Trump On Iran War: “On A Scale Of 10…About A 15”

Summary

Podcast Summary: The Five

Episode: Trump On Iran War: “On A Scale Of 10…About A 15”
Date: March 4, 2026
Host: FOX News Podcasts

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Episode Overview

This episode of "The Five" focuses heavily on the ongoing U.S.-led military operation against Iran, dubbed "Operation Epic Fury." The panelists break down the latest updates on the conflict, President Trump’s leadership and strategies, the involvement of Kurdish forces, and the domestic and international political fallout. They also cover heated debates within U.S. politics about the war, prominent Democratic primary results in Texas, and a Medicaid fraud scandal in Minnesota. The episode is lively, fast-paced, and often combative, reflecting the show's trademark style.

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Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. State of the Iran Conflict & Operation Epic Fury

• Trump's Stance and American Military Power

  • Trump quoted: "On a scale of 10, where would you rate it? I said about a 15." (00:23)
  • U.S. is conducting intense aerial bombardments, utilizing AI, laser weapons, and advanced targeting.
  • Panelists describe the operation as overwhelmingly successful so far; “death and destruction from the sky… Our rules of engagement are bold… We are punching them while they’re down, which is exactly how it should be.” – Jesse Watters (00:52)

• Kurds’ Role and Long-Term Implications

  • Discussion of Kurdish ground involvement; their alliance with the U.S., and the lack of consistent American support:
    • “The Kurds are like a military booty call. They're just always up. You call them up, they come over, they do your job.” – Greg Gutfeld (02:43)
    • Uncertainty about how sustainable the current strategy is without “boots on the ground.”
  • Dana Perino notes the durability of the Kurdish alliance but cautions about America's on-and-off commitment (03:05).

• Technological and Strategic Advances

  • Use of B-52s, AI, and lasers is emphasized as evidence that "this probably officially marks the beginning of 21st century warfare." – Jesse Watters (05:04)
  • High attrition among Iranian leadership, significant reduction of Iranian missile launches (“from 80 a day to now 20 a day”). (05:45)

2. Skepticism and Critique of U.S. Policy

• Jessica Tarloff’s Critical Perspective

  • Raises concerns about the war's objectives, costs, and the potential for mission creep:
    • “We are burning through a billion dollars a day. We are spending $4 million missiles to take out $20,000 drones. That is a problem.” (09:19)
  • Questions analogies to Venezuela, warns cutting off Iranian theocracy won’t yield easy regime change due to religious radicalism (08:15).

• Process vs. Outcome; War Endgames

  • Kennedy voices fear of an open-ended conflict, referencing the lack of a “clear terminus”:
    • “What worries me is this war doesn't really have a clear terminus… these things can go on and on and on. My worry is not only the gold star families that are being created… but also the men and women who serve who will go home with injuries seen and unseen, and then they will be failed by their government.” (11:21)
  • Greg Gutfeld and Dana Perino acknowledge the importance of supporting troops post-conflict, yet separate that issue from the immediate military strategy (12:08).

3. Political Fallout in Washington

• Democratic Criticism of Trump’s Strategy

  • Senate fails to pass the War Powers Resolution to limit Trump’s actions; Democrats accuse the administration of waging an “illegal war.”
    • “Trump administration has no plan in Iran.” – Dana Perino (13:47)
    • "This illegal war is based on lies." – Jessica Tarloff (13:50)
    • “This isn’t a war for America. This is Trump’s war.” – Greg Gutfeld (14:05)

• Shifting Attitudes Toward Israel

  • Gavin Newsom, aiming for the 2028 nomination, toughens stance on Israel; party's sympathy increasingly with Palestinians (14:58).

• The War Powers Act Debate

  • Gutfeld ridicules the War Powers Act, comparing it to an ineffective nag:
    • “The War Powers act is just a wife that wants to register a complaint. You just don’t do it… Trump built a bank of trust, so now it’s time to rely on it. Probably the most peaceful president in his first term that we’ve ever seen.” (21:45)

4. Texas Democratic Senate Primary

• Jasmine Crockett vs. James Talarico
  • Talarico defeats Crockett; allegations of Republican interference in Dallas voting.
    • “She wasn’t being a crybaby… The GOP did change the rules about where you go to vote… So a number of people were turned away.” – Jessica Tarloff (30:27)
  • Talarico’s far-left stances (“God is non-binary”, “trans community needs abortion care”) are ridiculed by the panel; concerns about electoral viability in Texas (28:09).
  • “He’s like the white Crockett.” – Jesse Watters (28:09)
• Democratic Turnout Surge
  • Tarloff points to strong Democratic turnout, demographic shifts, and “dummy mander” redistricting as proof of growing Democratic competitiveness in Texas and elsewhere (31:13).

5. Minnesota Medicaid Fraud Scandal

• Fraud Allegations and Political Grandstanding
  • $9 billion in fraud under Minnesota’s Democratic administration; Governor Tim Walz and AG Keith Ellison grilled in Congress.
  • Panel debates whether hearings reveal facts or just encourage grandstanding.
    • “We don’t need a sermon about the facts. We need them to address the facts… If you keep cutting them off… you’re gonna make them look like the victims.” – Greg Gutfeld (34:07)
  • Dana Perino and Jessica Tarloff argue about the effectiveness and optics of the hearings (35:35).

6. Kurdish Offensive in Iran – Breaking News

• Live Report from Turkey
  • Thousands of Kurds conducting a ground offensive into Iran; U.S. and Israeli involvement in disrupting regime security infrastructure.
  • “Police stations and paramilitary bases are being struck. The Kurds are only the majority in one small portion of Iran, if they were better armed and would act up, that would be one more distraction for the tottering regime to deal with.” – Greg Palkot via Jessica Tarloff (37:08)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• President Trump’s Rating of the War Effort:
  • “On a scale of 10… About a 15.” – President Trump via Greg Gutfeld (00:23)
• Jesse Watters on American Military Might:
  • “Our rules of engagement are bold, precise, and designed to unleash American power, not shackle it.” (00:52)
• Kennedy’s War Caution:
  • “What worries me is this war doesn't really have a clear terminus.” (11:21)
• Greg Gutfeld’s Critique of War Powers Act:
  • “The War Powers act is just a wife that wants to register a complaint.” (21:45)
• Jessica Tarloff on War Costs:
  • “We are burning through a billion dollars a day. We are spending $4 million missiles to take out $20,000 drones.” (09:19)
• Greg Gutfeld on the Democratic Primary:
  • “Did you know this, that Ms. Crockett is 44 years old? I thought that she was, like, in her early 30s because she's so stupid… She's been actively avoiding wisdom, which is harder than learning.” (28:29)
• Panel on Talarico’s Positions:
  • “Our trans community needs abortion care. God is non binary. Jesus was a radical feminist…” – Dana Perino (28:09)
• Jesse Watters on Strategic Chokepoints:
  • “We control the Strait of Hormuz, straight of Gibraltar, Suez, Malacca Straits, Panama Canal, every single global choke point in the entire world.” (17:42)

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Important Segment Timestamps

• Trump’s “15 out of 10” war rating: 00:23
• US military strategy and Kurds’ role: 02:43–04:35
• Technological advances in warfare: 05:04–05:45
• Jessica critiques war rationale/costs: 07:17–09:40
• Kennedy’s warning on endless war: 11:21–12:08
• Senate War Powers Resolution fails: 13:21
• Dems accuse Trump of “illegal war”: 13:47–14:05
• Gavin Newsom pivots on Israel: 14:58–16:34
• War Powers Act debate: 21:45–24:23
• Jasmine Crockett vs. Talarico drama: 26:03–33:01
• Minnesota Medicaid fraud hearings: 33:23–36:43
• Breaking news: Kurdish offensive: 36:55–38:03

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Final Thoughts

The episode captures a moment of high tension, both on the battlefield and in American politics. The panel celebrates the military’s swift action but diverges over how sustainable or wise the current approach is, with Jessica Tarloff and Kennedy raising pointed concerns about cost, mission scope, and troop well-being. The tone veers from triumphal to skeptical, with sharp barbs and sardonic humor throughout. Beyond Iran, the group dives into primary politics, fraud scandals, and broader cultural critiques, packing the episode with opinionated analysis and colorful commentary in classic “The Five” style.

Transcript

[Greg Gutfeld]

Foreign. Hi, I'm Greg Gutfeld, along with Kennedy, Jessica Tarloff, Jesse Waters, and she gets all her hand me downs from Polly Pocket. Dana Perino, the five.

[Jesse Waters]

I would say somebody said on a

[Greg Gutfeld]

scale of 10, where would you rate it? I said about a 15. And we're going to continue to do well. We have the greatest military in the world by far. When crazy people have nuclear weapons, bad things happen. I believe that was President Trump praising the success of Operation Epic FURY As a U.S. official tells Fox that thousands of Iraqi Kurds have launched a ground invasion in Iran. Here's Pete Exith with an update on how the war effort is going to

[Jesse Waters]

death and destruction from the sky. All day long, we're playing for keeps. Our warfighters have maximum authorities, granted personally by the President and yours truly. Our rules of engagement are bold, precise, and designed to unleash American power, not shackle it. This was never meant to be a fair fight, and it is not a fair fight. We are punching them while they're down, which is exactly how it should be. This is what the fake news misses. We've taken control of Iran's airspace and waterways. Without boots on the ground, we control their fate. But when a few drones get through or tragic things happen, it's front page news. I get it. The press only wants to make the President look bad. But. But try for once to report the reality.

[Greg Gutfeld]

And after years of the Iranian regime spilling American blood, Carolyn Levitt says we're returning the favor.

[Dana Perino]

The rogue Iranian terrorist regime is being absolutely crushed.

[Kennedy]

47 years of tolerating and enabling the

[Dana Perino]

world's leading state sponsor of terrorism are over. Iran's murderous terrorist leaders are paying for their crimes against America, and they are paying in blood. Since 1979, the terrorist Iranian regime has actively and intentionally facilitated the killings of Americans. President Trump is holding these monsters accountable and permanently extinguishing their nuclear ambitions. It's safe to say that thus far,

[Jessica Tarloff]

Operation Epic Fury has been a resounding success.

[Dana Perino]

American forces have struck more than 2,000 targets, destroying hundreds and hundreds of ballistic missiles, launchers and drones.

[Greg Gutfeld]

You know, Dana, before the show, we were discussing the. The entrance of the Kurds. And I was asking you, it seems to me the Kurds are like a military booty call. They're just always up. You call them up, they come over, they do your job. Is that a fair analogy?

[Dana Perino]

I thought you were talking about the breakfast. The Kurds and whey.

[Greg Gutfeld]

Oh, very good.

[Dana Perino]

Just kidding. The Kurds. Been hearing about them for a long time.

[Greg Gutfeld]

Yes.

[Dana Perino]

Great fighting force. Good allies of the United States and looks like that once again they're going to come in and try help out here and stabilize.

[Greg Gutfeld]

But we don't always help them.

[Dana Perino]

We don't. And it is a remark on American power that they still hang around because we are their best option.

[Greg Gutfeld]

Right.

[Dana Perino]

Turkey is certainly not Assad was not, et cetera. So you have this opportunity here for a possible way forward. I don't know if it turns out to be true that this has been in the works for some time, that would certainly be interesting. I think that we will learn a lot in the coming days after the main fighting is over, how the strategy was put in place over a longer period of time. It wasn't over a weekend as we are talking about now. But Caroline Levitt's briefing was very good. And especially she is saying so far, she said thus far things are really good. And I think we have to acknowledge that and point out that Iran has just decided to take everybody down with it. Like, if we're going down, then we're going to take everyone down with us. So what Iran did was mobilize the world against it as well as there's all sorts of things that have happened in the last 20 years, but mostly since the last eight years when President Trump was in office, starting with the Abraham Accords. But also you have new leadership in Saudi and Abu Dhabi and Dubai. And they want a younger, more modern type of living and Iran doesn't. So Iran wants to take all of them down and these people have something worth fighting for, meaning our allies. And so, yes, I agree with her. Like thus far it looks like we are in a very positive territory.

[Greg Gutfeld]

Yeah. Imagine if we decided to do this when they had nukes or you wouldn't ever be able to do it because you see how they're reacting now without nukes. Jesse, it seems like what Hegseth is saying is sounds really good, but it only is good until boots are on the ground. Are we confident that that case will never be.

[Jesse Waters]

No, but you always want to keep that option open. And so far that's not where this is going. As Trump would say, we've never seen anything like this. This is two times the firepower that we saw over Iraq. And shock and awe. These are B52s dropping 80,000 pound ordnance. We have artificial intelligence, identifying targets. Space Force is seeing where these Iranian missiles launch from and then can take out the launch pad like that. We're shooting down Iranian drones with laser weapons, also kamikaze drones. We're using them for the first time ever in combat. So this is just an astonishing display of American milit superiority. Probably officially marks the beginning of 21st century warfare. We have completely eradicated the two top layers of the Iranian leadership. The navy's at the bottom of the sea and their missiles were going from 80 a day to now 20 a day. The case is clear. Number one sponsor of terror in the world, they were ramping up their ballistic missile capabilities. They were digging deeper tunnels to enrich again. And their navy threatens the flow of oil. So we don't care who rules the country. They just have to play by our rules, whether that's a remnant of the regime or some man of the people. We could also seize their island oil terminal and just turn off the spigot if we don't like who they give us. The objectives are very clear. You completely disarm the rogue nation and then pummel the leadership until a friendlier face pops up. We obviously have the Kurds in play. Obviously, the CIA is on the ground. But we're not going to put a timetable on this. Like Barack Obama. We're not going to tell the enemy when we're leaving. That's stupid. Yes, there will be more casualties. That's horrible. But so far it's early, only six. And God bless these people. In about a month or two, Donald Trump will be visiting Beijing, and he will then, if this is a successful mission, have complete control over Chinese oil imports. That is a lot of clout, and we hope it works out.

[Greg Gutfeld]

All right, Jessica, say something horribly negative about this situation.

[Jessica Tarloff]

Okay, I've got one. I have like 10. Jesse just said we don't care who rules Iran. I thought that we cared about these

[Jesse Waters]

hundreds of thousands said as long as they follow our rules, we don't want a radical Muslim cleric and we don't want someone to align with the Chinese.

[Jessica Tarloff]

I'm sure that all the protesters in the streets are heartened to hear the way that you see things, that if people play by our rules, and our rules could just be, you know, stop with enriching uranium. But we have been very lax on human rights violations, especially with the Chinese. The Uyghurs, I think, are still basically in concentration.

[Jesse Waters]

You want to spread democracy in the Middle East?

[Jessica Tarloff]

Again, enough.

[Jesse Waters]

That's fine. No, enough for you, Jeff. Jessica, you have in Venezuela worked out pretty well.

[Dana Perino]

Yeah.

[Jessica Tarloff]

You took out Maduro in like 20 minutes and he's in a jail cell. It is not that you want to

[Jesse Waters]

be realistic about this. And we're not going to push Democracy on day one you will the end of a gun.

[Jessica Tarloff]

The comp to Venezuela is ridiculous. Maduro went down in what, 24 hours? He awaits trial here. Delsey Rodriguez was in play. We knew exactly who she was. She had control of it. We also had Maria Machado, who we were in conversations with. If you think that going after a theocracy like this, made up of religious lunatics, who you cut off the head and 100 more sprout out, is the same, it just makes you look stupid.

[Jesse Waters]

It's not.

[Jessica Tarloff]

We say stop. And Jesse, get your hand challenging.

[Jesse Waters]

It's down you. It's more challenging.

[Jessica Tarloff]

Down.

[Jesse Waters]

Mouse down to crazy. This is like the State of the Union. They are crazy.

[Jessica Tarloff]

No one who's watching this, by the way, thinks I'm the crazy one. The timeline about that, probably not. I got it. Just tweet at me. I see you. I hear you. Okay, so the timeline is completely incoherent here. We started at just a couple days, and we got to four to five weeks this morning. Pete Hegg says as long as we need to succeed, and it could be up to eight weeks, we are burning through a billion dollars a day. We are spending.

[Greg Gutfeld]

What you care.

[Jessica Tarloff]

Listen, just here about money. This is so. It's so predictable.

[Greg Gutfeld]

Is that still more or less in the Somalia.

[Jessica Tarloff]

Listen. Oh, we'll get to that conversation. We're using $4 million missiles to take out $20,000 drones. That is a problem. They talked about that in the briefing yesterday, and Jennifer Griffin also talked about it.

[Greg Gutfeld]

But that's. That's what countries are doing. That's why drones are the future.

[Jessica Tarloff]

I understand they're the future, but it's

[Greg Gutfeld]

not just our issue. That's.

[Jessica Tarloff]

Everybody is our issue today. When you say that this is something that we can go in and we can be surgical and then we can get out. That's why everyone was actually okay, in a bipartisan fashion with past things that President Trump has done, because they were actually surgical and short, like project Operation Hammer. Okay, all right.

[Greg Gutfeld]

Yeah. I just. I mean, no, you.

[Jessica Tarloff]

I want.

[Greg Gutfeld]

You don't have a problem with the results. You have always a problem about the process. That's all you have. Because the results speak for themselves.

[Kennedy]

They don't.

[Greg Gutfeld]

You also cut the head off. We left the body. That's like Venezuela.

[Jessica Tarloff]

I just said you left 100 new bodies in place, and they pop up

[Greg Gutfeld]

and they blow up. They better have health and dental, because no one's taking that job.

[Jessica Tarloff]

Pete Hexif, going back to the press, just wants to hurt President Trump. When they're talking about dead service members, look back at the coverage after Biden's disastrous evacuation of Afghanistan and the coverage of those dead service members. And I know that Pete was talking about that, and it is an important component because there will be boots on the ground and there will be more casualties, and all of these lives do matter.

[Jesse Waters]

Are you predicting boots on the ground?

[Jessica Tarloff]

Well, they're saying it's certainly an option. Jim Comer was on TV today saying,

[Greg Gutfeld]

I want to bring Kennedy.

[Jesse Waters]

I don't know if that's true or not.

[Greg Gutfeld]

Justin, you can't change it by the minutes.

[Jesse Waters]

No one knows what's going to happen.

[Kennedy]

Gregory, is it my time yet? It's been 84 years, I'm afraid.

[Greg Gutfeld]

Kennedy, we're out of time. But we'll have you on next show with the amazing Kreskin. What's your take on this about on. On the boots, on the ground? We're in the fog of war.

[Dana Perino]

Yes.

[Greg Gutfeld]

Any predictions right now are kind of

[Kennedy]

silly, but at least you admitted it is a war.

[Greg Gutfeld]

Yeah.

[Kennedy]

And what worries me is this war doesn't really have a clear terminus. And as we have seen in the Middle east, which is very different than Venezuela, these things can go on and on and on. And my worry is not only the gold star families that are being created and will be created, which is a horrific tragedy, but also the men and women who serve who will go home with injuries seen and unseen, and then they will be failed by their government. I do not necessarily trust the government here. I think Americans, it is still patriotic to be skeptical while at the same time supporting the warriors who go out there to defend freedom for Americans and for Iranians. But so much could go wrong here. We are not at the end. And some of my basic questions have not been satisfactorily answered.

[Greg Gutfeld]

Okay, I got you. But I think we all operate from that step. Whether you're talking about this, we understand we want our troops to be treated well when they come home. That is a separate issue that we should be dealing with. But when we're pinpointing what's going on here, that is not. It's not going to affect.

[Kennedy]

That's the difference between the process and the outcome.

[Dana Perino]

Right.

[Kennedy]

I would love to have faith in the tacticians who are in charge of the process right now. I have seen the outcome. It's awful. I think Doug Collins is a very competent person who's heading the VA right now. It's still not enough. And I still see that people will be inserted into that system and they will be abandoned by the government.

[Greg Gutfeld]

Well, all right, then that's a different topic and we will cover that later. Coming up, the Democrats are going ballistic over Operation Epic Fury.

[Jessica Tarloff]

This is Ainsley Earhart. Thank you for joining me for the

[Kennedy]

52 episode podcast series, the Life of

[Jesse Waters]

Jesus, A listening experience that will provide

[Greg Gutfeld]

hope, comfort and understanding of the greatest story ever told. Listen and follow [e-mail] or wherever you listen to podcasts.

[Kennedy]

FOX News Alert. The Senate does not have the votes to pass the War Powers Resolution. It would have limited President Trump's actions in Iran. This comes as Democratic lawmakers rip into the president for what they call an illegal war. Watch.

[Jesse Waters]

Netanyahu had not found a president stupid enough to drag the United States into that war before.

[Jessica Tarloff]

It is so much worse than you thought. You are right to be worried.

[Dana Perino]

Trump administration has no plan in Iran.

[Jessica Tarloff]

This illegal war is based on lies.

[Greg Gutfeld]

When there's no set plan, when you can't hear day after day, we're going to do this, this, this and this. And these are the reasons why you end up with an endless war.

[Jesse Waters]

This is a precedent that is reckless and wrong.

[Greg Gutfeld]

This isn't a war for America. This is Trump's war.

[Kennedy]

And Gavin Newsom is trying to make a new lane for himself for 2028 by questioning US support for Israel.

[Jesse Waters]

Do you think, looking down the road,

[Greg Gutfeld]

that the United States should consider maybe

[Jesse Waters]

rethinking our military support for Israel?

[Greg Gutfeld]

It breaks my heart because the current

[Jesse Waters]

leadership in Israel is walking us down that path where I don't think you have a choice.

[Greg Gutfeld]

But that consideration, others are talking about it appropriately, sort of an apartheid state.

[Kennedy]

An apartheid state. I watched his comments, I parsed his statement in writing and still didn't understand what he was saying. Gavin Newsom sounds like he's trying to have it both ways, but he's also taking a much tougher stance on Israel than he has in the past. Why?

[Jessica Tarloff]

Well, it's definitely post October 7th and what had happened in Gaza, that's definitely the current or the vibe of what's going on in the Democratic Party. There was polling out earlier this week or last week that for the first time ever amongst Democrats, there's more sympathy with Palestinians than with Israelis. And everyone who wants to run for president is going to have to reckon with that. And they're all finding different paths to doing it. I mean, you even see some shifting in how a Josh Shapiro talks about Israel and our relationship. And the easiest thing to do is to focus on Netanyahu. And his leadership since Netanyahu isn't particularly beloved by his own people either. So that's kind of a good place to go there. I think in terms of the opposition to this, and I mentioned this yesterday as well, that there are Republicans, elected officials like the Todd Youngs of the world who are concerned about a prolonged conflict. And a lot of this just has to do, I think, with the timeline. If it's a short surgical type strike, like what we have seen from President Trump before, that is one thing. And that's, you know, maybe a few weeks. But if this is something getting into the months, certainly heading into election time for a lot of people, they are not going to be supportive of this. So this is the first step that we had one vote on this. I imagine this will continue to come up as time progresses, but that's where I think it is. I don't think anyone disagrees with the idea that you should try to take out the Iranian government in this form. The question is, what comes after and how long do people have the stomach to be doing this?

[Kennedy]

My question for someone like Elizabeth Warren, who seems a little unsophisticated and subjective when she makes these comments, she's starting to sound like Adam Schiff, you know? You know, she goes into a classified briefing and then comes out and goes, it is so much worse than anything you can imagine. Is she just fear mongering or trying to raise money?

[Jesse Waters]

They all go to these briefings. I had Cruz on last night, he's in the briefing with the Democrats. He's, they're getting briefed by the CIA, the Pentagon and the State Department. And he says all the Democrats in the briefing room are yelling at the briefers, screaming at them, attacking them. And they're just trying to explain what's going on. And then they run out of the briefing room and they say, forever war. No plan, illegal war. It's just a slogan. You know, we are five days in and the Democrats and Jessica are like kids in the back of a car ride. Are we there yet?

[Greg Gutfeld]

Are we there yet? Are we there yet?

[Jesse Waters]

Listen, I don't want it to be a long car ride either, Jessica, but we just pulled out of the driveway.

[Jessica Tarloff]

Okay, I have to pee.

[Jesse Waters]

My God. Around and then to blame the Jews. Okay? Trump has been dialed in on Iran since the first term. Yes, it helps the Israelis in the region. It helps us even more globally. China was using this country and Venezuela as a forward operating base, sucking up all the cheap oil and throwing missiles and migrants at us. And if we can Take control of this situation. We control the Strait of Hormuz, straight of Gibraltar, Suez, Malacca Straits, Panama Canal, every single global choke point in the entire world. If China tries anything, we turn it off. And they can't bring anything into their country by sea. The Democrats have been briefed on this and they still run to the cameras and scream about nothing. There is legitimate criticisms. You could say Trump is focused overseas, not here. You could say he's going to drive up the price of oil. That's fine. We can have that debate. The price of oil still lower now than it was for four years under Joe Biden. Trump's track record in foreign policy has been exquisite. He has learned a lot from Iraq, and everything he's done has been common sense and surgical. So give the guy a chance. If there's a refugee crisis, if oil goes over $100, fine, you guys can trash him. I'll say things, too, but now is not the time.

[Kennedy]

All right, so what is the time now for this administration? How should they be combating the messaging from particularly Democrat senators and also mainstream media who are looking for any cracks in this encouragement?

[Dana Perino]

I consume a lot of media and I know there are some bad actors in the media, but overall, I have to say I feel like there's a. There's a ton of coverage. I don't think it's all negative across the board. Some of it, yes. I mean, like, the first question being, when is it going to be over? Like when the car ride is going to be over. But overall, I don't think think it is that bad. I think they're doing a. And I think that's partly because the president himself is willing to talk a lot. So you don't have to guess. What is he thinking? He will tell you. Just call him and he'll pick up the phone maybe, and he'll be able to tell you, Marco Rubio has been very good. General Kaine, very good. Secretary of War Pete Hegseth. They're doing regular briefings now. Caroline Levitt is out there. So. And centcom's briefings have been amazing. So I think that getting, if you're in the administration and you're getting really hung up, what, what you think the enemy in the mainstream media is saying about you, you're focusing way too narrowly. I don't think the coverage of it is that bad at all. And I think that shows in the polling even because initially it's 50. 50, okay. But now that was because there was an element of surprise. Let them explain it. Let them let's see how it goes. And what the President said also is, I'm not worried about the, I'm not

[Jessica Tarloff]

worried about the polling.

[Dana Perino]

He's going to do what's right. What bothers me a lot about what Gavin Newsom said is. And then who is the other person that said the same thing? They're all running for president in 2028. What did we find out last week? There was the report that came out that said that Kamala Harris was most hurt with Democrats on the issue of Gaza. So you can, can you be pro Jewish people? Can you be pro Israeli and win in the Democratic Party? Maybe Gavin Newsom is making that calculation. I don't know. He was on with the Pod Save America guys. Next week when he's on with Ben Shapiro, I'm sure he'll say something different. The last thing I would point out is that Hakeem Jeffries got off very easy. He said this week that the troops were going to fail. That is like absolutely disqualifying behavior. In the olden days of like three years ago, if you had said that and he just gets to walk off scot free. I mean, to me, the media, if you want to focus on somebody who said the wrong thing, I would be focusing on him.

[Kennedy]

Well, Greg, to Jessica's point, she said that there's a litmus test for frontrunners for the 2028 Democrat presidential nomination. And that is, you know, how do you defend Palestinians? But a lot of these people certainly haven't been defending subjugated Iranian women.

[Greg Gutfeld]

Well, it's. The trend continues. They pick the wrong side every time. Democrats act like the plight of Kilmar Obrego Garc was worse than women being trafficked, raped and murdered. They spent more time on that. They spent more time on the freedom of speech of illegal radicals on campus than they did on October 7th. They felt that men in dresses had priority over the kids they wanted to teach. This is their zombie mode. You know, they put polling before people and they think their polling is based on the loudest voices. They forgot October 7th. That's why you have the plight of the Palestinians, which is a media generated story. They forgot the tens of thousands, thousands of Iranians that have been killed in the last month. They always choose the bad guy because Trump sides with the good. I just want to destroy this world powers act once and for all. You know, I'm not going to notify my wife ahead of time that I'm going to eat at McDonald's because she's going to say no, and I'm going to eat there anyway, so why notify? The War Powers act is just a wife that wants to register a complaint. You just don't do it. You say you left a message. It's stupid. We knew it was going to fail. Trump built a bank of trust, so now it's the time to rely on it. Probably the most peaceful president in this first term that we've ever seen. And yet what's he do? Venezuela tariffs, border crime. Trance, he's decisive. He tells you what he's gonna do. I think he's earned our goodwill. And even though we're in the fog of, quote, war, I kind of trust that he put a lot of research before he looks decisive. People go, oh, my God, he's so extreme. He's so extreme. No, he does it when he knows there's a high reward. He also does things when he sees free money on the table. And that's why, when he does something, I'm wondering, what am I missing? Like Venezuela and what it's doing to Cuba right now. I didn't see that one coming. I think we're still responding to Trump as if he's part of the old system. It's like you drove into a gas station in an electric car and you're trying to fill up a gas tank and you don't know where the gas cap is. You know, people think he's acting rashly. No, he's assessing payoff versus risk. Don't get in so you don't have to get out is probably his number one priority. Not only is the status quo not used to this, I think they're embarrassed by it because it's forced everybody to ask themselves, is it really easier than we thought? Like, you went into Venezuela, and now the President is in a Brooklyn jail, and that's never been done. And yet we kept dealing with, like, all these stupid little half measures and mini measures with Iran, with Venezuela.

[Jesse Waters]

Oh, let's.

[Greg Gutfeld]

Let's do this. Let's do an embargo, let's do this. And the guy says, no, I'm tired of this escalation. Let's just flatten it. And then I don't have to go in there, but anything is better than that. I think this is different than Iraq. I think this is different than Afghanistan. But we have to watch. The fact is, we've had way more war, like presidents, and we never questioned why they didn't go to war in certain situations. Did we? Did we go? Why didn't he go? So now we have the most peaceful president. And we're questioning why he's doing this. I think that we can question, but we can also be patient. He never picks a path that he cannot reverse or adjust. You can't bring a mullah back to life, but they're trying so.

[Kennedy]

Well, that's going to be a long process.

[Greg Gutfeld]

Yes.

[Kennedy]

Coming up next, our beloved Jazzy has fallen, and now Crockett is crying foul. Stay with us.

[Jessica Tarloff]

Blizzard Entertainment presents the newest expansion for World of Warcraft. Midnight calls. Every hero home to Azeroth. All paths lead to this moment. Xal' Atath arises, the void follows, and the sunwell stands in peril. Raiders, explorers, storytellers, newcomers and legends alike. This is your world, your story, your moment. Because Azeroth is home. And home is always worth fighting for.

[Greg Gutfeld]

Available [e-mail].

[Jesse Waters]

Are the Democrats racist? A white guy just beat a black woman in the Texas Democratic Senate primary. Jazzy Crockett conceding the race against James Talarico just this morning. But last night she was crashing out, claiming foul play and accusing Republicans of cheating.

[Dana Perino]

So long as they know that they

[Kennedy]

can win even if it means cheating,

[Jessica Tarloff]

then they will continue to do it. This is what Republicans like to do. And so they specifically targeted Dallas county, and I think we all know why.

[Jesse Waters]

So. So there was a. There was a Democrat primary in Dallas which the Democrats control and the Republicans stole the election.

[Greg Gutfeld]

Yeah, got it.

[Dana Perino]

That's what she's trying to claim. Look, if the Republicans were cheating in this Democratic primary and somehow she would have won because they wanted to run against her. What happened is that James Talarico ran against her. He won decisively as well. And now there are some Democrats in Texas who now think they will have the Republicans on the run, that they have a chance to. To turn this Republican Senate seat blue. I'm skeptical of that, but there are some Republicans in Texas that are concerned as well. Regardless, it's going to be a very expensive race and it shouldn't have to be. But I want to say a couple things about Talarico.

[Greg Gutfeld]

He.

[Dana Perino]

Somebody said that he's like a better version of Beto o'.

[Kennedy]

Rourke.

[Greg Gutfeld]

Maybe.

[Dana Perino]

But Beto o' Rourke lost decisively a couple of times. Here's a couple of things that he's said. He's approachable. He talks about faith in a way that a lot of people can find interesting and attractive. But he also has said a few things like this. I call it far left buzzword bingo. Ready? He has said, our trans community needs abortion Care. God is non binary. Jesus was a radical feminist using the Bible to justify his abortion position. He also called to disband ice, and he fought to allow men and women sports. And he's running in Texas.

[Jesse Waters]

Oh, man. He's like the white Crockett. Greg, you've been covering this very closely.

[Greg Gutfeld]

Very closely. Jesse. I was down in Texas. That's why I wasn't on the five yesterday or the day before. Just covering, you know, did you know, interesting fact. Did you know this, that Ms. Crockett is 44 years old?

[Kennedy]

What?

[Greg Gutfeld]

Yeah. I thought that she was, like, in her early 30s because she's so stupid. I made me think, like, what has she been doing for 44 years? She's been actively avoiding wisdom, which is harder than learning. Think about that. Like, it's like, you can't help being on the planet learning some things. But she's like, none of that stuff. Don't need any of that. I mean, you really work out like that, you know, I do think she has a future because she's very chatty and she's very attractive. And I do see her perhaps, like, either rotating on the View or something cerebral like Love island would be nice. I am very surprised that God is non binary. And I'm even more surprised that trans need abortions, because the trans. I see. Who's gonna sleep with them? Seriously?

[Jesse Waters]

I don't know, Kenny. I always thought God was straight. Called me old fashioned. What do you think?

[Greg Gutfeld]

What do you think you can be straight and non binary?

[Jesse Waters]

I don't even know what non binary means.

[Kennedy]

James Calarico is a Presbyterian seminarian. So this is a person who has dedicated himself to learning the word of God and disseminating that, yet somehow he tries to speak for God and ends up stepping on his own parts, which might be his great undoing in this race.

[Dana Perino]

But impressive.

[Kennedy]

Impressive that he beat such a blowhard who competed for national attention like Jasmine Crockett. You know, she is no different than Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib and aoc. I would also throw Marjorie Taylor Greene and Lauren Boebert into that mix. These people are all fantastic attack dogs and the House, but once they stray into the adult yard, they get neutered very quickly.

[Greg Gutfeld]

Indoor dogs or outdoor dogs?

[Jesse Waters]

Jessica, is this the time? Is this the race that the Democrats are going to finally take the Senate in Texas?

[Jessica Tarloff]

I'm not sure, but we're looking forward to making you pay for it. Is your nominee. It's going to cost you a lot. President Trump was being pressured to endorse. He put out a very strange statement, as is his usual mode, saying that he may endorse and then he wants the other person to just drop out. If he endorses Cornyn, which is why Leader Thune wants him to do I don't know if Ken Paxton just falls in line, he's a bit of a wild card. You know, great story of corruption and philandering. All the thing that really resonates with conservative Texans. I okay, Jasmine Crockett, what happened at those Dallas polling stations? So basically the GOP did change the rules about where you go to vote a few weeks ago. And so a number of people were turned away, told that they weren't at the right polling station. So a state court judge ruled that there were going to be two extra hours of voting, which James Talarico supported as well. And then the Supreme Court in Texas came in and overruled that. So that's what happened there. She wasn't being a crybaby or anything like that. She was saying, oh, the the state court judge who actually knows what's going on might know what's going on. You want to laugh and you want to minimize and, you know, demonize James Talarico. The turnout for Democrats across the country last night should worry Republicans. North Carolina, look at Arkansas where they flipped. It's a 27th straight flip in the Trump 2.0 era and Arkansas State House seat. We had Obama era turnout. Latino voters are back with a vengeance on our side, young voters are back and the gerrymandering in Texas, this is a lesson to you turned into a dummy mander. So now we're looking at a situation after what Gavin Newsom did with Prop 50 and the extra seats that are going to pop up across the country because Democrats know that Republicans will do anything to take these seats and you're looking at a net advantage to the Democratic side. So don't minimize it and don't minimize James Talarico, who brought a lot of Republicans and independents into his coalition until

[Greg Gutfeld]

they find out that he is for trans abortions. You're going to walk into the same trap every time until you guys put on your adult pants and disavow the stupid woke crap. He's going to go down. Every single woke thing is Texas trans abortions.

[Jessica Tarloff]

I I will just revel in you spending $180 million to beat James Talarico

[Greg Gutfeld]

then, if that's how you get your fun. Jessica well, I mean, I'll be home reading a fine book.

[Jessica Tarloff]

You won't. You're going to be sitting here yelling trans at me. Trans at me.

[Jesse Waters]

That was funny.

[Greg Gutfeld]

You pull it off.

[Jesse Waters]

Oh boy. Don't know she's going to keep her clothes on, Greg. Up next, the tampon. Tim. Fraud hearings kick off in Congress.

[Dana Perino]

And the fireworks flying on Capitol Hill as Minnesota Governor Tim Walls and state Attorney General Keith Ellison tried to answer for an up to $9 billion Medicaid fraud scandal rocking their state.

[Jesse Waters]

When fraud concerns were raised early in your tenure in the child care assistance program, did your administration stop payments at that time? The child care assistance program? And the answer is, is no. When fraud concerns were raised. Would you like me to answer or not? Well, it's y. I want you to help. You've already answered the question. You said you didn't ever stop payments and that's what the problem is. And that's what the Democrats are complaining about. Oh my gosh. Trump stopped payments. Well, my God, you lost billions to fraud in Minnesota, Greg.

[Dana Perino]

I was yelling at the tv.

[Greg Gutfeld]

Well, the thing is, this is a huge, huge issue. Let them hang themselves. We don't need a sermon about the facts. We need them to address the facts in order to get them on the record for what they did. But if you keep cutting them off and you don't, you're gonna make them look like the victims. These guys are crooks. Billions and billions of dollars and you're just sitting there like looking for a shining moment of in the spotlight. I don't like it, Kennedy.

[Kennedy]

Oh gosh, we know it's fraud, but to stop it would be absolutely racist. And you know, that's what the investigation has found, that's what it will continue to find. This is happening in a number of SC states. This is only the tip of the iceberg. And Tim Walls looks like a placid marshmallow.

[Dana Perino]

Jesse, where do you think this will go?

[Jesse Waters]

Where will it go? Well, he's under investigation by the federal government, so that's going to be offensive. And I think he's just going to have to live a very poor, discredited life in the cold state of Minnesota and go down in political history kind of as a joke, kind of as a joke. A little bit of a sideshow, but emblematic of the Democratic Party that he's aware they're stealing from him. Everybody's saying they're stealing the money and he keeps letting it get stolen cuz he doesn't want to look racist.

[Dana Perino]

Right.

[Jesse Waters]

That's the problem here.

[Dana Perino]

Jessica.

[Jessica Tarloff]

I think though, if you watched this hearing, you wouldn't have gotten even some of the narratives that have been like in the New York Times about what went on because there was so much grandstanding and over talking and Walls had snappy comebacks to certain people. I mean, Nancy Mace, after her peak Hillary Clinton performance, then shows up here with the what is a woman? Question, which is a complete waste of time. And then Colmer went after him about Medicaid fraud numbers and he returned saying, do you know that you have more Medicaid fraud in your state than I do in mine? Which I guess Colmer hadn't looked up before he got there. There was.

[Jesse Waters]

Yeah, but Colmer wasn't allowing it.

[Jessica Tarloff]

Well, I don't know. He's in elected office.

[Jesse Waters]

He's not the governor.

[Jessica Tarloff]

I'm just saying that it didn't land the way that people thought it would. And I would add as well that Kristi Noem was testifying again today with the House. She was at the Senate yesterday, brutal in both. Senator Kennedy did a fantastic job. And Jonah Goose today talking about how much money the administration is wasting on contracts for friends and her 20 $220 million ad campaign. People are paying attention to that, too. So I don't think Tim Walls came off that badly.

[Dana Perino]

Well, I guess it's all relative. All right, coming up next, thousands of Kurds launching a ground offensive into Iran. We're going to have a live report next.

[Jessica Tarloff]

FOX News alert. A U.S. official says thousands of Kurds have crossed the border from Iraq, launching a ground offensive in Iran. Senior foreign affairs correspondent Greg Palkot is live in Turkey. Greg,

[Greg Gutfeld]

as the fighting goes on to try and bring down the current regime in Iran, folks, US And Israeli agents are looking for ways to bring a semblance of new order or disorder back to the country. There are reports Iranian Kurdish figures both in the Kurdish area of Iran and based in Iraq are being reached out to by the US And Iran is getting wind of it, striking military installations of the militias inside Iraq and also hitting around the air base in Erbil in Iraq, which is home for allies of the Kurds. The US Military, the CIA, US Diplomats, the US And Israel are doing their best to knock out any semblance of security infrastructure from the old regime. Police stations and paramilitary bases are being struck. And while the Kurds are only the majority in one small portion of Iran, if they were better armed and would act up, that would be one more distraction for the tottering regime to deal with. Watch the space. Back to you guys.

[Jessica Tarloff]

Greg, thank you so much. And one more thing is up next.

[Greg Gutfeld]

Time now for one More thing. Jesse.

[Jesse Waters]

Legendary college football coach Lou Holtz has died. He led Notre Dame to its last national championship in 88. Spent 11 years coaching the fighting Irish. And all 33 years coaching six different schools. 249 wins, 12 ballgame wins. Also coached the jets in 76. He got the medal of freedom in 2020 from trump. He was 89 years old. God bless him tonight. John fetterman on primetime.

[Greg Gutfeld]

All right, I'm up tonight. Oh, we got a barn burner. Brian Kilmeade, Joe DeVito, Cat Timp Tyrus. That's tonight. Hey, let's do this Lonely giraffe news. Let's go to the lonely giraffe. This is Butters, Butters the giraffe playing tetherball by himself. Do you know that zoos use tethered balls to engage and physically stimulate giraffes, Dana? They prefer the companionship and they like to congregate in large groups. Only older male giraffes prefer to be alone.

[Dana Perino]

Did not know that about tethered balls.

[Greg Gutfeld]

Yes, tetherballs, my nickname in college, by

[Dana Perino]

the way, Dana, I can't wait to hear about that a little bit later. I wanted to show you this. I thought it was great. So unfortunately, there's been a lot of people having a shelter in place. This is in Israel. Yesterday. A bunch of young people had to shelter, but they were playing I will Survive dressing up as Maduro. They're having a great time down there celebrating Purim, which is a holiday during the conflict with Iran. They have found a way to have some joy and wish them the best.

[Greg Gutfeld]

And to balance out the joy, let's go to some sorrow with Jessica.

[Jessica Tarloff]

My my next year.

[Jesse Waters]

You go girl. All right.

[Jessica Tarloff]

We have got Paulette. She's 82 years old. She's a crossing guard from New Jersey they affectionately call the queen of the crosswalk. She's a Holocaust survivor who came here from France in 1948 and now she's gone viral for keeping the kids safe in style. Rain or shine, bold, joyful outfits brighten up her community. Paul at you go, girl.

[Greg Gutfeld]

I love Go girl.

[Dana Perino]

Paulette.

[Greg Gutfeld]

All right, Kennedy.

[Kennedy]

I will be wearing that at Cap City Comedy Club in Austin this weekend. It's going to be a phenomenal set of shows. And a pair of heavy manatees were saved in Florida on a river with the help of drones and some very brave souls who took them to SeaWorld where they're receiving antibiotics and fluids. They are safe and sound.

[Greg Gutfeld]

Fantastic. They'll be on the View shortly. That's it. For us. Have a Great listen to the 5 ad free on Amazon Music with your prime membership or subscribe wherever you get your podcasts.