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May 26, 2025 - Bannon's War Room

01:13:18

Episode 4513: WarRoom Memorial Day Special 2025

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Main voices

patrick k odonnel

11:49

steve bannon

26:35

Appearances

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jake tapper

00:08

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Speaker	Time	Text
unidentified		No more distractions.
		No more electric tanks.
		No more gender confusion.
		No more climate change worship.
		We are laser focused on our mission of warfighting.
		We'll measure our success not only by the battles we win, but also by the wars we end, and perhaps most importantly, the wars we never get into.
		It's called peace through strength.
		You look into the eyes of these young Americans who are giving up the best years of their life in a uniform to serve their nation.
		They are incredible.
		Through our power and might, we will leave the world to peace.
		Our friends will respect us.
		Our enemies will fear us.
		And the whole world will admire the unrivaled greatness of the United States military.
		Dramatic music
		We will replenish the pride of our armed forces, end the recruitment crisis.
		We don't fight because we hate what's in front of us.
		We fight because we love what's behind us.
		God bless you.
		God bless our own forces.
		God bless our men and women serving overseas.
		and God bless the United States of America.
		Okay.
		Thank you.
		Thank you.
		Thank you.
		Thank you.
steve bannon ▲ ● ▼		This is the primal scream of a dying regime.
unidentified		Pray for our enemies, because we're going medieval on these people.
steve bannon ▲ ● ▼		I got a free shot at all these networks lying about the people.
		The people have had a belly full of it.
		I know you don't like hearing that.
		I know you try to do everything in the world to stop that, but you're not going to stop it.
		It's going to happen.
jake tapper ▲ ● ▼		And where do people like that go to share the big lie?
unidentified		MAGA Media.
jake tapper ▲ ● ▼		I wish in my soul, I wish that any of these people had a conscience.
unidentified		Ask yourself, what is my task and what is my purpose?
steve bannon ▲ ● ▼		If that answer is to save my country, this country will be saved.
unidentified		War Room.
		Here's your host, Stephen K. Vance.
		War Room.
		Here's your host, Stephen K. Vance.
steve bannon ▲ ● ▼		It is Monday, 26 May in the year of our Lord, 2025.
		It is Memorial Day in the year of our Lord, 2025.
		Today, we will be giving a live coverage of the President of the United States.
		We'll leave the White House sometime after 10.30 this morning.
		He will go to Arlington National Military Cemetery in Northern Virginia, right across the memorial.
		bridge from the Lincoln Monument he will address he'll lay a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown the Tomb of the Unknowns and he will then make appropriate remarks and then he will exit and leave for his his place in the We will cover this live until the end of it, probably sometime around 1215 or so.
		We have the team we had at the historic first-time-ever wall-to-wall coverage on national television of the graduation of the United States Military Academy at West Point.
		Patrick O'Donnell will help me co-anchor today.
		Steve Gruber is attempting to get set up at Arlington National Cemetery.
		may start with Steve by phone until we get the camera set and of course we'll cover Right there you saw two videos put about the White House, just absolutely incredible.
		A new one with Pete Hegseth and President Trump about the warfighting and the focus on our warriors and, of course, an incredible –
		At the end, we played the last of the burial of the unknowns was the Korean War.
		That was 30 May 1958.
		I was at, what, four and a half years old.
		I went to that with my father and my older brother.
		I do have some memories of that.
		Number one is really the sound of the howitzers, which I think actually from the time the unknown soldier left with an honor guard from the capital to the time he got to Arlington, I believe the howitzers.
		It must have been a hundred of them.
		The Howitzers shot the entire time.
		It was an incredibly movie.
		Very hot day.
		I remember being over at Arlington at the memorial with the huge anchor that we kind of stood on because we didn't actually have VIP tickets.
		But that's the last thing I know.
		Patrick O'Donnell.
		The reason I ended with Korea, that's John Mills and our team, the election integrity team, going over to South Korea.
		And look at that reception they got.
		The reception, I think a couple of thousand South Koreans waving American flags for people coming to this really important election.
		It's going to go in with the Chinese Communist Party.
		Remember, the Korean War is not over.
		There's never been an armistice.
		I think the war is not over.
		It's just a stand-down, a ceasefire.
		And the Korean War is with us.
		And today, it's not Veterans Day.
		We don't honor veterans.
		Today is a day for the honored dead, the war dead of our nation.
		Patrick K. O'Donnell, you've done more than anybody to really lay this out.
		Your book, you really go back to the very first of the unknowns, and you do the entire how we did it in World War I. I want to ask you, though, about the last one, and particularly the Korean War.
		Of all the wars we fought and all the bloody conflicts we fought, Korea is called the Forgotten War.
		And yet it was – the sacrifice of American troops in Korea was absolutely incredible.
		And of course a couple of years after the war when it was still seared into the memories of the American people.
		President Eisenhower and Vice President Nixon had this incredibly moving ceremony with, I don't know, millions of people, hundreds of thousands of people.
		The crowds were absolutely enormous.
		They came out on Memorial Day, 30 May 1958, in searing heat, and people were there for the entire thing and just to commemorate the last of the unknown.
		Patrick O'Donnell, your thoughts?
patrick k odonnel ▲ ● ▼		Steve, a good friend of mine was at that ceremony that you were there.
		And he was the body bearer for that casket of that unknown soldier from the Korean War.
		He was a Medal of Honor recipient who I had the honor of interviewing many times, and his name was Ron Rosser.
		And Ron, in 1952, did some really extraordinary things.
		His platoon was reduced from over 100 men to around 30, and he single-handedly handed the radio off.
		To one of his men and single-handedly charged a bunker with just a grenade in his M1 carbine, took out the bunker, then went after a trench line.
		I'll never forget, he told me very solemnly how he killed many, many people that day, and then proceeded, as he was wounded, to carry off men that were in that attack as well.
		Near the attack, bringing them to safety and receiving the Medal of Honor.
		And just, you know, really an incredible man that I'll never forget.
		You know, I mean, this guy was so tough.
		He talked about, he told me about some of the home invasions that occurred, that he was able to also single-handedly take care of business.
		That's how tough this guy was, even in his 70s and 80s.
		Just a really remarkable man.
steve bannon ▲ ● ▼		Yeah, I remember the Clint Eastwood film was about a Korean War.
		But Korea's, they call it the Forgotten War, but it's not forgotten to veterans.
		It's not forgotten to the Marine Corps or the U.S. Army that really relatively untrained troops, because World War II was over, relatively untrained troops were sent over there and really fought the Chinese Communist Party, a red Chinese army of, I don't know, millions that swept across the Yalu River.
		And places like Chosin Reservoir, except there are just so many heroic – give me a snapshot.
		We've got a couple of minutes.
		We're going to set up Steve Gruber.
		We're going to go to Gruber when we come back from commercial break, who actually is at Arlington, and we'll show you the crowd that's already assembled there awaiting the president and the official party.
		Talk to me about Korea, Chosin Reservoir.
		People forget the absolute agony of these troops that fought and died in Korea.
patrick k odonnel ▲ ● ▼		I've written 14 books now.
		And all those books have found me.
		And that was particularly the case with Give Me Tomorrow, which is on the Korean War.
		And when I came back from Fallujah as a combat historian, I came back alone.
		And I was greeted by men of George Company 3-1, these Korean War vets.
		And they asked me, you know, who I was.
		I told them I was in Fallujah.
		And they said, oh, you carried our battle guide on George Company and Weapons Company 3-1 in the battle.
		And then they said to me, would you like, you know, a ride to the train station and have lunch with us?
		And then they proceeded to tell me how George Company at the Chosen Reservoir, you know, just sort of picture 30 to 40 degree below zero weather, no food against Chinese, just hordes of Chinese soldiers.
		And that's what these men did.
		They held a hill against all odds and helped save the war.
		And I was immediately impressed.
		And the next thing I know, they're inviting me to their reunions, and I spent five years recording their stories and coming up with Give Me Tomorrow.
		And it really was a forgotten war.
		I'll never forget, I had tremendous doubt within the publishing industry whether or not even a book like this would be successful.
		It turned out to be one of my most successful books.
		It was on the Commandant's reading list at one point.
unidentified		But it's about, it's a band of brothers on board companies.
steve bannon ▲ ● ▼		I want to reiterate that.
		We'll talk about it more when we get back.
		When you proposed the book, which is one of the most moving books of the 14 you've written, which are all classics, the publishing industry said, Korea is just not that big a deal.
		People don't know about it.
		We don't know if we can do it.
		Patrick, hang on.
		I want to get into this.
		Steve Gruber is at Arlington National Cemetery.
		President Trump will be leaving shortly following on his historic commencement address at the United States Military Academy at West Point where he told these young about to become second lieutenants, I will never put you in harm's way on a war that we're not prepared to win.
		What is it, 60-some years later, in Korea, a team are going over on election to make sure the Chinese Communist Party does not complete a coup of South Korea.
		These wars are not over.
		They ain't over till they're over.
unidentified		back in a moment.
steve bannon ▲ ● ▼		Okay, welcome back.
		And let's keep that shot.
		Let's keep the music, guys.
		Don't bring it down.
		That's the United States Marine Corps ban.
		At the amphitheater.
		See, looks like a Navy chorus in the back.
		This is a musical part of the event before the President arrives.
		We are live at Arlington National Cemetery today for the Memorial Day Commemoration event.
		The President of the United States will leave the White House shortly.
		To go to Arlington, it's about 10 minutes down Constitution Avenue, across Memorial Bridge, past Lincoln Memorial, across Memorial Bridge.
		Steve Gruber is there.
		Steve Gruber, put us in the room like you did the great job you did at West Point.
		What's happening?
unidentified		I can tell you it's a remarkable event.
		The emotion in the room is It feels, as you can hear the music in the background.
		It's a solid event.
		I've had the opportunity to talk to a number of veterans.
		A couple of them I just spoke to.
		World War II veterans.
		I sent you a picture, Steve.
		I don't know if you can get it up.
		One was 97. One was 98. Both from Brooklyn, by the way.
		The 98-year-old little gentleman was running the ships that ran the beaches of Normandy.
		The other gentleman was farther North African and came up around.
		From the other flank to go into France following D-Day.
		And so the stories you hear here, pointed, real.
		And you look at the people that have...
		And it's no small measure.
		From Concord and Lexington, to the Revolutionary War, the War of 1812, and all the concrete sense that people have laid down their lives in the last
		I don't think there's a more important place to be on Memorial Day 2025 than being here, looking at Donald Trump for the living remarks here a little bit later.
		He'll be leaving the White House in about 20 minutes or so.
		But it's a remarkable event.
		The place is full.
		Standing room only is for people to see the stream in.
		And it's a privilege, honestly, to be here for me.
		It really is.
steve bannon ▲ ● ▼		No, it's a day.
		It's very solemn.
		And let's go ahead and listen.
unidentified		Let's go and listen to this music.
		When the president died, didn't you?
		Yeah, you're always going to know.
		Let me walk with my brother in perfect harmony.
		Let peace begin with me.
		Let peace be the moment now.
		With every step I take, let this be my strong power.
		To take this moment in peace.
		Let this be my solemn vow.
		Let this be my solemn vow.
		To take this moment in peace.
		Let this be my solemn vow.
		Let there be peace on earth.
		And let it begin with me.
		With me.
steve bannon ▲ ● ▼		You just saw Steve.
		We see the Honor Guard coming into the left.
		Continue on, Steve Gruber.
unidentified		Yeah, the Honor Guard's making their way by me right now as we speak.
		And, you know, it is an honor to be here.
		420,000 people in Arlington.
		And I've always found it remarkable, Steve.
		You probably have as well.
		You walk around and you see Ohio and Missouri and Montana.
		All the different states represented in the rows of White Crosses here.
		There's no better place, no more space, more special than Washington National Cemetery on Memorial Day to reflect on those that laid down their lives.
		For us to be here today, to enjoy this great American experiment, it's a remarkable place to be, a solemn day, but a day of remembrance and a day that there's nothing more American than respecting our fallen.
		And I'm really looking forward to remarks by President Trump, as there's obviously a new direction for this country, a new dedication to putting America first.
		And I think that that's on the minds I saw many red hats and Trump-supporting individuals here.
		Obviously, they have embraced the direction that they're going.
		And it's a special place to be.
		And I'm looking out the back of the Amplicated Cross, the rows of white crosses, and the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, all right here.
		It's a special place.
		Wow.
steve bannon ▲ ● ▼		The most sacred ground in the United States, of course, any military cemetery is, but particularly Arlington.
		Arlington is also the home of Robert E. Lee and Mary Custis, who was a direct descendant of George Washington.
		It was basically confiscated or taken by the Union in the years of the Civil War to bring the war dead back and to be buried.
		That's the beginning of Arlington.
		The Custis House is...
		I'm very honored.
		Although we come from the South and have a lot of Southerners from North Carolina particularly that serve, my great-grandfather is buried at Arlington National Cemetery, Charles Edward Jack, who fought with the 1st Maine Cavalry.
		His brother did also.
		My great-grandmother is buried there.
		And one of my great-uncles, Captain Bannon Moe, has both of her great-grandparents there, Colonel McKinnon.
		Who served with MacArthur and actually served with MacArthur, I think, in the Philippines interwar years.
		Colonel McKinnon and his wife and his son, John, are buried there.
		They're Moe's great-grandparents on her mother's side and her great-great-grandparents on her dad's side.
		Buried at Arlington National Cemetery.
		It's an honor to have relatives buried there.
		Just incredible.
		Patrick K. O'Donnell, Korea.
		The last known but to God, the Tomb of the Unknown, the last is Korea because of modern technology.
		Haven't had an opportunity in either wars in Iraq, Afghanistan, or Vietnam.
		So the last was 30 May 1958.
		I was four and a half years old on a brutally hot day in Washington with, I don't know, felt like millions of people.
		Talk to me about the Korean War, the sacrifice of these troops, many of them untrained, thrown into some of the fiercest combat that America's ever had.
unidentified		music
patrick k odonnel ▲ ● ▼		And it is in many ways the Forgotten War, where tens of thousands of Americans laid down their lives to protect freedom and to check communism, which was spreading around the globe.
		This is an extraordinary struggle and conflict that happened.
		And remarkably, these were men that had never gone through, many of them had never gone through boot camp itself.
		And it would be on the ships in 1950, in the summer of 1950, that they would be trained by the great NCOs that were part of George Company, men that fought along the Matanakau River.
		At Guadalcanal and Peleliu, men like Rocco Zulu who trained these men aboard ships as they were going to Korea.
		And they were on the first wave at Blue Beach at Inchon, where Korea was reduced in 1950, in the summer of 1950, going into the fall to a small perimeter around Pusan, which was nearly overrun.
		And it was at Inchon that MacArthur makes the Great Gamble.
		And it's this flanking maneuver where they land near Seoul and they surprise the enemy.
		You know, everything had to go perfectly right because the tides were so, you know, at such a point where only a specific day or two the landing would actually be successful.
		And that's one of the reasons why it was so successful is because of the unexpected nature of it.
		And MacArthur timed that perfectly.
		And also I had to convince the general staff that it was possible.
		And it would be the men of George Company and many others.
		The Marine Corps would lead the way.
steve bannon ▲ ● ▼		Hey, Patrick, Patrick, let's just hang on for a second.
		Let's get America the Beautiful.
		Let's go ahead and turn the volume up.
		We'll go back to the amphitheater.
unidentified		We'll come back to Patrick in a moment.
		From sea to shining sea, America!
		America!
steve bannon ▲ ● ▼		Patrick O'Donnell, continue on.
steve bannon ▲ ● ▼		Tell me about Korea.
patrick k odonnel ▲ ● ▼		Yeah, it was the men of George Company and many, many others.
		You know, at the time, in World War II, we had over 12 million men and women under arms.
		And, you know, the war ends and we immediately demilitarize.
		And much of that goes down to less than around a million men.
		And it would be the Marine Corps that would actually...
		And MacArthur, you know, in 1950, they reconstitute the 1st Marine Division.
		And the Marines are the spearhead at Inchung and lead the way.
		And they're at Blue Beach.
		They land, but the seawall is actually so high that it actually, the top of the landing craft door.
		It's near the seawall, so they have to use scaling ladders to climb up the end of the landing craft to get across the seawall, and they're immediately met by incoming fire, but they quickly seize Incheon, and then they're involved in Seoul, Korea, and the fighting there.
		George Company takes the brunt of a Chinese, or I should say North Korean, at this time it would be a North Korean counterattack.
		Which involved several self-propelled guns and T-34-85 tanks at Maupau Boulevard, which is in the heart of Seoul.
		And I have one great story by John Kerry, who was a lieutenant at the time.
		And he is literally General MacArthur is walking down the street and in broad daylight without any cover, walks down the street and yells.
		MacArthur said, what the hell are you doing, Lieutenant?
		I'm trying to protect you from the bullets.
		And MacArthur just looks up at him and says, there's not a bullet in the world that can kill me.
		That's kind of how bold this man was, beginning with, you know, prior to World War I, where he was involved in Mexico.
		And in World War I, he had just sort of this era of invulnerability.
steve bannon ▲ ● ▼		One was awarded – people realize, forget that MacArthur was awarded five silver stars for gantry in combat in World War I, his father having won the Congressional – being awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor in the Civil War.
		Patrick, hang on one second.
		I want to go back to Steve Gruber.
		Steve, get us up to date.
		What's going on at the amphitheater?
unidentified		We've had the parade of flags here just a moment ago.
		Now, I learned something, as I always do on these events.
		I learned that when President Trump steps foot on the cemetery grounds, the cannons will set off.
		And so you will know when the commander-in-chief is at Arlington because the cannons will be touched off and we'll know that he's here.
		From that point, he'll go lay the wreath, and it'll take only a few minutes, and he'll be here to give remarks now.
		We're expecting him to leave the White House in the next few minutes.
		To make his way to Arlington, we'll hear the cannons fire, and then we'll know the commander-in-chief, the 45th and 47th president of these United States will be on the grounds, the sacred ground.
steve bannon ▲ ● ▼		Steve, that's the most searing memory I have from 1958, is the howitzers.
		I think they were down outside the Capitol, but when the remains of the unknown from the Korean War went with an honor guard, the Howardsters, I believe, fired the entire time until the official party with the body, with the remains.
		and General Eisenhower and Richard Nixon actually got to Arlington.
		It took like 15, 20 minutes.
		It was incredibly powerful, incredibly powerful.
		So we'll know when the commander-in-chief arrives today at Arlington, they'll do that.
		Steve, it is packed today.
		It is a combination of things.
		including all the way back now to the last of the greatest generation in World War II.
		Your thoughts, sir?
unidentified		You know, I wrote in here today with one of the Real America's voice photographers, Tony.
		His grandfather is buried here at Arlington.
		And he talked about how powerful it is for him to come here.
		And I can imagine it's the same for all these families, relatives that are distant.
		I had a relative that fell in Gettysburg, not here at Arlington, but still, it's a family legacy.
		It's what's handed down through the generations.
		your father, your grandfather, your great-grandfather served.
		And for people to come here to etch the name of their loved one, their fallen one, whether it's I mean, this is a generational, emotional day for these families.
		It's the family history, and it's also the diary, the family history of America.
		It's here.
		It's in these tombstones.
		And like I say, you see the tombstones from California, from New Mexico, from North Dakota, and all points, Guam.
		American Samoa.
		People in this cemetery, real Americans, who served their country in so many times of need.
		Of course, you talk about the Korean War.
		I think MacArthur was probably right, Steve.
		We probably should have gone right on the way to Beijing.
		President Truman didn't think that was a good idea.
steve bannon ▲ ● ▼		Stephen, 67 years later, South Korea.
		Remember, the Korean War is not over.
		There's never been any peace treaty.
		It's really kind of an armistice.
		It's kind of a ceasefire.
		And Korea, that's what I wanted to start with.
		That airport where Colonel John Mills and Dr. Thayer and others in the war room over there with Ambassador Tan is in Incheon.
		You land in Incheon and you get the understanding of what amazing amphibious assault that was and how it swept around the Seoul, Korea.
		But no, Korea is the tip of the spear and particularly...
		Many of them didn't even have weapons, just wave after wave of humanity.
		Today, you've got in Taiwan, and we've got to be blunt about this, is that these are not exercises they're doing.
		This is a preparation for an invasion.
		And President Trump, in his peace-tooth strength, this heroic – really, Steve, one of the most powerful speeches I've ever heard President Trump give was on Saturday at West Point where he committed to those young men that never again will American troops be put into a conflict, that we're not there to win it.
		No more of these forever wars.
		Your thoughts?
unidentified		I could not possibly agree more.
		I mean, as you sit here and look across these fields of white marble, you have to hope, as President Trump concludes his Middle East trip with Saudi Arabia, UAE, Qatar.
		As he works to negotiate peace between Ukraine and Russia, as he works to bring the hospital to a close in Gaza, he wants these fields to remain open, not filled with white headstones.
		He wants these fields to remain open, and as do I. I mean, he is a president of peace.
		Yes, will we pay the price if we have to?
		We will.
		He's made this very clear.
		But you're right.
		What he said at West Point was stirring.
		We don't want endless wars.
		The nation building, the nonsense is over.
		The horror that we saw at Abbey Gate, that sort of incident, that sort of embarrassment is over.
		We cannot do that anymore.
		Yeah.
steve bannon ▲ ● ▼		That address at West Point, the United States Military Academy, on commencement address, coupled with today… What is happening today is far bloodier than what happened between September 1939 and the invasion of Russia by the Wehrmacht in June of 1941.
		And that was bloody.
		But if you add up the Blitz, you add up North Africa, you add up the fall of France, throw in Finland, everything that happened there, you're only about half.
		And that was bloody and it shocked people, but that was only half of what's happened.
		And let's be blunt, President Trump, of all the pressure he has on him, you know, he, Steve, he was, and Patrick, he was, came off the hook on Putin this morning, last night and this morning.
		And people have to realize that President Trump trying to end these endless wars, particularly on the Eurasian landmass, The Russians had a brutal assault on bombing of Kiev with drones.
		And President Trump goes, I mean, called Putin out.
		So these things are a long way from over.
		And people have to understand when we talk about budgets, we talk about the invasion of the country and the deportations and the judges and everything.
		The pressure on President Trump to end these kinetic wars is, and he's doing a Herculean task.
		And Steve Gruber, you said it.
		What President Trump doesn't want to do, he doesn't want to open up another section next to Section 60. He doesn't want to fill these sections.
		He believes that peace through strength, that he's prepared to commit troops.
		Nobody will cross Trump.
		That's why we didn't have the Ukraine war.
		That's why you didn't have the event in Gaza.
		But today, with these families mourning their loved ones and the nation mourning the honored dead of our military.
		You have to understand that we're in the middle of it just like in 1930.
		This is like 1940, early 1941, Steve Gruber.
unidentified		Let me jump in there, Steve.
		I've got a whole motorcade.
		I'm just out the back door of the amphitheater here.
		The whole motorcade appears to be pulling up right in front of me.
		I've got the whole shooting match here.
		I got no camera on it because it's pointed the other direction, my friend.
		But I can tell you I've got a line of Suburbans and ambulances and military equipment.
		So something's happening here as they prepare for it.
		We wait for those cannons to sound.
		But they're getting into position to welcome the President of the United States.
		I can tell you that right now.
		Bye.
steve bannon ▲ ● ▼		you The President's there.
		Patrick K. O'Donnell, this is, we've had the, we're going to have this event at, and by the way, we'll jump back to live coverage as soon as I get started.
		Patrick, we've done this since the First World War, which you covered so magnificently in your book, that was decided like France and like England, that America would have a tomb for the unknowns, for those who were so shattered in battle that they could not be identified.
		Talk to us about that.
patrick k odonnel ▲ ● ▼		Steve, the First World War, you know, America plays an absolutely critical role, especially in the finance, the world finance of that war.
		It's America's treasury that really finances the war.
		It's America's arsenal then of democracy, which is the production, the massive production, beginning in 1914 with TNT, which is used to make artillery shells and everything else.
		It's America's arsenals and America's industry that powers the Allies.
		If it didn't exist, our money and manufacturing, the Allies would have folded.
		And then it's in 1917 that the American Expeditionary Force under Black Jack Pershing comes in and is this decisive factor.
		It's the millions of American troops that will literally break through the major defensive lines that have been goring allied armies for four years and contributing to the deaths of tens of millions around the world of this global conflict.
steve bannon ▲ ● ▼		Patrick, our combat – Our combat casualties in World War I were huge, right?
		The fighting itself.
		The Germans essentially surrendered because they knew the allies with America would overwhelm them.
		But the combat casualties of the First World War were massive compared to the amount of time.
		I think we were only in active combat for six months, and particularly the surge at the end.
		But the combat casualties were, and it shocked the nation.
		The nation was not prepared for the amount of casualties that took place in World War I, sir.
patrick k odonnel ▲ ● ▼		It's absolutely true.
		It's the amount of time.
		It's a very short window of time.
		But the intensity of the combat, the massive artillery barrages, the gas.
		And then what also people don't forget, that often forget, is the pandemic that swept the world, that caused tens of millions of deaths as well.
		All these things are combined, but it's America's decisive role at the end that will crack the German lines and change the war.
		And the takeaway from that war is preparation.
		America typically is never prepared for the wars or the next war that it needs to fight.
		And World War I, we were wolves.
		Compared to the world powers, but it quickly built up and we were able to quickly ramp up production.
		But as you said, Steve, today, these are some of the most perilous times in history.
		And, you know, the smallest events can trigger, you know, massive, have massive unintended consequences.
		And it's a very dangerous time that, you know, prudence and preparation are absolute.
steve bannon ▲ ● ▼		It's dangerous because, yeah.
		I don't want to politicize this, but it's dangerous because of, and the engine room is telling you, things like Abbey Gate, where America looks feckless and weak, right?
		With, what, 11 Marines, 13 overall, brave young heroes essentially slaughtered on a botched withdrawal.
		this is what president Trump is trying to reset.
		This is what the parents look, the parents, uh, and the wives and husbands of, uh, But they want to make sure that there was a purpose to it, number one.
		And number two, that it was handled at the absolute highest level of competence.
		They want purpose and competence.
		Let me be blunt.
		That is not, that is, we've drifted away from that.
		And that is what President Trump's trying to reinstall, not simply in the military, but in the American people and the way they look so that these are, you know, that Memorial Day just doesn't become another great time to get sales and another great time to, you know, to have a barbecue with friends.
		That's all part of it.
		It's the traditional kickoff of summer.
		This is the most important.
		That's why President Trump, I think, goes out of his way, particularly on Memorial Day weekend, to both go to the United States Military Academy at West Point, give historic speech to these young men and women who will be made second lieutenants on that day and enter the military as the tip, you know, the cutting edge of the spear to commit to them and then to come back to Washington and to come at this really sacred ceremony that we've had.
unidentified		You know, let me reflect on what you just said there, Steve, because there was a time when I was young, 1980, I believe, cover of Time magazine showed the burned-out helicopters and the failed rescue attempt of the hostages in Iran.
		And there was a time on a feeling of weakness in America when Jimmy Carter was president.
		And then you fast forward to what Donald Trump inherited.
		There was four years of weakness.
		And Ronald Reagan had to come in and correct that in 1980.
		And I feel that Donald Trump had to come in and correct it beginning in January of this year.
		And I think that's the reflection.
		And that's the comparison I make when I was a young man, seeing that horrible, burned-out failure of that rescue attempt in the desert by Jimmy Carter.
		There was a feeling of ineptitude.
		And honestly, watching Joe Biden for the last several years, that same feeling.
		And people didn't have confidence.
		If you talk about the widows and the sons and the daughters, they want confidence.
		You're exactly right about that, Steve.
		They want confidence and they want confidence.
		And when we go do something, we do it with overwhelming force.
		We do it with a precision, with an effectiveness, second to none.
		And I agree with that.
		Here at Arlington in the amphitheater, we're waiting for the sound of the cannons.
		Donald Trump should be en route to Arlington now.
		The helicopter's in the air.
		The first motorcade came in with all the military folks, the D.C. Police, the United States Park Police, and everyone here behind the amphitheater.
		So the stage is set.
		There was a moment there, I can see the gate where they're letting in the Now I see they're flowing through again.
		The place is packed, standing room only, and they're still bringing more people in, which is incredible.
		But I, you know, I can't help, but the second what you said there, Steve, I mean, we need to be the single strongest nation on earth so that we don't have to fight, so we don't have to open up a section 61 and 62. You're so right about that.
steve bannon ▲ ● ▼		You know, Steve, what Patrick O'Donnell said about people like MacArthur, I mean, Trump's trying to find those MacArthur's, those patents.
		He wants American exceptionalism on the battlefield.
		He wants American exceptionalism in defense so that we're never crossed.
		Personal experience, I was a young naval officer on the carrier battle group, two of them, Gonzo Station and Camel Station, that did the workup for that.
		For that rating, I can tell you as a junior officer, we would sit there and go, this thing is not pulled together tight.
		I mean, they didn't have enough helicopters.
		It was a cluster.
		And months and months of training and coming together for absolute debacle.
		And then I came back to the Pentagon and served under Reagan.
		And the difference in esprit de corps, the difference in confidence, the difference one person can make that difference.
		The difference between Reagan and Carter.
		Remember, Carter was a naval officer.
		Carter had gone to the Naval Academy as a submarine officer.
		But it's just a feeling throughout that we were not the top of the game.
		We were not exceptional.
		And we were not playing to win.
		We were not there to put people in harm's way.
		There was no confidence, I can tell you, in the carrier battle groups, at least at the junior officer level, that the hostage rescue was anything but just some madcap scheme.
		And it turned out to be even worse than madcap scheme.
		That was totally different.
		Look, my kid brother...
		That was highly competent, took care of it, and sent Gaddafi to the desert for a couple of decades and got his mind right about radical jihad.
		That's the difference.
		This is Trump.
		Mo served in Iraq under Obama.
		Right?
		When you sign up, you're going to get, you know, you don't get to pick your commander-in-chief, but the difference of a Ronald Reagan, the difference in the Donald Trump is all the difference in the world.
		And this is what you're seeing, trying to imbue.
		We're awaiting the presence.
		Gruber is at the Amphitheater.
		Patrick O'Donnell, your thoughts on...
		Those families of the dead that are in Arlington today, they ask one thing, two things.
		There's a purpose to all this and that it's handled at the highest level of competence, sir.
patrick k odonnel ▲ ● ▼		It's all about leadership, Steve.
		It's indispensable.
		And as you mentioned, the commander-in-chief's leadership will change policy, will change everything.
		That's been missing for four years and now is back.
		And these are some of the most perilous times where unintended consequences on single events can change history very rapidly.
		So it's absolutely essential to have leadership at the top, which will then go at all levels of the military and also.
steve bannon ▲ ● ▼		You talk about changing history.
		As the engine room reminds me, it was Abbey Gate that really, of course, here at the War Room, we were, you know, from the beginning, you know, not pro-Biden.
		But Abbey Gate, I think, woke middle-class America and people who are independents or Democrats who were not Trump people to say.
		What is going on here?
		When you see the C-130s and the C-5s going down the runways with people hanging onto the wings, it looked worse than Vietnam in 1975.
		And that's the thing with our Vietnam veterans.
		Was it 57,000 KIAs?
		And we don't have anyone.
		We don't have anyone.
		That is honored in the Tomb of the Unknown because of DNA technology.
		That it's very difficult today to not be identified, which is positive for the families, obviously.
		But you look at the debacle in Vietnam and the heroism.
		In these wars that are forgotten, like in Korea or Vietnam, which people want to look away from.
		Or even today in the beginning of the Iraq and Afghanistan war, those 20 years, the heroism of these young people is extraordinary.
		And it goes back to Normandy.
		It goes back to Guadalcanal.
		goes back to cemetery ridge it goes back to Right now we're in the middle of – we've had the 250th anniversary of Lexington and Concord just a couple of weeks ago.
		We had the 250th anniversary of Ticonderoga.
		Right now in American history, they're dragging the guns of Ticonderoga to Boston for the defense of Boston.
		We're about to have one of the most heroic engagements of the American military at Bunker Hill or Breeds Hill coming up with the guns of Ticonderoga.
		It's absolutely extraordinary all the way back to the founding of this republic and even before in the French and Indian Wars, the American martial spirit.
		And that's people are prepared to sacrifice, but they want to make sure there's a purpose to the sacrifice and competence.
		And that's what President Trump committed on Saturday.
		It's peace through strength.
		I'm not going to fight forever wars.
		We're not going to throw away young people's lives in these policing actions.
		We're going to have peace, true strength.
		But when we commit, we're going all in and we're going to commit to victory, an overwhelming force to have victory.
		Patrick K. O'Donnell, your thoughts?
patrick k odonnel ▲ ● ▼		The American way of war, as you say, Steve, is really forged during the American Revolution.
		And that American way of war is, you know, using overwhelming firepower, using intelligence.
		But also it's about prudence in attacking.
		You know, not needlessly, you know, wasting the lives of Americans, but going after an objective and winning.
		And, you know, that's the important thing.
		But it's also about, you know, the proper military strategy.
		I mean, General Washington, in my view, is one of the greatest military commanders because he's able to change course of a major strategy midstream during the war multiple times.
		You know, he has a Fabian strategy, and then he, you know...
		He doesn't attack a superior army, uses a regular warfare properly.
		And then, you know, as the war ends, or as it comes, you know, this is an eight-year war.
		He's able to hold things together internally.
		He's able to manage allies, which is an incredibly, you know, important thing.
		And you don't see that in a commander in chief until Blackjack Pershing in World War I, where he has to manage allies as well.
		So he has an incredible role that he plays in really forging the American way of war.
		And so much of our theory of war comes from the American Revolution.
		I had family members at Lexington and Concord, that, you know, it spans all the way back, that DNA spans all the way back to the American Revolutionary War.
steve bannon ▲ ● ▼		Timmer.
		You know, Steve Gruber put us, I guess I said, the president's left, I think, the White House.
		He's en route to Arlington National Cemetery.
		The Marine Corps band is playing.
		There's a group of American citizens, of really families of the fallen, and also veterans of our current war, and particularly the greatest generation.
		Walk us through what's going on, sir.
unidentified		You know, as I mentioned here earlier, it's a great privilege to be here.
		I met these two veterans of World War II.
		And I was thinking about, you know, when I was born, when you were born, World War II had only been done for a few years.
		Korea had only been done for a couple of years when you were born.
		So when I grew up, I knew lots of veterans from World War II, certainly from Vietnam and Korea.
		Most of those are gone now.
		I mean, the two gentlemen I met from World War II, one that was, you know, putting the ships toward the shores of Normandy.
		He's 98 years old.
		The other gentleman that died in North Africa and then on to France, 97 years old.
		Our access to their memories, to their experiences, fading quickly.
		And we need to embrace that.
		We need to educate.
		That's something else about having Donald Trump as commander-in-chief, is having to educate people about what a remarkable country we are.
		I mean, you look at Providence in some of these battles that have been being discussed in the Battle of New Orleans.
		You go to the Capitol burning in the War of 1812 and the provincial rainstorm that came to put the fire out or the Battle of Midway, which was clearly unwinnable.
		We didn't have the numbers.
		The Japanese did.
		And yet, by providence, this nation is here.
		And in large part by the 420,000 graves that spread around me here at Arlington today.
		But it's time to teach our children again about the greatness of this nation and the people that have served it at all levels.
		In all capacities.
		And I feel it in the younger generation today more than I have in a long time, Steve, and that is a patriotism.
		When I see the students of North Carolina and Alabama tearing down other flags and putting the American flag up and defending the flagpole with honor, not because they're in the military, but because they're Americans, damn it, and it matters.
		Right?
steve bannon ▲ ● ▼		You're seeing also the recruiting pickup under President Trump.
unidentified		Absolutely.
steve bannon ▲ ● ▼		Parents particularly are comfortable that President Trump will be very judicious in the commitment of American troops.
		It's not that we're not going to fight.
		We're going to fight.
		Right now, I'm telling you, we're on a razor's edge, as Captain Fennell reminds me.
		We're on a razor's edge.
		Of this kinetic part of the Third World War expanding and drawing in the United States of America.
		So understand on this Memorial Day, this is just not for our honored dead.
		This is also for those you're looking at.
		And remember, the two gentlemen, he's talking about World War II.
		There were one that was on a beach landing craft at Normandy.
		They were probably, I think the math were said they were teenagers.
		You're talking about the young, you know, the casualty rates were always highest among the young.
		Right?
		In combat.
		And this is what President Trump has committed to.
		President Trump has committed to a judicious execution of American national security policy.
		At the same time, he's trying to put out really a brutal, kinetic part of the Third World War.
		And if you don't think it's brutal, look at what happened in Kiev last night.
		And as we said, the Russians are going to be tough to deal with.
		We believe it's imperative to pull the Russians away from the Chinese Communist Party.
		They hit Kiev last night to the fact that it got President Trump's dander up.
		The Marine Corps band playing some of the historic music of John Philip Sousa.
		Some of the great...
		Maybe we can bring that in on a split shot to you.
		Waiting the President's arrival.
		Gruber, you know, and Patrick, Section 60. I remember Andrew Breitbart.
		When Andrew brought a new house over by UCLA, it backed up to the Los Angeles National Military Cemetery that's right there in Westwood.
		It's right next to the 405.
		And the Section 60 there, the new section for Iraq and Afghanistan veterans.
		Andrew's house was kind of on a ridge overlooking it, but it was close to Andrew's house.
		It's one of the things, many things that really brought him from being a liberal to really being one of America's great patriots is seeing the young families, families of young widows and children and babies that would come and not just be there for the burials, but then come back over and over again to lay wreaths or just to – And it had a searing impact on him.
		And I agree with you, Steve.
		This is one of the things I think President Trump's going to get us back to, of more and more of these commemorations on days.
		I mean, as a veteran, I 100% agree with what he's trying to do on Veterans Day, is make it more about the ending of World War I. He's trying to get into people's memory the historical nature.
		Of the conflicts we've had and why they've been so important for the freedoms and liberty of the current generation and down through time.
		Steve Gruber, your thoughts?
unidentified		I agree with you on that.
		The 11th hour, the 11th day.
		November the 11th, of course, the end of World War I. And, you know, reflecting what you guys have been talking about there with Patrick and so forth, the number of people that died in that conflict for the America shocked the public.
		And he's right.
		From there, And again, as I said earlier, as I look at these rows of marble headstones, you reflect on this.
		This ripples through time, through generations, widows and families who have lost everything.
		And you talk about Andrew Breitbart seeing the young families come around and it changed his perspective.
		You can't help but be moved.
		By looking across these fields, and we don't want more of these fields.
		We want to create peace and strength.
		We cannot be where we were for the last four years.
		We have to make a step forward.
		We have to invest.
		We have to make sure that places, as you mentioned earlier, Taiwan and other places are defended against tyranny.
		Nothing more tyrannical than the Chinese Communist Party, without question.
		And you see what happened last night with the attack of the drones and the missiles and so forth.
		At least a dozen killed there.
		And Donald Trump, irate over it.
		How are you ever going to bring this war to an end if you continue to behave as such?
		It seems to me that Putin doesn't want the war to end.
		I'm not sure Zelensky does either, but Donald Trump does.
		Donald Trump wants that war to end because he knows the cost.
		And you can't help but be moved.
		You can't help but be moved looking at this place on any day.
		But no more so than today, on Memorial Day.
		And Donald Trump's message to the world is peace, but it's through strength, not weakness.
		It's not.
steve bannon ▲ ● ▼		Okay.
unidentified		It's taking the first step forward.
steve bannon ▲ ● ▼		Gruber and I are talking about this kind of – the kinetic part of the Third World War that our theory of the case has started, and President Trump is trying to stop it.
		But I make the argument all the time.
		This is much bloodier with a million and a half casualties dead and wounded in Ukraine and tens of thousands in Gaza right now.
		And you've got the Houthis.
		You've got – It is – you're the historian.
		I argue that this is actually bloodier than the start of – the traditional start of the European War of 1939 to 1941 on at least the European side.
		I guess if you put in the Chinese side and the global part of it, it might match it.
		But this is as bloody a conflict as we've ever seen, sir.
patrick k odonnel ▲ ● ▼		Yeah, the bookends of that war really – I mean, it begins in 1937 with the Marco Polo Bridge incident in many ways, and how China and Japan clash, and tens of thousands of Chinese and Japanese troops are killed even before 1939.
		And it just continues to go.
		And I think the key here really, though, is economics, it's preparedness, it's bringing back supply chains.
		And I'm just reminded of the Cold War, and that's the importance right now, is economics, and that will eventually win things.
		A kinetic war of World War III would be catastrophic, and something that the world might not be able to sustain.
steve bannon ▲ ● ▼		Patrick, let me toss back to the amphitheater.
		I think we're starting to get some activity, so let's hang on for one second.
		Patrick O'Donnell, combat historian.
unidentified		Let's go back to the amphitheater.
		Let's go back to the amphitheater.
		Let's go back to the amphitheater.
		Let's go back to the amphitheater.
steve bannon ▲ ● ▼		Let's go to Steve Gruber.
unidentified		Steve Gruber is in the, as we await the president.
steve bannon ▲ ● ▼		Steve Gruber, put us inside the amphitheater, sir.
unidentified		It is a packed event here today, standing room only, as families gather here, and, you know, just friends.
		Extended family, I suppose, because we're all Americans.
		Extended family, the police is packed.
		We're waiting to hear the report of a candidate.
		Not heard that yet.
		The Marine Band playing on Cape Town, a lot of standards, of course, for the military, and waiting for the President to arrive here today with the message of, oh, there are the cannons as we speak.
		The President is on the grounds of Arlington.
		So there you have the cannon just touched off.
		Name the commander-in-chief.
		There it is again.
		I'm sure you can hear that.
steve bannon ▲ ● ▼		He is here.
unidentified		Yeah, I'm sure.
		And there's a third report.
		He is on the grounds, the 45th and 45th.
steve bannon ▲ ● ▼		Should be a 21-gun salute, right?
unidentified		I would assume that is exactly correct.

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