DEMS Let 18K Terrorists into America plus Trump Leads on AI & Moving to Designate the Muslim Brotherhood as a Terrorist Organization

Summary

Podcast Summary: “DEMS Let 18K Terrorists into America plus Trump Leads on AI & Moving to Designate the Muslim Brotherhood as a Terrorist Organization”

Podcast: Verdict with Ted Cruz
Hosts: Senator Ted Cruz & Ben Ferguson
Date: December 12, 2025
Episode Theme:
A deep dive into three critical issues affecting U.S. security and global leadership:

1. The influx of 18,000 known and suspected terrorists into America under Biden Administration border policies,
2. President Trump’s new executive order to centralize AI regulation and secure America’s dominance in artificial intelligence,
3. Senator Cruz’s ongoing legislative push to designate the Muslim Brotherhood and its affiliates as terrorist organizations.

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Main Discussion Points & Insights

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1. National Security Crisis: 18,000 Terrorists Entered the U.S. (03:05 – 21:27)

Background

• Recent testimony and warnings from Trump Administration and National Counterterrorism Center (NCTC) Director Joe Kent highlight 18,000 known/suspected terrorists now in the U.S., largely attributed to Biden-era border and immigration policy.

Key Details

• Joe Kent (NCTC):
  • Reported at a House committee hearing that "NCTC has identified around 18,000 known and suspected terrorists that the Biden administration let come into our country." (07:15)
  • Many entered as part of the "Allies Welcome" Afghan resettlement; 2,000 Afghans from that group are tied to terrorism. (07:15)
  • Central Asian smuggling networks brought in thousands more; ICE now struggling to track hundreds of MS-13, Trender, Aragua, Sinalota cartel members.
• Senator Ted Cruz:
  • “The threat that poses to national security, the threat that poses to our families…” (03:53)
  • “The Trump administration is now telling US that is 18,000 people who we believe are likely terrorists. That is dangerous.” (16:22)
• Specific Incidents Cited:
  • An Afghan terrorist admitted under expedited vetting killed a National Guard member before Thanksgiving.
  • Other incidents: Attempted suicide bombing, pipe bomb plots, infiltration by a self-described Hamas operative.
• Policy Critique:
  • Cruz faults the Biden Administration’s “open border” policy, emphasizing the risk posed by ‘gotaways’—the 2 million illegal entrants who evaded Border Patrol and are more likely to be criminals or terrorists. (15:46)
  • Both hosts express frustration at mainstream media ignoring the scale and urgency of these warnings.

Notable Quotes

• Joe Kent (NCTC Director, 14:34):

  “We just recently put out a warning… of the heightened risk of terrorist attacks posed to the homeland by terrorists pretty much of all stripes, but in particular from ISIS and from Al Qaeda.”

• Ted Cruz (16:22):

  “That 2 million that are got always is the most concerning population… Biden and the Democrats did not care at all. They literally imported 2 million potential criminals into this country.”

• Ben Ferguson (19:42):

  “This wasn’t an accident. This was done deliberately… They knew was a problem and they knew the problem was getting bigger and bigger and they didn’t care what happened to average Americans.”

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2. AI Competition: Trump’s Executive Order and the U.S.–China Tech Race (21:27 – 32:52)

Framing the Issue

• Race between U.S. and China to lead artificial intelligence technology; winner’s values will define the global standard.
• President Trump’s new executive order creates a centralized federal standard for AI, to prevent regulatory "death by 50 states" and ensure U.S. industry competitiveness.

Key Details

• Senator Ted Cruz:
  • “The single most important economic battle we have in this country right now is the race for AI… does America win or does China win?” (23:20)
  • Centralizing approval avoids contradictory, burdensome state rules that could cripple U.S. AI companies, an approach mirroring the Internet regulatory model of the 1990s. (23:20, 27:44)
  • Warns that if China wins, AI will be used for “surveillance and control and propaganda,” whereas a U.S. victory means “free speech and free enterprise and individual rights.”
• Donald Trump (24:54):
  • Defends the common-sense need for a “single source of approval” for AI projects:

    “If they had to get 50 different approvals from 50 different states, you could forget it, because it’s not possible to do.” (24:54)

• Impact on Jobs and Economy:
  • Both hosts stress the massive job creation potential and the risk of economic stagnation if China wins.

Notable Quotes

• Ted Cruz (29:21):

  “This is the single most important economic question in the country and in the world. Who wins the race for AI?”

• Donald Trump (24:54):

  “There’s only going to be one winner here… that’s probably going to be the US or China. And right now we’re winning by a lot.”

• Ted Cruz (31:40):

  “We should be the party of jobs… AI is going to create millions of jobs. And the simple question we ought to ask is, who do we want to win?”

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3. The Muslim Brotherhood: Push to Designate as Terrorist Organization (32:52 – 42:40)

Legislative Battle

• Senator Cruz highlights his decade-long campaign to designate the Muslim Brotherhood, and now its most clearly violent affiliates, as terrorist organizations.
• Past attempts were weakened by arguments over the “global” label and lack of evidence against certain international affiliates.
• The Trump administration is now moving in line with Cruz’s “bottom up” approach—targeting affiliates like Hamas with clear evidence of terrorism, then the overarching organization for its support.

Key Details

• Muslim Brotherhood’s Threat:
  • Cruz: “The Muslim Brotherhood is a terrorist organization. It is one of the most dangerous terrorist organizations on the planet.” (35:10)
  • Points out that U.S. allies (Jordan, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Bahrain, Kenya) have already designated it as a terrorist group.
• Bipartisan Congressional Support:
  • Cruz’s new bill—The Muslim Brotherhood Terrorist Designation Act—has bipartisan backing but faced dilution in the House.
  • Strong assertion of Congress’s role in foreign policy and terrorism sanctions.
• State Department Testimony:
  • State Dept. official says, “I will faithfully execute [such legislation] if I am confirmed,” supporting Congress’s authority to direct such action (39:40).
  • Discusses diplomatic strategies for encouraging other countries to follow suit.

Notable Quotes

• Ted Cruz (35:10):

  “I have been fighting for literally 10 years for the United States to designate the Muslim Brotherhood as a terrorist organization.”

• State Department Official (39:40):

  “I fully respect Congress’s Article 1 authority... including with respect to foreign terror organization designations or other types of designations.”

• Ted Cruz, On U.S. Allies (40:01):

  “Jordan, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain, Kenya—they have all already designated the Muslim Brotherhood as a terrorist organization. These are our allies and partners…”

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Ben Ferguson, On Media Silence (15:20):

  “I don’t know why the national news is not covering this… This is now being said and I still haven’t seen this on the news anywhere.”

• Ted Cruz, On AI (28:31):

  “If there were a button in front of me right now to destroy every cell phone in the world, I’d push that button because I think cell phones are a portal… to every evil force in the world at our kids—but we don’t live in that world. AI is here. It is coming.”

• Senator Cruz, On Republican Reluctance (41:48):

  “We need to be clear eyed about the threats to America. The Muslim Brotherhood is a radical jihadist global terror network… some Republicans that are nervous about this, but Donald Trump is not. And his designation was historic.”

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Important Timestamps

• 03:05 – 21:27: Discussion on reported entry of 18,000 known/suspected terrorists under Biden, direct quotes from NCTC’s Joe Kent, specific cases and policy failures.
• 21:27 – 32:52: U.S.–China AI tech race, Trump’s executive order, economic/security stakes, direct quotes from Trump, Cruz, and context.
• 32:52 – 42:40: Muslim Brotherhood terrorist designation push, legislative pitfalls, State Dept. testimony, Cruz’s strategy, and international context.

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Tone and Style

• Direct, urgent, and combative—Cruz and Ferguson adopt a tone of frustrated urgency, calling out what they see as media neglect and political failures.
• Strong use of statistics, government testimony, and real-world incidents to build the case for policy change.
• Encouragement for listeners to get involved: contact Congress, stay informed, and share the podcast.

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Summary Takeaway

This episode delivers a forceful, information-heavy critique of the Biden Administration’s border and security policies, positions the Trump Administration as proactive on national security and AI, and champions legislative action against Islamist terrorist networks. Senator Cruz and Ben Ferguson blend alarming facts, expert testimony, and grassroots calls to action to mobilize their audience around the intertwined themes of national security, technological leadership, and legislative vigilance.

Transcript

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[Senator Ted Cruz]

This is where mindset comes in.

[Podcast Host/Announcer]

Someone will be eliminated.

[Ben Ferguson]

Pressure is coming down.

[Podcast Host/Announcer]

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[Senator Ted Cruz]

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[Ben Ferguson]

Welcome. It is Verdict with Senator Ted Cruz, Ben Ferguson with you. It's so nice to have many of you listening on the radio as well to this show. And as a reminder, this show, if you like it, you'll love the podcast and Senator and I do three days a week. You can grab it for free wherever you get your podcast podcast. Senator, we've got a lot to talk about in this show, including something that we were worried about and have been talking about for years. And that was the number of terrorists that we were afraid were being led into this country with our wide open southern border under the Biden administration. The number that we're now being warned about is one that I even would not have guessed. Worst case scenario. And now the Trump official are saying there are a lot of of known and suspected terrorists in the U.S. well, that's exactly right.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

The Trump administration testified before Congress that 18,000 known and suspected terrorists are in the United States because Joe Biden and the Democrats let them in. We're going to break that down. The threat that poses to national security, the threat that poses to our families. We're also going to talk about an order, an executive order that the president issued today. He issued an order protecting AI, ensuring that America wins the race for AI and beats China. We're going to break that down for you as well. And finally, we're going to talk about legislation that I have in the Senate to designate the Muslim Brotherhood as a terrorist organization. I think it is incredibly important. President Trump has led on this. And there was a battle in the House of Representatives where unfortunately they gutted the legislation we need to designate the Muslim Brotherhood. We're going to talk about that as well.

[Ben Ferguson]

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[Senator Ted Cruz]

That's exactly right. This is dangerous. So here's what the New York Post has reported. Quote, as many as 18,000 terrorists entered the US during the Biden administration, National Counterterrorism Center Director Joe Kent revealed during a House committee hearing on Thursday. So far, NCTC has identified around 18,000 known and suspected terrorists that the Biden administration let come into our country, kent testified before the House Homeland Security Committee. These are individuals who under normal circumstances would never be allowed to enter our country because of their ties to jihadi groups like ISIS and Al Qaeda, he said. Yet the Biden administration not only let them into our country and in many cases facilitated their entry into the country. Just like the entry of the Afghan terrorist who committed the terrorist attack here just before Thanksgiving, killing one of our National Guards member and wounding another. The FBI Foiled other ISIS terrorist attack in Michigan and New Jersey earlier this year, a self described Hamas operative also infiltrated the ranks of the U.S. air Force in 2023 and later planned to carry out a pipe bomb attack with two others before he was thwarted. In April, before Trump took office, a suspected ISIS terrorist mowed down and shot New Year's revelers on Bourbon street in New Orleans, killing 14 people. Kent pointed out in the House hearing that the accused National Guard shooter Ramanala Lakanwal was just one of 88,000 Afghans, and his counterterrorism office has since identified 2,000 of that group. Of the 88,000 who have ties to terrorist organizations, another Afghan national was arrested and charged this month for threatening to carry out a suicide bombing before Thanksgiving, while a third was collared in Virginia on December 3rd for providing weapons to his father, an ISIS K commander, the Post first reported. A fourth was led into the US by the Biden administration and later schemed to carry out an ISIS inspired Election Day terror attack last year. All five, including Laconwa, entered the country as part of the 88,000 that received expedited vetting to settle in the U.S. under President Joe Biden's operations allies welcome program. An official from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence told the Post that hundreds of other ISIS affiliated migrants are roaming the country, including 4,000 from a Central Asian smuggling network and 600 Tajiks and Uzbeks. The NCTC has also identified hundreds of Ms. 13, Trender, Aragua and Sinalota cartel members and notified Immigration and Customs Enforcement to prioritize their arrests and deportations, the official added. Stunningly, Kent claimed in the hearing that the remaining 16,000 with terror ties who didn't originate from Afghanistan doesn't even include migrants who came here illegally through the open border. The Trump administration recently warned Americans that the US Was at quote, heightened risk terrorist attacks, kent said, noting risk from, quote, terrorists pretty much of all stripes, but in particular from ISIS and from Al Qaeda. This is dangerous and this is what unfolded the last four years.

[Ben Ferguson]

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[Senator Ted Cruz]

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[Podcast Host/Announcer]

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[Senator Ted Cruz]

Pressure is coming down.

[Podcast Host/Announcer]

This is Trainer Games.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Watch it on prime video starting January 8th.

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[Senator Ted Cruz]

The Biden administration.

[Ben Ferguson]

Senator, I want to play for you the NCTC director Joe Kent and what he had to say about this. Take a listen.

[Joe Kent (NCTC Director)]

We've made significant progress under President Trump's leadership. We have the jihadis of ISIS and Al Qaeda on the run in Iraq and Syria thanks to the decisive action and the strikes that we've taken there recently since President Trump took office in January. However, we have a persistent threat from the individuals that were allowed into this country by the previous administration. The number one threat that we have right now, in my view is the fact that we don't know who came into our country in the last four years of Biden's open borders. What we have identified is alarming and I want to share that with you today. We just recently put out a warning, warning of the heightened risk of terrorist attacks posed to the homeland by terrorists pretty much of all stripes, but in particular from ISIS and from Al Qaeda.

[Ben Ferguson]

Let's just pause there and we'll play the second part in a moment. But Senator, your reaction to There has now been put out a warning for a ISIS Al Qaeda type attack in the U.S. i don't know why the national news is not covering this, that they're saying, hey, we have a heightened alert. This is something we're very concerned about. This is now being said. And I still haven't seen this on the news anywhere.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Well, the massive national security threat we face over four years of the Biden Harris administration, we saw over 12 million people come into this country illegally. A massive invasion. It is the highest rate of illegal immigration in our nation's history. We also saw more than 2 million gotaways. Now why do gotaways matter? Gotaways are the people that did not turn themselves in. Of the 12 million, roughly 10 million of them, when they came across, they went and looked for border patrol. They turned themselves in. The gotaways are much, much more likely to be criminals, to be murderers, to be rapists, to be child molesters, to be gang members, to be terrorists. That 2 million that are got aways is the most concerning population that's come into this country. By the way, Biden and the Democrats did not care at all. They did not go after the gotaways. They literally imported 2 million potential criminals into this country. Now there's a smaller subset of those who we have evidence they are likely terrorists. The Trump administration is now telling US that is 18,000 people who we believe are likely terrorists. That is dangerous. And it really underscores the Urgency with which the Trump administration is going after and arresting and incarcerating and deporting those who are terrorists, those who are murderers, those who are rapists, those who are child molesters, those who are gang bangers. That if you want to protect our families, if you want to protect our kids, that is massively, massively important. And it actually explains why the Democrats and the media are losing their mind because they don't want these criminals arrested. This is front and center, a massive issue for the country.

[Ben Ferguson]

Yeah. And that's more of what the NCTC director, Joe Kent was saying in the second part of his warning. Take a listen for everybody out there and again, ask yourself this question. Why are you probably only hearing this audio for the very first time or even about this story on this show? How is this not leading the nightly news? Keep listening.

[Joe Kent (NCTC Director)]

NCTC has been crunching the numbers and going through the sheer volume of known and suspected terrorists that are in the country that came in under the Biden administration. So far, NCTC has identified around 18,000 known and suspected terrorists that the Biden administration let come into our country. These are individuals who, under normal circumstances would never be allowed to enter our country because of their ties to jihadi groups like ISIS and Al Qaeda. Yet the Biden administration not only let them into the country and in many cases facilitated their entry into the country. Just like the entry of the Afghan terrorists who committed the terrorist attack here just before Thanksgiving, killing one of our National Guard members and wounding another. That Afghan was brought into the country as a group of over 100,000 Afghans who were brought here during the disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan. These individuals, despite what has been reported, were not vetted properly to come into the United States. The individual terrorist who committed the attack in D.C. he was vetted to serve as a soldier in Afghanistan. The Biden administration essentially used his tactical level vetting as a ruse to bring him here and to bring him into our communities. And we've seen the tragic results of that. Now, that Afghan, that attacker, that terrorist, is just one of 88,000. We've identified 2,000 of that group of 88,000 who have ties to terrorist organizations. We're working right now hand in hand with DHS and with the FBI to run down this 2000. The Afghans who came here under allies. Welcome. Who have ties to terrorist organizations and Additionally the other 16,000 individuals of ties to terrorist organizations that Biden let into our country.

[Ben Ferguson]

This wasn't an accident. And I think that's part of this story, Senator, is this was done deliberately. This wasn't an oversight. It wasn't a we're asleep at the wheel and we just didn't realize what was going on. This was done in a way that they knew was a problem and they knew the problem was getting bigger and bigger and they didn't care what happened to average Americans.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Yeah, look, the, the sheer quantity, 18,000 known and suspected terrorists. It'd be one thing if the Biden administration, in four years, they let in a dozen known and suspected terrorists. 100 known and suspected terrorists. That would be concerning one terrorist could kill hundreds or even thousands of Americans. You and I would not be happy if they let in a dozen or hundred. 18,000. Holy cow. Yeah, I mean, that is a massive failure of our national security apparatus. That, that is a massive failure. Where the Biden administration, the Democrats, prioritized politics, let everybody in. It doesn't matter where they're coming from. It doesn't matter if they're Al Qaeda terrorists. It doesn't matter if they're Hezbollah, it doesn't matter if they're Hamas. It doesn't matter if their objective in coming to America is to come to D.C. and to shoot National Guardsmen because they are radical America hating terrorists. We will let them in because we think one day they will be have the right to vote, maybe immediately, maybe in time, and they'll vote for Democrats. And so if American citizens are murdered, the Democrats were willing to do that. Yeah, it just, that is, it's staggering and it's indefensible for the next 60 seconds.

[Ben Ferguson]

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[Senator Ted Cruz]

So the single most important economic battle we have in this country right now is the race for AI. This is going to transform the world. We may not like it, but it's going to happen. And the binary choice is, does America win or does China win? Look, whoever wins the race for AI, the values of that country will define the characteristics of AI. If you want AI to be defined by the values of China, if you want it to be surveillance and control and propaganda and the communist government controlling everything you think, then you want China to win. If you want it to be free speech and free enterprise and individual rights, then you want America to win. And this is you. Think back to the 1990s. The battle for the Internet was a massive battle. America won the battle for the Internet. We prevailed. This battle over AI is more consequential than the battle for the Internet. Today, President Trump signed an executive order seeking to ensure a consistent national standard of rules for AI to stop Gavin Newsom and Hochul and JB Pritzker and all these left wing Democrats in the States from putting contradictory, burdensome, inconsistent rules on AI that ends up crippling American AI and letting China win. I want you to listen to the president as he talked about this today.

[Donald Trump]

Well, thank you very much. We have a big signing right now and we have a tremendous industry where we're leading by a lot. It's the AI artificial intelligence. I always thought it should be si, supreme intelligence, but I guess somewhere along the line they decided on the word artificial. And that's okay with me. That's up to them. It's a massive industry. We're leading China, we're leading everybody by a tremendous amount of where the electricity is being built. By them in every plant they're building the electricity. We're getting them rapid approvals, but they're spending trillions of dollars and they can't. Basically this has a couple of other things that are less important, but one of the things that it has is you have to have a central source of approval. When they need approvals on things, they have to come to one source. They can't go to California, New York and various other places like Illinois, where things. Pritzker who's, you know, a totally unreasonable person. And they have to have, you know, they're putting all this money in. It's a big part of the economy. And there's only going to be, I think, one winner here. I don't know if anybody agrees with that. I think most people agree, but there's only going to be one winner here, and that's probably going to be the US Or China. And right now we're winning by a lot. China has a central source of approval. I don't think they have any problem. Let's go and build. But people want to be in the United States and they want to do it here. And we have the big investment coming. But if they had to get 50 different approvals from 50 different states, you could forget it because it's not possible to do. Especially if you have some hostile. All you need is one hostile actor and you wouldn't be able to do it. So it doesn't make sense. I didn't have to be briefed on this, by the way. This is real easy business. I mean, this is simple. So we're very happy with that. But this is about something a little bit different. We want to have one central source of approval and we have, I think, great Republican support. I think we probably have Democrat support too, because it's common sense. You can't go to every time you make a change and it could be a very reasonable change. You still won't get it approved if you have to go to 50 states. So this centralizes it. And it's something which the people behind me, the very distinguished people all but Tim Cook just left of Apple and spoke to all of the big companies, great companies, and they won't be able to do this. This will not be successful unless they have one source of approval or disapproval. Frankly, you can have disapproval too, but it's got to be one source. They can't go to 50 different sources.

[Ben Ferguson]

This seems to be a core point of what the President and what you were trying to accomplish, which is that one source, because otherwise it would be impossible to grow AI and to deal with it the way that we need to deal with it if you didn't have this kind of one standard across the board.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Look, AI is transformational. Think back to the 1990s. The 1990s, Bill Clinton was president and the Internet was, it was the dawn of the Internet. And we made a choice, America made a choice to do a light touch regulatory approach to the Internet and we ended up winning that race. America dominates tech. We dominate the Internet. It produced hundreds of thousands, if not millions of jobs in the United States. That was incredibly consequential. AI is the same point. And Ben, I'll say, look, I understand people across the country, they're nervous about AI. They're afraid. They don't want AI to come take their jobs. They don't want AI to render them irrelevant. They don't like the technology. And I get that. That's not a crazy thing to think.

[Ben Ferguson]

Yeah.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

But look, my view, I'm not a Luddite. I don't think the fact that you're nervous about technology can make it go away as much as you might be worried. Listen, I'll readily admit if there were a button in front of me right now to destroy every cell phone in the world, I'd push that button because I think cell phones are a portal. You know, I'm a dad, I've got two teenage girls. Cell phones are a portal to every evil force in the world at our kids, but we don't live in that world. AI is here. It is coming. We have a binary choice. Does America win it or does China win it? I want you to listen to what I had to say with President Trump in the Oval today. Give a listen.

[Donald Trump]

Ted Cruz has been a very strong advocate of common. This is common sense. I mean, I think it's nothing more than common sense. Please, Ted, listen.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

This is the single most important economic question in the country and in the world. Who wins the race for AI? You look back to the 1990s, there was a similar inflection point with the beginning of the Internet, the dawn of the Internet. And Bill Clinton was president at the time. He signed an executive order just like you're doing that put into law a light touch regulatory approach to the Internet. And the result was incredible economic growth and jobs in the United States. At the same time, the European Union took a very heavy handed regulatory approach. Here's an Amazing statistic, Mr. President. In 1993, the US economy and Europe's economy were virtually identical in size. Today, America's economy is more than 50% larger than Europe's. And the two drivers of that are tech and the shale revolution. It transformed this country. And AI is the same thing. It's a race. And if China wins the race, whoever wins, the values of that country will affect all of AI we don't want China's values of surveillance and centralized control by the communist government governing AI we want American values of free speech, of individual liberty, of respecting the individual. So this executive order, I believe, is tremendously important. Thank you for your leadership.

[Ben Ferguson]

You know, Senator, just to underscore how important this is and what you just described there, even Donald Trump on Truth Social said the Wall Street Journal has another ridiculous story today that China is dominating us in the world on the production of electricity having to do with AI they're wrong, as usual. Every AI plant being built in the United States is building its own electric generating facilities. The approvals are being given carefully, but very quickly. A matter of weeks. Any excess electricity being produced is going to go to our electric grid, which is being strengthened and expanded for the purpose, for other purposes than AI like this is not just moving forward and protecting us and going to this race with China, who's going to be in charge of it? Who's going to be the best at it? But this is also building American infrastructure. And a lot of American jobs are actually going to be created out of this as well.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Well, this is a common sense principle. We should be the party of jobs. AI it's going to produce disruption. It's part of the reason people are scared of it. But it's also going to create millions of jobs. And the simple question we ought to ask is, who do we want to win? Do we want a world where China wins? AI AI is coming. You may not like it, you may be scared about it, you may not know. And I get. It's easy to say, listen, I wish nuclear weapons didn't exist. If there were a button to make every nuclear weapon disappear, I'd push that button. But they do exist. And if they exist, I want to make sure America has the best and is able to deter someone attacking us. AI is similar. And I got to say, President Trump is being bold, he's being visionary. He understands that if we win or lose this, this is the economic battle of the 21st century. And I was really proud. I stood side by side with Donald Trump saying, America is going to win the race for AI. We're going to beat China. That is massively important for jobs in America.

[Ben Ferguson]

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[Senator Ted Cruz]

Absolutely. So look, the Muslim Brotherhood is a terrorist organization. It is one of the most dangerous terrorist organizations on the planet. I have been fighting for literally 10 years for the United States to designate the Muslim Brotherhood as a terrorist organization. In the first Trump administration. I came incredibly Close. I almost got the Trump administration to do it. Here's what defeated me. So there's a global umbrella group, the Muslim Brotherhood, and there are a bunch of affiliates that are in different countries. And there were deep State, State Department operatives who argued against what I was trying to do in Trump 1. And the argument they used that prevailed is they said, well, look, not every single affiliate of the Muslim Brotherhood can we prove is a terrorist organization. Some of them clearly are, but others of them, there's not clear and irrefutable evidence that they're engaged in terrorism. That's what defeated my effort. Trump won. So here's what I've done. TRUMP 2. I said the previous efforts were top down. They were designate the global Muslim Brotherhood and then designate all their affiliates. They argued some of the affiliates may not be terrorists. I don't buy that. But it was an argument and it was an argument that was successful. And Trump won. So in Trump 2, I inverted the entire approach. I said, all right, let's. Rather than being top down, let's start bottom up. And so I filed legislation that directed the administration designate every Muslim Brotherhood affiliate that there is clear and unequivocal evidence they're terrorist organizations. So, for example, Hamas, Hamas is the Muslim Brotherhood in Palestine. So there is no dispute Hamas is a terrorist organization. So that, that is an easy example of a Muslim Brotherhood affiliate that is indisputably terrorist. My legislation says designate the affiliates, and then it says designate the global Muslim Brotherhood for providing money for providing material assistance to the affiliates that are indisputably terrorist organizations. So I filed that legislation. I've been pressing the Trump administration. President Trump stepped in and he announced that he was designating the Muslim Brotherhood as a terrorist organization, not the global, but the individual affiliates. And basically, the Trump administration is following the approach in my legislation. Now, I want you to listen. This week, a State Department official from the Trump administration was testifying before the Senate. I questioned him on this. Give a listen. Do you believe the Muslim Brotherhood poses a threat to the national security of the United States?

[State Department Official]

Yes.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Now, let's pivot away from the president's executive order to what's happening here in Congress. As I said earlier, and as you observed, I've been pushing to designate the Muslim Brotherhood for more than a decade now. I've introduced legislation to do so in all but one Congress since I was elected. This Congress, I introduced a version of my bill, the Muslim Brotherhood Terrorist Designation act, that uses the same bottoms up approach that is in President Trump's executive order. It has Bipartisan support in both chambers last week. Frustratingly, the House version of my bill was advanced but terminally weakened by the House Foreign Affairs Committee. They took out the designation part of the Muslim Brotherhood Terrorist Designation Act. The Senate should do better, and we should move the full bill on our side. Some public reports and statements have claimed that House members, including House Republicans, did not believe that Congress should have a role in crafting sanctions which are to be implemented by the Executive. I find that argument to be specious, and I know the vast majority of this committee does as well. Mr. La Herefeld, I and my colleagues have implicit and explicit expectations that Executive officials will work with and when appropriate, even defer to this committee on issues of foreign policy, including sanctions and including the designation of terrorist groups. What is your view of the role that Congress plays on these issues, including on initiatives like mine, to designate the Muslim Brotherhood as a terrorist group?

[State Department Official]

Senator Cruz, thank you for your question. I fully respect Congress's Article 1 authority in making laws, including with respect to foreign terror organization designations or other types of designations. Whatever legislation is passed, I will faithfully execute if I am confirmed.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Thank you. All right, final question. One element of this debate that continues to surprise me, and I don't think the American people, even many people here in Congress, I don't think they appreciate the degree to which our allies support acknowledging and designating the Muslim Brotherhood as a terrorist organization. As you know, Jordan, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, the uae, Bahrain, Kenya, they have all already designated the Muslim Brotherhood as a terrorist organization. These are our allies and partners in the Middle east and Africa. And there's a pernicious narrative that doing the same thing they've done designating the Muslim Brotherhood will somehow alienate these partners. Describe how you would work with our allies to counter the Brotherhood's malign activities.

[State Department Official]

Senator Cruz, thank you for that question. I can say that in a previous capacity in the Bureau of Counterterrorism, I led our efforts to designate the irgc, get designations of other countries to designate the irgc, as well as Hezbollah and Hamas, particularly in the Western Hemisphere. That approach. Approach, it's. It's pretty. Pretty intense diplomacy.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

We.

[State Department Official]

It requires a lot of legwork. I've talked with our Chiefs of Mission in the Western Hemisphere across to Australia with respect to that. You saw the news there about four or five months ago. What Australia did with respect to the irgc. I would template that, really. And get at the Muslim Brotherhood using that diplomatic approach. That worked. That is working. And there's more work to be done. Let me be clear with the IRG see in Hezbollah and Hamas. But I would template that in our efforts with the Muslim Brotherhood.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Terrific. Very helpful. Thank you. Thank you.

[Ben Ferguson]

You hear your question there and I want you to just explain why this is so important.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Senator, we need to be clear eyed. We need to be clear eyed about the threats to America. The Muslim Brotherhood is a radical jihadist global terror network. They are funding jihadists in countries across the globe. And we are seeing. We started this podcast by talking about 18,000 terrorists who come into this country under Joe Biden. These are. The Muslim Brotherhood is deliberately promoting people who are seeking to engage in acts of terror. They're seeking to wage jihad. And we need to be serious and clear eyed. And I gotta say there's some Republicans that are nervous about this, but Donald Trump is not. And his designation was historic. And I'm continuing to work hand in hand with him to protect American to protect the American people against the threat of the Muslim Brotherhood against the threat of jihadists.

[Ben Ferguson]

That's really important. We're going to keep covering it and we'll keep giving you updated on it. Also, don't forget, share this podcast this show wherever you can. Follow us on social media wherever you can as well subscribe and get every episode of Verdict with Ted Cruz wherever you are. And if you're listening on the radio, thank you for joining us. And we'll see you back here on this radio station next week as well.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Shh.

[Podcast Host/Announcer]

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[State Department Official]

This is.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

This is where mindset comes in.

[Podcast Host/Announcer]

Someone will be eliminated.

[Ben Ferguson]

Pressure is coming down.

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This is Trainer Games.

[Joe Kent (NCTC Director)]

Watch it on prime video.

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[Senator Ted Cruz]

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