Bannon's War Room - October 23, 2025


Episode 4872： AI To Replace Your Family; Trumps World


Episode Stats


Length

53 minutes

Words per minute

181.63377

Word count

9,730

Sentence count

688

Harmful content

Misogyny

4

sentences flagged

Hate speech

25

sentences flagged


Summary

Summaries generated with gmurro/bart-large-finetuned-filtered-spotify-podcast-summ .

Stephen K. Bannon and Joe Allen discuss the dangers of artificial intelligence and why we should all be worried about it. They also discuss the benefits of AI and how it can help us all live in the future. And they talk about the best way to prepare for it.

Transcript

Transcript generated with Whisper (turbo).
Misogyny classifications generated with MilaNLProc/bert-base-uncased-ear-misogyny .
Hate speech classifications generated with facebook/roberta-hate-speech-dynabench-r4-target .
00:00:00.000 We're going to build super intelligence and we have no idea how to control it and it's going to be so cool, please invest in us, you know.
00:00:05.720 The single biggest fight is going to be over what are the values of the AIs.
00:00:09.520 That fight, I think, is going to be a million times bigger and more intense and more important than the social media censorship fight.
00:00:16.500 You know more about AI, which has me more worried. A lot of people, everybody's worried about it. We're also hopeful about it.
00:00:22.040 Yeah.
00:00:22.520 But it changes so fast.
00:00:24.480 Here now with AI, we have evidence now that we didn't have two years ago when we last spoke of what they call AI uncontrollability.
00:00:33.860 So this is the stuff that they used to say existed only in sci-fi movies.
00:00:37.840 We can create infinite universes.
00:00:40.580 This is like the fuel that we need.
00:00:42.260 There's never been a technical project of this complexity and this scale ever.
00:00:45.960 Two paths, two futures, teaching Sam to think or being left in the dust.
00:00:56.160 Wow. AI is really going to, you know, it's going to scale to the moon.
00:01:00.280 Have you ever looked at the moon and wondered if it was real? I have.
00:01:05.640 And tonight, ladies and gentlemen, I have to tell you, the moon is fake.
00:01:09.220 You know, this whole thing is going to reshape the economy.
00:01:25.280 It'll take a few years, but it's going to reshape the economy.
00:01:27.860 And, you know, we're there or almost there now.
00:01:30.120 You know, these systems are different from ordinary software.
00:01:33.280 You don't write every line of code, right?
00:01:35.240 Building ordinary software, it's like building a skyscraper or something.
00:01:38.200 You make the blueprint, you make everything to design.
00:01:40.900 This is, ironically, a bit more, like, biological.
00:01:44.080 It's organic or something.
00:01:45.220 You're growing these models, you've set up.
00:01:47.860 That's, that can't be real.
00:01:50.060 It's a screen.
00:01:51.440 The moon's a screen.
00:01:52.720 Everything we've been looking at, it's fake.
00:01:55.200 People love the new Sora.
00:01:56.980 And I also think it is important to give society a taste of what's coming on this co-evolution point.
00:02:06.240 So, like, very soon, the world is going to have to contend with incredible video models that can deepfake anyone.
00:02:11.800 Attempting a classical goetic conjuration in the manner of the Lamegaton. 0.83
00:02:14.980 Thanks to our investors for trusting us with the seed round.
00:02:17.060 This one is for you.
00:02:17.800 By the names that gird the world, Adonai Elohim Tetragrammaton.
00:02:20.800 That will mostly be great.
00:02:21.860 There will be some adjustment that society has to go through.
00:02:24.000 And just like with ChatGPT, we were like, the world kind of needs to understand where this is.
00:02:28.960 Very soon, we're going to be in a world where, like, this is going to be everywhere.
00:02:32.080 There should be a prohibition against building this stuff.
00:02:35.320 At least until there's a broad scientific consensus that this can be controlled and safe.
00:02:42.420 And also until Americans actually want it.
00:02:44.940 And we released a poll today also showing that actually less than 5% of all Americans want to race to superintelligence.
00:02:52.820 This is the primal scream of a dying regime.
00:03:00.540 Pray for our enemies.
00:03:02.500 Because we're going medieval on these people.
00:03:05.780 I got a free shot at all these networks lying about the people.
00:03:10.040 The people have had a belly full of it.
00:03:11.940 I know you don't like hearing that.
00:03:13.380 I know you try to do everything in the world to stop that.
00:03:15.140 But you're not going to stop it.
00:03:16.100 It's going to happen.
00:03:17.380 And where do people like that go to share the big line?
00:03:20.780 Mega Media.
00:03:21.680 I wish in my soul, I wish that any of these people had a conscience.
00:03:27.620 Ask yourself, what is my task and what is my purpose?
00:03:31.320 If that answer is to save my country, this country will be saved.
00:03:37.720 War Room.
00:03:38.520 Here's your host, Stephen K.
00:03:40.600 Bannon.
00:03:40.940 Thursday, 23 October, year of our Lord, 2025.
00:03:48.900 We're absolutely packed this morning and this afternoon.
00:03:51.280 Let's get on with it.
00:03:52.020 We've got our own Joe Allen in here, our editor for all things transhumanism.
00:03:56.980 Do we have a clip?
00:03:57.660 Let's do the cut.
00:03:58.400 Do we have the cut from Stephanie Rolos?
00:03:59.880 Let's play that.
00:04:00.640 And then we're going to jump on what happened yesterday and where we go from here.
00:04:04.800 Quo vadis.
00:04:06.480 Whither thou goest.
00:04:07.880 Okay, let's hit it.
00:04:08.800 A hundred public figures signed a letter that they want to ban on superintelligence, but
00:04:14.600 is that really going to do anything?
00:04:16.500 I mean, two years ago, Elon Musk signed a very similar letter that did nothing.
00:04:20.440 Of course, he did not sign it today, but these letters are worth.
00:04:23.760 Well, it is notable that Steve Bannon and Glenn Beck signed that letter.
00:04:28.900 But also, I'm kind of wondering if we have any British viewers watching this, that a lot
00:04:32.360 of the things we've been talking about so far sound like a bit of a speed run of Brexit,
00:04:36.840 where in exchange for this deregulation, we get a lower standard of living and everything
00:04:42.840 else costs more and there's way more uncertainty.
00:04:45.060 It's pretty wild how much the outcome of Brexit was just everything got worse.
00:04:50.860 And it has redounded to the political benefit of the faction in British politics that pushed
00:04:56.320 Brexit.
00:04:56.840 Yeah.
00:04:57.020 The last real quick thing I would look for people to watch internally, Agriculture Secretary
00:05:01.720 Brooke Rollins, Stephen Miller, and Besant.
00:05:05.920 How are these three going to navigate the complaints coming from the private sector?
00:05:11.100 And at Wired, we broke the story about the paid dinners at Mar-a-Lago that were happening
00:05:14.940 where $1 million a head for a table, $5 million for your CEO, whoever, one-on-one.
00:05:20.860 That's slightly confusing.
00:05:22.460 I'll break it all down for you.
00:05:23.560 We signed, there was 800, I don't know, I would say prominent people, but Meghan Markle,
00:05:28.620 the Financial Times of London, my beloved Financial Times, included their headline, and this shows
00:05:34.780 you they will go for clickbait.
00:05:36.760 It was Steve Bannon and Meghan, was it Markle?
00:05:39.800 It's Markle?
00:05:40.880 Markle?
00:05:41.740 I don't follow this stuff.
00:05:43.300 I'm not a big name in the royal family.
00:05:44.620 Anyway, last night, Stephanie Rohr makes a good point.
00:05:49.680 Elon signed this same type of letter a couple of years ago.
00:05:52.680 We're hurtling towards it.
00:05:53.620 He's one of the leaders in the rush to superintelligence, AGI and superintelligence.
00:05:59.020 I don't do these things lightly.
00:06:00.380 I almost never, I think I did one about the CCP with the Committee on the Present Danger
00:06:05.700 a couple of years ago, but just people come to me all day long.
00:06:08.060 I do not do these.
00:06:09.540 But this is different.
00:06:10.860 And in fact, we're going to mount a huge campaign on this.
00:06:13.400 There's already billboards up.
00:06:15.540 There's going to be a media campaign.
00:06:17.120 What was the warning shot you gave in your cold open right there?
00:06:22.340 Steve, you've got two main factions that are fighting over the future of not just the technology,
00:06:29.440 but in their vision, humanity.
00:06:32.020 On one side, you have those who are racing towards the most advanced AI systems they can create.
00:06:38.140 That includes AGI.
00:06:39.820 That includes artificial superintelligence.
00:06:41.700 So why is that a problem?
00:06:42.620 Why is that?
00:06:43.340 That's the future of mankind.
00:06:44.540 So I'm told, why is that a problem?
00:06:47.040 Well, on the other side...
00:06:48.140 And why is it a problem having American companies to get there first before the murderous Chinese Communist Party? 0.99
00:06:53.160 You know, the other side says that at the most extreme end of the other side,
00:06:58.020 who wants to regulate or pause or ban the development of superintelligence,
00:07:03.120 they say that there won't be a humanity left after the creation of such a technology.
00:07:08.780 On the more moderate end, I think you have just as many problems.
00:07:13.120 So you look at things like deep fakes or you look at things like AI psychosis,
00:07:17.700 people who become so enamored with an AI bot that it basically fills their entire world,
00:07:25.420 their entire reality becomes digitized.
00:07:28.100 That's just now, right?
00:07:30.600 This is in the very beginning phase.
00:07:32.820 You see people literally losing their minds, falling in love with AIs, 1.00
00:07:37.000 children killing themselves at the instruction of AIs.
00:07:40.860 Committing suicide because AI tells them to do it.
00:07:43.200 The hearing with Josh Hawley was stunning.
00:07:46.980 You had probably the most detailed was a young man, Adam Rain,
00:07:53.040 who was given instructions on how to tie the noose
00:07:55.580 and told by ChatGPT that he should just confer with his chatbot
00:08:01.940 rather than his parents about the problems he was going through.
00:08:05.140 So that's today.
00:08:06.580 What the guys on the opposite side, the Max Tegmarks, the Future of Life Institute,
00:08:11.920 even more moderate people like Case, the Center for AI Safety,
00:08:15.740 what they are warning is that these problems, these mundane problems,
00:08:21.960 and to call child suicide mundane might seem ridiculous.
00:08:25.500 No, but it's a first-order problem.
00:08:27.060 It's not a global issue.
00:08:29.500 You get AGI and then the superintelligence, you're done.
00:08:34.440 Yeah, as this technology advances and as these systems become more sophisticated
00:08:39.460 and therefore more uncontrollable, the dangers increase.
00:08:43.560 You have the economic issues of job displacement.
00:08:46.740 That's already happening among coders and white-collar.
00:08:49.580 But on out, you have the military AI, which provides the capability to actually harm people.
00:08:56.160 You have the issue of bioweapons.
00:08:58.460 And if people like Eliezer Yudkowsky are to be believed,
00:09:02.720 and I think that he is to be taken very seriously, if nothing else,
00:09:06.120 then the creation of something like AGI or superintelligence basically means
00:09:10.220 you have a system that can outthink and outpace human beings
00:09:14.080 and will not care about human existence.
00:09:15.500 Here's why we have to slow it down, and we're putting a full court effort to do this.
00:09:18.660 Number one, some of the founders of the industry are saying that this is incredibly dangerous,
00:09:24.260 and if we go there, it's going to destroy mankind.
00:09:28.120 Then the leaders of it behind – first off, Elon, who's driving right now,
00:09:32.660 he signed it a couple of years ago.
00:09:34.240 He said it's a 20 percent probability that AGI or superintelligence will destroy mankind.
00:09:39.900 I mean, come on, man, 20 percent.
00:09:41.140 I mean, if that's 20 percent, then you've got to slow it down.
00:09:43.400 But repeat what Sam Altman said on his blog before he became one of the real leaders of this,
00:09:50.440 the tip of the spear.
00:09:51.820 He said, hey, the two choices you're going to have when this is created is either mankind,
00:09:56.700 if you don't get involved and let the digital gods drive you,
00:10:01.800 we're going to go in an evolutionary tree as Homo sapiens that is going to end, right, a limb.
00:10:07.300 Or you can basically do what they want, which is a merger of machine and man.
00:10:13.960 This is all about transhumanism.
00:10:15.820 Just don't think it's about AGI.
00:10:17.360 This is about transhumanism.
00:10:18.740 They're trying to force us into a situation years from now.
00:10:22.840 It used to be decades from now, but it's not decades anymore.
00:10:25.360 Years from now that you're going to have to have the decision of whether to basically chip yourself
00:10:30.240 or do something that enhances you as a Homo sapien, right, with digital technology
00:10:36.620 or quantum computing or advanced chip design or AGR, artificial intelligence or all of it.
00:10:42.500 And that's what we feel strongly needs to be slowed down so that, first of all,
00:10:47.360 we can understand all the risk, right, and at the same time make sure mankind knows this.
00:10:52.620 Now, a corollary of this is we must stop the Chinese Communist Party from their advances. 0.98
00:10:59.260 And we have the ability to do that.
00:11:01.040 The problem is the guys driving AGI and the Silicon Valley network around them are in business,
00:11:06.840 are hardwired in to the Chinese Communist Party as their business partner.
00:11:11.600 A thousand percent.
00:11:12.500 And you have, thank God, you do have sane people, even on the side of pro-American innovation,
00:11:18.480 who want export controls on chips, hard export controls, not what we have now,
00:11:24.120 who want to do everything possible as you and Thayer and many others have talked about to stop the IP theft
00:11:30.840 and stop the technology transfer.
00:11:33.360 Musk is at the forefront of the technology transfer to China.
00:11:37.780 Because they own Tesla.
00:11:39.860 They're the financier of Tesla.
00:11:41.240 He and the guy at NVIDIA are agents of influence for the Chinese Communist Party.
00:11:46.280 The guy at NVIDIA is saying, oh, all the China hawks, that's a badge of shame.
00:11:50.100 Yo, dude, you're an agent or influence of the CCP.
00:11:52.980 So is Elmo.
00:11:54.660 Elmo's in business.
00:11:55.540 I mean, they control Tesla. 0.97
00:11:56.580 They essentially own Tesla.
00:11:58.260 That's where he borrows all the money to that to do everything else.
00:12:01.660 Yeah.
00:12:01.940 You know, add Tim Cook from Apple to this, too,
00:12:05.540 because Apple is also responsible for a lot of the technology transfer.
00:12:09.200 Well, they get so deep a question.
00:12:10.440 We cannot live in a duopoly.
00:12:11.800 Essentially, the American economy or your life is a duopoly between Apple and Google.
00:12:17.740 This is one of the reasons we're Brandeisians, right, that we believe in you must break out private power from government power.
00:12:27.360 Much of the economy, I would say all the economy or your life is lived under a duopoly of these two oligarchs, Apple and Google.
00:12:36.800 And that's part of the reason that both of them are hurtling down the path of artificial intelligence.
00:12:41.700 So we are now organized and have an effort are going to really drive this to become part of a national conversation.
00:12:49.000 The two things this this letter says, one, we need a consensus in the scientific and technological community, which it doesn't.
00:12:55.500 In fact, the consensus actually when you talk to people is that we've got to slow down.
00:12:59.460 Yes.
00:12:59.780 Right.
00:13:00.220 And you have to have a buy in by the American people.
00:13:02.760 That's our our job is to make sure that you have all the tools to discuss this.
00:13:08.360 Where do people go?
00:13:09.140 You're by the way, this guy's being asked to go everywhere from from small Christian churches in the hinterland to to the parties of the elites in Los Angeles and San Francisco, because they see you as a guy that understands this and breaks it down.
00:13:22.860 Part of the is the book Dark Aeon.
00:13:24.500 Part of it's your hits here in War Room.
00:13:26.100 Part of it's your writings.
00:13:27.280 Where do people go for your writings?
00:13:28.420 You must immerse yourself in this.
00:13:30.540 And with Joe Allen, it's all free.
00:13:32.260 Where they go?
00:13:33.240 Go to JoeBot.xyz.
00:13:35.620 I've got my upcoming tour schedule posted right there at the top or social media at J-O-E-B-O-T-X-Y-Z.
00:13:43.060 Again, tour schedule right at the top.
00:13:45.240 Grace and Mo, this is what I love.
00:13:47.240 When I met this guy, he was a rigger at a, you know, doing country, western music or big rock, big hair rock bands up in the up in the rafters, which is only the most dangerous job in America.
00:13:58.300 With a theology degree from Boston University.
00:14:01.120 You know, when you're walking a beam, Steve, the old staying from Jesus, you know, narrow is the gate to life, wide is the path to destruction.
00:14:09.500 It becomes very real walking a beam at 100 feet.
00:14:12.080 You're a very wise man.
00:14:13.420 You're a very wise man.
00:14:14.380 There are very few crackers that are experts in AI.
00:14:16.520 Joe Allen, amazing job you're doing, sir.
00:14:19.620 Really, you're doing God's work, the Lord's work here.
00:14:23.400 Thank you, sir.
00:14:23.760 Everybody go, the tour is amazing, and you've got to see Joe in real life.
00:14:27.760 And here's the great thing.
00:14:28.940 He's not going just to all these highfalutin conferences.
00:14:31.180 He's coming to churches.
00:14:32.380 He's coming to evangelical groups, all of it.
00:14:35.280 We must embrace the understanding of this because it is the summoning of the demon, as Joe Allen says.
00:14:42.940 Okay, brother, thank you so much.
00:14:44.660 I will take a short break.
00:14:45.680 A blockbuster cover story interview with the President of the United States and Time magazine.
00:14:51.120 The author is going to be here in the house, next in the war room.
00:14:55.800 In America's heart.
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00:16:22.500 State Marco Rubio is in Israel this morning as the Trump administration continues its diplomatic blitz
00:16:28.500 to try to keep the Israel-Hamas ceasefire intact.
00:16:33.020 It is Rubio's fourth trip to Israel since January.
00:16:35.980 It overlaps with the final hours of Vice President J.D. Vance's visit to the country.
00:16:40.900 Here's what Rubio told reporters prior to leaving last night.
00:16:45.180 It's important, in particular, over the next couple weeks that we keep the ceasefire together.
00:16:51.340 The Vice President is there now, and he'll be returning tomorrow
00:16:54.480 and has great reports on the progress we made, but there's more work to be done,
00:16:57.960 and we know that, so the first couple weeks are going to be key.
00:17:00.360 We think it's important for the first seven to ten days over the next week
00:17:03.700 that we had senior-level administration officials on the ground
00:17:07.380 working to make sure this was all coming together.
00:17:09.980 So, obviously, Steve and Jared have been there for most of the week.
00:17:12.340 They've now moved to some other countries they've been meeting with in the region.
00:17:16.620 The Vice President will be there through tomorrow, and then he'll have a chance to be there.
00:17:20.120 But this is a big priority.
00:17:21.440 This is a historic peace deal that President Trump delivered on,
00:17:24.160 and now we have to make sure that it continues and that we continue to build upon it.
00:17:28.280 A new piece in the upcoming issue of Time magazine takes readers inside President Trump's deal.
00:17:34.020 The piece, which posted online moments ago, features an interview with President Trump
00:17:38.240 as well as new reporting on the dynamics behind the Israel-Hamas ceasefire.
00:17:42.340 We'll let you kind of walk us through how this deal came to be.
00:17:45.960 Obviously, thank God, the hostages were returned,
00:17:49.560 but now things, as we've already learned just in the last week or so, get much more complicated.
00:17:54.880 But how did we get to the point where Hamas agreed to release those hostages?
00:17:59.620 Well, I think we got to the point because of two main events that took place
00:18:03.740 that really gave the Trump administration maximum leverage over both parties.
00:18:08.160 One was after the attack on Iran, Donald Trump had really bolstered his standing in Israel.
00:18:14.680 He already was quite popular and had a lot of credibility with the Israeli public
00:18:18.260 through his first-term actions like recognizing Jerusalem as Israel's capital,
00:18:22.160 moving the embassy there, recognizing Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights,
00:18:25.940 and things like that.
00:18:26.980 But after going forward with that attack,
00:18:29.880 that gave him a kind of leverage over Netanyahu that previous presidents haven't really had.
00:18:36.060 If Barack Obama or Joe Biden criticized Netanyahu even mildly, that didn't really hurt him.
00:18:43.660 That actually gave him credibility with the right wing and his base who could say,
00:18:47.600 look, he's standing up to an American president trying to exert pressure on Israel
00:18:52.120 to do things that he doesn't want to do.
00:18:53.960 But in a very fierce and animated phone call that Donald Trump made to Netanyahu,
00:18:59.360 on the eve of announcing the deal, he made it quite point-blank that he would not be willing
00:19:04.340 to stand with Netanyahu anymore if he didn't accept that deal.
00:19:08.560 And that was something that Netanyahu really had to respond to,
00:19:11.520 because if Donald Trump turned against him, he would be in big trouble at home.
00:19:16.300 I think also when you had Israel attack Doha, Hamas officials who were there,
00:19:22.560 that was something that, according to both President Trump in an interview with me
00:19:26.560 and conversations with other Israeli officials, really brought the Arab powers together
00:19:31.360 to exert their pressure over Hamas to release those final hostages
00:19:35.400 and no longer see them as leverage, as they had for years, but as a liability.
00:19:39.560 What is the relationship right now between Bibi Netanyahu and the president of the United States?
00:19:45.460 Well, you know, I think it's a complicated relationship.
00:19:48.580 Donald Trump has expressed frustration with the prime minister many times.
00:19:52.540 During the first term, he was upset that Netanyahu pulled out of what was supposed to be a joint operation
00:19:57.380 to kill an Iranian general in 2020.
00:20:00.400 He was famously very upset that Netanyahu was one of the first world leaders
00:20:04.960 to congratulate Joe Biden on his 2020 election win.
00:20:09.060 And, you know, you often see this dynamic where the president realizes
00:20:12.660 that he has to kind of hug Netanyahu in public while putting very fierce pressure on him in private.
00:20:18.900 But, you know, one thing that Trump is not afraid to do is to criticize him in public.
00:20:23.900 You know, you saw it even in his address to the Knesset saying that Netanyahu would have kept going forever
00:20:28.840 if he didn't stop him.
00:20:30.200 And, you know, one thing he said to me was that, you know, I had to tell Netanyahu
00:20:34.120 the whole world is against you.
00:20:35.440 And if you don't stop, we can't be with you anymore.
00:20:37.820 And, you know, it worked because of the leverage that he has with Netanyahu's own base
00:20:44.020 who sees Donald Trump as really the strongest supporter of Israel of any president in modern memory.
00:20:49.760 Kind of zigzag you see in Trump relationships debate, depending on whether he feels gratified
00:20:55.060 by the last news cycle compared to the one before.
00:20:58.240 Or is this just sort of an ongoing, you know, just the drama we see with him
00:21:02.960 in a lot of relationships, especially with world leaders?
00:21:05.440 Well, I think it's a little bit of both.
00:21:06.560 I think, you know, one thing is that Netanyahu has learned better how to deal with Trump
00:21:11.560 and how to placate him.
00:21:12.820 I mean, he also knows that he can't resist him or defy him to any extent where he could
00:21:17.740 lose capital with Trump himself.
00:21:19.840 I think, you know, Donald Trump is someone who is, you know, whenever he gets frustrated
00:21:23.620 with Netanyahu, he's not reluctant to tell him.
00:21:25.940 And even to make that known, you know, one really notable thing that he said in our most
00:21:30.280 recent interview was that, you know, if Netanyahu pressed ahead with his desire to annex
00:21:35.340 the West Bank, which he tried to do in a first term and Trump stopped in them, he still has
00:21:38.660 far right forces within his coalition who really want him to press forward.
00:21:42.900 Donald Trump said Israel would lose all support from the United States if Israel went forward
00:21:48.720 with that.
00:21:49.420 These are these are comments that you haven't really heard from previous presidents, no
00:21:52.760 matter what their level of exasperation has been with the Israeli premier.
00:21:55.480 Well, I think he has imposed red lines.
00:21:57.840 One of them would be the annexation threat that is looming in Israel.
00:22:01.920 Another one would be, you know, he was obviously very upset when he attacked Doha, thought that
00:22:06.100 risk crippling the negotiations, the attempt to solidify a ceasefire deal.
00:22:10.760 But I think one thing is nothing is really ever off the table with Trump.
00:22:14.060 And he's always willing to kind of wheel and deal.
00:22:16.540 And so, you know, he always has that looming over Netanyahu where, hey, if you cross the line,
00:22:23.200 if you do something I tell you not to do, this support could disappear.
00:22:26.160 Wouldn't it be a shame if that could happen?
00:22:28.840 And Mika, wouldn't it be a shame?
00:22:31.740 The prime minister certainly would be thinking with a reelection coming up next year.
00:22:38.240 Donald Trump, obviously, far more popular in Israel than Benjamin Netanyahu.
00:22:45.080 He needs them.
00:22:46.120 Donald Trump knew that and use that leverage.
00:22:50.680 Eric Cortalesa joins us.
00:22:53.200 Eric, an incredible interview.
00:22:56.620 And I might add, I guess, I guess, did you or somebody get the the the attention of the
00:23:03.820 Time, the Time, Time Magazine editors?
00:23:07.380 Because I compare the two covers.
00:23:09.480 My understanding is President Trump is loving this cover, not just as a power shot, but over
00:23:14.360 the top of it, folks.
00:23:15.400 If you haven't gotten this week's Time Magazine, if you're part of the War Room Posse and a big
00:23:20.080 Trump fan, which you know you are, you might want to go out and buy a copy of this because
00:23:23.120 it's extraordinary.
00:23:24.040 You might want to frame it or get it's got President Trump at the Resolute desk in a power
00:23:29.860 shot with the flags in back of him.
00:23:32.460 And then it's got Trump world up at the top above Time.
00:23:35.240 And my understanding is the President of the United States is loving that compared to
00:23:39.080 your one.
00:23:40.080 You did an amazing story the week before.
00:23:42.600 Right.
00:23:43.120 But they had somehow an editor picked a shot that President Trump wasn't particularly fond
00:23:48.220 of, given what his hair looked like.
00:23:49.700 That's right.
00:23:51.220 He made his opinion known.
00:23:52.800 He's not shy.
00:23:54.240 How did you get in to get this interview?
00:23:56.020 Because President Trump, you actually walked through the entire thing.
00:24:00.000 And for the Israel First Crowd, the Tel Aviv Levins and these guys are lying and spinning. 0.83
00:24:06.600 It's right there in the President's own words, sir.
00:24:09.840 Absolutely.
00:24:10.420 We had been in talks about doing a story like this before he went to Israel and Egypt to
00:24:15.940 announce the deal.
00:24:17.080 And, you know, basically it was a pretty straightforward request, conversations with Trump and his
00:24:21.960 key envoys in the region on the issues, Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff, a kind of blow by
00:24:27.320 blow of what went down.
00:24:28.380 And, you know, it was so fascinating talking to both to President Trump and the people around
00:24:32.220 him was the way in which over successive years he had built up such leverage over Netanyahu
00:24:37.840 because of his popularity with Israeli public.
00:24:41.580 You know, in the first term, remember, he recognized Jerusalem as Israel's capital, moved the embassy
00:24:45.640 there.
00:24:45.900 He recognized Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights.
00:24:48.400 He pulled out of the Iran nuclear deal.
00:24:50.540 He brokered the Abraham Accords that normalized relations between Israel and all these Gulf Arab 0.97
00:24:55.400 countries.
00:24:56.500 In the second term, after he went along with the Iran attack, striking the nuclear facilities,
00:25:01.760 he had such good standing among the Israelis where he could really put the squeeze on Netanyahu
00:25:06.180 because if he turned against Netanyahu, Netanyahu would face way more domestic peril than he ever would if one of his
00:25:12.880 predecessors had attacked him because it always looks strong to the Israeli right if you're standing up to a 1.00
00:25:17.780 democratic president exerting pressure on Israel.
00:25:20.300 So between his ability to put Netanyahu in that hard place and the relationships that he had and Jared Kushner and Witkoff had with these Arab countries who could put the squeeze on Hamas, he was able to sort of capitalize on this moment and get the ceasefire deal that returned all the Israeli hostages.
00:25:36.740 I think it was Henry Luce, the founder of Time Magazine, and I think it was Teddy White, Theodore White, when he got Theodore White.
00:25:43.400 I think it was when he was bringing him into the magazine that the phrase, the first cut of history, the first draft of history.
00:25:53.020 He wanted – Luce wanted Time Magazine to be the first draft of history.
00:25:57.280 I believe that's the story.
00:25:59.140 Do you think that you're falling in the lineage of Theodore White and what Henry Luce – because the magazine for years kind of lost its way.
00:26:06.520 But a blockbuster interview with the president of the United States about the topic that took up so much of his attention for so long, do you feel like you're in the lineage of Theodore White and you're – this is actually the first cut of – people will refer to this and use this as they write about this incredible time in history?
00:26:25.140 Well, I certainly hope so.
00:26:26.120 I mean that was the aim, the first draft of history as we say.
00:26:29.520 And, you know, look, these are direct accounts from Trump, from American officials, from Israeli officials about what went down, and there's just a sequence of events that all played against each other.
00:26:39.460 You know, for instance, in February, Netanyahu and Trump agreed to give Iran a 60-day window to try to negotiate a framework for a nuclear deal.
00:26:50.380 Iran didn't come to any agreement within those 60 days.
00:26:53.400 That is what Netanyahu exploited to then attack Iran, and it was a combination of Trump believing that the Iranians were trying to play him and not actually come to a deal and wait out the clock and the fact that he saw the success the Israelis were having in this operation that he joined in.
00:27:10.900 But he was also, as you know, very, very reluctant to get America entangled in some sort of protracted, sustained war.
00:27:17.560 And he's avoided that.
00:27:19.220 But I think, you know, coming off of that, which Trump sees as monumental in his ability to bring the parties to a table, and then with the way they were able to sort of take advantage of the crisis of the Doha attack, really shows the way that they're wheeling and dealing in the region in a way that previous presidents just haven't.
00:27:36.580 I want you to stick around if you can for one more segment.
00:27:38.900 I want to go into it because today the Secretary of State is en route, Marco Rubio, to kind of relieve the vice president.
00:27:47.440 You got you got Jared and Whitcoff there.
00:27:50.080 They're now in.
00:27:51.220 What if he had the brightest mind in the war room delivering critical financial research every month?
00:27:57.620 Steve Bannon here.
00:27:58.680 War room listeners know Jim Rickards.
00:28:00.340 I love this guy.
00:28:01.180 He's our wise man, a former CIA, Pentagon, and White House advisor with an unmatched grasp of geopolitics and capital markets.
00:28:09.400 Jim predicted Trump's Electoral College victory exactly 312 to 226, down to the actual number itself.
00:28:18.780 Now he's issuing a dire warning about April 11th, a moment that could define Trump's presidency in your financial future.
00:28:25.840 His latest book, Money GPT, exposes how AI is setting the stage for financial chaos, bank runs at lightning speeds, algorithm-driven crashes, and even threats to national security.
00:28:38.040 Right now, war room members get a free copy of Money GPT when they sign up for Strategic Intelligence.
00:28:44.640 This is Jim's flagship financial newsletter, Strategic Intelligence.
00:28:49.440 I read it.
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00:28:51.540 Time is running out.
00:28:52.460 Go to RickardsWarRoom.com.
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00:29:00.100 That's RickardsWarRoom.com.
00:29:02.680 Do it today.
00:29:04.340 Hello, America's Voice family.
00:29:05.620 Are you on Getter yet?
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00:29:34.920 What I can't get over, I mean, this is the first draft of history.
00:29:38.460 You don't see this type of writing and reportage.
00:29:42.020 And talking to principals.
00:29:44.120 There's almost no anonymous sources.
00:29:47.580 You're talking to principals about what happened in the moment in one of the most important things.
00:29:52.500 And I've said, hey, the Middle East is a sideshow. 1.00
00:29:54.720 Israel is a sideshow to a sideshow. 0.99
00:29:56.180 But it has taken front and center this summer.
00:29:58.940 We're going to have Harnwell on.
00:30:00.400 I mean, President Trump now is back into the Putin thing.
00:30:03.300 He's got Besant with the Chinese. 1.00
00:30:04.960 We're trying to stop the Third World War. 0.96
00:30:06.860 But this has been gnawing at him and obviously been quite important.
00:30:10.900 And to try to put it to bed, you get the first draft of history.
00:30:15.220 You actually see it from President Trump's own thinking and own voice and then the other principals.
00:30:21.840 Now, talk to me because we're not Netanyahu fans here.
00:30:27.180 And the reason we're not Netanyahu fans, this greater Israel project, which they kind of undertook and dragged the United States alone.
00:30:34.760 And this is why I say, hey, these guys are protected.
00:30:36.700 They're not allies.
00:30:37.380 They've never been allies.
00:30:38.700 You've got to get this thing under control.
00:30:40.600 He's going to drag us into a bunch of different wars over there.
00:30:43.380 The founders of the nation of Israel had a very different idea about Israel's sovereignty, did they not?
00:30:51.980 Well, absolutely.
00:30:52.780 I mean, it was all based on the notion of Israeli sovereignty and self-determination that the Jewish people could have a nation state of their own and their ancestral homeland
00:30:59.420 and would not need to rely on the rest of the world for the security of the Jewish people.
00:31:04.960 That was the lesson of World War II and the Holocaust. 0.90
00:31:08.000 When they said never again, it wasn't just the fact that they're going to take it and not fight initially when they see threats.
00:31:13.740 But they would not be dependent upon anybody else.
00:31:16.900 They would do it themselves.
00:31:17.860 That's right.
00:31:18.240 And, of course, the Zionist project began way before World War II.
00:31:22.320 But that was the great lesson of the Holocaust. 0.99
00:31:24.140 We cannot rely on world powers to ensure our security.
00:31:27.060 And so there is a segment of the Israeli population that is frustrated with the way Netanyahu has engineered the U.S.-Israel relationship
00:31:35.600 because they're so dependent and reliant on the United States that they don't really have full freedom of movement and sovereignty in the way they would like
00:31:43.820 because if the United States yanked away their security guarantees, Israel would be rendered vulnerable militarily to threats all around the region.
00:31:50.760 And this is my point.
00:31:51.540 If they want to do the greater Israel project, go for it, but it's on your own. 0.99
00:31:54.820 If you want to actually work with President Trump for Middle East peace, now let's talk about today because you're reporting.
00:31:59.880 If you read Eric's piece, and I strongly recommend you go online or particularly if you're a President Trump fan, get a copy.
00:32:08.040 Get a copy of this, particularly the stunning cover in the reporting inside.
00:32:12.220 But today, you know, J.D. was there yesterday.
00:32:15.060 He's coming back.
00:32:15.740 And listen, they're doing a relay to babysit Netanyahu.
00:32:21.700 You have the vice president.
00:32:23.100 First, you have Jarrett and Wyckoff, the two negotiators.
00:32:25.620 Then the vice president goes over.
00:32:27.700 And now he's coming back, and they don't want Netanyahu unchaperoned.
00:32:31.760 So they're sending Rubio over there right now.
00:32:34.740 And I'm sure they're going to send other guys afterwards because Netanyahu, first off, they had the Knesset.
00:32:41.160 When J.D. Vance is there, the vice president of the United States, they pass something that's actually counter to the 20-point deal, correct?
00:32:49.060 They actually say that we're going to send more settlements or more sovereignty over Judeo-Samaria, right?
00:32:56.680 That's right.
00:32:57.100 That's right.
00:32:57.480 A motion to annex the West Bank, which, you know, the administration is vehemently against.
00:33:02.180 It's not too dissimilar to when the Netanyahu government early in Obama's administration, when Vice President Biden was visiting Israel, they announced the construction of new settlements, much to the chagrin of the Obama administration.
00:33:14.480 But, you know, it was very interesting timing because in my conversation with President Trump, I asked, you know, what would be the consequences if Netanyahu capitulated to the extremists in his coalition who want to annex the West Bank?
00:33:25.520 These are people like Itamar Ben-Gvir, Belitzel Shmotrich.
00:33:28.800 Guys in his cabinet.
00:33:29.820 Guys in his cabinet who he let in in order to form a government.
00:33:33.700 And Trump said to me, that will not happen.
00:33:36.300 I gave my word to the Arab countries that will not happen. 1.00
00:33:38.680 And then critically, he said, Israel would lose all of its support from the United States if that happened.
00:33:45.000 That was quite a direct statement.
00:33:47.740 No, dude, that's just not a scoop.
00:33:50.120 That's a bombshell because he's given it to him with both barrels right there.
00:33:53.640 Netanyahu don't mess around with this.
00:33:54.780 Now, listen, I've never been a two-state guy, but you essentially have a two-state.
00:33:58.340 You have Qatar financing it.
00:34:00.460 You've got two million Palestinians going to stay. 0.90
00:34:03.020 And Turkey is going to be the security, essentially guarantor, the organizer of the UAE troops and the Egyptian troops and maybe some Saudi troops.
00:34:10.160 So you're going to have an Arab legion there overseen by the Turks. 0.54
00:34:14.180 Except Netanyahu says yesterday when he's there with JD, the Times of Israel has got a, quite frankly, brutal story.
00:34:21.300 I put it up on Getter.
00:34:22.660 He goes, you know, I haven't made, you know, this is Netanyahu.
00:34:24.520 He says, I haven't determined what role Turkey is going to have.
00:34:27.520 We're like, what?
00:34:28.280 I think that's been decided, right?
00:34:30.720 And he's, so you've got the, over Judea Samara, you've got now the Turkish guarantee. 0.67
00:34:36.360 The most stunning thing to me that's happened in the last 48 hours is Jared Kushner and Witkoff go have a direct presentation by the IDF.
00:34:47.660 In the IDF's headquarters, an actual presentation of the military situation and security situation in Gaza.
00:34:55.180 And my understanding, or basically a reporter over there, Netanyahu didn't know that was going to happen.
00:35:00.380 And they, he always, you know, Netanyahu's political team always babysits that.
00:35:04.340 Jared and Witkoff say, no, we want to hear it, we want to hear it unfiltered.
00:35:08.460 So they show up before they leave.
00:35:10.500 And I don't even think they call the guy when they leave.
00:35:12.120 They say, we're taking off.
00:35:13.080 We're going to Saudi Arabia.
00:35:13.980 This, and then Netanyahu said yesterday, over and over again, we're not a protector.
00:35:18.080 We're not a client state.
00:35:19.100 Well, I would think the president of the United States would beg to differ.
00:35:23.100 But this pushback, like Netanyahu pushing back on Turkey as the security guarantor.
00:35:29.300 Netanyahu not wanting to actually have the IDF, because the IDF's kind of punched out on this thing.
00:35:34.440 Give her a thing. 0.86
00:35:36.140 Netanyahu saying, well, I've got to determine what the real terms of this are going to be.
00:35:40.260 And, you know, putting all this issue with Hamas, who seems to me are now basically going along with Qatar. 0.57
00:35:46.280 If he continues to force this, that he's the determining factor in this Middle East deal, given your understanding what the president told you in this exclusive interview, how do you think this plays out?
00:36:00.400 Well, I think, you know, Donald Trump and the administration are going to make clear, no, we actually have a role for Turkey.
00:36:05.720 This was very deliberate.
00:36:06.700 And it was part of the upshot of the conversations after the Doha attack, where they brought in the Qataris, they brought in the Egyptians, and they brought in Turkey.
00:36:14.440 Turkey was so important because it's a NATO ally.
00:36:16.360 So they could provide guarantees to Hamas that if they brokered the deal and if they stuck by it, there'd be a pathway toward phase two, which is this next part, which has all these thorny issues that tries to have a permanent final settlement of the conflict. 0.63
00:36:29.860 But, you know, I don't think the Trump administration is going to allow for the Turks to be ostracized from the process.
00:36:36.180 So that's something that they're very likely to put the hammer on.
00:36:39.680 Have you ever seen the situation, you've been doing this for a while, where you have two lead negotiators, Kushner and Witkoff, and Jared's the architect of the Abrahamic courts, which is really a business deal.
00:36:49.640 And that's why the diplomatic court doesn't really embrace it and doesn't understand it.
00:36:53.340 You have the two guys that are his lead negotiators.
00:36:56.340 One's the architect of the overall kind of framework for the region.
00:37:00.060 You've got – you have the vice president of the United States.
00:37:05.060 So when that goes to Israel, it's a big deal because it very rarely happens.
00:37:08.420 And you've got then the secretary of state all working a problem kind of as a relay race, the baton past the other.
00:37:15.380 Have you ever encountered any time at any administration that's ever done anything like this?
00:37:20.980 It's pretty unprecedented.
00:37:22.100 It's pretty new and unique.
00:37:23.740 I mean, you know, usually in previous administrations you have a secretary of state, you have a national security advisor, and they kind of go along and they are usually seasoned diplomats.
00:37:32.260 Donald Trump didn't want seasoned diplomats, although Jared Kushner certainly has diplomatic experience from the first term.
00:37:37.740 He wanted people who came from real estate, dealmakers who spoke his language.
00:37:41.600 So he brings in Witkoff, you know, another real estate magnate.
00:37:44.580 He brings in Kushner, also in real estate, but the family's bridge to the Middle East,
00:37:48.660 because they have certain relationships that can enable them to move forward in ways that they felt like they were stalled from.
00:37:55.580 Are they getting blowback inside of Israel of being too close to Qatar particularly, but maybe some of the other Gulf Emirates?
00:38:02.120 There are certainly segments that are skeptical of that.
00:38:05.300 And even, you know, Ron Dermer, the former ambassador to the United States for Israel, he's currently now in the government as well.
00:38:11.860 Very dialed in, very dialed in.
00:38:12.640 And he's very against involvement with the Qataris.
00:38:16.020 He doesn't trust them at all, and there are others who feel the same way.
00:38:18.980 So, but the Qataris have been that bridge to Hamas. 0.90
00:38:22.020 I mean, they're those chief mediators.
00:38:23.500 If not for the relationship with the Qataris, they would not have had the same ability to bring them to the table. 1.00
00:38:28.700 Look, I've said forever in the first trip we made, they're the railhead of financing the Muslim Brotherhood. 1.00
00:38:34.380 But in Egypt and Turkey are kind of the muscle for the Muslim Brotherhood.
00:38:37.600 But it was Netanyahu that really, when you say the bridge to the Hamas, it was Netanyahu really brought the Qataris in. 0.96
00:38:44.260 I mean, he's been working with the Qataris for years.
00:38:47.580 It's the Qataris money that kind of kept Hamas going for a while, right?
00:38:51.300 For sure.
00:38:52.060 And he actually allowed for the Qataris to bring in not just to funnel money, to bring in suitcases full of cash to keep Hamas afloat in years before the attacks.
00:39:04.380 So there's a reckoning in Israel about the security failures that led to this terrible slaughter of civilians.
00:39:12.240 And part of the reason is because Netanyahu had very deliberately wanted to keep Hamas and the Fatal-led Palestinian Authority in the West Bank divided so that there would be no unified Palestinian leader or entity that could say yes to negotiations in any kind of meaningful way.
00:39:28.760 Next Thursday, the 20th, we're going to, I'm going to take an entire hour.
00:39:32.080 There's a book out called While Israel Slept by two of the top Israelis about military technology and intelligence.
00:39:41.400 This book, if you haven't gotten it, is a page turner.
00:39:44.280 They're going to be here.
00:39:45.100 At least the Katz is going to be here.
00:39:46.580 They're two authors.
00:39:47.900 I think we're going to get both.
00:39:49.120 We're going to spend an entire hour and break down everything that led up to October 7th.
00:39:53.520 And then the IDF's response.
00:39:54.980 Well, I've got you for a couple of minutes.
00:39:56.800 Covering the White House.
00:39:58.880 You're a very tough reporter, but you're very – people know you're a tough guy.
00:40:02.780 They ask tough questions.
00:40:03.980 You won't back off, but you're a fair guy.
00:40:07.180 And being tough and fair, you get kind of scoop after scoop on some of the major things going on in the White House and the world.
00:40:15.400 Why are so many of your colleagues just – when President Trump opens up those bilats, which you cover every day,
00:40:21.480 they still can't get off the Trump derangement syndrome.
00:40:24.600 Don't they understand that if you're tough but if you're fair, you're going to get – this White House, Caroline Levitt,
00:40:30.560 and particularly the president because he reads everything and he watches everything, that he's going to give these guys a shot?
00:40:36.620 Well, I think tough but fair is a good mantra.
00:40:38.440 I found that President Trump, you know, he certainly wants you to be fair.
00:40:41.760 But, you know, if you're rigorous with him, if you're tough, he kind of respects that a little bit more than if you're not.
00:40:50.120 So, you know, look, I just try to ask probing, smart, rigorous questions that I think will elicit newsmaking answers
00:40:57.460 and that will provide insight into what the president is doing behind the scenes, give us a sense of how this administration is really unfolding.
00:41:04.040 And so that was certainly the mission of this interview and previous interviews.
00:41:07.720 And, you know, I'm just glad that we were able to get some of that insight into this milestone of a deal.
00:41:15.440 We'll see if the piece holds but obviously a big accomplishment for now.
00:41:18.460 It's a blockbuster and everybody can't recommend strongly enough for Grace and Mo to push it out.
00:41:24.460 But people get the hard copy of the magazine.
00:41:26.160 You're going to want to keep this one.
00:41:27.320 Last question.
00:41:28.060 I don't want you to give up any confidences.
00:41:30.160 But I assume the president of the United States, and particularly given his relationship, what he feels, I think he can talk to you,
00:41:36.680 was not thrilled by the last cover of Time magazine.
00:41:40.000 Can I say that?
00:41:40.720 Is that an understatement?
00:41:42.380 Well, he certainly made that known.
00:41:45.840 This photograph is going to be one for the ages.
00:41:48.760 And particularly you've got that iconic Time magazine and then right above it Trump's world.
00:41:54.460 And it's a brilliant piece.
00:41:56.000 I want to thank you for coming over to share it.
00:41:57.200 I know you're extremely busy.
00:41:58.220 You've got a great hit on Morning Joe and the War Room.
00:42:01.520 Really appreciate you coming.
00:42:02.840 Well, thanks for having me.
00:42:03.620 I appreciate it.
00:42:04.120 OK, we're going to pivot now.
00:42:05.780 We've got O'Keefe, big deal over at the Small Business Association from his investigation.
00:42:11.180 Harnwell is going to join us.
00:42:12.220 Hey, folks, this thing in Russia starting to metastasize.
00:42:16.620 What is it?
00:42:17.000 Medvev basically came out with both barrels and said, hey, what President Trump's proposing to do on some of the restrictions on oil,
00:42:25.660 some of the sanctions he put on, he called it, and I quote from him, an act of war.
00:42:31.620 So we have active economic warfare between the Chinese Communist Party and the United States over heavy rare earth.
00:42:37.880 Medvev is calling what President Trump's doing with the sanctions of Russian oil, quote, an act of war, economic warfare.
00:42:45.240 All next in the war room.
00:42:48.200 That's so amazing.
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00:44:13.380 Here's your host, Stephen K. Bannon.
00:44:18.740 Okay, James O'Keefe joins us.
00:44:20.620 I got Scott Pressler on deck.
00:44:23.060 By the way, so at 6 o'clock at night, I was going to have the folks in Maine, a bunch of breaking scandals there.
00:44:29.200 Also, talking about Qatar, what's going on with the folks in Idaho, so we're jam-packed.
00:44:34.080 Also, Irish, the cultural nationalism they're coming after in Great Britain and Ireland.
00:44:40.920 We're going to have Michael Walsh going to join us live at 6, Dr. Thayer.
00:44:46.080 So we are jammed all throughout the day.
00:44:47.980 I want to get James O'Keefe.
00:44:49.500 O'Keefe, your investigation is leading not just to a series of massive scalps coming out of the Small Business Administration,
00:44:56.980 but I think it's going to lead to a rethinking in the Trump administration, starting with Scott Bess and the team over at Treasury,
00:45:04.500 about exactly what in the hell is going on with some of these programs that have gone a little bit under the radar,
00:45:10.740 but people are just stealing cash with both hands.
00:45:14.000 James O'Keefe, your investigation and the results so far.
00:45:17.980 Yeah, last night, the Treasury Secretary, Scott Bessett, said that they are suspending all of the contracts and task orders with this group we uncovered,
00:45:27.200 pending an investigation into allegations $253 million in Treasury-administered contract value.
00:45:33.340 We also have Kelly Loeffler at the SBA put out a statement saying they launched an investigation into the so-called 8A racket.
00:45:40.320 This is the minority-owned businesses that act as pass-throughs and shell companies, Steve, and then subcontract out to firms like Accenture and McKinsey.
00:45:49.680 And, Steve, yesterday I also talked to the Department of Justice.
00:45:54.200 Someone in the Antitrust Division called me and said they're launching a criminal investigation.
00:46:00.560 And we have released another, a lot of updates here, a second video yesterday of another guy in this organization,
00:46:08.140 this federal contractor admitting to $100 million fraud.
00:46:11.760 So this whole scheme, this whole racket, these shell companies that act as minority firms, but they're not actually minority firms,
00:46:19.240 this is a $100 billion scam.
00:46:22.580 But what's different in this time, and I've known you for 15 years, is it looks like they're actually suspending the contracts.
00:46:30.820 The government's doing something about it.
00:46:32.880 I know it's a start.
00:46:34.160 We hope the Department of Justice arrests these people.
00:46:36.560 But they told me yesterday they are launching a criminal investigation.
00:46:40.660 So big news here.
00:46:42.300 Okay, hang on, hang on, hang on.
00:46:43.940 Suspending the contracts immediately cuts off the cash going out there.
00:46:48.060 That's huge.
00:46:48.760 And we got Scott involved.
00:46:50.280 That's even bigger than the SBA because he's got to prove the check.
00:46:53.640 So that's massive.
00:46:54.580 But Gail Slater, who we're very close to, runs Antitrust. 0.99
00:46:59.040 She's a hammer. 1.00
00:47:00.460 You're telling me that the Antitrust people reached out to you that they're beginning a criminal investigation?
00:47:05.040 Yes, on background, they did.
00:47:08.780 And I want them to go public.
00:47:11.200 I hope they do.
00:47:12.600 But in the meantime, they told me that they're launching an investigation.
00:47:15.680 Yes.
00:47:16.040 And I recognize the government shut down right now.
00:47:18.200 So there's a bunch of bureaucracy with all that.
00:47:21.780 But what people really want, which is I know what you want, what we want, we want justice.
00:47:26.220 We want accountability.
00:47:26.960 We want people arrested if they're breaking the law, which in this case, if they're doing less than 51% of the work as general contractors, they are breaking federal law.
00:47:37.880 So if I did this, Steve, if you did this, we'd be in jail.
00:47:40.860 If we stole $500, we'd be in prison.
00:47:42.860 And this is $100 billion fraud.
00:47:44.840 So breaking, yes, the answer to your question is Gail tweeted at me actually yesterday.
00:47:52.640 So huge developments here.
00:47:55.660 You've been doing this now, you know, over a decade, almost 20 years from Acorn to now.
00:48:02.780 Have you ever seen a government move as quickly?
00:48:06.760 I mean, you came on the show on Tuesday, was it?
00:48:10.020 Wednesday?
00:48:10.480 I mean, it's like 48 hours.
00:48:12.860 You've put up these videos.
00:48:14.460 You've been doing, by the way, people should know, and this is the power of O'Keefe.
00:48:18.320 These operations are impossible.
00:48:20.400 You've been nine months in working this through.
00:48:23.880 Nine months.
00:48:24.540 Go ahead.
00:48:26.800 People have a false impression that this is some type of, you know, dating app meeting.
00:48:31.180 This was not a dating app encounter with these officials.
00:48:35.280 We had to set up a fake website posed as a headhunter that did similar work to what these 8A minority-owned subcontractors do. 1.00
00:48:45.200 We had to find a hobby of the subjects that we were investigating, meet with them under that pretense, simultaneously bring up, oh, what a coincidence.
00:48:53.420 We'd do something similar.
00:48:54.960 Then we had to offer a job to these people, meet with them in restaurants two, three times, focus on multiple employees in the same firm to prove it wasn't an isolated incident.
00:49:05.600 And then in that meeting, I wore this ridiculous disguise, Steve.
00:49:08.640 People say, well, how could they not recognize you with this absurd wig?
00:49:12.640 I did that intentionally to show the incompetence and the corruption.
00:49:17.440 It's not just they're corrupt.
00:49:18.480 It's they're incompetent.
00:49:20.300 And I think it's the goofiness.
00:49:21.960 You know, the Acorn video from 16 years ago led to the congressional defunding of Acorn.
00:49:26.600 And that was a Democratic-controlled House and Senate, 83 to 7 in the Senate.
00:49:29.900 It's a changed world.
00:49:31.420 But with Scott Bessett's statement, he says, quote, taxpayer dollars must be protected, will not tolerate schemes that try to game small business programs.
00:49:39.760 So it appears as though Kelly Lauffler at the SBI, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessett, and the individual you mentioned in the Antitrust Division of the Department of Justice are taking this very seriously.
00:49:52.080 I've never seen hundreds of millions of dollars of contracts suspended in all the investigations I've done in 15 years.
00:49:57.340 And potential criminal.
00:49:59.860 By the way, in Acorn, you were the Mac Daddy.
00:50:02.060 This way, you were Willy Wonka.
00:50:03.580 I mean, this was more of the top.
00:50:05.220 And don't, by the way, don't denigrate your dating apps.
00:50:08.540 I mean, the war room here, we're mesmerized by those hits you've done there.
00:50:13.440 James, we got about a minute.
00:50:14.960 Where is this going, this investigation going?
00:50:17.820 Where are you driving it?
00:50:18.980 And where do people get more information about it from your site?
00:50:22.740 Well, we have more whistleblowers coming to us now.
00:50:25.400 We've got 20 or 30 whistleblowers.
00:50:27.920 So Senator Grassley wants to talk to the whistleblowers that are seeing this firsthand.
00:50:33.680 We're also thinking about filing a KETAM lawsuit.
00:50:36.260 We're saving the taxpayers money.
00:50:38.020 And we have another video dropping today of my encounter with this director of contracts where I take off the wig.
00:50:43.840 I say who I really am.
00:50:44.740 We get a reaction.
00:50:46.180 I think what we need to do is we need to have a massive, brave whistleblowers coming forward with their fraud and take the $100 billion program down.
00:50:55.580 Get it taken completely down.
00:50:58.020 Where do people go, James, to get to O'Keefe Media Group and to get all the current content you're putting up?
00:51:04.620 O'KeefeMediaGroup.com.
00:51:05.740 Support us.
00:51:06.320 Donate us.
00:51:07.040 Reach out there.
00:51:08.120 O'KeefeMediaGroup.com.
00:51:10.260 Thank you, brother.
00:51:11.060 Looking forward to the next chapter in this.
00:51:13.400 O'Keefe getting immediate results.
00:51:15.040 Secretary of the Treasury and Kelly Loeffler, head of SBA, say, hey, all these contracts are immediately suspended.
00:51:20.400 Full stop.
00:51:21.900 Gail Slater, the hammer that runs the antitrust division at Maine Justice, is saying, hey, guess what?
00:51:29.340 I think I'm going to have to investigate this.
00:51:30.920 It looks like it could be some criminal activity.
00:51:34.260 James O'Keefe is on the ramparts.
00:51:37.960 Turbulence geopolitically in the Third World War.
00:51:41.000 Russia is calling President Trump's actions an act of war.
00:51:45.060 She is actually in an act of war economically against the United States.
00:51:48.840 Scott's best is trying to unwind that.
00:51:53.120 Birch Gold, take your phone out.
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00:52:04.300 And guess what?
00:52:05.000 Hang on, because it's going to be a bumpy ride.
00:52:07.640 Short break.
00:52:08.580 Scott Pressler, next, in the War Room.
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