John Bolton pleads guilty to one count under an agreement that could bring up to 60 months in prison and require him to pay a $2.25 million fine. Meanwhile, President Trump is showing signs of renewed momentum heading into the mid-term elections, with new polling indicating his approval rating is moving upward.
00:00:40.720John Bolton, once President Donald Trump's National Security Advisor,
00:00:45.300who became a backstabber after flaming out spectacularly in that role,
00:00:50.280has now pled guilty to illegally retaining classified national security information
00:00:55.480from his time in the first Trump administration.0.82
00:00:58.180I used to play in a floating crap game in Washington, D.C. with Bolton. He wasn't much0.82
00:01:03.540of a poker player either. Bolton pled guilty to one count under an agreement that could
00:01:08.820bring up to 60 months in prison and requires him to pay a $2.25 million fine. That amount is
00:01:16.260nearly equal to the reported sales from his anti-Trump memoir, The Room Where It Happened,
00:01:22.380which he published in 2020 after leaving the Trump White House.
00:01:26.880The case centered on classified information that Bolton admitted keeping in a private diary entry.
00:01:33.700Prosecutors had originally brought an 18-count indictment,
00:01:37.840accusing him of retaining more than 1,000 pages of classified national defense material,
00:01:43.940including documents marked secret and top secret.
00:01:46.900He was also accused of transmitting classified information through personal email accounts that unauthorized family members could access.
00:01:56.140Now, Bolton had initially pled not guilty, but his attorney, Abby Lowell, who more recently represented Hunter Biden, argued that the records were personal diary material, unclassified, shared only with immediate family and already known to the FBI years earlier.
00:02:14.280But the guilty plea makes it clear that there was more to Bolton's story.
00:02:19.100The mustachioed warmonger spent years attacking President Trump and presenting himself as a guardian of national security judgment.
00:02:28.120The truth is, this guy never met a war he didn't like.
00:02:31.820President Trump mostly ignored him when he served in the administration.
00:02:35.400In the aftermath, Bolton weaponized sensitive information tied to his government service for personal gain.
00:02:42.300No one should be above the law, especially former officials lecturing the country about principle, responsibility, national security, and integrity while being grotesquely corrupt.
00:02:54.040Let's hope the courts throw the book at Bolton and he has to serve the maximum jail time.
00:02:59.620Meanwhile, President Donald Trump is showing signs of renewed political momentum heading into the midterm election season, with new polling indicating his approval rating is moving upward.
00:03:09.660A new poll by Rasmussen puts Trump's approval rating at 46 percent, his highest mark in many
00:03:16.820months, a notable sign that support is returning as voters weigh his leadership on the economy,
00:03:22.920national security and foreign policy. While the political environment remains competitive,
00:03:28.320the numbers suggest that President Trump is regaining ground at a critical moment for
00:03:33.540Republicans. There's also movement among independent voters. A Quinnipiac poll released
00:03:38.660Wednesday found Trump's approval rating among independents has climbed to 34 percent, his
00:03:44.100strongest showing with that group since December. That still leaves room for growth, there's no
00:03:49.180question, but it marks improvement from earlier surveys that showed independents pulling back
00:03:54.200over concerns about the economy as well as foreign affairs. The White House says the president is
00:04:00.500focused on leadership, not polls. Presidential spokesperson Davis Engel said Americans want
00:04:08.540a commander-in-chief who acts decisively to eliminate threats and to keep the country safe.
00:04:14.480He pointed out operations Epic Fury and Midnight Hammer and Trump's pledge to prevent Iran from
00:04:20.820developing a nuclear weapon as examples of that approach. The proposed peace plan with Iran
00:04:27.060after obliterating the nuclear threat and decapitating the regime is also shown to be0.82
00:04:32.800tremendously popular, according to all polls. Voters may disagree on tactics, but they recognize
00:04:38.880a president willing to act in America's interest to defend national security, close our borders,
00:04:44.760and project strength on the world stage. The people know that President Trump is not someone
00:04:50.240who's going to be bullied, and that is something they can respect. As the midterms approach,
00:04:55.120rising approval numbers give Republicans an important boost and show that President Trump's
00:04:59.720America first agenda really still has legs. The radical Democrats will be defeated and I think
00:05:06.020that Republicans will gain in both houses despite what some panicans may be saying today. Meanwhile
00:05:13.360Trump border czar Tom Homan says the administration is preparing to add 1,000
00:05:18.380new immigration agents marking another major step in President Trump's crackdown on illegal
00:05:24.980immigration. Speaking Friday at the Faith and Freedom Coalition's Road to Majority Conference,
00:05:31.420Homan said the administration has already had a historic number of deportations. He told the
00:05:37.380crowd that 10,000 more agents should be on board by the end of next month, then added,
00:05:42.820wait until next year. Homan also defended the men and women of ICE, who he said have faced
00:05:48.300constant attacks from left-wing politicians and activists simply for doing their job and
00:05:53.840enforcing the law. He sent ICE agents strap on a firearm and Kevlar vests every day to arrest the
00:06:01.060worst of the worst, only to be smeared by members of Congress as Gestapo or secret police. His
00:06:08.300response was blunt. ICE is enforcing laws Congress itself wrote. If politicians call agents racist
00:06:15.460for enforcing those laws, what does it say about the lawmakers who created and voted for them?
00:06:21.360President Trump also touted his administration's enforcement record, saying ICE and Border Patrol have achieved the highest average daily arrest rate, detention totals, final removal orders and removals of any president in history.
00:06:36.580He said court delays are slowing down some final orders, but the administration's numbers remain unmatched.
00:06:42.480There are historical accomplishments that form the core of President's MAGA legacy.
00:06:48.300After years of open border chaos, America finally has leadership willing to enforce immigration law,
00:06:54.600back federal agents, remove criminal illegal aliens, and put the safety of American citizens first.
00:07:01.500ICE is gearing up to do the mass deportations that are needed to save America for generations to come.
00:07:07.360Any illegals who've been able to evade justice up to now better watch out.0.96
00:07:11.300ICE will be coming to their door soon to send them back where they belong.
00:07:16.400House Democrats, on the other hand, are bracing for a much more radical caucus in
00:07:20.6202027 as Democratic Socialists and far-left candidates rack up primary victories not just
00:07:27.460in New York but across the country. The number of Democratic Socialists of America members in
00:07:32.860Congress is set to more than double after Tuesday's New York primaries. State Assemblymember Claire
00:07:39.820Valdez won the seat of retiring Congresswoman Nidia Velasquez, the only other Nidia I know
00:07:46.660other than my wife, Nidia Stone, while extreme Marxist activist Daria Villa of Villa Chevalier
00:08:01.640and Pennsylvania's Chris Rabb. But the broader left-wing wave goes beyond official DSA,
00:08:09.040Democrats, Socialists of America members. Progressive candidates have scored wins in
00:08:13.340New Jersey, Texas, California, and Maine, while several others position to challenge incumbent
00:08:19.480Democrats yet in primaries coming up in California, Colorado, Florida, Missouri, and Michigan.
00:08:26.960Democrats are growing increasingly concerned. Letitia James, the Attorney General of New York,
00:08:33.360actually criticized the mayor socialist mandami for blowing up the democrat establishment if you
00:08:41.340can't get to the left of letitia james and not fall off the earth where can you go democrats
00:08:47.320realize that this is a huge problem coming into general elections they're growingly concerned
00:08:54.040congressman steve cohen uh the only guy i know has a ponytail but he's bald uh warns it'll be
00:09:00.840difficult to rein in lawmakers who are religion adherents to a socialist ideology. One House
00:09:06.900Democrat said voters are electing candidates who want to fight but not solve problems. Another
00:09:12.400warned that they could become Freedom Caucus of the left. Some progressives are already coordinating
00:09:17.480and talking about using leverage against party leadership, especially if Democrats only hold a
00:09:23.180narrow majority. This shows that the Democratic Party is not drifting left, it is being held
00:09:27.680hostage by the far left, which will stop at nothing to achieve more government control,
00:09:32.660more woke ideological mandates, and fewer moderate common sense solutions.
00:09:37.920Democrat leaders are figuring out that they've created a monster that now threatens to consume
00:09:42.380them. As voters get to learn more about these leftists, they will realize that perhaps voting
00:09:46.940for Republicans is the only sane option. New Census Bureau data shows the South is leading
00:09:52.700America's population growth, outpacing every other region from 2020 to 2025. According to the Bureau,
00:10:01.120the South grew by 6 percent over that period, nearly double the national growth of 3.1 percent.
00:10:07.540Even more telling, the South was the only region where the population under 18 increased, growing
00:10:13.040by 1.1 percent, while the Northeast, Midwest, and West all saw declines among children. Census
00:10:19.800officials say the region's gains are being driven largely by metro counties, especially outlying
00:10:25.380counties surrounding the major cities. Those areas grew quickly across every age group, suggesting
00:10:31.020the South is attracting and retaining families, workers, retirees, and young adults. Lauren Bowers,
00:10:38.020chief of the Census Bureau's Population Estimates Branch, said shifting migration, fertility patterns,
00:10:43.680and the aging of baby boomers are changing the country's demographic map. But she noted the South
00:10:49.140stands out because it's gaining residence in age groups that are flat or declining elsewhere in the
00:10:54.980country. Conservatives don't need to hear from experts as to why this is happening. It's the
00:10:59.980result of failed liberal policies. As a result, Americans are voting with their feet. They're
00:11:05.520moving towards states and communities that generally offer lower taxes, more affordable
00:11:09.780housing, stronger job growth, warmer business climates, and in many cases, more respect for
00:11:15.780family life and personal freedom. While blue state leaders piously lecture the country from their
00:11:21.720ivory towers, regular people are leaving high-cost, over-regulated regions where the laws are soft on
00:11:27.660crime and building their futures in the greener pastures of the South. Perhaps the folks who say
00:11:32.680the South will rise again, well, maybe they were on to something after all. A new analysis is
00:11:38.160demonstrating major political bias in artificial intelligence, finding that several leading chat
00:11:43.080bots lean left when answering basic policy questions. According to this new report,
00:11:47.420OpenAI's chat GPT produced the most one-sided responses of any model tested. Its GPT 5.5 system
00:11:56.760reportedly answered about 80% of political questions using only left-leaning arguments
00:12:01.380while presenting an exclusively right-leaning position only one time. Anthropics Claude,
00:12:06.900China's Deep Seek and Ira's Gab also tended to give left-wing answers.
00:12:12.700Google's Gemini and XAI's Grok came closest to balance,
00:12:17.980with Gemini offering competing arguments in more than 90% of its responses.
00:12:22.660Researchers from Stanford and Dartmouth developed the questions
00:12:25.680covering issues like affirmative action, taxes, health care, campaign finance, and the Electoral College.
00:12:32.600In examples cited throughout the study, JAT-GPT favored overturning Citizens United, raising taxes on wealthy Americans, abolishing the Electoral College, and adopting a single-payer health care system.
00:12:45.220President Trump has repeatedly warned that AI must not become another left-wing institution shaping public opinion from behind a screen.
00:12:53.300His administration has already ordered federal agencies to procure artificial intelligence systems that function as neutral, nonpartisan tools.
00:13:01.260If Americans are going to rely on AI for information, those systems cannot quietly feed progressive talking points while pretending to be objective or factual.
00:13:10.500These are the most powerful tools that shape minds and public opinions that have ever been created.
00:13:15.540AI must be transparent, accountable, and generally politically neutral.
00:13:19.640Trump administration should not be shy about crafting federal regulations that make sure AI does not become another tool just used for left-wing brainwashing.
00:13:29.440I'm Roger Stone. You're listening to The Stone Zone. When we come back, the rent freeze that I was predicted before the last mayoral election has happened with the Muslim socialist mayor, Soray Mandemi, leading the charge. I'm Roger Stone. You're listening to The Stone Zone. Don't go away because we'll be right back.
00:13:51.120The Stone Zone. Entertaining and informative on the Red Apple Podcast Network.
00:14:00.700New York City's Rent Guidelines Board is voted 7-1 to freeze rents on roughly 1 million rent-stabilized apartments for up to two years,
00:14:09.460handling the far-left Muslim Socialist Mayor Zoran Mamdami a major win on one of his central campaign promises.
00:14:16.200The freeze applies to both one-year and two-year leases beginning in October, affecting 2.5 million New York City residents.
00:14:24.200Mamdami appointed six of the board's nine members after taking office in January.
00:14:29.060Hours before the vote, Landlord Representative Christina Smith, appointed by the previous mayor, resigned and said the rebuilt board had been required to deliver a rent freeze, calling the process nothing more than theater.
00:14:41.620Landlord groups warned the decision ignores economic reality.
00:14:45.460The board's own data showed operating costs and expenses for landlords rising by 5.3 percent.
00:14:51.500Small property owners say a 0% increase will make it harder to maintain buildings, pay mortgages, cover taxes, and keep aging, rent-stabilized housing from deteriorating.
00:15:02.240Meanwhile, Manadami called the vote a historic victory for tenants, but the inevitable consequences will be government freezing private rents while costs keep rising.
00:15:11.020Then owners will take the blame when buildings decline in livable housing contracts.
00:15:15.660This is the problem with socialist housing policy.
00:15:18.200It promises affordability, but punishes property owners.
00:15:22.220It discourages investment and expands political control over private property.
00:15:27.620But Mamdami doesn't care about the results.
00:15:29.780He's a demagogue and he will explore any crisis to further his anti-capitalist narrative.
00:15:35.160New York City may be functional for the time being, but Mamdami has only begun to put a stamp on the city.
00:15:40.500Get ready to endure some of the most incomprehensible policies the nation has ever seen.1.00
00:15:46.080New York City will rue the day they trusted this shifty foreign outsider.1.00
00:15:51.040High taxes and soft on crime policies will only inevitably lead to a decline in the quality of life and to employers leaving New York City.1.00
00:16:01.220Meanwhile, the Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney is now openly pushing Canada away from the United States and towards Europe.
00:16:07.860Using familiar language, it should concern every American who believes in national sovereignty.
00:16:13.980In recent remarks, Carney argued that middle-powered countries should stop competing for favor with America.
00:16:20.520Instead, build strength among like-minded allies.
00:16:23.760He described Canada and Europe as a combined force for good, emphasizing human rights, dignity, and pluralism.
00:16:30.440Carney went even further, declaring a new world order.
00:16:35.260His exact term, by the way, will be built starting with Europe and calling Canada the most European of non-European countries.
00:16:42.620His government is now seeking deeper cooperation with the European Union as trade tensions with the Trump administration continue.
00:16:49.580This helps explain Canada's basic absence from the key trade talks recently had.
00:16:53.860Canada is now the only G7 country reportedly facing a recession, while the United States remains the world's dominant consumer market, accounting for roughly 30% of global consumer spending.
00:17:06.260President Trump's tariffs and trade negotiations are aimed at correcting decades of bad deals that hollowed out American manufacturing under the banner of globalization.
00:17:16.040Meanwhile, our neighbors to the north are whining and threatening to isolate the U.S.
00:17:21.880And we should never be strong-armed or manipulated by our inferiors.
00:17:27.020I'm Roger Stone. You're listening to Stone Zone.
00:17:29.280Don't go away because we'll be right back to talk about Gavin Newsom.0.98
00:17:33.060He'd like to be president, but his hypocrisy is revolting.0.97
00:17:40.040The Stone Zone. Entertaining and informative.0.98
00:18:12.060public safety, health care, and universities, and should not let one advocacy group rewrite the tax
00:18:18.140code. That part sounds almost reasonable, but then comes the hypocrisy. Newsom does not oppose
00:18:24.000punishing wealth. He just wants Washington, D.C. to do it instead of someone else so they can take
00:18:29.740the political hit for the consequences. In the same argument, Newsom calls for a national
00:18:34.860billionaire's tax, higher corporate taxes, new inheritance taxes, and an attack on borrowing
00:18:40.880against assets, even a national public equity fund tied to artificial intelligence. So in other
00:18:47.540words, he rejects California's wealth tax because billionaires might flee to Texas or California
00:18:53.540or Florida, but then demands a federal version so no one can escape. This is the same Gavin Newsom
00:19:00.440who governed one of the highest taxed, highest cost states in America, where families struggle
00:19:05.660with housing costs, businesses are fleeing, homelessness has exploded, and the middle
00:19:11.320class continues to get squeezed. Now he wants to lecture the country about saving the American
00:19:16.700dream. It's all clear, except for the most psychotic leftists among us, that California's
00:19:21.880problems were not caused by too little government or too little government control of their lives.
00:19:27.020They should be caused, as you know, by too many taxes, regulations, bureaucrats, and redistribution.
00:19:33.480Newsom's message is socialism with a slicker branding.
00:19:37.000He's attempting to take California's failed national model, and the American people, in the end, will not buy it.
00:19:43.420As someone who is a veteran of 13 national presidential campaigns, someone who worked for three American presidents,
00:19:52.480I have to comment on the performance of Vice President J.D. Vance over the last couple of weeks.
00:19:58.040In the past few weeks, I think Vice President J.D. Vance has shown precisely why President Donald Trump made one of the most consequential decisions of his political career by selecting Vance as his running mate.
00:20:11.480Vance has stepped into hostile territory and emerged stronger, defended the America First agenda with precision and positioned himself as the steady voice of a pragmatic foreign policy that prioritizes America interests over endless wars.
00:20:28.040These performances are not accidents. They're products of a rare political instinct and a rare understanding of the movement that President Trump birthed, considering, for example, his appearance on ABC's The View.
00:20:40.560Now, this was no friendly forum. Vance walked into a panel where at least four of the six co-hosts approached the segment with open hostility.
00:20:50.400Questions came rapid fire on the economy, immigration, enforcement, the administration's handling of the Epstein files, his own past comments about President Trump, black history in public spaces, and other topics that make lesser intellect flinch.
00:21:07.440Vance steadfastly defended President Trump's record, clarified positions without apology, and maintained composure amid interruptions and pointed attacks.
00:21:17.780Vance handled it all with grace under fire, and that's what defines real leadership.
00:21:23.920He'd show up, he'd engage directly, and he refused to be rattled.
00:21:28.440That same day, Vance sat with Megyn Kelly on her SiriusXM show to address divisions on the right over the administration's Iran policy.
00:21:38.060Rather than dismiss skeptics or escalate intra-movement tensions, he explained the strategic rationale, urged critics to remain engaged in the Trump coalition, and made the case that faith in the president's judgment is always warranted.
00:21:53.920So Vance diffused objections without conceding principles.
00:21:57.480Few figures can thread that needle, speaking to the base's legitimate concerns about foreign
00:22:03.440entanglements while reinforcing unity behind America first priorities. These back-to-back
00:22:09.960appearances showed me a politician operating at a higher level, unflappable in hostile ground
00:22:16.820while remaining persuasive within his own coalition. You would be wise not to underestimate
00:22:22.860Vice President J.D. Vance. No matter what anyone says, he is the front runner for 2028 and he has
00:22:29.960proven just this week that he can hold his own. Texas is moving closer requiring public school
00:22:36.820students to learn about the Bible's role in American history, literature, and culture while
00:22:42.740also adding instructions on the historical connection between Islam and violence. The
00:22:48.480Republican-led Texas Board of Education gave preliminary approval Wednesday to new social
00:22:54.180studies standards that could take effect in 2030 or 2031 in that school year if finalized.
00:23:02.160Students as young as six would encounter Bible-related lessons through graduation,
00:23:06.800including the parable of the prodigal son, the Beatitudes, the story of Adam and Eve, and so on.
00:23:13.180The change does not violate the First Amendment in any way, shape, or form in its simplest and
00:23:18.160most common sense. The Bible has shaped American law, literature, art, civil rights rhetoric,
00:23:24.260and most moral vocabulary of Western civilization. Students cannot fully understand the nation's
00:23:30.660founding, our culture, or public debates if schools pretend Christianity played no role
00:23:36.380or does not exist. The board also advanced provisions asking older students to examine
00:23:41.840Islam through the lens of Muhammad's brutal military campaigns. Leftist critics, such as
00:23:48.460the lawfare gang with the ACLU, claim the standard favors Christianity and portrays Islam negatively.
00:23:56.240But public education should not be afraid of historical facts, especially after years of
00:24:02.060left-wing curriculum that trashed America's Christian heritage while pushing bizarre
00:24:07.740ideological narratives on race, gender, and identity. The left knows that the classroom
00:24:13.800is a battleground. They've used public schools to shape the minds of our young people so they
00:24:18.980can make massive political gains. Now Texas is throwing a wrench into their plans. If the board
00:24:24.580gives final approval, the lessons will become part of a standardized testing system. While Texas
00:24:30.040parents, this is a major step forward for restoring honest history and cultural literacy
00:24:35.960in the classroom. The United Nations is now lecturing the United States over ICE detention
00:24:42.340deaths after policies enacted by the globalist body have helped fuel the migrant crisis that's
00:24:48.740harmed America and Europe immeasurably. UN High Commissioner of Human Rights Volker Turk called
00:24:56.140Friday for independent investigations into the deaths in ICE custody, citing U.S. government
00:25:02.120data showing 18 deaths in the first five months of the year, plus another reported later this
00:25:08.320month. The UN said 33 deaths were registered in 2025, compared with 11 in 2024. ICE is now
00:25:16.220holding more than 60,000 people, up from 40,000 in early 2025, with capacity expected to grow.
00:25:24.160This is the mandate that President Trump was elected to fulfill. The UN's claim to moral
00:25:28.820superiority over America is, well, balderdash. For years, international bureaucrats, NGOs,
00:25:37.180and open border advocates have encouraged mass migration. Then when millions cross illegally
00:25:44.200and enforcement agencies are overwhelmed, the same people blame America for trying to restore order.
00:25:50.480ICE is dealing with the consequences of a border crisis created by lawless migration,
00:25:55.500weak enforcement, and globalist pressure against deportations.
00:26:00.180The United States has the right and duty to secure its borders, enforce its laws,
00:26:05.720and reject UN lectures that undermine American sovereignty.
00:26:10.400The attacks on ICE are just a UN cover to continue promoting open borders globally.
00:26:16.720They want nations weakened so that supranational bodies can come in and fill the void.
00:26:22.300Patriots have been warning about this agenda since its inception.
00:26:25.500We need to get out of the U.N. and evict them from our shores.
00:26:29.140They do nothing but soak up our tax dollars.
00:26:32.440Meanwhile, former 60 Minutes executive producer Bill Owens is preparing a tell-or memoir
00:26:38.420attacking CBS, Paramount, and new CBS News editor-in-chief Barry Weiss.
00:26:44.500Owens, who spent 37 years at CBS, quit last week after claiming he had lost editorial independence,
00:26:51.480meaning his ability to spew one-sided liberal talking points unabated.
00:26:57.040Now, according to a reviewed book proposal, he's calling Paramount the worst-run media company in America
00:27:02.940and taking shots at his boss, Barry Weiss, who was brought in by the new CBS owner, David Ellison,
00:27:10.500after building the free press into an interesting alternative to woke, groupthink journalism.
00:27:16.340Owens mocked Weiss for asking CBS journalists to explain what they were working on, comparing it to school homework.
00:27:24.320In other words, the basic accountability measures offended him.
00:27:28.700Owens' crybaby routine shows the need for these reforms.
00:27:32.960For too long, elite newsrooms operated like private clubs, pushing narratives, dodging scrutiny,
00:27:39.600and acting shocked when viewers stopped trusting them or stopped reading them or watching them.
00:27:44.620Owens also attacked Paramount's $16 million settlement with President Trump over the disputed 60-minute interview with Kamala Harris, calling it corporate cowardice.
00:27:55.740But in actuality, that was the fake news finally being forced to pay the piper after years of blatantly biased coverage.
00:28:03.240Scott Pelley has also blasted Weiss, accusing her of destroying CBS News before being fired after a confrontation.
00:28:10.620the fact that the old guard of CBS News is so offended that Barry Weiss who is best would be
00:28:18.000considered a moderate is doing proof positive that she is on the right track all these dinosaurs are
00:28:24.140no longer relevant and their egos far outpace their evidence good riddance I say and I'm sure
00:28:29.620we'll be seeing your book in the bargain bin at the dollar general stores Americans are finally
00:28:35.620seeing signs of release on inflation with gas prices easing, core CPI momentum slowing,
00:28:42.180used car prices moving down, and food inflation beginning to moderate. But a new pressure point
00:28:47.440is emerging, the massive artificial intelligence infrastructure boom, which some observers see
00:28:53.340becoming an unsustainable bubble. Apple announced a 15 to 25 percent price hike on Mac computers
00:29:01.180and iPads after their CEO Tim Cook warned that cost increases were unlike anything
00:29:07.100he's seen in more than 40 years. The company blamed surging demand for memory and storage
00:29:13.020tied to the rapid expansion of AI data centers. This is not a small trend. Analysts estimate that
00:29:20.460five major tech giants, Alphabet, Amazon, Meta, Microsoft, and Oracle may spend $741 billion
00:29:29.780dollars this year on AI infrastructure, up nearly 75 percent from last year. One Columbia economist
00:29:37.220estimates the AI build-out could cost as much as eight trillion dollars over six years. Those data
00:29:52.680of electricity. Already, there's complaints among utility users that their rates will hike
00:30:00.380once they clip into the grid. Therefore, there is time to look for alternatives when it comes
00:30:06.280to electrical power. As we have said here on the Stone Zone, there's also major private property
00:30:13.020concerns related to the construction of these data centers in rural communities. The results
00:30:18.720of the data center boom is higher prices for electronics components construction labor and
00:30:24.640power government data shows computer software and accessories up about 15 percent while wholesale
00:30:31.320economic components rose 27 percent goldman sachs says data centers could drive nearly half of u.s
00:30:40.580powered growth through 2030, with electricity prices rising around 6% annually in 2026 and
00:30:48.4802027. Now, we're not Luddites here. We're not technologically hitting nut jobs like
00:30:54.940Ted Kaczynski. America needs innovation, but we also need abundant energy, reliable infrastructure,
00:31:01.900and real competition so working families are not forced to pay for big tech's arms race.
00:31:07.400If we're not careful, artificial intelligence inherently disrupted nature could be cataclysmic for the many as it enriches the select few.
00:31:17.520President Donald Trump issued a stark warning on Truth Social this week.
00:31:21.820His message was neither subtle nor ambiguous.
00:31:24.720His words capture what millions of Americans have begun to sense as they watch the nation's political landscape transform at a speed unimaginable even a decade ago.
00:31:33.920Whether one agrees with every aspect of the president's rhetoric or not, there is no denying that the ideological debate unfolding in America today bears striking similarities to warnings that generations of anti-communist Americans spent decades trying to deliver to a nation that often refused to listen.
00:31:53.080History has an inconvenient habit of returning to remind us that ideas matter.
00:31:57.740Nations are rarely conquered by foreign armies before their first weakened from within.
00:32:03.080Every communist revolution was wrapped itself in the language of liberation
00:32:06.940before replacing liberty with centralized power, coercion, censorship, and fear.
00:33:48.320in one of the world's most strategic, significant waterways.
00:33:53.120President Donald Trump correctly described the incident
00:33:55.560as a foolish violation of the recently negotiated ceasefire and maritime agreement has been
00:34:02.080painstakingly assembled to reduce tensions, reopen shipping lanes, and restore stability
00:34:07.560after months of conflict. Those negotiations were never simply about diplomacy. They were
00:34:13.240about restoring confidence that international commerce could once again flow freely through
00:34:18.400a vital maritime choke point. Iran's actions now place that fragile understanding in true jeopardy.
00:34:24.860The significance of this event extends far beyond the region.
00:34:28.840Stability in Hormuz directly influences energy prices and, by extension, inflation, transportation costs, and the price of everyday goods.
00:34:38.300Even with the increased domestic production, the United States remains tied to the global energy markets,
00:34:45.020meaning disruptions or even perceived threats can quickly ripple through supply chains, financial markets, and household budgets.
00:34:52.460This is why financial markets watch the Strait of Hormuz with extraordinary intensity.
00:34:57.480Even the threat of disruption can drive up shipping insurance, alter trade routes, and trigger volatility that ultimately raises costs for consumers.0.93
00:35:07.700Iran understands this dynamic perfectly.
00:35:10.300For decades, the leadership in Tehran has recognized that while it cannot compete conventionally with the United States Navy,
00:35:18.020it possesses one uniquely powerful form of leverage, geography.
00:35:21.920Iran occupies much of the northern coastline overlooking the Strait of Hormuz from missile batteries, drones, naval mines, fast attack aircraft, submarines, and proxy forces.
00:35:33.480The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps has built an asymmetric strategy designed not necessarily to defeat superior military force outright, but to create enough uncertainty that global commerce slows, insurance rates soar, and political pressure mounts on Western governments.
00:35:49.940Donald Trump is not going to stand for this for much longer.0.84
00:35:53.060We all pray that the MOU that he worked out with the Islamic regime holds together.0.63
00:35:58.400But in the meantime, we already have problems in the Straits of Hermos.0.98
00:36:02.100This strategy has evolved over decades.
00:36:04.480Rather than confronting American naval superiority head on,0.85
00:36:08.360Iran has consistently invested in capabilities intended to impose economic pain
00:36:12.980disproportionate to the cost of the attack itself.
00:36:16.080A relatively inexpensive drone capable of damaging a commercial vessel can trigger billions of dollars in market volatility, that is, strategic leverage of the highest order.
00:36:27.160The Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps deserves special attention because it's not simply another branch of Iran's military establishment.
00:36:34.180It functions simultaneously as a military organization, an intelligence service, an economic empire, and an ideological enforcement arm and exporter of revolutionary influence throughout the Middle East.
00:36:46.080Its fingerprints have appeared repeatedly across regional conflicts through support for proxy organizations, maritime harassment, missile development, cyber operations, and unconventional warfare.
00:36:58.260The IRGC exists not merely to defend Iran's borders, but to protect the revolutionary ideology born in 1979.
00:37:07.660Donald Trump is not a man to trifle with. We pray that the MOU holds together.
00:37:12.100But I fundamentally distrust those in Iran and the regime who have signed it.1.00
00:37:17.400Thank you for joining us today in The Stone Zone.1.00