TRUMP MAY BE ASSASSINATED - w/ Col. Macgregor

with all the sudden U -turn.

I can't wait to ask you the questions to help me make sense of the sudden flip.But before, you know, that was the plan of what I wanted to ask you about is all the, how it seems the administration is not only talking very positively about Iran and, you know, almost justifying their ballistic missile program, but criticizing Israel.But as we're going live, we get news that Iran suspended their trip to Switzerland.to begin the negotiations.Not sure if you saw that.That happened a few minutes ago.

It just happened.The initial source was Al Mayadeen, the Hezbollah affiliated TV station.And we've got more information on it.Iran just suspended its delegation trip to Switzerland for the opening round of nuclear negotiations due to ongoing Israeli military operations in southern Lebanon.Iran's argument, Israel operating over six miles inside Lebanese territory violates Article 1 of the MOU, which calls for an immediate end to hostilities on all fronts, including Lebanon.If the ceasefire clause is already being breached before the first negotiation session begins, Iran says there's nothing to go to Geneva for.

And Trump did post today asking for a complete ceasefire on all fronts, including Lebanon, Hezbollah, and Israel.So Trump posted that, I think, two hours ago.So instead of talking about the shift in the rhetoric, Colonel, I want to ask you about this particular, the wild card in this MOU, and that's Israel.So let's start there.We're already seeing that being an obstacle.I'd love to get your thoughts on on whether Trump will be able to reign in Netanyahu?

Well, it appears that the Israeli leadership and its billionaire supporters in the United States, who were instrumental in putting Trump into the White House, have decided to turn current events into a test of Jewish power.And what I mean by that is that this is a test of just how much power they wield, how far they can go, and what they can achieve.I think that's a mistake because I think their power and influence, it's already disproportionate to what it ought to be, if it ought to be at all.But I think they've achieved enough in terms of enticing us into this war.and then ultimately hurling us into the teeth of the enemy for them.I think they should take a different approach.

But obviously, I hold a minority opinion.I think they're going to try very hard to bully President Trump back into attacking Iran.I think that's where we're headed.

So the report by CNN today.Let me try to find it.But essentially says that there it is.Netanyahu is reportedly lobbying to shape the final U .S.agreement, U .

S.-Iran agreement, including by pressuring Trump through allies and intermediaries in Washington.Netanyahu has mobilized pro -Israeli senators and media allies, which, by the way, I don't know how these guys are doing it.not registered as foreign agents and not facing legal scrutiny for this.But let's skip that.It's another story.

And media allies, in an effort to influence the negotiations and secure changes to the terms of a final deal with Iran, Netanyahu reportedly believes a final agreement will be reached but remains concerned that Tehran will not uphold this commitment separately, Netanyahu said on Lebanon.we will restore security to the north.That requires keeping the security zone in southern Lebanon and not leaving as long as Israel's security needs require it.In other words, Netanyahu is rallying all the supporters and the influence he has in the US to try to pressure Trump.So my question to you, do you think it is enough or do you think Trump has what it takes to not bow to that pressure?

I wish I could give you a resounding yes as an answer that he can withstand the pressure.I think so.I think he and the Iranians have collectively reached the point where they see no point in any further war between us.I think that's really what you're hearing from President Trump.Now, I have to go back a few years in my short interactions with him.He conveyed the impression to me of two things.

Number one, he did not want a war with Iran.I'm going to be perfectly frank about that.He didn't see the need for it.He was confident that some sort of arrangement could be reached.In other words, a deal could be struck.Secondly, Donald Trump conveyed to me the impression that this was not somebody who wanted to go to war with anyone.

That was really not his predisposition at all.And that he was genuinely focused on the United States.So when he came back into the political arena, most of what he said in his run -up to the presidency was consistent with what I had heard from him in private.Then he went through this transformation.The transformation really began with Ukraine.He could have ended that war very, very quickly if he had decided to do what made sense, which was to tell Zelensky, no, cut him off and say, we will no longer support you.

We want you to come to Ukraine.reality with Russia.You can't live in a state of perpetual hostility to Russia.So please sit down with the Russians.He didn't do that.In fact, the opposite occurred.

And he began repeating the sort of nonsense statements about Ukraine and Russia that were common in the neocon circles.So that disturbed me.And that was the end of any further conversationthat I had with the president about foreign relations.That was April of 2022.And then he started to move increasingly into this state of belligerence.

Now, I thought at the beginning of the collision with Iran, that when he announced that he had sent the B -2 bombers in for this beautiful attack and all this kind of nonsense, and it was beautiful and perfect and wonderful.And he then declared the war is over.You know, we've destroyed it.It's over.I think he was telling you what he wanted it to be.I think he was being truthful insofar as saying, I want this thing over.

He couldn't do it.And I think he was overwhelmed by Netanyahu and his supporters in the United States.You know, when you're dealing with people that are very, very wealthy, powerful figures in your society, and you have to be concerned about what they could do against you.It's not just what can they do for you, but what can they also do against you?I think he took all of that into account and he said, all right, I will give this a shot.And I think he talked to his inner circle and his inner circle for the most part was supportive.

I think one or two said, well, you know, I don't know.I think this could be tough.I think Vance was one of them, but if boss, if that's what you want to do, I'm with you, you know, that's always the excuse at the end.So I went into this and he concluded, I think pretty quickly.This is not going well.This is not going where I want it to go.

He became very concerned about the financial markets.He sees himself as rising or falling in the polls and as president in terms of how the stock market is doing, how the financial position is developing for the United States, whether or not the economy is strong.And he's talked about that.and talked about it and convinced everybody that everything is great.The economy is strong.And oh, by the way, this war is going to end soon.

It's going to end soon.It's going to end soon.We heard that 39, 40 times.I finally discovered that the only way he could end it is to end it.He couldn't talk his way out of it.There was no alternative to that.

And there was not going to be a military solution.And the notion of using a nuclear weapon, I, again, my impression from him, wants nothing to do with it.So that was off the table, but he still has a problem.The problem is cold.What do I do with the Israelis?How do I present this?

What do I tell them?And I'm sure he had some very, very difficult conversations with Netanyahu.And I'm also sure he's made it clear what he doesn't want them to do, which is he doesn't want them to, to go nuclear under any circumstances.Now he's in a, in a great position in one sense.He has demonstrated to the American people that he indeed is a man of courage.If you don't think it takes a great deal of courage for a president of the United States to stand up and say, whoops, I'm stopping.

This has not worked.We're doing something else.Now that may not sound like an apology to you, but let me tell you something.That's an apology.That's a statement of fact.And he's made it abundantly clear.

It doesn't matter how many times I bomb these people, it's not going to work.You want me to go back and bomb?Forget it.It's a waste of time.Now that's the businessman talking.You know, I either walk away from the table.

Or I cut a deal.One of the two has to happen.If I walk, all hell breaks loose.Who knows where it goes?Who knows what will happen?So I've got to bring this to closure.

And I think that's really what he's trying to do.Now, keep in mind, all we have is an MOU.And that is really a rough framework.It's got lots of good points in it.And a lot of those points are very comfortable for President Trump.And I'm what I'm saying is, for instance, it says we will not meddle in your internal affairs.

Well, that has always been Donald Trump's private assessment of what we ought not to do.This is a man that said we've been too involved in too many other people's problems in countries.He also feels strongly that most of our forces should return home.The Cold War really is over.We don't need to be in all of these places.So this is, this is the Donald Trump from an instinctual gut check.

That's the way he is.And I think he then was probably shown, I can't prove it, but I think he was probably shown a lot of information that he had not seen.And that information included atrocious acts by the Israelis against people in Gaza, in Lebanon, around the world, across the Middle East.And I think he finally said, this, this has got to stop.Now, I don't think he'll ever come out and say exactly what I just did.But you got a glimpse of it when he said, why do you have to destroy an entire apartment building full of people when there's only one person in there you're trying to eliminate?

Well, that's the tip of a very large iceberg.And when I heard that and several people I know, we all went, when did you finally wake up?

Exactly.Exactly.

Congratulations.Give that man a cupid doll.You won.Good, good job.So a lot of people are now, I don't know if you've heard this yet, but you will, are calling for his resignation because he lost a war.Well, here's a big flash of the obvious.

We've lost wars before.We have.We've never had this perfect victory streak.No great power ever does.But you have to have the common sense to understand what you can and cannot accomplish.And when it doesn't work, you have to cut your losses and move on.

I think he understands that.I think that's what he's trying to do.But now he has new problems at home, huge problems.And remember, who owns the media?Who dominates the financial markets?Who's out there that could really hurt him?

Who could support his opponents?And remember, you have all these senators and congressmen.This is sort of a convention of hypocrites.who are now throwing rocks at him saying, Oh, you do, you know, you must support Israel.Oh, by the way, send the check to this BO box.Uh, they're out there.

They want to keep getting their money.So they're going to go down at least to this point with the good ship Israel, if it's necessary, as far as they're concerned in reality, what they should be saying.And I hope that president Trump will say this is BB.We gave it our best shot.It didn't work.The number one.

Priority right now is not greater Israel.The number one priority is the preservation of the Israeli state, the survival of the Israeli people.That's where we need to focus now.See, nobody wants to go there, but that's exactly where we are.We have in fact reached that point.Now, why do I say that?

Because anyone who has any appreciation for the nature of international relations, which is like the Pacific ocean, it's huge.It's always changing.There are storms that come and go.It's never permanent, but it's very easy to see where the storm is headed right now.The two powers that are going to emerge from this war and will dominate the Middle East for decades to come, maybe longer.One is Iran.

There's no question about that.And the other is Turkey.They are not the same.They are very different people, very different states with very different histories.And I spent many years of my life visiting Israel back and forth, and I tried to tell them on more than one occasion, you're barking up the wrong tree, as we say.Your existential threat is not Iran.

Iran, Persian civilization, the Persian world and Persian culture, those things aren't your enemy.You've got a real problem further north and to the east, and that's called the Turks.They're very different.This is a resolutely martial people, people of great courage who are innately inclined to fight.These are natural soldiers.I mean, I've seen them and I had the good, good fortune to work with the Turks.

I think the world of them militarily, they're great people that you do not want to go to war with them.In Iran, you're dealing with someone who is rational, whether they like to think so or not in Israel, they are.They will coexist with you.You can talk to them and do business.But if you provoke the Turks, it's a fight to the finish.I don't think President Trump wants to be involved in that.

And I don't want to be involved in that.And the Turks are certainly not looking for the fight at this point.But if you don't think they're ready to go, you're making a very, very serious mistake.And who dominated the Arabian Peninsula?Who dominated the Levant?Who dominated all the way to Egypt and into North Africa for centuries?

We know who.Now, do they want to do that again?That's something that's beyond my knowledge.I can't comment on that.What I'm trying to get people to understand in the West, forget NATO, that's dead on arrival.It's a dead man walking proposition.

It's meaningless.That's going to go away at some point.with this thing called the EU.The Turks are on the rise.The Iranians are on the rise.India, despite all of its problems is rising and it's got some serious problems right now as a result of the Persian Gulf closure.

China is rising.Russia is rising.These are the great nations, the great powers, the great peoples of the ancient and medieval worlds.In other words, if you and I stepped into the time machine and went back to the year 1050, what would we find?We'd find little Europe up here, a group of states killing each other, and no one else gives a damn because it doesn't matter.And everything else in the world on a different track.

And it took 1492, Christopher Columbus, the discovery of the Western Hemisphere, to change all of that because it changed the terms of trade.It opened up wealth to Europe that it otherwise wouldn't have.Technology came online, and the Europeans grasped for it, had a knack for it, had a talent for it, and developed it faster, better than everybody else.Well, that technology has proliferated.Things have changed.Other people in other parts of the world now can do everything we can do.

So the world is changing, and we have not wanted to change with it.What this war demonstrates is we must change.The world where we could sail in or fly in and bully people into submission is gone.What the Iranians have done, the Swedes could do.Hell, you know, the people in Nicaragua could do it.It's a matter of linking space -based and terrestrial persistent surveillance, intelligence surveillance reconnaissance, with all sorts of standoff attack weapons, ballistic missiles, unmanned systems of all kinds, cruise missiles, you name it.

It's called ISR -Strike.It's a complex that is built up.Israel can build that very, very quickly.And it will sit there and be impregnable for all intents and purposes once it has it.And that's true for everybody who invests in it.This is a different world.

So you can't just run around and push in the front door, march in with a few troops and tanks and tell everybody to get in line.It's over.It needs to be over.That was not necessarily a good world, Mario.And I think that's bound up with what's happened in the Persian Gulf.In other words, this is about more than the United States and Iran.

It's about more than Iran and Israel.It's about fundamental change all over the planet.I think it can be good.But there are people out there right now in the United States and they want to stop it.They want to reset it to backwards.That's the problem.

Oh no, the answer is go back in and bomb some more.The answer is do more damage, kill more people.This can't be allowed to happen.You know, when the Romans lost a major battle to the Germanic tribes in 9 AD, they turned around and said, you know, I don't think we need to cross the Rhine anymore.We've come far enough.And they backed off.

When the Romans lost armies to the Persians.They turned around and said, well, I guess we've come far enough and they backed off.In other words, they set limits.We have to have limits too.And I think limits could be a good thing.

So the Iran war could be the Suez Canal crisis for the US, similar to what the UK and France had back then in the 50s.

Except that Britain was a great power becauseof its empire.What do you have in the British Isles?I mean, I like the girls, but I mean, there's not much there.Okay.I mean, how do you get rich in the British Isles?

Fish for herring?What are you going to do?They built an empire.The genius, the British genius was simply the Bank of England.It was the fleet, all of these things.They lost all of it because they had no empire.

If you've been to the United States, you see the United States from the Atlantic to the Pacific is our empire.We don't need anything else.We don't need to be anywhere else.And see, that's something Donald Trump has always understood.

That's an interesting point.Fish for Harry.

I'm going to use that.Listen, I like Harry.My friends in Norway will be angry with me, but I like Harry.

Just on the, before we go back to, uh, I wrote a note on some of the, uh, about Trump just waking up now when it comes to Israel, I want to go back to that one quick question on Turkey.I did see they've, they've announced, um, I knew I saw it.I just checked it now.They've announced a fifth generation fighter jet this year.They've announced they've, they've, um, announced a few drones they've developed as well.How, how effective or how powerful is their military at the moment?

I would rate it in the, certainly in the top five in the world.Okay.Well.And remember that it's a mistake to look exclusively at technology and firepower.Those things are immensely important.You have to look at the human material.

The Turk is a very tough soldier.You know, you talk about the Koreans, whether it's North or South, the Korean is a very tough soldier.Start stacking up these various peoples next to each other.Go back and look at their history for hundreds of years.You know, you're dealing withdifferent kinds of people and some people make excellent soldiers.

Not everybody does.That's one of the reasons many people like me were happy to see the draft go away because you were bringing in too many people that were never going to be good soldiers anyway.It was better to have the people that wanted to be soldiers.And the Turks, they have a song they sing at every funeral for a Turkish soldier.Every Turk is a soldier is what it's called.Interesting.

I spent a lot of time in Turkey, by the way, about a year, maybe a year and a half, maybe two years of my life in Turkey.So I know the place well.You said something at the beginning, you said Trump.So when you saw the statements he made about Israel, you know, and every time you shoot down two drones, you have to, to, to, to level a building and you were shocked and you're like, he just woke up.Is it possible he woke up about the atrocities happening in the region, what Israel's doing a while ago, but he didn't.only now he felt the necessity or the guts to speak out, whether it's out of necessity because he has to get out of the Iran war before the petroleum reserves empty out and the economy begins to have serious problems, so out of necessity, or just kind of had enough for some other reason, political reason, on why he kind of made that flip, him, J .

D.Vance and all the others, even Senator Graham, praise the MOU, but I think that's more strategic than anything.I don't think it means much.

I stopped listening to him a long time ago.I don't blame you.Senator Kennedy from Louisiana, I thought was entertaining.I don't consider him to be especially brilliant foreign policy analyst, but he said, let's give peace a chance.What I think people have figured out is, look, this is a waste of time.You know, we were in the wrong place at the wrong time with the wrong force structure.

fighting the wrong war with the wrong people.Didn't make any difference.what we did.We were not going to be successful.I think we were harming ourselves.I think our financial system is already very fragile.

You know, there are two views of this.I was listening to somebody who said, well, there's this facade, the economic facade based on the financialization of our economy.And then you look at the real economy.In other words, what do we produce?Who works?Who doesn't?

So forth.The real economy is on life support.The financialized economy is the casino called the stock market.That looks great.I think President Trump got a glimpse of that.I think people said, don't you realize what's happened to our friends?

Look at the impact of this on Japan, on Malaysia, on Indonesia, on Vietnam.Look at all of these people that are suffering.If we don't stop this, this is going to get a lot worse.I don't know if it was you or someone else who asked me a few weeks ago, What happens if we restart this war?I said, well, then it'll be five to ten years before we recover from it in any way, shape or form.But I said, if we can stop at this point, in other words, don't restart it, then we're looking at two or three years.

But of course, it'll never go back to the way it was.And see, the big problem the neocons have who dream of this world that will only be safe when U .S.forces occupy all of it.OK.That's their that's their dream, which is really harnessed to make the world safe for Israel.

OK, got to understand that that's the underlying theme.The truth is, the world doesn't need us.We don't need to be in all those places.It's a waste of money.We can do much better without it.And we can go back to doing business.

That's that's what I think Donald Trump understands.But I think he was shown the bill in human terms as well as financial terms.And he recognized this bill is too high.We can't pay it.I'm not saying the man doesn't have a heart.and there is not even a shred of human compassion in him.

I think there is.But I think he's also very much a realist.You can't be in business as long as he was and not have some appreciation for knowing when to cut your losses and go.

He said that the bill he got that he thought was too high.I think he sent it to the Gulf right now.They're coughing up most of the bill unfortunately for them.

Well, the problem there is, and I hope that he gets the support he wants financially, but we're not going back.You know, it's just not going to go back to the way it was for the very simple reason that this change in technology and warfare makes it impossible for us to protect them.That's the real lesson, whether you're in China, Taiwan, Korea, doesn't matter where you are.We can't protect other people from these kinds of threats.

We saw that with the US bases in the region.That was a perfect example.Warfare has changed.and strategy needs to adapt.Exactly.

And by the way, assuming that if the world doesn't have Americans running all over it is going to be a bad place, I think is a big mistake.You know, I have a lot of friends who say, don't you understand what you're talking about?You know, this is the end.I said, well, what happened for the 5000 years before we showed up?You know, we have to get get back to understanding we're part of the world.We don't exist apart from the rest of it.

And the rest of it doesn't exist apart from us.

But whatever.I have an interesting theory that I've been thinking about for the last week or so.If Israel tries to sabotage the deal by continuing to strike Lebanon, whether now or in a few weeks or even in a few months, Iran retaliates as they have before.And Trump decides to do what he did two weeks ago and say, hey, I have nothing to lose.do with it Israel I'm not gonna get get involved not even defensively not if it not even intercept Iranian missiles if that happens First is it a possibility second?Do you think Israel would get into a war with Iran without American support?

I think I think what you describe is Almost already happening.I mean the Israelis are shelling from artillery positions parts of southern Lebanon I think it's almost a certainty that they will launch attacks against whatever they describe as being Hezbollah positions.Hezbollah, for them, represents what they think is an existential threat.And the only way they know how to deal with that is with force.They need us to assist them with that operation.They need our munitions.

They need our missiles.They need all sorts of things, our intelligence, everything that you can think of.Will Donald Trump say what you just did?I think he's going to say, look, I've told you to stop.You need to stop.If you stop, we can make the world a better place.

If you won't stop, I can't support you.Then Netanyahu gets on the phone and electrifies the circuits all over Washington, D .C., all the think tanks and all the agents and all the House members and senators who are on the payroll and says, damn it, go into that man and tell him that if he doesn't support us, you're going to impeach him.Tell him if he doesn't support us, he's not going to last in office.I mean, that's the kind of thing that you're going to see happen.

And we're going to find out the answer to your question.I mean, I'll be frank with you at this point.I am genuinely concerned about the president's safety more than I ever have been before.

I've been hearing this a lot.We were talking about Tucker.Tucker told me that.Marjorie Taylor Greene said that to me yesterday.Joe Kent said that to me.Anna Kasparian said that to me today.

And that's just in the last week.And I've been thinking about it as well.And I started doing a deep dive, talking to people about the Butler assassination attempt.It is wild how many bizarre things, unanswered questions still exist there.But yeah, Joe Kent says it openly, he believes the president is under duress, and he's been saying that for months.But I agree with you that, wow, it's just a difficult thing to imagine, isn't it?

Now, unfortunately, it is.And I lived through President Kennedy's assassination, so I know exactly what it's like.I think there are those around the president who are sensitive to this, no doubt, and they will do everything in their power to protect him.I'm sure of that.But if I were he, I would check everything.I would think seriously about appointing new people.

He's got to step back and look back on the kind of support and advice he's received from the people around him.If he received the kind of advice, which I think he's generally gotten is, yeah, boss, go do it.Yeah, boss, we're with you.This kind of nonsense.Those people are useless.Now, would he listen to somebody who told him something he didn't want to hear?

I don't know.I mean, that's hard to know.People in power usually don't like people to contradict them.That's because they think they are in power because they knew everything.But we know from history, nobody knows everything.And you have to listen to people.

Would he listen to others?We'll see.But I think he needs to think about new appointments.It's very important.The other thing is people are calling for his resignation in many cases.And I don't think he should resign until he has brought this to an end.

He has to close out this chapter of American history.That's something he must do.For him to resign at this point is ridiculous.He's been at the beginning of this.He should be there at the end of it.And he should be the one to steer us out of this mess once and for all.

Now, after that, if people are calling for his resignation, that's legitimate.That's obviously a decision he has to make.But right now, I don't support that.Right now, my greatest fear is not the resignation at this point.It's It's the assassination.I have no special intelligence, no special information of any kind to support that concern.

It's just the way I feel about it.

By the way, I didn't know you were 16 years old when John F. Kennedy was assassinated.Do you remember that time?

I wasn't 16 years old.That's 1963.I was 10.

I was a quick chat GPT check during the interview with artificial intelligence.

You can't depend on it.

I tried.I tried.I tried to seem smart and pretend that I'm good with math.Um, but can you, can I just, I want to, I want to find out more why you're so concerned.I don't know how to ask it, but what exactly, how would it work behind the scenes?I understand how the pressure campaign would work.

All the pundits that support Israel would start criticizing Trump.You've got members of Congress starts to threaten to impeach him, speak negatively about him.The media starts to criticize him.Those I understand.How do you think it could escalate to something more sinister?How would that work?

And I'm asking you to speculate here.

Well, you could start various criminal investigations and do all sorts of activities that involve members of the family.Those could be launched quickly.Congress can do that.I'm not saying he's guilty of anything.I'm simply saying there are a lot of things that have been going on and his personal wealth has grown astronomically since he became president.Whereas during the first term, as I recollect, he lost money.

During this term, he's increased his wealth dramatically.And of course, some of that wealth really belongs to his children who have been involved in all sorts of interesting deals.He's got people around him who are habitual dealmakers.When it comes to self enrichment, these things are problematic and they can be exploited in unsavory ways.And then finally you have the Epstein files.And remember he told someone, I can't remember who said it was, it could have been Pam Bondi.

She wasn't very careful about opening her mouth on more than one occasion.And I think she said that he had told her, you know, a lot of these people in this are my friends involved in this Epstein file.And that was the excuse that was given for why he wasn't anxious to release all of it unredacted.That could become that could once again move back into center stage.So there are a lot of bad things that can be done in that sense.And those things then lead to people that make stupid decisions that decide that, well, it's time for him to be removed.

And sometimes that's calculated and orchestrated.And sometimes it's the wandering.buffoon you never expected that shows up.That happened to FDR.He was in Chicago.A man came out of nowhere, tried to shoot him, blamed the depression on him, and instead shot the mayor of Chicago, Mayor Cermak.

I mean, you just don't know.There are all sorts of strange things that can happen.And people are always in the hunt for someone to blame.for whatever it is that they don't have or haven't achieved.

One thing that was fascinated that I, um, that Joe Kent was telling me in our latest conversation is about how the system works or how the beast works is, and actually Anika Sparian was telling me about it today.And she reminded me of that conversation.Anika Sparian?You talked to Anika Sparian?Well, yeah, you know her well?

No, I get a big charge out of Anna.I think she's very lovely.

She's a bubble of energy.Now, I've chatted to her a few times, but we're talking today, and we were talking about this topic.It's something that's really been eating up my mind for a while.And so what she was explaining is how A journalist was explaining to her, oh, it's actually pretty fascinating, Colonel.She was saying in CENTCOM, she said, Mario, the head of CENTCOM, the commander of CENTCOM doesn't have as much agency as you'd expect because of how big it is and you've got all these different departments, et cetera, and they might act without the authorization of their commander.And Joe Kent told me the same thing in other departments.

And he's like, Mario, you'd be surprised on how the elected officials, the leaders of these various organizations, They don't have as much power or influence or knowledge or decision -making as you'd expect.And that also applies, obviously, to the present.It doesn't have as much agency as you'd expect.You know where I'm coming from.It's like the system, you've got all these, I don't know, I'm not good at describing it, but you've just got all these different individuals within that system that don't always report to who's meant to be boss.And now how that fits into what I'm saying here is just the nature of the beast.

that this war, and it's been happening for a few years, but this war kind of further exposedhow little agency the president has and how many people have too much influence within this American system.One that you're very critical of is the Israeli lobby and Israeli influence and Netanyahu's influence.But it's something that I'm finding out more and more about in the last couple of years.And it is worrying.It's very, very concerning to see this.

Well, you also had the pharmaceutical industries.Military industrial complex.

The agricultural lobby is enormous and all of these things operate as brakes on policymaking.They can let something go through or they can stop it dead in its tracks, but there's something even more important.You know, you've got the Senate that has to confirm people.How many lobbyists does it take to go to a senator and say, we don't like that man?And you say, well, why?What's wrong with him?

Well, we don't like him.He doesn't support us.So if you want to continue to have support from us, you better not vote for him.or we don't like that lady, we don't like that woman.So the probability of getting very many really high caliber people of character and intelligence into key positions is low.Now, can that change?

Of course it can change.When does it change?It changes in times of national emergency.People you never heard of rise up in wartime.Everybody says, well, where was that general?for 25 years.

Why?And everybody ever heard of him because nobody liked him.Nobody wanted him.He was a retired colonel.They were starting to boot him out the door and 30 years were coming up and all of a sudden the war broke out and they decided they needed him.You have the same thing in the banking industry.

You go into every industry.You have this preference for someone they call a savior.pair of hands.Well, we like him.He's not going to change anything.He keeps the money flowing.

Is he going to support our program?You understand what I'm saying?That's why we elect people and then we expect miracles.And every president has about a year, maybe, if he's lucky, 18 months.And in that time space, if he's smart, he can accomplish maybe three things on a list of 10.And then he loses steam because he's got to start running for reelection.

And if they don't think he's going to get reelected, well, they don't care about him anymore.Now, this this is not unique to republics.I know we talk about this, you know, about republics.This is a weakness of democracy.But yeah, if you study authoritarian states, you see this sort of thing all the time.When you go to a totalitarian state like Russia or China, it's different.

You know, When you have someone like Stalin who presides over you, and before World War II is probably responsible for the deaths of maybe 25 or 30 million people on his own, and he has the power of life and death over anyone, he has a lot of power.He can get a lot done.If he decides, I want this tank, I want this aircraft, I want this bridge, I want this dam, I want this highway, it happens.But otherwise, no matter who you are, you have real constraints, and that's by design.We like that.We didn't like the authoritarian rule of George III, although in retrospect, I would argue it was pretty modest.

But nevertheless, the people at the time were fed up with it, and a lot of people didn't like being taxed.If they looked at the taxes today, the people that ran the revolution then would probably look at us and say,you're crazy, you know, whatever.But I just think this is the nature of most political systems.The people that do well on them are people who can wheel and deal, who can compromise.And that's very distasteful to someone with principles, but it's unavoidable if you want to get something done.

And on the example that Anna gave me, she was referencing a journalist about even within CENTCOM, people like Brad Cooper don't have as much agency as you'd expect.Is it really that bloated or is it an over -exaggeration?

Well, first of all, now you're getting into something that I've written books about, and that is the problem with the service bureaucracy and service chiefs.If you are in a regional unified command, as Bradley Cooper is, who are you dependent upon for your forces?You're dependent upon the Navy, the Air Force, the Army, and the Marine Corps.They give you what they want to send you.You don't necessarily get everything you ask for.There are always limited quantities and they decide how much you will or won't get.

And if you can't get what you want, you go over them.And that means you go to the president and you say, Mr. President, you're the commander in chief.I need this.This is vital.Well, the president can make that happen.And then you alienate the service chiefs who will hate you forever and will work hard to harm you in any way they can.

I mean, this is the nature of the beast.And remember all of the people that hold all of those positions.They were confirmed by the Senate and the Senate doesn't like anybody who's prepared to do anything.They want people who are going to sit there and say, yes, sure.I agree with you.I'm going to go along.

All right, Colonel.Pleasure to speak to you again.Which book do you recommend that talks about these things?the most in -depth?

I think the last one I put out is really worth reading.Margin of Victory, Five Battles That Changed the Face of War, Modern Warfare.Because certainly in the concluding chapter, and in the beginning, I go over these problems that are very significant.and try to make the point that sometimes we just have unrealistic expectations of what anybody can do in government on the average day.And we tend to focus on, well, look what Marshall did.Marshall.

Marshall came to power at the outset of a war and he received an executive order from the president of the United States that gave him virtual authority over the entire war department so he could do pretty much what he wanted.Now, he didn't do everything he wanted.He was a smart man and he kept people informed and he talked to people.He didn't blindside them.You know, you have to be smart about how you do these things.The more power you have, the less often you want to have to use it.

Does that make sense?

Yeah.

And he was very smart about that.But no, I think March into Victory would interest people.And it goes through a series of battles in different parts of the world at different times in the 20th century.And lots of examples in there of where people tried to do what made sense, but they just couldn't.And they were prisoners of other people's decisions.There's no question about it.

History rhymes.Colonel?Always a pleasure.Thank you so much for your time.

Thank you.By the way, my sub stack's got a big piece coming out next week that's going to discuss a lot of these things about the tectonic shift and in the continental plates of power in the international system.And we'll talk about what we started talking about.Yeah, that's a McGregor warrior diplomacy sub stack.And it's going to talk about, yes, we have lost significant influence and power and why this has happened.And yes, Iran has won the war.

They control the strait.We don't.And they are invincible.They can be what's the right word humbled, but not broken.

And when's that piece coming out?

That'll be out probably Sunday or Monday.

Okay.

So thanks very much.

Thank you, Colonel.Have a great weekend.All right, guys.I'll be going live again in 12 minutes with Scott Horton.to continue the conversation.So I'm going to take a quick break and go through.

I'll actually go through a few comments.I haven't done that yet today.See what you guys think of the various conversations today, and I'll be live again in about 12 minutes.Bye.