Bannon's War Room - Episode 4512： WarRoom Memorial Day Special 2025

00:00:00.000 No more distractions, no more electric tanks, no more gender confusion, no more climate change worship. 0.95

00:00:10.860 We are laser focused on our mission of warfighting.

00:00:18.140 We will measure our success not only by the battles we win, but also by the wars we end.

00:00:24.800 And perhaps most importantly, the wars we never get into.

00:00:28.800 It's called Peace Through Strength.

00:00:32.100 You look into the eyes of these young Americans who are giving up the best years of their life in a uniform to serve their nation.

00:00:38.460 They are incredible.

00:00:42.300 Through our power and might, we will leave the world to peace.

00:00:46.340 Our friends will respect us.

00:00:48.200 Our enemies will fear us.

00:00:50.100 And the whole world will admire the unrivaled greatness of the United States military.

00:00:58.800 We will replenish the pride of our armed forces, end the recruitment crisis.

00:01:10.420 We don't fight because we hate what's in front of us.

00:01:16.040 We fight because we love what's behind us.

00:01:20.700 God bless you.

00:01:22.140 God bless our own forces.

00:01:23.860 God bless our men and women serving overseas.

00:01:27.280 And God bless the United States of America.

00:01:30.320 God bless you.

00:01:44.540 You're welcome.

00:01:47.400 God bless you.

00:01:48.080 Thank you.

00:02:18.080 Thank you.

00:02:48.080 Thank you.

00:03:18.080 Thank you.

00:03:48.080 Thank you.

00:04:18.080 Thank you.

00:04:37.080 This is the primal scream of a dying regime.

00:04:49.720 Pray for our enemies, because we're going to medieval on these people.

00:04:54.980 You just got a free shot at all these networks lying about the people.

00:04:59.160 The people have had a belly full of it.

00:05:01.260 I know you don't like hearing that.

00:05:02.680 I know you're trying to do everything in the world to stop that,

00:05:04.380 but you're not going to stop it.

00:05:05.460 It's going to happen.

00:05:06.360 And where do people like that go to share the big line?

00:05:09.960 MAGA Media.

00:05:11.300 I wish in my soul, I wish that any of these people had a conscience.

00:05:16.720 Ask yourself, what is my task and what is my purpose?

00:05:20.500 If that answer is to save my country, this country will be saved.

00:05:26.680 War Room. Here's your host, Stephen K. Band.

00:05:36.360 It is Monday, 26th May in the year of our Lord, 2025.

00:05:41.000 It is Memorial Day in the year of our Lord, 2025.

00:05:44.700 Today, we will be giving a live coverage of the President of the United States.

00:05:50.380 We'll leave the White House sometime after 1030 this morning.

00:05:53.820 He will go to Arlington National Military Cemetery in Northern Virginia,

00:06:02.820 right across the Memorial Bridge from the Lincoln Monument.

00:06:06.060 He will address, he'll lay a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown, the Tomb of the Unknowns.

00:06:12.260 And he will then make appropriate remarks.

00:06:16.080 And then he will exit and leave for his place in Northern Virginia.

00:06:22.100 We will cover this live until the end of it, probably sometime around 12, 15 or so.

00:06:26.720 We have the team we had at the historic, first-time-ever wall-to-wall coverage on national television

00:06:34.180 of the graduation of the United States Military Academy at West Point.

00:06:38.600 Patrick K. O'Donnell will help me co-anchor today.

00:06:41.400 Steve Gruber is attempting to get set up at Arlington National Cemetery.

00:06:45.620 So we may start with Steve by phone until we get the camera set.

00:06:49.920 And, of course, we'll cover all this wall-to-wall, President's journey to Arlington,

00:06:57.920 the laying of the wreath, the commemoration ceremony at the Tomb, and then his appropriate remarks.

00:07:04.940 Right there you saw two videos put about the White House, just absolutely incredible.

00:07:13.000 A new one with Pete Hegseth and President Trump about the warfighting and the focus on our warriors.

00:07:18.920 And, of course, an incredible video with taps laid over it by the White House showed Arlington,

00:07:26.900 other military cemeteries, and particularly Section 60, which are the honored dead from Iraq and Afghanistan.

00:07:34.940 At the end, we played the last of the burial of the unknowns was the Korean War.

00:07:44.000 That was 30 May 1958.

00:07:47.500 I was at, what, four and a half years old.

00:07:50.460 I went to that with my father and my older brother.

00:07:52.680 I do have some memories of that.

00:07:54.140 Number one is really the sound of the howitzers, which I think actually from the time

00:08:01.680 the unknown soldier left with an honor guard from the Capitol to the time he got to Arlington.

00:08:10.580 I believe the howitzers – it must have been 100 of them.

00:08:14.080 The howitzers shot the entire time.

00:08:16.000 It was an incredibly moving, very hot day.

00:08:17.960 I remember being over Arlington at the memorial with the huge anchor that we kind of stood on because we didn't actually have VIP tickets.

00:08:27.280 But that's the last thing I know, Patrick O'Donnell.

00:08:30.540 The reason I ended with Korea, that's John Mills and our team, the election integrity team, going over to South Korea.

00:08:37.240 And look at that reception they got.

00:08:41.580 The reception, I think a couple of thousand South Koreans waving American flags for people coming to this really important election.

00:08:48.620 It's going to go in with the Chinese Communist Party.

00:08:50.040 Remember, the Korean War is not over.

00:08:52.620 There's never been an armistice.

00:08:53.920 I think there's – the war is not over.

00:08:55.900 It's just a stand-down, a cease-fire, and the Korean War is with us. 0.94

00:09:01.040 And today, it's not Veterans Day.

00:09:03.280 We don't honor those of us who served in the military.

00:09:07.560 That's our great honor to be able to do it.

00:09:09.260 Today is a day for the honored dead, the war dead of our nation.

00:09:15.060 Patrick K. O'Donnell, you've done more than anybody to really lay this out.

00:09:19.940 Your book, you really go back to the very first of the unknowns, and you do the entire – how we did it in World War I.

00:09:26.220 I want to ask you, though, about the last one, and particularly the Korean War.

00:09:30.320 Of all the wars we fought and all the bloody conflicts we fought, Korea is called the Forgotten War. 0.51

00:09:35.380 And yet it was – the sacrifice of American troops in Korea was absolutely incredible.

00:09:42.140 And of course, a couple of years after the war, when it was still seared into the memories of the American people,

00:09:47.600 President Eisenhower and Vice President Nixon had this incredibly moving ceremony with, I don't know, millions of people, hundreds of thousands of people.

00:09:54.680 The crowds were absolutely enormous.

00:09:56.520 They came out on Memorial Day, 30 May 1958, in searing heat, and people were there for the entire thing and just to commemorate the last of the unknown.

00:10:07.800 Patrick K. O'Donnell, your thoughts?

00:10:09.200 Patrick K. O'Donnell, your thoughts?

00:10:39.540 Pertie, and he single-handedly handed the radio off to one of his men and single-handedly charged a bunker with just a grenade in his M1 carbine.

00:10:49.600 Took out the bunker, then went after a trench line.

00:10:52.900 I'll never forget his – he told me how, you know, very solemnly how he killed many, many people that day.

00:10:59.780 And then proceeded, as he was wounded, to carry off men that were in that attack as well, or near the attack, bringing them to safety and receiving the Medal of Honor.

00:11:13.880 And just, you know, really an incredible man that I'll never forget.

00:11:18.660 And, you know, I mean, this guy was so tough. He talked about, he told me about some of the home invasions that occurred, that he was able to also single-handedly take care of business.

00:11:32.880 That's how tough this guy was, even in his 70s and 80s. Just a really remarkable man.

00:11:40.540 Yeah, I remember the Clint Eastwood film was about a Korean War.

00:11:43.100 Korea's, they call it the Forgotten War, but it's not forgotten to veterans. It's not forgotten to the Marine Corps or the U.S. Army that really, relatively untrained troops, because World War II was over, relatively untrained troops were sent over there and really fought the Chinese Communist Party, a red Chinese army of, I don't know, millions that swept across the Yalu River.

00:12:06.020 And places like Chosin Reservoir, except there are just so many heroic. Give me a snapshot. We've got a couple of minutes.

00:12:11.940 We're going to set up Steve Gruber. We're going to go to Gruber when we come back from commercial break, who actually is at Arlington, and we'll show you the crowd that's already assembled there awaiting the president and the official party.

00:12:23.620 Talk to me about Korea, Chosin Reservoir. People forget the absolute agony of these troops that fought and died in Korea.

00:12:32.920 I've written 14 books now, and all those books have found me, and that was particularly the case with Give Me Tomorrow.

00:12:40.920 She's done a Korean War. And when I came back from Fallujah as a combat historian, I came back alone, and I was greeted by men of George Company 3-1, these Korean War vets.

00:12:53.100 And they asked me who I was. I told them I was in Fallujah, and they said,

00:12:57.720 Oh, you carried our battle guide on George Company and Weapons Company 3-1 in the battle.

00:13:04.420 And then they said to me, Would you like a ride to the train station and have lunch with us?

00:13:08.660 And then they proceeded to tell me how George Company at the Chosin Reservoir,

00:13:13.060 You know, just sort of picture 30 to 40-degree below zero weather, no food, against Chinese, just hordes of Chinese soldiers. 0.84

00:13:25.080 And that's what these men did. They held a hill against all odds and helped save the war.

00:13:30.360 And I was immediately impressed. And the next thing I know, they're inviting me to their reunions,

00:13:35.360 and I spent five years recording their stories and coming up with Give Me Tomorrow.

00:13:41.920 And it really was a forgotten war. I'll never forget, I had tremendous doubt within the publishing industry

00:13:48.380 whether or not even a book like this would be successful.

00:13:51.640 It turned out to be one of my most successful books. It was on the Commandant's reading list at one point.

00:13:56.240 But it's about, it's a band of brothers on George Company.

00:14:00.080 Hang on, hang on. I want to reiterate that. We'll talk about it more when we get back.

00:14:04.320 When you propose the book, which is one of the most moving books of the 14 you've written, which are all classics,

00:14:14.020 the publishing industry said, hey, Korea is just not that big a deal.

00:14:17.800 People don't know about it. We don't know if we can do it.

00:14:19.440 Patrick, hang on. I want to get into this.

00:14:21.260 Steve Gruber's at Arlington National Cemetery.

00:14:26.000 President Trump will be leaving shortly.

00:14:27.880 Following on his historic commencement address at the United States Military Academy at West Point,

00:14:35.480 where he told these young, about to become second lieutenants,

00:14:40.240 I will never put you in harm's way on a war that we're not prepared to win.

00:14:45.320 What is it, 60-some years later in Korea?

00:14:48.740 A team are going over on election to make sure the Chinese Communist Party does not complete a coup of South Korea.

00:14:55.340 Korea, these wars are not over. 0.94

00:14:58.260 They ain't over till they're over. Back in a moment.

00:15:00.760 This July, there is a global summit of BRICS nations in Rio de Janeiro,

00:15:05.460 the bloc of emerging superpowers, including China, Russia, India, and Persia,

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00:15:16.420 They're calling this the Rio Reset.

00:15:19.400 As BRICS nations push forward with their plans, global demand for U.S. dollars will decrease, 0.57

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00:15:27.680 While this transition won't not happen overnight, but trust me, it's going to start in Rio.

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00:16:28.440 There's something happening with our farmland here in the United States that isn't getting enough attention.

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00:19:32.200 Okay, welcome back, and let's keep that shot.

00:19:43.040 Let's keep the music, guys.

00:19:44.140 Don't bring it down.

00:19:45.080 That's the United States Marine Corps Band at the amphitheater.

00:19:49.900 See, it looks like a Navy chorus in the back.

00:19:53.780 This is a musical part of the event before the president arrives.

00:20:02.200 We are live at Arlington National Cemetery today for the Memorial Day commemoration event.

00:20:08.180 The president of the United States will leave the White House shortly to go to Arlington.

00:20:14.380 It's about 10 minutes down what, Constitution Avenue, across Memorial Bridge, past Lincoln Memorial, across Memorial Bridge.

00:20:22.640 Steve Gruber is there.

00:20:25.160 Steve Gruber, put us in the room like you did the great job you did at West Point.

00:20:29.740 What's happening?

00:20:32.200 Steve, I can tell you, it's a remarkable event.

00:20:36.000 The emotion in the room is telling.

00:20:38.940 It feels, as you can hear the music in the background.

00:20:42.600 It's a solid event.

00:20:43.480 I've had the opportunity to talk to a number of veterans.

00:20:46.180 A couple of them I just spoke to, World War II veterans.

00:20:48.600 I sent you a picture, Steve.

00:20:49.680 I don't know if you can get it up.

00:20:51.720 One was 97.

00:20:53.540 One was 98.

00:20:55.300 Both from Brooklyn, by the way.

00:20:56.840 The 98-year-old little gentleman who was running the ships that ran the beaches of Normandy.

00:21:03.580 The other gentleman who flew to North Africa and then came up around from the other flank to go into France following D-Day.

00:21:11.180 And so the stories you hear here, pointed, real.

00:21:15.780 And you look at the people that have...

00:21:17.460 Look, Steve, you and I can sit here and do live broadcasting because of the people that laid down their lives for us.

00:21:22.460 The free speech that we had.

00:21:24.480 And it's no small measure from Concord and Lexington to the Revolutionary War, the War of 1812 and all the context since that people have laid down their lives.

00:21:36.860 And the last full measure of devotion to the UNI can sit here and listen to the Marine Corps band, to listen to the stories here in the amphitheater at Arlington National Cemetery.

00:21:50.080 And I don't think there's a more important place to be on Memorial Day 2025 than being here.

00:21:58.620 Looking at Donald Trump for the live at Mark Sear.

00:22:01.560 A little bit later, he said he'll be leaving the White House in about 20 minutes or so.

00:22:06.520 But it's a remarkable event.

00:22:08.360 The place is full.

00:22:10.140 Standing room only is where people can see the stream in.

00:22:14.500 And it's a privilege, honestly, to be here for me.

00:22:18.760 It really is.

00:22:20.080 No, it's a day.

00:22:25.440 It's very solemn.

00:22:28.080 And let's go ahead and listen.

00:22:30.820 Let's go ahead and listen to this music.

00:22:31.860 Thank you.

00:22:43.660 When the president died, I didn't.

00:23:13.660 Let me, let me walk with my brother in palace of honey.

00:23:26.780 Let peace begin with me.

00:23:38.780 Let this be the moment's now.

00:23:48.640 With every step I take, let this be my song of love.

00:24:00.780 To take his moment, his moment in peace.

00:24:11.360 Peace and I hear.

00:24:14.780 Let me, let this be my song of love.

00:24:29.780 To take each moment, live each moment in peace.

00:24:40.020 Eternally.

00:24:43.780 Let there be peace on earth.

00:24:58.780 And let it begin with me, with me.

00:25:17.780 You just saw, Steve.

00:25:25.620 We see the Honor Guard coming into left.

00:25:28.400 Continue on, Steve Gruber.

00:25:31.060 Yeah, the Honor Guard's making their way by me right now as we speak.

00:25:34.940 And, you know, it is an honor to be here.

00:25:39.240 420,000 people in the area here in Arlington.

00:25:41.940 And I've always found it remarkable.

00:25:43.340 Steve, you probably have as well.

00:25:44.580 You walk around and you see Ohio and Missouri and Montana.

00:25:48.340 All the different states represented in the rows of White Crosses here. 0.99

00:25:52.860 And I guess there's no better place, no worse place.

00:25:56.720 More special than Washington National Cemetery on Memorial Day.

00:26:00.240 To reflect on those that laid down their lives.

00:26:03.480 For us to be here today, to enjoy this great American experiment.

00:26:07.380 It's a remarkable place to be.

00:26:08.760 It's a solemn day.

00:26:09.380 But a day of remembrance.

00:26:11.600 And a day that there's nothing more of merit than respecting our fallen.

00:26:16.700 And I'm really looking forward to the remarks by President Trump.

00:26:19.840 As there's obviously a new direction for this country.

00:26:23.860 A new dedication to putting America first.

00:26:26.200 And I think that that's on the minds.

00:26:27.660 I saw many red hats and Trump-supporting individuals here.

00:26:32.280 Obviously, they have embraced the direction that we're going.

00:26:36.100 And it's a special place to be.

00:26:39.480 And I'm looking out the back of the amphibian across the rows of White Crosses. 1.00

00:26:44.860 And the two of the unknown soldiers.

00:26:47.060 All right here.

00:26:49.120 It's a special place.

00:26:50.360 And a special day to be here.

00:26:51.640 The most sacred ground in the United States.

00:26:56.540 Of course, any military cemetery is, but particularly Arlington.

00:26:59.100 Arlington is also the home of Robert E. Lee and Mary Custis, who was a direct descendant of George Washington.

00:27:05.980 It was basically confiscated or taken by the Union in the years of the Civil War to bring the war dead back and to be buried.

00:27:17.840 That's the beginning of Arlington.

00:27:19.060 The Custis House is not too far from here.

00:27:22.420 I'm very honored.

00:27:23.580 Although we come from the South and have a lot of Southerners from North Carolina, particularly, that serve.

00:27:30.440 My great-grandfather is buried at Arlington National Cemetery.

00:27:33.940 Charles Edward Jack, who fought with the 1st Maine Cavalry.

00:27:37.340 His brother did also.

00:27:39.080 My great-grandmother is buried there.

00:27:41.040 And one of my great-uncles.

00:27:44.080 Captain Bannon Moe has both of her great-grandparents there.

00:27:46.960 Colonel McKinnon, who served with MacArthur and actually served with MacArthur, I think, in the Philippines' interwar years.

00:27:54.420 Colonel McKinnon and his wife and his son, John, are buried there.

00:27:58.980 They're Moe's great-grandparents on her mother's side.

00:28:01.280 And her great-grandparents, or her great-great-grandparents on her dad's side, buried at Arlington National Cemetery.

00:28:07.780 And very, very, it's an honor to have relatives buried there.

00:28:14.160 It's just incredible.

00:28:17.260 Patrick K. O'Donnell, Korea.

00:28:20.080 The last, known but to God, the Tomb of the Unknown.

00:28:24.120 The last is Korea because of modern technology. 0.99

00:28:26.380 Haven't had an opportunity in either wars in Iraq, Afghanistan, or Vietnam.

00:28:31.880 So the last was 30 May 1958.

00:28:35.780 I was four and a half years old on a brutally hot day in Washington with, I don't know, felt like millions of people.

00:28:42.520 Talk to me about the Korean War, the sacrifice of these troops, many of them untrained.

00:28:47.780 They're thrown into some of the fiercest combat that America's ever had.

00:28:51.380 This is the first hot conflict of the Cold War, Steve.

00:28:56.800 And it is, in many ways, the Forgotten War, where tens of thousands of Americans laid down their lives to protect freedom and to check communism, which was spreading around the globe.

00:29:09.160 This is an extraordinary struggle and conflict that the men of George Company, in particular, give me tomorrow.

00:29:18.580 Well, that band of brothers, they were reservists, and many of them never even knew how to properly throw a grenade.

00:29:26.760 And remarkably, these were men that had never gone through, many of them had never gone through boot camp itself.

00:29:32.480 And it would be on the ships in 1950, in the summer of 1950, that they would be trained by the great NCOs that were part of George Company, men that fought along the Matanakau River at Guadalcanal and Peleliu, men like Rocco Zulu, who trained these men aboard ships as they were going to Korea.

00:29:52.860 And they were on the first wave at Blue Beach at Inchang, where Korea was reduced in 1950, in the summer of 1950, going into the fall to a small perimeter around Pusan, which was nearly overrun.

00:30:09.220 And it was at Inchang that MacArthur makes the Great Gamble, and it's this flanking maneuver where they land near Seoul, and they surprise the enemy.

00:30:19.520 You know, and everything had to go perfectly right because the tides were so, you know, at such a point where only a specific day or two, the landing would actually be successful.

00:30:32.280 And that's one of the reasons why it was so successful is because of the unexpected nature of it.

00:30:37.460 And MacArthur timed that perfectly and also had to convince the general staff that it was possible.

00:30:43.760 And it would be the men of George Company and many others.

00:30:46.600 The Marine Corps would lead the way.

00:30:49.200 Hey, Patrick, Patrick, let's just hang on for a second.

00:30:51.960 Let's get America the Beautiful.

00:30:54.900 Let's go ahead and turn the volume up.

00:30:56.880 We'll go back to the amphitheater.

00:30:58.040 We'll come back to Patrick in a moment.

00:31:02.280 We'll come back to the amphitheater.

00:31:32.260 We'll come back to our cars.

00:31:50.100 Welt Emperor.

00:31:51.560 We'll come back to our所有 matter.

00:31:53.300 And tears, America, America, God shed his grace on thee,

00:32:11.440 And drown thy gold with brotherhood,

00:32:23.000 From sea to shining sea, America, America.

00:32:41.440 America, America.

00:32:53.900 Patrick O'Donnell, continue on. Tell me about Korea.

00:32:58.840 Yeah, it was the Men of George Company and many, many others.

00:33:01.320 You know, at the time, in World War II, we had over 12 million men and women under arms.

00:33:08.660 And the, you know, the war ends and we immediately demilitarize.

00:33:14.500 And much of that goes down to less than around a million men.

00:33:19.040 And it would be the Marine Corps that would actually prepare for it by mothballing much of their equipment in Barstow, California.

00:33:25.740 And MacArthur, you know, in 1950, they reconstitute the 1st Marine Division.

00:33:32.500 And it's the Marines are the spearhead at Inchung and lead the way.

00:33:38.560 And they're at Blue Beach.

00:33:41.120 They have, they land, but the seawall is actually so high that it actually, the top of the landing craft door is near the seawall.

00:33:50.120 So they used to use scaling ladders to climb up the end of the landing craft to get across the seawall.

00:33:57.360 And they're immediately met by incoming fire.

00:34:00.020 But they quickly seize Inchung. 0.60

00:34:01.840 And then they're involved in Seoul, Korea, and the fighting there.

00:34:05.340 George Company, you know, takes the brunt of a Chinese or I should say North Korean. 1.00

00:34:13.200 At this time it would be a North Korean counterattack, which involved several self-propelled guns and T-34-85 tanks at Maupal Boulevard, which is in the heart of Seoul.

00:34:23.920 And I had one great story by John Kerry, who was a lieutenant at the time, and he is literally, General MacArthur is walking down the street and in broad daylight, without any cover, walks down the street.

00:34:42.640 And young Lieutenant Kerry grabs him and pulls him into the side of the building.

00:34:47.660 MacArthur said, what the hell are you doing, Lieutenant?

00:34:50.040 I'm trying to protect you from the bolts.

00:34:52.020 And MacArthur just looks up at him and says, there's not a bullet in the world that can kill me.

00:34:56.940 That's kind of how bold this man was, beginning with, you know, prior to the World War I, where he was involved in Mexico.

00:35:05.500 And in World War I, he had just sort of this era of invulnerability.

00:35:09.280 He was awarded, people realize, forget that, MacArthur was awarded five silver stars for gallantry in combat in World War I.

00:35:22.460 His father having won the Congressional, being awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor in the Civil War.

00:35:29.000 Patrick, hang on one second.

00:35:30.220 I want to go back to Steve Gruber.

00:35:33.180 Steve, get us up to date.

00:35:34.920 What's going on at the amphitheater?

00:35:36.280 We've had the parade of flags here just a moment ago.

00:35:39.620 Now, I learned something, as I always do on these events.

00:35:43.140 I learned that when President Trump steps foot on the cemetery grounds, the cannons will set off.

00:35:49.600 And so you will know when the Commander-in-Chief is at Arlington because the cannons will be touched off and we'll know that he's here.

00:35:56.140 From that point, he'll go lay the wreath, and it'll take only a few minutes, and he'll be here to give remarks now.

00:36:01.580 So we're expecting him to leave the White House in the next few minutes, make his way to Arlington.

00:36:07.220 We'll hear the cannons fire, and then we'll know the Commander-in-Chief, the 45th and 47th President of the East United States will be on the grounds, the safety ground.

00:36:17.740 Steve, that's the most searing memory I have from 1958 is the howitzers.

00:36:26.760 I think they were down outside the Capitol, but when the remains of the unknown from the Korean War went with an honor guard,

00:36:34.340 the howitzers, I believe, fired the entire time until the official party with the body, with the remains,

00:36:43.160 and General Eisenhower and Richard Nixon actually got to Arlington.

00:36:47.700 It took like 15, 20 minutes.

00:36:50.460 It was incredibly powerful, incredibly powerful.

00:36:53.020 So we'll know when the Commander-in-Chief arrives today at Arlington, they'll do that.

00:36:57.940 Steve, it is packed today, it is a combination of Families of the Fallen, and a little bit that's weighted to Section 60.

00:37:08.920 Section 60 at Arlington is the section that was opened up for Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans,

00:37:15.700 and of course, heroic veterans of our many wars, including all the way back now to the last, the greatest generation of World War II.

00:37:24.840 Your thoughts, sir?

00:37:25.500 You know, I wrote in here today with one of the Real American Voice photographers, Tony,

00:37:31.700 whose grandfather is buried here at Arlington, and he talked about how powerful it is for him to come here,

00:37:37.540 and I can imagine it's the same for all these families, relatives that are distant.

00:37:42.540 I had a relative that fell in Gettysburg, not here at Arlington, but still, it's a family legacy.

00:37:47.300 It's what's handed down through the generations.

00:37:50.000 Your father, your grandfather, your great-grandfather served.

00:37:52.400 And for people to come here to etch the name of their loved one, their fallen one, whether it's Iraq and Afghanistan,

00:38:00.700 or all the way back to when they first started using this after they took it from Robert E. Lee,

00:38:08.360 I mean, this is a generational, emotional day for these families.

00:38:13.300 It's the family history, and it's also the diary, the family history of America.

00:38:19.600 It's here.

00:38:20.320 It's in these tombstones.

00:38:21.860 And like I say, you see the tombstones from California, from New Mexico, from North Dakota,

00:38:27.260 and all points, Guam, American Samoa.

00:38:30.380 People in this cemetery, real Americans, who served their country in so many times of need.

00:38:40.480 Of course, you talked about the Korean War.

00:38:43.500 I think MacArthur was probably right, Steve.

00:38:45.220 We probably should have gone right on the way to Beijing, but President Truman didn't think that was a good idea.

00:38:50.220 Well, Steve, and 67 years later, South Korea, remember, the Korean War is not over.

00:38:59.220 There's never been any peace treaty.

00:39:00.660 It's really kind of an armistice.

00:39:02.500 It's kind of a ceasefire.

00:39:04.880 In Korea, that's what I wanted to start with.

00:39:07.220 That airport where Colonel John Mills and Dr. Thayer and others in the war room over there,

00:39:12.700 the ambassador of town, is in Incheon.

00:39:14.680 You land in Incheon, and you get the understanding of what amazing amphibious assault that was

00:39:21.740 and how it swept around the Seoul, Korea.

00:39:23.840 But no, Korea is the tip of the spear. 0.97

00:39:25.520 And particularly, you talk about the Chinese troops who were really sent to their death against the Americans.

00:39:31.840 Many of them didn't even have weapons.

00:39:33.600 Just wave after wave of humanity.

00:39:36.720 Today, you've got in Taiwan, and we've got to be blunt about this,

00:39:40.040 is that these are not exercises they're doing.

00:39:42.800 This is a preparation for an invasion.

00:39:45.420 And President Trump, in his peace-toothed strength, this heroic, that really, Steve,

00:39:50.780 one of the most powerful speeches I've ever heard President Trump give,

00:39:54.140 was on Saturday at West Point where he committed to those young men

00:39:58.060 that never again will American troops be put into a conflict,

00:40:03.540 that we're not there to win it.

00:40:05.380 No more of these forever wars.

00:40:07.000 Your thoughts?

00:40:08.520 I could not possibly agree more.

00:40:10.380 I mean, as you sit here and look across these fields of white marble,

00:40:15.980 you have to hope, as President Trump concludes his Middle East trip with Saudi Arabia, UAE, Qatar,

00:40:22.120 as he works to negotiate peace between Ukraine and Russia,

00:40:25.480 as he works to bring the hospitaliers to a close in Gaza,

00:40:29.020 he wants these fields to remain open, not filled with white headstones.

00:40:36.120 He wants these fields to remain open, and as do I.

00:40:38.940 I mean, he is a president of peace.

00:40:40.420 Yes, will we pay the price if we have to?

00:40:42.160 We will.

00:40:42.620 He's made this very clear.

00:40:43.540 But you're right.

00:40:45.000 What he said at West Point was stirring.

00:40:48.260 We don't want endless wars.

00:40:49.560 We want the idea that if you go into a war with overwhelming force,

00:40:54.140 you win it and you get out.

00:40:55.820 The nation building, the nonsense is over.

00:40:59.080 The horror that we saw at Abbey Gate, that sort of incident,

00:41:02.380 that sort of embarrassment is over.

00:41:05.420 We cannot do that anymore.

00:41:06.700 That address at West Point, the United States Military Academy on commencement address,

00:41:13.180 coupled with today, as I argue, we're in the kinetic part of the Third World War.

00:41:18.920 What is happening today is far bloodier than what happened between September 1939

00:41:25.620 and the invasion of Russia by the Wehrmacht in June of 1941, and that was bloody.

00:41:31.140 But if you add up the Blitz, you add up North Africa,

00:41:33.100 you add up the fall of France, throw in Finland, everything that happened there,

00:41:39.460 you're only about half.

00:41:41.500 And that was bloody and it shocked people, but that was only half of what's happening.

00:41:44.920 And let's be blunt.

00:41:45.760 President Trump, of all the pressure he has on him, you know, he, Steve, he was,

00:41:53.180 and Patrick, he was, came off the hook on Putin this morning, last night and this morning.

00:41:58.720 And people have to realize that President Trump trying to end these endless wars,

00:42:03.100 particularly on the Eurasian landmass,

00:42:05.740 the Russians had a brutal assault on bombing of Kiev with drones.

00:42:14.580 And President Trump goes, I mean, called Putin out.

00:42:17.380 So these things are a long way from over and people have to understand when we talk about budgets,

00:42:21.800 we talk about the invasion of the country and the deportations and the judges and everything,

00:42:25.820 the pressure on President Trump to end these kinetic wars is,

00:42:30.560 and he's doing a Herculean, Herculean task.

00:42:32.940 And Steve Gruber, you said it, what President Trump doesn't want to do,

00:42:36.460 he doesn't want to open up another section next to Section 60.

00:42:40.380 He doesn't want to fill these sections.

00:42:42.200 He believes that peace through strength, that he's prepared to commit troops.

00:42:47.840 Nobody will cross Trump.

00:42:49.040 That's why we didn't have the Ukraine war.

00:42:50.460 That's why you didn't have the thing, the event in Gaza.

00:42:54.180 But today, with these families mourning their loved ones

00:42:59.240 and the nation mourning the honored dead of our military,

00:43:03.140 you have to understand that we're in the middle of it, just like in 1930.

00:43:07.200 And this is like 1940, early 1941, Steve Gruber.

00:43:10.820 Let me jump in there, Steve.

00:43:12.100 I've got a whole motorcade.

00:43:13.240 I'm just out the back door of the amphitheater here.

00:43:17.720 The whole motorcade appears to be pulling up right in front of me.

00:43:21.260 And I've got the whole shooting match here.

00:43:26.120 I've got no camera on it because it's pointed the other direction, my friend.

00:43:29.480 But I can tell you I've got a line of Suburbans and ambulances and military equipment.

00:43:35.560 So something's happening here as they prepare for it.

00:43:38.060 We wait for those cannons to sound.

00:43:39.800 But they're getting into position to welcome the President of the United States.

00:43:44.140 I can tell you that right now.

00:43:48.420 This is his role as Commander-in-Chief.

00:43:51.760 The President's there.

00:43:54.300 Patrick K. O'Donnell, this is – we've had the – we're going to have this event at –

00:43:58.480 and by the way, we'll jump back to live coverage as soon as I get started.

00:44:02.220 Patrick, we've done this since the First World War, which you covered so magnificently in your book,

00:44:08.900 that it was decided like France and like England that America would have a tomb for the unknowns,

00:44:13.720 for those who were so shattered in battle that they could not be identified.

00:44:19.080 Talk to us about that.

00:44:20.120 Steve, the First World War, you know, America plays an absolutely critical role,

00:44:27.020 especially in the finance, the world finance of that war.

00:44:31.320 It's America's treasury that really finances the war.

00:44:35.340 It's America's arsenal then of democracy, which is the production, the massive production,

00:44:41.780 beginning in 1914 with TNT, which is used to make artillery shells and everything else.

00:44:47.840 It's America's arsenals and America's industry that powers the Allies. 0.80

00:44:52.140 If it didn't exist, our money and manufacturing, the Allies would have folded.

00:44:58.560 And then it's in 1917 that the American Expeditionary Force under Black Jack Pershing

00:45:04.080 comes in and is this decisive factor.

00:45:07.740 It's the millions of American troops that will literally break through the major defensive lines

00:45:14.300 that have been goring allied armies for four years

00:45:19.620 and contributing to the deaths of tens of millions, you know, around the world of this global conflict.

00:45:28.320 Patrick, our combat casualties in World War I were huge, right?

00:45:35.560 The fighting itself, the Germans essentially surrendered

00:45:38.860 because they knew the Allies with America would overwhelm them.

00:45:41.980 But the combat casualties of the First World War were massive compared to the amount of time.

00:45:48.240 I think we were only in active combat for six months, and particularly the surge at the end.

00:45:53.620 But the combat casualties were—and it shocked the nation.

00:45:57.020 The nation was not prepared for the amount of casualties that took place in World War I, sir.

00:46:03.000 It's absolutely true.

00:46:04.380 It's the amount of time.

00:46:06.720 It's a very short window of time.

00:46:08.900 But the intensity of the combat, the, you know, the massive artillery barrages, the gas.

00:46:14.940 And then what also people don't forget, that often forget, is the pandemic that swept the world,

00:46:21.280 that caused tens of millions of deaths as well.

00:46:23.780 All these things are combined, but it's America's decisive role at the end that will crack the German lines and change the war.

00:46:35.540 And the takeaway from that war is preparation.

00:46:38.440 America typically is never prepared for the wars or the next war that it needs to fight.

00:46:43.960 And World War I, we were woefully underprepared.

00:46:47.660 We had one of the smallest armies in the world at the time, like the 19th, you know, in a very tiny army compared to the world powers.

00:46:58.480 But it quickly built up, and we were able to quickly ramp up production.

00:47:02.840 But as you said, Steve, today, these are some of the most perilous times in history.

00:47:08.200 And, you know, the smallest events can trigger, you know, massive, have massive unintended consequences.

00:47:17.260 And it's a very dangerous time that, you know, prudence and preparation are absolutely important.

00:47:23.220 It's dangerous because of, yeah, I don't want to politicize this, but it's dangerous because of, and the engine room is telling you,

00:47:30.180 things like Abbey Gate, where America looks feckless and weak, right?

00:47:34.800 With, what, 11 Marines, 13 overall, brave young heroes, essentially slaughtered on a botched withdrawal.

00:47:43.660 This is what President Trump is trying to reset.

00:47:45.740 This is what the parents, look, the parents and the wives and husbands of the KIs, the killed in actions, 0.99

00:47:55.560 understand that their loved ones gave all and sacrificed for the defense of this republic and the defense of their countrymen.

00:48:06.260 But they want to make sure that there was a purpose to it, number one.

00:48:10.180 And number two, that it was handled at the absolute highest level of competence.

00:48:15.340 They want purpose and competence.

00:48:16.820 Let me be blunt.

00:48:18.720 That is not, that is, we've drifted away from that.

00:48:21.560 And that is what President Trump's trying to reinstall, reinstill, not simply in the military,

00:48:26.680 but in the American people and the way they look so that these are, you know,

00:48:31.780 that Memorial Day just doesn't become another great time to get sales and another great time to,

00:48:38.980 to, you know, to have a barbecue with friends.

00:48:42.620 That's all part of it's the traditional kickoff of summer, but this is the most important.

00:48:47.600 That's why President Trump, I think, goes out of his way, particularly on Memorial Day weekend,

00:48:52.020 to both go to the United States Military Academy at West Point,

00:48:55.980 give historic speech to these young men and women who will be made second lieutenants on that day

00:49:02.040 and enter the military as the tip, you know, the cutting edge of the spear to commit to them

00:49:09.480 and then to come back to Washington and to come at this really sacred ceremony that we've had for many decades.

00:49:16.780 Steve Gruber, can you get us up to date on what's going on at the amphitheater, sir?

00:49:22.120 You know, let me reflect on what you just said there, Steve, because there was a time when I was young,

00:49:27.680 1980, I believe, cover of Time magazine showed the burned out helicopters

00:49:31.520 and the failed rescue attempt of the hostages in Iran.

00:49:34.740 And there was a time and a feeling of weakness in America when Jimmy Carter was president.

00:49:39.180 And then you fast forward to what Donald Trump inherited, and I feel the same way.

00:49:45.720 There was four years of weakness.

00:49:48.960 And Ronald Reagan had to come in and correct that in 1980.

00:49:52.480 And I feel that Donald Trump had to come in and correct it beginning in January of this year.

00:49:56.720 And I think that's the reflection.

00:49:58.180 And that's the comparison I make when I was a young man seeing that horrible burned out failure of that rescue attempt in the desert by Jimmy Carter.

00:50:08.280 There was a feeling of ineptitude.

00:50:10.520 And I'm honestly watching Joe Biden for the last several years, that same feeling.

00:50:15.740 And people didn't have confidence.

00:50:17.260 If you talk about the widows and the sons and the daughters, they want confidence.

00:50:21.060 You're exactly right about that, Steve.

00:50:22.480 They want confidence, and they want confidence.

00:50:25.540 And when we go do something, we do it with overwhelming force.

00:50:29.880 We do it with a precision, with an effectiveness, second to none.

00:50:35.840 And I agree with that.

00:50:38.240 Here at Arlington in the amphitheater, we're waiting for the sound of the cannons.

00:50:45.000 Donald Trump shouldn't be en route to Arlington now.

00:50:48.300 The helicopter's in the air.

00:50:49.420 The first motorcade came in with all the military folks, the D.C. police, the United States Park police, and everyone here behind the amphitheater.

00:50:59.700 So the stage is set.

00:51:01.700 There was a moment there.

00:51:02.860 I can see the gate where they're letting in the guests today.

00:51:06.500 They brought it to a stop there for about 15 minutes.

00:51:08.900 Now I see they're flowing through again.

00:51:10.900 The place is packed, standing room only, and they're still bringing more people in, which is incredible.

00:51:15.100 But I can't help but affect what you said there, Steve.

00:51:20.060 I mean, we need to be the single strongest nation on earth so that we don't have to fight, so we don't have to open up a section 61 and 62.

00:51:29.320 You're so right about that.

00:51:30.480 You know, Steve, what Patrick K. O'Donnell said about people like MacArthur.

00:51:39.120 I mean, Trump's trying to find those MacArthur's, those patents.

00:51:42.020 He wants American exceptionalism on the battlefield.

00:51:45.120 He wants American exceptionalism in defense so that we're never crossed.

00:51:48.840 My personal experience, I was a young naval officer on the carrier battle group, two of them, Gonzo Station and Camel Station, that did the workup for that raid.

00:52:01.820 And I can tell you as a junior officer, we would sit there and go, this thing is not pulled together tight.

00:52:07.900 I mean, they didn't have enough helicopter.

00:52:09.460 It was just, it was a cluster.

00:52:11.340 And months and months of training and coming together for absolute debacle.

00:52:15.140 And then I came back to the Pentagon and served under Reagan.

00:52:17.560 And the difference in a spree de corps, the difference in confidence, the difference, one person can make that difference.

00:52:24.460 Reagan, the difference between Reagan and Carter.

00:52:25.940 Remember, Carter was a naval officer.

00:52:27.340 Carter had gone to the Naval Academy as a submarine officer, had Ziggy Brzezinski.

00:52:31.840 But it's just a feeling throughout that we were not the top of the game.

00:52:35.640 We were not exceptional.

00:52:36.900 And we were not playing to win.

00:52:39.000 We were not there to put people in harm's way to actually, there was no confidence, I can tell you,

00:52:44.840 in the carrier battle groups, at least at the junior officer level, that the hostage rescue was anything but just some madcap scheme.

00:52:53.480 And it turned out to be even worse than madcap scheme.

00:52:55.500 That was totally different.

00:52:56.500 Look, my kid brother, as a Navy pilot, was with the raid on Gaddafi under Reagan.

00:53:02.060 And that was a totally different deal.

00:53:03.760 That was highly competent, took care of it, and sent Gaddafi to the desert for a couple of decades and got his mind right about, you know, about radical jihad. 0.81

00:53:13.820 That's the difference.

00:53:14.480 This is Trump.

00:53:15.220 Most served in Iraq under Obama, right?

00:53:18.340 When you sign up, you're going to get, you know, you don't get to pick your commander in chief.

00:53:21.720 But the difference of a Ronald Reagan, the difference in the Donald Trump is all the difference in the world.

00:53:25.860 And this is what you're seeing, trying to imbue.

00:53:37.340 We're waiting for the president.

00:53:38.740 Steve Gruber is at the amphitheater.

00:53:41.160 Patrick K. O'Donnell, your thoughts on the leadership at the top imbuing into a military that you want exceptionalism.

00:53:49.860 Those families of the dead that are in Arlington today, they ask one thing, two things.

00:53:54.800 There's a purpose to all this and that it's handled at the highest level of competence, sir.

00:54:01.440 It's all about leadership, Steve.

00:54:03.440 It's indispensable.

00:54:05.360 And as you mentioned, the commander in chief's leadership will change policy, will change everything.

00:54:11.560 And that's the essential ingredient that's been missing for four years and now is back.

00:54:18.080 And these are the most – some of the most perilous times where unintended consequences on single events can change history very rapidly.

00:54:28.800 So it's absolutely essential to have leadership at the top, which will then go at all levels of the military and also the United States.

00:54:38.680 You talk about changing history.

00:54:41.940 As the engine room reminds me, it was Abbey Gate that really, of course, here at the war room, we were – from the beginning, not pro-Biden.

00:54:50.400 But Abbey Gate, I think, woke middle-class America and people who are independents or Democrats who were not Trump people to say, wow, what is going on here?

00:55:02.380 When you see that – when you see the – what, the C-130s and the C-5s going down the runways with people hanging onto the wings.

00:55:10.540 It looked worse than Vietnam in 1975, and that's the thing with our Vietnam veterans was 57,000 KIAs, and we don't have anyone – we don't have anyone that is honored in the tomb of the unknown because of DNA technology that it's very difficult today to not be identified, which is positive for the families, obviously.

00:55:39.560 The – but you look at the debacle in Vietnam and the heroism.

00:55:44.700 In these wars that are forgotten, like in Korea or Vietnam, which people want to look away from, or even today in the beginning of the Iraq and Afghanistan war, those 20 years, the heroism of these young people is extraordinary.

00:55:58.160 And it goes back to Normandy.

00:56:00.100 It goes back to Guadalcanal.

00:56:01.420 It goes back to Cemetery Ridge.

00:56:03.020 It goes back to – it goes back to Ticonderoga.

00:56:07.320 Right now we're in the middle of – we've had the 250th anniversary of Lexington and Concord just a couple weeks ago.

00:56:12.740 We had the 250th anniversary of Ticonderoga.

00:56:16.100 Right now in American history, they're dragging the guns of Ticonderoga to Boston for the defense of Boston.

00:56:23.860 We're about to have one of the most heroic engagements of the American military at Bunker Hill or at Breeds Hill coming up with the guns of Ticonderoga.

00:56:35.160 It's just – it's absolutely extraordinary all the way back to the founding of this republic and even before in the French and Indian wars, the American martial spirit.

00:56:44.880 And that's – people are prepared to sacrifice, but they want to make sure there's a purpose to the sacrifice and competence.

00:56:51.580 And that's what President Trump committed on Saturday.

00:56:54.220 It's peace through strength.

00:56:55.320 I'm not going to fight forever wars.

00:56:57.080 We're not going to throw away young people's lives in these policing actions.

00:57:02.600 We're going to have peace through strength.

00:57:04.200 And if we – but when we commit, we're going all in and we're going to commit to victory, an overwhelming force to have victory.

00:57:10.240 Patrick K. O'Donnell, your thoughts?

00:57:11.460 The American way of war, as you say, Steve, is really forged during the American Revolution.

00:57:18.720 And that American way of war is using overwhelming firepower, using intelligence.

00:57:23.880 But also it's about prudence in attacking, not needlessly wasting the lives of Americans, but going after an objective and winning.

00:57:35.200 And that's the important thing.

00:57:36.760 But it's also about the proper military strategy.

00:57:40.100 I mean, General Washington, in my view, is one of the greatest military commanders because he's able to change course of a major strategy midstream during the war multiple times.

00:57:53.820 You know, he has a Fabian strategy, and then he, you know, fades out.

00:57:58.340 He doesn't attack a superior army, uses a regular warfare properly.

00:58:03.420 And then, you know, as the war ends, or as it comes – you know, this is an eight-year war.

00:58:10.920 He's able to hold things together internally.

00:58:13.320 He's able to manage allies, which is an incredibly, you know, important thing.

00:58:19.160 And you don't see that in a commander-in-chief until Black Jack Pershing in World War I where he has to manage allies as well.

00:58:27.140 So he has an incredible role that he plays in really forging the American way of war. 0.54

00:58:34.760 And so much of our theory of war comes from the American Revolution.

00:58:40.280 I had family members at Lexington and Concord that, you know, it spans all the way back – that DNA spans all the way back to the American Revolutionary War.

00:58:50.300 You know, Steve Gruber put us – I guess I would say the president's left, I think, the White House.

00:58:56.800 He's en route to Arlington National Cemetery.

00:58:59.080 The Marine Corps band is playing.

00:59:01.040 There's a group of American citizens of really families of the fallen and also veterans of our current war and particularly the greatest generation.

00:59:12.560 Walk us through what's going on, sir.

00:59:14.040 You know, as I mentioned here earlier, I was – it's a great privilege to be here.

00:59:19.140 I met these two veterans of World War II.

00:59:22.060 And I was thinking about, you know, when I was born, when you were born, World War II had only been done for a few years.

00:59:28.980 Korea had only been done for a couple of years when you were born.

00:59:31.980 So when I grew up, I knew lots of veterans from World War II, certainly from Vietnam and Korea.

00:59:38.680 Most of those are gone now.

00:59:40.160 I mean, the two gentlemen I met from World War II, one that was, you know, putting the ships toward the shores of Normandy, he's 98 years old.

00:59:48.960 The other gentleman that's gone in North Africa and then on to France, 97 years old.

00:59:53.900 Our access to their memories, to their experiences, fading quickly.

00:59:58.580 And we need to embrace that.

00:59:59.620 We need to educate.

01:00:00.560 That's something else about having Donald Trump as commander-in-chief.

01:00:04.100 It's having to educate people about what a remarkable country we are.

01:00:09.600 I mean, and you look at Providence in some of these battles that I've been discussing, you know, the Battle of New Orleans.

01:00:16.320 You go to the Capitol burning in the War of 1812 and the provincial rainstorm that came to put the fire out.

01:00:22.520 Or the Battle of Midway, which was clearly unwinnable.

01:00:25.220 We didn't have the numbers.

01:00:26.380 The Japanese did. 1.00

01:00:27.180 And yet, by Providence, this nation is here.

01:00:31.600 And in large part by the 420,000 graves that spread around me here at Arlington today.

01:00:37.260 But it's time to teach our children again about the greatness of this nation and the people that have served it.

01:00:43.780 Yes.

01:00:44.160 At all levels.

01:00:45.020 In all capacities.

01:00:45.900 And that's a really—and I feel it in the younger generation today more than I have in a long time, Steve.

01:00:52.220 And that is a patriotism.

01:00:54.280 When I see the students of North Carolina and Alabama tearing down other flags and putting the American flag up and defending the flagpole with honor.

01:01:00.740 Yeah. 0.99

01:01:01.380 Not because they're in the military, but because they're Americans, damn it. 0.98

01:01:03.700 And it matters. 0.99

01:01:04.820 Right?

01:01:05.180 You're seeing also the recruiting pickup under President Trump.

01:01:11.720 Absolutely.

01:01:12.340 Parents particularly are comfortable that President Trump will be very judicious in the commitment of American troops.

01:01:22.540 It's not that we're not going to fight.

01:01:23.880 We're going to fight.

01:01:24.460 Right now, I'm telling you, we're on a razor's edge, as Captain Fennell reminds me.

01:01:29.960 We're on a razor's edge of this kinetic part of the Third World War, expanding and drawing in the United States of America.

01:01:37.000 So understand on this Memorial Day, this is just not for our honored dead.

01:01:42.640 This is also for those you're looking at.

01:01:46.040 And remember, the two gentlemen, he's talking about World War II there, one that was on a beach landing craft at Normandy.

01:01:52.340 They were probably—I think the math were said they were teenagers.

01:01:55.380 You're talking about the young—the casualty rates were always highest among the young, right, in combat.

01:02:03.720 And this is what President Trump has committed to.

01:02:06.760 President Trump has committed to a judicious execution of American national security policy.

01:02:13.220 At the same time, he's trying to put out really a brutal kinetic part of the Third World War.

01:02:19.760 And if you don't think it's brutal, look at what happened in Kiev last night.

01:02:22.620 And as we said, the Russians are going to be tough to deal with. 1.00

01:02:26.200 We believe it's imperative to pull the Russians away from the Chinese Communist Party. 0.85

01:02:29.980 But they hit Kiev last night to the fact that it got President Trump's dander up.

01:02:36.320 The Marine Corps band playing some of the historic music of John Philip Sousa.

01:02:41.200 Some of the great—you see the Tomb of the Unknown there.

01:02:45.140 Maybe we can bring that in on a split shot to waiting the president's arrival.

01:02:54.500 Gruber, you know, the—and Patrick, Section 60 is the section open up for Iraq and Afghanistan veterans.

01:03:03.420 There's a—I remember Andrew Breitbart.

01:03:05.840 When Andrew brought a new house over by UCLA, it backed up to the Los Angeles National Military Cemetery that's right there in Westwood.

01:03:16.060 It's right next to the 405.

01:03:17.800 And the Section 60 there, the new section for Iraq and Afghanistan veterans, was really near.

01:03:24.580 Andrew's house was kind of on a ridge overlooking it, but it was close to Andrew's house.

01:03:28.200 It's one of the things, many things that really brought him from being a liberal to really being one of America's great patriots is seeing the young families, families of young widows and children and babies that would come and not just be there for the barrels, but then come back over and over again to lay wreaths or just to be there with their loved ones.

01:03:53.860 And it had a searing impact on him.

01:03:57.900 And I agree with you, Steve.

01:03:59.080 This is one of the things I think President Trump's going to get us back to of more and more of these commemorations on days.

01:04:06.400 I mean, as a veteran, I 100 percent agree with what he's trying to do on Veterans Day is make it more about the ending of World War I.

01:04:13.360 He's trying to get into people's memory the historical nature of the conflicts we've had and why they've been so important for the freedoms and liberty of the current generation and down through time.

01:04:27.380 Steve Gruber, your thoughts?

01:04:29.260 I agree with you on that.

01:04:30.520 The 11th hour, the 11th day.

01:04:33.460 November the 11th, of course, the end of World War I.

01:04:36.000 And, you know, reflecting what you guys have been talking about there with Patrick and so forth, the number of people that died in that conflict with America shocked the public.

01:04:43.920 And he's right.

01:04:44.800 From there, straight into the global pandemic, the Spanish flu, America, we got punched pretty hard a few times right there.

01:04:53.340 And again, that's, as I said earlier, as I look at these rows of marble headstones, you reflect on this.

01:05:01.320 This ripples through time, through generations, widows and families who have lost everything.

01:05:06.860 And you talk about Andrew Breitbart seeing the young families come around and it changed his perspective.

01:05:11.360 You can't help but be moved by looking across these fields.

01:05:16.720 And we don't want more of these fields.

01:05:18.260 We want the great peace to strength.

01:05:20.300 We cannot be where we were for the last four years.

01:05:23.360 We have to make a step forward.

01:05:24.680 We have to invest.

01:05:25.720 We have to make sure that places, as you mentioned earlier, Taiwan and other places are defended against tyranny.

01:05:30.640 Nothing more tyrannical than the Chinese Communist Party, without question. 0.92

01:05:35.180 And you see what happened again last night with the attack with the drones and the missiles and so forth.

01:05:39.120 At least a dozen killed there.

01:05:41.160 And Donald Trump, irate over it.

01:05:43.480 How are you ever going to bring this war to an end if you continue to behave as such?

01:05:47.900 It seems to me that Putin doesn't want the war to end.

01:05:50.340 I'm not sure Zelensky does either, but Donald Trump does.

01:05:53.520 Donald Trump wants that war to end because he knows the cost.

01:05:56.500 And you can't help but be moved.

01:05:58.180 You can't help but be moved looking at this place on any day, but no more so than today, on Memorial Day.

01:06:07.260 And Donald Trump's message to the world is peace, but it's through strength, not weakness.

01:06:11.940 It's not taking the need.

01:06:15.140 It's taking the first step forward.

01:06:16.760 It would – Gruber and I are talking about this kind of – the kinetic part of the Third World War that our theory of the case has started, and President Trump is trying to stop it.

01:06:27.480 But I make the argument all the time.

01:06:29.560 This is much bloodier with a million and a half casualties dead and wounded in Ukraine and tens of thousands in Gaza right now.

01:06:38.540 And you've got the Houthis.

01:06:39.520 You've got – it is – you're the historian.

01:06:41.860 I argue that this is actually bloodier than the start of – the traditional start of the European War of 1939 to 1941 on at least the European side.

01:06:53.500 I guess if you put in the Chinese side and the global part of it, it might match it.

01:06:57.720 But this is as bloody a conflict as we've ever seen, sir.

01:07:01.220 Yeah, the bookends of that war really – I mean it begins in 1937 with the Marco Polo Bridge incident in many ways and how China and Japan clash and tens of thousands of Chinese and Japanese troops are killed even before 1939.

01:07:23.880 And it just continues to go.

01:07:25.640 And I think the key here really though is economics, it's preparedness, it's bringing back supply chains, and I'm just reminded of the Cold War.

01:07:39.160 And that's the importance right now is economics, and that will eventually win things.

01:07:47.820 A kinetic war of World War III would be catastrophic and something that the world might not be able to sustain.

01:07:54.440 Patrick, Patrick, let me toss back to the amphitheater.

01:07:57.980 I think we're starting to get some activity.

01:07:59.520 So let's hang on for one second.

01:08:00.540 Patrick K. O'Donnell, combat historian.

01:08:02.300 Let's go back to the amphitheater.

01:08:03.500 Let's go back to the amphitheater.

01:08:24.440 Let's go back to the amphitheater.

01:08:34.240 Let's go back to the amphitheater.

01:08:50.860 Thank you.

01:09:20.860 Thank you.

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Bannon's War Room - May 26, 2025

Episode 4512： WarRoom Memorial Day Special 2025

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