No Spin News - Weekend Edition - June 21, 2025
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Welcome to It Takes Energy, presented by Energy Transfer, where we talk all things oil and natural gas. Oil and gas drive our economy, ensure our country's security, and open pathways to brighter futures. What do you know about oil and natural gas? You likely associate them with running your car or heating your home. But these two natural resources fuel so much more than that. More than 6,000 consumer products that we rely on every day are made using oil and gas.

Before you even step out the door in the morning, you've already used more products made possible because of oil and gas than you realize. From the toothpaste you brush your teeth with, the soap you washed your face with, and the sheets you slept on. Not to mention your makeup, contact lenses, clothes, and shoes. Oil and gas are vital parts of all these products and so many more.

Look around and you'll see the essential role oil and gas plays in our lives. Our world needs oil and gas, and people rely on us to deliver it. To learn more, visit energytransfer.com. Welcome to the No Spin News Weekend Edition. Now before the president left for Canada, and he's not real popular there, as you know, there was a lot of debate about Israel and Iran, the USA.

So Benjamin Netanyahu, the prime minister of Israel, appeared on Fox News and it was a very interesting back and forth. Go.

You know, I just want to press you on the intel on the nuclear part. Less than two months ago, the new director of national intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard, testified on Capitol Hill saying that everything had been suspended since 2003 and had not restarted, that the nuclear program had not been restarted by the Iranians. So did something change from end of March until this week? Was the U.S. intel wrong?

The intel we got and we shared with the United States was absolutely clear. It was absolutely clear that they were working in a secret plan to weaponize the uranium. They were marching very quickly. They would achieve a test device and possibly an initial device within months and certainly less than a year. Okay. But again, I'm going back to my conversation with the president yesterday. It's not what Netanyahu believes. It's what Donald Trump believes.

Now, Tulsi Gabbard has been an isolationist forever. I was a little surprised that she got the nod to be the national security director. She has not walked back her initial opinion, but it doesn't matter. The only thing that matters is the president's opinion. All right, joining us now from Key West, Florida, is Stephen Nikila, who is the chairman of the Libertarian National Committee.

And I asked for Mr. Nikila because libertarians generally don't want any kind of United States involvement overseas in these kinds of military actions. So I assume you object to this, right?

Yes, and thank you so much, Bill, for having me on. We as Libertarian Party have been against foreign entanglements for over 50 years since the original platform of the Libertarian Party was created. We've opposed all foreign wars, especially wars like Vietnam, Iraq, Afghanistan, and potentially a war with Iran.

And we see this conflict as one that could potentially escalate and cascade into a regional conflict that could entangle the United States to have to come to the aid of Israel, which we're vehemently against.

I believe that the Iranian government is first and foremost a threat to its own people. They're an authoritarian regime. I believe Israel does have the right to defend itself. I believe they are correct to be adversarial with Iran, perhaps even kinetic adversaries.

But as far as the United States supplying weapons, supplying ISR, and the Israelis asking for the United States to get involved again and again, I think we're in a dangerous position where

I think Trump's instincts are correct not to get involved directly with an entanglement with Iran that could spiral out of control, especially when the endgame is not clear. If the endgame is for Iran not to receive or to create nuclear weapons, then the Israeli attacks on supposed Iranian infrastructure

should be sufficient. But as the war continues to escalate, we may find ourselves in another forever war that we may be ending up spending billions, if not trillions of dollars on, just as we have with the global war on terror over the past several decades. Okay. So you're making a few mistakes because you're doing a lot of woulda, might, and all of that.

If Iran gets a nuclear weapon, the Libertarian Party of the United States is going to look foolish because Iran is not going to get the nuclear weapon for peaceful means. They're going to use it with blackmail. They might even use it literally. I want to kill all Jews. So I don't know how any political party can say, yeah, we're OK. Let Iran get it.

a nuclear weapon and without the United States support, you know, not direct military, but certainly weapons and intel. The Israelis aren't going to knock out completely the nuclear facilities. They're buried under mountains, you know that. They're going to require major bombs that Israel doesn't have. So the Libertarian Party puts itself in a position of saying, you know, if the mullahs get the nukes, that's okay.

Or am I being unfair? We believe that the best way to...

come to an end of this conflict would be to pursue diplomacy. Okay, that's not going to work. And you know it. So look, at this point, this seems to be off the table. The Israelis have attacked Iran. With all due respect, we have tried diplomacy for years. If you read my column on Obama and Biden, they tried to bribe them. They tried to do everything to them. So let's live in the real world, Stephen, please. Because if you don't, the discussion just goes off the rails.

So right now, the Libertarian Party would be okay if the mullahs got the nukes. Now we go to Ukraine. So you don't want the United States to supply Zelensky with military gear, right?

That is correct. I believe that the further the West and NATO pushes Ukraine towards war with Russia or... It's already a war then, Stephen. It's already there. War started when Putin invaded. Okay. Correct. 2014. I understand that a little bit better than I understand the nuclear thing in Iran. So you don't want the United States to be involved. So if the United States isn't involved, the likelihood is that Putin takes over

Ukraine, because they need money and weaponry from the USA. EU can do a little bit, but we're the big dog. I just returned from China, Stephen. It is without a doubt that if the United States withdraws from helping Zelensky and Ukraine, the Chinese will seize Taiwan militarily. They're waiting to see what happens. You'd be okay with the Chinese seizing Taiwan, right?

We believe that the Taiwanese, the Ukrainians and the Israelis can certainly purchase weapons from our military industrial conflicts. But the more and more the United States gets involved in these conflicts, either directly or through proxies, the closer this brings us to World War III and a potential nuclear escalation. I don't see that in sight in the war with Ukraine and Russia. There was an opportunity for Russia and Ukraine to come to an agreement in Turkey.

Boris Johnson told Zelensky not to capitulate to the terms of the peace agreement, that we would supply them with weapons in order to fight the Russians. And right now the West is pushing Ukraine to fight down, to fight Russia down the very last Ukrainian. - Okay, but you're talking about giant countries like Russia invading Ukraine.

and China invading Taiwan. The little countries can't stand up. It's just like Hitler, when Hitler took Austria and then he took Czechoslovakia and then he went into the Tsar and then he started rolling. It's the same exact thing that we've seen for just millennia, that the big countries with the psychotic leaders take over the little countries.

But the U.S. Libertarian Party does not seem concerned about that, and that concerns me. You see where I'm coming from?

I can see your concern. I think most Americans are concerned right now with inflation. We're concerned with our tax dollars. OK, but you're not going to have a worldwide economy if you have disorder, social disorder all over the world. The world economy collapses. If you have China on the march, if you have Putin on the march, the worldwide economy is going to collapse. So they can be concerned about inflation, but it's going to get a lot worse if you don't have social order. I'll give you the last word.

I think the United States post-World War II did a great job expanding throughout the world economically. We became a bastion of freedom, an economic powerhouse. Now we see China becoming that economic powerhouse. We need to get back to our roots as an economic superpower and a foreign policy based on non-intervention, diplomacy, and trade rather than

being the world's policeman and weapons manufacturer. The Libertarian Party has stood strong in non-interventionalism. We want to be closer to Switzerland, not isolationist like North Korea. We believe that the United States cannot continue with these forever wars. We already pay a quarter of our taxes go straight to interest.

We're going bankrupt as a country. And Americans are just weary of any new conflicts. And at this point, they're unsustainable. And the Libertarian Party sees peace as the only option and economics and diplomacy as the true right arm of freedom and democracy from the United States. Okay, Stephen, good. I appreciate you coming on. Thanks very much. Very good discussion.

Welcome to It Takes Energy, presented by Energy Transfer, where we talk all things oil and natural gas. Oil and gas drive our economy, ensure our country's security, and open pathways to brighter futures.

When it comes to meeting the world's energy needs, more is better. What we mean is our world needs a wide range of energy sources to meet our increasing needs. Just wind or solar won't get us there, as the sun doesn't always shine and the wind doesn't always blow. With our growing population and the increasing use of energy-demanding technologies like AI, reliability is key.

and the reliability of natural gas is unmatched by wind and solar. That doesn't mean we all can't work together, but natural gas is vital to ensuring we meet our energy needs. Look around, and you'll see the essential role oil and gas plays in our lives. Our world needs oil and gas, and people rely on us to deliver it. To learn more, visit energytransfer.com. Power.

politics and the people behind the headlines. I'm Miranda Devine, New York Post columnist and the host of the brand new podcast, Podforce One. Every week, I'll sit down for candid conversations with Washington's most powerful disruptors, lawmakers, newsmakers, and even the president of

of the United States. These are the leaders shaping the future of America and the world. Listen to Podforce One with me, Miranda Devine, every week on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. You don't want to miss an episode. You're listening to the No Spin News Weekend Edition.

Now there was an incident here on Long Island where I am with a congressman, Nick Lolota, who was attacked by shadowy dark money. So we wanted the congressman to come on and he joins us now from Hop Hog, New York. I was very interested in a personal story here, not the bigger picture. So, you know, I have a house in your district and I know you from the campaign trail and all that.

What happened to you exactly?

So, so far, dark money groups have spent in excess of $700,000 against me. And by the way, I'm not the only one there. They're spending against about 10 or 11 House Republicans. But so far, they've spent about $700,000 against me, spreading lies about the one big, beautiful bill that honestly puts our country on a much better track. It ensures that we save money for future generations, secures our border, and puts the nation on a better track. But yet they're spreading lies about

about Medicaid in particular. And so far, I've spent a lot of money doing so. All right, who's they? You got the 1630 Fund. Is that what it is? What is that?

Yeah, groups that put up a new fancy name and then they unwind the group six, nine months later after they're done spending their dark money. We often don't know the sources or the interests that are specifically behind these attack ads, which are mostly false, meant to scare residents, my constituents, into thinking things differently.

that are true, that aren't. And it's really just a shame that they would go about this tactic when this bill is centered around work requirements. Work requirements used to be a bipartisan initiative. In fact, Bill Clinton, while he was president, supported the notion that if you wanted to receive federal government benefits and if you were an able-bodied adult, you had to work for them.

Yeah. And this merely states that 80 hours a month is all you got to work if you're able bodied to get your Medicaid or get your food stamps. Any intelligent American knows what this propaganda campaign is. But you yourself were targeted. Now, you came up with a figure of seven hundred thousand dollars. Right. You're adding up the television ads that went after you. Is that how you got to that figure?

Yeah, it's only the TV part. We aren't able to yet quantify what they've spent in the mailbox. So the TV component alone is $700,000. We have to make the mail component to be about the same. The companies that ran the ads should be able to tell you who bought the ads, right?

Yes, three or four shadowy groups that have these temporary names. They stand up these organizations. They wind them down three, six, nine months later after they're done smearing their crap across America. It's by design that it's not attached to a permanent longstanding name that enables them to conduct their shadowy exercises. All right. So these are pop-ups to get Congressman Lolota and 10 others

in districts that they feel could go either way because your district, the first district on Long Island is in a lock

to go Republican. Now, when you expose this kind of stuff, as that's what you're doing here, look, I'm a congressman, I'm voting my conscience, I think that the Trump spending and tax bill is good for the country. This is your job. That's what you're supposed to do. And yet I'm attacked by a shadowy group who we don't even know who's giving the money to. What do the people say? I mean,

Anybody outraged about this or are we just accepting that this is the landscape now? So there's a country song or two that has lyric that sounds something like, when you tell a lie about me, I'm going to tell the truth about you. And that's been my response to these things all along. You know, we're Long Islanders. We like to be plain spoken. We like to hear the truth told to us. And when I come back with what the actual components of the one big, beautiful bill are, I'm

overwhelmingly my constituents supported. So, you know, fortunately through social media, traditional media, and just getting the word out there in between, we're able to, you know,

essentially blunt some of these false attacks ahead of time. But these have become par for the course. I think for the most part, my constituents are desensitized to attacks like this. There's been a lot of spending in my district over the last couple of cycles. I've been outspent each of the last three elections I've been in massively, two to one, three to one, and six to one. And yet we've won each one of them by 10 points or more. So I think my constituents understand that.

What they hear from these shadowy commercials isn't true, and I'm especially blunting it out there every day. All right. If you get any further information about individuals, let us know. You know, we pinpointed Soros, of course, and the heir to the Walmart fortune. But we want to kind of assemble this dark money list of people who are really helping us. Congressman, we wish you the best. Thanks for taking the time to talk to us today.

Joining us now from New York City is a columnist for the New York Post who writes about these kinds of things all the time, but she's a new podcast that Red Seat, which we're in business with, is promoting. It's called Podcast One, and it's going to deal with politics, and Miranda Devine has access to a lot of very interesting guests, and she will be doing that podcast. We hope you check it out.

So, Ms. Duvall, first of all, am I making any mistakes in my Iranian analysis? No, I don't think so at all. And I mean, you know President Trump very well and have known him for many years. And you know that people can't pigeonhole him as either a warmonger or a dove. He's sort of criticized for both things. But as he says, he just tries to apply common sense.

And that's what he's been doing now. He's been crystal clear from the beginning throughout the campaign and previously that Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon. OK, that's all. Do you think he's making any mistakes? Should he be more aggressive? Should he be more passive on it? Is he making any mistakes in your opinion?

I don't think so. I mean, look, he hasn't done anything overt yet. He's just threatened the Ayatollah. He said we have complete control of the skies. Obviously, Israel has degraded Iran's defenses. So now is a good time to go in and just smash the nuclear facilities. That's all. But what if Israel can't smash them?

because they don't have the bombs that we have. And say the mullahs hold out, and the only way to obliterate the nuke stuff is for the United States to bomb these mountainsides. Would you support that?

That is the only way because these nuclear facilities are buried very deep down and only the US has these B-2 bombers that are capable of carrying the bombs that can actually get near them. So, I mean, unfortunately, America is the only country in the world with the ability to do this. And I think President Trump has been weighing this decision,

Very, you know, with great care. And his message to the Ayatollah just a short time ago saying surrender, unconditional surrender. We don't want the Ayatollah dead. He's safe for now.

This is a clear, you know, he's moved. He's trying to get right. It would be much better if they threw their hands up and then the United Nations could go in in conjunction with the United States and just take. It's not going to happen probably. But I mean, a limited strike. What could happen and get out? What could happen is the Iranian people, the Persians will rise up. And if that happens, the army will turn.

And that's what Trump is really hoping for. He's not hoping for any rationality on the part of the Ayatollah, okay? He's hoping that the Persian people will say enough. And that's why he's saying get out of Tehran, you know, this and that. And it's possible that happens. Not probable, but possible. Well, we hoped for that in Iraq and it didn't happen.

We hoped for it a lot of places, and it didn't happen. But I do agree with you that Trump is not going to allow this thing to go back to where it was in a sense that it signed some kind of deal and the deal is murky and they still have this capacity. Trump has come to the conclusion, and I know this to be true, that they're done.

And if we have to push them over the edge, we'll probably push them over the edge. But if we do that, we're going to have trouble with China in particular. And that is a huge, huge story. And I know that because I was just in Beijing. China didn't care about the mullahs. They don't care about them one bit. But they don't want the United States pushing people around and using military action. So that's what Trump had. A very, very complicated situation.

I also want to talk to you today about the media. People may not know this who don't live in the New York area, but Miranda Devine was right in the middle of the Hunter Biden laptop thing where the New York Post, to its credit, got the laptop, printed what was on it, and then the mainstream media, the corporate media, attacked the New York Post,

saying it was all bogus, which those of us who are honest brokers of information knew was false. And I think that the corrupt media knew it was false as well, but they didn't care. But anyway, you went through a long period of time where you were fighting these people and then they finally admitted defeat and said, yeah, yeah, the New York Post had it right, blah, blah, blah. Do you see any improvement?

Anyone can deliver you headlines. Only the New York Post can deliver the headlines you need and the stories you want. From the iconic newsroom that pulls no punches comes the New York Post cast. Every weekday morning, I'll break down a headline impacting your world with sharp insight, context, and in-depth reporting. Plus, I'll have the Post's signature mix of stories that people are actually talking about, from politics to business to pop culture and everything in between.

This isn't just another news podcast. It's a look at what matters and a peek at what's too interesting to ignore, keeping you informed and entertained. I'm Caitlin Becker. Listen and subscribe to the New York Postcast every weekday morning on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Welcome to It Takes Energy, presented by Energy Transfer, where we talk all things oil and natural gas. Oil and gas drive our economy, ensure our country's security, and open pathways to brighter futures. What do you know about oil and natural gas? You likely associate them with running your car or heating your home. But these two natural resources fuel so much more than that. More than 6,000 consumer products that we rely on every day are made using oil and gas.

Before you even step out the door in the morning, you've already used more products made possible because of oil and gas than you realize. From the toothpaste you brush your teeth with, the soap you washed your face with, and the sheets you slept on. Not to mention your makeup, contact lenses, clothes, and shoes. Oil and gas are vital parts of all these products and so many more.

Look around and you'll see the essential role oil and gas plays in our lives. Our world needs oil and gas, and people rely on us to deliver it. To learn more, visit energytransfer.com. In those people who reported dishonestly about Hunter Biden. No, all they do is morph.

You know, they never said that the New York Post got it right. They just seamlessly moved into, oh, yes, you know, the laptop is real. And, oh, yes, you know, then it's used in a court of law as evidence. Oh, yes, it was. But they never go back and revisit their own errors or correct them. They are so arrogant. I'm thinking particularly of the New York Times, which

which is all the news that's fit to print, except anything that's damaging to the Democrats or might help Donald Trump. And they sort of set the agenda for all the newsrooms, not just in the United States, but around the world.

And so that's the skewed perspective of America that's transmitted. And it's through the eyes of The New York Times, which has not got a grasp on reality. And they haven't changed at all. But they don't want to grasp on reality. They're in business to promote a certain reality.

lifestyle, a progressive lifestyle, and that's what they want to do. You're an interesting person to me anyway, because you worked in the media in Australia, I believe in Japan, in England, and in the United States.

So you have a perspective worldwide. My theory, and I could be wrong, of course, is that we have the most corrupt media in the free world right now. America, I mean, the BBC is pretty corrupt, but we're really bad now. Do you concur?

No, not at all. I didn't actually work in Japan. I was a child. I grew up there. But look, I think that, I mean, I take Australia and England, they're dominated by the BBC and in Australia, the other government funded equivalent states.

television called the ABC and they so dominate the rest of the media that they are completely untrammeled by any semblance of the truth and they are incredibly partisan and basically peddled propaganda. Now

They're no different, I guess, from the New York Times, the Washington Post, CNN, etc. But at least in the United States, there are disparate voices and those voices are getting stronger as the American people wake up to the fact that they've been lied to by those august

established media organs, and they look for alternate sources of news, like Bill O'Reilly's No Spin Zone, like the New York Post and our new podcasts, like Joe Rogan even. I mean, there are lots of media voices. There's a study out today we're going to report on tomorrow that the alternative news agencies have now surpassed

Which is obviously true. But, you know, here's the rub on it. It isn't ideology that has sunk them, although that's a part of it. They're boring, Miranda. They're boring. Well, they are boring. Because they're all parrots. They get their little, at a K Street every morning, they get their little talking points. Their editors just gut them.

Okay, you say this, you say that, and if you don't want to say it, you're not working for us. And so these people go on there and they're like zombies. You don't learn anything. They're not seeking the truth. They couldn't care less. What they want to do is keep their own jobs.

And on television, I made my name by having robust debate on the Fox News channel. Now, all of them just bring in people who agree with everybody. Tell me more. You know, it's like we don't have fire anymore. And people are going, oh. So I think that that's why, because the social media is so much more lively and gets to your pod force one thing.

So you're going into a sea of podcasts. This is not a podcast, this is a broadcast here. But you're going to a sea of it. Last question, how are you going to make it different? Look, I guess just the relationships that I've built up with the cabinet members and President Trump.

I guess they trust me and I'm hoping to ask them questions that are obviously of the news of the day. But, you know, in my normal interviews with people, I'm looking for, you know, a front page story, exclusive something on whatever is the hot topic.

But this is a bit more relaxed. You have more time. I had 45 minutes with the president and I just had an hour over an hour with Treasury Secretary Scott Besant. And, you know, it's just probing, I guess, what motivates them, what their desires are, what their background is, what drives them. They're all incredibly...

you know, they don't get to these positions of power without being driven and unique people with a perspective on success and an ability to get success that means that they have a lot of lessons for the rest of us. And look, also many of them have, you know, personal lives that are

are not chaotic, that are pretty stable. And how do they manage to do that? I'm interested in that when, you know, these powerful men and women, what drives them behind the scenes as well. All right. So part four, one is the new podcast. If you get anything good, I mean, not good, but big, let us know. We'll throw you right on. We appreciate it. Good luck with it. Thank you.

You're listening to the No Spin News Weekend Edition. So I can't predict with any certainty what will happen. I do know that air power plans are drawn up and Donald Trump could act on them anytime he wants. It's up to him 100%. Israel doesn't have much say in this. Israel will have to do what we tell them to do. And Netanyahu will be thrilled if we go in and dismantle that furlough mountain.

And the anti-Semites, the anti-Israel progressive crew, they're touting that we're lackeys to Israel. You know that. That's what all those Columbia University things were all about. You know, Israel's a terrorist state, Israel's a genocide, on and on and on and on. But in real life, Israel's not going to let Iran have an atomic weapon, an atom bomb, a nuclear weapon, because Iran wants to kill them all.

If you lived in Jerusalem, you'd feel the same way. And that's the memo. I was reading a guy who was watching this very closely, Doug Schoen. You know him. We use him a lot. Democrat political strategist down in Miami. So you say that you have seen a survey of 800 U.S. adults on this issue. What do they say?

By two to one, they support what Israel is doing. Welcome to It Takes Energy, presented by Energy Transfer, where we talk all things oil and natural gas. Oil and gas drive our economy, ensure our country's security, and open pathways to brighter futures.

When it comes to meeting the world's energy needs, more is better. What we mean is our world needs a wide range of energy sources to meet our increasing needs. Just wind or solar won't get us there, as the sun doesn't always shine and the wind doesn't always blow. With our growing population and the increasing use of energy-demanding technologies like AI, reliability is key.

and the reliability of natural gas is unmatched by wind and solar. That doesn't mean we all can't work together, but natural gas is vital to ensuring we meet our energy needs. Look around, and you'll see the essential role oil and gas plays in our lives. Our world needs oil and gas, and people rely on us to deliver it. To learn more, visit energytransfer.com.

Hey, it's Sean Spicer from the Sean Spicer Show podcast, reminding you to tune into my show every day to get your daily dose inside the world of politics. President Trump and his team are shaking up Washington like never before, and we're here to cover it from all sides.

especially on the topics the mainstream media won't. So if you're a political junkie on a late lunch or getting ready for the drive home, new episodes of the Sean Spicer Show podcast drop at 2 p.m. East Coast every day. Make sure you tune in. You can find us at Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. You made the point.

in your Talking Points memo that there are isolationist elites who are speaking against any involvement or entanglement. The American people get that the Iranian regime is a terrorist regime, that they are seeking to develop nuclear weapons, and by better than two to one, they support the actions of the Israeli government to try to dismantle that apparatus.

How do you know that, though? Was this a formal poll taken? Yeah, it was a formal poll. It was done for a group. It was done for a Jewish group, full disclosure. But they didn't tell us what to ask or what to do. We asked a random sample of 800 Americans, as we would in any political poll, what they thought. And there is clear support. Now, your point is also right, Bill. These attitudes do change. We saw...

During the Iraq war, there was big support at the start, and then by the end of the Iraq war, less support. Support for Israel after October 7th, that's dissipated for the reasons we've all discussed. But bottom line, right now, there's support for action.

And I would argue, Bill, that if you're in the Trump White House -- and again, I can't speak for his decision, nor can anyone -- but this is a time when the Iranian government is weaker. Their proxies in the region are weaker.

And public opinion is supportive of action against their nuclear. Yeah, it's the right time to move them if you're going to do that. One of the questions you have is, do you support Israel's actions as self-defense against Iran? Only 51 percent of Americans say that Israel is acting in self-defense. Does that surprise you?

No, it doesn't, because unless you're watching this very closely every day, you don't believe that Iran, which has been negotiating, I think, in bad faith, but whatever faith, you think, well, you know, they've been negotiating and maybe there was a possibility of a deal. I don't believe there was. I don't think you believe there was one. The Israelis certainly don't.

But then I think Donald Trump increasingly doubts it himself. But I could see how an ordinary person at home would say, well, you know, we should have given diplomacy more of a chance. OK, but there comes a point where diplomacy acts against

your own self-interest if it just goes on and on and on and on and on, which is what this has been. What? This is years we've been going through this, Doug. And I told Hannity on his radio program today, it's funny when the Democrats, your party, criticizes the lack of diplomacy because none of this would have happened if not for President Biden. Once

Once Biden surrendered in Afghanistan, then Putin started on the march. China started on the march. Iran started to upgrade its uranium and kick more money because Biden and Obama gave them billions and billions of dollars into Hezbollah and Hamas. This all goes back to Biden. Yet the Democrats are now- I think it goes back to Obama and the JCPOA. Not quite as much.

I walked through this. Obama made a huge mistake and he delivered, President Obama delivered the money to the mullahs in cash. In cash. In a private plane full of suitcases. And nobody knew about it. That tells you that that was, but Biden's weakness, and I know this because I was in Beijing three weeks ago.

Okay, and once the Chinese saw that, that Biden surrendered in Afghanistan, boom, South China Sea, all over the place, they're intruding, Straits of Taiwan, because they knew that Biden wouldn't do anything, and he didn't do anything, okay? So that Trump was handed this massive disorder throughout the world. But Trump does not want

to use American military power because of the unintended consequences that few people understand. There will be consequences if we bomb that mountain in Iran. That's undeniably the case. Anytime you launch that kind of a strike,

the possibility for collateral risk damage and developments that we can't now anticipate are heightened exponentially. So I think Trump is ready to act from what I see. No, he's ready.

would be supportive, but whether he pulls the trigger or not, literally and metaphorically, time will tell. I think it'll be a quick decision one way or the other. Yeah, I'm giving it could happen. Look, we're taping this late afternoon. It could happen an hour from now. And it's hard to get a handle on it.

on what he's, because I don't know the intel coming in. So there's a lot of intel coming in to him about the mullahs and their condition and the Iranian army and their point of view. But I think that if I had to advise the president, I have not been on this, I would say give it as much time as you can, but

tell the mullahs through the Swiss ambassador, that's how it goes, that, you know, 48 hours, you're going to get their heads cut off. I mean, I would do that behind the scenes. I can tell you, having worked for five Israeli prime ministers, worked for a couple of American presidents, that's very sound advice, Bill. Yeah, because once we bomb, that's the end of the mullahs. Their regime is over. The mullahs could keep their power if they surrender.

That's correct. And that's like Gaddafi. Trump's stealing a heartbeat. Yeah. So it's like Gaddafi. All right, Doug, thanks very much. We always appreciate your expertise.

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