Donald Trump (7:10)

I was against Iran long before I ever thought about Israel being against Iran. I was, if you look back many years ago, I talked about Iran was a big threat to this country, to this world of ours.

Ben Shapiro (7:26)

Now, Kent's take is kind of unsurprising, to be honest. His wife works for far left propagandist Max Blumenthal who has worked for a wide variety of foreign propaganda outlets. And all of this calls into question why Kent was selected for his job in the first place. Obviously, Kent and his Ron Paul esque foreign policy preferences have some allies in the administration. According to Fox, Kent was, quote, a known leaker and he was cut out of the President's intelligence briefings. Months ago, the White House told DNI Tulsi Gabbard he should be fired for suspected leaks, but she never did. He has not been part of any Iran planning discussions or briefings at all. Now our own Mary Margaret Olihan reports that it's true that Kent was kept out of all briefings on the war. But an intelligence official tells her that Gabbard would have fired Kent if she had been asked to do so. The White House did confirm this morning that Kent had literally nothing to do with any Iran war considerations before the war or during the war. Here was Caroline Levitt on Fox this morning.

Guest/Caller (8:20)

It's been a while since the President has seen him here at the White House. It's been a while since he's been involved in the process of the presidential daily briefs and he's been actually present for the President's intelligence briefings. This was an individual who was not involved in any of the discussions pre operation and throughout this operation. I think the President views it as deeply unfortunate that this individual who the President gave the privilege of working for the administration, put out this resignation on government letterhead with many falsehoods throughout, essentially accusing the President of being manipulated by foreign governments. That's laughable and it's insulting.

Ben Shapiro (9:01)

She happens to be correct about this. Tulsi Gabbard put out a statement of her own and again, she's under some fire today for having appointed people like Joe Kent. Quote, donald Trump was overwhelmingly elected by the American people to be our President and Commander in Chief. As our commander in Chief, he is responsible for determining what is and is not an imminent threat and whether or not to take action he deems necessary to protect the safety and security of our troops, the American people and our country. The Office of the Director of National Intelligence is responsible for helping coordinate and integrate all intelligence to provide the president and Commander in Chief with the best information available to inform his decisions. After carefully reviewing all the information before him, President Trump concluded that the terrorist Islamist regime in Iran posed an imminent threat, and he took action based on that conclusion. Now, that is a pretty weak t statement there from Tulsi Gabbard. She's not backing the president's play. She's just saying that he has the authority to do what he's doing, which we already knew in any case. According to John Hudson of the Washington Post, quote, Kent and Tulsi Gabbard met with Vice President J.D. vance at the White House on Monday, per sources, which again, is kind of weird if you're going to resign. Typically you don't meet with the vice president first to discuss such matters. During the meeting, Kent presented his resignation letter to the vice President. A White House official said the VP encouraged him to speak to the White House chief of staff and president before making any final decisions and the VP encouraged him to be respectful to the president. But again, there are some natural lines of demarcation in this administration and it appears that Vice President Tulsi Gabbard, Joe Kent might be on one side of that divide. Well, it turns out this was not particularly respectful to the president, this letter, since it basically calls him a dullard working at the behest of these Zionists. But it was enough to earn him the royal treatment from our usual friends. He is slated to appear on all the Leaders of the anti Trump Grievance party podcast. Tucker Carlson, Megyn Kelly, all the rest. And Ms. Now has now discovered newfound love for Joe Kent in some strange new respect time. Over at MSNBC, Tom Nichols, Mr. Kent writing this sort of sentence that'll live on forever in the history of this chapter is written and the chapter on the war in Iran is written. I believe the sentence will be there, quote, I cannot in good conscience support the ongoing war in Iran. 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 is a sentence that will live on forever, says Nikola Wallace.

John Thune (11:22)

Wow.

Ben Shapiro (11:23)

CNN is suddenly incredibly happy with Joe Kent again. So much strange new respect happening for a guy that CNN hated until legitimately five seconds ago. And bully for Mr. Joe Kent for having the political courage to stand up for what he believes. You know, this is a guy that's a big time maga supporter has always been very much like Marjorie Taylor Greene, who you had on your show yesterday. I mean, these are significant resignations from the MAGA world, and people need to take take note. And I hope that this leads to the resignation of other members of the administration because he is absolutely spot on target. This is not in the best interest of the United States to continue this war, and President Trump needs to shut it down as quickly as he possibly can. Well, President Trump responded to Joe Kent's resignation with a proper level of dismissiveness. Here was the president yesterday.

Donald Trump (12:20)

Well, I read his statement. I always thought he was a nice guy, but I always thought he was weak on security, very weak on security. I didn't know him well, but I thought he seemed like a pretty nice guy. But when I read his statement, I realized that it's a good thing that he's out because he said that Iran was not a threat. Iran was a threat. Every country realized what a threat Iran was. The question is whether or not they wanted to do something about it.

Ben Shapiro (12:51)

And then for good measure, the president decided to dunk on Kent, showing his rather inconsistent feelings about the Middle East. This is a tweet that he reposted from 2020, quot we should not sit and wait for the next attack. Wipe Iran's ballistic capability out and get our troops out of Iraq. They're only targets now. No US WIA kia is a tribute to the professionalism of our military and intel professionals and not Iranian restraints. So back in 2020, he, of course, was being hawkish on Iran. The White House's Caroline Levitt released a statement detailing all the false allegations in Kent's resignation letter. And there are many, quote, there are many false claims in this letter. Let me address one specifically, that Iran posed no imminent threat to our nation. This is the same false claim Democrats and some in the liberal media have been repeating over and over. As President Trump has clearly and explicitly stated, he had strong and compelling evidence that Iran was going to attack the United States first. This evidence was compiled from many sources and factors. President Trump would never make the decision to deploy military assets against a foreign adversary in a vacuum. Iran is the world's leading state sponsor of terrorism, says Caroline Levitt. The Iranian regime is evil. It proudly killed Americans, waged war against our country, and openly threatened us all the way up until the launch of Operation Epic Fury. And then it goes on to explain why Jo Kent was wrong. The best comment actually came from Senator John Fetterman, who remains just hilariously awesome, who told Huffington Post, quote, I know your readership loves that, and the New York Times loves it. And he's gonna be the national hero. You know, just like you made mtg. That was your mascot for a while, but now her crazy ass is now all about Tucker Carlson. So I really don't care what he chose to do. I wish the best for him in his next life. A perfectly fair statement from the Pennsylvania senator. Now he's right. The legacy media are busy shrieking with pleasure at the supposed breakup of maga. Remember Marjorie Taylor Greene, that former congresswoman who cannot tell the difference between the Gestapo and gazpacho? Like between the secret Nazi police and cold tomato soup? Once upon a time, the media mocked her. That's when she was a Trump ally. Of course,

John Thune (14:46)

it's a chance for the

Ben Shapiro (14:47)

whole world to see who is willing to publicly embrace a loon. Those are Mitch McConnell's words. A woman who is dubious about whether the attacks of 911 were real. A woman who has endorsed calls to assassinate Barack Obama, Nancy Pelosi, and Hillary Clinton. But that was back when she was a Trump supporter. Now she is being feted by cnn. Here was the CNN panel last night. I see change from what we've seen. In some ways, some of the rhetoric she was saying was. Sounded like Joe Biden of There's more that unites us than divides us. That is not the sort of rhetoric we are used to hearing from President Trump and the MAGA base. Actually, as a couple of weeks ago, some in the MAGA influencer class are freaking out about the heartbreaking loss of former MTV host Theo Vaughn. And hey, if you've lost the Ovan and his vast arsenal of foreign policy expertise, you must be in trouble. Serious trouble. Here was Theo Von who could not spot Israel on a map if spotted Jordan, Lebanon, Egypt, and the Mediterranean Sea. He was very, very upset about what's going on in a region of the world that he legitimately could not find.

John Thune (15:57)

It feels like there's this war machine and, and then our soldiers are put into these spaces and they're just there

Ben Shapiro (16:04)

to serve an America that they believe in. And it's no knock against them or anything like that. It's just. I just don't. I just. It just feels like it's causing a lot of pain and fear.

John Thune (16:19)

And, yeah, I don't understand our. I don't understand Trump's relationship. I don't understand the, our political, like,

Ben Shapiro (16:29)

why we are so beholden to these, to this government, this Israeli government that,

John Thune (16:34)

that just seems to be obsessed with

Ben Shapiro (16:40)

control. Hey, man. Hey, bro. Hey, dude. If business in front, party in back, hosts aren't with you, who is? I mean, aside from 90% of actual MAGA, the myth making about the war in Iran is indeed a motivated op. It is designed to undermine support for the war. It is also meant to damage President Trump. Let's be real about this. All these people who are avoiding saying Trump's name because they're cowards. This entire op is designed to damage President Trump and it's not gonna work because Trump has the loyalty of his followers and his voters and they trust him to do the right thing here by a margin of 9 to 1. But this whole thing does demonstrate the deep and abiding desire by some, both in the legacy media and in the grievance party, right to use this moment to supplant Trump. Some aren't being particularly shy about it. Candace Owens, for example. Points for honesty. Quote, joe Kent is an American patriot hero and veteran. Trump is a shameful president. May American troops take his lead and look into conscientious objection to Bibi's red heifer war goyim. Stand down. Point to the crazy lady who talks to ghosts. At least for honesty, Tucker Carlson only hints at this. He's still too chicken to say Trump's name. Marjorie Taylor is actually doing even more. She's busily calling Trump a traitor to maga, which is kind of like calling Thomas Edison a traitor to the light bulb. But make no mistake, Trump is still very much in control of maga, and when he wins the war, that control will solidify even further, as it should. Speaking of which, we seem to be nearing something big in Iran. We'll get to that in one second. First, folks, it's time for a little spring cleaning. Let's be honest, we all know where to start. Dig out that old wireless contract you've been clinging to. Chuck it out the window. It's outdated, overpriced. It's ridiculous. Now, if you actually care about saving money and getting quality service, switch to Pure Talk. That's the company I use. You get unlimited talk, text, plenty of data, all for just 25 bucks a month. No contract, no hidden fees, and big bonus, no overseas call center. So when you need help, you're talking to, you know, like an American. I've been using Pure Talk for years myself. All of my calls rely upon a great tower network, excellent coverage, and again, the best price. You have to take my word for it, there are a lot of other Pure Talk customers who love Pure Talk. Lois says same coverage and clarity as Verizon or AT&T at a fraction of the price. Award winning customer service. She just upgraded to an iPhone 16E. Well, now is the time for you to make the switch. Head over to PureTalk.com Shapiro. You will save 50% off your very first month of coverage. Again, that's PureTalk.com Shapiro Switch to a wireless company that actually shares your values, gives you the best price and the best coverage. Go check them out right now. That's PureTalk.com Shapiro PureTalk is America's wireless company. PureTalk.com Shapiro 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 you 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 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.com/Ben. That's Q U O.com/Benquo no missed calls, no missed customers. All right, folks, if you're watching on YouTube again, we're going to take questions during the show, like live. That's the thing we do. And if you want to ask one of those questions and, you know, want us to actually answer it, you should go become a member@dailywire.com also you should help us out and become a subscriber because that's how we bring you all of our awesome material from our shows to our movies and our documentaries, all the breaking news and all of the rest. All right, Abby, what have we?

Guest/Caller (20:51)

Let's do this. So JBud F question for Ben was a split with people like Joe Kent, something you saw possibly happening in the past, because I had a strong feeling he was pretty crazy when running for my district. I'm surprised others didn't see it.

Ben Shapiro (21:02)

Yeah, I mean, I think that a lot of these splits have been coming for a long time, because here's the thing. President Trump, he is sui generis. He contains multitudes. But in the end, President Trump has instincts, and then he acts upon those instincts. One of the things that I always find really strange is people trying to, quote, unquote, grab MAGA away from Trump. So I voted for President Trump in 2020. I campaigned for him in 2024. I gave money to his campaign in 2024, and all the rest, I had a fundraiser for him. Okay, here is the thing. There are lots of areas where I disagree with President Trump. I make them clear on the show when I do, whether we're talking about things like tariffs or whether we are talking about his perspective on the war in Ukraine. When I disagree with the president and I disagree with the president. But also, I don't try to claim that MAGA is mine, how he's a traitor to the president is the president. I am a citizen with a perspective on what he is doing. The bizarre notion, what you're seeing here is not just people who are, quote, unquote, disagreeing with President Trump. What they're trying to do is claim that he is a traitor to the program that he created, the movement that he created. That is a revolutionary attempt. And so was this going to happen? Yeah. I mean, there are always gaps in the Trump coalition. There always are in any coalition. The question is why there are some who now feel motivated to go directly after the president and try to tear him down and supplant him with their own leadership class. Well, back to the war in Iran. Democrats are claiming, as per their usual arrangement, that the president doesn't have a plan. Governor Josh Shapiro of Pennsylvania, who is running for the presidency as a Democrat but has no shot because his last name is the same as my last name, which is to say he's a Jew. He complains that Trump has no clarity about his endgame. What I would do and what the president of the United States failed to

John Thune (22:46)

do was be clear with the American

Ben Shapiro (22:48)

people about what the hell we were doing here. Was the plan to go after the nuclear weapons, the weapons, by the way, he said, were destroyed seven years ago or seven months ago.

John Thune (22:56)

Pardon me, Was the plan to go

Ben Shapiro (22:58)

and do regime change, in which case, who the hell is going to take over? I don't think the son's any better than the father was the plan to go in there later, but then you got forced because Netanyahu forced your hand. Remember, they said that. So it's a matter of clarity. I want that back. I think if you don't have clarity on why you're going in, you have no way of knowing how the hell to get out. Okay, this is all nonsense. The reality is that if Donald Trump did set a bunch of goals at the beginning, repeatedly, but Democrats don't care. And are we under the impression that if President Trump had spoken about what he was gonna do in Iran for, say, a year or 2 or, say, 47, Democrats would have any other different thoughts? President Trump, for his part, does not seem particularly worried right now. The Iranian regime has told Sky News, if you put boots on the ground in Iraq, it will be another Vietnam. Are you afraid of that?

Donald Trump (23:49)

No, I'm not afraid of. I'm really not afraid of anything.

Ben Shapiro (23:54)

Well, the reason the President is not particularly worried is because the United States and Israel have basically knocked out the entire upper echelon of the Iranian regime. Among their other accomplishments. Here was President Trump talking yesterday.

Donald Trump (24:07)

I have Marco here. We have a lot of our great people. JD Is here. They're all here. And I say, let's. Let's do this. We got to do it right. Should have been done by many presidents. Should have been done long before 47 years. It's 40 years of living in terror. You know, they're called the bully of the Middle east, but they're really the bully of the world. Because he used oil to bribe, Right? They used oil to bribe and to, you know, gain power. I don't know what they gained. What did they gain?

Ben Shapiro (24:35)

What the hell?

Donald Trump (24:36)

How are they doing? Not so good. They're all gone now.

Ben Shapiro (24:40)

Well, that is true. Israel continues to kill off all the top members of the Iranian regime. Last night, Israel took out the Iranian intelligence minister, a man named Esmail Khatib. According to the Wall Street Journal, Khatib had previously held several key roles within the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, primarily holding intelligence positions, according to the Israeli military. Well, you know, now he will be holding a new kind of meeting underground with the rest of the Iranian leadership, like six feet underground. How thorough is the Israeli penetration of Iran's governmental networks? There's an incredible story from the Wall Street Journal today. Apparently, Israel is now calling IRGC leadership directly, like on their cell phones, and telling them to give up the fight if they would like to live. According to the Wall Street Journal, Quote, the Journal reviewed the contents of one call between a senior Iranian police commander and an agent of the Mossad, Israel's foreign intelligence service. Can you hear me? A Mossad agent can be heard speaking Farsi. We know everything about you. You are on a blacklist and we have all the information about you. Okay, said the commander in the recording. I called to warn you in advance that you should stand with your people's side, said the Mossad agent. And if you do not do that, your destiny will be as your leader. Do you hear me? And the commander said, brother, I swear on the Quran, I'm not your enemy. I'm a dead man already. Just please come help us. The Israelis have apparently dropped 10,000 munitions on Iranian targets. That includes thousands on the heads of irgc, asijis and other internal tools of the regime. Many of the tips on targets, by the way, are coming directly from Iranian citizens. So the big outstanding issue right now remains the Strait of Hormuz. We discussed this at length yesterday. We've been discussing it for the last several weeks. President Trump had asked our allies to contribute to reopening the Strait. Those allies contributed, have demonstrated all the courage of brave Sir Robin from Monty Python and the Holy Grail. They would prefer to talk a big game and then let us, as usual, do all the work. In fact, here is a British man who seems like a character directly from Monty Python. Keir Starmer, the Prime Minister, at the

John Thune (26:38)

beginning of this conflict, I made it really clear that we wouldn't join the offensive strikes that the US And Israel were carrying out on Iran. We got about 300,000 British nationals in the Gulf region, and it's important that we protect them and our Gulf allies.

Ben Shapiro (26:55)

So we have got the RAF in

John Thune (26:56)

particular flying airplanes across the region.

Ben Shapiro (26:59)

They're actually intercepting strikes to stop them

John Thune (27:03)

hitting people and buildings. So that's defensive action, but we're not joining the war. We are allowing the US to use our bases, but again, for defensive collective self defense, to take out basically the ability of Iran to put missiles into

Ben Shapiro (27:18)

the air that are going or may

John Thune (27:20)

go to attack our Gulf allies and our people in the Gulf.

Ben Shapiro (27:27)

So that's a no from this thumb with glasses on. Really, really helping. Well, yesterday, President Trump issued a statement basically saying to our allies, listen, you don't want to help in the Strait of Hormuz. Fine, quote. The United States has been informed by most of our NATO allies, they don't want to get involved with our military operation against the terrorist regime of Iran in the Middle East. This despite the fact that almost every country strongly agreed with what we're doing and that Iran cannot in any way shape or form be allowed to have a nuclear weapon. I'm not surprised by their action however because I always considered NATO, where we spend hundreds of billions of dollars per year protecting these same countries to be a one way street. We will protect them but they will do nothing for us in particular in a time of need. Fortunately, we have decimated Iran's military. Their navy is gone, their air force is gone. Their anti aircraft and radar is gone. And perhaps most importantly, their leaders at virtually every leader, at every level are gone. Never to threaten us, our Middle Eastern allies or the world again. Because of the fact we've never had such military success. We no longer need or desire the NATO countries assistance. We never did. Likewise Japan, Australia or South Korea. In fact says the President, speaking as the President, by far the most powerful country anywhere in the world. We do not need the help of anyone. Thank you for your attention to this matter. President Trump talked pretty openly about NATO's failure to step up yesterday.

Donald Trump (28:41)

But I was surprised to see that Naito, while they agree that it was a very important thing to do, they agree fully. Nobody said oh you shouldn't do it. They would have had a nuclear weapon within one month of when we had the B2 bombers bomb. The nuclear potential, the, I call it the nuclear dust. So I think NATO is making a very foolish mistake and I've long said that, you know, I wonder whether or not NATO would ever be there for us. So this is a, this was a great test because we don't need them but they should have been there.

Ben Shapiro (29:18)

So what comes next? Well it does feel like something big is coming. Here was the president yesterday.

Donald Trump (29:26)

And as soon as that war is over, which will be soon, your prices are going to drop like a rock. You watch.

Ben Shapiro (29:34)

I've been very good at predicting. So what exactly is coming soon? Well there are essentially three possibilities. The first would be the best case scenario. A quick unified uprising against the regime. Clearly Israel and the United States have been paving the way for this. This right here is a map of Tehran's police stations. Do you notice something? You might notice that many of them are being directly targeted, like a lot of them all over Tehran. Lots of strikes directly in Tehran by suicide drones. Specific police stations being taken out. And the Israelis seem to be prepping the ground in Iran for such an uprising. Yesterday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Now remember folks, X rots your brain. X and TikTok they decided a couple of days ago that Netanyahu was dead. And then Netanyahu released a video of himself in a coffee shop getting coffee. And then they decided that that was AI and then he released a video with himself and Mike Huckabee, our ambassador to Israel, and they decided that was AI if you believe all this crap, you're the mark, folks. You're the mark. Anyway, this is tape of Netanyahu alongside the Israeli Defense Minister, chief of Staff, head of Mossad, and Chief of the Air Force. You'll notice they're all alive, unlike their counterparts in Iran. And they are telling people in Iran to have a wonderful Naruz. I'm here with Israel's Defense Minister, our Chief of Staff, the head of the Mossad, the Chief of Air Force, our senior commanders. In the past 24 hours, we knocked out two of the terrorist chieftains, the top terrorist chieftains of this tyranny. Our aircraft are hitting the terror operatives on the ground in the crossroads in the city squares. This is meant to enable the brave people of Iran to celebrate the festival of fire. So celebrate and happy Nowruzz. We're watching from above. Okay, go out and celebrate. We're watching from above is a hell of a statement. For the record, Nowruz is Friday, so it's quite possible that the Iranians rise up in the near future. The question, of course, is coordination and weapons. Presumably, there would be some close air support from the United States and Israel. A successful uprising in Tehran would, of course, change the world forever. This would be the best possible outcome. Then there is the second possibility, sectarian uprisings in the remote areas of Iran. We've talked about this possibility before with regard to outlying areas. Here is this map of ethnicity in Iran again. And as you see up in the northwest portion of Iran, the portion that borders Turkey and Iraq, you have a very large Kurdish population. And then if you move just slightly east of that bordering Azerbaijan, you have a huge Azeri population. If you look down at sort of the southeast of the country, you have the Baloch who border Pakistan. Now, it is far easier to smuggle weapons into the border areas of Iran than it is into places like Tehran because they're significantly more interior. It's also easier to penetrate with information, which means easier coordination. The IRGC also happens to be less centralized in these areas. And with the cracking of that hierarchy of control, they may be operating on their own, the irgc. So if large scale ethnic insurgencies were to strain the IRGC to the breaking point in these border regions, the IRGC might actually have to mobilize away from Tehran, leaving the center strained to prevent a full scale uprising in the capital. Now, the downside to such a solution is pretty obvious. Sectarian violence is easier to start than to stop. And it's possible that Persians, who represent 65% of the country or so, might be so concerned about the possibility of a civil war that lasts a long time that they actually acquiesce to the IRGC's centralization efforts. That's a real concern. But suffice it to say that from America's perspective in Iran, even in Iran rife with internal divisions, is in Iran incapable of projecting outside force, which is our main concern. This is far from the best available outcome, but for the United States, it is still far better than a united Iran with the mullahs in iron control. Then finally, there is the longer term option, and probably the most realistic option, the possibility that the United States achieves freedom in the Strait of Hormuz and calls it a day. Let's be clear. The Iranian government has been absolutely hammered. Their ballistic missile capacity has been essentially destroyed, as has their production capacity. The same is true of their drones. Their nuclear facilities have been degraded beyond recognition. Their air force no longer exists. Their navy has been sunk. Their terror arms are weaker than they have literally ever been. The vaunted Houthis, by the way, have been totally silent for the last several weeks. They have no functional economy. None. If the United States were able to open the strait, which is the only leverage that Iran has right now, there's a high likelihood that over the course of the next two years, the regime will fall into a state of complete collapse, unable to even pay its hoodlums to murder people in the streets. Now, right now, again, Iran is attempting to stave off that third possibility of eventual collapse by trying to exert control in the Strait of Hormuz and then claim some sort of victory to the people back home. But they're in a bit of a catch 22. If they allow the United States to re establish freedom of transit, or even if there were to be something like a Chinese brokered deal that allows freedom of transit, or if anyone reestablishes freedom of transit without Iranian overwatch, then Iran remains isolated and broken. If they continue to pry, if they continue to continue to try to pry concessions out of the United States, President Trump is significantly more likely to bear down than to back down. He's likely to go even harder, perhaps easing, say, Harg island or even unleashing special operators in Tehran directly. In fact, today The Israelis began striking Iranian regime at gas fields. This is a big story. According to the Jerusalem Post, facilities linked to Iran's gas industry in South Pars and Asa Luya were targeted in an Israeli airstrike on Wednesday. This is an enormous development because Iran's electrical grid is really, really reliant on these gas facilities. Some 75% of Iran's gas comes from specifically those areas. 80% of all electricity in Iran is generated by gas. So this could take down the entire electrical grid across Iran. Now, Iran is threatening retaliation that they're gonna go after oil fields. But here's the thing. Iran has already been doing that. They've already been firing at energy infrastructure in Saudi and UAE and Iraq, including gas fields and pipelines and ports and all the rest. The United States is moving quickly to finish off the remaining pillars of support for the Iranian regime. President Trump is even musing about the possibility of freeing up the Strait of Hormuz and then basically saying, you know what, you, you all police it. You all police it. So what is the downside to this third option? Finish up the war fairly quickly and then eventually collapse occurs. The biggest downside to this option is basically time. The only serious danger to this strategy is the danger of delay, as President Trump has noted. Let's say that the Iranians are able to stick it out just three more years and now you have a Democrat, God forbid, in the White House. And at that point, the Iranians make a last ditch attempt to, to cut another deal like the Obama deal or the Biden deal that preserves their regime and rebuilds their arsenal. Again. They did this with Democrats, with Obama and with Biden. So how much should Americans worry about the long term endgame? It's a concern, but we shouldn't be nearly as worried as the critics would have us believe. President Trump knows the stakes of America going wobbly. And President Trump does not look as though he is interested in in going wobbly. Get to more in a moment. First, this episode is sponsored by the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews. Let me paint you a picture. It's midnight and sirens are blaring. You have only seconds to grab your child and run. Now imagine you're elderly. Your legs don't work like they used to. Getting downstairs feels impossible. And then you may end up in a bomb shelter for hours or even days. And by the way, this is a very real thing happening in Israel. Last night, the Iranians fired missiles with cluster munitions. At the end of them, one of them hit an apartment with two 70 year olds in Tel Aviv, two people were killed. Well, this is why the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews is there on the ground bringing food, emergency equipment, care for children and help for the elderly, and supplying bomb shelters and medical centers with critically needed essentials. If you've ever wondered what it looks like to stand with Israel for good against evil, this is a moment that shows all of it. Please act right now. Give 45 bucks right now to rush life saving essentials to the vulnerable under fire. Visit benfordship.org to rush your life saving saving gifts. That is one word, Ben, for the fellowship.org again. There are lots of people in need right now over there and the Fellowship is doing great work. Go check them out. Benfordfellowship.org Hidden value is all around you. It's in every app, transaction and network, and chances are you have loads of it.

John Thune (37:56)

It's your machine data, and Splunk helps

Ben Shapiro (37:59)

you tap into it.

John Thune (38:00)

Unify machine data and insights pop up everywhere.

Ben Shapiro (38:03)

Discover game changing clip clarity, intelligence for every decision and a critical resource to power AI. All you need is already there and

John Thune (38:11)

it's fine exactly where it is.

Ben Shapiro (38:13)

Your machine data is waiting. Let's unlock it. Learn more@splunk.com Are you savvy? Have we a member question?

Guest/Caller (38:20)

We do. Okay, Captain Rex, if Iran is lacking all of the capability to sustain a war, why is this still going on? Can't we just end this in like 3 days using full force? Probably missing something, but I'm asking so

Ben Shapiro (38:31)

they're really not sustaining a war as much as they are sustaining harassment? Sustaining harassment is a lot easier. So it is not as though the Iranian regime is unleashing tens of thousands of troops crossing borders and being able to invade other that's not what's happening. They're firing desultory rounds of missiles and drones at various targets. Meanwhile, they've been utterly wrecked. So if you were just to declare who won the war already? The United States already won. As the president keeps saying, the question of, you know, why can't we quote, unquote destroy them? It depends on your definition of destroy, right? This is really, I think, the question of the end game. What does destruction look like? If you're talking about did we destroy their military capacity to do forward action, the answer is largely yes. They can fire an occasional drone at an oil port in Iraq. They could do that. But, you know, that's pretty much all they can do. They can fire some missiles at Israel, most of which will be knocked down, and they can kill a couple of old People in Ramadan. But that's kind of the whole thing. I mean, yes, listen, if the United States wanted, we could topple the regime in three days. But the question is what that would require. And the answer is it would require some boots on the ground. The question is how many, what the military planning for that looks like. And Nobody, nobody wants 100,000American troops on the ground as we had during the Iraq war. This is where you have bipartisan agreement. But I don't think that's going to be necessary. I mean, we just drew out some of the options. I think those options are largely correct. Correct. Savvy. Have we more questions?

Guest/Caller (39:52)

We do. Go dog. What does Ben think our next move in Iran should be?

Ben Shapiro (39:57)

Well, I mean, I think that President Trump is already effectuating it. So I think that the next move in Iran is to shut down the natural gas distribution in the country, shut down the electrical grid. I think that you will see the United States possibly see seize Kharga island, which is that source for 90% of all Iranian oil, basically cut off the last lifelines to the regime and then foster some sort of uprising inside the country. I think that is the next thing that is going to happen. I think it's already underway. All those actions that I just described, the preliminaries have already been done. The Israelis, the United States, they've been taking out police stations in Tehran. The United States took out the military facilities on Kharg island that protect against some sort of ground landing, amphibious move against Harg Island. All those things I would imagine are on the table.

Guest/Caller (40:42)

Which brings us to Autarki Park. Do we lose the Iranian people if the Kharg island infrastructure is damaged?

Ben Shapiro (40:48)

No, we do not lose the Iranian people if the Kharg island infrastructure is damaged, because there's not going to be a rally round the regime effect. There's going to be a let's end this war as soon as possible effect. If you have no money and no oil and no power and nothing, at a certain point, you might look at the regime and say, guys, I think you might need to go. Especially when everybody's dead, right. The United States and Israel have absolutely wrecked, wrecked the top levels of the irgc. If you look at a chart of the Iranian government before this, they've killed pretty much everybody at the top levels. Basically, it's like the speaker of Parliament and the president who are left alive. Everybody else has been killed. The foreign minister, Abbas Arahi, he's still around to mouth off on NBC, but that's about it. Not much left over there.

Guest/Caller (41:31)

Tiberius202 I've heard Iran has a largely educated population compared to, compared to Iraq and its neighbors. How might that affect the ongoing war?

Ben Shapiro (41:38)

I mean, it is a very educated population. So I believe 80% of Iranian adults are university educated. A huge percentage of Iranians are secular by preference. So all the talk about the IRGC having widespread support, the truth is maybe one third of the population somewhere in that neighborhood is actually religiously Shia. A huge percentage of Persians who are not openly Shia are actually secularist. They're identified as Shia in a lot of polling, but you know, they're not necessarily particularly religious. Well, meanwhile, back on the home front, Democrats continue to maintain their shutdown of the Department of Homeland Security and they also continue to hold up the SAVE Act. That's the bill that would nationalize voter ID requirements, among other things. Joining us on the line to discuss is Senate Majority Leader John Thune. Senator Thune, thanks so much for taking the time. Really appreciate it.

John Thune (42:27)

Ben, always good being with you. Thank you.

Ben Shapiro (42:30)

So why don't you give us the update on the SAVE Act. Obviously a lot of pressure from the White House to push that forward. What's the plan?

John Thune (42:37)

Well, so what we did is the House, I think, as you know, sent the Senate a bill that does two things. Basically it requires proof of citizenship in order to register to vote and then it requires a voter ID to actually vote, you know, on election day or at the ballot box. But and so that's what we got on and that came over from the House in the form of what we call a message, which is a unique way of transmitting legislation from House to Senate that skips a step for us. And the step that we got to skip was culture on the motion to proceed, which is a 60 vote threshold in the Senate. So we were able to get on it yesterday. We got 51 votes to get on the bill. We will stay on it now and have the debate and the fight that I think people want to have with the Democrats over whether or not they want to defend the position of citizens or non citizens being able to vote American elections. So it's a the issue I think is very straightforward and simple and that's what we want to argue the substance of that and force the Democrats to defend that position. So we'll continue that. I did what we call in Senate language filled the amendment tree. So we have a couple of votes that we have set up at some point. But at least for now we're going to allow the debate to go and let Both sides get in and mix it up. But frankly, at the end of the day, this is a very difficult, I think, position for the Democrats to have to defend. And if you, if you honestly are defending a position that non citizens ought to be able to vote in American elections, I think that's hard to sell the American people, which is why the American people are overwhelmingly in favor of our position.

Ben Shapiro (44:15)

Well, Democrats continue to use the power of the filibuster to hold up the SAVE act in the final vote, Senator. And obviously that's created a lot of pressures inside the Republican chamber. I think that folks do need a reminder as to why the filibuster is important because every so often this has been happening for as long as I've been following politics, there's a push on the Republican side of the aisle when they have a majority to kill the filibuster. This seems to me radically short sighted given the fact that there are plenty of times in living memory, not all that long ago when Democrats were running Congress and the presidency. And it seems to me the last thing you want to do is give up the power of the filibuster and the Democrats can then turn around and use against you the minute that they're in power.

John Thune (44:50)

That's correct. And historically, as you know, Ben, the filibuster has protected conservative principles and priorities way more than it has Democrats. And Democrats typically, if you look throughout history, have had majorities in the House and the Senate more frequently than Republicans. And so, you know, the idea of enabling all the things that they would do if they were able to nuke the legislative filibuster and pass their agenda with 51 votes. You'd start with with adding Puerto rico and Washington D.C. estates, you go to expanding the Supreme Court, you'd federalize our elections. You'd have a wealth tax, you'd have abortion on demand. I mean, there's so many things that the Democrats would do if that happened. And so it's important, I mean people. And the other thing is, and this is probably the more practical consideration that we're dealing with right now, right here, is that the Republicans in the Senate by big majority, support the legislative filibuster for that reason. And they understand how it's protected us in the past. It's a feature of the Senate that goes back to the country's founding. The Senate was designed to be a place to give the minority a voice in our lawmaking process. It's a way that the Founders divided power in the article, one branch of the government between the House and the Senate. So there's a lot of support for the legislative filter filibuster. And frankly, the only way you would get the SAVE act passed absent Democrat support would be to nuke the legislative filibuster. And the votes aren't there to do that. It's just a. It's a function of math. And, you know, I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but that's the reality that we have to deal with.

Ben Shapiro (46:27)

Senator, what do you make of the argument that some people have put forward that as soon as Democrats are in control, they're going to nuke the legislative filibuster? So you may as well preemptively nuke the legislative filibuster. Does that just sort of ignore how the Senate in actuality works? I understand that everybody thinks that partisan polarization means Democrats will automatically go to the extreme. What do you make of that position?

John Thune (46:45)

Well, first off, they have to have the House, the Senate and the White House in order to make that actually a workable proposition. And if we do our jobs right, we ought to be able to keep control of the House, Senate and the White House. But notwithstanding that, that is the argument that probably that's the argument, frankly, that President Trump makes on a regular basis and is perhaps the hardest one to defend. But I would also say, and this is the view that I think most Senate Republicans share, and somebody has described it this way, at some point, the Democrats may try to steal the car, but we're not going to hand them the keys. And I think if the Republicans were to go down that path and enable all the bad stuff the Democrats are going to do when they get the chance to do it. That's not something that we want to have our fingerprints on. Now. It's, it's possible that the Democrats will do this when they have the majorities, and they may not. I mean, they tried to do it a couple of years ago and they had a couple of them that blocked it. And I think there are Democrats that I've talked to at least, who share the view that the filibuster serves an important purpose in the Senate. And now, whether or not they continue to hold that view, if they ever have the majorities in the White House, I don't put a lot of stock in that. But I do think that that's a hypothetical. And what we're dealing with right now is reality. And the reality is there aren't the votes in the Senate among Senate Republic to nuke the filibuster and to move everything to a 51 vote threshold. So an issue like the SAVE act, which is very popular with American people, and I'm not, I wouldn't say unanimously supported by Republicans in the Senate, but near unanimously supported, you know, when we get a vote on it, it's going to take some Democrats to vote with us. And who knows, maybe there'll be won over in the course of the debate. But this is an issue on which they feel very strongly, too, and they've made it abundantly clear that they're not going to cooperate or help in any way Republicans pass it. But I think it's an important debate to have. I think it puts everybody on the record. And this is an issue of, you know, free and safe and secure elections in this country. And we ought to do everything we can to ensure that that's the case.

Ben Shapiro (48:52)

Senator Thune, speaking of safety and security, obviously Democrats continue their partial government shutdown with regard to the Department of Homeland Security. This seems absolutely insane to me. We have TSA delays all over the country. And beyond that, we also have Iran, the leading state sponsor of terrorism on planet Earth that the president and the military are thoroughly shellacking right now that seem to be interested in activating lone wolf terrorists or assassination groups or terrorist attacks on American soil. And the DHS is partially unfunded because of the Democrats. Is that gonna come to an end? What are Democrats doing here?

John Thune (49:27)

They are, I think, defending the indefensible and that is trying to defund law enforcement. The law enforcement, the very law enforcement that protects the homeland. Customs and Border Patrol and Immigration and Customs Enforcement, two agencies. And that's what this is all about. I mean, they just wanted to fund those agencies. And I think that becomes a very dangerous position for the all the reasons that you mentioned. You know, we live in a dangerous world. We've got, you know, we're involved now in Iran. There are, we are already seeing evidence and activity in this country spurred by Iran and jihadist groups and terrorist groups that are funded by Iran. And I think, you know, in order to avoid more of that kind of thing, we've got to make sure that we have these agencies that protect us from those types of attacks and incidents in this country funded. The Democrats, at least right now, are blocking that. And so they're. I just think this in the end, Ben, this is a very hard position if you're a Democrat, to defend. They've tried it before. They've kind of gone down that defund the police, defund law enforcement track. And it didn't work so well for them. And that's essentially what this is now. You know, we've got other agencies in that Department of Homeland Security, like tsa, like Coast Guard, like female, that are really important as well. But the Democrats, as long as they hold this bill hostage, are holding all of those functions of our government hostage. And seeing that a lot of those employees aren't getting paid, it's an unsustainable position. And it all comes back to the Trump derangement syndrome. They hate the president, they're blinded by their hatred of him. And, you know, and they don't want to do anything to fund ICE or Customs and Border Patrol. And I think that's a losing hand for them in the end. But they seem to think they're winning politically right now, which is why I think they've adopted that position.

Ben Shapiro (51:19)

Well, that is Senate Majority Leader John Thune. Senator Thune, really appreciate your time and your insight. Keep up the good fight.

John Thune (51:25)

Appreciate it. Good talk to you. Thanks, Ben.

Ben Shapiro (51:29)

So back to foreign policy for a second. You remember that third Iran strategy? You know, the one where we remove all the support pillars for the regime and then we sort of let it collapse? Well, that appears to be our strategy in Cuba, where the removal of Venezuela oil supply looks like the end of the Cuban communist regime that has basically held the island hostage for more than 60 years. President Trump announced on Monday he thinks the Cuban regime is in its final throes.

Donald Trump (51:54)

You know, all my life I've been hearing about the United States and Cuba. When will the United States do it? I do believe, believe I'll be the honor of having the honor of taking Cuba. That'd be good. That's a big honor, taking Cuba. Taking Cuba in some form. Yeah, taking Cuba. I mean, whether I free it, take it. I think I could do anything I want with it. You want to know the truth? They're a very weakened nation.

Ben Shapiro (52:24)

Free it, take it, do anything I want. Got to enjoy it, man. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who needs to add the title of El Presidente de Cuba to his ever growing list of honoraria, joined the chorus yesterday. Here was the Secretary of State. But the bottom line is their economy doesn't work. It's a non functional economy. It's an economy that has survived. It's for 40. That revolution, it's not even a revolution. That thing they have has survived on subsidies from the Soviet Union and now from Venezuela.

John Thune (52:51)

They don't get subsidies anymore.

Ben Shapiro (52:52)

So they're in a lot of trouble.

John Thune (52:53)

And the people in charge are.

Ben Shapiro (52:55)

They don't know how to fix it. So they have to get new people in charge. So why would this be great for America? Well, aside from not having a hellhole communist nation 90 miles off our coast, it turns out that Cuba has utilized its assets to gather intelligence on us. Here's acting Assistant Secretary of Defense for the Americas Joseph Humeyer yesterday explaining Cuba historically has been one of the strongest intelligence adversaries that we've had in the United States. They not just have penetrated our government, they penetrated other governments, partner governments throughout Latin America and the Caribbean. And I think that's attested to the fact that when Operation Absolute Resolve was carried out, it was mainly Cuban military officials that were defending Nicolas Maduro inside Fortituna and Caracas in the compound. Well, the Cuban president Miguel Diaz Canal says he is already in discussions with the United States. According to the New York Times, President Miguel Diaz Canal announced in a state media broadcast that both he and Raul Castro, his 94 year old predecessor and that would be Castro's grandson as well, have also been in discussions with the United States. Quote, the discussions were based on respect for the political systems of both countries sovereignty and our government's self determination by the Kalshi Odds right now on Miguel Diaz Canal leaving office before May are now upwards of 50%. 50% before September, 71%. So yeah, Cuba's regime looks like it is about to fall. The Wall Street Journal is reporting that protests of all types have increased from 31 in January to 60 in February to 130 in the first half of March. That's according to Cubelex, a U. S based human rights organization that monitors conditions on the ground. Well, Diaz is pretending not to go quietly now he's very, very angry at the United States for cutting his line to his Venezuelan sugar daddy. So he put out a tweet yesterday, quote, the US publicly threatens Colubia almost a daily with overthrowing the constitutional order by force. And it uses an outrageous pretext. The harsh limitations of the weakened economy that they have attacked and sought to isolate for more than six decades. They intend and announce plans to seize the country, its resources, its properties and even a very economy they seek to strangle to make us surrender. Only in this way can the fierce economic war be explained which is applied as collective punishment against the entire people. In the face of the worst scenario, Cuba is accompanied by a certainty any external aggressor will clash with an impregnable resistance. Dude, yeah, sure, yeah man. I assume that President Trump will presumably reply with just laughter. I assume, naturally. Leave it to The Democratic Socialists of America to now try to save the Cuban regime. How are these people not being arrested already given their, you know, treasonous support for a communist regime abroad? City Journal, a project of the fantastic Manhattan Institute, is now reporting, quote, the DSA has been sending delegations to Cuba for years to, quote, unquote, educate people about the impact of the blockade and the 2021 designation of Cuba as a state sponsor of terrorism. Co chair Clare Bleckman said, quote, it is not very legal to send money directly to Cuba. So this is what we have to do. We have to send money to DSA and then we have to buy stuff and then send stuff to Cuba. I feel like that's kind of an admission that you are breaking the law a little. Well, the DSA is going to head to Cuba for its own Gaza flotilla. We can only hope to see Greta Thunberg and her Lord Farquaad haircut aboard. This is an image of their we are going to Cuba. Wow. Wow. You're going to do it, guys. You're going to save it. And apparently they will be joined by limousine socialist Hassan Piker, yet another millionaire streamer who zaps his dog and cosplays as a Maoist. So he is joining. He's going to Cuba. He's also looking strangely bored by the whole endeavor. Well, we hope he has a great time because this may be his last chance to see Cuba before capitalism. You know, the thing he hates so much, rescues Cuba from its horrific poverty and suffering. Joining us on the line to discuss all this is Daniel DiMartino. Born and raised in Venezuela, DiMartino has lived through the consequences of socialism firsthand. He's a fellow at the Manhattan Institute. Daniel, thanks so much for taking the time. Really appreciate it.

Guest/Caller (56:56)

Thanks for having me, Ben.

Ben Shapiro (56:59)

So, Daniel, what are you hearing from the island about the status of the government? Obviously those Calgary markets are suggesting Kalshis is one of our sponsors. They're suggesting that Diaz Canal and this government are on their way out. What do you think are the next steps there?

Guest/Caller (57:11)

Well, I think that the main time constraint happening now is the war in Iran. Right. Even President Trump said it a few days ago that after we finish in Iran, he said we're going for Cuba. And the truth is the US used to have the USSR4, the aircraft carrier in the Korea, Caribbean for the Venezuela operation, and then they had to move it to the Mediterranean Sea because of the operation in Iran. So I believe that as soon as the aircraft carrier comes back to the Caribbean, the Cuban regime is going to Say, look, we don't want to end up like Maduro. We definitely don't want to end up like the Ayatollah. So we're just going to unilaterally surrender and do economic reforms. They just attempted that.

Ben Shapiro (57:47)

Right?

Guest/Caller (57:48)

I mean, the Castros announced that they are allowing Cubans abroad to invest. That's obviously not enough. And which Cuban abroad is going to invest while the regime is still in power? So I think they're going to give in.

Ben Shapiro (58:02)

What do you think giving in looks like? Is that a transitional dictatorship until a democracy is established, how exactly do we plan to effectuate what would be a regime replacement in Cuba?

Guest/Caller (58:14)

Yeah, Cuba is much more complicated than Venezuela, I would say, because Cuba, unlike Venezuela, doesn't have an active, organized opposition movement inside. Like, there's nobody who is a clear leader against the Castro regime inside Cuba, only people outside. They have been very effective at pushing them out. And so I think that this is going to remain a dictatorship. They're just going to open up economically, which is going to be good for the Cuban people. But the question is, can the Trump administration even force the Cubans to create an infrastructure to even hold elections? They don't even hold elections. Their elections are not even like the Venezuelan rig ones. They just have one candidate. There's not even an opposition that is allowed. So. So it's a much more complicated issue.

Ben Shapiro (58:58)

So when you look at the future of Cuba, it looks like, again, the regime is going to surrender in some form or fashion to the dictates of the United States. Are you afraid, though, that, you know, as we move forward in time, President Trump is president for another couple of years here, but are you concerned that as we move forward in time, if a Democrat were to be elected, that those reforms might be reversed? And how much of a concern should that be for people who, for example, would invest in Cuba in an attempt to not only rebuild the economy, but transition the government itself away from dictatorship?

Guest/Caller (59:27)

Yes. That is literally the only thing that is the hope of the Cuban regime and of the Venezuelan regime, just like of the Iranians and all these other foreign dictatorships, is when Trump leaves office. Because if we don't complete in Venezuela, for example, a transition to democracy before January 20, 2029, because the truth is, even if a Republican wins the White House, do we really think that they have the guts to do what Trump did on January 3rd? Do we really think they have the guts to do what he did on Iran? Trump has really been a unique president, both in unpredictability and deterrence. Effect because of the things he's proven. And I think that he needs to take advantage of the two and a half years he has left and he needs to finish this in his term. That's what's going to make Trump one of the best presidents in American history. He's going to be the president who's going to be able to say, not only did I liberate Venezuela, Iran, Cuba, but I created all this space of national security for us, reduce drug trafficking, increase oil production. And it was me. It's like the new Ronald Reagan moment that he has a chance to do.

Ben Shapiro (60:36)

That's Daniel DiMartino from Manhattan Institute. Daniel, really appreciate the time as well as the insight.

Guest/Caller (60:43)

Thank you, man.

Ben Shapiro (60:45)

Alrighty, folks. So we have more show for you. But again, we have so many good things for our members. I mean, not only do we have, you know, all of our shows, me, Matt Walsh, Michael Knowles, Morning Wire, all the rest, not only we have shows like Friendly Fire, not only are we bringing you breaking news and investigative news and all of our documentaries and movies and all of the rest, but it's a hang out with us behind the page. You've been watching us do it all so long, right? We're taking your questions live on the air and we do even more of that behind the paywall. But in order to get behind the paywall, you actually have to become a member, which we appreciate because you help support what we do here. Become a member. Use code Shapiro Checkout. Try two months free on all annual plans. Click that link in the description and join us.