The Tudor Dixon Podcast: Understanding Iran's Nuclear Threat with Bryan Dean Wright

Summary

Summary of "The Tudor Dixon Podcast: Understanding Iran's Nuclear Threat with Bryan Dean Wright"

Podcast Information:

• Show: The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show
• Host/Author: iHeartPodcasts
• Episode Title: The Tudor Dixon Podcast: Understanding Iran's Nuclear Threat with Bryan Dean Wright
• Release Date: June 20, 2025

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Introduction

In this episode of The Tudor Dixon Podcast, host Tudor Dixon engages in a comprehensive discussion with Bryan Dean Wright, a former CIA operations officer and host of the Wright Report. The conversation centers on Iran's nuclear ambitions, the current geopolitical climate, and internal political dynamics within the United States affecting foreign policy decisions.

Guest Introduction and Expertise

Tudor Dixon begins by highlighting Bryan Dean Wright's credentials, emphasizing his background in intelligence and his role in dissecting complex political issues. Wright introduces himself with a touch of humor, setting the tone for an informed yet engaging dialogue.

Notable Quote:

"It's a pleasure to be Internet stocked and be with you today." — Brian Dean Wright [00:36]

Splintering of the MAGA Coalition and Rising Division

The discussion delves into the fragmentation within the MAGA (Make America Great Again) coalition. Wright observes that while President Trump secured a significant victory in the previous election, internal divisions are emerging, particularly among radicals who propagate anti-Semitism and sow societal discord.

Notable Quote:

"This debate about what we should do in Iran, it's incredibly, incredibly complicated, very nuanced." — Brian Dean Wright [01:04]

Iran's Nuclear Program: Civilian vs. Weapons-Grade Enrichment

A significant portion of the conversation focuses on Iran's nuclear program, specifically the Fordo facility. Wright explains the distinction between civilian nuclear enrichment (typically 3-5%) and weapons-grade enrichment (60%+), highlighting Iran's ambiguous stance and the potential threat it poses.

Notable Quotes:

"They know what they're doing and so does Everybody else." — Brian Dean Wright [06:17]

"There's nothing shocking about it. It's just so wildly disappointing and really infuriating to hear folks like Whoopi Goldberg say things like that." — Brian Dean Wright [20:53]

Intelligence Assessments and Divergent Views

Wright discusses the conflicting intelligence reports regarding Iran's nuclear capabilities. While the CIA has previously indicated that Iran abandoned its nuclear weapons program, other intelligence agencies, including those from Austria, suggest otherwise. This discrepancy fuels political tensions and complicates policy decisions.

Notable Quote:

"It's not just about the intel. It's about judgment and discernment." — Brian Dean Wright [10:45]

Digital Intelligence and Modern Warfare

The conversation shifts to the role of digital exhaust in modern intelligence operations. Wright explains how Israel successfully targeted Iranian leadership by analyzing digital footprints, underscoring the evolving nature of intelligence and warfare.

Notable Quote:

"They sent people into Iran a couple of months ago, started collecting digital exhaust... That's how they were able to kill so many of them." — Brian Dean Wright [11:30]

Political Dynamics and Public Perception

Tudor Dixon and Wright explore the lack of vocal opposition from Democratic leaders regarding Iran's nuclear threat. Wright suggests that some Democrats may privately recognize the seriousness of the issue but choose to remain silent publicly due to political calculations.

Notable Quote:

"You have to read between the lines. And not everything is just straightforward and clear." — Brian Dean Wright [08:16]

Comparisons of Oppression: Iran vs. the United States

A heated segment addresses comments made by public figures like Whoopi Goldberg, who equated life in Iran to that of Black Americans in the U.S. Wright vehemently disagrees, sharing personal anecdotes and emphasizing the severe oppression and human rights abuses in Iran.

Notable Quote:

"If she were to live in Iran or North Korea or any of these China, these places are not nice if you like liberty, they're lovely." — Brian Dean Wright [19:26]

Economic Policies and Social Impact

The podcast also touches on President Trump's economic policies, particularly tariffs aimed at revitalizing the American economy and supporting the middle class. Wright connects these policies to broader social issues, such as declining military morale and the struggles of working-class Americans.

Notable Quote:

"We need a robust middle class. And I think that's part of what the president's trying to do with his tariffs." — Brian Dean Wright [25:20]

Military and Patriotism

Wright discusses the current state of the U.S. military, highlighting issues like low morale, recruitment challenges, and the physical and psychological toll on veterans. He underscores the importance of patriotism and national unity in the context of potential military engagements.

Notable Quote:

"You have to have an American people who believe that this country and its values are worth fighting for." — Brian Dean Wright [18:21]

Conclusion and Final Thoughts

The episode concludes with Wright commending President Trump's measured approach to Iran's nuclear threat, contrasting it with previous administrations' more impulsive actions. Both hosts emphasize the need for thoughtful, intelligence-driven policy decisions to navigate the complexities of international relations and domestic challenges.

Notable Quote:

"He is trying to walk a very clear line here, trying to accomplish a lot of very difficult things in one fell swoop." — Brian Dean Wright [28:38]

Where to Find Bryan Dean Wright

Bryan Dean Wright promotes his own podcast, The Wright Report, which airs five days a week on all major podcast platforms. He also maintains a Substack with resources and links to the sources discussed in his shows.

Notable Quote:

"The Wright Report, like the Wright Brothers. Every day, Monday through Friday, 3am Good." — Brian Dean Wright [30:12]

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Final Remarks: This episode provides a nuanced exploration of Iran's nuclear ambitions, the intricacies of intelligence assessments, and the interplay between domestic politics and foreign policy. Through insightful analysis and firsthand experiences, Bryan Dean Wright offers listeners a deeper understanding of the challenges facing the United States in addressing one of the most pressing international threats.

Transcript

[Tudor Dixon]

This is an iHeart podcast. Hey everyone, thanks for joining us on the Tudor Dixon podcast. We are going to talk Iran today because obviously there's so much going on and I saw this guy out there in the social media world. I'm like, this guy sounds like he knows what he's talking about. So I started to do like some Internet stalking. I'm just being really honest now and I find out that he does. So I asked him to come on. His name is Brian Dean Wright. You may know him because he is the host of the Wright Report and he is a. A former CIA ops officer. So thanks for joining me today.

[Brian Dean Wright]

It's a pleasure to be Internet stocked and be with you today.

[Tudor Dixon]

Well, I'm glad I did because I think you've done such a great job of breaking everything down. And it's important because I noticed that you're breaking down some of this like these radical Republicans that are out there that are spewing this anti Semitism and they're just like causing division and you just sort of putting them in their place. So tell me about that a little bit.

[Brian Dean Wright]

Well, we have seen this splintering of the MAGA coalition, as it were. And look, the President won a tremendous victory last November with a lot of different kinds of people. And we're now seeing that, I think, play out in this debate. And unfortunately, we're starting to see a lot of really ugly trolls out there that are pushing some really terrible stuff. Look, this debate about what we should do in Iran, it's incredibly, incredibly complicated, very nuanced. There's lots of pros and cons to all of it. And, and that's what I'm trying to do with my podcast. Hopefully we can do that today with, you know, your listeners and we can have a really good professional adult conversation because matters of war and peace should be that. And right now online, you're just getting a bunch of trolls and clickbaiters trying to make money. And it's just, it really is unbecoming, not just of those of us that do this work, but for the Republic. I mean, that's not a cliche thing to say. I don't know.

[Tudor Dixon]

And a very scary situation to just be throwing this information around. I mean, between what we've seen online and what we've seen out of even. And I don't know if you saw the Whoopi Goldberg thing on the View, but this is like a. There's a lot of, I hate to use the word misinformation, but there's a lot of naivete when it comes to what Iran really is. And I think the American people don't realize how serious the situation is. And I think there's also some confusion because it's like, hey, with Iraq, we were told there were weapons of mass destruction and there weren't. And so everybody is very, for lack of a better term, gun shy about this. But now we've heard this report that President Trump has been in and out of the Situation Room all day. He is looking at having an answer on this in the next couple of weeks. So what is your take on that?

[Brian Dean Wright]

So let's start with this. President Trump has been engaged involved with the US government in different ways for over 20 years, not just currently as president or when he had his first term, but even before that. This man is somebody who's been involved, and I can't go into details, but he's been involved in America's national security for a long, long time. So he's bringing a sober perspective that sometimes a lot of people don't understand. So I'll just leave that a little bit mysterious.

[Tudor Dixon]

But the point is a little bit mysterious.

[Brian Dean Wright]

The man cares about this country and he has worked for it for a long time. So what he's doing is he's sitting down with his team and he's looking at the pros and cons of what we should do in Iran, especially that Fordo facility that, of course is about 300 and some odd feet below the ground, probably holding a lot of centrifuges and potentially some very highly enriched uranium. That makes no sense if you want a peaceful program, upwards of 60 plus percent enrichment. So the President's saying, right, on one hand, I clearly have run on and made clear to the American people for years that Iran should not have a nuclear weapon. That facility would almost certainly advance that. And, oh, by the way, Iranian nuclear scientists have said we have all of the. It's like putting the analogy they used was making a car. They said, we have all the parts to make the car. We just have to decide to make it. Okay, well, this is clearly not a civilian program exclusively. They're playing. They're a little bit fast and loose with their words. So the President understands.

[Tudor Dixon]

Let me stop you there for a second. A civilian program would be something more like energy. Right. I think that's something for, for those of us who are not in the world of war. Okay. All right, I just wanted to clarify. And that's like a 3 to 5% enrichment. So when you look at 60, that's where people are saying, why would you be at that level, Is that correct?

[Brian Dean Wright]

Yeah, thank you for clarifying. So a civilian nuclear program and there are some more advanced reactors that you can get above 5%, but not much beyond that. So 3 to 5%. If you want a civilian nuclear program to produce electricity or something called medical isotopes that they will use in medicine, you're not looking for much beyond 5%. Yeah, there's some that you might get up into the 10, 12%. Anything beyond that, you are clearly going towards weapons grade. There's no civilian reason to have that. So when you, when you do what Iran is doing, which is 60 plus percent, they're very clearly going up to the line. As CIA Director Ratcliffe said today, it's like a football team going down the field and they're about the five yard line. They can't credibly claim that they're not interested in going into the end zone. They're making very clear that that's the direction they want to go. So I think that's the sober part of the analysis that we need to understand that President Trump appreciates and understands. And he's sitting down with his team also knowing I don't want to go into yet another Middle Eastern war. He said that to the team. I know folks on his team who have repeated that to me. He's aware. He's also communicating to leaders in the Middle east, you know, Arab governments and saying, this is your backyard. What do you want from me? What you want from us? So the President has a very, very sober team. He has a very sober mind. He cares about this country. And I'm not seeing that really reflected on a lot of social media stuff that's just flim flam. And so I really do tip my hat to the President. He's doing what he always does, which is unlike President Roosevelt, who spoke softly and carried a big stick. Trump yells and carries a two by four. And so he is ratcheting up some of his rhetoric. He's trying to push the Ayatollah into a deal and still offering a peace proposal. He's said that in fact today. But he's very clearly moving assets from the US As Nimitz planes. He said very clearly that the Ayatollah has got to surrender and step down. He's using this mix to try to find a peaceful outcome, but always giving himself that option because we have got to deal with this nuclear issue. The Iranians are playing fast and loose with their rhetoric. They know what they're doing and so does Everybody else.

[Tudor Dixon]

Well, it's interesting because as I'm watching this, you know, you would kind of expect the Democrats to come out and be screaming and yelling this doesn't exist. I think that people have gotten caught up on regime change quite a bit and thinking that that might be Donald Trump's next step. And I think he's been fairly clear that's not what he's looking at. And I think that's kind of the, that's become the talking point on social media. Is, is the United States going to go in and try to remove a leader and have a regime change again and lead to another 20 year war and all of that? But I haven't, I've been kind of interested that the leaders of the Democrat Party, whoever we consider those these days, but they haven't been really vocal saying, no, no, there's no nuclear possibilities there.

[Brian Dean Wright]

Yeah.

[Tudor Dixon]

So they must know something.

[Brian Dean Wright]

Yeah. Look, the CIA had a closed door session today, a classified assessment, talking to our policymakers on the House and the Senate side about what exactly we know. Additionally, we should bring in other intelligence agencies and their assessments. No doubt those are being provided this morning and throughout today from the Austrians, for example, who say that no, in fact, the Iranians do have an advanced nuclear weapons program right now, unlike the CIA which says no, no, they abandoned it back in 2003, maybe 2009. So there's some division there amongst what, you know, intelligence experts have to say. And I think that's something else that the President said the other day when he was talking about somebody he respects very much, Tulsi Gabbard, the office of Director of National Intelligence, the ODNI chief, saying, well, I don't care, not necessarily about what she has to say, but what the intel community has to say because there is no the intel. There is intelligence of different quality and characteristics that I can lean on, but it's not going to be directive. It's not going to tell me what to do. And I think that behind closed doors you're seeing some Democrats who still have a few functioning brain cells who are saying to the White House, we appreciate the nuance here. We might not say it in public. And I think that that's why some of them are keeping a little bit quiet today.

[Tudor Dixon]

And you say that as someone who used to be a Democrat 20 years.

[Brian Dean Wright]

Yeah, I was Democrat for 20 years.

[Tudor Dixon]

I think that's interesting. And certainly we've seen that for both parties where it's been, you know, my party left me story. But right now it seems a Lot like Democrats are trying to figure out where they stand. And you, I believe the people you're talking about right now are kind of the historical Democrat, the more moderate Democrat. And, you know, we see obviously what's happening in New York City right now where got this radical socialist that is openly saying he's going to bring socialism to New York. And you've had Obama's people come out and say this would be catastrophic. So it is interesting in this crisis moment to see this sort of quietness coming from the Democrat Party and like you said, people behind the scenes probably with cooler minds saying, okay, this is no longer political games. We are now in a situation where we have to make a true decision. And I think that was sort of a moment for what you talked about with Tuls Gabbard. That was a moment for the media to seize on this and say, oh, he's out of step with his Cabinet. You have the Director of National Intelligence saying, no, this isn't the case. You broke that down on social media in a unique way where you talked about the different levels of intelligence. And I think, like I said, as a civilian on the outside, I go, man, they get intelligence. That must mean intelligence. The definition of the word means this is smart stuff. So that must be right. But you make a great point that you get something. You have to kind of read between the lines. And not everything is, is just straightforward and clear.

[Brian Dean Wright]

Well, I will tell you, having done the work of intelligence for many, many years, there anytime anyone says, well, the intelligence says, it just makes me cringe. Because what you can say is, look, we have degrees of confidence in certain sources that we worked with for a certain period of time. Some of them are all pointing the arrow in one direction that we think Iran does or does not have a nuclear program or whatever it may be. But maybe we have some contrarian intelligence or we have some sources that we really like and trust to say the opposite. So that leaves a degree of confidence that we can't say it's high. We can only see medium, or maybe just low. And then in this world of artificial intelligence and digital exhaust, where you can manipulate truth so easily, it's becoming even more difficult to know for sure whether or not the intelligence that you get is accurate. In fact, that has actually played a really surprising role in the war in Iran over the past five days. One of the most underreported facts of how Israel is managed to just wipe out Iran's leadership is they sent people into Iran a couple of months ago, started collecting digital exhaust which is basically like if I wake up in the morning and I use my phone and I use an alarm, then I go on and check my email and send text messages. All that's creating data about who I am, where I'm at, what I'm sending. And they did that around all kinds of facilities around Iran. And they figured out who the Iranian senior leaderships were or military leadership, what time they got to work, what time they went to lunch, what time they went out to go for a jog. And that's how they were able to kill so many of them was collecting all of this digital intelligence or digital exhaust that we all leave behind every day. So that's going to think I'd be one of the things that is so underappreciated now. But I guarantee you the CIA and Pentagon are digging into about. Holy smokes, this could hit us and our leadership, too. So the point is the world of intelligence, trying to understand and decipher what's truth and what's not, what your vulnerabilities might be, really, it's not just about the intel. It's about judgment and discernment. And that's what we're asking President Trump to do, as he is doing and picking up the phone and talking to Arab leaders, not just Netanyahu and Israel. That kind of discernment is what we're looking for in a commander in chief, and that's what he's doing.

[Tudor Dixon]

Well, that's an interesting point. That it's not. You know, I think most people are saying he's just in lockstep with Netanyahu, but he is talking to the entire Middle East. And this, this is what I keep telling people. I'm like you. You have to understand when you hear that they are the world's state sponsor of terror, they are funding all of these groups. And the reason they were able to fund these to a higher level is really, if you look at what Joe Biden's administration did, they took off those sanctions, they allowed that money to be released to them once Iran has money. People don't understand the country is so much different than the United States. They're not helping the people. They're not feeding the poor. It's not like there's no charity there. They are funding terror. So when you see Hamas and Hezbollah and these groups, they're going in and they're funded by Iran. And that's why the whole Middle east actually has a vested interest in seeing this go a certain direction.

[Brian Dean Wright]

Yeah, let me just underline that for US A couple of months ago in the United Kingdom, they arrested a terror cell, four Iranian nationals who pretended to be migrants crossing the English Channel as illegal aliens. They crossed over, they set up a cell and they were hours away from bombing UK targets to include the Israeli embassy in London. So that is how the Iranian regime operates. They're very, very savvy. They use sabotage teams which just to pause for a moment, oh, 9 million illegals across our southern border. Might there have been a few sabotage teams in that group? So the point is, Iran is a very, very aggressive country. They use terror. They have done so for decades. Since their revolution in 1978, they've had a couple of very key foreign policy goals. One is destroying Israel, the second is destroying America. So we know that is true as well.

[Tudor Dixon]

Let's take a quick commercial break. We'll continue next on the Tudor Dixon Podcast. This is something that I've been talking about as I've been traveling around Michigan is all of these things that you hear the President talking about, the whole America first concept, they all intertwine. And you brought up all of the people that have crossed our borders. And I've been trying to explain this to people. I'm like, look, he has to make sure that we are safe, that people in the Middle east are safe, and that we are safe from Iran because we had an open door for four years. An open door that was not vetting anyone. And while they told you that that was nice, I don't know if these people were useful idiots or what the plan was there, that they were just letting the door go wide open. And I say that because an administration is not just a president. It is so many advisors, so many people who said, yeah, leave the doors open knowing that things like this happen. And I've said to them, you have idea how many bad guys came across? I hadn't heard that story about the uk that is what could happen here in the United States.

[Brian Dean Wright]

Precisely. Look, it is so self evident and it was over the past four years and folks like yourself and myself and others who could just use common sense and say that even if 0.1% of the 9/4 million are the bad guys, that's a lot of bad guys. It only took 19 to bring down a bunch of beautiful buildings of ours in New York and Washington D.C. and field of Pennsylvania back in 9 11. So it's a very real threat. Yes, you're absolutely right. It happened a couple months ago in the uk we almost came very, very close to a lot of folks dying there and so this is a very important threat when we have to start thinking about this stuff abroad. But it's also important, I want to just honor something that you said. There are a lot of people out there, especially in, I would say our generation and young men especially, who have had to fight these wars, who are now in their 30s and 40s and are looking at yet another Middle Eastern possible conflict. And they're like, wait a minute, I am losing an arm. I've already lost, I've lost a leg, I've lost my mind because ptsd. I'm not sending my son over there. I am not doing this again. So I think it's very, very fair for the American people to say we've done foreign entanglements for 20, 25 years. Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria, Libya, beyond, no more. That's fair. And that's what President Trump as a commander in chief has to demonstrate to the American people that I know the past, but we have today and we have a future and we have to tackle this threat as much as the past may advise us not to. That said, good, reasonable people can still say no, we shouldn't.

[Tudor Dixon]

Yeah, but you make such a good point because our generation, people leapt into service. They just as soon as 9, 11 happened, they were like, absolutely, sign me up. And we had not, our parents had seen Vietnam, we had not seen Vietnam. So we had not really seen a significant war. And there was this patriotism of I've got to protect the United States. I'm going to step in. And that war was never ending. And then the way it did end was so traumatic. And you make the point that the military today is not what it was, certainly not what it was years in, in years past. I mean, now we are wounded from what we've sent to Ukraine. We are looking at this situation with fewer recruits, recruits that are out of shape. We've had a struggle to morale is, was at an all time low when Donald Trump took office. We've struggled to recru, recruit people into the military. And then you see, you have this military parade to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the, the birth of our U.S. armed forces. And you have a public shaming of that. It's like you have to have, you have to honor your, your military might. You have to honor the people who put their lives on the line.

[Brian Dean Wright]

Well, celebrating 250 years ago, the fact that this country wouldn't exist without the army. Right. That's certainly something to celebrate you that the data show that this country has a serious problem with patriotism, it's still pretty strong within Republicans and independents, but when you start getting left, it's. It's gone. So, yeah, that, that factors, I think, into, you know, can you rally a nation around a cause when so many people in this country hate it and so many country folks in this country hate our founders and call our history, you know, white supremacy and all the rest of it, it's just really absurd. We live in a tough time. So, yeah, it's. It's. When you're going to go to war or the potential of it, you got to make the case. But you got to have an American people who believe that this country and its values are worth fighting for. And we have a lot of folks who don't.

[Tudor Dixon]

I think you recently referenced, maybe it was Gavin Newsom saying something about America not being great. And it reminded me of. Do you remember that show, the Newsroom, when they did at the beginning of the Newsroom, they came out and this woman or they asked the question, like, what's the greatest country? And this girl says, america. And then he goes on this long rant about why America is not the greatest country. And this was. Just lost it as like this amazing monologue. This was like something that college students should listen to because it was so incredible and it was the worst thing I've ever heard.

[Brian Dean Wright]

Yeah, yeah. So why did 9 million plus people come under Joe Biden? Why would they try to flood into this awful, disgusting nation if it's really that on?

[Tudor Dixon]

Right. Yeah, very good point.

[Brian Dean Wright]

So look, yeah, there are governors. Gavin Newsom has said this. We also have Governor, former Governor Cuomo of New York who said America is not going to be great because it's never been that great. This is a very consistent message by Democrats in this country. They hate it. They think it's awful. They make that case more than, you know, we are an imperfect union and we've got work to do. But it's a pretty darn good place. And I am so glad to be here. I wouldn't want to be in Iran. I wouldn't want to be in North Korea.

[Tudor Dixon]

But okay, so that's. You have Whoopi Goldberg who comes out and says that Iran living in Iran is the equivalent of black people living in the United States. And, and people were like, oh, we can't say anything about this because, you know, if you don't know the life, what it's like to live as a black person. And I give Alyssa Farah some question credit in this because she tried to say, gosh, you know, there was a time when you could say that that could potentially have been true. But today, in 2025, I don't think you understand what happens to people in Iran. And I've studied the country over the past few years, and a lot of what was happening, gosh, it probably was in 2019 and 2018 when they were murdering the women in the streets for taking off their hijab. And you would see young men who, if they at all, spoke against the government, they were hung in the streets. And I think that the American people cannot understand that type of oppression and that type of fear that the people live in constantly. But Democrats will openly say, oh, it's the same. But that's so. It's not only belittling to the United. United States. It doesn't. It's so uneducated, and it. It is so manipulative to the American people to not understand who you are really dealing with in the world.

[Brian Dean Wright]

You have to have so much wealth or power, so much sort of bourgeois status to sit in your Upper east side, Manhattan, you know, studio like Whoopi and look down to the people and say, oh, it's so hard being me. It's so hard. What? Come on now. Come on, now. You can't say that in a country that has given you so much to then just throw rocks at it all the time. You can call it imperfect, and you should. The founders did. Founders acknowledge that. And we all have a challenge to make it a more perfect union there. So there's nothing shocking about it. It's just so wildly disappointing and really infuriating to hear folks like Whoopi Goldberg say things like that. When I tell you, if she were to live in Iran or North Korea or any of these China, these places are not nice if you like liberty, they're lovely. If you like tyranny, but. And if you've traveled abroad or even if you have any, just pick up a book and a magazine and you appreciate what is going on in some of these countries. You are just so grateful that you live here and why 9 million people try to come under Joe Biden and did.

[Tudor Dixon]

Oh, I mean, I. So I met a woman who had been taken hostage by the government in Iran. And they had these. I don't even know how to describe it. They had these torture cells where you had to be crouching to. To sit in the cell, and if your head at any point, so you had to be sitting on your rear end with your knees up and your arms wrapped around your knees. So. And with your head down or else. Because if your head went above the wall, they beat you with a cane and people would just be. And you. And she said she was there for over a hundred days and somehow she got out of that situation. Most people didn't live the horrific forms of torture for just saying they want freedom. The horrific forms of torture that you would as an American, you would, if you ever saw that in the United States of America, my gosh, it would be so foreign to us.

[Brian Dean Wright]

Yeah, look, this also goes back about three months when Representative AOC of New York, you know, the illustrious socialist, said that actually. And I'm gonna paraphrase what she said, but this is pretty accurate. She said, look, America may be in decline, but because America is so bad in so many ways, maybe that decline is a good thing. Maybe it's a good thing and maybe from the ashes something better can arise. That's a pretty accurate paraphrase of what she said. So that's really the Whoopi Goldberg, the aoc, the Democrat. Frankly, the leftist view of this country is it's bad, it's irredeemable, it's never been that great. So let's tear it down and build something else.

[Tudor Dixon]

That is something that I've heard, not just from Democrats. I mean, I had a conversation the other night here in Michigan with a person on county commission and I said, you know, if our, if we were to bring in some businesses into our town that had high paying positions, we would, our town would be in a much better position because they, what they've done here is they've brought in a bunch of, build a bunch of low income housing and then they made the downtown this great area for you have a social district that you can walk around and drink and all these new mom and pop restaurants have come in that nobody's going to. Because the reality is that when everybody's housing is paid for and there's no jobs, they can't actually afford to go out to eat. And I said if we were to try to focus on bringing in high paying jobs, it would, you know, raise a lot of issues. A lot of issues would go away because once people can pay for things and you have competition and then other companies have to pay higher wages. Like a lot of these questions of whether people can buy housing, whether people can go out and eat, whether people can spend and you get more sales tax, those are, are taken off the table because you suddenly have competition and people are making money. And he was like, we don't want people. So what he said, I'm sorry, why did you build the downtown the way you did with the social district and everything? What do you mean? Well, we don't want to be like any of these other towns that are on the water where people are. It's just for us. And, and then said, we've rezoned so that we can have a whole sporting section. I said, well, okay, so are these paid programs? Oh, yeah, the kids can come and do this and that. And I said, well, who's going to pay for it? Like, come on, what. How did we get to this point where we think everything is free and everything should be a joyful place where we can go out and drink and, and listen to music, but we're not going to worry about working?

[Brian Dean Wright]

Yeah, yeah, that's a little bizarre, I gotta tell you. There was thinking about the tariff wars, you know, and President Trump, you know, trying to reset global relations in the US economy with tariff. The BBC interviewed a mother and a son in Michigan and they asked if they supported it. And their response by the mother was so poignant. She said, you know, I don't know if this is going to work out well for us, but what I know is nobody else is fighting for us. What I know is that our towns aren't sick or aren't healthy anymore. We're sick. The son talked about his friends who are in their 30s and in their 40s, who are broken. Something has happened in our lifetime, yours and mine, over the past 40 some odd years. Something horrible, I think, has happened to a lot of towns, especially out in Michigan, but well beyond of the working class. And I think that the president, when we think about Iran, he knows that a lot of working class kids would have to be involved in a possible war in the Middle East. He's very aware of that and that's why his reflex is to avoid war. So I think that's why he's still open to a peace deal with Tehran, even at this late hour power. And yet he still is resolutely, I think, pretty consistently saying, look, that the tariffs are about resetting this economy for places like you just described. So it's not just open to the people in the capitol, like for some sort of Hollywood movie where all the fancy and the rich and the powerful get all the spoils and everybody else lives out in one of the districts and cuts timber or mines, coal. And I think that that is what you're speaking about, which is really a disconnect between our friends and family that maybe we have wealth but There are a lot of folks who don't. And it's not a lovely place if we end up the only ones who are wealthy and a lot of other folks are down in the gutter. That's just not a country you want to be a part of. We need a robust middle class. And I think that's part of what the president's trying to do with his tariffs, which, again, we're getting a little off topic. But the point is, you're absolutely right. I think it all ties in together.

[Tudor Dixon]

Let's take a quick commercial break. We'll continue next on the Tudor Dixon Podcast. You make such a good point about President Trump because I think when, I mean, if we look back at when he was campaigning, people said he's unhinged, you'll never know, he can't have the nuclear codes, blah, blah, blah. But what you just said about here, he is taking time to really think about this, making a clear decision. He's in and out of the Situation room. There's been discussions of who's been in and out of the situation room with him, but he came out and he made it very clear, clear. This is a decision we will make over time. There is no split second decisions. There's no irrational decisions. I mean, look at, we have, I believe that if you look back at the Biden administration and how they left Afghanistan, that was an irrational decision because it was like, oh, this is the date we're out. Doesn't matter if we're prepared, doesn't matter if we're, we have the Air Force base secure. We are just, we're just going to blindly adhere to this date without any planning. That's not what you're seeing with Donald Trump. He's very calculated in making sure that the American people are taking care of. And it reminds me honestly of the day he was shot and he stood up and he looked out at the crowd and said, keep going, you know, fight, fight, fight. It wasn't about him. That is in your character. You can't fake that. And I think you make a great point is right now he's not faking that. He is making sure he is very, very clear with the decision that's going to be made.

[Brian Dean Wright]

Yeah, look, he's walking a very fine line, isn't he? He knows that the American people and his political base don't want war in the Middle East. He also knows, and he has run on the fact that we don't need more nuclear weapons in this world and we need fewer countries with those weapons. He's been very consistent on that as well. He also knows that our military is struggling. He knows that we are $36 trillion in debt. He knows that our supply chains to rebuild our military are weak. He knows that our greatest threat is China. He is trying to walk a very clear line here, trying to accomplish a lot of very difficult things in one fell swoop. And it's tough. He's in a very tough position. So rather than to throw an arrow at the guy, actually, I salute him and I pray for him.

[Tudor Dixon]

I love that. Well, I'm glad that it's him. I, I trust that he is working with great people. And like you said, it's a, a very fine line. There's no, there's no clear answer. And, and I think prayer is absolutely the right thing.

[Brian Dean Wright]

You bet.

[Tudor Dixon]

Well, thank you so much for talking with us today, Brian Dean. Right. Tell us where people can find your. Your show. Because you have a show right now, right?

[Brian Dean Wright]

I do. I do a five day a week podcast, morning news podcast. We go around America and around the world. We talk a lot about global stuff, but some domestic policies too. It airs at 3am Eastern time, which is pretty darn early for most folks. So that's good. You can get it five days a week, Monday through Friday on all podcast platforms. I also have a substack. Yeah, I provide people resources for all the things I talk about. I actually have links to all the sources that I use. So. Anyway. But all podcast platforms. The Wright Report, like the Wright Brothers. Every day, Monday through Friday, 3am Good.

[Tudor Dixon]

Awesome. I mean, I'm so glad I found you. I'm glad we had you on. I totally enjoyed having you on. So thank you so much and thank you all for listening to the Tutor Dixon podcast. For this episode and others, go to tutordixonpodcast.com, the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. And you can watch it on Rumble or YouTube @Tutor Dixon and join us next time. Have a blessed day. This is an I heart podcast.