The Ben Shapiro Show - July 22, 2026


This Is What Happens When America Stops Policing the World


Episode Stats


Length

13 minutes

Words per minute

200.42

Word count

2,679

Sentence count

199

Harmful content

Toxicity

5

sentences flagged

Hate speech

45

sentences flagged


Summary

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

Trump strikes a deal with Saudi Arabia to develop nuclear weapons. What does this mean for Iran and the Middle East? Is this a good or bad deal? What are the downsides of this deal and why should we support it?

Transcript

Transcripts from "The Ben Shapiro Show" are sourced from the Knowledge Fight Interactive Search Tool. Explore them interactively here.
Toxicity classifications generated with s-nlp/roberta_toxicity_classifier .
Hate speech classifications generated with facebook/roberta-hate-speech-dynabench-r4-target .
00:00:00.000 Folks, the big news out of the Middle East today is actually not about Iran directly.
00:00:03.000 It's about President Trump announcing a nuclear deal with Saudi Arabia.
00:00:06.000 You know what would be not great? 0.95
00:00:09.000 A massive nuclear arms race in the Middle East. 0.91
00:00:11.000 You know what would be a lot better than that? 0.98
00:00:12.000 A decisive American victory against Iran. 1.00
00:00:15.000 Well, we could do that. 1.00
00:00:16.000 And we should be rooting for that.
00:00:18.000 See, here's the thing.
00:00:18.000 We have the most powerful military in the history of the world.
00:00:21.000 We just have to have the resolve to match it.
00:00:24.000 You heard the Speaker of the House, Mike Johnson, talk about how the Iran war needs to end.
00:00:27.000 He's really talking about gas prices.
00:00:29.000 Well, it turns out the only Stable path to affordability on energy supply is going to come when Iran is defeated. 0.94
00:00:37.000 That's it. 0.91
00:00:38.000 If you cut a crappy deal with Qatar that allows them to control the straight indefinitely, they can just ramp up that pressure right around election time. 0.95
00:00:45.000 They can jack us around. 0.96
00:00:47.000 This has been true for literally decades. 1.00
00:00:49.000 This is not unique to Iran.
00:00:51.000 OPEC did this to the United States and drove a decade of inflation because of this sort of stuff. 0.64
00:00:57.000 Also, we should not start handing out goodies to unstable Islamic monarchies.
00:01:02.000 So, the big news in the Middle East yesterday is that President Trump approved a landmark nuclear deal with Saudi Arabia.
00:01:08.000 According to the Wall Street Journal, the deal will provide the country with a civilian nuclear program and potentially open the door to uranium enrichment in the kingdom's territory, according to administration officials.
00:01:18.000 The new deal would last for 30 years.
00:01:20.000 It's estimated to be worth tens of billions of dollars.
00:01:22.000 It's designed to give American companies a central role in developing Saudi Arabia's nuclear infrastructure and shutting out foreign competitors.
00:01:29.000 A key provision would have American companies build a uranium enrichment facility in Saudi.
00:01:34.000 If a joint U.S. Saudi study determines such a step would be warranted.
00:01:38.000 Now, I assume that that joint study will never assume that that step would be warranted long term.
00:01:44.000 That would give the U.S. influence over Saudi nuclear policy and a way to prevent it from being misused for military purposes, according to the Trump administration.
00:01:52.000 But let us be clear what is happening right now.
00:01:56.000 The Trump argument here is that the Saudis need a nuclear program.
00:02:00.000 Let's be clear the Saudis don't need a nuclear program.
00:02:01.000 They have lots and lots of oil.
00:02:03.000 The Saudis want a nuclear program because they would like to develop a nuke.
00:02:07.000 And the Trump argument is that if we don't give the Saudis nukes, then Russia or China will.
00:02:11.000 The reason the Saudis are turning to us right now is because they used to have basically a joint nuclear program with Pakistan.
00:02:17.000 Pakistan has been triangulating between Saudi and Iran.
00:02:20.000 Our good allies, the Pakistanis, who are great, great buddies with the Iranians.
00:02:24.000 So the Saudis are now turning to us and saying, can you fill in this nuclear gap?
00:02:27.000 And if you don't, maybe we'll go to China.
00:02:30.000 And now, there are a bunch of problems here.
00:02:31.000 There are a bunch of problems here.
00:02:33.000 One, the Saudi monarchy is stable for the moment.
00:02:37.000 One thing that you may notice about the Middle East, it is not the most stable place.
00:02:41.000 And the Saudis are basically propped up by American support on both the military and the intelligence level. 0.95
00:02:47.000 If the Saudi monarchy were to fall and the Muslim Brotherhood were to take over and they were to have nuclear weapons, then you would have a nuclear weapon armed state in the Middle East run by the Muslim Brotherhood. 0.93
00:02:55.000 That would be really, really bad. 0.90
00:02:58.000 Second, if we were actually going to do this, the United States has unbelievable leverage over the Saudis.
00:03:02.000 They require our protection, it is our weaponry that we supply them with.
00:03:06.000 It is our pilots who are flying the sorties from the Saudi air bases.
00:03:10.000 I know that we're concerned China's going to come in and fill the gap.
00:03:12.000 They can't do that overnight. 0.96
00:03:14.000 And if we're going to actually do something like move them toward nuclear development, why in the world would we not use our leverage to shove them into the Abraham Accords? 0.98
00:03:22.000 We did this with the UAE. 0.84
00:03:24.000 Not only that, we had what was called the gold standard with the UAE, which assured that the UAE wouldn't develop nuclear weapons.
00:03:30.000 Why are we just giving them things for free?
00:03:33.000 Why are we giving them things? 0.97
00:03:34.000 In fact, what it seems like right now is that we are contributing to an arms race in the Middle East. 0.73
00:03:41.000 We're giving F 35s to the Turks who subsidize and sponsor Hamas, who are in fact an Islamist regime, an occupying regime in Cyprus, by the way. 0.93
00:03:51.000 Now, apparently, we want to give nukes to the Saudis. 0.75
00:03:54.000 The Saudis were telling us five seconds ago to negotiate with Iran and that they don't want us to open up the strait and we can't use our own military bases to do that.
00:04:01.000 Why are we doing any of that?
00:04:03.000 Why are we doing any of that? 0.96
00:04:05.000 Well, the answer is this all goes back to the original sin of not finishing the Iranian threat. 0.77
00:04:11.000 If the Iranian threat were not there on the horizon, Saudi would not be seeking nukes and we would have no excuse to sell F 35s to Turkey. 0.78
00:04:18.000 That is the reason here. 0.53
00:04:20.000 And so the Saudis are looking at American policy.
00:04:22.000 I understand what the Saudis are doing and the Turks are doing.
00:04:24.000 They're looking at American policy in the Middle East.
00:04:26.000 They're figuring that we are a pretty unstable ally when it comes to who we support and who we don't.
00:04:30.000 Joe Biden hated the Saudis.
00:04:31.000 Trump loves the Saudis and all the rest.
00:04:33.000 And so they're figuring we need nukes of our own. 0.68
00:04:35.000 Okay.
00:04:36.000 But can I tell you what's a bad idea? 0.86
00:04:38.000 A gigantic arms race in the most volatile region on planet Earth, where pretty much all the regimes are propped up by foreign powers.
00:04:45.000 The regime in Egypt is supported by the United States military.
00:04:48.000 We provide massive military aid to Egypt.
00:04:51.000 And we know that if it weren't for that, I mean, Egypt was run by the Muslim Brotherhood relatively recently, you recall.
00:04:56.000 During the Arab Spring, Saudi is constantly fighting off threats to the regime. 0.79
00:05:02.000 Jordan is propped up by Israel.
00:05:05.000 Syria is run by Turkey.
00:05:08.000 Iran is propped up by China.
00:05:10.000 It's all a bunch of outside powers that are involved here. 0.74
00:05:14.000 Having all of these tenuous regimes with nuclear weapons aimed at each other seems like a recipe for disaster.
00:05:19.000 Okay, so what happens next?
00:05:22.000 Well, it's unclear whether Congress can stop all of this.
00:05:24.000 By the way, they should. 0.64
00:05:26.000 Congress should not vote to grant the Saudis nuclear capacity without any sort of give by the Saudis.
00:05:31.000 What do we get in return? 0.77
00:05:33.000 Seriously, what do we get in return?
00:05:35.000 What we should do is just finish up the threat. 0.99
00:05:37.000 We should tell the Saudis we're using our military bases in Saudi to do whatever the hell we want. 0.99
00:05:40.000 They're our military bases. 0.99
00:05:41.000 You know, instead of us giving you a nuke, how about we actually work to alleviate the threat of Iran entirely? 1.00
00:05:50.000 Blow up Pickaxe Mountain, which is the giant nuclear facility the Iranians have built beneath the mountain. 1.00
00:05:55.000 President Trump is talking pretty openly about that, as well he should. 1.00
00:05:59.000 President Trump said yesterday that we will be hitting Pickaxe Mountain pretty soon.
00:06:05.000 It doesn't mean anything unless they have the material.
00:06:08.000 You're talking about the centrifuges.
00:06:10.000 It doesn't mean anything unless they have the material.
00:06:12.000 We follow the material.
00:06:13.000 That's where the action is.
00:06:16.000 We'll be hitting that area probably pretty soon.
00:06:19.000 There's not a thing they can do about it.
00:06:22.000 Normally, I wouldn't say that.
00:06:24.000 If I thought they could do something about it, I would never say that.
00:06:26.000 But we'll be hitting that area pretty soon and very heavily. 0.98
00:06:34.000 Now, again, the relatively confused strategy being trotted out by the administration with regard to Iran, where we kind of want to play hokey pokey with them. 0.94
00:06:41.000 We're half in, we're half out. 0.98
00:06:42.000 We're going to do a few strikes here, a few strikes there.
00:06:44.000 President Trump put out a statement this morning in which he said that for every piece of ordnance fired at a ship in the Strait of Hormuz, we would take out a bridge or power plant.
00:06:53.000 I mean, how about if any ordnance is fired at a ship in the Strait of Hormuz, we take out all of that?
00:07:00.000 All of it.
00:07:01.000 Because then they're not a threat anymore.
00:07:03.000 Why are we playing this tit for tat game?
00:07:06.000 In an attempt to ratchet up pressure, that is not going to work.
00:07:09.000 I mean, I've said this a thousand times.
00:07:09.000 That is not going to work.
00:07:11.000 It's dumb to play the graduated escalation game with a regime that doesn't care about its own people, is willing to undergo tremendous amounts of suffering, and is not subject to the threat of regime change. 0.72
00:07:24.000 And when you're a parent, you stop thinking in terms of odds and stats. 0.96
00:07:27.000 You start thinking in terms of absolute responsibility.
00:07:30.000 Most days are going to be fine, but your job as a parent is to make sure that nothing happens on any day.
00:07:34.000 It's one of the reasons we are excited to partner with Simply Safe.
00:07:37.000 Several people here at Daily Wire have used Simply Safe.
00:07:39.000 The feedback, Is remarkably consistent.
00:07:41.000 The thing they appreciate most is that it isn't just another alarm that goes off after somebody's already broken in.
00:07:46.000 Simply Safe's Outdoor Camera Series 2 uses advanced AI to identify real threats on your property and then connects you to US based live agents who can actually help deter crime before a break in even happens.
00:07:56.000 That is a much smarter approach.
00:07:58.000 It's a very simple system to set up.
00:07:59.000 There are no long term contracts.
00:08:01.000 With professional monitoring starting at around a bucket A, it's a practical way to add another layer of protection for your home.
00:08:06.000 I would love for you to experience that same peace of mind right now.
00:08:08.000 Get 50% off your new system at simplysafe.comslash Shapiro.
00:08:12.000 There's no substitute for you feeling safe and your family feeling safe.
00:08:16.000 Simply Safe makes it happen for you.
00:08:17.000 Head on over to simplysafe.com.
00:08:18.000 Slash Shapiro.
00:08:19.000 There's no safe like Simply Safe.
00:08:21.000 Get 50% off your new system at simplysafe.comslash Shapiro.
00:08:25.000 Now, again, I'm unclear on whether the Trump administration is ready to just walk away.
00:08:31.000 Again, there are a wide variety of options here.
00:08:32.000 Walking away is actually a sort of middle option.
00:08:35.000 It's not great, but it's not the worst option. 0.82
00:08:37.000 The worst option was the MOU terms that would have fed Iran cash while walking away. 0.81
00:08:41.000 That was the worst option.
00:08:43.000 But President Trump says that Iran has been largely destroyed in terms of its nuclear program. 1.00
00:08:47.000 This is probably true. 1.00
00:08:51.000 So, if we left right now, it would take around 20, 25 years to rebuild.
00:08:57.000 Okay?
00:08:58.000 And we're not finished at all.
00:08:59.000 But if we left right now, it would take them a long time years, years to rebuild.
00:09:06.000 But we're not leaving right now.
00:09:09.000 Okay, so we're not leaving right now.
00:09:11.000 You know, again, I think that's right, but we need to actually finish the job.
00:09:16.000 Senator John Kennedy of Louisiana yesterday had Secretary of War Pete Hegseth in front of him and asked him about tolls and pickaxe mountains.
00:09:23.000 Just asking, what is the actual status?
00:09:24.000 Again, the lack of proper communication of goals here is a problem.
00:09:32.000 But we're down to it.
00:09:34.000 We need some hard answers and some straight talk.
00:09:38.000 What will happen, Pete?
00:09:42.000 Senator, I would agree with the chairman, but the likely outcome is they would try to impose their will on the waterways in ways that the world would not like.
00:09:50.000 Call it a toll, call it a fee, call it an exchange, call it control.
00:09:53.000 They would do something that they would try to hold it at issue.
00:09:56.000 Yes, sir.
00:09:57.000 Would they try to commence development again of a nuclear warhead?
00:10:06.000 Part of the reason President Trump had to have the courage to do what he did after Midnight Hammer is that they didn't give up their ambitions even though their nuclear sites had been obliterated.
00:10:13.000 So this is a regime hellbent on nuclear ambitions, and President Trump is willing to go after us.
00:10:19.000 We need straight answers.
00:10:24.000 Do we have the ability to destroy whatever is underneath Pickaxe Mountain?
00:10:33.000 A lot of Senator, a lot of our capabilities are classified, but if anybody in the world can reach anything on this, on God's given, God's green earth, it's the United States military.
00:10:43.000 Again, if you want to win, then you actually have to win, and there's no substitute for winning.
00:10:46.000 If you win, if you open up the straight, if the Iranians don't have the ability to export oil, then we don't need to give the Saudis nuclear development. 0.73
00:10:56.000 We don't have to worry about gas prices either, right?
00:10:57.000 These are things that can be accomplished.
00:10:59.000 All they require is the will.
00:11:00.000 We do have the capacity.
00:11:01.000 We also, by the way, do need to fill back in our arsenal.
00:11:03.000 I will never understand, never.
00:11:05.000 Why, under any administration, a defense authorization meant to restock our military is denied?
00:11:11.000 It makes no sense to me.
00:11:12.000 Right now, Democrats are trying to hold off on restocking the American military.
00:11:16.000 That's insane.
00:11:18.000 That's crazy.
00:11:18.000 I don't care what you believe about the war in Iran.
00:11:20.000 Leaving our troops without the weaponry that they need for any potential conflict is nut job stuff.
00:11:26.000 It's nutty.
00:11:28.000 I disagree with Barack Obama's intervention in Libya.
00:11:31.000 If he had come to Congress and said, we need to restock our Patriots, I wouldn't have been like, well, you know, I hate what's happening in Libya.
00:11:35.000 Let's go without Patriots. 0.98
00:11:37.000 That's ridiculous. 0.78
00:11:38.000 This is a point that Pete Hegseth made yesterday. 0.77
00:11:41.000 He called the $1.5 trillion budget for the military a generational investment.
00:11:46.000 Yeah, we need to do those things.
00:11:48.000 These are things we need to do.
00:11:51.000 So you're looking at a lot of negligence and a lot of deferred maintenance that this department is having to catch up on.
00:11:58.000 And so that's why I call this a generational investment.
00:12:00.000 It truly is.
00:12:01.000 This is a $1.5 trillion budget with this supplemental being part of it, is how we catch up and get ahead and ensure in the process we're putting soldiers and sailors and airmen.
00:12:11.000 First, Marines first, Guardians, that their pay increases, that the end strength increases that have gone up because recruiting is at historic levels are fully funded.
00:12:20.000 So rather than trying to play catch up and make sure we're not losing training, we should be ahead of that curve.
00:12:25.000 And that's where we think $1.5 trillion can get us.
00:12:29.000 And Secretary of War Hegseth went on to point out to the Democratic senators they were perfectly happy to send supplemental funding to Ukraine, but are not willing to fund the United States military directly.
00:12:43.000 I would argue providing for American men and women as opposed to Ukrainian men and women is a higher priority for the United States Senate.
00:12:52.000 So, five supplementals that went to Ukraine, as good as that cause may be, why is that righteous to do?
00:12:58.000 But funding troops in harm's way right now, given the threat and what they're undertaking, this is a partisan exercise.
00:13:07.000 It's hypocrisy.
00:13:10.000 Well, he is certainly correct about all of that.
00:13:13.000 What an amazing video you just watched.
00:13:15.000 Wasn't that amazing?
00:13:16.000 Well, you know, if you think so, head on over to dailywire.comslash subscribe to watch the full show ad free or check out this crazy story here.