Full transcript
0:00Um and Trump did post today asking for a
0:02complete ceasefire on all fronts
0:04including Lebanon, Hezbollah, and
0:06Israel. So Trump posted that I think two
0:08hours ago. So instead of talking about
0:10the shift in the rhetoric, Colonel, I
0:12want to ask you about this particular um
0:16the wild card in this and that's Israel.
0:19So let's start there. We're already
0:20seeing that being an obstacle. I'd love
0:22to get your thoughts on u on whether
0:24Trump will be able to to reign in
0:27Netanyahu.
0:29Well, it appears that the Israeli
0:32leadership and its billionaire
0:34supporters in the United States who were
0:36instrumental in putting Trump into the
0:39White House have decided to turn current
0:43events into a test uh of Jewish power.
0:46And what I mean by that is that this is
0:48a test of just how much power they
0:50wield, how far they can go, and what
0:53they can achieve. I think that's a
0:55mistake because I think their power and
0:57influence
0:59it's already disproportionate to what it
1:02ought to be, if it ought to be at all.
1:05But I think they've achieved enough in
1:08terms of uh
1:11enticing us into this war and then
1:14ultimately hurling us into the teeth of
1:16the enemy for them. I think they should
1:19take a different approach, but uh
1:21obviously I hold the minority opinion. I
1:23think they're going to try very hard to
1:26bully President Trump back into
1:29attacking Iran. I think that's where
1:33we're headed. Saw the report by CNN
1:36today. Um, let me try to find it. But
1:39essentially says that there it is.
1:41Netanyahu is reportedly lobbying to
1:43shape the final US agreement, US Iran
1:45agreement, including by pressuring Trump
1:47through allies and intermediaries in
1:49Washington. Netanyahu has mobilized
1:51pro-Israeli senators and media allies,
1:54which by the way, I don't know how these
1:56guys are not registered as foreign
1:59agents and not facing legal scrutiny for
2:01this,
2:02>> but let's skip that. That's another
2:04story. And media allies in an effort to
2:06influence the negotiations and secure
2:08changes to the terms of a final deal
2:09with Iran. Netanyahu reportedly believes
2:12a final agreement will be reached, but
2:14remains concerned that Iran will not
2:15uphold his commitment. separately.
2:16Netanyahu said on Lebanon, "We will
2:19restore security to the north. That
2:20requires keeping the security zone in
2:22southern Lebanon and not leaving as long
2:24as Israel's security needs require it."
2:27In other words, Netanyahu is uh is
2:30rallying all the supporters and the
2:32influence he has in the US to try to
2:34pressure Trump. So, my question to you,
2:36do you think it is enough or do you
2:38think Trump has what it takes to not bow
2:40to that pressure?
2:42I wish I could give you a resounding uh
2:45yes as an answer that he can withstand
2:47the pressure. I think so.
2:51I think he and the Iranians have
2:54collectively reached the point where
2:56they see no point in any further war
2:59between us. I think that's really what
3:01you're hearing from President Trump.
3:03Now, I have to go back a few years. In
3:05my short interactions with him,
3:09he conveyed the impression to me of two
3:12things. Number one, he did not want a
3:14war with Iran. I mean, be perfectly
3:16frank about that. He didn't see the need
3:18for it. He was confident that some sort
3:21of arrangement could be reached. In
3:23other words, a deal could be struck.
3:26Secondly, Donald Trump conveyed to me
3:29the impression that this was not
3:30somebody who wanted to go to war with
3:32anyone.
3:34that was really not his predisposition
3:36at all and that he was genuinely focused
3:39on the United States.
3:41So when he came back into the political
3:43arena, [clears throat] most of what he
3:45said in his runup to the presidency
3:49was consistent with what I had heard
3:51from him in private. Then he went
3:54through this transformation. The
3:55transformation really began with
3:56Ukraine. He could have ended that war
3:59very very quickly if he had decided to
4:02do what made sense which was to tell
4:03Zilinski no cut him off and say we will
4:07no longer support you. We want you to
4:09come to uh reality with Russia. You
4:14can't live in a state of perpetual
4:15hostility to Russia. So please sit down
4:17with the Russians. He didn't do that. In
4:21fact, the opposite occurred
4:22[clears throat]
4:22and he began repeating the sort of
4:25nonsense statements about Ukraine and
4:28Russia that were common in the neocon
4:30circles. So that disturbed me and uh
4:34that was the end of any further
4:35conversation that I had be with the
4:37president about foreign relations. That
4:40was April of 2022.
4:43And then he started to move increasingly
4:45into this state of belligerance.
4:48Now, I I thought
4:50at the beginning of the collision with
4:52Iran
4:54that when when he announced that he had
4:56sent the B2 bombers in for this
4:58beautiful attack and all this kind of
5:00nonsense and it was beautiful and
5:02perfect and wonderful and he then
5:04declared the war is over. You know,
5:07we've destroyed it. It's over. I think
5:09he was telling you what he wanted it to
5:11be. I think he was being truthful in so
5:14far as saying, "I want this thing over,
5:18>> but he couldn't do it." And I think he
5:21was overwhelmed by Netanyahu and his
5:24supporters in the United States. You
5:26know, when you're dealing with people
5:28that are very, very wealthy, powerful
5:31figures in your society, and you have to
5:34be concerned about what they could do
5:36against you. It's not just what can they
5:38do for you, but what can they also do
5:40against you. I think he took all of that
5:42into account and he said, "All right, I
5:45will give this a shot." And I think he
5:47talked to his inner circle and his inner
5:49circle for the most part was supportive.
5:51I think one or two said, "Well, you
5:52know, I don't know. I think this could
5:54be tough." I think Vance was one of
5:56them, but if boss, if that's what you
5:58want to do, I'm with you. You know,
6:01that's always the the excuse at the end,
6:03you know. So, I went into this and he
6:06concluded, I think pretty quickly, this
6:09is not going well. this is not going
6:11where I want it to go. He became very
6:13concerned about the financial markets.
6:16He sees himself as rising or falling in
6:19the polls and as president in terms of
6:22how the stock market is doing, how the
6:24financial position is developing for the
6:26United States, whether or not the
6:28economy is strong. And he's talked about
6:30that and talked about it and convinced
6:32everybody that everything is great, the
6:34economy is strong, and oh, by the way,
6:36this war is going to end soon. It's
6:38going to end soon. it's going to end
6:40soon. We heard that 39 40 times.
6:43I finally discovered that the only way
6:45he could end it is to end it. He
6:48couldn't talk his way out of it. There
6:50was no alternative to that and there was
6:52not going to be a military solution. And
6:54the notion of using a nuclear weapon, I
6:56again, my impression from him wants
6:59nothing to do with it. So that was off
7:02the table. But he still has a problem.
7:04The problem is called what do I do with
7:06the Israelis? How do I present this?
7:09What do I tell them? And I'm sure he had
7:11some very, very difficult conversations
7:13with Netanyahu.
7:15And I'm also sure he's made it clear
7:17what he doesn't want them to do, which
7:18is he doesn't want them to to go nuclear
7:21under any circumstances.
7:24Now, he's in a in a great position in
7:27one sense. He has demonstrated to the
7:29American people that he indeed is a man
7:31of courage. If you don't think it takes
7:34a great deal of courage for a president
7:35of the United States to stand up and
7:37say, "Whoops, I'm stopping.
7:41This has not worked. We're doing
7:43something else." Now, that may not sound
7:45like an apology to you. But let me tell
7:48you something. That's an apology. That's
7:51a statement of fact. And he's made it
7:54one clear. It doesn't matter how many
7:55times I bomb these people, it's not
7:56going to work. You want me to go back
7:58and bomb? Forget it. It's a waste of
8:00time. Now, that's the businessman
8:02talking. You know, I either walk away
8:05from the table or I cut a deal. One of
8:08the two has to happen. If I walk, all
8:10hell breaks loose. Who knows where it
8:12goes? Who knows what will happen? So,
8:14I've got to bring this to closure. And I
8:17think that's really what he's trying to
8:19do. Now, keep in mind, all we have is
8:21anou.
8:22And that is really a rough framework.
8:24It's got lots of good points in it. And
8:26a [clears throat] lot of those points
8:28are very comfortable for President
8:30Trump. And I'm what I'm saying is, for
8:32instance, it says we will not meddle in
8:35your internal affairs. Well, that has
8:37always been Donald Trump's private
8:39assessment of what we ought not to do.
8:42This is a man that said, "We've been too
8:44involved in too many other people's
8:45problems and countries." He also feels
8:48strongly that most of our forces should
8:49return home. The Cold War really is
8:52over. We don't need to be in all of
8:55these places. So this is this is the the
8:57Donald Trump from an instinctual gut
9:00check. That's the way he is. And I think
9:03he then was probably shown I can't prove
9:06it, but I think he was probably shown
9:08a lot of information that he had not
9:10seen. And that information included
9:13atrocious acts by the Israelis against
9:17people in Gaza, in Lebanon, around the
9:20world, across the Middle East. And I
9:22think he finally said, "This this has
9:23got to stop." Now, I don't think he'll
9:26ever come out and say exactly what I
9:28just did, but you got a glimpse of it
9:30when he said, "Why do you have to
9:32destroy an an entire apartment building
9:35full of people when there's only one
9:36person in there you're trying to
9:37eliminate?"
9:38>> Yeah.
9:39>> Well, that that's the tip of a very
9:41large iceberg. And when I heard that and
9:44several people I know, we all went,
9:47"When did you finally wake up?" You
9:49know?
9:49>> Yeah. Exactly. Exactly. Congratulations.
9:52Give that man a cutie doll. You won.
9:55Good. Good job. So, a lot of people are
9:57now, I don't know if you've heard this
9:58yet, but you will, are calling for his
10:00resignation
10:02because he lost a war. Well, here's a
10:06big flash of the obvious. We've lost
10:08wars before. We have. We've never had
10:11this perfect victory streak. No great
10:14power ever does. But you have to have
10:17the common sense to understand what you
10:19can and cannot accomplish. And when it
10:21doesn't work, you have to cut your
10:23losses and move on. I think he
10:25understands that. I think that's what
10:26he's trying to do. But now he has new
10:29problems at home. Huge problems. And he
10:31and remember who owns the media? Who
10:34dominates the financial markets? Who
10:37who's out there that could really hurt
10:39him? Who could support his opponents?
10:41And remember, you have all these
10:42senators and congressmen. This is sort
10:44of a convention of hypocrites who are
10:48now throwing rocks at him, saying, "Oh,
10:50you, you know, you must support Israel.
10:52Oh, by the way, send the check to this
10:54PO box." Uh, they're out there. They
10:58want to keep getting their money. So,
10:59they're going to go down at least to
11:01this point with the good ship Israel if
11:03it's necessary as far as they're
11:05concerned. In reality, what they should
11:08be saying, and I hope that President
11:10Trump will say this, is BB,
11:14we gave it our best shot. It didn't
11:16work. The number one priority right now
11:20is not greater Israel. The number one
11:23priority is the preservation of the
11:26Israeli state, the survival of the
11:29Israeli people. That's where we need to
11:31focus now. See, nobody wants to go
11:34there. But that's exactly where we are.
11:36We have in fact reached that point. Now,
11:38why do I say that? Because anyone who
11:41has any appreciation for the nature of
11:43international relations, which is like
11:45the Pacific Ocean. It's huge. It's
11:48always changing. There are storms that
11:50come and go. It's never permanent. But
11:52it's very easy to see where the storm is
11:54headed right now. The two powers that
11:57are going to emerge from this war and
12:00will dominate the Middle East for
12:02decades to come, maybe lawyer longer.
12:05One is Iran. There's no question about
12:07that. And the other is Turkey.
12:11>> They are not the same. They are very
12:13different people, very different states
12:15with very different histories. And I
12:17spent many years of my life visiting
12:19Israel back and forth. And I tried to
12:22tell them on more than one occasion,
12:23you're you're barking up the wrong tree,
12:26as we say. Your existential threat is
12:29not Iran.
12:31Iran, Persian civilization, the Persian
12:34world, and Persian culture. Those things
12:36aren't your enemy.
12:38You've got a real problem further north
12:40and to the east, and that's called the
12:43Turks. They're very different. This is a
12:45resolutely marshall people. People of
12:48great courage who are innately inclined
12:53to fight. These are natural soldiers. I
12:56mean, I've seen them and I had the good
12:59good fortune to work with the Turks. I
13:01think the world of them militarily. They
13:03are great people, but you do not want to
13:05go to war with them.
13:08In Iran, you're dealing with someone who
13:10is rational. Whether they like to think
13:12so or not in Israel, they are. They will
13:16coexist with you. You can talk to them
13:20and do business. But if you provoke the
13:22Turks, it's a fight to the finish. I
13:25don't think President Trump wants to be
13:27involved in that. And I don't want to be
13:30involved in that. And the Turks are
13:32certainly
13:33not looking for the fight at this point.
13:36But if you don't think they're ready to
13:37go, you're making a very, very serious
13:40mistake. And who dominated the the
13:42Arabian Peninsula, who dominated the
13:45Levant, who dominated all the way to
13:47Egypt and into North Africa for
13:49centuries? We know who. Now, do they
13:53want to do that again? That's something
13:54that's beyond my knowledge. I I can't
13:57comment on that. What I'm trying to get
13:59people to understand in the West, forget
14:02NATO. That's dead on arrival. It's It's
14:05a dead man walking proposition. It's
14:08meaningless. that's going to go away
14:10along at some point with this thing
14:12called the EU. The Turks are on the
14:14rise. The Iranians are on the rise.
14:17India, despite all of its problems, is
14:19rising and it's got some serious
14:21problems right now as a result of the
14:23Persian Gulf closure. China is rising.
14:26Russia is rising. These are the great
14:29nations, the great powers, the great
14:31peoples of the ancient and medieval
14:34worlds. In other words, if I were to, if
14:36you and I stepped into the time machine
14:38and went back to the year, 150, what
14:40would we find? We'd find little Europe
14:43up here, a group of states killing each
14:45other. And no one else gives a damn
14:47because it doesn't matter. And
14:50everything else in the world on a
14:52different track. And it took 1492,
14:56Christopher Columbus, the discovery of
14:58the Western Hemisphere to change all of
14:59that because it changed the terms of
15:02trade. It opened up wealth to Europe
15:04that it otherwise wouldn't have.
15:06Technology came online and the Europeans
15:09grasped for it. Had a knack for it, had
15:11a talent for it and developed it faster,
15:14better than everybody else. Well, that
15:17technology has proliferated. Things have
15:19changed. Other people in other parts of
15:21the world now can do everything we can
15:23do. So, the world is changing and we
15:26have not wanted to change with it. What
15:29this war demonstrates is we must change.
15:33The world where we could sail in or fly
15:35in and bully people in submission is
15:38gone.
15:40What the Iranians have done, the Swedes
15:42could do. Hell, you know, the people in
15:45Nicaragua could do it. It's a matter of
15:48linking space-based and terrestrial uh
15:52persistent surveillance, intelligence
15:54surveillance, reconnaissance with all
15:56sorts of standoff attack weapons,
16:01ballistic missiles,
16:03unmanned systems of all kinds, cruise
16:05missiles, you name it. It's called ISR-
16:09strike. It's a complex that is built up.
16:14Israel can build that very very quickly
16:17and it will sit there and be impregnable
16:19for all intents and purposes once it has
16:21it. And that's true for everybody who
16:23invests in it. This is a different
16:25world. So you can't just run around and
16:27and push in the front door, march in
16:30with a few troops and tanks and tell
16:32everybody to get in line. It's over. It
16:34needs to be over. That was not
16:36necessarily a good world, Mario. And I
16:40think that's bound up with what's
16:41happened in the Persian Gulf. In other
16:43words, this is about more than the
16:45United States and Iran. It's about more
16:48than Iran and Israel. It's about
16:50fundamental change all over the planet.
16:53I think it can be good, but there are
16:56people out out there right now in the
16:58United States and they want to stop it.
17:00They want to reset it to the to
17:03backwards.
17:04You know, that's the problem. Oh, no.
17:06The answer is go back in and bomb some
17:09more. The answer is do more damage, kill
17:12more people. This can't be allowed to
17:15happen. You know, when the Romans lost a
17:18major battle to the Germanic tribes in 9
17:20AD,
17:22they turned around and said, you know, I
17:24don't think we need to cross the Rine
17:26anymore. We've come far enough. And they
17:30backed off. When the Romans lost uh
17:33armies to the Persians,
17:36they turned around and said, "Well, I
17:38guess we've come far enough and we they
17:40backed off." In other words, they set
17:42limits. We have to have limits, too. And
17:45I think limits could be a good thing.
17:47>> So, the the Iran war could be the the
17:50Suez Canal crisis for um for the US,
17:54similar to what the UK and France had
17:56back then in the ' 50s. uh except that
17:58uh Britain was a great power because of
18:01its empire.
18:03Uh what do you have in the British
18:05Isles? I mean, I like the girls, but I
18:08mean, there's not much there. Okay. I
18:11mean, how do you get rich in the British
18:13Isles? Fish for herring. Uh what are you
18:16what are you going to do? Uh
18:18[clears throat] they built an empire.
18:20The genius, the British genius was thing
18:23was simply the Bank of England. It was
18:25the fleet. all of these things. They
18:28lost all of it because they had no
18:30empire. If if you've been to the United
18:33States, you see the United States from
18:35the Atlantic to the Pacific is our
18:37empire. We don't need anything else. We
18:40don't need to be anywhere else. And see,
18:43that's something Donald Trump has always
18:46understood.
18:48>> That's an interesting point. Fish for
18:50Harry. [laughter]
18:51I'm going to use that.
18:53>> Hey, listen. I like Harry. My friends in
18:54Nor will be angry with me, but I like
18:56that. [laughter]
18:58>> Um, just on the before we go back to uh
19:01I wrote a note on somewhere the the
19:03about Trump just waking up now when it
19:04comes to Israel. I want to go back to
19:06that. One quick question on Turkey. I
19:08did see they they've announced um I knew
19:10I saw it. I just checked it now. They've
19:11announced a fifth generation fighter jet
19:13this year. They've announced they've
19:15they've um announced a few drones
19:17they've developed as well. How how
19:19effective or how powerful is their
19:21military at the moment?
19:24I would rate it in the [clears throat]
19:26certainly in the top five in the world.
19:28>> Okay. Well,
19:29>> and remember that it's a mistake to look
19:32exclusively at uh technology and and
19:35firepower. Those things are immensely
19:37important. You have to look at the human
19:38material.
19:40>> The Turk is very tough soldier.
19:43You know, you you talk about the
19:44Koreans, whether it's North or South,
19:46the Korean is a very tough soldier.
19:49>> You start stacking up these various
19:51peoples next to each other. go back and
19:53look at their history for hundreds of
19:54years. You know, you're dealing with
19:56different kinds of people. And some
19:58people make excellent soldiers. Not
20:00everybody does. That's one of the
20:02reasons many people like me were happy
20:04to see the draft go away because you
20:06were bringing in too many people that
20:08were never going to be good soldiers
20:09anyway. It was better to have the people
20:10that wanted to be soldiers. And the
20:13Turks, they have a song they sing at
20:15every funeral for a for a Turkish
20:17soldier. Every Turk is a soldier is what
20:20it's called.
20:21I'm just seeing
20:23I spent a lot of time in Turkey, by the
20:25way. About a year, maybe a year and a
20:27half, maybe two years of my life in
20:28Turkey. So, I know the place well. Um,
20:31you said something at the beginning, you
20:33said Trump, so when you saw the
20:35statements he made about Israel, you
20:37know, and not every time you shoot down
20:39two drones, you have to to to to level a
20:41building. And you were shocked and
20:43you're like, he just woke up. Is it
20:45possible he woke up about the atrocities
20:48happening in the region, what Israel is
20:49doing a while ago, but he only now he
20:53felt the necessity or the guts to speak
20:55out, whether it's out of necessity
20:57because he has to get out of the Iran
20:59war before the petroleum reserves uh
21:01empty out and the economy begins to have
21:03serious problems. So out of necessity or
21:06just kind of had enough for some other
21:09reason, political reason on why he kind
21:12of made that flip, him, JD Vance and all
21:14the others. Even Senator Graham praised
21:16the MOU, but I think that's more
21:18strategic than anything. I don't think
21:19it means much.
21:21>> I stopped listening to him a long time
21:22ago. [laughter]
21:23>> I don't blame you.
21:24>> Senator Kennedy from Louisiana,
21:27uh, I thought was entertaining. I I
21:29don't consider him to be an especially
21:31brilliant foreign anal foreign policy
21:33analyst but he said uh let's give peace
21:37a chance. What I think people have
21:39figured out is look this is a waste of
21:42time. You know we we were in the wrong
21:44place at the wrong time with the wrong
21:46force structure fighting the wrong war
21:49with the wrong people. Didn't make any
21:51difference what we did. We were not
21:52going to be successful. Uh I think we
21:55were harming ourselves. I think the our
21:57financial system is already very
22:00fragile. You know, there are two views
22:02of this. I was listening to somebody who
22:03said, well, there's this this facade,
22:06the economic facade based on the
22:08financialization of our economy. And
22:10then you look at the real economy. In
22:12other words, what do we produce, who
22:13works, who doesn't, and so forth. The
22:15real economy is on life support. The
22:18financialized economy is the casino
22:20called the stock market.
22:22>> Uh that looks great. I think President
22:25Trump got a glimpse of that. I think
22:27people said, "Don't you realize what's
22:30happened to our friends? Look at the
22:32impact of this on Japan, on Malaysia, on
22:35Indonesia, on Vietnam. Look at all of
22:37these people that are suffering. You
22:39know, if we don't stop this, this is
22:41going to get a lot worse." I I don't
22:43know if it was you or someone else who
22:44asked me a few weeks ago, "What happens
22:47if we restart this war?" I said, "Well,
22:49then it'll be 5 to 10 years before we
22:51recover from it in any way, shape, or
22:53form." But I said if we can stop at this
22:55point, in other words, don't restart it,
22:58then we're looking at two or three
22:59years. But of course, it'll never go
23:01back to the way it was. And see, the big
23:03problem the neocons have who who dream
23:05of this world that will only be safe
23:09when US forces occupy all of it. Okay,
23:12that's their that's their dream, which
23:14is really harnessed to make the world
23:16safe for Israel. Okay, got to understand
23:19that. That's the underlying theme.
23:22The truth is [clears throat] the world
23:24doesn't need us. We don't need to be in
23:26all those places. It's a waste of money.
23:28We can do much better without it and we
23:30can go back to doing business. That's
23:32that's what I think Donald Trump
23:33understands. But I think he was shown
23:35the bill in human terms as well as
23:38financial terms and he recognized this
23:41bill is too high. We can't pay it. I'm
23:44not saying the man doesn't have a heart
23:45and there is not even a shred of uh
23:48human compassion in him. I I think there
23:51is, but I think he's also very much a
23:53realist. You can't be in business as
23:55long as he was and not have some
23:57appreciation for knowing when to cut
24:00your losses and go.
24:02>> He sent that the bill he got that he
24:04thought was too high. I think he sent it
24:06to the Gulf right now. They're they're
24:09coughing up most of the bill
24:10unfortunately for them. Well, the the
24:12problem there is uh and I hope that he
24:15gets the support he wants financially,
24:17but we're not going back. You know, it's
24:20just not going to go back to the way it
24:22was for the very simple reason that this
24:25change in technology and warfare makes
24:27it impossible for us to protect them.
24:30That's the real lesson. Whether you're
24:32in China, Taiwan, Korea, doesn't matter
24:35where you are, we can't protect other
24:37people from these kinds of threats.
24:41We saw that with the US bases in the
24:43region. That was a perfect example.
24:46Warfare has changed and strategy needs
24:48to adapt.
24:49>> Exactly. And by the way, assuming that
24:52if the world doesn't have Americans
24:54running all over, it is going to be a
24:56bad place, I think, is a big mistake.
24:59You know, I have a lot of friends that
25:00say, "Don't you understand what you're
25:02talking about? You know, this is the
25:03end." I said, "Well, what happened for
25:06the 5,000 years before we showed up?"
25:09you know, we we have to get get back to
25:12understanding we're part of the world.
25:14We don't exist apart from the rest of it
25:16and the rest of it doesn't exist apart
25:18from us. But
25:20>> whatever.
25:22>> Um, okay. I have an interesting theory
25:25that I've been thinking about for the
25:26last week or so is um if Israel tries to
25:29sabotage the deal by continuing to
25:32strike Lebanon, whether now or in a few
25:34weeks or even in a few months, Iran
25:36retaliates as they have before and Trump
25:38decides to do what he did two weeks ago
25:40and say, "Hey, I have nothing to do with
25:41it, Israel. I'm not going to get get
25:43involved, not even defensively, not not
25:45even intercept Iranian missiles if that
25:47happens." Um first, is it a possibility?
25:50Second, do you think Israel would get
25:52into a war with Iran without American
25:54support?
25:56>> I think I think [clears throat] what you
25:58describe is uh almost already happening.
26:01I mean, the Israelis are shelling uh
26:03from artillery positions
26:06parts of southern Lebanon. I think it's
26:09almost a certainty that they will launch
26:11attacks against whatever they describe
26:13as being Hisbel positions. Hisbah for
26:16them represents what they think is an
26:18existential threat. And the only way
26:20they know how to deal with that is with
26:23force.
26:25They need us uh to assist them with that
26:28operation. They need our munitions. They
26:31need our missiles. They need all sorts
26:33of things, our intelligence, everything
26:35that you can think of.
26:38Will Donald Trump say what you just did?
26:40I think he's going to say, "Look, I've
26:43told you to stop. You need to stop. If
26:46you stop, we can make the world a better
26:48place. if you won't stop, I I can't
26:50support you.
26:52Then Netanyahu gets on the phone and
26:55electrifies the circuits all over
26:58Washington DC, all the think tanks and
27:01all the agents and all the House members
27:04and senators who are on the payroll and
27:06says, "Damn it, go into that man and
27:09tell him that if if he doesn't support
27:11us, you're going to impeach him." Tell
27:13him if he doesn't support us, he's not
27:16going to last in office. I mean, that's
27:18the kind of thing that you're going to
27:19see happen. And we're going to find out
27:22the answer to your question. I mean,
27:24I'll be frank with you at this point. I
27:26am genuinely concerned about the
27:27president's safety more than I ever have
27:29been before.
27:31>> I've been hearing this a lot. We were
27:33talking about Tucker. Tucker told me
27:35that. Marjgerie Taylor Green said that
27:37to me yesterday. Joe Kent said that to
27:39me. Um, Anna Kasparian said that to me
27:41today. And that's just in the last week.
27:44And I've been thinking about it as well.
27:46and and I started doing a deep dive um
27:48talking to people about the Butler
27:50assassination attempt. It's it is wild
27:53how many bizarre things that unanswered
27:56questions still exist there. But yeah,
27:58Joe Kent says it openly. He believes the
28:00president is under juress and he said
28:01that he's been saying that for months.
28:04Um but I agree with you that
28:06wow it's just a difficult thing to
28:08imagine, isn't it? Now there
28:11unfortunately it is and I lived through
28:12President Kennedy's assassination so I
28:14know exactly what it's like. Uh I think
28:18[clears throat]
28:20[sighs and gasps] I I think there are
28:21those around the president who are
28:23sensitive to this. No doubt. And they
28:24will do everything in their power to
28:26protect him. I'm sure of that. But if I
28:28were he, I would check everything. I
28:30would uh think seriously about
28:32appointing new people.
28:34uh he's got to step back and and look
28:36back on the kind of support and advice
28:38he's received from the people around
28:40him. If he received the kind of advice
28:43which I think he's generally gotten is,
28:45"Yeah, boss, go do it. Yeah, boss, we're
28:48with you." This kind of nonsense, those
28:50people are useless. Now, would he listen
28:52to somebody who told him something he
28:54didn't want to hear? I don't know. I
28:56mean, that's hard to know. People in
28:58power usually don't like people to
29:00contradict them. That's because they
29:02think they are in power because they
29:04knew everything. But we know from
29:06history nobody knows everything and you
29:08have to listen to people. Would he
29:11listen to others? We'll see. But I think
29:13he needs to think about new
29:15appointments. It's very important. The
29:17other thing is [clears throat] people
29:19are calling for his resignation in many
29:21cases and I don't think he should resign
29:24until he has brought this to a to an
29:26end. He has to close out this chapter of
29:30American history. That's something he
29:32must do. Uh for him to resign at this
29:35point is ridiculous. He's been at the at
29:38the beginning of this. He should be
29:40there at the end of it. And he should be
29:42the one to steer us out of this mess
29:44once and for all. Now, after that, if
29:47people are calling for his resignation,
29:49that's legitimate. That's obviously a
29:52decision he has to make. But right now,
29:54I don't support that. Right now, my
29:57greatest fear is not the resignation at
29:59this point. It's it's the assassination.
30:03I have no special intelligence, no
30:05special information of any kind to
30:08support that concern. It's just the way
30:11I feel about it. [sighs]
30:16H
30:16>> how um by the way, I didn't know you
30:19were 16 years old when John F. Kennedy
30:21was assassinated. Do you remember that
30:23that time? Well,
30:24>> I wasn't 16 years old. Uh that's 1963. I
30:28was 10.
30:30>> Oh, it was a quick chat GPT check during
30:33the interview. You were
30:34>> ah artificial intelligence. You can't
30:36depend on it.
30:37>> I tried I tried I tried to seem smart
30:39and pretend that I'm good with math. Um
30:42but can you can I just I want to I want
30:44to find out more why you're so
30:45concerned.
30:47Just I don't know how to ask it, but
30:50what exactly how would it work behind
30:52the scenes? I understand how the
30:53pressure campaign would work. All the
30:55pundits that support Israel would start
30:57criticizing Trump. You got members of of
30:59Congress starts to threaten threaten to
31:01impeach him, speak negatively about him.
31:04The media starts to criticize him. Those
31:06I understand. How do you think it could
31:08escalate to something more sinister? How
31:11would that work? And I'm asking you to
31:12speculate here.
31:14>> Well, uh, you could start various
31:16criminal investigations into all sorts
31:18of activities that involve members of
31:20his family.
31:22uh those could be launched quickly.
31:25Congress can do that. I'm not saying
31:28he's guilty of anything. I'm simply
31:29saying there are a lot of things that
31:30have been going on and his personal
31:32wealth has grown uh astronomically since
31:35he became president. Whereas during the
31:37first term, as I recollect, he lost
31:40money. Uh during this term, he's
31:43increased his wealth dramatically. And
31:44of course, some of that wealth is really
31:46really belongs to his children who have
31:49been involved in all all sorts of
31:50interesting deals. He's got people
31:52around him who are habitual dealmakers
31:55when it comes to self-enrichment.
31:58These things are problematic and they
32:01can be exploited in unsaavory ways. And
32:05then finally, you have the Epstein
32:07files. And remember, he told someone, I
32:10can't remember who said it was, it could
32:11have been Pam Bomb Bondi. She wasn't
32:13very uh careful about opening her mouth
32:16on more than one occasion. And I think
32:18she said that he had told her, you know,
32:20a lot of these people in this are my
32:22friends involved in this Epstein file.
32:25And uh that was the excuse that was
32:28given for why he wasn't anxious to
32:31release all of it unredacted.
32:34That could become that could once again
32:36move back into center stage. So there
32:38are a lot of bad things that can be done
32:41in that sense. And those things then
32:44lead to
32:47people that make stupid decisions that
32:49decide that well it's time for him to be
32:51removed.
32:53And sometimes that's calculated and
32:55orchestrated. And sometimes it's the
32:57wandering buffoon you never expected
33:00that shows up. That happened uh to FDR.
33:03He was in Chicago. a man came out of
33:05nowhere, tried to shoot him, blame the
33:07depression on him, and instead shot the
33:10mayor of Chicago, Mayor Surerach. I
33:13mean, you just don't know. There are all
33:15sorts of strange things that can happen,
33:17and people are always in the hunt uh for
33:20someone to blame for whatever it is that
33:23they don't have or haven't achieved.
33:27One thing that was fascinated that I um
33:30that Joe Kent was telling me in our
33:31latest uh conversation is about how the
33:35system works or how the beast works is
33:38and and actually Anna Kasparian was
33:39telling me about it today and she
33:41reminded me of that conversation.
33:42>> Anna Kasparian, you talked to Anna
33:45Kasparian.
33:47>> Well, yeah, you're know her well.
33:49>> No, she she
33:51>> I get a big charge out of Anna. I think
33:53she's very lovely. She's she's a a
33:56bubble of energy. Now, I've chatted to
33:57her a few times, but we were talking
33:59today and we were talking about this
34:01topic. It's something that's really been
34:03eating up my mind for a while. A and um
34:05so what she was explaining is how how
34:09she she was a journalist was explaining
34:10her. Oh, it's actually pretty
34:12fascinating. uh Colonel, she was saying
34:14in Sentcom, she said, "Mari, the head of
34:16Sentcom, the commander of Sentcom
34:18doesn't have as much agency as you'd
34:20expect cuz of how big it is and you've
34:22got all these different departments etc.
34:24and they might act without the
34:26authorization of their commander and
34:28it's and and Joe Ken told me the same
34:30thing in other departments and he's like
34:32Mar you'd be surprised on how the the
34:34elected officials the leaders of these
34:36various organizations
34:39they don't have as much power or
34:40influence or knowledge or decision-m as
34:43you'd expect and that also applies
34:45obviously to the president doesn't have
34:46as much a agency as you'd expect you
34:48know where I'm coming from it's like the
34:50the system you've got all these I don't
34:53know I'm not good at describing it, but
34:55you've just got all these different
34:56individuals within that system that
34:58don't always or don't always report to
34:59who's meant to be boss. Um and now how
35:03that fits into what I'm saying here is
35:05um just the nature of the beast that
35:08this war and I know it's been happening
35:10for a few years but this will kind of
35:11further exposed
35:14um
35:16how yeah how little agency the president
35:18has and how many people have too much
35:21influence within this American system.
35:24One that you're very critical of is the
35:26Israeli lobby and Israeli influence and
35:28Netanyahu's influence. But it's
35:30something that I'm, you know, finding
35:32out more and more about in the last
35:34couple of years. And it's uh it is
35:36worrying. It's very very concerning to
35:38see this.
35:39>> Well, you also have the pharmaceutical
35:41industries,
35:42>> military-industrial complex,
35:44>> you know, the agricultural lobby is is
35:47enormous. And all of these things
35:49operate as breaks on policym. They can
35:52they can let something go through or
35:54they can stop it dead in its tracks. But
35:56there's something even more important.
35:58You know, you've got the Senate that has
36:00to confirm people. How many lobbyists
36:03does it take to go to a senator and say,
36:05"We don't like that man."
36:08And you say, "Well, why? What's wrong
36:09with him?" "Well, we don't like him. He
36:11doesn't support us. So, if you want to
36:13continue to have support from us, you
36:14better not vote for him."
36:15[clears throat]
36:16Or, "We don't like that lady. We don't
36:18like that woman."
36:20Uh so you you the probability of getting
36:24very many really highc caliber people of
36:28character and intelligence into key
36:31positions is low.
36:35Now can that change? Of course it can
36:37change. When does it change? It changes
36:39in times of national emergency.
36:43People that you never heard of rise up
36:45in wartime.
36:47Everybody says, "Well, what where where
36:49was that general for 25 years? Why
36:52hadn't everybody ever heard of him?"
36:53Because nobody liked him. Nobody wanted
36:55him. He was a retired colonel. They were
36:58starting to boot him out the door and
36:59the 30 years were coming up and all of a
37:01sudden the war broke out and they
37:02decided they needed him. You have the
37:04same thing in the banking industry. You
37:07go into every industry, you have this
37:09preference for someone they call a safe
37:11pair of hands. Well, we we like him. Uh,
37:15he's not going to change anything.
37:18He keeps the money flowing. Is he going
37:20to support our program? Do you
37:22understand what I'm saying? That's why
37:24we elect people and then we expect
37:26miracles. And every president has about
37:29a year, maybe if he's lucky, 18 months.
37:34And in that time space, if he's smart,
37:37he can accomplish maybe three things on
37:39a list of 10. and then he loses steam
37:44because he's got to start running for
37:45reelection. And if they don't think he's
37:47going to get reelected, well, they don't
37:49care about him anymore.
37:51Now, this this is not unique to
37:53republics. I know we talk about this,
37:55you know, about republics. This is a
37:57weakness of democracy, but
37:59>> yeah,
38:00>> if you study authoritarian states, you
38:02see this sort of thing all the time.
38:04When you go to a totalitarian state like
38:07Russia uh or China, it's different.
38:11uh you know when you have someone like
38:13Stalin who presides over you and before
38:16World War II is probably responsible for
38:18the deaths of maybe 25 or 30 million
38:21people on his own and he has the power
38:24of life and death over anyone. Uh he has
38:28a lot of power. He can get a lot done if
38:31he decides I want this tank. I want this
38:34aircraft. I want this bridge. I want
38:36this dam. I want this highway. It
38:38happens.
38:40But otherwise, no matter who you are,
38:43you have real constraints and and that's
38:45by design. We like that. We we didn't
38:48like the uh authoritarian rule of George
38:51III, although in retrospect, I would
38:53argue it was pretty modest, but
38:55nevertheless, the people at the time had
38:57fed were fed up with it. And a lot of
38:59people didn't like being taxed. If they
39:01looked at the taxes today, the people
39:03that ran the revolution then would
39:05probably look at us and say, "You're
39:06crazy." You know what? Whatever. But but
39:09I I just think the this is the nature of
39:11most political systems. The people that
39:14do well in them are people who can wheel
39:16and deal, who can compromise. And that's
39:18very distasteful to someone with
39:19principles, but it's unavoidable if you
39:21want to get something done.
39:24And on the um the the example that Anna
39:28gave me, she was referencing a
39:29journalist about even within Sentcom,
39:32you know, people like Brad Cooper don't
39:34have as much agency as you'd expect. Is
39:37it really that bloated or that's an
39:40overexaggeration?
39:41>> Well, first of all, you're now you're
39:43getting into something that I've written
39:44books about and that is the problem with
39:46the service bureaucracy and service
39:48chiefs. If you are in a regional unified
39:51command, as Bradley Cooper is, who are
39:53you dependent upon for your forces?
39:56You're dependent upon the Navy, the Air
39:58Force, the Army, and the Marine Corps.
40:00They give you what they want to send
40:02you.
40:04You don't necessarily get everything you
40:06ask for.
40:08There are always limited quantities and
40:11they decide how much you will or won't
40:13get. And if you can't get what you want,
40:15you go over them. And that means you go
40:18to the president and you say, "Mr.
40:20President, you're the
40:20commander-in-chief. I need this. This is
40:22vital." Well, the president can make
40:24that happen.
40:26And then you alienate the service chiefs
40:29who will hate you forever and will work
40:31hard to harm you in any way they can. I
40:33mean, this is the nature of the beast.
40:35And remember, all of the people that
40:36hold all of those positions, they were
40:39confirmed by the Senate.
40:42And the Senate doesn't like anybody
40:43who's prepared to do anything. They want
40:46people who are going to sit there and
40:48say, "Yes, sir. I agree with you. I'm
40:51going to go along."
40:55Uh, Colonel, uh, pleasure to speak to
40:57you again. I I, uh, which book do you
40:59recommend that talks about these things
41:01in in the most most in depth. I think
41:03the last one I put out is really worth
41:06reading, you know, uh, margin of
41:08victory, five battles that change the
41:11face of war, modern warfare, because in
41:14the, uh, certainly in the concluding
41:16chapter and in the beginning, I I go
41:19over these these problems that are very
41:21significant and try to make the point
41:23that that sometimes we just have
41:25unrealistic expectations of what anybody
41:28can do in government on the average day.
41:31And we tend to focus on well look what
41:32Marshall did. But Marshall Marshall came
41:36to power at the outset of a war and he
41:38received an executive order from the
41:40president of the United States that gave
41:42him virtual authority over the entire
41:44war department. So he could do pretty
41:46much what he wanted. Now he didn't do
41:49everything he wanted. He was a smart man
41:51and he kept people informed and he
41:53talked to people. He didn't blindside
41:54them. You know, you have to be smart
41:56about how you do these things. the more
41:59power you have, the less often you want
42:02to have to use it. Does that make sense?
42:04>> Yeah. Yeah.
42:04>> And he was very smart about that. But uh
42:07no, I think margin of victory would
42:09interest people. And it goes through a
42:10series of battles in different parts of
42:12the world at different times in the 20th
42:14century. And you lots of examples in
42:17there of where people tried to do what
42:18made sense, but they just couldn't. And
42:21they were prisoners of other people's
42:22decisions. There's no question about it.
42:25>> History rhymes.
42:29Colonel, always a pleasure. Thank you so
42:30much for your time.
42:31>> Thank you. By the way, my Substack's got
42:33a big piece coming out next week that's
42:35going to discuss a lot of these things
42:36about the tectonic shift in in the
42:39continental plates of power in the
42:41international system. And we'll talk
42:43about
42:43>> what we started talking about.
42:45>> Yeah, that's uh McGregor warrior
42:48diplomacy substack. And it's going to
42:50talk about yes, we have lost significant
42:53influence and power and why this has
42:56happened. And yes, Iran has won the war.
42:59They control the straight. We don't. And
43:02they are invincible. They can be,
43:06what's the right word? Humbled, but not
43:08broken.
43:10And so,
43:10>> when's that piece coming out? That'll be
43:12out probably uh Sunday or