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Join us for an engaging discussion on the intricate dynamics of global politics as President Trump takes a definitive stand against Iran’s nuclear ambitions. Featuring expert commentary from Jay Sekulow and other notable guests, this episode stresses the importance of standing with our ally, Israel, amid rising anti-Semitic rhetoric. Discover how conservative thought leaders are influencing the narrative and the vital role of the ACLJ in supporting peace and security across the globe.
SPEAKER 07 :
Today on Sekulow, we have a major update as President Trump issues a warning to Iran.
SPEAKER 06 :
Keeping you informed and engaged, now more than ever, this is Sekulow. We want to hear from you. Share and post your comments or call 1-800-684-3110. And now your host…
SPEAKER 07 :
Welcome to Seculo executive producer, Will Haines here with you today. And we have another jam packed show. If you missed yesterday’s broadcast, I recommend after we’re done today, you go back and listen because great insight from on the ground in Israel, as well as Jordan at the UN. But today in the next segment, we’ll be joined by ACLJ chief counsel, Jay Seculo talking about these developments in Israel and followed by Jordan later on in the broadcast, once again from Europe. And then we have former Director of National Intelligence Rick Grinnell joining us to round out the show today. A lot has happened since we came to you yesterday, including President Trump cutting short his visit to the G7 summit that was hosted by Canada yesterday. He left after the dinner with the heads of state last night to rush back to Washington, where he had convened the National Security Council for a late night session. There’s the pizza tracker that some people look at, and it seemed like a lot of people at the Pentagon We’re ordering pizzas late at night. And if you don’t know what I’m talking about, that is a fun thing people in D.C. like to do. They like to see how busy the Domino’s is nearby certain places when things seem to be going on. But President Trump put this out on True Social. Iran should have signed the deal I told them to sign. What a shame and waste of human life. Simply stated, Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon. I said it over and over again. Everyone should immediately evacuate Tehran. And on social media last night, you saw images of traffic jams as people rushed to get out of the capital city of Iran, seeming to take heed to the words of the president of the United States. Meanwhile… People that are tracking aviation movements for the U.S. military are showing that it seems to be the United States is sending a lot of military hardware over to the region. The Secretary of Defense, Pete Hegseth, he told the media that the United States is putting the assets needed to defend our troops in the region. And that is the movement you’re seeing that President Trump obviously, as he said, always would prefer to make a deal. But at the same time you’re seeing this, you’re also starting to see some people on the right, many who previously had pushback at anyone who had any sort of policy disagreement with the president. are now saying things like this could be the end of his presidency or this could be the end of his legacy. You’re seeing strange partnerships pop up like AOC retweeting Thomas Massey or you’re seeing some people that seem to be talking heads on the right that sound a lot like what Bernie Sanders is saying. It’s kind of a confusing time in conservative media world. And we’re going to get into that next with Chief Counsel Jay Sekulow. So stick around. You’re not going to want to miss that as we break down what some of the things we’re hearing in the United States from individuals on the right that are now critical of the president and his talk, tough talk, on the situation with Iran. we’re going to get into that and more like i said jordan seculo will be joining us again from europe from our office at the eclj in strasbourg france as well as rick grinnell later on but stick with me you’re not going to want to miss this segment in the next segment with chief counsel jay seculo And once again, if you like this broadcast, it helps get the word out to more people. And you can call me at 1-800-684-3110. But folks, this is the time to stand with Israel. And you can do that by supporting the ACLJ. Israel right now is handling the warfare. We are preparing to fight the lawfare. Stand with Israel. Stand with us. ACLJ.org. Become a monthly donor and ACLJ champion if you can at ACLJ.org slash champions. Welcome back to Sekulow. Executive producer Will Haines in the chair today. But I’m joined now by the ACLJ Chief Counsel Jay Sekulow. And we are going to be talking some about what we’re starting to see on the right. We see President Trump with strong statements about the Iranian program, saying they can never have nuclear weapons. We saw him leave the G7 summit early to get back and meet with the National Security Council late last night. But we’re starting to see some voices on the right that are now saying this could be the end of President Trump’s legacy. It could be the end of his presidency. We’re seeing AOC retweet Republican members of Congress. And I just wanted to get your take on what we’re starting to see out of some of the more loud voices on the right.
SPEAKER 09 :
Well, I want to be crystal clear on this, Will, and I want our audience to understand that. First of all, President Trump is 100% correct. A nuclear Iran is unacceptable, number one. Number two, can’t happen. It puts not just the region at risk, but it puts the entire world at risk. For instance, if the Iranians thought they could close the Straits of Hormuz with impunity, well, then could you imagine the costs of things like gasoline, oil? So this is not an acceptable situation, number one. So it’s not just Israel’s defense. It’s the region’s defense. Frankly, it’s the civilized world’s defense. And I think those that are saying this is the end of the president’s administration, if he backs Israel, let me tell you something. I know Tucker Carlson’s been saying that and others. Here’s the answer to that. You’re wrong. You’re wrong for two reasons. Number one, It will be his lasting legacy, eliminating the Iranian threat. That will be the lasting legacy of a president. We’ve been dealing with this as a country for over 50 years with the Ayatollahs. So that needs to come to an end. And the regime, in my view, needs to go. But those on the right, like Tucker and some of the others, that are saying, you know, we’re going to be America first. As the president said, he’s the one who determined, came up with the idea of America first. This is America first. Ending this threat puts America’s interest first, number one. It eliminates China and Russia’s influence in the region because they’re only captive states. For the Russians right now, and the Chinese, and the Syrians to a little bit lesser extent, only because they’ve had regime change. The only thing that stops that influence is taking out and taking the appropriate action to eliminate this nuclear threat. So, Will, when we’re talking about this, and to our ACLJ members and champions, I mean, Jordan met this morning with the U.S. consulate in Strasbourg, France, on these topics. And he’ll be reporting on that later. I’ve had calls this morning. and this afternoon already, dealing with these issues at the highest levels. So let me just tell you something. We have an office in Jerusalem that office is engaged. Our office in Washington, fully engaged. Our diplomatic offices at the European Center for Law and Justice, fully engaged. We’ve deployed teams throughout the world. We’re going to continue to do this. But I just want to say, I am backing the president 100% here. He’s correct. This approach is correct. When he said to people, get out of Tehran, he meant it. And by the way, Tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands of Iranians are leaving Tehran. It is going to, I think, Will, we’re on the precipice of some major change. I’ll just leave it at that.
SPEAKER 07 :
One of the main issues among many, but one of the issues I’m seeing with some of these criticisms of the president’s position and stature on this is one, These are many voices that always said, trust the president, and he’s a strong leader and things of that nature. But what they’re also allowing to do, some are flirting with anti-Semitism, some are fully going there. They are pushing the same old, tired, disgusting anti-Semitic trope that the Jewish people are the ones pulling the strings and controlling the U.S. president of the United States. And that’s what we’re starting to see spread, not on the left where you’d expect it, but we’re starting to see it within the conservative media space as well.
SPEAKER 09 :
Yeah, it’s disgusting in my view. And it started with people like Candace Owens and others that went and making these statements that go back. I mean, they go back generations, the anti-Semitism that’s coming out. And not only do I not like it as someone that has Jewish heritage, I mean, you know, it’s in my blood. And to Christians out there, I want you to remember what the Scriptures say. I will bless those talking about Israel. I will bless those that bless thee. I will curse those that curse thee. So I don’t have to add anything to the Scripture. So for conservative Christians or Christians generally that are listening to this, if you believe what the Bible says, okay, then we need to act on our beliefs.
SPEAKER 07 :
When you look at some people that may be hesitant for obvious reasons to get into an Iraq, something that is a protracted conflict that requires boots on the ground, things of that nature. And to some degree with no real end game, as we saw yesterday. play out in many ways under the Obama administration as it just continued to linger. Do you think, one, what we’ve seen from the president’s strategy, the way he dealt with ISIS, he was saying no new wars, but immediately was able to put down a very dangerous regional threat that some people are forgetting that the cabinet that’s in place, the team that president trump has put around him do things differently not the old guard way and that could potentially be what’s getting in the way of them seeing that the president is clear-eyed about what the mission is well i think look i think the confusion here is first first of all a nuclear a wreck a nuclear iran yeah i mean i just want you to think about that what it means uh to the world
SPEAKER 09 :
If the Ayatollah had a nuclear weapon, do you think for a moment they would hesitate in using it? Of course not. That’s how they bring in their version of a messiah. So this is a death cult. That’s what the Iranian regime is. It’s a death cult. And what we have to do is stand with the president, stand with our military, and get out there and understand that this is not just an Israel issue, this is a global issue. And by the way, Israel is our strongest ally, not just in the region, but one of our strongest allies in the world. So we don’t abandon our allies. So I think that’s what you’re seeing right now. But this underscored anti-Semitism is horrific. It’s got to stop. And it’s coming from the right as well as the left, the hard right, hard left. And it’s got to stop because the end result of this is what? The elimination of the state of Israel, let me tell you, I have read the Bible, and everyone that’s listening to this broadcast, if they haven’t, they should. Israel survives this. Okay? That we know. But what we cannot tolerate, listen, it’s a free country. People can speak their mind. They’re doing that. I mean, there’s this, you know, Tucker is fighting with Mark Levin. I mean, you know, it’s a real fracture within the conservative movement to some extent. But this isolation at Marjorie Taylor Greene, another one. But this isolationism that they’re trying to put forward is just ridiculous. And the president is never one that wants to initiate wars. I’ve worked with this guy since 2016, the president, and he’s hesitant about war, as he should be. Nobody wants it. But we’ve got to do whatever is necessary to protect our own interests as well as the interests of our allies in the region. There is not a negotiation there. And that’s why we at the ACLJ, uniquely positioned, both in Jerusalem, in Washington, in Europe, to engage this, and it’s exactly what we’re doing.
SPEAKER 07 :
Well, and I think that you will see later in this broadcast, we know the meetings Jordan had this morning, and he was dealing with some of these very issues with the U.S. consulate as well, about anti-Semitism in Europe and combating that and putting forward the America First agenda in a way that we’ve never seen Europe open to it. And we’re seeing real change around the world. But we are now having to push back against some voices in the conservative movement that seem to have forgotten what America first really means. Well, and you know what?
SPEAKER 09 :
You hate having to push back against your friends, but that’s what we’re having to do. You know, look, it’s a free country. As I said, people can agree or disagree. It’s a free country. But let’s talk about the policy here. Here’s the policy. Eliminate the nuclear threat in Iran. Is that a difficult concept to understand? They are weeks away from getting nuclear capacity that’s deliverable. We cannot have that. The IAEA, not friendly to Israel, this is a UN agency, said the same thing. They are weeks away from deliverability of a nuclear weapon. And they will not hesitate to use it. So the answer is clear. I think the president’s greatest legacy… will be eliminating the Iranian threat, at least one of his greatest legacy. I want to say a huge thank you here to our ACLJ members also and our champions. Yesterday was a huge financial day for the ACLJ. And folks, as you can see, we’re deployed all over the globe. We’ve been working on this around the clock. I mean, literally around the clock. and i’m going to tell you this and i mean this sincerely without your support we can’t do it so support the work of the aclj and become an aclj champion if you can with his monthly gifts or if you can and you can make a one-time gift break stand with us as we stand with israel and we stand with our president send a message to president trump we’re with you
SPEAKER 07 :
That’s important. Thank you for joining us in that important segment. And when we come back, we’re going to get into what does it mean when we say Iran is weeks away from a nuclear weapon. In ways that you can understand and push back on some of the talking points you’re seeing out of both the left and the right, saying that maybe Iran just wants peaceful nuclear power. Stick around. It’s going to be vital information for you as you go forward. Go to ACLJ.org. Welcome back to Seculo. In this segment, I do want to get into some of the discussion as people push back and say Iran doesn’t want a nuclear weapon or they do have a nuclear program, but for peaceful purposes. And that’s what the Iranians themselves say. So I want to get into that because I think it’s important on this broadcast, not just to give you talking points, but to give you real information. Because these conversations are going to be happening civilly, hopefully, with your friends, your colleagues, as you discuss what’s going on in the world. So I think it’s also important to empower you to have knowledge, not just talking points. And we see a lot of talking points online. But if you have questions as well, call me at 1-800-684-3110. I’ll try to get to as many calls as I can. That’s 1-800-684-3110. But let’s start with Iran’s premise that they want to develop nuclear power. They want to enrich uranium for peaceful civilian purposes. And so your first question may be, well, does Iran have nuclear power plants? Do they have a need for this or is that their goal? And the answer to that is yes. Iran currently has one nuclear power plant and they have plans to build two more, they say. So then you follow that trail and you go, okay, well, if they have one nuclear power plant and they are enriching uranium and they say it’s for peaceful purposes and they say that is for civilian use, not military use, how much of their current nuclear enrichment program goes to the power plant versus for other purposes? And if you were to sit there and think, you’d think, well, obviously, if that’s what they say, it’s for civilian use, it’s peaceful purposes, it’s got to be a large amount of it is actually going to that power plant. How about this? Zero percent. None of the enriched uranium that Iran is using, is making, creating, in these underground, heavily fortified bunkers, goes to that nuclear power plant. All of that enriched uranium comes from Russia. Russia supplies the fuel for the power plant. And then once that uranium is depleted, they take the fuel rods away back to Russia. So none of this enrichment that Iran is spending hundreds of billions of dollars on creating and developing is even going for the purposes they say it’s going for. Now, they also claim it’s for medical research. And by the way, that enrichment level is 3% to 5% enriched uranium for a nuclear power plant. 3% to 5%. Then you may need some more highly enriched uranium for medical research, for creating isotopes for medical research or imaging. In this, they bombard uranium with other elements to create isotopes that can be used in diagnostics and treatment. How much enriched uranium do you need for that? Well, it needs to be under 20%, but really between 10 and 20% enriched uranium. Right now, Iran, by their own admission, this isn’t people just speculating, thinking. Iran has told the world defiantly, we are enriching up to 60%. And they are still claiming that it is for civilian purposes, for peaceful purposes. That is a lie wrapped in a lab coat. Because what they are doing is they are putting themselves on the brink on the precipice of weapons-grade uranium. You don’t want 60% enriched uranium for a nuclear power plant. You want it 3% to 5%, which is what they get from Russia, because they can control the chain reaction much better, more safely with 3% to 5% enriched as opposed to 60%. So what’s the whole purpose of this 60% uranium, you ask? That is one step away from 90%, which is what they would want to put on a nuclear warhead to target Israel, to target U.S. bases, to target the United States itself. Why, if they are saying it’s for peaceful purposes, are they telling the world they’re enriching to 60%? Now, how long does it take to go from 60% to 90%? You hear they are days away. It would take the Iranians one week, to enrich their 60% uranium to 90% to have enough for one nuclear weapon. In a month, they could have six. In about five months, they could have 12. And now how do you go from 60% to 90%? You hear about centrifuges and underground facilities. Think of a salad spinner. where you wash lettuce for a salad, you put it in the bowl, you spin it, the water goes out to the side, you’ve got clean lettuce ready for a nice healthy summer salad. To get the isotope that is able to have a nuclear chain reaction, you have to separate it from an isotope found more abundantly in nature that doesn’t act that way. So they put it in these centrifuges and they spend 50,000 times a minute and it pushes uranium in a gas state, the more dense element, which is better, more highly enriched for the nuclear chain reaction, out to the sides. They collect that and they have to keep doing this to get it more highly enriched. By the time you’ve gotten to 60%, You have so much density of the element you need, the isotope you need. It’s a very quick jump. You’ve done 99% of the work. You’ve done all the hard stuff to get from 60% to 90%. And what are they stockpiling right now? 60% enriched uranium. They’ve told the world this. The IAEA, not friendly to Israel and the United States, has told the world they’re doing this. They’ve been stonewalling inspectors. If they want this to be a peaceful program for a nuclear power plant and two more, They would be enriching at three to five percent and they would be providing energy to their people. But they’re not. They’re spending billions and billions of dollars that the sanctions relief from the JCPOA and the Biden administration allowed to continue for them to make ballistic missiles, hypersonic missiles that can target Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, U.S. bases. They haven’t been spending it on their people. And that’s why you see people that are chanting death to the Ayatollah, that are standing up and seeing a moment where they could have a real future. The proud Persian people could return, not the Islamic Republic of Iran. So don’t let anyone tell you that Iran is trying to do this for peaceful purposes. They are posturing. They are saying, we will do it. And when you are a genocidal, theocratic death cult, that in order to bring out your twisted messianic era where Shia Muslims rule the entire world, they have to take out Israel. That is their theology. That is why the Iranians can never have a nuclear weapon. That’s why President Trump knows that’s the case. If ISIS had 60% in rich uranium, everyone in the world would say, take them out. Destroy that. They can’t be trusted with that. That’s what Iran is. Iran is not a stable, rational government. They are pursuing nuclear weapons to bring about global rule by ushering in the 12th Imam. That’s why they have to be stopped. They have to be thought about differently. And that’s why we stand with Israel and their action. And that’s why we stand with the president in saying they can never have a nuclear bomb. Now you stand with us and go to ACLJ.org. Donate today or become an ACLJ champion at ACLJ.org.
SPEAKER 06 :
Keeping you informed and engaged now more than ever. This is Sekulow.
SPEAKER 07 :
Welcome back to Sekulow’s second half hour. That was a jam-packed first half hour. If you missed it after the broadcast, go back and listen. We had Chief Counsel of the ACLJ, Jay Sekulow, on, and then I got into what the enrichment program even means. But I want to take some phone calls real quick. We’ve got Jordan coming up in the next segment and then Rick Grinnell. So let’s go to Brian calling on Line 1 from Virginia. Brian, you’re on the air.
SPEAKER 04 :
Hey, I appreciate what you do. I actually called last week, and I was asking or hoping that Israel would take care of business. So I’m glad that they took action because this is a righteous war they’re in. And if anything, I voted for Trump, but I think we should have actually been involved in the beginning just to help target all those rocket launchers so Israel would take less incoming ballistic missiles. But I’m glad, I hope, and pray that the president does take action Because you can’t let that death cult have a nuclear weapon. I mean, it just can’t happen because they would definitely use it. And like I said, this is a righteous war. And you’ve seen what they’ve already shot with those missiles, even like hypersonic missiles. They wouldn’t hesitate to use that. Plus, they spread their death cult terrorism all across the region with the proxies. So I almost think this is God’s way. I’m a Christian. I think this is God’s way, the way everything played out, even October 7th. as horrific as that was, it woke up the Jewish people, where they were able to take out Hamas and then Hezbollah, for the most part, take out their ring of fire, and then focus on Iran. And then even with the war in Ukraine and Russia, that’s all God’s providence, I think, because Russia’s been weakened so much that they can’t come to the aid of Iran, even with the pact they made between them and Iran and So I’m just thankful. Like I said, I see the way God’s providence is in all this.
SPEAKER 07 :
Brian, I agree with you 100%. I also, I think that it took a different administration. I think what we saw with October 7th was horrific. But if Israel won, they had to start with Hamas. But if they tried to go after the nuclear program of Iran under Joe Biden’s presidency, they would get cut off. the Biden administration would have sided with Iran. That’s what you’re seeing. You’re actually seeing people on social media that are siding with Iran, Americans. that are trying to take Iran’s side and be like, oh, the people of Iran don’t like this. They don’t want their ayatollahs to be overthrown. And it’s disgusting and it’s lies, but that’s why we’re here also bringing the truth every day. Let’s go ahead and take another call before we get to the end of this segment. Let’s go to Mary Ellen calling from Illinois, longtime listener and caller. Mary Ellen, you’re on the broadcast.
SPEAKER 01 :
Oh, thank you, Will. Appreciate everything you’re sharing. And just as you were about to, I was thinking the same thing about the IAEA report. When I had seen that recently and that Vienna Austrian scientist all confirming what’s going on behind the scenes, I thought to myself, Oh, doesn’t this, it’s like the whole world now and the IAEA is under the UN. And for them to come out with that report, I thought that’s telling a whole lot about these liars that we have over how many decades we’ve, with the ACLJ have listened to all of them lie as they keep stalling to get more, you know, enrichment and so on. And then yesterday I had seen that Fox News reported the images showing 2,500 acre span of some other hidden secret uranium site. So it’s like, praise the Lord for what President Trump and Netanyahu did.
SPEAKER 07 :
are doing in the name of jesus i say amen amen mary ellen thank you for calling yes once again i think the more that they are able to get in there and see what iran has been hiding but make no mistake as mary ellen said the iaea is not a big champion of israel They, to some degree, because they’re like, we have inspectors, just trust us, have been part of the thing holding back Israel. But for the first time in 20 years, the Board of Governors put out, Iran is not in compliance. That just happened last week as well. Folks, stand with Israel, stand with the ACLJ. We can’t get any of this information out to you without you standing with us. Go to ACLJ.org today and donate. Welcome back to Sekulow. We’re playing a little game this week. It’s called Where in the World is Jordan Sekulow? Yesterday, he was in the halls of the UN in Geneva. Today, he’s joining us from our offices, the ECLJ’s offices in Strasbourg, France. Jordan, good to see you in our offices. Once again, we’re talking about Israel. We’re talking about the hostilities that we’re seeing from Iran. It seems like their capabilities are lessening. We’ve seen the president now issue a direct warning to the people of Iran saying, get out of Tehran. And we’ve also seen those on the right that are saying that President Trump could be fracturing the MAGA wall. movement and ending his presidency early. Jordan, I just want to get your take on all of this as we’ve been talking about it today.
SPEAKER 05 :
Well, first of all, I think that the residents of Tehran have certainly realized and are taking to heart President Trump’s message as well as Israel’s message to them, which is that if you can get out of Tehran, get out of Tehran. And we’ve seen the imagery. We’ve seen the highways and the only going one way, and that’s outside of Tehran. So that tells you a lot about the residents there. I think inside even the Islamic Republic’s capital city where they have, you know, their major stronghold is that those residents have no interest in being martyrs for the cause of the Ayatollah and the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps. And, and, You know, this idea that somehow the base for President Trump or support for President Trump is fracturing. I think it’s just a couple of loud talking heads that have an anti-Israel bent and it’s coming out more and more. Some of that, again, I think is borderline anti-Semitism, something we discussed today, actually today in Strasburg in meetings that we had. But that’s a problem we’re seeing all over, unfortunately, the world, including the Western world, inside mostly academia and in our major cities because of kind of the left’s hold of those major cities and the protest movements we’ve seen. But at the end of the day, just look at the citizens of Iran fleeing. They are not willing to be the martyrs for the Islamic Republic of Iran and the Ayatollah’s idea of getting a nuclear weapon.
SPEAKER 07 :
And Jordan, I think that’s also a contrast that you see between Gaza, where Hamas has indoctrinated the people of Gaza so much to hate the state of Israel, whether it’s through unrefunding of the schools, whether it is just through the complete ideological stranglehold they have on the people of Gaza. It’s very different when you’re talking about the people of Iran. These are people who celebrate their Persian history, the rich history that they have in the region, the intellectualism that has come out of the Persian Empire and the Iranians, and the vast majority of the people of Iran. We’ve seen multiple times an attempted overthrow and pushback and revolution. And we’ve seen the Obama administration ignore that. That could have been the beginning of a true Arab Spring, but instead he decided not to endorse the Green Revolution. Meanwhile, he got behind the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt very quickly. We’re seeing what happens when you allow the kind of leftist ideology, which for some bizarre reason will sympathize with Islamists instead of people that want true reforms, how bad that ideology and how toxic that is down the way. But the people of Iran could have a very big moment here.
SPEAKER 05 :
They could. And I think that it would probably take, as we’ve seen those protest movements with very brave Iranians, as you said, we have a large Persian community in the United States of America. They would love to be able to reinvest in an Iran that was not the Islamic Republic of Iran controlled by an Ayatollah. They would love, many of them, even to go back to start businesses, to reconnect with family. They’ve been very successful in the United States of America because education is a priority. And I think As you see, Will, it’s a much larger country, obviously, than when you’re talking about the territory of the Gaza Strip and the couple of million people there versus Iran. And I think it’s also telling the conflict, as you said, the question about whether Iran really has the capability to keep responding the way it does. I think, listen, there are real questions to ask. We discussed it a little bit yesterday about how Iran got some of these higher capable countries. ballistic weapons and maybe hypersonic ballistic weapons. But at the end of the day, they can only sustain so much. A lot of these regimes are built up on falsehoods being told to their leaders and propaganda being told to their citizens about the strength of their country. And they’ve seen waves of of their military leaders intelligence leaders uh and and really the worst of the worst inside of the islamic republic’s government uh be eliminated very quickly and and you know one uh i think it was the u.s ambassador to israel who said that the pagers used to really take down so much of Hezbollah’s leadership, when they thought that they were safer using these pagers, that Israel’s Mossad had carried out this unbelievable long-term strategy to make these explosive pagers, and so they would take out the Hezbollah actors directly without harming others, that that would look like nothing compared to what is about to happen inside Iran, which to me tells me Israel has just been getting started on what we’re actually going to see inside the Islamic Republic. And that is why the people are rightfully taking those warnings and fleeing Tehran.
SPEAKER 07 :
Jordan, you mentioned earlier, you had talked about some of the anti-Semitism and things of that nature in some of your meetings today. And you were sending me images, and we’ll show them as you’re talking here, of some of the meetings you’ve had today. And it’s very impressive. It is remarkable that The ACLJ and the ECLJ is able to do this work because of our members and our champions. But Jordan, you had a very special meeting today where you were able to get really good work done. Can you talk about who you’re with in these photos that we’re showing and what those discussions were like?
SPEAKER 05 :
Absolutely. That’s actually just a few minutes walk. We walked to that meeting from the ECLJ office in Strasbourg, France, the European Center for Law and Justice. And that is at the U.S. Consulate General. And so in that, you were seeing the Consul General, Yvonne Gonzalez. She is, again, the U.S. representative to Strasbourg. And typically consulates play a role for the citizens that are here and for those that might want to travel to the United States and Americans that are in the region. But this consulate plays a different role. Being a consulate general, it plays a role with the Council of Europe that’s here. as well as even the European Court of Human Rights. And we talked about how the new ambassador to France, Ambassador Kushner, who is going to arrive next month to Paris, wants to do a tour of these consulates. And the council general and the consulate have asked the ECLJ and ACLJ for assistance in preparing kind of what this consulate could do on behalf of the issues that Ambassador Kushner and the Trump administration, both the White House and State Department, are concerned about. This is unprecedented, Will. I’ve been coming here. You’ve been to the ECLJ before in Strasbourg since we were very young, since technically we were kids. I was a teenager the first time I was in Strasbourg, France. I’ve never been to the U.S. consulate. And I’ve never remember us being invited as when we were here as the Americans from the ACLJ to meet with the council general. And we were able to do that today in a very constructive way. And why are they coming to us now? They know the relationships that we have with the current administration and administration, by the way, that we are going to defend today. full-throatedly, if you’ve already heard on the broadcast, against these attacks from some of these conservative, again, talking heads, big, loud voices, trying to divide a movement, which I think is almost 100%, if not 99.9%, unified in President Trump’s strategy in standing with our greatest ally in the Middle East, if not the world right now, the state of Israel.
SPEAKER 07 :
Jordan, we’ve just got about two minutes left here, but once again, this is what you’ve been talking about with your meetings in Hungary, with your meetings in Strasbourg, the ability to go to the UN yesterday, but that you’re seeing a difference in Europe. You’re seeing an opportunity. Where American style conservatism, the things we champion, the freedom of speech, the freedom of liberty, these things are being talked about and accepted in Europe in a way that they never have before. And we’re right at the forefront of helping that.
SPEAKER 05 :
Yes, and combating anti-Semitism, which is something we’ve done a lot of and we’ve talked a lot about how we’re doing that inside the United States, especially inside the education system, Will. But it’s happening, of course, in Europe as well, the protests that stem from these academic institutions. And we talked about that today with the Consul General of the United States about how they can assist here in Strasbourg with even the university here. combating anti-semitism and working with the new administration that they’ll be working with the trump administration it’s still new for these consulates to be dealing with only 160 days in to do just that and this is a reason why to support the aclj because of all these efforts You’ve seen me in two countries in two days. You know, we started this in Hungary with Viktor Orban. We’re here in France. We’ve got some more announcements to make later this week and even into July about some big announcements about what we’re going to be doing here through the European Center for Law and Justice in assisting some of those conservative movements. So I encourage people today We’re boots on the ground at the ACLJ and the ECLJ and our other international offices that work in difficult places like Pakistan, like Israel right now, which is under attack from Iran, and to support our work at ACLJ.org. It’s a great time to donate, support our work today. It’s how we bring these teams. I can’t do it by myself. I’ve got a team here helping me just get this broadcast out to you from our studios at the ECLJ. So donate at ACLJ.org.
SPEAKER 07 :
And we will be right back with Rick Grinnell. Welcome back to Seculo, final segment of the broadcast. I’m now joined by the former acting director of national intelligence, Rick Grinnell, a man with a very long resume. We could go on and on and take up most of the segment because you are one of the busiest people in Washington. And I wanted to get right to this, Rick, because the president said, was at the g7 summit uh in canada last night but he left early after the dinner with the heads of state apparently he told the prime minister of canada who said i completely understand with everything you’ve got going on and went right back to washington to meet with the national security council all the while tweeting to the people of tehran that they should evacuate without, obviously, you have a long history with working with intelligence, but when you see these kinds of moves for our people, how should we be reading what’s going on with the United States?
SPEAKER 03 :
Well, first of all, I know President Trump well, and I know that he wants peace. And so everything that he is doing is being done so that he can somehow forge a peaceful situation, a peaceful solution. And sometimes that is a rough process. Sometimes you have to go through some pain to get there. But what we do know is, is that we can’t have an Iran with nuclear weapons and the massive amounts of money they have from Joe Biden. You know, literally, if you count all of the money of sanctions relief, of credit and cash that were given to the Iranian regime, It’s in the tens of billions of dollars. And that means they’re going to have money for a very long time, 15, 20 years to foment terror. And so we have to make sure that this radical regime doesn’t get access to a nuclear weapon. I think that’s what this is all about.
SPEAKER 07 :
Rick, one thing that we’re starting to see is to some degree a little bit of pushback from some talking heads, you know, media types on the right that are trying to say that this isn’t America first. You’re seeing a very, very strong defense of the president from J.D. Vance. You’re seeing it from others within the cabinet, but even President Trump himself, who’s saying, by the way, I have always said Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon, and that is America first, and that is making America great again. And what would you say to those on the right that may sound sometimes like they’re listening more to those on the left and maybe getting it a little mixed up about how dangerous an Iranian with a nuclear weapon would be?
SPEAKER 03 :
Well, look, I think that the voices calling for peace are fantastic. We need more people saying that we want peace and we want to put America first. But I do think that we can have a debate about what that actually means. And I know that President Trump is completely focused on making sure that he protects America, that it’s all about our safety, and at the same time, He is trying to make sure that he does whatever he needs to do to produce peaceful outcomes. Remember right now with Iran, we don’t have peace. We have a country, a regime that is constantly fomenting terror in the region. And so what we’re trying to do, what President Trump is trying to do is bring peace. And sometimes to bring peace, it gets a little messy first.
SPEAKER 07 :
Rick, I want to take a few phone calls here at the end of the broadcast. I know you always tell me you like when you get to hear from ACLJ listeners as well. So while we’ve got you on, we’re going to go first to Tom in Maryland on line two. He’s listening on the radio, but Tom, you’re on the air with me and with Rick Grinnell.
SPEAKER 08 :
Oh, I feel very blessed. I’m not in the best place to talk, but I’ll just talk quickly. One is any elected leaders that are naive enough to believe that Iran is not doing all this for destructive purposes should be voted out of office immediately. They may be the most brilliant elites out of Harvard, but if they’re that naive about what their agenda is and what human nature is, God help us all if we have people like that leading our nation. Number two is all the media stars like Tucker Carlson. They need to be condemned without hesitation.
SPEAKER 07 :
Tom, I see what you’re saying as well. Once again, Iran, Rick, has always tried to say this is a peaceful process. This is for peaceful nuclear power, when in reality, They do have one nuclear power plant and that three to five percent enriched uranium doesn’t come from any of the billions of dollars they’ve spent on enriching uranium. It comes from Russia and Russia takes back the spent cores afterwards. So there is a lot of unfortunate naivete, I feel like, within some elected officials and elites that maybe we should take Iran at their word for it. But what are your thoughts on that?
SPEAKER 03 :
Well, first of all, let me just compliment Tom and his question because I went to Harvard and I can tell you the smartest people did not go to Harvard. I’ve been around a lot of people who were not what you would think would be the sharpest tool in the shed, but yet they have a Harvard degree. And so I think Tom has got a really great point. We need people with actual street smarts, people who deal in reality. And this is not an academic exercise. I think we saw that from the Biden team. That’s the first point. The second point is, again, I like the voices calling for peace. I like the loud people who are saying, look, America first means peace, because I think Donald Trump agrees ultimately with that. But again, we have to go back and it’s not correct to say that the place is full of peace right now. It’s not a stable, peaceful country, Iran. It’s fomenting violence constantly. And so what I think that we just have to understand is that Donald Trump is absolutely focused on protecting America and bringing about peace. But sometimes you have to do big things like peace through strength in order to preserve peace or get peace. And so I would just say to people, trust the process, trust President Trump. He’s not abandoning the idea.
SPEAKER 07 :
of of working towards peace he’s going to bring us peace because he’s completely focused on rick thank you so much for joining us today uh as always and we’ll talk to you later on in the week as well i am going to take judy’s call really quickly and won’t have time to go back and forth because we’re running short on time but judy go ahead you’re on the air
SPEAKER 02 :
Thank you. Yes, I think it’s very important that we don’t let the people of Iran down at this time. They were rising up with the young people when Obama was in the presidency, and he let them down. They need a regime change. And I understand that Iran is one of the places where the Christian churches grow in the fastest.
SPEAKER 07 :
Thank you, Judy. And we have studied Iran for a long time here at the ACLJ. We’ve we know what the regime is like and we also know what the people of Iran are like. The proud Persian culture and heritage of Iran. It was once a place that had, you know, Baha’i, Christian, Jewish people. and Muslim population throughout the centuries that was a strong culture. They invented chess. They have rich history and impact on the world. What Iran is today is not Persia anymore. It is the Islamic revolution that has turned into the Islamic Republic of Iran, where they are a genocidal, theocratic death cult. that has no room for anyone except for their version of Islam. And their goal is to bring about the end of this civilization and usher in the 12th Imam which will, in turn, allow their version of Islam to rule the world. They can’t have a nuclear weapon. And the people of Iran, they deserve better. Stand with the ACLJ. Stand with Israel. Become a champion of life, liberty, and freedom by becoming a monthly donor at ACLJ.org slash champions.
