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Bill O'Reilly
I think he's got to take out some kinds of bases or trains or infrastructure that could harm the Persian people. I see it from a historical lens. So the only reason the Japanese surrendered was Hiroshima, Nagasaki in a firebombing at Tokyo. Then they, they weren't going to surrender. So that would have been hundreds of thousands of more casualties there. So I think the president does rely on history a bit. And if he's got to use US Military power to damage the country and believes that there will be a payoff to that, a positive payoff, then that's what he'll do. FOREIGN.
Dave Rubin
I'm Dave Rubin, and joining me tonight is one of the last guys Making Sense and host of the no spin news, Bill O'Reilly. Bill, good to see you, Dave.
Bill O'Reilly
Thanks for having me in.
Dave Rubin
Bill, I've played a lot of clips of you over the last couple weeks because I think you've been a very fair arbiter about what's going on with this war, about what the intentions have been about that we don't always know all of the pieces before Trump does things. I think you've analyzed his tweets well, et cetera, et cetera. We are taping this now. It is 3:50pm on Tuesday, April 7th. We're going to air this at 7:15. Supposedly at 8pm Something is going to happen. Where are you at with all of this at the moment?
Bill O'Reilly
You know, it's a guess, but I think there is a chance that there'll be an extension because I know talks are going on through Pakistan and I don't believe that Donald Trump wants to kill civilians. In fact, I know that because about four weeks ago, Dave, I had an extensive conversation on the phone with the president about the whole situation and how to bring it into the realm of reality without massive destruction. And he was absolutely convinced that he could get a deal from the mullahs, and that's what he wanted. Didn't want to use heavy military action, so I can report that as fact. And then he and I went over what a deal might comprise. The main component, obviously, is the mos would have to allow weapons inspectors in to monitor their uranium situation. The fact that they won't do that should tell everybody in the world of their ill intent. Why wouldn't you do that? If the whole thing would stop and then you could rebuild your country and all you have to do is say, no, we're going to give up our nuclear arsenal, why wouldn't you do it?
Dave Rubin
Right? And why wouldn't you even just lie about it right now if you're facing eminent destruction?
Bill O'Reilly
But they can't really do that because they'd have to sign something and then we would go out. And the mullahs are very interested in saving fakes, particularly to the Muslim world. They're Shia and they don't want to send any weakness. But the. What people don't understand is they don't care about their own people. And that is the problem with the negotiation.
Dave Rubin
Right.
Bill O'Reilly
It's almost like Putin. Think Putin cares about how many Russians are killed in Ukraine. He doesn't. He doesn't care about Ukrainians at all. But Putin cares about his own life. These crazy mullahs, they. They think they're going to have it or something, whatever. They. Some of them don't even care about their own life. Very difficult, difficult negotiation.
Dave Rubin
When you saw Trump's tweet on Easter and it had the F bomb and then the subsequent tweet where it seemed that everybody was hung up on the word civilizational, what do you make of the rhetoric? I'm, you know, 10 years into this thing. I just think he is what he is. He likes to surprise people. He uses colorful language. I don't read into it too much other than it's exactly what art of the deal is, which is you say some crazy things and see what happens. But I see a lot of people, even on the right, freaking out over some of the rhetoric right now.
Bill O'Reilly
I wouldn't have put that out. And I don't really know why the president thought it was necessary to be that bombastic. I haven't talked to him about it, but I think it's small ball. Dave. I don't think it matters. What really matters is whether the mullahs are going to draw back from their insistence that they have a weapon that could destroy half the globe. That's really what it's all about. So forgive me if I don't pay close attention to the F bomb or whatever. I'm paying close attention to the real bombs.
Dave Rubin
Yeah, no, no, no. I'm completely with you on that. So it does sound like. And again, we're taping this just a couple hours before 8pm that suddenly some talks restarted involving Pakistan. If Iran walks in these last few hours or if whatever they respond with is not what Trump is interested in, what do you think he would do? I mean, what do you. I know you don't want to be in the prediction game. Nobody does right now, but I mean, is there much more damage do to their infrastructure without harming the people of Iran, who. I'm completely in agreement with you. He does not want to harm the people of Iran. It's about the regime.
Bill O'Reilly
I think he's got to take out some kinds of bases or trains or infrastructure that could harm the Persian people. I see it from a historical lens. So the only reason the Japanese surrendered was Hiroshima and Nagasaki in a firebombing at Tokyo. They weren't going to surrender. That would have been hundreds of thousands of more casualties there. So I think the president does rely on history a bit. And if he's got to use US Military power to damage the country and believes that there will be a payoff to that, a positive payoff, then that's what he'll do.
Dave Rubin
What do you make of the set of people on the right that are more from the isolationist wing? Or now what. What Tucker seems to be part of that. No matter what Trump does here, they're going to try to take him out or go after him or not be happy, etc. Etc.
Bill O'Reilly
I'm putting it like, sure, if Trump pulls back, then he's a loser. He lost the Iranian conflict. If he doesn't, then he's a war criminal. So you got him in a vise. And that was devised by the think tanks in D.C. that work with the Democratic Party. We're going to put him in this situation where he can't win. Okay? Whatever he does is going to be bad. And so that's in play. As far as the people who make a living on social media day, that's your world more than mine.
Dave Rubin
Don't mock me on my own show, Bill.
Bill O'Reilly
No, no, I'm not. But I'm saying there's always a financial component involved with this.
Dave Rubin
Yeah, yeah.
Bill O'Reilly
And attention getting is definitely necessary. If you're going to live in social media, you got to get attention. So I don't really analyze what these people do or say unless I feel it's harming the American people. I think at this point, the folks know who these people are. If they want to listen to them, fine. No problem with me.
Dave Rubin
What do you think Trump could walk away with right now that would be a full win for America?
Bill O'Reilly
Well, it's the nuke thing. I mean, that's everything. So it's a domino. Once the mullahs say, okay, you can have the weapons inspectors come in on a regular basis. We're not going to enrich uranium to weapons grade, then what happens is the Strait of Hormuz opens, all the oil comes in. And remember, China gets 80% of its oil from Iran, and China is a major player in this. Okay? So that happens. And then knowing Trump, part of the deal would be, okay, we'll help you put back Humpty Dumpty, okay? And we'll help you in the. In the economic range if you don't misbehave. So that's the carrot. Now, it's tough to help terrorists, so he's got to walk that line in a very, very methodical way. Remember, the Iranian government is really on. If you look at everybody on the planet, they're the worst. They're the worst. They kill more people, finance more terrorism, do more things to make instability in the Middle East a reality than anybody does. They're worse than Putin. They're worse than the Chinese. They're horrible. So to deal with them, you know, in a constructive way, it would take the nukes.
Dave Rubin
Do you have a sense of who even we are negotiating with right now? Meaning, you know, we took out the top layer.
Bill O'Reilly
Yeah.
Dave Rubin
It doesn't matter. You don't think.
Bill O'Reilly
No.
Dave Rubin
As long as it's someone that has some authority, basically, it doesn't even look.
Bill O'Reilly
It's a theocracy, Dave, Okay? That means whoever bows the lowest to Allah could be the guy that is sending the messages. What they usually do in these countries is they all sit around, okay, and then they go, yeah, you know, and then maybe five or six of them, maybe more, and they come to some kind of consensus what Allah wants or whatever, and then they put it out. There's no real central person like Putin or Xi or Trump. They don't govern that way. Even Ayatollah Khomeini, and he is on the COVID of my book Confronting Evil, because that man was so evil, and the Shah was evil, too. They replaced One evil with another. He was utterly dependent on the Revolutionary Guard for his power and he better not get on the wrong side of those guys. So it's usually a consensus and there's theocrats all over the place in Iran, no shortage of them.
Dave Rubin
What do you make of the fact that so many of our allies in Europe, particularly Western Europe, seem to be unwilling to confront evil? I mean, even if you look at some of the plane routes we've had to use to rescue our guys over the last couple days, you know, you couldn't, we couldn't go over Spain, for example. That confronting evil seems very low on the list that these countries are concerned with right now.
Bill O'Reilly
And that's a problem with not only Europe and NATO, but with the Democratic Party as well in the United States. Democrats never would have done this in a million years. Never. I mean Obama tried to bribe them. Yeah, okay. Didn't work. Biden didn't even know where Iran was. Okay. And I, I say that literally. He was so detached from reality those four years that you couldn't have possibly gotten any kind of trenchant analysis from him. Couldn't. He was in incapacitated. But the Democratic Party their the same as Spain. Okay. If they could, they would cripple the US military activity. They don't seem to care whether the mullahs have a nuclear weapon capacity, do they? That's my question to everybody who dissents. Are you okay with the mullahs having this nuke? I mean that would be my first question of Pope Leo and I'm a real loyal Catholic and I'm not being disrespectful. I'm a simple man, Dave, you know that. My question is, are you okay with it?
Dave Rubin
What do you think his answer would be? I saw the statement. I mean, what do you think his answer would be?
Bill O'Reilly
There's never an answer. Cuz I have posed that question on and off the air. There's never an answer. It it's a pivot back to, well, Trump said this. There's no mission. We don't know what he's doing. It's all about him. So when you ask the fundamental question about theocracy having nuclear capacity to kill people, they don't want to answer that. They go right back to Trump's the devil you know. That's the deflection. Because they can't answer it. They can't. Who's going to say, yeah, I want Iran to have a nuke? No one. But when you sit it out as NATO has done, then you're Making a statement, we're okay with it because we're not going to do anything about it. We're not even going to help the people who are heavy lifting, the Israelis and Americans. We're not even going to help them. So that's a statement in itself.
Dave Rubin
So. So one way or another, regardless of what happens tonight or tomorrow, do you think this is the end of the sort of post World War II order of things in that America has realized, at least under this administration, that NATO will not be a help anymore. That we really, we have allies who, you know, as long as we give them money and protection, they'll basically be quiet. But when we need them, they don't do much. That, that seems to be unraveling. We are seeing new alliances in the Middle east now that Iran has attacked about 13 of its neighbors. They're kind of realizing Israel is not the enemy. Do you, do you sense we're going to see a whole shift on what that looks like over the next couple years?
Bill O'Reilly
There will be a shift in the geopolitical world. But tomorrow the head of NATO is going to visit Trump in Washington at his request, not Trump's. So he's coming in and he's going to bring something. Now, Spain, forget it. I mean, Spain's a socialist country bordering on communism. They are anti American. They shouldn't even be in NATO. And you could boot them out easy because they don't pay their dues, their full share. So you should. Why are we having these people? Why do we need them? We don't need them. All right? They're, as you pointed out, they won't even let our military planes refuel on their soil. I mean, that's a total violation of what NATO is, an alliance.
Dave Rubin
As Trump said, we could do it, they can't stop us. But he didn't want to throw it in their face.
Bill O'Reilly
Yeah, but that doesn't matter, right? I mean, the fact that they are doing it or want to do it is enough for them to be expelled, in my opinion. The rest of them are very weak. And the reason is this mass migration that have come into Britain and France and Germany. And basically the politicians fear that these people will commit acts of terrorism. Number one, they fear terrorism. And number two, there are a lot of them. And, and so you have a whole different dynamic than you had after World War II when you didn't have this mass migration, Right, of Islamic people into Europe. And Europe can't assimilate them because they don't want to be assimilated. They live separately and it's a real problem. So. But I don't expect the NATO alliance to evaporate. That would harm the United States. We still need, all right, accessibility to bases and things like that over there, particularly with Putin. He's got his eye on the Baltic states, Moldova. I mean, this guy, he's the big winner, by the way, in the Iranian situation. Putin's the big winner.
Dave Rubin
What do you think Trump needs outside of, you know, some, some quote, unquote win here as it involves Iran? What else do you think Trump needs to happen before the midterms? Because if they don't go the Republican way, I think you would agree with me, but I don't want to put words in your mouth. In essence, his presidency will be over. They'll impeach him. The Republicans will start jumping ship. It'll, it'll be a free for all. So what, what does he need to happen so that he still gets those two years?
Bill O'Reilly
Well, he's got a snap back on all of the prices have to start to drop significantly. And I think particularly oil will, because there is a glut of oil in the world market. And, but he needs that to happen fast so that people can say we won. And look at this, it's back down and he's got a little bit of more complicated problem with the food. But he's got to address that. He's got to address the insurance craziness. So all of his energy after this is over, all of it has got to be in getting the prices under control. But if he gets a win in Iran, that will help him dramatically. If he doesn't, then he's going to be a lame duck. But remember, he's got the executive order power and he'll use it like crazy.
Dave Rubin
I mean, do you think he would just be unhinged with executive orders at that point? Like, why not? Right.
Bill O'Reilly
Yeah. I mean, I mean, they all do hinge, but certainly the executive order will be how Trump governs the last two years.
Dave Rubin
If he loses the midterms, how are you finding navigating? I've asked you a version of this a couple times, but going from mainstream to the online world, navigating between the new voices, the older voices, the journalistic rules that existed in the old world versus the free fall or the open ended world that we're in right now and doing what you've always done.
Bill O'Reilly
Well, we had an interview with Steve Kroft last week. Did you catch that?
Dave Rubin
I don't think so, but I told you we're playing a Ton of your
Bill O'Reilly
clips these days, man, that would be very instructive for you to watch. So that was on we'll do it live last week. And Croft is like me, he's an old time journalist who came up under the rule of view, report honestly and you put aside your ideology when you're doing hard news. Now I've been a commentator since 1996, so that was a long time. But before then I was a hard news reporter as Kroff was. And we had a very interesting conversation about what happened at CBS because he was worked for 60 Minutes for 30 years. And they just let the ideology overwhelm the hard news operation. So what we've decided to do here is that we have the no spin news, which is a daily television presentation, goes out on YouTube, goes out everywhere, where I give you my take on what's happening and I back it up with facts. It's a fact based but opinionated broadcast. And then with the long form, we do one a week and I didn't want to do it, but the younger people on my staff demanded it and it's working out great. We can get into a lot of things like you do that you couldn't do in two or three minute sound bites. So we have, I think, maximized our potential in the new journalistic order that really combines social media with, you know, we're on linear. I mean, we're on DirecTV, we're on all of these outlets. People all over the world watch us. So we just don't work for a corporation. Okay. So I don't. I'm the corporation. I run three. And we don't have that hanging over our head. And corporate America that runs the media companies is an absolute disarray. And I know all these people, I know what they have to go through every day. And you don't want to be there. I don't want to be there. And the kicker is I'm making just about as much money now as I did when I was working at Fox.
Dave Rubin
Oh, damn.
Bill O'Reilly
Because we're doing.
Dave Rubin
You're doing okay. Because I think I know what you were making at Fox.
Bill O'Reilly
Yeah, we're doing very well. Because there's a hunger.
Dave Rubin
Yeah.
Bill O'Reilly
For a direct presentation, even if you disagree with me. And I have no problem with that. Okay. You know, I'm coming at it from a historical slash journalistic point of view.
Dave Rubin
Bill, my last question is this, although my parents enjoy seeing you at the beach in Long island every now and again in the summer, when will the operation move to the free State of Florida. You can't stay there much longer. Come on.
Bill O'Reilly
Well, Hannity's on me all the time.
Dave Rubin
He's happy. He's happy, man. You see what he's doing down here?
Bill O'Reilly
And look, I worked in Florida twice. I was a high school teacher for two years there in Miami and then I worked. That was my base when I covered the wars in Central and South America. So I know Florida very, very well. But as you know, I mean, I have obligations here, you know, familial obligations. And there's a big apparatus. It's just like I can't just throw the stuff in the station wagon and head south. So if they start seizing my property, which is next, that's coming. But it's unconstitutional. If the New York authorities start to seize what I have, what I built, then I gotta go.
Dave Rubin
Well, as Mamdani said today, he's just going to ask people like you for a little bit more and he's going
Bill O'Reilly
to get no from people like me. He's going to get, you're a communist. You waste money. You shouldn't even be there. I'm not even going to buy you an ice cream cone.
Dave Rubin
And he doesn't deserve an ice cream cone.
Bill O'Reilly
Bill.
Dave Rubin
The first TV show I was ever on, a lifetime ago. It's always a pleasure, my friend.
Bill O'Reilly
Thanks for having me in, Dave. Appreciate it.
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Title: I Spoke to Trump & His Final Plan for Iran Will Shock Everyone | Bill O'Reilly
Date: April 8, 2026
Host: Dave Rubin
Guest: Bill O'Reilly
In this timely and high-stakes episode, Dave Rubin sits down with veteran journalist and commentator Bill O’Reilly to discuss the escalating conflict between the U.S. and Iran, President Trump’s strategy, and the uncertain global aftermath. O’Reilly reveals exclusive insights from his recent conversation with Trump, shedding light on the administration’s intentions, negotiation efforts, and what a "win" for America would look like in this crisis. The discussion expands to media changes, European reluctance, and the shifting post-WWII order, while maintaining a candid, direct tone between two seasoned commentators.
(Timestamps: 00:53 – 04:44, 07:05 – 08:21)
O’Reilly recounts a private call with President Trump who stressed his intent to avoid civilian casualties and seek a diplomatic end:
“He was absolutely convinced that he could get a deal from the mullahs, and that's what he wanted. Didn't want to use heavy military action.” (03:03, Bill O'Reilly)
Main requirement for peace: Iranian government must accept weapons inspectors and stop uranium enrichment.
O’Reilly draws historical parallels (e.g., Japan in WWII) to explain why force might be used:
“The only reason the Japanese surrendered was Hiroshima, Nagasaki... So I think the president does rely on history a bit.” (07:11, Bill O'Reilly)
Skepticism about Iranian leadership’s care for its own people, complicating negotiations:
“What people don't understand is they don't care about their own people. And that is the problem with the negotiation.” (04:18, Bill O'Reilly)
(Timestamps: 05:12 – 06:28, 08:05 – 09:45)
Rubin notes the controversial nature of Trump’s tweets (including profanity) and how the president uses unpredictable rhetoric as leverage.
O’Reilly dismisses the rhetorical focus as unimportant:
“Forgive me if I don't pay close attention to the F bomb or whatever. I'm paying close attention to the real bombs.” (05:56, Bill O'Reilly)
Discussion on the media and political right’s contrasting reactions—critics will attack Trump whether he’s hawkish or dovish:
“If Trump pulls back, then he's a loser... If he doesn't, then he's a war criminal. So you got him in a vise. And that was devised by the think tanks in D.C." (08:21, Bill O'Reilly)
(Timestamps: 09:45 – 11:33)
“They're the worst. They kill more people, finance more terrorism... than anybody does. They're worse than Putin. They're worse than the Chinese. They're horrible. So... it would take the nukes.” (10:45, Bill O'Reilly)
(Timestamps: 11:33 – 13:02)
(Timestamps: 13:02 – 17:09)
O’Reilly lambasts Europe and Democrats for what he sees as weak, appeasing attitudes:
"Democrats never would have done this in a million years. Never. Obama tried to bribe them. Didn’t work. Biden didn't even know where Iran was.” (13:42, Bill O'Reilly)
Frustration with European and NATO members for obstructing U.S. military logistics.
Conscious uncoupling from European allies:
“Spain's a socialist country bordering on communism. They are anti American. They shouldn’t even be in NATO.” (16:28, Bill O'Reilly)
Discusses how mass migration has changed Europe’s demographic and political landscape, increasing hesitance to confront Islamic regimes.
Acknowledges need for some continued alliance due to Russian threat—Putin emerges as "the big winner" in Iran’s destabilization.
(Timestamps: 18:37 – 20:19)
“Certainly the executive order will be how Trump governs the last two years.” (20:13, Bill O'Reilly)
(Timestamps: 20:19 – 23:45)
“We can get into a lot of things like you do...We just don’t work for a corporation. I’m the corporation...And I’m making just about as much money now as I did when I was working at Fox.” (22:55, Bill O'Reilly)
(Timestamps: 23:45 – 25:18)
“He’s going to get, you’re a communist. You waste money. You shouldn't even be there. I'm not even going to buy you an ice cream cone.” (25:02, Bill O'Reilly)
O’Reilly on Focus:
“Forgive me if I don't pay close attention to the F bomb or whatever. I'm paying close attention to the real bombs.” (05:56)
On the Iran Negotiations:
“He was absolutely convinced that he could get a deal from the mullahs, and that's what he wanted. Didn't want to use heavy military action.” (03:03)
On European Weakness:
“Spain's a socialist country bordering on communism... They shouldn't even be in NATO.” (16:28)
On the Post-Media Order:
“We just don’t work for a corporation. Okay. So I don’t. I’m the corporation. I run three. And... I’m making just about as much money now as I did when I was working at Fox.” (22:55)
This episode offers a blunt, behind-the-scenes look at U.S. Iran policy, the traps of political framing, the erosion of traditional alliances, and the evolution of honest media. O’Reilly’s candor and historical perspective make for a compelling listen for anyone concerned about the future of American power—on the world stage and at home.