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Buck Sexton
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Buck Sexton
After reaching over $5,000 an ounce, gold prices have softened. What does that mean for you? It means this is a buying opportunity. Whether you haven't yet diversified your savings into gold or maybe you just want to buy more, Birch Gold Group can help you. The fundamentals are still out of whack. Surging oil prices keep inflation high, the national debt is still soaring and central banks are still buying massive quantities of gold. That's why my belief in gold hasn't changed one bit. Educate yourself. Birch Gold will send you a free info kit on gold when you text my name Buck to 9898 98. There's no obligation, only useful information, including how you can own gold in a tax sheltered retirement account with an A plus rating with the Better Business Bureau and tens of thousands of happy customers. See if buying the dip makes sense for you right now. Text Buy Buck to the number 989-898, claim your free info kit and diversify your savings with gold. Text Buck to 9,898.98 Pure Talk used to charge $55 for unlimited high speed data, but now it's just 34.99 giving you more for less.
Clay Travis
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Buck Sexton
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Clay Travis
Go to PureTalk.com Clay that's PureTalk.com Clay PureTalk America's wireless company.
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Buck Sexton
of play and Buck kicks off right now. Thanks for being here with us everybody. Got a few things to dive into with you, including the Secretary of State, National Security Advisor slash, Director of U.S. aid and International Development/etc/DJ Marco Rubio held a press briefing yesterday. He talked a bit about some of the top issues affecting the country. And let's actually, Clay, let's get into some of this because this, this is now people who say to us, well, we need to focus here at home. The price of gas is directly correlated to the situation in Iran, the straight of hormone moves. We all know that. So the sooner this thing gets to a level, and I think there was already a bit of a price drop today, this morning, right? Clay, you're watching this stuff very closely. So you've already seen that the movement towards some kind of more permanent situation, or even if it's semi permanent, has brought the price down a bit. And this is, I think, the biggest vulnerability that Republicans have, one of the biggest vulnerabilities for sure, going into the midterm election. So with all of that said, it really matters to us here at home, first of all, because you're paying a lot. You've got a 50, 60% jump in the price of gas you're putting in your car. It also affects the price of a lot of other things in the store, especially over time that gets priced in. And so we want to get this fixed. And here's where Marco Rubio, who I think has been a a steadying presence of Trump's top advisers, especially on, well, he's the secretary of State, especially on foreign policy matters, though, this is cut 13 and he's saying, look, we're basically in the final, we're in the cleanup, shake hands, finish this thing off, phase
Marco Rubio
of it, play 13 Operation Epic Fury is concluded. We achieved the objectives of that operation. We're not cheering for an additional situation to occur. We would prefer the path of peace. What the president would prefer is a deal he would prefer to sit down, work out a memorandum of understanding for future negotiations that touches on all the key topics that have to be addressed. A full opening of the straits so the world can get back to normal. That he and he preferred that be negotiated through the route that Steve and Jared have been working and that all of us have been supporting. That's the route he prefers. That is so far, not the route that Iran has chosen. And so the result has been that the United States has to do something about the fact that we're the only nation on earth that can do anything to open up a lane within the Straits of Hormuz to get product and to rescue these people that are trapped in there. And that's what we're undergoing now.
Buck Sexton
CLAY he also said that there's not nearly enough outrage, whether here at home, from the media or around the world, about the fact that on what basis does Iran think it has the right to just tell every country you're not safe bringing your shipping into this international waterway? This is cut 12.
Marco Rubio
Right now you have a country who is unlawfully, criminally and illegally taking possession of an international waterway and blowing up commercial vessels and, and putting mines in the water. I don't know if people appreciate, like, how outrageous this is, how unacceptable it is that any country would fire and try to sink commercial vessels or put mines in the water. Both of these things are illegal.
Buck Sexton
In classic Middle East Islamic terrorist fashion. CLAY they're taking the straight hostage. That's what's been going on here. And it just shows you, I think, more about what we're dealing with, with the Iranian, with the Iranian regime that's in charge. They'll do anything.
Clay Travis
Not only that, Buck, I watched a lot of that Marco Rubio press conference yesterday, which came right after we went off the air. Trump has put together maybe the best communication team that we have ever seen across cabinet. Think about how bad Democrats are at explaining anything and how rarely any of them ever stand up and take real questions that are designed to trip them up or create challenging arguments to make. Whether I mean that same yesterday morning, Buck Hegseth took long term questions, long form questions for a while. Rubio did we know JD Vance is very skilled at it. Trump himself is, is, is very solid. I just think making people aware of why we have to do the things that we do from a media that is not going to be very helpful is a huge part of the challenge that the Trump administration faces and frankly that everybody's going to face going forward. And there is a elite cadre of communicators that President Trump has brought to bear here. But this also ties in with a lot of the discussion we were having yesterday. It's great that oil and gas prices have come back down $6. There's optimism that we may have a peace agreement of sorts sooner rather than later. You've also got, like I said, stock market prices soaring to all time record highs. But I think I, this is where I kind of pull back a little bit. The challenge on this, as you have been saying for some time, is Iran can agree to things. Can you trust them to follow through on anything that they say to any degree?
Buck Sexton
Nope, not at all. This is where I think this becomes a huge, I'm just telling you, we all know this. I don't think any of you would even really disagree. A memorandum with Iran is not worth anything. The moment the Iranians think they can get away with getting out of it or ignoring it or double crossing us, that's who we're dealing with. That's always who we've been dealing with. So now you might say, well, so how is that even different from a final status agreement? The final status agreement would be something like, we have inspections on this timeline. You're giving us all the uranium. Right. There are things, there are concrete steps that could be a true, essentially surrender by the Iranian regime as it pertains to nukes, nuclear ambitions, all of that, if they do any halfway measure. And the Trump administration says, see, we, we, we've agreed to, I've told you this all along, we've agreed to agree to something else in the future. Yeah, okay. We've kicked their asses for a while. And their military is a joke compared to ours and all this other stuff. We took out a lot of their leadership. They're gonna replace that leadership once the oil flows. They're gonna have plenty of money. They're gonna start rebuilding all their stuff, and we're going to be dealing with this again. I don't know how long, but that is the reality. And anyone who's telling you otherwise is, I think, living in a bit of a fantasy land. So what would be the reason for Trump to do that with the team? They want to bring gas prices down. They don't want to get crushed in the midterm elections. And they want to take this off the, off the table as an economic issue. The Iranians know that. So this is really the negotiation that's happening right now currently. We still have the blockade of Iranian stuff in place now maybe, Clay, the idea is we're going to leave this pressure on them such that they reach tank tops, which is a phrase that I have learned researching this, where you no longer can even put oil in any of the places where you can store oil, and then you can't take it out of the ground. And then you have. I don't even know how this all works other than basically your oil comes to a screeching halt. You know, oil business, and that is a big problem. And then essentially, if we've destroyed the Iranian oil economy for the foreseeable future, well, then we've just impoverished the whole country. So maybe that is Trump. I mean, maybe that is Trump's actual final stage here is we're not just going to destroy your nuclear program. We're going to. We're going to irreparably cripple your economy. If you don't agree,
Clay Travis
I my concern. So there's a couple of things that stand out here. I don't know if you saw this report, but one of the Biden team actually came out and said, yeah, we understood that we were going to have to strike Iran at some point in the second term. And, you know, Democrats have come out and said, oh, my goodness, how dare Trump do this and everything else. I actually thought that was an interesting statement because it does suggest that American intelligence is pretty consistent across parties, that there was something that was going to have to be done with Iran. The question that, that, that I think is going to loom is to what degree are the people who come to power actually able to direct consistently Iran? I don't know the answer to that. I think the Trump team has no idea we've wiped out so many of their leadership. How much of that is going to devolve into an internal power struggle in that country? Internal power struggles in countries typically mean that the country itself is not doing well, which increases the overall pressure internally for something to kind of blow. And by the way, it could blow in either a good or a bad direction. But I think your analogy you made a while back of basically, we're just going to have to keep mowing the grass with Iran if we want to keep them from being North Korea is the most likely outcome, based on what seems to be going right now, that Trump may have taken care of Iran for the rest of his term. But come 2029, when a new president comes into office, this is not necessarily going to be a situation that has been resolved, and we're going to continue to have to deal with it.
Buck Sexton
And people are going to point out that if it is not resolved, then the actual mission has not been accomplished, the actual stated mission by the administration, which is that Iran will never, ever be able to get a nuclear weapon. So, you know, it's a little bit of a mixed bag situation. Now, again, to be fair, to be
Clay Travis
fair, other than wiping out this administration and having a brand new administration come in that's going to work with the United States, it's virtually impossible to get Iran to give up its pursuit of a nuclear weapon because having a nuclear weapon is imminently rational for them because if they had one, they would be able to stay in power forever. Right? So I think it's. Sometimes you have to kind of take a step back and we can all agree, like, man, it would suck if Iran had a nuclear weapon. They could be like North Korea. But it was eminently reasonable of North Korea to get a nuclear weapon and it's imminently reasonable of Iran to get a nuclear weapon because if they had one, we wouldn't have done what we just did to them, nor would is.
Buck Sexton
Well, and a big part of this debate all along has been if Iran got a nuke, would they first strike Israel? I mean, this is real. This really gets to the heart of it. It's not just, this is why it's different than North Korea, at least in the analysis of some people. Now there are, I think like Mearsheimer wrote some article years ago where he was saying that that's crazy. I mean, there are people out there in the foreign policy, a lot of them in the foreign policy establishment who say that Iran is rational enough that they wouldn't do that because a first strike on Israel would result in nuclear retaliation against Iran. And so what's the, you know, you're essentially in a US Soviet 19, you know, circa 1950 something to 1980 something, Cold War standoff. So maybe that would create some form of stasis. But, but Israel obviously doesn't want that, doesn't feel comfortable or safe with that. And so they're trying to prevent that from happening. But that's why this is. So India got nukes, Wasn't supposed to have them. Pakistan has nukes. In fact, India and Pakistan having nukes, people are really only concerned.
Clay Travis
A little bit nervous. A little bit.
Buck Sexton
Yeah. They're really only concerned that they're going to use them on each other though. Right? This is the. But that's the way things have gone there. So it's, it's going to be, it's going to be interesting to see what happens with this deal. I'm just telling you though, if we get a deal to make a deal, the Iranians are living to fight. The regime is living to fight another day. That is just the truth. Someone can get mad at me for saying it, but I'm right. If Trump implodes the whole Iranian oil economy such that it would take years and years to rebuild and they won't have access to hard currency reserves because they wouldn't make a deal, that's a different situation. But now you're talking about turning Iran into like Yemen, which is a really the poorest Middle east country because it has really no natural, it doesn't even have enough water. That's, that's a whole different situation you will have created there. So I don't know, it's going to be interesting to see how it plays out. A lot of optimism from the administration though.
Clay Travis
Positive S&P 500 just hit a new record high. So the end result may be that the mow the grass strategy for years to come with Iran is basically what the markets have priced in. And so this result is kind of what they're anticipating. Okay.
Buck Sexton
The price of commodities rises and rise and fall based on supply. We know this basic law of economics. Gold is one of those commodities and it has grown in value because yeah, it's hard to find. You can't just print it. You can't just make it appear on a computer screen and pretend it's there. Gold is real, it is solid, it exists, it is valuable and that's why its long term value continues to go up. So if you've been thinking for years about getting some gold but haven't moved any of your savings into physical gold, Birch Gold Group is who I trust to help you. Now through May 29, Birch Gold is giving a first time gold buyer a rebate of up to $10,000 on qualifying purchases. For details and a free information kit on diversifying into gold, text my name. Buck to 989898989898 Birch Gold can help you convert an existing IRA or 401K into a tax sheltered IRA in physical gold. Text Buck do 989898 to see if you qualify for a first time gold buyer rebate of up to $10,000. Text Buck to 989898 preset your pals
Clay Travis
Clay and Buck on the iHeart app. Welcome back in Clay Travis Buck Sexton Show. Appreciate all of you hanging out with us. Buck is running out. He is headed to dc. Producer Ali Said Rush used to say that he has top secret Meetings. So Buck will be engaged in top secret meetings, but he will be on the show tomorrow from D.C. so just FYI, he's head of the airport. We have got a ton of you that sent us awesome talkbacks. And I want to make sure that we run through many of these because so many of them were super interesting. And I'm scrolling through, guys, let's just start if we can with, let's see with a. I believe which is the first of the Talk Back crew. And this is Frank in Arizona and we were talking about brilliant military maneuvers and so many of you have talked back.
Buck Sexton
Cut A. Yeah, Frank in Arizona. It's a little before our time, but anything Alexander the Great ever did was probably the most brilliant tactician that ever lived. Usually about 20,000 men in his army going up against hundreds of thousands, if not a million men in Persian armies and Oriental campaigns.
Clay Travis
There you go. We're talking about American military maneuvers. But yes, Alexander the Great kind of a significant military figure. Sean in San Diego. Cut B.
Frank Siller
The greatest move in military history I believe is done by Brigadier General Buford. He stopped the advance of the Southern troops at Gettysburg to give the Union the high ground in that battle.
Clay Travis
Oh man, I could talk all day about the battle of Gettysburg. That is my wheelhouse. I did Civil War sleep away history camp at Gettysburg back in the day and that was absolutely just every aspect of that battle. Super interesting. I would point out that Buford may have chosen the battleground of Gettysburg, but it was the failure of Yule to take Culp's Hill on the first day when there was no one there at all on the top of it because you will had taken over. This goes into the weeds for Stonewall Jackson. They had split that corps and Stonewall Jackson would have taken Culp's Hill. And frankly, I think the south would have won the war if Stonewall Jackson hadn't been killed, shot by his own troops at the Battle of Chancellorsville after what I argued was maybe the greatest military maneuver of all time. I think Stonewall Jackson at Gettysburg, Lee wins that battle and the south may well have won the war. I did want to clear up one thing that I said yesterday. I got the name wrong of the of the general that was in charge at the at Bastone who was refusing to surrender. And a lot of you have continued to weigh in there. I said Mad Anthony Wayne. Mad Anthony Wayne was a Revolutionary Revolutionary War general. And if you go back and look at the at the Battle of the Bulge, it was a different Anthony Anthony McAuliffe for responsible for saying nuts. Somebody emailed me that a couple of you did. I got the general wrong there. So I got Anthony right, but not Anthony Wayne. Anthony McAuliffe. That may be the nerdiest of the corrections that we've ever had. I'll play some more of those cuts for you before the show is over. We're going to be joined by Frank Siller of Tunnel the Towers and we'll talk about the 25th anniversary of 911 and what he has planned for that 25th anniversary of 911 when we come back. But I want to tell you now is the time to save a bundle on your cell phone bill and you can do it with Pure Talk. It's really simple from your phone right now. £250 say clay and buck. That's £250. For just $34.99 a month. You'll get unlimited high speed data as well as a fantastic cell phone plan. I use it to stay in touch with my kids. My two older boys have Pure Talk phones. Your family can also save a bundle with Pure Talk up to $1,000 over the course of a year. All you have to do is dial £2 50 say the keywords clay and Buck. Unlimited high speed data for just 34. 99. Again, you can keep your same phone number. You can keep your same phone. You just save up to $1,000 over the life of of a deal. £250 say clay and buck. That's £250 say clay and buck.
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Buck Sexton
After reaching over $5,000 an ounce, gold prices have softened. What does that mean for you? It means this is a buying opportunity. Whether you haven't yet diversified your savings into gold or maybe you just want to buy more, Birch Gold Group can help you. The fundamentals are still out of whack. Surging oil prices keep inflation high, the national debt is still soaring, and central banks are still buying massive quantities of gold. That's why my belief in gold hasn't changed one bit. Educate yourself. Birchgold will send you a free info kit on gold when you text my name Buck to 9898 98. There's no obligation, only useful information, including how you can own gold in a tax sheltered retirement account with an A rating with the Better Business Bureau and tens of thousands of happy customers. See if buying the dip makes sense for you right now. Text Buck to the number 989898, claim your free info kit and diversify your savings with gold. Text Buck to 989-898 Paying 70 80$90 a month to Big Wireless for unlimited data is insane. Especially when PureTalk, my wireless company, is going to give you unlimited high speed data for just $34.99 a month. Yes, you heard me right. Pure Talk just upgraded their plans because they believe you should have all the data you need at a price that won't break the bank. So today you can get talk, text and unlimited data for just 34.99amonth.
Clay Travis
You'll be on the same tower, same 5G network and have the same coverage as one of the big guys but for a fraction of the price. And don't forget they have a 100% US customer service team. They're committed to delivering the best experience possible for their customers. Keep your phone, keep your number and switch in as little as 10 minutes. Go to PureTalk.com Clay to claim unlimited high speed data for just $34.99. Again, that's PureTalk.com Clay to switch to America's wireless company PureTalk.
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Support for the show comes from Public, the investing platform for those who take it seriously. On public you can build a multi asset portfolio of stocks, bonds, options, crypto and now generated assets which allow you to turn any idea into an investable index. With AI. It all starts with with your prompt. From renewable energy companies with high free cash flow to semiconductor suppliers growing revenue over 20% year over year. You can literally type any prompt and put the AI to work. It screens thousands of stocks, builds a one of a kind index and lets you back test it against the S&P 500. Then you can invest in a few clicks. Generated assets are like ETFs with infinite possibilities, completely customizable and based on your thesis, not someone else's. Go to public.com podcast and earn an uncapped one point bonus when you transfer your portfolio. That's public.com podcast paid for by Public Investing Brokerage Services by Open to the Public Investing Inc. Member FINRA and SIPC Advisory Services by Public Advisors llc SEC Registered Advisor Generated Assets is an interactive analysis tool. Output is for informational purposes only and is not an investment recommendation or advice. Complete Disclosures available at public.comDisclosures welcome back
Clay Travis
in Clay Travis Buck Sexton show We are joined now by our friend Frank Siller, who does incredible work tunnel to Towers, 25th anniversary of 911 coming up. Frank, I've had the good fortune to work with you and hopefully be a small part of helping you do so much incredible, phenomenal work. Can you believe that it has been 25 years since 9 11. And I know that people, some of them may have heard this story before, but can you tell us about what happened on that day that inspired Tunnels to Towers and why you have continued to work so zealously since that day?
Frank Siller
Sure, Clay, thanks for having me on. I always appreciate it and, and thank you for your great support. You personally, you've come to plenty of our fundraising events and helped us raise the kind of money that we need to raise to do the kind of great work that we do. So thank you. I want to start with that. So on September 11, 2001, you know, my brother was a New York City firefighter, was just finished his night tour in his firehouse in Squad 1 in Brooklyn. It was on his way home to play golf with my brother Russ, my brother George and myself. The four brothers were going to have around the golf, and he heard on his radio scanner that the north tower was hit. So we turned his truck around, called his wife, said to him, tell my brothers I'll try to catch up with him later. And went back to his firehouse, you know, and got his gear. So he drove to the mouth of the Brooklyn Battery Tunnel, was closed for security reasons. So he strapped 60 pounds of gear on his back, he ran through the Brooklyn Battery tunnel, which is 1.7 miles long, up west street into the South Tower. And going up those stairs and saving people, he gave up his life. And you know, the thing about my brother Stephen, and he was the youngest of seven of siblings, he was our little brother, but a lot younger than we were. He was, he was our little miracle. When he was born, my oldest brother was 24 years older than him, and I was 14 years closest in age, and I was 14 years older than him. So he was a little miracle. He was married, had five beautiful children, all under the ages of nine, nine and under. And he made a tremendous sacrifice. So as a family, we just didn't want his legacy or his life or his. Or his sacrifice, I should say. And there. And we decided we were going to do small acts of kindness and start a foundation with small acts of kindness in his honor and his memory and of all those who perished on that
Clay Travis
day, 25 years later. And I know this is Going to stagger a lot of people. But college kids now been born, raised, graduated from college post 9 11. Some young lawyers have now been born and been raised and graduated post 9 11. How well do you think kids these days understand what happened on 9 11? It's ancient history to some of them. What do they know based on your experience?
Frank Siller
Well, this is what I know. The people that I deal with all the time, the people who donate to the foundation and those who serve our country, our communities, their families know, there's no question about it. Their kids know they're involved in a way that I would like to see most of America to be involved, to be quite frank with you. But there's many families that have no clue of really what happened on 9-11-2001. And that is why it is so important on what we're doing. I want to say that we've been trying to get the word out there to young kids for a long time. We have a curriculum right now that's on our website, t2t.org you could download it. It's age appropriate, K through 12. It is incredible the stories of 911 that we have on our website because our first mission is was always to honor the sacrifice and to never forget, never forget. And they're not just words with us. We mean it and we, and we prove it by, by having all this at your fingertips literally. To find out the stories of 911 if you just want to, if you're a parent and you're listening, go to t2t.org and download whatever your age kid and, and you can tell them what happened on line 11. If you're a teacher, do for your classroom. If you're a principal, do it for your school. You know and we've had millions of people have done it so far but this year because it's the 25th anniversary we were given a a large I beam from the south tower. It's 26ft long, £16,900 is what it weighs. It's an incredible, impressive looking piece of steel and concrete and we're taking that all over the United States to make sure shine a light on what happened 25 years ago.
Clay Travis
If people are, and I'm sure Buck and I at different points in time will be involved in this but if people are interested in the Steel Across America tour kicked off this past weekend, ground zero. How many different places are you going?
Frank Siller
There's 35. Approximately 35 stops. It might be a few more in there, but 35 that are planned right now and and we've been working on this for 15 months. So this is not something that is just thought of and say, hey, wouldn't it be nice? No, this is a very thought out process that we have going that to make sure that we honor the sacrifice. Where are we going? We're going to so many important places. Like I said, we started at ground zero. Just this past Saturday was the first day that we started the event. I was with one of my brother's five kids. His youngest son, Stephen Jr. Was there. He spoke, helped kick off the steal. We had an unbelievable honor guard. We had 343 firefighters with the banners of those who died on 9 11. The 343 firefighters who died, pictures of them, the police officers, banners of them who died, Port Authority police officers, court officers. And that was the honor guard basically of us walking from ground zero and then down Broadway with this beautiful truck that we designed and that is carrying the sacred piece of steel. And why am I saying it's sacred? There's many reasons why it's sacred. Number one, it's part of history. That it was at ground zero, was in the south tower. South Tower is where I lost my brother. My brother's body was never recovered. It has the soul of so many different people, my brother for sure it has in that piece of steel. And I want people. Excuse me, Clay. I want people who, who go to the steel and we have steps that they can go up and touch the steel. I want them to put their hand on. I want them to feel the sacrifice that was made that day. I want them to feel that these men and women were running in these buildings saving people and gave up their lives and left their families behind. I want them to feel the resolve they had in the strength of America ever since and that so many 7,000 men and women have died on the global war on terror ever since. So I want them to feel that when they put their hand on that steel. And that's where. That's why it is so important that it's going around all over the United States. This coming Thursday, we're going to be in. Excuse me. Tomorrow we're going to be in Shanksville, Pennsylvania, where Flight 93, the 40 heroes that took the plane down, Todd Beamer's famous words, let's roll here. These guys didn't let these hijackers fly into the Capitol or wherever it was going. Maybe the White House didn't let it go. Took the plane down and saved people on the ground. The first heroes of 911 were in that Flight 93. And we're going to be there tomorrow with some family members. I walk there. I think you recall this. Five years ago, I walked from the Pentagon to Shanksville to Ground Zero to commemorate the 20th anniversary of 9 11. And now we're doing this with the piece of steel all across America.
Clay Travis
Where will you be on 9 11, the 25th anniversary this fall?
Frank Siller
So I'm going to answer that by saying where I'm going to be on on nine Nine first, on two days beforehand, we're going to be down at the White House with the steel with a couple thousand people, invitation only. And the president is going to be joining us and we're going to have a ceremony there. From there, we have an honor guard, motorcade of fire trucks, police cars, motorcycles. They're going to go up high 95, Route 95 all the way up to New York. And on 911 that piece of steel is going to be with me on the Brooklyn side of in New York. And I'm going to escort it with my family through the tunnel just like my brother ran through that day through that tunnel 25 years ago. And we're going to have a beautiful ceremony right there at Ground Zero afterwards. So it's, it's a perfect way to start it. We started at Ground zero. We're going to end it at Ground Zero for this piece of steel. And it means a lot to a lot of people that the reaction we're getting, Clay, is overwhelming.
Clay Travis
We're talking to Frank Siller, Tunnel to Towers. You can join Buck and me in joining in donating to Tunnel to Towers. By the way, President Trump news brief unexpected. According to Fox News, Trump event in the Oval Office. I would think maybe it would have something to do with Iran. That's just me speculating. But we will follow that if it happens before the end of the program. If it does not, I'm sure Sean Hannity will be talking about it. But since I see that headline come up, you've known President Trump for a long time. Most people out in the audience will not get the opportunity to meet President Trump. They see him from afar. What's he like from your experience, Frank,
Frank Siller
I'm going to give you just one little, quick little story. Somebody was doing a fundraiser at Mar a Lago for us about a month ago. And, and, and the president was having dinner there. Now, the fundraiser was for Tunnel to Towers. He heard about it. I went up to say hello to him. He was having dinner. He got up and came over to me. He goes, frank, I understand. We have a big event going on downstairs. Let's go down and say hello to them. He goes downstairs. I walk down there with him. Right. I didn't ask him to go down there and talk to everybody and do this. He goes downstairs, he walks in, and he starts talking about the Tunnel to Towers foundation and all the work that we're doing, how we help, you know, those, you know, catastrophically injured service members. We build them smart homes, you know, pay off the mortgages to Goldstock families and fallen first responders. He starts going through the litany of things that the Tunnels foundation does. And then he says, and for the 25th year, they have this piece of steel coming all over the United States, and they're coming to the White House. Because I met him in the Oval Office and I told him about this deal and I said, frank, oh, my God, yes, I want this to come to the White House. And it's so important that we do it to make sure we never forget. He lost a lot of friends that day. He's a New Yorker. He's a regular guy. He would do so much. He does so much for so many people. And he's done a lot for the Tunnel to Towers foundation, for sure. He loves America. He cares about those who serve our country and those who serve our community, and he has their back. And he proves it every single day.
Clay Travis
All right, I'll leave it with this. And you guys do incredible work. And again, Buck and I are going to be doing a bunch to continue to help raise money during this 25th anniversary year. I know you have seven grandkids. Six of them are big sports fans. Do any of them have the misfortune to be New York Mets fans?
Frank Siller
My brother Stephen was the biggest New York Met fan that you can believe that you could.
Clay Travis
Absolutely. But you're a Yankees guy, right? You're a Yankees guy.
Frank Siller
I'm not. I am not a Yankees guy.
Clay Travis
Oh, I thought you were a Yankees guy.
Frank Siller
No, no, no, no, I'm not. I don't care about.
Clay Travis
Well, you have so many Yankees at the. At the Tunnel of the Towers events. They love you. I thought, Shirley, Frank's got to be a Yankees for me. That's true.
Frank Siller
Wells is doing a golf outing for us on Monday. He's a great guy, you know. You know, again. And Andy Pettit, you know, he did the PSA for me. But so. So have Alonzo. Sorry. He did stuff for me and Terry Collins and John Franco. So we have a lot of big athletes that have done a lot of stuff for us for the Tunnel to Towers Foundation. I'll tell you what fan I am. I'm a fan for anybody who is willing to help those who need the kind of help that these families need, that, that pay the ultimate sacrifice for our country and, and their families need to be taken care of. And if they're out there trying to help tunnel the Dallas foundation because they know we don't waste their money. You donate $11 a month and we do it on the back of $11 a month, you know. You know, and they're pushing that for us. You know, from Stallone, that does it. Mark Wahlberg, who does it for Kevin James, that does it. You know, it's, it's, it's incredible.
Clay Travis
For people who want to donate, where can they go?
Frank Siller
T2t.org Very simple.
Clay Travis
T2t.org by the way, I said that I thought Trump might be having a press conference to talk about the Iran situation. It's actually the ufc, so he's got a bunch of UFC fighters probably for, for the June event. All right, there you go, Frank. It's going to be a big one on the lawn already. That's going to be a heck of one so that I'm sure he'll address other things. But there is a UFC title belt on the Resolute desk right now for President Trump's press conference. Frank, keep up the good work. We encourage everybody out there. Go donate and we look forward to helping you this fall.
Frank Siller
Thank you as always, Clay. God bless.
Clay Travis
Frank Ziller does amazing work. Encourage you to check out Tunnel the Towers and do everything that you can with them. Business owners often have multiple business insurance policies to protect their business in any number of ways. And that can get confusing. Super sure is the first company we know of that makes sense of all the business insurance policies that owners must maintain to operate their business wisely. Business owners. It can get complicated. You know how challenging this can all be. Super sure will change all that. One broker for all your business insurance backed by a team that works with you year round, not just at renewal. If you've ever stared at a policy wondering what it covers, super sure has a fine print facts tool that translates the legal jargon into good old plain English so you know what's covered, what's not. Go online to super sure.com clay for a full report on your current policies. No obligation. Find out if you're overinsured, underinsured, or somewhere in between@super sure.com Clay One powerful platform. All your policies in one place if you own a business, you need to check them out. Super Sure.com Clay paid for by Super Sure Insurance Agency, LLC, a licensed insurance agency. It's like having your house at the perfect temperature all the time. Preset Clay and buck on the iHeart app.
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Clay Travis
in Clay Travis Buck Sexton Show My thanks to Frank Siller. Also to our buddy Jim Jordan, Congressman from Ohio. Trump is talking about the UFC 250 event, but we do have record high stock prices. We'll see if he takes questions about anything other than the ufc. I'm sure Sean Hannity will keep you updated on that on many of the same stations. Let me try to hit a bunch of your podcast talk backs. Many of them are great. Danny in South Carolina Podcast listener D.
Buck Sexton
Clay this is Danny from South Carolina. Me tell you something buddy, you are a fool if you are going to go swim in the ocean. Swimming around in a shark's food dish is probably not the ideal situation.
Clay Travis
Just saying that is not a bad play. Let's see. Podcast listener Brian in God's Country, Franklin, Tennessee says he liked yesterday's show a lot. A lot of good positive feedback. Gee, gotta give you guys an A today. It was one of the best shows you guys have ever done. It started with the Tennessee Man Deadliest Catch Lobsters. That was awesome Buck. I was hoping somebody was gonna pick up on that. I gotta be honest with you. Lobsters, crabs, they're all the same thing. Fran and Bloomfield, New Jersey Word New York City Land. What you got for us?
Frank Siller
Hi guys.
Buck Sexton
Love the show.
Frank Siller
Thank you Buck for using the proper verbiage when you said join Buck and me against hate, so many people would have said join Buck and I and it's not correct. It's bucking me. Take out the additional person Join me in fighting against hate. Join bucking me.
Clay Travis
There's a lot of grammar people here, but I do think I've gotten better at I and me. Buck and me, not Buck and I. Podcast listener Kimmy in Virginia says good riddance to the Virginia state Senator being raided today. Senate Pro Temp Cut J It is the best day ever.
Frank Siller
Louise Locust raided by the FBI at gunpoint.
Clay Travis
Oh, there you go. Gunpoint. We'll see you tomorrow.
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Date: May 6, 2026
Hosts: Clay Travis & Buck Sexton
Notable Guest: Frank Siller (Tunnel to Towers Foundation)
The third hour of the Clay Travis & Buck Sexton Show delves into key national and international security issues, especially the current situation with Iran and its impact on gas prices and American foreign policy. The hosts also discuss the importance of clear communication from government officials, skepticism about Iranian compliance, and the pressing risk of Iran's nuclear ambitions. Later, they pivot to a deeply emotional and patriotic interview with Frank Siller of Tunnel to Towers, discussing the "Steel Across America" tour commemorating the 25th anniversary of 9/11, and how to keep the memory and sacrifices of that day alive for new generations.
[03:06 – 08:34]
Iran’s Blockade of the Strait of Hormuz:
Buck highlights the global implications, stating that high gas prices are linked to instability caused by Iran and that this is a major vulnerability for Republicans ahead of the midterms.
Marco Rubio as Secretary of State:
Rubio's steady presence is discussed, and his press briefing is played/quoted:
On ending Operation Epic Fury:
"Operation Epic Fury is concluded. We achieved the objectives of that operation. We're not cheering for an additional situation to occur. We would prefer the path of peace... a deal... full opening of the straits so the world can get back to normal." – Marco Rubio [05:05]
On Iran’s aggression:
"Right now you have a country who is unlawfully, criminally and illegally taking possession of an international waterway and blowing up commercial vessels and, and putting mines in the water. I don't know if people appreciate, like, how outrageous this is, how unacceptable it is..." – Marco Rubio [06:07]
Media and Elite Communication:
Clay praises the Trump administration's communications team, contrasting them with Democrats:
"Trump has put together maybe the best communication team that we have ever seen across cabinet. Think about how bad Democrats are at explaining anything..." – Clay Travis [06:45]
Distrust of Iran:
The hosts and Rubio express skepticism about entering into any lasting agreement with Iran, referencing historical precedent:
"A memorandum with Iran is not worth anything... the moment the Iranians think they can get away with getting out of it or ignoring it or double crossing us, that's who we're dealing with." – Buck Sexton [08:34]
Discussion evolves toward the possibility that the Trump administration's real aim may be to economically cripple Iran, removing its capacity to finance trouble-making and nuclear aspirations:
"If we've destroyed the Iranian oil economy for the foreseeable future, well, then we've just impoverished the whole country. So maybe that is Trump's actual final stage here..." – Buck Sexton [10:38]
Long-Term Outlook:
The likelihood of a lasting resolution is doubted; the situation is compared to "mowing the grass" (a recurring strategy to contain, not solve, the Iran issue):
"The mow the grass strategy for years to come with Iran is basically what the markets have priced in." – Clay Travis [15:47]
[18:04 – 21:58]
The hosts read listener talkbacks responding to earlier discussions about great military maneuvers:
Alexander the Great:
Noted as one of history’s most brilliant tacticians [Frank in Arizona, 18:04].
The Battle of Gettysburg:
Listeners highlight Brigadier General Buford's pivotal role [Sean in San Diego, 18:39].
Clay shares his personal experience attending Civil War camp and gives a deep dive into the military tactics of Gettysburg.
Corrections and Listener Feedback:
Clay corrects a previous error about Civil War generals, reflecting the show’s engaged and history-minded audience.
[25:27 – 39:44]
Frank Siller shares the origin story of Tunnel to Towers:
His brother, NYC firefighter Stephen Siller, ran through the Brooklyn Battery Tunnel on 9/11 and gave his life rescuing others:
"He strapped 60 pounds of gear on his back, he ran through the Brooklyn Battery Tunnel, which is 1.7 miles long, up West Street into the South Tower...and he gave up his life." – Frank Siller [26:08]
Passing on the Memory of 9/11:
Siller talks about the challenge of ensuring post-9/11 generations understand and appreciate the events and sacrifices of that day:
"There’s many families that have no clue of really what happened on 9-11-2001. And that is why it is so important on what we're doing." – Frank Siller [28:36]
Tunnel to Towers provides free, age-appropriate curriculum for K-12 about 9/11 (t2t.org).
The "Steel Across America" Tour:
A massive steel beam from the South Tower is being taken to 35+ stops around the country, culminating in a ceremony at Ground Zero on the 25th anniversary:
"It's 26 ft long, 16,900 pounds... we're taking that all over the United States to shine a light on what happened 25 years ago." – Frank Siller [29:18]
The beam tour started at Ground Zero and will visit places of national importance. Public can touch the steel and "feel the sacrifice."
Events on 9/11/2026:
Siller reveals plans for ceremonies at the White House and then at Ground Zero, retracing the steps his brother took on 9/11.
Frank Siller on President Trump’s support:
Shares a personal story of Trump attending a Tunnel to Towers fundraiser and speaking at length about the 9/11 victims and first responders:
"He starts talking about the Tunnel to Towers foundation and all the work that we're doing, how we help... He loves America. He cares about those who serve our country and those who serve our community, and he has their back." – Frank Siller [35:43]
How to Donate:
Siller invites listeners to contribute to Tunnel to Towers via t2t.org [$11/month campaign].
[44:40 – 46:54]
"You are a fool if you are going to go swim in the ocean. Swimming around in a shark's food dish is probably not the ideal situation." – Danny from South Carolina [45:11]
Buck on the Iran dealing reality:
"If we get a deal to make a deal, the Iranians are living to fight. The regime is living to fight another day." [14:53]
Frank Siller on the significance of the steel beam:
"I want them to put their hand on [the steel]. I want them to feel the sacrifice that was made that day." [32:44]
Clay on historical cycles in foreign policy:
"The mow the grass strategy for years to come with Iran is basically what the markets have priced in." [15:47]
This hour is a blend of critical analysis on high-stakes international affairs and a moving, personal tribute to the sacrifices of 9/11 through the Tunnel to Towers Foundation’s commemorative efforts. The hosts adeptly link historical memory to present challenges, underscoring themes of vigilance, communication, and national resolve—anchored with listener engagement and moments of levity.