Tony Katz Today Full Show - 03/27/26

0:00The all-new 2026 Toyota RAV4 is here, building on everything drivers know and love about Toyota, with a redesigned look and modern tech that makes life behind the wheel easier than ever. The new RAV4 comes standard as a hybrid, providing smooth, efficient performance for both city streets and longer journeys. Enjoy the legendary reliability Toyota is known for in the all-new 2026 RAV4. Learn and shop more at toyota.com. Toyota, let's go places. Live from the heartland and the crossroads of America. It's Tony Katz today. I have got the Secretary of State in France. He is at the G7 summit. The seven most developed

1:02economies just getting together, having themselves some lunch and talking about how to engage world domination. I don't think that happens, but the lunch part I'm pretty sure about. Tony Katz today, guys, good to be with you. Good to be here. Find everything at Tony Katz.com. Then the president is going to be at the White House. Is it National Agriculture Day? Is that the official name of the day? There's going to be a conversation with farmers, but you know this is going to be a conversation about Iran and the 10-day pause now. That's right, an additional 10-day pause. And then, of course, he is executive order saying we're going to pay the TSA agents. Can you do that via executive order? Direct the Secretary of Homeland Security to pay the TSA agents? And then the next thing, you know, here come Democrats and Republicans to say, you know what, we'll fund the DHS. Not the whole of DHS. We won't fund ICE and Border Patrol, but ICE is funded through the one big, beautiful bill. So what really is the loss here? Democrats didn't get any of their reforms yet. Somehow I've got media painting this,

2:03phrasing this, positioning this, that it was a huge win for the Democrats. No one is surprised. The press would do this, huh? Shocking. Shocking indeed. So there is a lot to get into. And when Secretary Rubio starts, I'm going to bring it to him. When President Trump starts, I'm going to bring it to him. But this whole idea of winning and losing, we can break this down a couple different ways. But let's start where we start. If the arguments after not paying Americans for 41 days for doing a job, if the argument after disrupting the lives of Americans, whether they be passengers, whether they be those who work at airports, whether they be those who work for airlines, gate staff or flight attendants or pilots, if after all of this, and all the disruptions people had and the issues with hospitality and hotels and restaurant reservations missed and family events

3:06missed. And if after all of that, the big question is, who won Republicans or Democrats? We suck. It's nonsense. This is the argument. Chuck Schumer putting out a statement. I'm so proud of my caucus. We held the line. What line? The line that we support as Democrats, a legal immigrant staying in the country and being opposed to ice being able to operate it all. And if we had our way, we'd get rid of ice all together. We wouldn't deport a soul because we want those voters. Was that the win, Chuck? I mean, admittedly, you could argue that this is more of a win than the way you make cheeseburgers. But is that the win, Chuck? Because that's the basis. Every single part of what you saw, of 41 days, and by the way, the House has got a vote and

4:08passed what it is that the Senate passed. Every part of this was not about American's lives, American's future, American's safety, the American economy. It was about allowing people who are here illegally to have the opportunity to engage in voter fraud. Every last bit of it. Oh, call me any name you want. 833 Gottoni. 833-468-8669. I am happy to debate it. When I say debate it, I mean laugh at any commentary that says otherwise. Because there is no debate. And I put forth to you that I think Americans see it. And this is the part where I differ than my colleagues, fellow radio hosts, maybe not all of them, but enough of them. I see a lot of people discussing how Republicans are going to get slaughtered in the midterms, destroyed in the midterms, just eliminated and abused in the midterms.

5:16Maybe standard thought would absolutely bring you there. The party in power is going to lose. I don't think that this is a surprise to anyone. But I have laid out pathways for Republicans to have victory here. In this shutdown, when Democrats started pushing the idea, well, we'll just fund the TSA here. Here's a bill. We'll fund the TSA. Come on. Let's fund the TSA. Let's get these lines short and let's get people going where they're going. Let's fund the TSA. And Republicans said, no, we're going to fund the Department of Homeland Security. We're not going to play this game with you. I said, well, Republicans are going to lose this battle. Because Republicans should have been jumping on this much earlier. They could have taken advantage of it. They didn't because they're not good at doing those things. They're afraid of doing those things, whatever it is. And here come the Democrats with this plan. Well, all right, Democrats are going to steal their thunder. They're going to steal the whole story. And that's it. That was two weeks

6:18ago. They didn't steal anything. They didn't steal anything at all. It didn't work. It didn't capture the attention of the American people. There was no drumbeat about this from the American press. It's like it was a non-starter. Democrats had a moment and it didn't work. And I'm sorry, I'm stuck on the Y. And the only thing I've been able to come to about the Y is the same thing I come to regarding Republicans and Democrats wanting to figure out who won this fight, who cares, Americans lost this fight and their PO to about it. I think that is correct. I think that's

7:21accurate. And if it is, because you could argue that this is not even a tear on my part, you could argue that I'm just being hopeful and really cute, which I am. I mean, look at this face. Damn, possible. I don't deny that it's possible. But am I wrong? Democrats went down this road. A road that should work for them and it didn't work for them. Why not? The media should have been all over this. Just drilling it into people's heads. They didn't. Why not? Because there's a war going on in Iran. These people are completely capable of doing two things at once. Why not? The only thing I can come to is that it didn't connect. If it didn't connect, they spent 41 days not paying TSA because whatever you think about TSA, I am not a fan. I want privatized security. I don't think they do a good job at all. I think it is a nonsense system

8:27where the TSA agents are abusive to the passengers. I think it's part of the massive problem we have in flight and with America and it has to stop. They have to be. They are the ones who have to be retrained and we have to rethink the entire process. But it's a job and they get paid for it. And now they're not getting paid. What do we expect from them? It would be a silly thing to expect them to still show up on the job and do the thing. 41 days, are you doing that? And Democrats did it joyfully. We're not paying them all for the sake of illegal immigrants. And that's the narrative that has held. And what I'm saying to you is that the true, I think I've got to write, the winners and losers' conversation is what makes us

9:29hate them with passion. Winners and losers, Chuck Schumer, you scummy. Things you can't say on radio. And what do you mean who won? Is that what this is about? You're Randolph and Mortimer Duke and now you had to John Thune a dollar because he won or he had to do one. People's lives are on the line. Quite literally on the line. Who won? But I am not so foolish as to not note that there is a political to all these things. And I guess you could argue that Republicans could have agreed to this a week or so ago, two weeks ago, whatever it is. I guess you could have done, you could say that. But no one's saying that.

10:32Democrats said we could fund TSA just by itself and it never went anywhere. The media did not pound on that, did not push Republicans on that. Ever, it went nowhere. Why? And the only thing I can come to is that America has already made up their minds. Now, which way did they make it up? Did they say this is Democrats fault and just leave the thought process ending there like a dangling participle just hanging in the air? Or did they say these Democrats care way more about illegal immigrants than they do about me? They think they take my vote for granted. They take me for granted. They take everything about us for granted. They really don't care. Maybe it's naivete. But I hope that's the case that people are waking up to the realization that this progressive party cares more about the illegal,

11:34more about a power than they do about the people, more about party, more about power than it is about people, more about control than it is about country. And dear Lord, that is an opportunity for the midterms I did not expect. I don't mean Republicans will necessarily be victorious. I am saying this idea of some great slaughter. Maybe that's people speaking too early when we talk about November. Marco Rubio scheduled to speak after the G7, President Trump is speaking from the White House to farmers and about, I think it's National Agriculture Day. So everybody gets some beats and we will enjoy. No, no, I meant the food and not the earbuds. Sorry, sorry, you're going to have to get with Dr. Dre on your own. I'm Tony Katz and this is Tony Katz today. The Toyota Tundra and Tacoma are built to keep going, backed by Toyota's reputation for

12:38legendary reliability. Step into a Tundra with the available iForce Max hybrid engine, delivering impressive torque and serious towing power or take a look at Tacoma with an available power liftgate. So gear goes in fast and the adventure keeps moving. Toyota trucks are built to last year after year, mile after mile. So drive one home today. Visit Toyota.com for more Toyota. Let's go places. Now this brings us to the 10-day pause and how you want to view it. Tony Katz. Tony Katz today, guys, an absolute pleasure to be with you, to be hanging out and doing this thing. It's a fun thing to do. I've done other things. This is more fun. President Trump saying, you know what? We will extend the pause for taking out energy sites for another 10 days. First, it was, hey, Iran, get your butts to the table, make a deal, and do that in 48 hours. Or I am going to blow stuff up just to see it go boom. I'm going to be

13:44basically the late Bill Hicks. Hey, what does B12 do? If you've never heard that routine, excellent routine from the legendary Bill Hicks. And so it was a two-day thing. And before the 48 hours was up, came a statement from President Trump. We're talking. There are good things happening. We're starting to work something out here. So let's extend this another five days. And the five days would get us to Friday, which some people would argue is today. But then the president last night said, things are going so well. We'll extend another 10 days. So any of these oil sites, refinery sites, power plants, etc. 10 days, no strikes on those. It doesn't mean there won't be strikes on others. On other places, on other targets, etc.

14:45Now, Trump is trying to avoid hitting these places because he doesn't want to make these oil markets any worse than they already are. You had Brent Crude, which comes out of the oceans at $111 a barrel. $111 a barrel is higher than you want to be and has sent gas prices into a place that has people mostly upset. But for the sake of just comparison and people being rational, you have John Federman. That's right. The Senator Democrat from Pennsylvania making sense of the world. Because when you take a look at gas prices, how come nobody ever complained about Biden's term?

15:45I checked where gas was a gallon two years ago in 24. And it was around its 363.65 for a gallon. And the world wasn't on fire. And I remember any Democrats complaining about it. And I gasped up my Jeep when I was in New York at the Sheets. And it was like 374.375 a gallon. So overall, gas is higher than it was before this when you are having an military engagement. Of course, you're going to find some fluctuation on it. I checked. He's right. He is absolutely correct. Now it doesn't change the fact that it's higher and the media is going to talk about this and others are going to talk about this. And Trump is very sensitive to this. And rightfully so, rightfully so sensitive to these things. And he doesn't want to exacerbate the issue. So he doesn't want to hit these spots. He doesn't want to make things more difficult. Can appreciate that.

16:56He also could be doing nothing more than saying, you know what? I don't have troop positions in place. I've got the USS Tripoli with 2,500 Marines. It's making its way from Diego Garcia. I have got other amphibious warships heading their way to Carg Island or maybe some other islands there in the Gulf region. We're going to start taking those. You've got the 82nd Airborne making its way. The Pentagon weighing sending another 10,000 ground troops to the Middle East, which of course, gets people worked up in its own way. The delays from President Trump could mean a whole series of things. And again, I don't have an answer for the key thing, which is who in the world is he negotiating with? Who? But I would say, and you haven't heard it yet, my conversation with Noah Rothman,

18:00it's deep in its detail, Noah Rothman of National Review. And it's this idea that there are those in media, those on the woke right, they think they know everything and they know what everything means. And they think that they've got this all figured out. And they don't know, I believe the expression to quote Tony Soprano is, ungats. They don't know anything. They desperately want to have an answer so they can desperately share an answer so they can show their followers exactly how smart they are. And they don't care if they're right or they're wrong. There's always a reason why they can change their mind and somehow no one ever notices that they have changed their mind because they were full of crap earlier. Why is Trump engaging all these delays? I don't know. Is it a misdirection? Is it to get troops there? Is it because he really doesn't want to take out these things because negotiations going well, we don't know. What is seemingly bothersome

19:03to the vast majority of Americans is that they're bothered that they don't know. And this is because we have for the last few decades engaged conversations as, here's how we're going to spend these five days and then we're not going to do another thing. Here's what we're going to do is just a little ping, right? Just a little hit, a little pinpoint drop. We're not going to do another thing. I like that we don't do that anymore. Or I should say, I hope that this is the start of not doing this anymore in the very, very rare instances where we may have to do this. It's okay that we don't know yet. It's okay that the people that we elected have people in control, in positions to be able to do these things because they've planned this out. And it is okay that we don't get every bit of information as soon as we want it. It's okay. What's not okay is that when these moves are made, we have a press or we have a

20:06woke right or others who want to say, well, he doesn't know what he's doing. Oh, he's bumbling this war. What kind of anti-American nonsense bull garbage is that? And I argue that you are right to despise those people. I do. They are not worth your time, your attention, your love. They ain't worth a damn thing. We do also have to ask ourselves, what is winning? That might be another conversation for another day. Keep it here. This is Tony Katz today. The all new 2026 Toyota RAV4 is here and it builds on everything drivers know and love about Toyota with a redesigned look and modern tech that makes life behind the wheel easier than ever. The 26 RAV4 comes standard as a hybrid, providing smooth, efficient performance for both city streets and longer journeys, while the available all-wheel drive keeps you in command

21:06when conditions are unpredictable. The new RAV4 is designed around the way people actually use their SUV. From daily errands to weekend adventures, while the GR Sport model coming soon, both a net combined 320 horsepower. In a plug-in hybrid drivetrain, with a GR tuned suspension for an even more responsive, exciting drive. No matter which RAV4 you choose, you'll enjoy the reliability Toyota is known for, coupled with the inspiring performance that's unique to Toyota. Shop more and find details at toyota.com, the all new RAV4 from Toyota. Let's go places. So we'll get more into what's going on with Iran and certainly the funding of the Department of Homeland Security. Tony Katz, Tony Katz today. Guys, good to be here, good to be with you. Can I share an insane headline with you? I don't know, crazed, crazed headline. I don't ask me if I made this up. I wouldn't know

22:11how to make this up. I wouldn't have the capacity to make this up. Here's the headline. Brother sister, right, a brother and a sister, indicted in alleged IED plot at Florida Air Force tied to a Rand War, one suspect in China. That kid is a headline. And this has to do with a brother and sister who planted an IED, Adam McDill Air Force Base, so this is the Tampa area, then fled to China. The son, I believe, is still in China. The sister came back. The mother admitted that the kids did this and she is an ICE custody. The daughter is in custody, I believe, of the FBI. The son is somewhere in China. That's the charges against them about unlawful making of a destructive

23:14device, possession of an unregistered destructive device, a sentence up to 40 years in prison. I bring this whole story up to say if we're going to discuss who's coming into the country, it can't just be a conversation about Somalis. It can't be. We take a look at what has happened in Minnesota with Somali nationals. We take a look at the fraud and we rightfully say this is wrong and disgusting and people need to go to jail and anybody here in the country on a work visa or anything else needs to be immediately deported. That is the correct answer. Absolutely the correct answer. I could not in any way agree more. If we are going to say we never allow somebody from

24:15Somali in the country again, someone might say to you there could be actual refugees regarding Somalia and you cannot say that everybody who is Somalian is involved in this fraud although you can note that a lot of people involved in the fraud are Somalian. There's a difference. If we're talking about the Communist Chinese party, no one connected with the Communist Chinese party can be allowed to own land in the United States, a business in the United States or get any level of visa to go to a university in the United States. As a matter of fact, we need to put an end to all Chinese students coming to American universities. It's not my fault. I didn't do this. I didn't cause this problem. I'm not the one going into universities with viruses stuffed into my socks like I'm Sandy Berger engaging in experiments. I am not the one planting IEDs near military

25:24bases. I am not the one who thinks that the buying of land near military bases are anywhere else and launching drones isn't a very unique if not very possible possibility. It's a national security conversation and I'm not interested in whether or not someone thinks I'm a bigot for it. I don't care. There are Chinese Americans all across America who are your neighbors and my friends, your friends. It's not what I'm talking about. I'm talking about clear obvious connection to the Chinese Communist Party. Cannot own a business, cannot own land, but when it comes to the students, we have to take the broad brush approach. This has to end. It must end. It is a serious

26:26serious danger and we can't pretend that somehow the things that we see with our own eyes and the connection points here don't all in one way or another engage connection to what we allow in terms of those who come into the country in a way too loosey goosey kind of way. Now, Marco Rubio, he is at the G7 summit and he, speaking to the press afterwards, talking about what it is that he saw, what it is that he experienced. I would have expected to have heard from him earlier, but he did hit the tarmac.

27:29There we go. Let's see if I can bring this to you. Let's see if I'm a trained professional or not. In you, you're watching live coverage. In the factories, and when it's substantially, and I mean dramatically reduce the number of missile launchers so that they cannot hide behind these things to build a nuclear weapon and threaten the world. As the Department of War has consistently outlined, we are on or ahead of schedule in that operation and expected concluded at the appropriate time here, a matter of weeks, not months, and the progress is going very well. Obviously, we have some work to do, we have to finish the job, and we are finishing that job. I did describe to our allies, however, that immediately after this thing ends, and we're done with our objectives. One of the immediate challenges we're going to face is an Iran that may decide that they want to set up a polling system in the streets of our moves. Not only is this illegal, it's unacceptable, it's dangerous for the world, and it's important that the world have a plan to confront it. The United States is prepared to be a part of that plan. We don't have to leave that plan, but we're happy to be a part of it, but these countries have a lot of state. Not just the G7 countries, but countries in Asia and

28:32all over the world have a lot of state, and should contribute greatly to that effort to ensure that neither the straits of war moves are, frankly, any international waterways should ever be something that's controlled or told by a nation state or by a terrorist government, like the one that exists in Iran today, and that's a radical regime. So there seem to be a lot of buy-in to that concept. There's a lot of work happening right now. The UK has played a prominent role in bringing that together, but other countries as well, and there seem to be a lot of acceptance of all that, and our allies and partners here, at least to me, seem to be appreciative of updates on our operation and an understanding of what lies ahead over the next few weeks. Now, the question is, as President Trump really ripped into it to NATO about not being of help, which, you know, we talked about it here. You can't have started this fight against Iran, and then expected these European nations to come join you.

29:32They don't want to be seen as like stragglers. As Johnny come lately, it's just following the leader. Being told what to do, they have the strength that they have to exhibit to their own people, right? And let's not deny that. It's pretty important stuff. Then when the UK had an opportunity to lead with the British Royal Navy to strengthen and free up the strait of war moves, well, that was an opportunity to lead. So you got to give people that. It's very, very important, important indeed. But the idea that European nations, where they get their oil through the strait, they need to be more participatory, he's correct about that. Okay, these are questions now being asked. How seriously is the United States considering deploying ground troops? And in those couple of weeks, will you, what exactly will you do? I won't discuss military tactics. I don't think anyone in our system is going to talk to you about what we have planned or what we intend to do. And there's obvious reasons for it. But to the

30:34extent it has to do with like military tactics and plans, I would refer you to the Department of War. And the Department of War is probably going to tell you they can't tell you anything. So other than to say that we have objectives, I told you what those objectives are. And we are very confident that we are on the verge of achieving them very, very soon. Let's just say all the strategies that any of the U7 were upset or off-put at all by the President's comments. They never act that way in front of me. Maybe they say that to you guys or maybe they say that in other interviews or when they go on the press, but not in front of me they don't. I never get that. On the contrary, these meetings are oftentimes about thanking America for the role we've played in trying to bring peace and Sudan. The recognition that the President played a key role in ending what was happening in Gaza. Recognition of the role we've played in stable izing Syria. Recognition, despite what they may have said in the press, that what we did in Venezuela was good for the world and good for our region and the Western hemisphere. A recognition of the role we've played in setting up along with others like Canada, the Gang suppression force in Haiti. And appreciation for the mediating role we've tried to play in this war between Russia and Ukraine.

31:41So I don't know. I mean you guys asking these questions like if I go into these meetings and these people are angry, no other than their screens or raises or voices or anything negative. And if they did, I would remind them, but I don't need to, but I would remind them of the role America's played over the last year has been a very productive role and very helpful to them. And I would just say this and I said this yesterday I'll say it again now. Iran is not the Iranian people. The Iranian people are phenomenal people. They deserve way better than what they have, which is a radical, sheer clerical regime that has basically taken that country's wealth and used it not to build roads and bridges, not to build health care systems or universities, not to build a better and more prosperous country. They've used the wealth of that country to sponsor terrorism, build rockets, build drones, build missiles, build sea mines. That's what they've done with it. Try to kill people all over the world. And this has to be dealt with. That country was a threat for 47 years. Okay. That regime has been trying to kill and has been killing Americans all over the world for 47 years. We have a president that will not allow that to continue unfettered. So when we are done, Iran was already weak. When we are done with them here in the next

32:44couple of weeks, there will be weaker than they've been in recent history and they will not be able to hide behind those weapons to break out and get a nuclear weapon, which would be crazy. For these people to ever get nuclear weapons would be crazy. Look what they're willing to do with the weapons they had now. They hit embassies, they target hotels, they try to kill civilians, they splash out at all their neighbors. Imagine these radical lunatics had a nuclear weapon to threaten the world with. And then of course, they murder their own people. So you've got Marco Rubio answering the questions there about the meeting with the G7, which I, you know, the press saying, are you feeling a lot of pressure? Haven't we, haven't we learned this already? It's like the whole Greenland debate. Publicly, they're all up in arms. You can't take Greenland. We're going to stop you from doing this. We're going to have a talk with you privately. Oh God, they, they, they, they pray quietly to themselves in the dark corners that the United States gets some control of Greenland so they can have Operation Golden Dome, or I should just say the Golden Dome,

33:44working on their behalf to protect them from the Russians and the Chinese regarding hypersonics. They already know Iran could throw a missile 2,500 miles and hit them. What kind of thing is this? Of course, they want the US to have some control of Greenland. They may not say it out loud, but they say it in private, right? They know it's in their best interest. No, they're not screaming and yelling. And as we have seen from, from the region, the Arab states want Iran gone. Me, why do I want Iran gone? I want the regime gone so there's no more terrorist threat. And I would like to have five minutes of not talking about the Middle East. Boy, can dream, can he? Meanwhile, President Trump has started speaking there at the White House. He's got a bunch of farmers in town. I'm going to bring that to you in full. So I'm just going to hit a little pause on that and I'll bring that to you in the next hour because you know he's going

34:45to bring up Department of Homeland Security. You know he's going to bring up the war. And I assume he's going to say the price of beef. What's with that? I'm assuming that's what's going to come up. So I will bring that all to you. We'll take the quick break. I'm Tony Katz and this is Tony Katz today. Let me finish up with some questions that are being sent to the Secretary Marco Rubio, Tony Katz. Tony Katz today and I'm staring incredulously at this tweet from Kate Santeles or is it Santalis? She's with Axios. And what she wrote is that House Speaker Mike Johnson has met with the Freedom Caucus in the House. Remember, what the Senate passed to fund Department of Homeland Security? Get TSA agents paid? First, we should be clear. That doesn't happen if President Trump doesn't say, here's an executive

35:47order, hey Homeland Security, pay the TSA agents, which I have no idea if he can even do that. Right? Congress has the power of the purse. How do you write an executive order to get people paid? I don't know, but neither here nor there. The President was making action and I caused the Democrats to engage a reaction, which was to say, okay, we'll pass this version. That's my take. So what she is reporting is that Mike Johnson agreed with the Freedom Caucus to instead of putting the Senate passed bill on the floor, put on a 60 day continuing resolution that funds all of the Department of Homeland Security, including ICE and Border Patrol. There is no way that's happening. There's no way that's happening. First, if it's happening and has to have Trump's approval, that he wants to extend this out and he thinks he can get TSA agents paid.

36:48That has to be a fundamental to this. You can still get TSA agents paid and you can pass a CR to fund everything while you all take time to work it out, putting pressure back on the Democrats, but not putting people's lives and livelihoods at risk. That is a political win. But I can't imagine Trump wants to do that, especially when you can pass anything regarding Border Patrol funding, be a reconciliation and not need any Democrats. So we are not done. We are not done with this fight. Meanwhile, President Trump, he's in front of a whole bunch of farmers doing, well, there's a lot of cowboy hats, farmers and ranchers, and the President speaking to them, I will bring that to you coming up in a little bit. Keep it here. I'm Tony Katz. This is Tony Katz today.

37:51The all-new 2026 Toyota RAV4 is here, building on everything drivers know and love about Toyota, with a redesigned look and modern tech that makes life behind the wheel easier than ever. The new RAV4 comes standard as a hybrid, providing smooth, efficient performance for both city streets and longer journeys. Enjoy the legendary reliability Toyota is known for. In the all-new 2026 RAV4, learn and shop more at toyota.com. Toyota, let's go places. Why from the heartland and the crossroads of America? It's Tony Katz today. President Trump is speaking to the farmers. I think it's national agriculture day. Tony Katz. Tony Katz today. Guys, a pleasure. As always, to be with you,

38:57he's up there. He's like on the balcony. There are hundreds and hundreds of people there. A producer landing you're right. It looks like all the extras in Yellowstone. And the President is speaking. But I'm thrilled to welcome all of you to the South Lawn for the single largest gathering of American farmers that the White House has ever seen, has ever had. And Raider Shine, and you don't mind Raider Shine, the one thing about farmers, they don't care about that, whether they get out there, it makes no difference. But Raider Shine, no one is more great or greater spirit than the American farmer. We love the American farmer. I just gave you $12 billion. I don't know if you know that or not. You're making enough money. It doesn't matter to you, right? But we just provided $12 billion, right, Brooke? For the American farmer. You think Biden would have done that? No, he wouldn't. We're delighted to be joined by Secretary of Agriculture. He's doing a fantastic job.

40:01Brooke Rollins. Brooke, thank you very much. Secretary of Health and Human Services, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. Robert. EPA Administrator is doing such an incredible job. He's getting those costs down for you, and he's always protected in the environment, but he does it quickly. A real superstar Lee Zeldin, thank you, Lee. And someone everyone loves, and they love, in particular, the job she's doing, small business administrator, Kelly Loffler. Kelly, thank you very much. I didn't know everybody loved the job, but she's doing the tour. John Hoven, Joni Ers. All right, so he's going to go about giving a whole bunch of thanks and appreciation senators that are there and everything else. The $12 billion was subsidies. Remember, this was money that was going to be tariff money. Funny how that subject has fallen off the radar.

41:04Does he owe the money? He's got to pay you about, you know, there are lawsuits about saying, hey, we were told you're not allowed to use certain, the IEPA, the Economic Powers Act, to engage tariffs so we want our money back. People are suing, and the White House is saying, we don't know how to pay you back. We don't know how to do this. Let the court figure it out. The court decided we couldn't do this. Let the court figure out how it is that we pay you back. But that's where I think this $12 billion came from. The ever growing hardship of farming, right? We talk about this in all sorts of ways, and you know, there's a great expression. I never met a poor farmer. But there is work involved here, and there are pressures upon here, and there is a regulatory issue here. And not everyone is playing

42:05on that elite level. There are plenty of family farms that are suffering right through it in every single way. So it's one thing just to have the gathering. But I'm curious if the President is going to get into some of what it is they're dealing with, and how do you, for example, keep food cost low when you have oil prices going so high? Let's take it back to President Trump. It's in 500th store in honor of America's 250th house. Thank you very much. It was great to meet you at the Oval Office two minutes ago. I also want to thank the President of the American Farm Bureau Federation. I thought he had gotten past some of this. See, that's the trouble with live. Well, do it live. American agriculture industry with brutal restrictions and failed to negotiate, even

43:08a single new trade deal on your behalf. Not one trade deal was negotiated on your behalf during the Biden administration, and we happened to be the exact opposite. We have so many trade deals. We don't know what to hell to do with them. We need more lawyers. Said no one ever. Confarmers, ranchers, growers, and producers once again have a true friend and champion in the Oval Office. And in my first year back in the White House Farm income has soared by 20 percent very quickly. I repealed the Biden EPA's ridiculous water restrictions, yet water restrictions that may give you everything but water, get it needed a little water, they wouldn't give you it. It was crazy to keep federal bureaucrats off your land and out of your pockets. It's a big deal. With the help of Republicans in Congress, we passed the largest tax cuts in American history. Already 45 percent of violence have taken advantage of our

44:09new tax provisions with an average refund so far of almost $5,000 a record. In fact, we passed them and people are just starting to see how important they are. It's amazing what's happened. The numbers are reporting that it's much more money than I thought. I call it the Great Big Beautiful Bill is a great, big, beautiful bill and it's especially in terms of your tax refunds and your taxes because it's the lowest tax we paid. It's the biggest tax reduction in the history of our country. Has anybody felt it yet? I was asking this question on my morning show. It's supposed to be, remember this is what Scott Besson, the Treasury Secretary, really started digging into in December after listening to the show, of course. You got to let people know what's happening, what they can be expecting, what they got to be a part of. It's something that this administration does poorly. Get people into the fight with you.

45:13They think they could just give a dictate in everybody of fallen line. It's not the way it works. People have to be a part of it. Americans want to be a part of it. So, the One Big Beautiful Bill, which was so poorly messaged, is supposed to lead to larger tax returns, refunds. The question is, has anybody gotten anything yet? And have they noticed anything larger when you were doing your taxes, which are doing a less than a month? Did you notice that there was more deduction, more coming your way? I'm just curious if anybody experienced these things as President Trump is saying this to the farmers. It's also the biggest regulation reduction in the history of our country, which as farmers, you know what that means. It means a lot of good things. We made it to small business tax reduction permanent, benefiting 98% of America's farmers and ranchers. And thanks to bonus depreciation farmers can now deduct 100% of the cost of new tractors and all equipment

46:17in the first year. In other words, you buy a tractor, you deduct the whole price. Normally it goes over a 38-year period. This is slightly better. You get these tiny little deductions that weren't even worth it. Now you can do it at one time. Only Trump could have gotten you that one. That was a big thing. And in the first time, you know, we had the greatest to come through in the history of our country. In the first time, we are blowing them away right now. And by the way, we're doing really well in Iran, just so you understand, you know. I mean, how good is our military? How good is our military? Very importantly, we saved two million American farms from extinction by virtually ending the unfair estate tax. We've ended the estate tax, or as they call it, the debt tax. And you can now keep your family farms in the family. We had a problem. That is a big deal. See, these are all people that are clapping that love their children. If they didn't love their

47:17children, they wouldn't care about what I just said. But most of you, does anybody not love your child? Because that would be the one person that would have clapped the other way. Now is a big thing. I would see farmers. And they pass away. They love their life. They love this. There's something about a farmer, maybe more than anybody else. They love that they love the soil. And they love their farms. And they pass away that have wonderful children. And the children get hit with this massive tax bill for the value of the farm. Sometimes the farm is very valuable, but the cash isn't so readily available. And they'd go out to a bank and they'd borrow money and they'd borrow and borrow and borrow and borrow to pay the tax. They'd be working for 20 years to pay it off of that a bad season. They'd lose their farm. We loved it, lost it many, many times. And you'd have actually many, many suicides over it. They would actually commit suicide because they couldn't stand the concept of losing their family farm. And I ended the death tax

48:22or the estate tax on family farms and small businesses. So I think you're appreciative of that. It was a terrible thing. And those kinds of things didn't do. It's too bad that so many people in the past couldn't have taken advantage of it because it would have made a lot of happy people, a lot of people that really had a miserable life. What's not that the life was miserable? This idea that somehow government is entitled to our labor is madness. That it's somehow unfair to leave things to your children. That that belongs to some government bureaucrat because they decided that's what's good and decent. I have discussed this before. I want to leave it all into my kids. I'll take care of any charitable organization as I see fit. But my job is to take care of my children. And if they want to spend the money the way they want to spend the money,

49:23just like I do it. I'm alive fine. I'm going to leave it to strangers and not my own kids. That's madness. Government thinks that they should be involved in that process. It is obscene. So what the president is actually engaged in here, whether he knows it or not, it's a conversation about philosophy. The difference between us and them, the difference between the conservative and the liberal. It isn't theirs. It is yours to do with as you see fit without the concept of acceptance. No leftist gets to decide what you do with your money. And they sure as hell don't get to say, well, we get our share. It isn't theirs. I will decide what to do with it. And it's going to my kids and anybody who would put forth a policy that says, no, it should go somewhere else.

50:27And you shouldn't have a say that someone you don't vote for. Not worthy of your vote, not worthy of your time and not worthy of your love. We'll catch up with some more from President Trump in a moment. Keep it here. This is Tony Katz today. Wall Street Journal is reporting that Iran has blocked two Chinese ships in the straight of four moves. We should take a moment to discuss how flat out odd that is. Iran wants to anger the Chinese. Well, both strategy cotton. Let's see how it works out. Tony Katz. Tony Katz today. Are you think? That's something Iran turning back to China owned container vessels from the straight. Now, Israel has amounted an attack saying a target Iranian weapons facilities and warned

51:32residents in parts of the city of Iraq, ARAK, to evacuate. Now, if I have an idea of where Iraq is, no, Iraq is in the middle of the country, ARAK. That is in the, I thought that was for a second towards towards the Gulf. It absolutely is not. But you have this move from the Israelis and as they continue to to hit at military targets, several countries in the Gulf intercepted drones and missiles, but strikes hit two Kuwaiti ports, one missile landing in Jordan. So, you know, the, the Iranians are still firing all over the place and really trying to engage a, a level of just pure havoc. That, do they think they could just create enough stress that

52:38this will end? Maybe they, maybe they do. Maybe what they're wondering is, well, if we try this, maybe it'll work. Well, maybe we try this, it'll work. Man, but maybe there are things that they're trying to work because the equipment that they have doesn't actually work. But if you're going to go after Chinese vessels in the Strait of Hormuz, that's, where do you think Iran's getting their money? Now, maybe they believe in this idea of the hostage taking, where you can charge these ships two million dollars for, for safe passage. The world is going to be okay with being held hostage to living in a bribery world. I mean, there's already got to be some level of bribery that takes place with all these things to keep these, you know, pirates from boarding you and all that jazz.

53:43The, the, the navies can't be everywhere at all times. So maybe, you know, it could just be while you didn't, you didn't play the, pay the big. So we're not going to let you through. But it's certainly odd that this would affect Chinese ships considering that's where you're getting the money. They were trying to exit the Persian Gulf and they got turned away. The IRGC said this, this trait was shut. Even though President Trump has said there was an agreement to let some ships through. The only thing I could see that you're doing in this, in this scenario is creating the opportunity for the world to say, you know what, we got this. We're just going to, we're just going to end this and we're going to open up to the best of

54:46our ability, the straight. We're just going to open this thing up and and we'll let the ships fall where they may. But we're not going to have this anymore. We're not going to put up with this anymore. We're not going to take this nonsense anymore. No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. We are going to handle this and it's going to be very bad for the Iranians. It could be it that could be what's next here. It's not the only thing going on. You know, there is other news outside of what's going on with a randal, though. It is the big stuff. And of course, you have the DHS funding, which is getting stranger and stranger. By the way, producer Landon, I think Speaker Johnson is talking. I just can't find that link if he is. Can you grab that for me? Thank you so much. You have this story that the FBI is now offering a $10 million reward after hackers linked

55:55to Iran were able to breach the emails of FBI Director Cash Patel. FBI says investigating they call the data historical in nature unrelated to government systems. $10 million for information identifying the Iran-based Hondala hack team. I don't know what does Hondala mean. Do we have a definition there? Let me see if I can figure that out. Hondala is a prominent national symbol and personification of the Palestinian people, this according to Wikipedia. Okay. All right. I don't just offer $10 million. $10 million to find the team, but $3 million for the first person who brings us one of their heads on a pike. And you're saying to me, my God, Tony, that is so violent

56:59and so gross and so despicable. Not as violent gross and despicable as hacking. These people who engage in the ransomware stuff, you understand, I believe, the same exact thing. The hacking, now this is of course war and so you should expect many things to happen in war. But man, do I despise the hackers in a huge, massive way? Do I despise the hackers? Also that they would tell us it's not, you know, anything of major import of things being worked on. I don't know if I 100% believe them. We don't know how to get hacked. We don't know where the access is. This is the latest. If I can get you speaker Mike Johnson, I will. It's a busy day. Keep it here. This is Tony Katz today.

58:19Talk and towing performance in the roomy high tech cabin keeps you connected on the go or take a look at Tacoma made for drivers who push past the path agile, tough and relentless with available features like crawl control, a powered rear window, portable JBL speaker and a power lift gate. So gear goes in fast and the adventure keeps moving that Tacoma and Tundra are engineered to endure season after season, mile after mile. So drive one home today. Visit Toyota.com for deals and local inventory or stop by your Toyota dealer to find out more Toyota. Let's go places. Everyone is insane. They are not should be headlines. What in the world just happened right there.

59:21There it is. A little bit of repeating. That wasn't the headline. No, the headline is Steve Bannon. Because if Steve Bannon is embarrassing himself, you want to watch. Steve Bannon was at CPAC and Steve Bannon is amongst the class of not so much America first. They believe that any action outside of our borders is just a Neocon, John McCain, sexual fantasy stuff and we are always wrong. We're always at fault. The idea of mistakes made versus always at fault. Those are different things. But Bannon, by the way, it's Steve's fault. He came at me. He came at me calling me a stock Republican. So every now and then I just got a bitch slap him. It's just the way it goes. I didn't do this, right? I didn't make the rules. These are the rules of the street.

1:00:28You come at the king. You best not miss. Yes, in this situation I did refer to myself as the king, which I agree with you. Super weird. Steve Bannon, he's at CPAC, the conservative political action conference and he thinks he's the leader of these people. And we shouldn't be at war with Iran. There was nothing imminent. We shouldn't be doing anything and the Israelis are doing this and all that crap. And he's like, here, let me take a poll. Let's do a little poll here. This is all hardcore, mega leadership, grassroots leadership, right? Okay. That's the good news. Now comes the hard news. You got to make some choices. Who among you would advise President Trump? We have to finish what we started. How many would how many would say right now? Get an off ramp and let's get out of here by Saturday. I'd say 60 40 in favor of finishing 65 35. 65 35. He believes that he

1:01:42understands exactly where these people are and exactly what they think he doesn't understand un-gots. He understands nothing. How much influence do these people really have? Why do we think it is so massive? That's different than whether or not I concern myself with any influence they have because there's a follower count. It's all bots. None of it's real. None of it's real. I don't know if I can risk the fact that none of it's real. And by the way, I'd never call for de-platforming. Let Vannon do his show and that Megan Kelly do her show and talk her to his show and can't it? I mean, admittedly, spending your day going after a widow is super weird. It's super creepy, super weird, but hey, everyone's got a fetish. But she's just a twist in a turn away from flat out being a stalker. What I want is an aggressive counter to the nonsense that they

1:02:50put forth. What they put forth is ugly. What they put forth is obscene. What they put forth is madness. And they're totally disconnected from where the people are. They're completely and totally disconnected from where you and I live, breathe, act, and act. I just repeated myself right there. They aren't close to understanding what they are is very focused on engaging a certain audience and how much can they dominate that audience? We've discussed this before about 20 to 29-year-olds and how they are really kind of desperate to own and control that group. That's where the future is. That's what gives them the most

1:03:52longevity. So therefore, that's where they want to be. So that's number one. Then comes number two, which is how we are putting the squeeze on H1BVs or holders. The Labor Department is stating via the Trump administration that if you are going to have an H1BVs or holder, right, these are people coming in from other countries and work in certain categories like, for example, software development. We are now going to increase the minimum pay that you have to pay them. The argument here is, is that if you are saying you need to bring in people

1:04:53from another country to do the work, the coding, the this, the that, the whatever it may be, they actually have to be worth it to you. And so this is, and the only way to describe this is an artificial increase in the cost to try and get American workers hired instead. It's, it's a big creepy in that that's not how we see ourselves. It's not how we see America. It's not how we see Americans. It's not how we see how we, we do business where the government says you have to charge this or charge that. That's not, that's not it. That is not who we are. That is not what we want at all. The other side to this is, have we been for going

1:06:00American talent for the sake of cheaper foreign talent? Have we been telling people there's no jobs for you, but ensuring jobs, so over there. Is that something that we should be doing now? This is maybe different than how we feel about, for example, trade deficits. And you're not buying as much from us as we're buying from you, and that's not fair. That's a problem. In that situation, that's not a problem. We've already proven that it's not a problem. And tariffs don't solve trade deficits as we have seen. Remember, the tariff suck. Okay, get so yelled at. The tariff's suck. A trade deficit where you have some country where we're buying more than they buy from us.

1:07:01Well, they then invest in the United States, so we kind of get the money back. As long as we can get the goods at a good price, isn't that what matters most? And I would argue that the economic says, yes, a thousand percent. Is that true about the labor market? I'm asking because I just, I think there's at least a worthy consideration there. I can do the math. I can show that it doesn't matter if we buy more from country A than they buy from us, if they're now going to invest in us, because we're the place that you do the investing in the markets here, in companies here. So good, that's good for us. And if having the trade deficit also means that the goods for our people are cheaper, also good. I'm also in favor of this. But if you have people who can't get a job because the job is going overseas, if you will, even if we're bringing that person here, I mean, it's just

1:08:05another, it's another, it's an offshoot of, or it's just a different way to look at offshoring. Now, there are some people who will tell you that there isn't actually a difference. If you've got comparative levels of education and experience, there is a little evidence of paid disparity. This, according to the National Foundation for American Policy. Now, they are an organization that focuses on skilled immigration to the US. So they have a point of view. If we're hiring foreign workers because it's cheaper and we're now raising the price and it gets more Americans hired, the vast majority of people are going to say, good, good, we want Americans to be hired. We want this to take place.

1:09:09I would say that one could argue it on its national security merits. But I think that as people do think about these things, it gets a little, it might get a little stickier for some people. And then because I do like a good list, I'm a sucker for a good list. The five most reliable cars of all time. This was a story over at Autoblog. And I find myself looking for used cars all the time, all the time. I'm always searching for stuff and looking at stuff, not always buying stuff. I have before about, I'm looking. So they went through a little bit of history. What are the five most reliable cars, used cars of all time? I think it's just cars, five most reliable cars. They were built and they're bulletproof and they could do anything. Now, I know that one of them, although

1:10:14it's not on this list, is the Toyota Land Cruiser. That car will go on forever. And then it's the sister of that, which is the Toyota Sequoia, which is the wider version. I actually own a Sequoia. Not a new one. I used one. It's what I like. And then, you know, you've got the pickup trucks. So the 1983 to the 1997 Toyota pickup, according to them, unbreakable. 2.4 liter engine, ladder frame chassis, just supposed to be forever, a forever car. That was number one on the list. Number two, the Ford Crown Victoria. For those of you who used to get arrested in the late 80s, in the early 90s, Crown Vic. That is on the list. 4.6 liter modular V8, between 190 and 250 horsepower.

1:11:19Then they get to number three. Now, I will tell you right now, if I could find one of these, I would buy one of these. Mercedes Benz 240 DSOR 300 DSOR, which is the W123. And they built tanks. Absolute tanks. The 2.4 liter DSOR 240D is 72 horsepower. Don't ask me. Tank will last forever. They then go on to the Honda Civic between 1996 and 2000. And yes, the Lexus LS 400, first and second generation, 1989 to 2000. Yes, that car will last forever and a day. More to get to you guys. Keep it here. This is Tony Katz today. The press has gathered to hear what it is that Mike Johnson, the speaker of the house,

1:12:26is going to say, but I think we got a kind of preview of this when he was walking the halls in the house and the press is speaking to him and he was pretty clear. I don't think I'm an expert in Mike Johnson's demeanor, but maybe you and I were a little more observant than others because we do this every day. That's a pretty angry Mike Johnson. That is a pretty angry Mike Johnson. Listen again.

1:13:28I want to say this is infuriating that Democrats are willing to inflate hate on American people. Simply so they can defund the agency that is responsible literally for removing criminal illegal agents. That's what this is about. This way for the country and what they're for. Is there? I mean, you don't know until you know, but I'm telling you right now, they are serious about putting a continuing resolution on the floor of the house and dismissing what the Senate has done. We don't care that Chuck Schumer is happy with this. We're not playing this game. We'll get TSA funded one way or another, but we're not giving Schumer his anti-ice anything. What is the calculation that the Republicans have done that this is the hill?

1:14:31And there's no way they're making this move. And so this was what Axios reported that the speaker is considering forgetting what the Senate passed regarding funding Department of Homeland Security, which they did yesterday. They'll fund Department of Homeland Security, but not a border patrol, not ice. And what it could now has to go to the house to get passed because it's different legislation. And so the argument is the house is just going to say screw that. Here's a continuing resolution for 60 days to fund everything in the Department of Homeland Security while we figure it out. We're not going to give into Schumer. We're not going to fudge an inch. The only way that happens is if Trump's okay with it and there must be a way to fund TSA agents that has to have been accomplished. Watch for this. It's going to be fascinating. I'm Tony Katz. The Toyota Tundra and Tacoma are built to keep going, blending rugged muscle with precision engineering all supported by Toyota's time-tested legacy of dependability. Step into a Tundra and feel the unyielding capability with the available

1:15:36I-Force Max engine. Tundra puts out impressive power, torque and towing performance. And the Rumi high-tech cabin keeps you connected on the go or take a look at Tacoma made for drivers who push past the path agile, tough and relentless with available features like crawl control, a powered rear window, portable JBL speaker and a power liftgate. So gear goes in fast and the adventure keeps moving that Tacoma and Tundra are engineered to endure season after season, mile after mile. So drive one home today. Visit toyota.com for deals and local inventory or stop by your Toyota dealer to find out more Toyota. Let's go places. Live from the heartland and the crossroads of America. It's Tony Katz today. I have made this argument now a few times and I'm not the only one making the argument,

1:16:37but I often think on this one subject, it might not be clear enough, which is insane for me to think you guys have known me now long enough to know. I'm pretty clear. Tony Katz. Tony Katz today. Good to be here. Good to be with you. The United States is doing outrageously well in taking out the Iranian threat. I don't believe we should leave until the regime is completely gone. Totally gone. No concept of supporting terrorism. No concept of anybody connected to the Iatola in a position of power. And I would like to not have to think about the Middle East for five minutes. But as that is happening, we've got people on the political left and on the woke right, who to me very much seem like they're rooting for America to lose. Or really, if I can be more clear for Donald Trump to lose, they don't actually hate the military. But as long as Trump loses, they're somehow better off with their methodology, their psychology. It's really and truly obscene.

1:17:39And even though Trump is doing well, he does things like calling Iran an excursion that kind of minimizes the threat to our military and what happened to 13 soldiers who lost their lives in this fight. I think I'm clear. But sometimes I don't think I'm perfectly clear. No Rothman joins me right now. You catch his work at National Review National Review.com. His third book, Blood and Progress, a century of left wing violence will be available in May. You find it Amazon.com wherever fine books are sold. You can preorder right now. You have the piece. The Iran war successes. They don't want you to hear about you. You're not a historian by trade, but you are a man who studies. Do we take a look at what we have seen and based it on other events in history in terms of world wars, in terms of actually declared wars? Or are we talking about seeing what we've seen with Iran comparing it to other actions that have taken place over the

1:18:44last 30 years? Well, in that piece, I try to make the plan. It's an overlong piece, like 2700 words, but it needed to be very long in order to be comprehensive because there is so many misapprehensions floating around. The piece I make acclaim that compared to what is the most important question that you can ask yourself in these sort of situations because it grounds you in counterfactuals that other people can actually test. And scenarios, for example, all the war games that we've been running against Iran over the last 30 years, and compared to what indicates that we're doing spectacularly well on the battlefield, tactically. People are very quick to know, well, tactical games do not be get strategic successes, which I write in that piece. There are a lot of people who have just recently stumbled into that little piece of insight, and then, you know, Van Bandy about it as though they've, you know, they're discovery, and therefore you probably weren't aware of it either. But no, it's pretty obvious that you can make the case that the United States fumbles the post-war has probably, you could argue, since 1945. But we're not there

1:19:45yet, entirely theoretical, and the coverage of this war from its outset, from day one, has been focused so much exclusively on the strategy at the expense of the tactics. And that's like covering the end of a novel by skipping over the first chapters. You don't know what you're looking at. You can't accurately assess what you're seeing, and you can't relate to the public in a way that conveys the totality of the information that you want to convey by focusing on the post-war environment in the middle of the war. And I think it's absolutely right, what you've said, that there is a contingent in the press, international and domestic, as well as in the political class, by the way, American Democrats and Republicans, who want to see Donald Trump fail. Not the war, not the American people, not the soldiers. They want to see BB and Donald Trump humiliated. And whenever they have the opportunity, they rush to that conclusion to see some sort of indignity visited upon the president, like what we saw on Monday, and the immediate aftermath of the president saying, you know, I was going to hit these power plants in five days. I'm going to

1:20:47put that off for a second, because we're talking behind the scenes with Iranians. And the rush on the part of mainstream reporters, really knowledgeable folks who understand warfare, people like Yaroslav Trophimov over at the Wall Street Journal, Jonathan Martin at Politico, insisted without any evidence that Trump was just making it up, attempting to manipulate oil markets, or trying to find some sort of off ramp for this disastrous situation he's gotten himself into. And it was just true, untrue. There was no evidence find it. It was a supposition based only on their own prejudices, and it exposed their own prejudices. I'm happy to criticize the president's rhetoric. I think you're right. Calling this an excursion merely to avoid going to Congress, but for war powers, we're saying that the war is won, even as the tempo of combat operations accelerates. It gives people misgivings. They don't think you're taking this seriously, or they think you're going them into a narrative that is not true. And the people do not trust this president. He's made it clear that he doesn't trust them either. He's not going to them with the proper rationale, and asking them to bear and endure the sacrifices that this war has

1:21:51already imposed on them. He really should. Yes, but it has nothing to do, nothing to do, with combat operations, the efficacy of U.S. military operations on the ground, or the strategic elements that we're putting in place for a longer campaign against this regime, the destruction of which is the only way we're going to eliminate the threat from its miscellaneous nuclear programs. The hardest part of this conversation, Noah. No, Rothman, nationalreview.com, is that people have a hard time with the idea that you can be lawtatory and engaging, excruciating details, failures, at the same time. Yeah, I don't find it difficult. Well, you're a special priest. Oh, Tony, I have heard an argument over this war. From my friends, from my allies, people with whom I usually agree. A lot of first-person pronouns when talking about this war. I think my friends, me and others who have a certain outlook on this

1:22:55war, whose personal brand is bound up in skepticism and being critical of Trump and being supportive of Trump, whatever it is, seems this war through the prism of domestic politics and their position within domestic politics. That's just the wrong way to look at it. It's very parochial, a little bit selfish, and it results in that analysis. And we've seen a lot about analysis on the tactical and strategic levels. Let's engage a little bit of analysis on two things. First, the idea of the five-day pause. He puts out the post-untruth social. You're going to stop this. I'm going to take out basically all of your energy, the energy reserves here, any power plant over here. And then before that 48 hours, he gives his up. He says a five-day pause. Then before the five-day pause is up, he says 10 more days. Now, all of this could all be sub-diffused and could lead to, you could see a bombing happening as we speak. But the question is these delays. Is this seen as

1:24:00this is a guy really negotiating to try and not engage any more war? Is this something that, do we have any news or information that makes us believe that there's actually somebody on the Iranian side, which is at least a legitimate question. If you've killed the leadership, who are we talking to? Yeah, we don't know. I don't know. Subsequent reporting has indicated that there is shuttle diplomacy going on between the United States and whatever representatives of the Iranian government exist presently. And they're being shuttled through representatives for the governments of Pakistan, Egypt, and others I'm forgetting. But at least those two major Muslim powers. And that's perfectly believable. It's not like it's hard to comprehend the notion that there are back-channel contacts between two warring parties during a conflict. That happens all the time. So I, you know, I was not at all predisposed to say that the president was making this up as so many people did. But the notion here being abandoned about by his critics is one that he was desperate for diplomatic offer. And it's testing, for example, the prospects for diplomacy,

1:25:03which is not necessarily a mark of capitulation or pusillanimity. It's merely an avenue to explore an end to this conflict, which is, again, not pursuing it, but identifying it. That other said, he was manipulating oil markets because of what they say. He says the war is going to end. All the sudden, all the horrible things that we're hearing about are happening to the oil markets, which are going to persist for decades disappear in the markets. And then the oil and West Texas crew go back to normal-range prices. And the president, you know, he has the capacity to do that with a with a true social post, but he won't have the capacity to do that forever. The market prices in jaw, you know, jaw boning like that, if it is jaw boning. But there are other possibilities too. Some have suggested that the president could be selling dissension within the ranks of whatever remains of the leadership, selling paranoia, getting them to think that some people are talking to the Americans. Maybe my brothers and arms are going to sell me out. Or maybe he's stalling for time so that the 82nd airborne in the marine expeditionary units that are in route to the Middle East get there and send preposition ahead and give the president options for ground operations

1:26:08and islands and per person golf. All of these could be true at the same time. None of them could be true. We have no idea and no capacity to evaluate whether or not this is true. A little bit of epistemological humility would be desirable on the part of the people who are trying to assess the information environment, which I guarantee you is deliberately saturated right now with misdirection. Design not only to misdirect us, but to misdirect our enemies abroad. And that's the sort of thing that's difficult for reporters to assess. They're just giving you the facts right. So they have to relate every one of these little, whether it's true or not, you know, the efforts to manipulate individuals, combatants, non-combatants or the information environment. Let me and so we just can't, we can't assess it, but you don't see that kind of humility from people who are desperate for evidence that Donald Trump is messing this whole thing up. I want to rephrase it because very few people are using epistemological humility. And let's change it to something that we would say on the streets. It's very okay for the president of the United States,

1:27:11the commander in chief to engage in open deception with the enemy so we can get a better result. That's the argument. And the idea that we are not told exactly what the end game is, when the end game happens and how everything's going to be wrapped up in a bow, that's real life, real politics as opposed to what the left wants, which is somehow everything plays out beautifully like in a book. Yeah, it's our video game. No video. Don't really understand what it's like to win a war anymore because we don't fight to win wars. But even when we were fighting for a draw, like go back to 1991, go for it. We lost like 56-wing aircraft in that contest. We destroyed Iraq's capacity to generate power. The entire country, dark. That was just how wars were fought. And it was bloody and it was brutal. We had people who were shot down. We had people who were killed. We had people who were captured. None of that has happened in this war. And we expect war to be some sort of antiseptic experience now that lasts for, you know, 12 hours or so. And it's an incredibly triumphant experience. Do you think we're the aliens from Independence Day? Like, if

1:28:15anybody lays a finger on us, it's Mark of an impossible strategic failure. It's very strange. But it's also reflective of just how how much the American people are just not acclimated to what an actual real war fought to a strategic objective looks like. It looks like the wars that Israel had been fighting since October 7, 2023. And that's the kind of war we're fighting. We're fighting a war on an Israeli-style term. And it's actually being very successful. And that's freaking people out. Talking to Noah Rothman of National Review, his latest book, Blood and Progress, a century of left-wing violence will be available at amazon.com wherever five books are sold, May of 2026. You bring up Israel fighting it in this way, which is fighting to a win or to a victory. I agree, wholeheartedly, that we have forgotten what victory looks like. And since we live in a broadband world, we expect things to happen at a broadband speed.

1:29:17Can any part of the regime exist? And the US call it victory. For President Trump, victory is, you know, the first two rules of Trumpism, the first rule of Trump wins. And the second rule of Trumpism is that a deal can always be made as long as it adheres to the first rule of Trumpism. So that allows the President to say at any moment, we did what we came to do, we're done. But if the regime remains in any way, is that success? Well, so given your stipulation there, that the President reserves the right to declare victory and retreat at any point in this conflict, you can't rule that out. I do not want to rule that out. And I think it implies to keep in mind the prospect that the President will disengage before we've achieved our tactical and strategic objectives in the combat phase of this war, totally possible. However, everybody in this administration, with stars and stripes, stripes on their shoulders, stars on their epilots, had been very clear and have not changed their forecast for how this war was going to unfold.

1:30:19And it folds in stages. The first stage was to attack Iran's capacity to project power. It's active military assets. The second stage which we're in right now is to decimate Iran's capacity to build military assets. It's military production facilities, it's defense industrial base. All the while, by the way, Israel is attacking regime targets, symbols of regime stability, the terror apparatus, the IRGC, the besiege, the stuff that keeps the Iranian people down or shot in the streets. The third stage is always and was always going to look like defeat for people who want to see a clamped moment, a definitive point at which the United States can look at the ground and say, okay, we won. It was going to be a negotiated settlement with somebody who can claim to represent the Iranian people, whether it's the remnants of the Islamic Republic, whether it's some transitional figure, who knows, that was never part of the plan, never exposed, never elucidated precisely who that figure was because we didn't know that figure was going to be. But when that happens, and it'll be a negotiated settlement with whatever remains,

1:31:22then you move on to phase three, which is the quiet process of undermining this regime from within. And everybody has said the IDF Benjamin Netanyahu, Brad Cooper, his head of SENTCOM, who said as much this week, quote, there will be a clear signal at some point as the president has indicated for you to be able to come out. He told the Iranian people in an interview with an Iranian diaspora outlet. He said, this time has not come yet, but it will. And all the reporting that we have from NPR, from the New York Post, which has gotten in touch with Iranians on the ground, is the Iranian people are waiting for the signal, and they are primed. And who knows what we're doing on the ground in order to facilitate the arming of potentially insurrectionary elements, the fermenting of a potentially insurrectionary attack on this regime from within. That's the sort of thing that we're going to engineer later after the combat phase is over. We're still in the middle of the combat phase. And I think the biggest hurdle right now, that everybody acknowledges as the biggest hurdle, is opening the straight of foremost. And there is the sense that if we allow

1:32:25the Iranian regime to maintain even notional control over the straits such that it's able to extort the ships that come through it for a $2 million a piece, for example, which is what they're doing now, that it will be a strategic loss. And I think it will be a strategic setback and ambiguous end to this war. And I don't think it's going to end there, but it could. And if it did, it would not, it would fall short of all of our key objectives most certainly. But the notion here that Iran is going to emerge from this is so many say that Iran is going to emerge from this stronger, more emboldened, more of a regional power is insane. It's incredible, literally incredible. The notion here that Iran will emerge as this more potent force in the Middle East, even when all its military and military industrial complexes are destroyed, is bizarre. The notion here that it will be a more potent force in the region, even as it has arrayed the entire Middle East against it. Oh, openly, you have the UAE and the Saudi Arabians flirting with active combat

1:33:27operations against Iran to say nothing of what they're doing behind the scenes. And the entire Gulf and the Middle East, including places like Syria, Jordan, Egypt, all these places are turning against the Iranian regime. They've always had, they haven't had exactly had a soft spot for the Mullahs. But it's been sort of a cat and mouse game. Little subterfuge here allow these front companies to exist there so they can evade sanctions here. Oh, that stuff is gone. It's not coming back. The Iranian regime is this week as it's ever been and will continue to be leaked after this war. It makes no sense to me that so many people are resistant to this obvious notion. Like the argument against it just is very difficult to make. And yet you see so many making it. More with Noah Rothman coming up. Keep it here. I'm Tony Katz. This is Tony Katz today. There's a story out of Fox News that Dave and Busters, one of their locations, maybe not the whole company. Tips are being applied to the post tax total. Tony Katz, Tony Katz today, that is not right. I do not tip on tax. I tip on whether or not I get good service. And the idea is,

1:34:32well, here's the bill. And then it's 15% of the bill. Well, really now 20%. I mean, everyone is tipping 20%. You may, you may tip less. You may tip more. My problem is is when you're in a, you're using a kiosk. Would you like to leave a tip? No, convenience store. No. The overtipping is madness. But this is an interesting thing. You want to apply a tip to the tax? No. I don't tip the government. As a matter of fact, the idea of tipping the government is exactly what's wrong with the great number of societies. But that's an ugly thing to do. And if, if indeed, Dave and Busters is doing that, that's a reason not to go. And I'm not an anti-Dave and Busters guy. It's fun. There's arcade games for adults. Arcade games in beer. What could go wrong? Aside from everything. But this tipping culture is nuts. Not everything deserves a tip. It certainly doesn't deserve 20 or

1:35:3425% at all times. But tip on the tax. That's something to look out for. You know how many times that's probably happening out there and people don't know it. And they just do it. Or something's getting added into the bill and people don't really check. Check. It's your money. It's okay. It's not rude. And if the service is good, tip 12. That would be me. More to get to Omtoni cats in this is Tony cats today. The Toyota Tundra and Tacoma are built to keep going. Blending rugged muscle with precision engineering all supported by Toyota's time-tested legacy of dependability. Step into a Tundra and feel the unyielding capability. With the available iForce Max engine, Tundra puts out impressive power, torque and towing performance. And the roomy high-tech cabin keeps you connected on the go. Or take a look at Tacoma made for drivers who push past the path, agile, tough and relentless with available features like crawl control, a powered rear window,

1:36:41portable JBL speaker and a power lift gate. So gear goes in fast and the adventure keeps moving. The Tacoma and Tundra are engineered to endure season after season, mile after mile. So drive one home today. Visit toyota.com for deals and local inventory or stop by your Toyota dealer to find out more. Toyota, let's go places. So much of the conflict with Iran. Or listen, I say it's regime change because it is regime change. And I think we're fooling ourselves, kidding ourselves, lying to ourselves. If we don't call it that and I don't believe in doing any of those things. Tony cats, Tony cats today good to be here, good to be with you. Noah Rothman stays with us from national review his book, Blood and Progress, a century of left wing violence available at amazon.com wherever fine books are sold. That will be in May of 2026. You can preorder right now, Blood and Progress, a century of left wing violence. One of the things that he said earlier was about how the United States is engaging

1:37:42in taking out the the Iranian regime in an Israeli way. And you noted and we've discussed it here before that since October 7th, Israel has defied all the critics and all the standard norms of how they did things. They drop a few bombs, they get angry and then they'd have to relent because of world pressure. Post October 7th, there was no relenting. And I was in Israel some months after October 7th and it was very clear from people you speak to on the streets and you the feel of that nation as you observe, they were done. Every try they gave to the Palestinians, every attempt they gave to build up areas around the Gaza envelope, those mayors who wanted to build factories and create opportunities and they would go into Gaza and bring people back to work. Well, those are the people who laid out what was happening in cabots is where the armory was, where people were, where the families were, etc. So Hamas and Palestinians could go in and murder

1:38:43everyone they saw. It was those people who the Israelis were trying to help, that helped map out how to kill them and Israeli said we've had enough here. And that has been true and that has gone on and that is what's created so much angst amongst the left in screaming of genocide, etc. They can't accept the fact that Israel wouldn't take it. But it's an interesting statement from you. I had not considered this thought process that the United States is doing this in an Israeli way. But we also discuss how many people are rooting for President Trump to fail. If Israel wasn't involved, if this wasn't a US Israel operation but it was a US UK operation or pick another nation or just the United States, would these same leftists and people on the woke right be rooting for Trump to fail? Yeah, I think so. Because it has very little, I mean their antipathy to Israel is total. But their antipathy to the West and the West as represented by the pre-interpairist, the United States of America, the foremost exemplar of the capitalist world,

1:39:48is it was always a permanent factor. You know, you can go back to the 70s and the 60s and even in the early 1980s for the origins of this kind of Marxian approach to, you know, the evolution of left-wing militancy from Marxian insurgents to pan-Arab nationalists to Islamist theocrats as they gravitated towards the Islamic Revolution. Oh, there's a very well documented. I actually wrote a review for commentary about Jason Berks on this phenomenon. The revolutionist's very good book on the bizarre evolution of the far left hostility to the capitalist world, manifesting in support for the Cuban regime and the Cuban regime support for the Islamist regime. All these guys are connected in ways that you would, if you didn't know the actual history of it, you'd be called a conspiracy theorist for identifying all these connections. I will say you stipulated that after October 7th, Israel, you know, took the gloves off and was not constrained. That is not true. It was constrained by the Biden administration. For example, it did not go

1:40:50into communists when it wanted to and it eventually did. It did so in defiance of the Biden administration where they eventually captured and killed Yagat Sunwar. But they were prevented from doing so. And that's typical. The United States puts the reigns on Israel. The Bush administration did, the Obama administration certainly did. The Biden administration did and even Trump 1.0 was, you know, cagey about the extent to which it was supporting and the flourishing of what would eventually become the Abraham Accords because it was a fraud project. Not so after 2025, yes, Donald Trump took the gloves off. Yes, prosecuted these wars alongside Israel. In ways that Israel would recognize as the way you fight to victory. That's a very new development. But, you know, is Israel to blame for the hostility that Donald Trump is experiencing from the international press, the international left now? I really don't think so. I think we would have experienced this exact same phenomenon. As we did after the Iraq war and in the middle of the Iraq war, when the Bush administration handcuffed the Israelis and the Israelis didn't want us to

1:41:50go into Iraq. They said focus on Iran. That's the head of the snake. And they were also very cagey and leery about experiencing a Gulf War style attack when San Hussein's regime dropped scud missiles on Israelis and they were prevented from responding. They were not allowed to respond by George W. Bush's administration and they did not want to repeat that experience. So, America's relationship with Israel has been a lot more fraught than it was than it has been under Trump 2.0. And the American left well hostile to Israel and the Zionist project generally going to this Marxian origin story in the 1970s and 1980s is more hostile to Washington and more hostile to the United States because it is the foremost power in the world that exemplifies hostility to the socialist project and the international anti-colonialist project which, by the way, are pretty much the exact same thing, different verbiage. So now, take that, put it to the side but just uses a bit of kind of a baseline. Let's move this into the woke right. We can call that

1:42:52Candace Owens, Tucker Carlson, Megan Kelly, Alex Jones. These people who are telling us that Trump was dragged into this by Israel as opposed to how you're discussing things that Israel is often constrained by the United States. It doesn't actually go the other way around. And then we get into JD Vance and a lot of people for months now been discussing that JD Vance's relationship with Tucker Carlson is going to hurt him in a general come 2028. Other people say that JD Vance is the guy that of the woke right because he understands that this relationship with Israel is leading to America's downfall. I argue that we see people in the media and we see the woke right pushing this idea that we're losing or we're failing or they want to see Trump lose and it is wholly on American proposition. It said very generally and that what they are looking for is for us to learn our lesson

1:43:52that we should be. You might refer to it as isolationist. I would refer to it as we can't get involved in these entanglements even when removal of terrorism is clearly to our benefit. Is JD Vance in between a rock and a hard place or did he put himself there? I'll put it this way. There's a large contingent within the United States that does want to see a humbler foreign policy has for generations. This is what George W. Bush ran on in the year 2000. But there's a smaller contingent within that broader universe that believes that the United States needs a humbler fallout foreign policy. If it won't execute a humbler foreign policy on its own, it must be humbled. And then people around JD Vance's camp do seem to be members of that contingent. They have a piece in Axios today that sparked my absolute frustration of visceral level of hostility to what was coming out of JD Vance's allies because they're actively attempting to drive a wedge

1:44:55between the United States and Israel in wartime against an implacable foe. Maybe not the prime vice president himself, but his people are telling reporters Barack Reved and Mark Puto at Axios that the vice president is willing to play his part. And he has his thoughts on this war. We all must be abreast of JD Vance's internal torment at this moment. And they believe that Benjamin Netanyahu sort of gold the president into this war promised him that this would be some sort of a very quick clean triumphant campaign, which we have not heard from public statements from any of the people who are talking to Axios on background off the record. And also that it's an Israeli op against GD said one administration official citing claims that were widely reported on that whatever remnants we're talking to with Iran are interested in negotiating with JD Vance in part because they understand him to be more skeptical of this war. And they understand him to be

1:45:57more skeptical of this war because he's more skeptical of this war. He has made no secret about it. His allies have made no secret about it. They want his brand was built on the notion that the United States is overextended abroad and needs to retrench behind its oceans into its shores. This is the argument that has been bandied about by the restrainers that quote-unquote self-described restrainers in the Pentagon for years, even before the administration was inaugurated. And JD Vance has aligned himself with them. And now that his stock is falling and his stock is falling, I don't live inside Washington, but I keep my ear to the door and it's not hard to hear the extent to which people inside the Republican orbit and Trump's orbit are losing their taste for JD Vance. I think he's being upstaged by Marco Rubio. I think he's a worse political talent. The president himself has said as much in his unguarded moments and he's going to say it louder as we move forward. I'm going to just panic about it. Real quick, I think the word on the street is that they view Marco Rubio in higher regard than JD Vance. And that's not to say that the street, Midwest Main Street,

1:47:00views JD Vance in a low regard. But I absolutely, wholeheartedly would say if you pulled 100 people on the streets, 95 of them would think more of Marco Rubio in his presentation than Vance. I think that that's an accurate assessment. Yeah, he's just being upstaged and the president who comes from television is a television critic is very sensitive to the degree to which an audience perceives talent. And he sees Marco Rubio killing it and he sees JD Vance flattering. That's just it. Everybody does. It's not hard to notice. But the people in JD Vance's orbit are freaked out about it, doly so, understandably so. And the way they're going about repairing that damage is to undermine the bilateral relationship between the Washington and Jerusalem in wartime. That is extremely reckless, extremely negligent and so self centered, so solipsistic as to be contradictory to American strategic aims, indeed, undermining them. And that's a really serious allegation that JD Vance's people need to really consider.

1:48:04Noah Rothman, national review.com, the book, blood and progress, a century of left wing violence, pre-order that at Amazon.com, available May of 2026. Noah, appreciate you taking the time. More to get to, this is Tony Katz today. So we're still engaged in bombing raids, regarding Iran and taking out military targets. But President Trump has said we're not going to go after any of the energy targets. Meanwhile, the Senate is going to fund the Department of Homeland Security, but they're not going to fund ICE and Border Patrol, even though ICE is already funded through the one big beautiful bill. Yet, Democrats are claiming they've got this huge win and crazy to see media, although totally expect to be like, oh, Republicans caved. I don't think that's what happened, although you're very used to Republicans caving. I get what you're saying. Rather, what it looks like is that Democrats held up the country for 41 days and didn't get a single reform to ICE. And the reforms to ICE is the only thing they care about because they want

1:49:07illegal immigrants in the country and voting, and they care about illegal immigrants more than they care about American citizens. That's the message they delivered to America. And that's the message that I think America took. Tony Katz, Tony Katz today, guys, a pleasure to be with you. I'm not kidding. I think I'm on to something. The message taken by America is these people, these Democrats want illegal immigrants voting more than they want me to be able to travel around my own country. Yeah, that's accurate. They said it. They have repeated it. For 40 days, they didn't care if TSA agents got paid. They didn't care if your kids starved as long as they could get votes or the opportunity for those votes. Yes, I'm making the accusation quite explicitly, but their own words allow me to back it up. It's their own words that allow me to make this

1:50:09statement. This is who they are. This is what they do. This is what they're all about. It was Senator Chris Murphy. Senator Chris Murphy is the one who said quite clearly about the people they care most about Chris Hayes of MS now asking the question. The negotiation didn't have a path to citizenship. It was entirely on their terms in order to get Ukraine funded, right? Well, I mean, Chris, that's been a failed play for 20 years. So you are right that that has been the democratic strategy for 30 years, maybe. And it has failed to deliver for the people we care about most to the undocumented Americans that are in this country. His words. And, you know, I had actually said, and I said this on Newsmax and other places, maybe he misspoke, maybe he was trying to put a comment in there. I haven't seen anywhere where he has tried to correct the record.

1:51:10I only have to use the Democrats' words against them to be able to show what they're all about. And I think Americans see it exactly that way. But with all of this, there is a story. And the story is about a congresswoman by the name of Sheila Turfless McCormick, Democrat who has been indicted and who the House ethics panel found guilty of 25 violations. By partisan panel of law makers, voting to start the process that could lead to her expulsion. Why? The allegation is she laundered millions of disaster relief funds into her campaign account. She's facing federal criminal indictment, ranging from using ineligible funds to finance her campaign to repeatedly filing false financial disclosure forms, seeking special favors with recipients of earmark funding requests.

1:52:13Now, they won't meet until after Easter to recommend punishment, which could be expulsion. It's going to be expulsion. And Democrats are going to have a very hard time being behind her, because they would have gone, well, okay, well, maybe she was found guilty here or guilty there. We're not going to do anything until she's convicted of a crime. But the very idea that the House ethics panel by partisan is like, yeah, yeah, this is this is a lot of violations. A ton of violations. Expect her to be gone. She's from Florida, by the way. The House ethics panel finding her guilty of nearly all alleged violations. So there were 26 alleged violations. She was found guilty of counts one to 15 and counts 17 to 26, which would say that there was only one where they were like, nah, that's she didn't do that. Keep an eye on how that might affect the balance of the House.

1:53:17Find everything at TonyCats.com. I'll catch you Monday, everyone. Take care. The All New 2026 Toyota RAV4 is here building on everything drivers know and love about Toyota with a redesigned look and modern tech that makes life behind the wheel easier than ever. The new RAV4 comes standard as a hybrid providing smooth, efficient performance for both city streets and longer journeys. Enjoy the legendary reliability Toyota is known for in the All New 2026 RAV4. Learn and shop more at toyota.com. Toyota, let's go places.