Bannon's War Room - Episode 5217： WarRoom Iran Enters Third Week： Beware The Ides Of March

00:00:00.000 The Senate will hear Marcus Tullius Cicero.

00:00:30.000 On this eve of his most glorious triumph,

00:00:38.800 I move that Gaius Julius Caesar be made imperator

00:00:42.980 and granted absolute power over Rome for a period of ten years.

00:01:00.000 As some of you know, Caesar and I have had our disagreements.

00:01:20.160 however that may be

00:01:30.340 he has shown himself

00:01:33.080 to be as wise and merciful in victory

00:01:36.520 as he was invincible in battle

00:01:39.460 let this be an end

00:01:42.960 to division and civil strife

00:01:46.640 I willingly pledge my loyalty to him

00:01:50.960 and I urge you all to do the same

00:01:54.380 I heartily commend the motion proposed

00:01:58.700 by Marcus Tullius Cicero

00:02:16.640 The ocean is carried unanimously.

00:02:29.840 Many of you here today fought against me.

00:02:35.860 Many of you wished me dead.

00:02:38.860 Many of you perhaps still do.

00:02:41.560 But I hold no grudges and seek no revenge.

00:02:46.640 I demand only this,

00:02:51.860 that you join with me in building a new Rome,

00:02:59.160 a Rome that offers justice, peace, and land to all its citizens,

00:03:05.460 not just the privileged few.

00:03:09.060 Support me in this task, and old divisions will be forgotten.

00:03:13.480 oppose me

00:03:16.260 and Rome will not forgive you

00:03:20.580 a second time

00:03:21.600 Senators

00:03:25.440 the war is over

00:03:43.480 I have a question. Do we want to win this war? Do we want to win this war with Iran? 0.98

00:03:54.140 Well, I know you do. You, Mr. and Mrs. America, you're patriots. But did the Democrats want to

00:04:00.000 win this war? The leftists want to win this war? Do the media want to win this war? They sure as

00:04:04.320 hell act like they don't. Even though they're not outwardly rooting for the enemy, they're doing

00:04:10.600 everything they can to sabotage the effort of the president of the United States and our

00:04:14.920 patriotic military. They're doing everything they can to dispirit us and disunite us.

00:04:21.460 They're throwing everything out there. We can't win the war. It's an illegal war.

00:04:25.900 We don't have a mission. We don't have a plan and on and on and on when we know we do.

00:04:31.760 The Pentagon is deploying a Marine Rapid Response Unit, typically comprised of 2,500 Marines and

00:04:37.240 sailors, now on its way to the Middle East. When the administration, if you just are watching,

00:04:42.740 have, you know, it passed its prologue, the administration has mobilized military assets

00:04:47.720 in the past. The president has used it. What do you think that suggests here with what we're

00:04:52.740 looking at with Karg Island? Well, I think what the fact that we're moving a marine expeditionary

00:04:57.680 unit from Okinawa to the Middle East, while we're also moving THAAD batteries from South Korea and

00:05:02.860 other assets. What that suggests to me, Kate, is we started a war without being ready for the

00:05:07.600 consequences. And clearly, the military is scrambling because they don't have the assets

00:05:11.880 they need in the Middle East to deal with this threat. And it's not clear to me that 2,200 Marines

00:05:16.120 are going to make that much of a difference. What's stunning to me, Kate, is that all of this

00:05:20.500 was completely predictable. This is something that our military has been wargaming for years.

00:05:25.200 They've been warning about this. General Cain, from all the reports I've read, warned President

00:05:30.500 Trump about this, that if you if you kill the supreme leader of Iran, that doesn't necessarily

00:05:36.700 lead to the collapse of the regime. And if you start a war with Iran, they're going to interdict 0.83

00:05:41.040 the Strait of Hormuz. That is that is the most obvious strategy in their playbook. They're also

00:05:46.520 going to hit Gulf states. They're going to go after oil facilities, U.S. diplomatic compounds

00:05:50.700 and lots of other things. None of this should be a surprise. And yet from all the reporting we're

00:05:55.380 reading, Kate, including from CNN, President Trump discounted those warnings. He assumed

00:06:00.440 that as soon as he dropped a few bombs, the Iranians were going to surrender. 0.64

00:06:03.840 The president in suggesting that the terms aren't good enough for suggesting that

00:06:07.960 the Iranians have offered terms. Exactly. I mean, it's so fascinating that we're seeing

00:06:16.240 President Trump, you know, doubling down, not ready to sign any deal, talking about the terms

00:06:21.140 not being strong enough. But in the meantime, you have this supply shock of oil that is impacting

00:06:26.980 not only the United States, but global economies as well. And you're seeing gas prices increasing,

00:06:33.020 you're seeing fuel shortages, and it's almost become ground zero in terms of what we're seeing

00:06:36.860 in the Strait of Hormuz. And President Trump is really focusing on that, despite the fact saying

00:06:41.200 he's not ready to stop the war or agree to any terms that are perhaps on the table, whatever

00:06:45.800 those may be. What was interesting, and we have to go back to last week, where President Trump

00:06:50.420 had promised insurance guarantees by the U.S. Development Finance Corporation.

00:06:56.340 Those haven't materialized and also promising naval escorts.

00:06:59.360 Again, we're perhaps weeks away from that.

00:07:01.760 We also saw a post on social media by the president saying that he's going to bring in other countries to assist,

00:07:06.920 like the U.K., France, South Korea, Japan, and interestingly, China.

00:07:11.140 We've heard from the Japanese and they're saying they're going to have high hurdles.

00:07:15.820 They're going to face high hurdles.

00:07:16.800 They're not ruling it out, but they are saying essentially we're going to think about it.

00:07:20.740 But they have to take a lot of things into consideration because this is an ongoing conflict.

00:07:24.820 The South Koreans also not categorically agreeing to sending warships to the Strait of Hormuz, saying they're going to review this.

00:07:31.340 They're going to be looking at, you know, communicating closely.

00:07:35.560 And again, this is all up in the air.

00:07:37.960 And it basically shows that President Trump doesn't have anything concrete in terms of assistance right now.

00:07:43.820 It's interesting that China is put into all of this because we had two Indian tankers passing through the Strait of Hormuz

00:07:50.880 that the Iranians say have cleared to pass through the Strait with the caveat to use payment in Chinese yuan.

00:07:58.860 We know that China and Iran have a longstanding relationship.

00:08:01.660 China has been buying around 80 percent of all of Iran's oil.

00:08:05.680 It's interesting that President Trump would put China in in terms of sending warships.

00:08:09.660 But he's banking on the fact that you've got Asia and China really reliance on oil that passes through the Strait of Hormuz.

00:08:16.360 And then the other big thing that happened over the weekend is the targeting of Harg Island, critical key infrastructure, and Iran vowing to retaliate specifically here in the UAE.

00:08:26.600 I can say that the Strait is not closed, but it is only closed to American, Israeli, you know, ships and tankers and not to others.

00:08:39.660 This morning, President Trump is calling on other countries to help secure safe passage of ships through the Strait of Hormuz.

00:08:47.560 Trump specifically called on China, France, the U.K., and others to help.

00:08:52.560 The shipping traffic has been at a virtual standstill in the Strait, caused gas prices to spike.

00:08:57.320 In a new interview with MS Now, Iran's foreign minister disputed the claim that the Strait is closed.

00:09:03.520 You're in the middle of a war. Can't they put their politics aside for a second?

00:09:07.140 Because here's what they think.

00:09:09.660 If we lose, or if they can define the operation as losing, it's a political benefit to them.

00:09:17.000 What are they saying out there?

00:09:18.680 They're throwing everything in the kitchen sink to obstruct this war effort, to demean 0.71

00:09:24.480 the commander-in-chief.

00:09:26.400 They act like they're rooting for the enemy.

00:09:30.340 Are they?

00:09:31.960 Well, if they're not, they have a funny way of showing it.

00:09:34.980 I want to read you something, and then I'll tell you who it's from.

00:09:37.820 I can't read the whole thing, but a part of it.

00:09:39.660 but it is important. And this is September 7, 2016 in the Wall Street Journal. It's an op-ed.

00:09:46.260 Never forget is the commitment the American people made after 9-11. Yet sometimes our leaders seem to

00:09:52.600 have forgotten Iran's role in the worst terror attack on American soil and Iran's continuing 0.97

00:09:58.160 assistance to terror organizations and operations around the world. You haven't heard anybody discuss

00:10:03.800 Iran's role in 9-11. Yet it was 0.99

00:10:06.020 significant.

00:10:08.600 Their role in 9-11,

00:10:10.140 in slaughtering our Marines in the barracks,

00:10:12.060 in attacking two of our embassies,

00:10:14.080 in funding and supporting Hezbollah

00:10:15.940 and Hamas and the Houthis,

00:10:18.040 they have more blood on their hands

00:10:19.680 than we can even count.

00:10:21.240 When Caesar says do this, it is performed.

00:10:23.780 Set on.

00:10:25.240 And leave no ceremony out.

00:10:29.180 Leave on! 1.00

00:10:31.800 Right?

00:10:32.800 Who called?

00:10:33.800 Let every noise be still.

00:10:36.240 Peace yet again.

00:10:37.640 Who is it in the press that calls on me?

00:10:39.920 I hear a tongue shriller than all the music.

00:10:41.840 Cry Caesar.

00:10:43.460 Speak.

00:10:45.020 Caesar is turned to hear.

00:10:47.340 Beware the Ides of March.

00:10:52.780 What man is that?

00:10:56.880 A soothsayer bids you beware the Ides of March.

00:11:01.160 Set him before me.

00:11:02.640 Let me see his face.

00:11:04.580 Hello, come from the throng.

00:11:17.480 Look upon Caesar.

00:11:20.360 What says that to me now?

00:11:22.120 Speak once again.

00:11:24.460 Beware the Ides of March.

00:11:29.640 He is a dreamer.

00:11:30.920 Let us leave him.

00:11:33.920 Pass! 0.99

00:11:34.920 Pass! 0.99

00:11:47.920 First of all, Russia gave drones already, these shahids. 1.00

00:11:54.840 They are using Iranian licenses, you know, that they built and produced a lot of drones. 1.00

00:12:01.500 They gave them.

00:12:02.360 I have 100% facts that they, that Iranian regime used against American bases and against our Middle East, in Middle East, I mean, and Middle East neighbors of Iran. 1.00

00:12:20.000 They used these drones.

00:12:21.580 We saw intelligence shared with us some details, and it was Russian details in these Iranian drones.

00:12:29.060 This is the first.

00:12:31.080 And the second point is my intelligence told me next that they think that they share information,

00:12:45.060 intelligence with Iranian regime.

00:12:48.000 They help them.

00:12:49.240 And also they told my intelligence told me that they said if Europe and the United States can help Ukraine with intelligence in this war, it's meant that Russia can help Iranian regime.

00:13:07.980 This is their point of view on this.

00:13:11.260 So it's a fact.

00:13:12.140 And you see that it's not a big secret.

00:13:14.560 When it comes to Marines, I think the mobilizing Marines, and here's some of the Wall Street Journal reporting, we're seeing that where this came out just in the last day, that he was given the warnings and thought that Iran would capitulate before it even got to this point.

00:13:31.560 But now we're to a place of moving in Marines.

00:13:33.980 What moving Marines in, this rapid response unit, gives commanders what options?

00:13:41.300 I'm not sure it gives them any real options.

00:13:43.340 and it puts people puts the marines in a position where they're going to be trapped if things go

00:13:49.020 badly uh you know i had a grandfather who was a marine in world war one and two uncles who were

00:13:54.540 marines in uh korea and after so it's it's a problem and you know we had a lot of marines

00:14:02.140 on board nimitz when i was there we part of the air wing we always had marines run the brig and

00:14:07.100 do all sorts of other things they're wonderful people but they're not enough of them and that's

00:14:13.260 That's part of the problem.

00:14:15.180 And, you know, if you start putting boots on the ground, where does it end?

00:14:20.380 A critical question from day one, is that and it remains that now?

00:14:24.540 Yeah, you send 1,000 people or 100,000 people.

00:14:25.600 And is it going to make a difference?

00:14:27.740 And, you know, what's the long-term objective of this?

00:14:31.840 It's to get the flow of oil going through the Stratahormus.

00:14:37.000 And I'm not sure that this is the way we can do it.

00:14:39.700 and you know what are the number of casualties what's the number of millions trillions of dollars

00:14:45.940 that we're going to spend on this and how long are we going to be stuck here and what is the

00:14:50.800 appetite in the stomach for it that remains a huge question it's great to see you both thank

00:14:54.200 you both i really appreciate you coming in thank you so much thank you coming up for us next is

00:14:58.880 the president underestimating the impact of the war on oil prices right now and what can he do to

00:15:04.660 read the six airmen who were killed in the Iraq refueling plane crash. These names were released

00:15:11.240 from the Pentagon just last night. If we can throw that up there. We have Major John A. Klinner,

00:15:16.780 33 years old. Captain Ariana G. Savino, 31. Technical Sergeant Ashley B. Pruitt, 34. Captain

00:15:24.300 Seth R. Colville, 38. Captain Curtis J. Angst, 30. Technical Sergeant Tyler H. Simmons, 28. So far,

00:15:32.440 at least 13 Americans that we know of have died due to the war with Iran.

00:15:36.320 Is this war against Iran a righteous war? And are we winning this war against Iran? 0.96

00:15:43.440 Unfortunately, I have to ask these questions given the static that's out there that pushes

00:15:49.240 the opposite. Of course, this is a righteous and just war. I personally had soldiers die in Iraq 0.97

00:15:55.020 from this evil Islamic regime in Iran's terror proxy forever war. It's been waging on us, 1.00

00:16:02.440 for 47 months. And luckily, the 47th president said, enough is enough. That ends today. You're

00:16:09.520 not getting a nuclear weapon. You're not getting a ballistic shield to develop nuclear weapons.

00:16:14.880 You're not going to hold the Straits of Hormuz as a gun against the head of the global economy

00:16:21.160 while we're instilling strength through peace. I think this is an extremely just war so that my

00:16:28.940 kids don't have to go fight this evil terror regime if it would have had its choice to get

00:16:35.900 that nuclear weapon and rewrite the entire Middle East and then the entire world, already having 0.95

00:16:40.740 ballistic missiles that could range Europe. I mean, this is, for so many reasons, a righteous world.

00:16:46.980 Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears. I come to bury Caesar, not to praise him.

00:16:55.720 the evil that men do lives after them the good is often turd with their bones so let it be with

00:17:05.480 Caesar the noble Brutus had told you Caesar was ambitious if it were so it was a grievous fault

00:17:13.400 and grievously hath Caesar answered it here under leave of Brutus and the rest for Brutus is an

00:17:20.860 honorable man, so are they all, all honorable men, come I to speak in Caesar's funeral. He was my

00:17:27.920 friend, faithful and just to me. But Brutus says he was ambitious, and Brutus is an honorable man.

00:17:41.400 He hath brought many captives home to Rome, whose ransoms did the general coffers fill.

00:17:46.860 Did this in Caesar seem ambitious?

00:17:49.320 When that the poor have cried, Caesar hath wept.

00:17:54.020 Ambition should be made of sterner stuff.

00:17:56.000 Yet Brutus says he was ambitious, and Brutus is an honourable man.

00:18:03.140 You all did see that on the Lupercull I thrice presented him a kingly crown, which he did thrice refuse.

00:18:10.340 Was this ambition?

00:18:11.340 Yet Brutus says he was ambitious, and sure, he is an honourable man.

00:18:20.240 I speak not to disprove what Brutus spoke, but here I am to speak what I do know.

00:18:27.600 You all did love him once, not without cause.

00:18:35.260 What cause withholds you then to mourn for him?

00:18:38.840 Oh, judgment, thou art fled to brutish beasts, and men have lost their reason.

00:18:49.200 Bear with me.

00:18:54.960 My heart is in the coffin.

00:18:57.780 Bear with Caesar.

00:19:01.920 Sunday, 15 March, Year of the Lord, 2026.

00:19:04.700 Welcome to the special Sunday edition of The War Room.

00:19:07.480 want to thank real america's voice and the team here at the war room putting that on in that

00:19:10.820 magnificent cold open which got us through the last 24 hours and also the lessons down passed

00:19:17.960 down through the ages of the assassination of julius caesar i have sam faddis and jack basovic

00:19:23.740 two intelligence experts to kick it off uh sam faddis uh make it make sense to us because we're

00:19:31.080 in the middle of the fog of war right now uh obviously this the war as we've talked about

00:19:36.320 now for the last week the center of gravity of the war shifted to the persian gulf to our arab

00:19:41.300 allies will they stay in the fight uh into the straits of her moves and now the president calling 0.98

00:19:46.480 for uh other allies to join in the fight to keep the straits of her moves and the oil flowing 1.00

00:19:53.620 i don't quite understand why we are allowing even ships going to india with oil that they're

00:20:02.220 specifically saying are going to take chinese currency in instead of petrodollars a u.s currency

00:20:08.460 for settlement because people have to understand the iranians are in full-scale economic warfare

00:20:15.980 against the united states of america in the uh in the west sam fattis your observations as we kick

00:20:22.680 off sunday well look if you look at this war from the conventional perspective right we are not only

00:20:31.540 winning, we are winning overwhelmingly. The Iranian Navy, which wasn't much to begin with,

00:20:38.880 doesn't exist. Its Air Force, which wasn't much to begin with, is gone. No doubt their leadership

00:20:45.840 has been severely hit. Missiles have been severely hit. But as you noted, the Iranians aren't 1.00

00:20:53.120 approaching this conflict as fighting back with us. They're not fighting us in any conventional

00:20:59.860 sense. They're fighting us. This is asymmetric warfare at its best, which means not just

00:21:07.920 that they're using low-cost things like drones and so forth and flexing their proxy forces,

00:21:15.240 which obviously they're doing, but the center of gravity of their response has been to shut

00:21:20.580 off at this point effectively all the oil and all of the natural gas coming out of the Persian Gulf.

00:21:28.560 I mean, there are a handful of tankers leaking out, but they're inconsequential.

00:21:33.180 So that's about 20% of the world's oil and about 20% of the world's natural gas.

00:21:41.400 There is a temporary workaround because tankers are now flooding into the Red Sea to go to the other side of Saudi Arabia at the end of a 700 mile long pipeline and take on board oil there.

00:21:58.560 the catch to that is to get in and out.

00:22:02.480 Will that bring, by the way, that pipeline is 5 million barrels a day

00:22:07.960 if it goes all the way across Saudi Arabia.

00:22:10.680 Will that bring the Houthis into the fight?

00:22:12.920 Because you have the Red Sea, you actually have a tighter choke point

00:22:15.700 right there at the Red Sea where the Houthis, and let's be blunt,

00:22:19.120 the Houthis who are these tough mountain folk have beaten the Egyptians, 1.00

00:22:22.780 the British, the Saudis, UAE, and hey, kind of fought the Americans

00:22:27.760 to a standstill last year um they uh that 700 mile pipeline it gets you five million barrels

00:22:35.640 a day i think but it's it brings it brings the hutis into the fight to close that which is

00:22:40.140 actually a bigger choke point than hormuz correct you're you're absolutely correct the pipeline at

00:22:47.040 this point is pretty much maxed out you got last i checked as of yesterday 30 tankers in yanbu

00:22:55.860 taken on oil they all had to get there they had to run past the houthis 1.00

00:23:01.780 they were allowed into the red sea the houthis didn't shoot at them now every one of those 1.00

00:23:06.580 tankers has to run under the huti guns if you will to get out of the red sea and these guys

00:23:12.500 have drones they got suicide boats they got cruise missiles they got ballistic missiles and

00:23:20.260 i mean let's be real you're not talking about them taking on the u.s navy and sinking

00:23:25.220 warships, you're talking about them hitting huge oil tankers moving through a narrow strait. So

00:23:32.420 that's a real problem. In other words, the Iranians via their Houthi allies 1.00

00:23:38.100 can shut off that escape valve anytime they want. The Houthis have already said they're coming in 0.99

00:23:43.960 to fight. The CIA Naval Intelligence, the Department of Wars Strategy Group,

00:23:52.120 understands anytime you talk about this area the straits of her moves is a standard thing you plan

00:23:58.300 for right also the red sea which is the entrance to the to the suez canal um yesterday we said when

00:24:05.620 we did the show the first thing we talked about was this article in the wall street journal

00:24:09.100 that looked like it was some of the military senior levels and i don't think this thing's

00:24:13.980 been refuted poster is going to join us in a second but cnn as we knew was going to play it

00:24:18.000 all day of this split between the pentagon and the president do you buy that uh do you buy that

00:24:24.420 sam fattis because this is a part of it although you're just getting the marine ready group over

00:24:29.860 there now you're calling for other navies to pitch in here although the president is saying hey the

00:24:36.440 iranians reached out and they're talking a deal and president trump saying the deal's not good

00:24:40.440 enough he's the master negotiator your thoughts on that part of it sam well i got a couple of

00:24:47.080 observation, Steve. I don't know exactly what the calculus is at the top. In other words,

00:24:52.560 who precisely advised the president before the decision was made to start this war?

00:24:58.660 But it is hard to imagine that the U.S. military did not anticipate these moves and did not advise

00:25:07.320 what was required to deal with them. There's nothing, I mean, for the average American who

00:25:11.780 has other things to do than worry about the Houthis, maybe this is all news. It isn't news

00:25:17.220 to American intelligence or the United States Navy or all the folks that have operated there

00:25:21.440 for years. I mean, good Lord, we've been in a, not so long ago, we were in a protracted shooting

00:25:26.540 war with the Houthis, the U.S. Navy and the Houthis. So this was transparently obvious.

00:25:31.740 In regard to ending the conflict, my concern at this point is increasingly that we keep looking

00:25:39.120 at this as when we're going to decide to end the war. Well, there are two sides in the war

00:25:45.280 and I'm not quite sure why we believe the Iranians at this stage are in a hurry to end it.

00:25:55.080 I mean, they have absorbed, we've flattened their conventional military structure

00:26:00.300 and this is now a matter of them firing drones and energizing surrogate forces and

00:26:07.820 potentially turning on terrorism. Well, they could do that for a very long time. In other words,

00:26:13.760 why do they have to let the Strait of Hormuz open? Why don't they just,

00:26:18.180 no, why don't they just say it's closed for the foreseeable future?

00:26:24.340 Poe, so jump in here because what Sam brings up, the Israelis are saying, and I think reports are,

00:26:29.340 last night was one of the hardest poundings that Tehran took, principally, I think, by Israeli

00:26:35.020 air assets uh that can on the conventional side they are getting pounded command and controlling

00:26:41.020 until they've got a lot less uh they're hitting with particularly on the missile basis your

00:26:45.600 thoughts about all it's particularly president trump saying hey they're reaching out there's

00:26:49.420 no deal uh not good enough uh it kind of sounds like we're back to unconditional surrender or

00:26:54.740 some variation on that theme sir steve the word that i would use at this point is we're at a

00:27:00.460 crossroads. And this is the crossroads where President Trump is in the decision seat. He is

00:27:05.540 in the pilot seat deciding on which way to go. Does he want to go down this walk down the

00:27:12.400 escalation ladder or does he want to increase it? Does he want to try to reach out to this

00:27:17.340 new Ayatollah who we're told did not have a good relationship with his father, was not in good

00:27:22.320 standing with his father, according to these reports of there to be believed? Or does President

00:27:27.500 Trump, as we've seen, does he want to put the squeeze on Karg Island? Does he want to send

00:27:32.320 that Marine Expeditionary Unit, the 31st, over there as a way to ratchet up the pressure? Or

00:27:38.760 perhaps look at, there are certainly implements that could be used from the air to neutralize

00:27:43.980 Karg Island and leave many of the oil infrastructure systems intact, but at the same

00:27:49.980 time neutralize their ability to send it out to port, and there easily could be done from the air.

00:27:56.220 You just you strike the peers, that sort of thing. And it's it's something that the U.S. has not done yet, something Israel has not done yet, but certainly is an option.

00:28:05.520 And President Trump indicating that very directly. What do you mean? Give me that before we go to break.

00:28:12.120 What do you mean indicating that very, very directly? He's been he's been talking about Carg Island.

00:28:16.980 He's been sharing images of Carg Island. He's been. Yeah. He ordered the strikes on, I guess, was Friday night right after markets closed, by the way.

00:28:24.780 to take the military island the middle he said military only to take it the military yeah and

00:28:30.460 so you're saying that he's indicating that hey if he's got to take in uh they're going to hit

00:28:35.540 some tripwire where he's going to go seize their essential uh oil infrastructure to export oil

00:28:43.000 out of the uh to load up the the tankers and export oil out of the uh out of the straits

00:28:47.680 correct uh seize or neutralize i mean you hit you hit the pier it's going to be hard to get that

00:28:53.420 well to market oh wow okay let's take a short break we got sam faddis i'm gonna ask sam and

00:29:00.580 jack to think about it and come back uh you heard zelinski right there he laid down hard on the uh

00:29:07.420 on the russians that the russians are backing with drones intelligence targeting options

00:29:11.620 where's the ccp scott besant's in paris and negotiating the state visit of president trump

00:29:19.280 which i still don't get we're gonna talk a lot about that we're gonna have some chinese experts

00:29:22.740 on New Federal State Jan Yelnekik from Epoch Times

00:29:27.300 to talk about the global implications of this shooting war

00:29:31.420 in the Middle East, in Iran, and particularly in the Persian Gulf.

00:29:36.680 Now more than ever, maybe you want to find out about,

00:29:40.780 particularly as they're saying,

00:29:41.840 hey, you can only take payment in Chinese currency.

00:29:45.160 It might be they're trying to force, wait for it,

00:29:48.160 the end of the dollar empire, the BRICS nations.

00:29:52.740 Go to Birch Gold right now, end of the dollar empire, birchgold.com, promo code Bannon, end of the dollar empire, shortly.

00:30:00.660 Here's your host, Stephen K. Bannon.

00:30:06.160 You can also get the Patriots edition.

00:30:08.760 It's in hard copy.

00:30:09.920 We're coming out with an eighth free installment, seven edition, seven installments are in the Patriots edition, eighth free installment coming online.

00:30:17.400 You can get all the information.

00:30:18.440 And now more than ever, you ought to understand it.

00:30:20.480 Particularly when we talk about geopolitical risks.

00:30:22.040 that's a harvard business school word for war in the rumors of war which we're seeing right now

00:30:28.300 shooting war in the um in the uh middle east uh in particular around the persian gulf in the

00:30:36.140 straits of kormuz gulf of oman north arabian sea um are you taking your phone out just text

00:30:42.940 bannon b-a-n-n-o-n at 9-8-9-8-9-8 you get the ultimate guide but most importantly you get

00:30:48.140 access the philip patrick and the great team at birch gold that can walk through white gold has

00:30:53.200 been a hedge against times of financial turbulence for three four or five thousand years by the way

00:30:59.500 six o'clock seven o'clock tonight first trades will start taking place in asia i'll be up on

00:31:04.440 getter to keep you in four on gold oil bond market equities all of it because the capital

00:31:09.480 market's got a lot to say here sam faddis your asymmetric warfare we had zelinski in there 0.53

00:31:14.640 because it's becoming more and more evident that there are some global players giving sustenance to our enemies.

00:31:24.160 How long can they hold out, you believe, conventionally and asymmetrically if we don't cut off this?

00:31:30.320 And we've already told the Russians, hey, any oil on the sea, you can go ahead.

00:31:34.960 The sanctions are off.

00:31:37.440 What do you see here as far as other allies of the mullahs coming in here?

00:31:44.640 Well, look, I think these guys can hold out indefinitely. Anybody that thinks that we are

00:31:48.440 weeks away from unconditional surrender, I don't think is really looking at the facts. I mean,

00:31:55.020 we're bombing them. Okay. We dropped three times as many bombs on Indochina during the Vietnam War 0.98

00:32:01.720 as we dropped in the entirety of World War II. That did not end well for us. That's a fact.

00:32:11.400 these guys are increasingly using shaheed drones against us okay a shaheed drone is something you

00:32:19.920 can build in a garage it's fiberglass it's commercially available avionics if you can

00:32:27.680 repair a fiberglass boat and you're into hobby aircraft and drones you got all the sophistication

00:32:34.520 necessary to build this thing it costs about 30 000 bucks the biggest issue is whether you've got

00:32:39.600 the explosives. They have the explosives. So it's not like they're, people keep talking about how

00:32:45.380 many drones they have. There's no end to the drones because after they can make these things

00:32:51.080 in any decent sized building that looks like anything from the air and they can do it effectively

00:32:58.100 forever. In terms of support, look, are the Russians providing targeting data? Without

00:33:05.140 question. And I'm sure Putin is giggling every time he does it. I mean, we're the ones giving

00:33:11.060 all the targeting data to the Ukrainians to hit Russia. So his opportunity to provide payback, 0.89

00:33:16.200 from his viewpoint, he will do that all day long. Support from the Chinese. I have seen reports

00:33:23.900 that there are ships coming out of China carrying precursor chemicals for solid fuel for missiles.

00:33:31.980 I don't know where they are right now.

00:33:33.980 And the first question I have is, how would anybody ever expect those ships to make it to Iran in the current environment?

00:33:41.200 But I've also seen reports saying that there are trucks crossing Pakistan carrying Chinese chemicals headed for Iran.

00:33:52.140 If that is true, obviously, we ought to be stopping that from happening.

00:33:56.200 but look these guys the chinese the russians all of our other enemies will help the iranians any 1.00

00:34:03.240 chance they get so jack the uh engine room in new york informs me that the the total max budget of

00:34:12.000 the iranian conventional forces was about 20 billion dollars a year uh given the fact that

00:34:17.620 we are and our our military is methodically going through and um defanging defanging as

00:34:25.220 captain finnell would call it defanging the conventional forces of the military do you

00:34:29.620 believe they're actually you know do you believe they're actually their backs getting to the wall

00:34:33.620 when they do have these asymmetric options uh and they realize that if they capitulate they're

00:34:39.680 finished do you believe they're actually talking to the president or reaching out and trying to

00:34:44.140 get some uh some sort of deal here well steve it wouldn't surprise me at all if the iranians

00:34:50.220 and the administration are talking, back-channeling, we know that there were these

00:34:54.600 channels, unofficial channels that were already established prior to the strikes, that there were

00:35:00.080 communications, that there were pipelines of information going back and forth. And also we

00:35:05.580 were using the Omanis and other members of the Arab states as interlocutors in multiple iterations

00:35:12.440 of these dialogues. And so certainly there are many ways for the United States to be able to

00:35:16.500 be communicating with Iran, but I just go back to what Sam is saying, that he's exactly correct. 0.57

00:35:21.980 Iran has always presaged their defensive capabilities, their military capabilities 0.84

00:35:28.180 on asymmetric warfare. Their conventional military isn't what I would look at when I would look at

00:35:34.040 in terms of their ability to stay in the fight. They've always looked at what are their advantages.

00:35:39.420 Their advantages are the geography, their advantages are their resources, and their

00:35:43.960 advantages are the revolution itself, the revolutionary nature of the Iranian regime.

00:35:49.080 So what have they done? They put missile boats, small boats, the ability for mining on the small

00:35:55.360 vessels that the IRGC has commissioned hundreds of. They have hundreds of these small vessels

00:35:59.680 that can be used. In some cases, just one or two mines could drop it out there or at least create

00:36:04.300 the perception that they have mined this trade, which as far as we know, to this point, they have

00:36:08.580 not done so and they certainly have not said so. And there are still some indications that

00:36:13.900 they haven't done that. But at the same time, what do they put their money into? They put it

00:36:18.700 in their resources into these ballistic missile stocks. And again, these low cost drone alternatives,

00:36:24.820 which they are using over and over again. And the reason they keep striking the same places

00:36:30.680 over and over on the U.S. bases in the region like Kuwait, like Saudi, and then also the same

00:36:37.280 spots in Tel Aviv around Israel is because they are working to winnow down those air

00:36:43.780 interceptor stockpiles because they know that is going to be a key choke point for the United

00:36:48.720 States.

00:36:49.160 So what they're doing is they're working pinprick by pinprick to whittle down that defensive

00:36:54.600 posture and to wait to the point when and once those air interceptor missiles are worn

00:37:00.160 down, what they're hoping for is that's when they're going to send more of their high

00:37:04.120 powered large warhead ballistic missiles at those same targets okay so you have the and i know you

00:37:12.220 got to bounce you're going to do some other hits on media today so i'm going to get as much out of

00:37:15.840 you as i have the time and sam's going to stick with me for a few minutes um you've got uh shelby

00:37:22.880 talcott at the uh at semaphore has a scoop an exclusive that the israelis are running out of

00:37:29.480 now missiles. You've got the Israelis saying they're planning on the most massive ground 0.90

00:37:34.280 invasion they've had in Lebanon in 20 years, since 2006. I think the French are also trying 1.00

00:37:39.360 to step in, given their relationship with Lebanon, and try to be some sort of negotiator

00:37:44.580 here to try to get a stand down there. The expanding nature of this war, because Pete

00:37:49.320 told us the other day the war is not expanding, but you look at that front in Israel, it seems

00:37:54.380 to be expanding but the israelis who are unloading every chance they get on the uh on the iranians

00:38:00.440 seem to have a uh to have a uh a missile shortage which i think gets the point that this thing's a

00:38:06.660 lot more vicious than is being allowed you know we're not seeing some of the footage we're not

00:38:10.680 seeing social media there's really a clamp down on everything on the u.s side definitely on the

00:38:16.080 arab side and on the israeli side sir well that's exactly right and in fact the the british embassy

00:38:22.860 in in the UAE has had to come out and remind their citizens there that the UAE does not have

00:38:29.740 freedom of speech, freedom of posting on social media. Neither does the UK, by the way, for the

00:38:34.600 record. But to remind them that there are laws on the books in the UAE that if you share footage of

00:38:42.080 drone strikes, missile strikes, things that hit Dubai, whether you're at the Emirates, that Abu 1.00

00:38:47.600 Dabi that that you can be arrested. And in fact, we have seen charges on individuals for posting

00:38:53.420 those images similar to what we saw in Ukraine, which, by the way, just mentioned on that side

00:38:59.140 that while nobody's paying attention, Russia is gearing up for their summer offensive, a new

00:39:03.040 summer offensive in Ukraine while they are sort of given a free hand while everyone's focus is on

00:39:08.460 the Middle East. And oh, by the way, their stockpiles of resources are ever increasing because

00:39:14.180 as the world turns away from middle eastern oil and lng who's left of course the russians and the 1.00

00:39:21.820 price is going up and up and up so putin is looking for a massive summer campaign this year

00:39:27.300 jack before you bounce uh the next 24 hours before we talk to you tomorrow on the show

00:39:34.220 you're covering this on everybody gets your social media particularly your twitter feed

00:39:37.620 uh last night was another horrific night of uh of warfare your your thoughts what we can see in

00:39:44.080 the next day or two? Well, like I said, Steve, President Trump is right now at a crossroads.

00:39:49.400 His decision points are either to declare victory, whether these negotiations come through with

00:39:55.680 Iranians or to take the other road. And the other road is increase the escalation. I would say he's 0.99

00:40:01.980 certainly putting putting out feelers in every single direction here. He's signaling strength.

00:40:07.280 He's signaling dominance. This is what he does when he gets into one of these situations. And

00:40:11.780 he's waiting to see how Iran responds and he is going to take that response into his decision and

00:40:17.260 we'll find out in the next 24 hours which road he chooses. Jack where do people follow you Human

00:40:23.820 Events Daily obviously on Real America's Voice after the Charlie Kirk show every day but where

00:40:29.780 do they go on social media because your Twitter feed is vital in this time. Well thank you Steve

00:40:36.760 I appreciate that. We're up at Human Events Daily on Substack or excuse me, on Spotify, on Apple Podcasts, any place people can get their downloads.

00:40:45.620 We're putting up the daily sit reps. We've also got some a little back and forth in the Charlie Kirk murder case on Friday.

00:40:53.080 Our our outlet, Human Events, was was brought up in court by Tyler Robinson's lawyers.

00:40:59.140 They did not like our open letter demanding full camera access in that case.

00:41:04.780 And we've released a response and we have told the we've told the lawyers there that we are more than willing to defend our stance in court if they so choose.

00:41:17.120 Jack Posobiec, thanks for taking time away from the family.

00:41:19.620 Join us on a Sunday morning.

00:41:20.640 I know the audience really appreciates it.

00:41:22.080 Thank you, sir.

00:41:23.560 God bless.

00:41:24.140 Let me go back.

00:41:25.480 Let me.

00:41:25.960 Thank you, sir.

00:41:26.760 Let me go back to our gray beard.

00:41:30.520 Sam, is Jack right?

00:41:32.100 Are we at a crossroads now?

00:41:33.400 Now, wasn't that crossroads a week ago?

00:41:36.800 I mean, can we just declare victory with the Straits of Hormuz situation

00:41:40.900 and what's happening in the Gulf, and particularly with our allies?

00:41:43.340 People should know the Gulf allies are begging to get off the bus right now. 1.00

00:41:47.440 Are we at a crossroads?

00:41:49.020 Maybe another crossroads is up ahead of us, but we're not there yet?

00:41:54.540 Yeah, well, I think you hit the nail on the head here.

00:41:57.940 I mean, I've been saying for a long time, since the beginning of this,

00:42:01.220 that I think the option is, in effect, we declare victory, let's go home. Let's be real,

00:42:08.780 we have inflicted massive damage. Let's give up on this idea of unconditional surrender and

00:42:15.720 regime change. Increasingly, I am worried that we have passed that point, that we have inflicted

00:42:23.780 so much damage, the Iranians have taken all these hits and lost so much that we may now be at the 1.00

00:42:30.820 point where they're like, okay, look, man, in effect, we can do this forever. They have a

00:42:37.040 completely decentralized command structure, 31 separate commands that will continue to fight.

00:42:43.640 They're increasingly using munitions they can make in a garage. And let's not forget,

00:42:49.700 they haven't really brought into play fully at all the relationships they have with groups all

00:42:59.000 over the world and for that matter irgc intelligence cells inside the united states so

00:43:05.700 yeah we we could absolutely get to the point where we're like okay we're ready to talk and

00:43:11.220 they're like well y'all could go to hell now let's fight this out for as long as we feel like it 0.77

00:43:17.560 do you think that their idea we got 30 seconds on economic warfare against the nice and i might

00:43:24.060 ask you to stick around i got another question on the um the um on the save america act uh i tell

00:43:30.160 you what let me just hold you for uh let me just do the break we're also going to play a clip from

00:43:34.020 mike lee to talk about this uh this is the ides of march that's where we always do our ides of

00:43:40.260 march little special about caesar but the ides of april coming up quickly text network usa 866-513-5516

00:43:48.700 you get a free discovery call to find out what you really owe the IRS.

00:43:54.460 Take advantage of it today.

00:43:59.600 Set his sights on one main priority ahead of the midterms, passing the SAVE Act.

00:44:04.940 It's a voting bill he openly argues will guarantee midterm election victories for Republicans.

00:44:10.680 It would impose new hurdles on voting, like requiring proof of citizenship in the form of a U.S. passport or birth certificate to register to vote.

00:44:18.180 Anyone who has changed their name, most commonly women who change their names during marriage, would need additional paperwork to verify their identity.

00:44:27.940 The bill would also require photo ID every time someone votes.

00:44:32.660 And in a newly added provision, states would have to turn over their voter rolls to the Department of Homeland Security, which would run names through federal databases to identify possible non-citizens.

00:44:43.700 Watchdog groups have already flagged that those systems are rife with errors.

00:44:48.860 Voting advocates warn the impact would be massive.

00:44:51.860 More than 21 million Americans lack ready access to documents proving their citizenship,

00:44:57.420 and roughly half of Americans don't even have a passport.

00:45:01.940 Okay, important update on the Save America Act and the effort to get it passed.

00:45:07.000 Look, I am guardedly optimistic.

00:45:08.780 We've turned kind of a corner.

00:45:11.400 Over the last few days, there's been some uncertainty about exactly what procedure we will be and will not be using.

00:45:18.380 In the end, we've been working closely with Leader Thune and his staff, and they've been great to work with.

00:45:23.920 What we're coming up with is something that I think is best described as a hybrid version of the talking filibuster.

00:45:29.740 But look, let's not get mired down in nomenclature.

00:45:33.100 What matters far more than what we call it is what we do with it.

00:45:36.500 We're going to bring it to the floor.

00:45:37.580 We're going to debate it for an extended period of time before filing cloture.

00:45:42.040 And in my view, at least, I don't want to speak for anyone else.

00:45:44.940 This bill needs to remain on the Senate floor before we file cloture on the bill for as long as it takes to get it done.

00:45:53.180 Now, the fact that Leader Thune and his office have been willing to work with us on this and they appear open to a variation of that is a good thing.

00:46:00.800 So let's let's keep up the momentum. Let's encourage them to continue to do this.

00:46:05.640 Let's put the bill on the floor. Let's make those who want to filibuster speak and keep it on there as long as possible. 0.99

00:46:11.920 Thanks so much.

00:46:12.460 Here's how you know the SAFE Act is craven.

00:46:17.180 Senator John Cornyn of Texas, who is now in a runoff election against Ken Paxton,

00:46:24.200 the corrupt since birth, the state attorney general, just Google it.

00:46:30.420 They desperately want President Trump's endorsement.

00:46:33.780 John Cornyn has been a steadfast supporter of the filibuster

00:46:37.200 until he wrote this op-ed in the New York Post,

00:46:40.860 that the headline why the save act matters more than the filibuster

00:46:45.800 okay uh welcome back uh sam wears two hats an intelligence officer and someone that dedicated

00:46:55.640 his life to defense of his country also his uh second gig is uh saving the commonwealth of

00:47:01.840 pennsylvania and the nations through the grassroots effort and patriots so sam uh tell me about the

00:47:07.420 grassroots and what did you just hear right there particularly mike lee saying hey i think we got

00:47:10.840 some way to kind of figure this out? Maybe not to get to a vote, but at least to get to a debate, sir?

00:47:19.000 Yeah, I mean, I guess what strikes me there is even what is supposed to be presented to us as

00:47:25.700 progress is so weak-kneed and watered down. I mean, for the love of God, all we are talking about

00:47:36.080 is requiring people to prove they are entitled to vote before they vote using documentation that

00:47:45.000 everybody in the United States of America has access to. And every allegation about

00:47:52.020 how this is somehow oppressive ends up being not only nonsensical, but really offensive, right? 0.90

00:47:58.780 Black people, this will disenfranchise black people because they don't have ID and I guess 0.87

00:48:04.940 they can't figure out how to get it or women that have gotten married who have to change everything 1.00

00:48:11.400 to their married name, presuming they do that, somehow suddenly are so addled that they can't

00:48:18.600 figure out to do it. I mean, good God. You know, it is obvious that what we're talking about is

00:48:24.500 one thing, the integrity of the voting system and our elections. And the idea that the Republican

00:48:31.880 party can't find the spine to just say that is, it's disgusting, frankly. And I can tell you from,

00:48:41.540 you know, talking about the grassroots in Pennsylvania, the people that, you know,

00:48:47.360 the people that actually are the Republican party at this point, this goes to the heart

00:48:52.880 of why they are completely disgusted with the GOP establishment. They're like, for the love of God,

00:49:00.100 guys have is there anybody who will actually fight and stand up or and and and increasingly

00:49:09.080 they the answer they get is no apparently not you guys don't want to actually fight for us

00:49:15.160 this whole thing right now was forced they didn't do this willingly this whole situation

00:49:23.100 mike lee lays and mike lee's trying his best to try to he's been working on this forever trying

00:49:27.100 to get this happen what's going to happen on tuesday or wednesday the forcing function was

00:49:31.940 the grassroots i mean the eye opener to me to go and kind of and and decamp to texas was the fact

00:49:38.780 that the islamic invasion is much farther along than people were talking about we gave a permission 0.99

00:49:43.840 structure that the hb1 situation h1b visas is almost as bad as the islamic invasion and the 0.98

00:49:50.900 grassroots just had a belly full of it they put it on their shoulders in these primaries and this

00:49:55.420 is why PAX is fighting. But if it's not for the grassroots in Pennsylvania and Texas and South

00:50:00.600 Carolina and Florida, Arizona, throughout this country, we're done. I can tell you that we're

00:50:07.080 done. The political class is too gutless to face the massive problems the country has. Sam, got a

00:50:14.100 minute before I got to bounce. Your thoughts, sir? You are precisely correct. That is exactly what

00:50:21.560 deal list right the political class fail has failed us and continues to fail us and and people

00:50:30.280 are fed up they are done they are not going to take it anymore and it and if you think you can

00:50:36.360 just put on your mega hat and say drain the swamp a couple of times and and and that passes muster 0.64

00:50:43.720 it does not man people understand people are not stupid people see that you do not represent them 0.99

00:50:51.000 and they are fed up with it. 0.97

00:50:55.200 Sam Faddis, where do the people get you on Substack with your magazine?

00:51:00.620 Andmagazine.substack.com.

00:51:03.480 Andmagazine.substack.com.

00:51:08.720 Got a big old fight on our hands.

00:51:10.960 One in the Middle East that's expanding globally,

00:51:14.120 a kinetic part of the Third World War,

00:51:16.280 and in the Imperial Capital,

00:51:19.000 starting as soon as they get back on Monday.

00:51:20.880 But Tuesday will rev up.

00:51:22.000 Sam Faddis, thank you.

00:51:23.000 And thank you for being part of the grassroots effort in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.

00:51:26.920 Thank you, sir.

00:51:32.420 I don't know if I could say any better, right?

00:51:34.820 Let's listen to Natasha Owens take us out. 1.00

00:51:38.040 We're going to return in a moment.

00:51:40.060 Do a little pivot.

00:51:40.840 Talk about the geopolitics of all this in the war room on a Sunday.

00:51:43.920 do you owe back taxes or you haven't filed your taxes in years now is the time to resolve

00:52:05.560 your tax matters with the national conversation around abolishing the income tax the irs is

00:52:12.660 fighting back and proving it's here to stay by becoming more aggressive than ever before.

00:52:18.340 They're sending out more collection notices, filing more tax liens, and collecting billions

00:52:23.760 more in recent years. If you owe, the IRS can garnish your wages, levy your bank accounts,

00:52:31.600 seize your retirement, and even your home. If you owe or haven't filed, it's not a question of if

00:52:38.220 the IRS will act. It's a question of when it will act. Right now, Tax Network USA is offering a

00:52:45.380 completely free IRS research and discovery call to show you exactly where you stand and what they

00:52:52.200 can stop before it's too late. Their powerful programs and strategies can save you thousands

00:52:58.260 or even eliminate your debt entirely if you qualify. Don't make a costly mistake. Representing

00:53:04.560 yourself or calling the IRS on your own waives your rights and costs you more money. They are

00:53:10.000 not, and let me repeat, the IRS is not on your side. Get protected the right way with Tax Network

00:53:16.660 USA and start the process of settling your tax matters once and for all today. Call 1-800-958-1000.

00:53:26.600 That's 1-800-958-1000 or visit TNUSA.com slash Bannon for your free discovery call with Tax Network USA.

00:53:38.840 Let me repeat, 800-958-1000, tell them Bannon sent you.

00:53:43.440 Don't let the IRS be the first to act.

00:53:47.620 Take advantage of first mover advantage, you move.

Bannon's War Room - March 15, 2026

Episode 5217： WarRoom Iran Enters Third Week： Beware The Ides Of March

Episode Stats

Summary

Transcript