Best of the Program | Guests: AG Ken Paxton & Salena Zito | 4/9/25

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Speaker 2 On today's podcast, have we made a deal with Afghanistan to be allowed to reuse Bagram Air Force Base? If so, what does that mean?

Speaker 2 What are we doing? And is it the Chinese as the trade war begins to heat up? What's happening happening there? We try to explore that.

Speaker 2 Also, Ken Paxton, who is running for John Corden's seat, joins us to talk about a new community, an Islamic community that is being built or proposed to be built here in Texas.

Speaker 2 And the one and only, I love her, Selena Zito. I think she's one of the best reporters.
She was with the president

Speaker 2 on the day he was, they tried to assassinate him. And she tells the story.
She's got a new book coming out in, I think, the summer at some point. And we just kind of were talking, got into it.

Speaker 2 Wait until you hear the story that she has to share in her new book, Butler. All right, here's the podcast.
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Speaker 2 You're listening to the best of the Blenbeck program. And Paxton, welcome to the program, sir.
How are you?

Speaker 2 Doing great. How are you? I am, I'm great.

Speaker 2 I'm very excited to talk to you about your Senate. candidacy.
Me too. Yeah.

Speaker 2 But first, let me talk to you a little bit about what is happening

Speaker 2 here in the Dallas-Fort Worth area with Epic.

Speaker 2 Epic is an Islamic center and community. And let me just play some of the video as we're talking about this.

Speaker 4 And now we embark on a new chapter of vision of harmony.

Speaker 2 As a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, I mean, you know, they crossed the mountains and started their own community in Salt Lake, but they don't have a Mormon

Speaker 2 separate law. You know what I mean? It's all based on the Constitution and the Bill of Rights.
And it's not going against everything that the country was done. So I have no problem.

Speaker 2 You want to start any religious community? Not a problem. Is this that kind of community? Do we know enough about it yet?

Speaker 4 So I don't. So we're in the middle.
We just started an investigation. So I I don't know the answer.
I do agree with you. We are a free country.
First Amendment is like clearly First Amendment. And

Speaker 4 you can believe whatever you want to believe in this country and still be free. On the other hand, you're right.
I mean, we have laws in this country, and those laws matter. The Constitution matters.

Speaker 4 And if you're not following the laws of our country, then we're going to have some controversy and some contention.

Speaker 4 So, in the end, you can have whatever religion you want and believe whatever you want, but you still have to follow our laws, our state laws, and our federal laws and our Constitution.

Speaker 2 So, the developments attorney says that any investigation is just racial profiling. I'm so sick of that stuff

Speaker 2 because I don't think that it is racial profiling. I think we have reason to be concerned.
Look what's happening over in Europe, and we can't let that happen here in America, especially Texas.

Speaker 4 Well, yeah,

Speaker 4 countries are being taken over, and the Sharia law is taking over whatever country they're in. And that's certainly, we can't let that happen here.
I mean,

Speaker 4 the rule of law in our Constitution, what our founders put together is so beautiful and wonderful, and given us freedom for so long. We're not going to sacrifice that for Sharia law.

Speaker 4 It's just not going to happen in Texas. And so we're going to be very focused on that and making sure they're following our laws.

Speaker 4 And at the same time, as you said, we want to be cognizant that people have a right to have their own religion and

Speaker 4 we respect that.

Speaker 2 So, where do you, how do you possibly, because everybody involved is going to say, well, of course you're not going to have Sharia law. Of course, this isn't going to be a no-go zone.

Speaker 2 But that's what has been said now for a few decades over in Europe, and that's exactly what they become.

Speaker 2 How do you, if you can't find, you know, a smoking gun with how to bring Sharia law into Texas, you know, you're not going to find that pamphlet.

Speaker 2 How are you going to be able, what, what could you possibly find that would be solid enough to say no?

Speaker 4 Well, so what you say is different sometimes than what people actually do. So we're going to be looking at what people are actually doing out there.

Speaker 4 What are the developers, how are they implementing this?

Speaker 4 Are they discriminating based on whether you're a part of a certain religion? Because that would create issues with fair housing laws.

Speaker 4 And so we're just going to be looking at what is the actual practice,

Speaker 4 not what are you saying, not what is your promotional material, you know, lawed, although the promotional material may tell us something.

Speaker 4 So it's actually what is actually happening on the ground out there. And that's our focus.

Speaker 4 What is the truth?

Speaker 2 So multiple state agencies are involved in this.

Speaker 2 And are we talking about fines, injunctions?

Speaker 2 Something bigger if violations are found?

Speaker 4 Yeah, so

Speaker 4 I can't issue fines, but I can certainly sue over it and get, you know, if there's a reason, get an injunction to stop it. If it's doing imminent harm, it's usually what you have to show.

Speaker 4 You have to show imminent harm and that you win on the merits.

Speaker 4 Otherwise, you know,

Speaker 4 we would sue him over some type of consumer law violation, or if the governor had other violations through some of the agencies that he's directing,

Speaker 4 we could represent those agencies in lawsuits. So there's all kinds of different ways to address this depending on what we find in our investigation.

Speaker 2 So when you were under investigation here in Texas, your attorney that represented you in the appeachment hearing, which was all cleared,

Speaker 2 is now representing the developers. Does that cause a conflict of interest with you at all?

Speaker 4 Look, I certainly didn't know about that until recently. And

Speaker 4 I would say obviously a little concerning that I wasn't made aware of that.

Speaker 4 And, you know, there definitely could be an argument that there's conflict because I'm still being represented by him and he's representing clients that we are investigating.

Speaker 4 So, yeah, a little conflicty to me.

Speaker 2 Yeah.

Speaker 2 All right. Let me let me switch to Cornyn.
So this makes Stu very, very happy.

Speaker 2 Makes me happy too.

Speaker 2 I think when I found out we were together, I gave you, we hugged it out.

Speaker 2 Yes, we did. Yeah.
Anybody, anybody who is staying against Cornyn.

Speaker 4 I think I told you in person.

Speaker 2 Yeah, you did. You did.

Speaker 2 But

Speaker 2 so we have Cornyn in.

Speaker 2 Have you heard anything? Have you talked to the President about this? Is he going to stand against Cornyn and stand with you? Do you have any idea yet?

Speaker 4 So I don't know. I mean, obviously what I have noticed about President Trump is typically he waits till later, closer to the election.
He likes to see how things are going, whether people are doing

Speaker 4 what they said they were going to do and whether they're performing.

Speaker 4 So I w I mean, I part of the reason I decided to get this over with, I think there was a big effort by John Thune and some of the

Speaker 4 swamp to get John an endorsement before I got in or somebody else got in. And I wanted to make sure I was in the game before, you know, all these things got done in Washington.

Speaker 4 In my opinion, one of the frustrations I have is it feels like sometimes that Washington wants to decide, oh, well, Ken, you can't run because we haven't picked you.

Speaker 4 And I'm like, I don't care if you pick me. What I care about the people of Texas, right? It feels like they think that they get to decide, well, we picked John, so sorry, you can't run.

Speaker 4 Well, I'm just not into that decision making and never will be. So they don't understand.

Speaker 4 It should be the voters of Texas that decide, not Jon Thune and a bunch of Republican senators that think they should run the world.

Speaker 2 So for anybody who hasn't been paying attention for the last 400 years,

Speaker 2 what would be different between you and Corny?

Speaker 4 Oh, my gosh. You know, it's so funny.
I've had this discussion many times.

Speaker 4 Everything. I mean, he he and I

Speaker 4 he his his his focus is in DC his focus is not on the people of Texas my focus on the people of Texas and that translates into him wanting to be happy and satisfied in D.C.

Speaker 4 so he fights to pass gun restrictions on

Speaker 4 on Texans and all Americans and he worked with Joe Biden and Joe Biden said hey great job President Trump on the other hand said no this you're a rhino don't this is bad legislation and so not only did John pass legislation that that hurt hurt the rest of the country but he also enabled the ATF to then have angles to to try to expand their control over gun ownership and I had to go sue them twice so it's things like that it's things like the the you know amnesty that he suggested he's for it's the fight he fought the you know building a wall he fought Trump on that He's been unsupportive and critical of Trump when he ran both times, calling him an albatross right.

Speaker 4 So it fundamentally, John and I are very different, and we believe very different. Our focus is on very different people, and he's part of the establishment.

Speaker 4 He was put there by the bushes, and he doesn't look out for the interests of individual Texans. He's thinking people in Washington

Speaker 4 are his people.

Speaker 2 Ken, part of the establishment in this particular case is, I would say, an understatement.

Speaker 2 And one of the benefits of being part of that establishment is you got a lot of friends who have a lot of power or a lot of money. They are going to come after you really, really.

Speaker 2 Oh, I mean, I can't even imagine. I can't even imagine.

Speaker 4 They've already told me.

Speaker 4 No, no, they've already told me.

Speaker 4 They told me that I should not run, that I was not picked, and that I should not run, and that they would spend, I was told, $120 million to make sure that they kept John Cornyn.

Speaker 4 And I said, hey, can you tell me why John Cornyn's running?

Speaker 4 I just want to know that.

Speaker 4 And there was a quiet silence and there was like, well, you know, we told him not to run. He's already been in there four terms.
We told him not to run. And

Speaker 4 he's our friend. So we're going to support him and we're going to spend the money to beat you.
And I said, so you're telling me you don't even know why Jock Horn's running.

Speaker 4 And you can't explain why he should be this in there. And you do think he's already been there too long, but yet you're still going to support him.
And the answer was yes.

Speaker 4 And we will spend a lot of money to make sure it's not you.

Speaker 2 $120 million that could go to defeating people on the left.

Speaker 4 Yes. And look, I don't know what the real numbers.
That could $120 million at primary. I don't think that's the real number.

Speaker 2 Yeah, I mean, I wouldn't, do you have the pockets to go against that?

Speaker 4 I am, I'm right now, I'm doing quite well. I mean, I,

Speaker 4 you know, part of this has to be separate with super PACs, but I am anticipating that I will be very competitive on the fundraising side. I already know I'm going to be competitive.

Speaker 4 Now, will I have $120 million? I don't need $120 million. No.
But, you know,

Speaker 4 20 to 40 million, that's doable for me.

Speaker 2 Well,

Speaker 2 money can't buy this.

Speaker 2 You know, it's, it's going to be whether it's just getting your name out and making sure that people understand what John Cornyn has done. Who are your friends in the Senate that would be your pack?

Speaker 4 So I doubt, you know, the senators, most of them, they all kind of stick together. Behind the scenes,

Speaker 4 there are several telling me they hope I win. The only one that I think would

Speaker 4 openly support me is

Speaker 4 Tommy Tiberville, who said, I'll support you. And I think he's obviously leaving to go run for governor.
But

Speaker 4 he's a rare breed up there. And

Speaker 4 that's fine. I don't need Washington to support me.

Speaker 2 Ted Cruz won't do it?

Speaker 4 I think Ted,

Speaker 4 because he's

Speaker 4 I don't think he'll say anything. I don't think he'll endorse either way.

Speaker 2 Yeah, he's got to work with

Speaker 2 whoever wins, I guess. Is that the game we're playing?

Speaker 4 That's the game we're playing. Yeah.

Speaker 2 Okay.

Speaker 4 Look, and I'm just happy if, you know, that's, that's a win for me. If, if, if Ted just stays out of it, that's, that's a message, right? I mean, I know he endorsed Cornyn last time.

Speaker 4 If he doesn't endorse him this time, yeah, it's, it's helpful. Yeah.

Speaker 2 Well, um,

Speaker 4 and by the way, I'm a benefit to Ted because I'll be supportive instead of disruptive to what he wants to do because I am a fan of Ted Cruz.

Speaker 4 I think he's the kind of center that Texas deserves and should have. And he's done a fantastic job, and I've supported him ever since he ran the first time.
Yes.

Speaker 4 And John Cornyn, in contrast, is

Speaker 4 opposite. I mean, as I think I heard you say,

Speaker 4 he'd be fine in Vermont if we had him as a Republican. We'd be happy to have him, but not in Texas.

Speaker 2 This is the best of the Glen Beck program. To hear the rest of this interview, check out the full podcast.
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Speaker 5 This is the best of the Glenn Beck program.

Speaker 2 The real Z Factor is Selena Zito.

Speaker 2 She is from the Washington Examiner, the National Political Reporter.

Speaker 2 I can't wait to talk to you, Selena, about Butler. We're going to get into that here in a second.
But can we just talk about your story that you wrote a couple of days ago?

Speaker 2 What I learned about America first in Pennsylvania in a steel mill. Tell me about your experience.

Speaker 3 So thanks so much for having me on. Glad.

Speaker 3 So nice to talk to you.

Speaker 2 You're so great.

Speaker 3 You know, so

Speaker 3 this is a special correspondence to the Washington Post.

Speaker 3 And

Speaker 3 they reached out to me after the election to do this kind of work. And

Speaker 3 I really wanted to get in there and tell the people's story, in particular the steel worker story, not only about how they feel about this sale to Nippon,

Speaker 3 but also how they feel about the tariffs. And it is, you know, walking into that steel mill, I have to tell you, it was a thrill of my career.

Speaker 3 I have wanted to go inside that mill for 30 years and have always been turned down. And I think finally I just wore them down.

Speaker 3 And

Speaker 3 you just walk in there going, I don't know if you've ever been in one. No, I haven't.
But it's, it is.

Speaker 2 Is it like the pictures where the sparks are flying? Is it still like that? Next. It is so cool.

Speaker 3 I really, really enjoyed it. I have my heart hat on, earplugs, the sound, everything like the sound, the smell, the visuals,

Speaker 3 everything

Speaker 3 about that place screams work.

Speaker 2 Right?

Speaker 3 You just felt, and you felt like you were in a place that was part of something bigger than self. And that is how these men and women see what they do is

Speaker 3 bigger than them.

Speaker 3 And because what does it do? It makes your appliances, it makes your cars, it makes your roads, it makes your buildings,

Speaker 3 everything.

Speaker 3 And if we are ever threatened, it makes the vehicles and the instruments to protect us.

Speaker 3 So they are part of something bigger than self. It is a very patriotic job.
U.S. Steel is

Speaker 3 America's first big company. Once upon a time, the largest company, not just in the country, but in the world.
That's the magnitude of U.S. steel.
And what are some of the things that took it down?

Speaker 4 Tariffs, trade,

Speaker 3 bad trade deals. And

Speaker 3 these guys have been just hanging on by

Speaker 3 a thread, trying to keep this very important

Speaker 3 thing still made and produced in America. Now, when the Whip Nippon deal first came out in December of 2023,

Speaker 3 the union guys, the management, they were like against it.

Speaker 3 And there's a historical reason.

Speaker 3 Most steel workers are generational, right? Their grandfather, their great-grandfather,

Speaker 3 they all worked in it.

Speaker 3 So

Speaker 3 the images of the 70s where Japan was selling the deal,

Speaker 3 dumping the steel.

Speaker 3 But they're also, you know, they had grandfathers and fathers that fought in World War II against Japan.

Speaker 2 They probably should let that one go.

Speaker 3 Yes, they shouldn't let that one go. But still, there's this cultural thing.

Speaker 2 Right, right. Yeah.

Speaker 3 And so they were initially against it. But then

Speaker 3 as they realized that U.S. Steel was never going to reinvest

Speaker 3 in their mill, if people take a look at the story, they can see the rolling mill in action. I put a free

Speaker 3 link up in

Speaker 3 my Twitter account, Zito Selena. But that rolling mill that you see there, which is like this awe-inspiring, powerful thing,

Speaker 3 is 86 years old.

Speaker 3 It's really, really difficult to be competitive with any other company or country because of the age of

Speaker 3 that mill. And it costs a billion dollars to

Speaker 3 make a new one. And U.S.
Steel has said, yeah, we're not going to do that. We'll just go down south.

Speaker 3 And so Nippon comes in and says, we're going to rebuild it. Not only are we going to rebuild it, we're going to invest several other billion dollars into your company.

Speaker 3 And it took a lot of talks, a lot of understanding, a lot of getting more investment from Nippon, where the steel workers, by the way,

Speaker 3 they are not

Speaker 3 aligned with the international.

Speaker 3 These are the local steel workers, the guys that show up every day, not the suits, the guys that show up every day and they said, we're for the deal. It'll save my community.

Speaker 3 It'll save my local church.

Speaker 3 It'll save my schools, the tax base, and it won't turn my community into places like McKeesport or Aliquippa, which are now just shells of what they once were because the steel mills lived in those areas.

Speaker 2 So I just said, Selena, this week that, you know, when Donald Trump talks about bringing jobs back,

Speaker 2 he's not talking about,

Speaker 2 and hear me carefully, not talking about going back into Pittsburgh and saying, we're going to open up all the steel mills.

Speaker 2 He is talking about steel mills, but they will be smaller and different, closer to the needs, et cetera, et cetera. There are things, everything's going to change,

Speaker 2 but

Speaker 2 it's different kind of jobs and different different kinds of things. We're not talking about this nostalgic, you know, rebuilding of Pittsburgh the way it was.
Do they? Right.

Speaker 2 And they understand that, the workers, right? Absolutely.

Speaker 3 Yeah. And the amount of technology that they use there would blow people's minds.
There's so much stereotype of what you think happens in there that you often get from my profession.

Speaker 3 And then you walk in there and you're like, oh.

Speaker 3 Okay.

Speaker 3 And here's the other thing. And to your point, this is a really important point.
This is another story I covered last week. Two weeks ago, the Homer City coal-fired power plant was leveled.

Speaker 3 It was very dramatic watching the highest smokestack in the country fall to the ground. But 10 days later, thanks to Trump, thanks to Bergham,

Speaker 3 they are putting in its place, and nobody knew this was going to happen.

Speaker 3 They're putting in its place the largest electrical

Speaker 3 gas-powered plant in its place that will not only provide

Speaker 3 electricity to Pennsylvania but also parts of Maryland, New York, Ohio, and West Virginia. And more importantly than that,

Speaker 3 they're going to build an AI data center next to that.

Speaker 2 Wow.

Speaker 2 It's going to

Speaker 3 be 10,000 jobs.

Speaker 3 10,000 jobs.

Speaker 3 $10 billion investment, and it's shovel ready. And there are places like that all over the industrial Midwest, that you can retrofit

Speaker 3 these coal-fired power plants and make them power plants for AI. You know, Trump, both Trump and Bergham have said, you know, it used to be the arms race that we wanted to win.

Speaker 3 But we need to win the AI race. Yes.

Speaker 3 It is non-negotiable. We have to win it.
And these are the places where we'll build them.

Speaker 2 So what is your feeling now that that the tariffs, you know, everybody in Wall Street, everybody's freaking out.

Speaker 2 And I think it's starting to freak people out, the average person, you know, because everybody is like screaming so hard about it.

Speaker 2 You know, it's like, you know, when the media doesn't talk about gas prices, nobody says anything about gas prices, even though the average person feels it. This is kind of like that.

Speaker 2 The media is just freaking out about all of this. And maybe they have good points here and there.
I'm not sure how this is going to work out.

Speaker 2 But the last thing we need is to freak out about it. What are the people like you meet in those small towns, the working class people, what are they saying about the tariffs?

Speaker 3 Well, you know, Glenn, we have had this conversation so many times before. I feel like I straddle two different worlds.

Speaker 3 If I step on social media or if I put on the legacy news, it's a very, very different

Speaker 3 narrative than when I talk to people.

Speaker 3 And,

Speaker 3 you know,

Speaker 3 for so long,

Speaker 3 the playing field has not been level for them. And I know that sounds like a cliche.
However, it is true.

Speaker 3 And they, and it's really interesting to me, to a person,

Speaker 3 they almost, they are willing to have a short-term sacrifice. for a long-term betterment for the country.
I was talking to Anthony.

Speaker 3 It's going to to be in my upcoming story with my interview with Bergham.

Speaker 3 I was talking to Anthony. He is a PhD in chemistry, has traveled all over the world in the energy industry.
And I said, so how do you, you know, feel about this?

Speaker 3 And he said, I think it's the best thing for the country. It's going to make the country better for my children and for my grandchildren.
And we need to start thinking in those terms.

Speaker 3 We have been thinking in terms of satisfying Wall Street.

Speaker 3 And I know, look, he goes, you know, I'm 10 years from retirement. I know what my 401k looks like right now.
However, I also knew what it looked like in 2008 and 2020. America rolls back.

Speaker 3 What we need in this country. And he said, we should have learned this from COVID.
We need to make more stuff here. We need to make more stuff here.

Speaker 3 And we haven't been able to because corporations see how cheaply it can be made in China, how cheaply it can be made in Mexico or wherever, name a country, Vietnam, or whatever country it is.

Speaker 3 And we need to be able to have our supply chain be able to supply us. And if that makes me take a haircut, I'll take a haircut because it's going to be better for my kids and my grandchildren.

Speaker 2 I've got about a minute before I have to break. I'm going to pursue something else.
But

Speaker 2 do you think that

Speaker 2 the average person

Speaker 2 really understands that this is not about the economy today? This is about survival. This is the great reset, not done by the elites.

Speaker 2 This is the great reset saying, no, we're going to put our faith back into America and to our principles. And it's not about racism.
It's not about isolationism.

Speaker 2 It's just about what the elites have been doing is wrong. And it's going to hurt, but we got to do this.
Do you believe that? They understand that.

Speaker 3 Yeah, absolutely. I mean, to a person, and it's really interesting because I don't lead into that question, right, to try to get them to say it.

Speaker 3 It's one of the first things that they say, in particular, ranchers. You know, talk to a rancher in Kansas.
And they will tell you, you know, we haven't had a level playing field at all.

Speaker 3 We have been on the short end of the stick for decades. I know.

Speaker 3 And,

Speaker 3 you know, this is the first time that we have a chance to show what we have and show that we can compete so that our

Speaker 3 ranches for our kids and our grandkids are better, stronger, more viable, because they're not going to be if we don't.

Speaker 2 Selena, it's always good to talk to you. You know, one of the things that, let me just say this to anybody who's listening,

Speaker 2 one of the things I love about Selena, we've known each other for decades now. And

Speaker 2 I love her because she does not drive the highways. She doesn't fly place to place.
She drives the back roads. She stops at the coffee shops and the little stores and the gas station.

Speaker 2 And that's why I think you have such a good handle on the heartbeat of the average person in America. You're listening to the best of the Glen Beck podcast.

Speaker 4 Hear more of this interview and others with the full show podcast available wherever you get podcasts.

Speaker 2 Welcome to the Glenn Beck program. I'm probably going to talk about this tomorrow.
Stephen Moore is going to be on with me in about an hour from now, and we're going to touch on this.

Speaker 2 I just want you to know that if you are, you know, if you pay attention to what's happening in the markets,

Speaker 2 you'll see the

Speaker 2 you'll see the Fed, the treasuries are going up. That's the opposite of what should be happening right now, and that is because of something called basis trade.

Speaker 2 And it's a very, very big deal if it's not turned around. The hedge funds playing fast and loose, and now they got their foot caught in the door, and it's almost a 2008 kind of thing

Speaker 2 if it doesn't get under control quickly.

Speaker 2 It's really not a good thing. Not caused by the tariffs, but

Speaker 2 kind of pushed over the edge because of the tariffs. It's the unwinding of this thing that has been a problem for a long time.
And

Speaker 2 I just want you to know we're aware of it and we're watching it for you. And I'll have more on that tomorrow.
I might be able to get to some of it

Speaker 2 later on in the program today.

Speaker 2 Let me go to

Speaker 2 Jason Buttrill. He is our, he's a former Defense Department of Defense

Speaker 2 Intelligence Analyst, and he is also

Speaker 2 our head writer and head of research here at the Glenn Beck program.

Speaker 2 And Jason, there is something that I did not expect to read, and maybe ever.

Speaker 2 A C-17 aircraft from ours took off in Doha on our military base and arrived at Bagram on Sunday.

Speaker 2 It was said to be carrying senior U.S. intelligence officials, including the CIA deputy chief, military equipment, et cetera, et cetera.

Speaker 2 Now,

Speaker 2 there's rumors that the Taliban handed the base over to us,

Speaker 2 which I don't think that happened just because of the kindness of their hearts. And I have a feeling this,

Speaker 2 I don't know what kind of, if this is true, I don't know what kind of deal we had to make with the Taliban to get that base back because that base is strategic like nobody's business if you're going into any kind of war with China.

Speaker 2 Jason, can you fill us in on this? What's true? What's not? What do you read from this?

Speaker 4 Yeah, so none of this is official.

Speaker 4 This news report came out because there's people on the ground that are watching flight trackers. They saw this flight take off.
They saw it land. And then the rumor spread from there.

Speaker 4 The whole thing about

Speaker 4 the Taliban handing over Bagram to us is probably a complete and total pipe dream at the moment. I don't know where it goes eventually.
It could, but of course the Taliban denied it.

Speaker 4 Like they can't be seen, you know, handing over facility in their, like that's what sparked off al-Qaeda, you know, in Saudi Arabia, having us, you know, at their military base. Yep, yep, yep.

Speaker 4 They're not going to admit that.

Speaker 2 Right.

Speaker 4 But I do see we have to look at the state of the world and kind of think about during the Cold War. Can you imagine, Blen, if during the Cold War, the media landscape was how it is now?

Speaker 4 So that, I mean,

Speaker 4 who are these Contra people? Like, what are we dealing with? Or who are the Sandinistas? Like, this news would be everywhere nonstop.

Speaker 4 And we're going to start seeing that with this trade war that's going on right now.

Speaker 2 And by the way,

Speaker 2 by the way, I think it's important for us to say, I think it's official we are in a trade war. China just retaliated again, a second time.
What was it? Number this time, 54%? They added another 50%.

Speaker 2 So they're up to 84% now. And we're up to 104.
104. So we're at a trade war.
And then Europe as well. Europe just retaliated with 25% as well.

Speaker 2 So this is not a good thing. You don't like trade wars.
Trade wars are not a good thing.

Speaker 2 Stephen Moore, Art Laffer, have been advising the president. And Stephen's going to be on with us here in

Speaker 2 about 45 minutes.

Speaker 2 Oh, not confirmed yet. Okay.
He will.

Speaker 2 We've been chatting this morning on text all morning since about 4 a.m. Both of us wide awake going, what's happening in the world?

Speaker 2 But anyway, we are at a trade war. So why does that play a role with Bagram?

Speaker 4 Well, we're going to start seeing activity, I mean, beyond tariffs.

Speaker 4 Tariffs are the main lever, but we're going to see some clandestine activity and other moves from like our intelligence services, maybe even military movements in the middle of this.

Speaker 4 Because right now, between the United States and China, it is a very, you know, big and competitive world and issue between the both of them. And I think this is squarely about China.

Speaker 4 I really think it does. That's what was so scary about handing over Bagram to begin with, because

Speaker 4 it's a major part of their Silk Road initiative. So one of their major trade objectives is to get to be able to have a land route through places like Afghanistan.
So I think that

Speaker 4 there's a big issue that both us and the Taliban can agree on, if you can believe that. And that is the elimination of ISIS-K in Afghanistan.
That's their affiliate in Afghanistan.

Speaker 4 The Taliban doesn't like them.

Speaker 4 I believe they've worked with them in the past, but now it's a completely different

Speaker 4 state of the game for them between the two groups. So I can see them making concessions to allow us to, let's say, operate some intelligence assets out of there or use it in some way.

Speaker 4 I think we are seeing the beginnings

Speaker 4 of that negotiation right now with this. That's my opinion.

Speaker 2 And you believe after all those years at war with them, there's the possibility that we're going to need their help with China. I mean, that's insane.
That's insane.

Speaker 2 And none of this would have happened had we not just handed them the base. That was the dumbest thing I've ever heard.
We paid how many billions for that base?

Speaker 2 Oh, gosh.

Speaker 4 I mean,

Speaker 4 too many.

Speaker 2 Yeah, too many billions of dollars in that base.

Speaker 2 And we just handed it to them. Just handed it to them.

Speaker 2 And we left all of our equipment there. Now, there's a couple of other

Speaker 2 reasons that you can speculate on.

Speaker 2 Are we doing counterterrorism or intelligence operations in that area? Maybe not with just China or not against China, but also

Speaker 2 this is a central place to be for Russia and China, for the United States. Make sure we have a foothold in that.

Speaker 2 What do you think we would have to

Speaker 2 offer the Taliban to get this?

Speaker 4 Well, I think that I don't think we'd be giving them anything, but I do think that we would, you know,

Speaker 4 you know, offer our services. Like, I don't

Speaker 4 call it offer our services, but show that we are, we both have the same enemy in ISIS-K. And I don't think that we'd be sharing anything with them.

Speaker 4 But, I mean, if you look at our relationship with Afghanistan while the Taliban pre-2001 was in place, we didn't have a major foothold in Afghanistan.

Speaker 4 We had intelligence operatives within the country, clandestinely, and outside the country. That's how we've managed the terror threat before.

Speaker 4 I think we're moving into a more aggressive phase where that is our stance in that area. We have some intelligence assets in the country.

Speaker 4 We have some intelligence assets in places like Pakistan and other places. Not a major military footprint.
I don't think that's going to happen again. I really don't.

Speaker 4 I don't think Bagram will ever be fully turned over to us again. I don't think that's going to happen.

Speaker 4 But I could see some kind of accommodation to allow, let's say, and this is very dangerous, like a Allah Benghazi, like a compound or something like that that we do operate out of, like a handful of intelligence assets.

Speaker 4 Extremely dangerous, but I can see them moving in that direction.

Speaker 4 And so what does that give us, Glenn? That lets us attack terrorists, which is what we want to do. We don't want them to get larger groups within Afghanistan.

Speaker 4 That benefits the Taliban as well, but it also lets us keep an eye on who is using that airbase also. Are the Chinese there? Are the Russians there? More importantly, are the Chinese there?

Speaker 4 That's what I think is going on.

Speaker 2 What is the Chinese relationship with Afghanistan? Because they've got to, I mean, Chinese need Afghanistan too.

Speaker 4 Chinese absolutely need Afghanistan for Silk Road. And I mean, look what they've done in places like Africa.
They move in and offer the world. We'll build this super highway.

Speaker 4 We'll build up this infrastructure, this infrastructure, this infrastructure.

Speaker 4 Eventually, the way they structure those deals, Afghanistan becomes a slave to China because then they're on the hook for a trillion dollars in infrastructure payback. That's how China exerts force.

Speaker 4 So

Speaker 4 that's China's stake in this game, and that's probably what they're maneuvering to do.

Speaker 4 We would want to stop them from doing that in this overall trade war looking down the road a decade, two decades from now.

Speaker 2 You know, everybody I've talked to, everyone has said to me, Glenn, in a trade war with China, if we get into a series, if this doesn't back off,

Speaker 2 we're both in real trouble.

Speaker 2 China has got to have us, and we really have to have China for our medicines and everything else. And

Speaker 2 I said, so which, which, which, which, which, which, which one of us wins in the end? And it's like any war. You don't know.

Speaker 2 Whoever can stomach it the longest,

Speaker 2 I guess, is the answer. Your thoughts on what we're entering and how Europe is now responding.

Speaker 4 You know, history teaches us so much. And if you look at the world post-World War II,

Speaker 4 it was very similar to, who was that Japanese geopolitics person or philosopher, I can't remember, where he said that this was the end of history. But he was talking about, I think, World War.

Speaker 4 Was he talking about World War I or World War II? I can't remember.

Speaker 4 But he said this is the end of the history because the world is so interconnected, we're not going to want to go to war again. Well, that's complete.
bullcrap.

Speaker 4 You know, you look at books like The Clash of Civilizations that pointed out that, well, actually, you know, people are just going to move into their own

Speaker 4 race or identity. And that will be the new

Speaker 4 spark for war going forward.

Speaker 4 But the solution to that, thinking that this is the end of history, was to fully interconnect all these countries, the entire world, so that if we go to war or

Speaker 4 whatever,

Speaker 4 we all suffer for it. So we won't do it.
So it's the end of history.

Speaker 4 Well, that system that we built made it to where we are dependent on all these other countries.

Speaker 4 We're dependent on China for our, you know, our, our, our, our, all of our, like, what's it, 75%, I believe, of our medicines. 75%.

Speaker 4 We depend on this country for all of these rare earth minerals. We compare, you know, we're dependent everywhere.
That is the system they built.

Speaker 4 They never thought it would turn around and bite people, even though we saw in COVID that that was completely wrong. We are in bad shape and it's not sustainable.

Speaker 2 So now, you know, hang on just a second. That is the scariest thing because

Speaker 2 when you fully understand that,

Speaker 2 then you understand what the president is doing. And then you're looking at it going, geez, but that doesn't give us relief right away.

Speaker 2 This is going to cause a lot of temporary pain. And maybe I don't know what temporary even means.
It will be temporary, but it's going to cause a lot of

Speaker 2 pain. And I'm not sure that the American people even understand

Speaker 2 truly what's going on. They think it's just about the economy.
It's not. It's about changing everything.

Speaker 4 Yeah, and people rightly point out that change doesn't happen overnight. And that's exactly right.

Speaker 4 I mean, how many billions of dollars does it take for a company to set up a plant or manufacturing facility within the United States? It's billions of dollars. How long does it take to build those?

Speaker 4 What, three to five years once they finally pull the trigger? We're only in the negotiation stage. I know.

Speaker 4 So we're talking about a long, far, you know, far off in the distance plan that we're just negotiating. It has to be done.
It's unsustainable.

Speaker 4 But we are seeing the beginnings in the pain now.

Speaker 2 And it's only going to get worse if we don't do anything. But we have to understand the pain may be

Speaker 2 a long time. This is a hundred-year plan, longer than that now,

Speaker 2 being turned overnight. And

Speaker 2 it's going to cause some shocks along the way. Thank you, Jason.
I appreciate it.

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