. Some are like Howdy Doody looking. Creepy. Youth pastor James Talarico promoting rube bait about how we're spending too much money in this war. You see, it's a misdirection of resources. Listening to Democrats whine about how much money we spend is a brain rot of its own. By the way, for the record, we are spending about $1 billion a day on this war. We spend in America every single day for the rest of time. At least $20 billion every day, forever. At the federal level, here is James Talarico saying the war is just too costly. Oh, yeah, by the way, we should have universal childcare or something.

C (22:40)

I was in San Branch, Texas a few weeks ago. It's a community south of Dallas that doesn't have any running water. It doesn't have basic sewer infrastructure. So every dollar that we are spending bombing people in the Middle east is a dollar that we are not spending in our communities back home.

A (23:00)

This sort of rhetoric is always unbelievably stupid because it turns out the American government spends, you know, like $7 trillion a year. But maybe you find these arguments convincing. If so, that's your prerogative. It's a free country. But just understand, you are not hearing an accurate depiction of the thing that's actually going on. You are very often hearing either politically motivated nonsense or actual agit prop designed to undermine America's incipient victory in Iran. Now again, this does not mean that we don't have some outstanding problems in the action in Iran. The large of these remains the Strait of Hormuz. Now, for everyone watching@dailywire.com, let's head on back to the chat. Let's see what DW members are saying. Picture this. You print out your entire browsing history. Sign your name at the bottom, nail it to your front door for everybody to see. That would be a really dumb thing to do, but that is basically what you are doing every day. Unless you're using our sponsor ExpressVPN. Here's the reality. Your Internet provider can see all the things you are doing online. Every website, every link, every embarrassing late night search. Even in so called incognito mode. And worse yet, in the United States, they can legally sell that data to whomever they want. That is right. You are the product. But There's a solution. ExpressVPN. It encrypts your Internet traffic before your provider ever sees it. That means your online activity turns into total gibberish, a big bowl of data soup nobody can read whether you're on your phone, your laptop or your tablet. Just tap one button and boom. You are now protected. Personally, I use ExpressVPN because I care about my Internet privacy and my Internet habits. Not fond of them being auctioned off whenever I'm traveling. When I'm on public wi fi at a hotel, I am using ExpressVPN. Stop leaving your front door wide open to your ISP. If you'd like to join me in fighting for the right to privacy, now is a great time to do it because ExpressVPN is available at just 349amonth. If you use my special link, you can get four extra months of service@expressvpn.com Ben that's expn.com Ben for four extra months of service. Spring is a natural reset point. If you've been putting off cleaning up the messier parts of your business, now would be the time to make the change. Streamlining your communications is one of the quickest and easiest upgrades you can make. That's why today's episode is brought to you by Quo. It's spelled Q U O. The smarter way to run your business communications. Now here is the reality. If your business is still bouncing between personal cell phones, clunky desk phones, random text threads, you're bleeding efficiency and you're looking less professional than you should. Quo is the number one rated business phone system on G2. It's the difference between running your business like it's 2004 and actually acting like you live in a modern economy where customers expect instant, organized responses. Your entire team can handle calls and texts from one shared number. Everyone sees the full thread. Quo's AI automatically logs calls, generate summaries and and highlights next steps so nothing gets lost. So if you're serious about not looking like an amateur operation, this is the moment to do something about it. Make this season where no opportunity and a customer slips away. Try quo for free. Plus get 20% off your first six months when you go to quo.comBen that's q u-o.comBenquo no missed calls, no missed customers. Alrighty. Traffic in the Strait of Hormuz, as we have been discussing, has been dropping precipitously since the beginning of the Iran action. Western flags or linked tankers have stopped transiting in the waterway, at least until the action is over or until they receive an American escort. Maersk msc, Hapag, Lloyd. They've all suspended transits. Despite America's vow to ensure shipping, most companies aren't actually taking America up on it. Meanwhile, Iran has been launching drones at ports in the area that are attempting to ramp up pressure on America to end the conflict. Now, again, if America were to just do that, that would really be dumb because then Iran would be in basic, permanent control of of this vital choke point in global trade. So what's the thing that comes next? The Wall Street Journal laid out a few options this morning. They wrote, quote, retired Rear Admiral Mark Montgomery, who has commanded a carrier strike group, recently laid out what a Hormuz operation might look like. First, continue to degrade to a militarily manageable risk. The missiles, mines, drones, unmanned surface combatants that could threaten US forces and tankers. Second, maintain an unblinking eye that looks 50 miles on either side of the strait and 100 miles back. Third, keep four or eight aircraft persistently overhead during convoy operations, equipped with advanced precision kill weapon systems. A cheap rocket, 25,000 bucks that is extremely effective against shahed drones. Fourth, have armed helos ready to attack small boats that emerge. Fifth, deploy 10 to 14 Aegis destroyers whose air defenses make them the perfect escort ship. These surface combatants first need to be brought into place. Allies could join later. So that is one possibility. It's time consuming. It's expensive, obviously. Or alternatively, President Trump could seize Kharg island, as we have been talking about. Kharg island is that Coral island, located about 15 miles off the coast of Iran, and literally 90% of all Iranian Oil capacity moves through Kharg Island. If we were to seize it, it would cut off Iran's export capacity entirely. And that would likely either force the regime to negotiate an end to the war, or it would lead to sort of a final Iranian conflagration that might end in the fall of the regime. Because when you don't got no money and when you don't got no oil going out and when the United States is sitting on your entire oil supply, things start to get pretty rough. So what is President Trump actually going to do here? Well, he's certainly not going to tell the members of the press. One of my favorite games that President Trump plays is somebody asks him a specific question on what he's about to do, and then he just rips on them. It's kind of funny. Will it be necessary to use even a limited ground force to secure whatever

G (28:17)

nuclear material remains in Iran is part of that threat?

A (28:22)

And secondly, have you made a decision?

B (28:23)

You mean to go in and get it?

A (28:25)

Yes, sir.

B (28:26)

Why would I tell you a thing like that? And secondly, you know, I can't say. Reports, sir, will you attack Carg Island? Will you occupy Car. They asked me these questions, and I don't want to be mean, but they're stupid questions. If any. If any president answered those questions, they should be president.

A (28:48)

I mean, he's right about that. But back to opening the Strait for just a moment. President Trump has been calling on our allies from Europe to Asia to help open up the strait. These allies freely acknowledge that freedom of transit through the Strait is, in fact, a key strategic interest for not only the United States, but for everybody. It's just that they are too cowardly to do anything about it. You know, as usual, as per our usual arrangement, they bring the empty talk, we bring the hardware. As of now, Japan has announced they're not gonna send ships to help us, even though 93% of all of their oil transits the Strait of Hormuz. South Korea, same story. Even though 70 to 75% of their oil comes through that waterway. Britain has been offering us a few minesweeper drones. France wants stability first, which is to say they want a partial surrender to the Iranians. Australia, they're doing nothing. China, of course, is on the other side. They're aligned with Iran.

F (29:39)

They.

A (29:40)

They're calling for an end to the war. All this despite the fact that an oil shock harms all of those countries significantly more than it harms the United States. As the Wall Street Journal reports today, borrowing costs are surging across the Continent. Government debt in the UK and France is at or near the highest share of GDP in at least six decades. So what are the Europeans actually going to do? What are they fighting hard for? They're fighting for green energy. I know, I know. Not the Europeans. They are clinging to their fatuous emissions trading systems. Those are regulations on carbon emissions as their prices continue to climb through the ceiling. Here's Ursula von der Leyen, who's the head of the European Commission.

H (30:18)

Without ETS, we would now consume 100 billion cubic meter more gas, again, making us more vulnerable, more dependent and weaker. So we need ets, but we need to modernize it.

A (30:38)

Oh, great. I mean, they're focused on the right things. So that would be a yes on the solar panels. And that would be a no on joining America to end the terrorist regime in Iran. So let's talk a little bit about our vaunted allies. We've heard over and over and over again that our allies are deeply important, that we shouldn't abandon our allies, that our allies deserve our support. I've advocated for this. I've been a huge advocate for that idea. Not because I deeply love the French or the Germans or the Brits, but because the world is a chaotic place and we would rather have countries on our side than aligning with our enemies. But the time has come to discuss what makes a good ally. A good ally in foreign policy isn't just a country we pay to stay out of the sway of the enemy. A good ally should do four things. First, our best allies should align with us morally. They should share our general values and orientation toward the world. We have strategic partners, and these strategic partners may change over time and not share our values very much. But our best allies ought to stand shoulder to shoulder with us in our civilizational outlook. Second, our allies should minimize the help required from us by building up their own resources. Mooching allies generally are not good allies. Now, again, this doesn't mean that our allies won't occasionally need big infusions of help. That's been true forever. Or that they can always stand up to the predations of their enemies without our help. It does mean they owe us an obligation to help themselves. Third, when we call on our allies, they ought to answer the call. After all, if we're a good ally, we'd do the same. That doesn't mean, of course, that every country with which we are allied must pre commit to joining every war that we join. But when the strategic and moral interests align, backing out is not just cowardice. It is a form of sedition. Fourth, and finally, our allies should engage in intelligence sharing and sharing of military capability. This doesn't mean countries give up their own independent capacity, but our best allies should be in the air with us, in the water with us, on the ground with us. Our combined power should be stronger than the power we have alone. That, of course, is the purpose of an alliance. So here is the question. Are our key allies doing this? So far, the only thing we've seen our allies saying is that they are on our side morally. But when it comes time to actually enforce those morals, then they just disappear into the wind. Here's the Vice President of the European Commission, Kahakalas.

H (32:57)

This is not Europe's war, but Europe's interests are directly at stake.

A (33:06)

Okay, so if it's at stake, then why are you guys not doing anything about it? And then, of course, there's German Chancellor Friedrich Mares, who freely acknowledges that America's action against Iran is justified, but then says, quote, we will not participate in ensuring freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz by military means. The war in the Middle east is not a matter for NATO. Therefore Germany will also not become involved militarily. So what are you good for? Here's that tower of strength. Emmanuel Macron on X. I have just spoken with Iranian President Massoud Pezashkian. I called on him to put an immediate end to the unacceptable attacks Iran is carrying out against countries in the region, whether directly or through proxies, including in Lebanon and Iraq. I reminded him that France is acting within a strictly defensive framework aimed at protecting its interests, its regional partners, and freedom of navigation, and that it is unacceptable for our country to be targeted, so you might want to do something. Then, of course, there is the execrable Keira Starmer of the uk, who says opening the Straits is very difficult. It's very difficult, which is why we're not going to do anything. We will just let our entire country be eaten by the interests of radical Islamists. But we certainly won't do anything to open the Straits of Hormuz. Here is Keir Starmer, a man who looks like a thumb with glasses.

C (34:21)

But ultimately, we have to reopen the Strait of Hormuz to ensure stability in the market. That is not a simple task.

A (34:34)

He's saying that we have to do something, and then not doing anything is effervescently stupid. So they will all say some nice words, and then they will do pretty much nothing. But when the shoe is on the other foot, say in Ukraine, Then of course, everybody shows up at America's door, hand out, waiting for some help. Here, of course, is NATO chief Mark Rudy saying, you know, the EU can't defend itself without the United States. Yeah, we know. We're aware. And if anyone thinks here again that the European Union or Europe as a whole can defend itself without the US keep on dreaming. You can't. We can't. We need each other. Okay, but if we need each other, then it can't just be that you need us. You have to help us when we ask you to help us. All right, we're going to move over to the DW members chat and take a couple of your questions live. Savvy Foreign. Is sponsored by our friends over at American Beverage. Think about all those drinks that you grew up with and you still love today. You know, like a soda or a sparkling water tea, sports drink. The companies that make those beverages, Coca Cola, Dr. Pepper, Pepsi products, they've always made them right here in America. So while there's a lot of talk about bringing jobs back, America's beverage companies, they never left in the first place. These are American companies making American products with American workers in America's hometowns, 275,000 men and women across all 50 states who show up every day, do the work, help keep this country moving. We're talking good paying jobs, the kind of jobs you can raise a family on. For more than 100 years, these companies have been part of the American story. And they're still here, still investing and still building. Learn more about how they are keeping America strong @WeDeliver for America.org Again, that's We Deliver for America.org they're doing a great job keeping American jobs in America and providing you and your family with the same beverages you grew up with. Go check them out right now@wedeliver for America.org Again, that's we deliver for America.org Here's a topic most people avoid planning for. The inevitable death comes for all of us. I know a dark thought. But that doesn't mean that you have to leave chaos behind. Our sponsor Trust and Wills online estate planning helps you get your affairs in order. If you got kids, you own a home, or you're caring for aging parents, it's time to think about estate planning. You're not alone in putting this off. 43% of Americans admit they haven't gotten around to making a will yet. We all procrastinate, even on important stuff like naming a guardian for your kids. The good news, trust and will lets you Create an estate plan in about 30 minutes. And even if you're not sure where to start, their online platform guides you through every step. And you can get one on one help from attorneys in your state if you need it. Worried about the cost or think you don't have enough assets? You Everybody has something worth passing on. Trust and Will believes estate planning should be accessible to everyone. So they've made it affordable today and valuable when it matters tomorrow. Don't wait until it's too late. Protect your loved ones today, tomorrow and beyond with Trust and Will, the most trusted name in online estate planning. Go to Trust and Willcom, Slash shapiro and get 20% off. That's trust and will.com/shapiro to get your 20% off. Trust and will comm slash Shapiro. I should mention at this point, the Daily Wire has released a brand new show. It's called Be a Man With Me, featuring our very own Pavel Wydowski. When masculinity becomes a punchline, Pavel tests it the hard way. Pavel is hilarious. He joins cops, farmers, MMA fighters across America. Usually he gets wrecked in the process. Bruised, humbled, laughing, Pavel discovers what real toughness looks like and how many ice packs it takes to survive it. Here's the trailer. This is great for, like your teen boys. Check it out. Right now.

C (38:06)

Did I mention I hate heights? My name is Pawo. When I was growing up, I wanted to be a real man. So I'm gonna hit the road, meet the men that are manly, courageous and strong. The men that I wanted to be like when I was a kid. Daddy's coming with some food. I don't know if there's a more

A (38:29)

noble cause or better people to work with.

C (38:32)

I'm gonna see if I can be just like them.

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We don't see ourselves as heroes. We honestly just think it's doing our job. If you want to be a hero,

C (38:42)

if you want to be a badass, be a man like these guys.

A (38:45)

Woo.

C (38:47)

Eight episodes.

A (38:48)

I am so deep.

C (38:49)

Eight life lessons. My name is Paavo. PMN with me.

A (38:57)

Deep breath in. Be A Man With Me is available right now. Oh, man. He got himself tased, like, repeatedly for this. If Powell can go through that, you can help him out. Be A Man With Me is available right now on dailywire.com or subscribe on YouTube@YouTube.com beaman with me now. I've been as strong an advocate as there is of the United States for continuing to fund Ukraine's defense against Russia. Facing down Russian aggression is a key geopolitical interest of the United States, there is a thin line between defending America's interests by helping our allies and enabling their dependency. So again, let's go back and re examine those core elements of key alliances. One, moral alignment. Two, don't be a moocher. Three, answer the call when we call. And four, you need to help us with military intelligence sharing. So a lot of our allies fulfill that first element, you know, at least most of the time. Although one could argue that there's significant tilt towards surrendering to radical Islam at home and abroad and is risking long standing alliances. But on the other elements, our allies need to be better allies. President Trump is quite properly getting pretty sick of this nonsense. Here he was yesterday.

B (40:02)

Numerous countries have told me they're on the way. Some are very enthusiastic about it and some are. And some are countries that we've helped for many, many years. We've protected them from horrible outside sources and they weren't that enthusiastic. And the level of enthusiasm matters to me. We have some countries where we have 45,000 soldiers, great soldiers, protecting them from harm's way. And we have done a great job. And we want to know, do you have any minesweepers? Well, would rather not get involved, sir. I said, you mean for 40 years we're protecting you and you don't want to get involved in something that is very minor, very few shots going to be taken because they don't have many shots left. But they said we'd rather not get involved. I just want the fake news media and everybody else to remember that that was said.

A (41:09)

He is right about this. Now, the point that Trump is making here is absolutely correct when he says we have tons of troops right now protecting Japan, South Korea, Germany. He is right. Of course, here he was yesterday.

B (41:22)

You have to remember we have 45,000 troops in Japan, we have 45,000 troops in South Korea, we have 45,000 50,000 troops in Germany. We defend all these countries. And then do you have any minesweepers? And they say, well, would it be possible for us not to get involved?

A (41:47)

Well, he is right again. Okay, listen, we're constantly hearing from the chattering class and the podcastian contingent that foreign aid to Israel is expensive. That's a fair enough argument on its own. I've been arguing for literally decades that Israel ought to wean itself from American aid. And Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the same people all these folks hate, said clearly to the president last year he wanted to do that. President Trump said, hey, wait a second, by the way, the reason President Trump said, hey, wait a Second is because it is military sharing that is the basis for that aid. I mean, let's be real about the initiation of American aid to Israel. It began because the American military industrial complex was concerned that Israel was going to build its own fighter jet, the Lavie, that would be in direct competition with with the F16. But let's also point out that for $3.8 billion in American aid, all of which goes back into American defense production, because Israel has to spend all of that with American defense companies, the United States has access not just to top flight Israeli military technology, like for example, their very cool laser shooting down rocket system, but they are an ally that actually joins in our fights at the highest possible level. Israel has actually been flying far more sorties, far more, far more than the United States has above Iran. During this mission, Israel has has absorbed dozens of missiles coming the other way. Israel has provided the intelligence that led to the killing of Iran's top echelon and done the killing itself in many cases. Israel requires zero US bases and zero US troops, historically speaking. Here's Secretary of War Pete Hegseth explaining our relationship with Israel to our steadfast partner, Israel. Your mission is being executed with unmatched skill and iron determination.

I (43:23)

Fighting shoulder to shoulder with such a

A (43:25)

capable ally is a true force multiplier and a breath of fresh air. We salute your courage and your contribution. Now let's contrast that with some of our other allies. This idea that we only spend military aid on Israel is nonsense. It is not true. We spend between five and a half and six billion dollars on military bases in Japan, we station 54,000 troops there. In Germany, we spend four to five billion dollars a year and we station 36,000 troops there. South Korea, 3.5 to $4 billion per year with 23,000 troops there. Qatar, one to $1.5 billion a year and 8,000 troops. Turkey, 300500 million bucks with 1700 troops. And Saudi Arabia, the 500 million to a billion with 2,500 troops. None of those costs include surges or special operations. So question, quick question. How many of those countries that we are spending literally billions of dollars a year on have provided us direct forward support for our operations? Zero. Some of them throughout this operation have actually tried to undermine us. That would include Turkey and at the beginning, Qatar. These countries live off of our protection. They have for decades not financial support or military aid for an independent force buildup. Our direct protection. We have a tripwire force in South Korea so that we will immediately be drawn into any conflicts with North Korea so they don't cross that border. We station troops in Japan to prevent Chinese threat against Japan. Our German bases are a holdover from the Cold War where we worried about a Soviet invasion, so we stationed troops there for literally half a century. Meanwhile, those countries, when we want their help, go totally quiet, and instead they spent their money building up their exorbitant regulatory and welfare structures. So here is the deal. We don't need different allies. We need our allies to be better. President Trump was always right to force NATO countries to pay up for their own defense. But if NATO countries want America to help them out in times of common need, they need to step up as well. When one of the world's chief shipping lanes is closed by an internationally recognized terrorist regime, we can talk all we want about how we shouldn't alienate our allies, saying silly things about invading Greenland or tariffing the Germans. And I agree with a lot of that. But if our allies aren't going to back our plague when we need them, then we should treat them as what they are, strategic partners, not ironclad allies that make a call on our resources at their whim and then abandon us when we ask for a hand.

J (45:50)

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A (46:20)

Meanwhile, domestically, we keep hearing that Republicans are in serious super duper electoral trouble, that President Trump is suffering low approval ratings, that the public isn't behind the war in Iran, that Democrats are about to swamp Republicans all over the country. And maybe that's true, but there are some counter signals. One, Trump's approval rating right now is actually higher at this point in his presidency than Bush or Obama. Second, why are Republicans running almost dead even with Democrats in the generic congressional ballot? Like really dead even, while the legacy media have been focused on the Republicans these days, which makes sense given that Republicans have a trifecta in government. Democrats are about as popular as some forms of cancer. Here's Harry Enton at CNN explaining.

C (47:00)

I mean, Democrats in the minds of the American public are lower than the Dead Sea. What are we talking about here? Well, let's take a look. The net approval rating for Democrats In Congress. You said it, Kate Baldwin. The lowest ever. Look at this. Overall, they are 55 points underwater. Their approval rating is south of 20%. It's even worse when you look at Independence. Look at this. Negative 61 points. That means that their approval rating is 61 points lower than their disapproval rating. Quinnipiac has been polling this question for the better part of the 21st century. They have never found Democrats, at least those in Congress, in worse shape than they are right now.

A (47:41)

So what's causing this problem for congressional Democrats? After all, they are speaking truth to power. They're standing strong against the patriarchy. They're fighting Trump. Well, it could be that they remain totally and utterly disconnected from reality. So, just to take an obvious example, Democrats across America continue to promote the truly insane lie that men can be women. I mean, they still have not stopped at this junk. They still have not. And that women somehow owe it to men to compete with men in sports. Here is Arizona State Senator Catherine Miranda doing this routine.

H (48:11)

It's all about a sports mentality. Growing up in sports, being a tomboy. I mean, you look pretty healthy. I've played against girls that look like you. You look very much in shape and strong. But it's a sports mentality when you're growing up and how much competition that you'll take on. So it's not just a silver bullet for one community of sports players. It's the individual person on how competitive you want to be.

A (48:46)

Oh, so, I mean, you're a big, strong woman. Why don't you compete with the men? Oh, goodness gracious. Or maybe the Democrats are having trouble because they're busy complaining about voter ID, a policy that has the support of 8 in 10Americans in every single poll. And yet Democrats are very much against voter id. Again, I still can't come up with why Democrats are complaining about voter ID other than they kind of like voter fraud. Like, I need. I need an alternative explanation that makes sense to me. I'd be happy to find it if you want to give it to me. Democrats. Here's Representative Debbie Wasserman Schultz making the usual Democratic complaint, suggesting apparently people of minority ethnicity cannot figure out how to get a driver's license or something.

C (49:23)

This is just about voters having to show ID and proof of citizenship in order to vote. What's wrong with that?

F (49:31)

This is about one thing.

A (49:33)

Ensuring that it is much harder for

F (49:35)

people who are unlikely to go to

A (49:37)

the polls and vote for Republicans, and that making it much harder for them to cast their ballot. Maybe people don't like that or maybe they're in trouble because they continue to jack up their taxes and then lie about it, as California Governor Gavin Newsom continues to do.

C (49:57)

We have the most progressive tax rates in America. Texas, the most regressive. Texas taxes poor folks more than we tax our riches. The question for you is who's the higher tax state, California or Texas? Who are you for? Are you just for the 1%

A (50:25)

or

C (50:26)

you for the 99?

A (50:29)

Well, you know that's not true. The top four states by overall tax burden in the United States are all blue. Hawaii, New York, Vermont and California at 11% overall tax burden. Texas is number 40, Florida is number 45. Or maybe Democrats are still unpopular because they are keeping the Department of Homeland Security shut down, like even in the middle of an Iranian global terror threat. I guess in order to make some point about how they don't like ICE or something. Well, here's House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries trying to explain.

K (51:01)

We've repeatedly made clear, Democrats in both the House and the Senate that we should fund the TSA fund, Coast Guard fund, CISA fund, FEMA fund, every other aspect of the Department of Homeland Security that doesn't have to do with ICE or Donald Trump and Republicans toxic deportation machine that the American people are rejecting. And for whatever the reason, Republicans have decided that they would rather shut down the whole thing than actually deal with a situation where we get ICE under control.

A (51:40)

So we're in the middle of a war with Iran where they are activating terror cells and the Democrats are like, we have to keep DHS shut because we don't like ice. Now Democrats are, as Bill Maher says, stupidly counterintuitive. Here was Bill the other night with Jerry o', Connell, the actor, the kind

L (51:56)

of super woke people they live to have themselves thought of as the good people, as the social justice warriors. So they're always looking for some new marginalized people to champion. And of course the very thought of it is, is noble. And I get it. And I'm an old school liberal, 100%. I've always been there for this. And they take it just 10 subway stops too far to places where it's, it's just about making them feel like they're doing something. And you know what? You're not Rosa Parks. You're not anybody who's doing anything. You're just like trying to be this sort of social justice warrior.

A (52:39)

Well, he's right about that. Listen, Democrats may be banking on Republicans to lose the 2026 election on their own. Maybe Republicans will But even if Democrats gain power, they won't keep it for long if they keep pursuing stupidly counterintuitive policies. So while President Trump is fighting a world changing war that legitimately will change the face of the map for generations to come, Democrats continue to pursue their white whale making sure that there are male appendages in the female locker rooms. Alrighty folks, the show continues for our members right now. Like we've been asking our members for questions all through the show, like during the commercials even. But in order to be part of that special group, to be our friend, you have to head on over to Daily Wire right now and become a member. Use code Shapiro at Checkout to try 2 months free on all annual plans. Click that link in the description and join us.

I (53:44)

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