SPEAKER 05 : 0:05

Welcome to the Mike Gallagher Show Week in Review podcast, Friday, April 10th, 2026. This week, President Trump scored an important victory in the war with Iran, plus another illegal makes the case for secure borders. We begin with the Easter miracle. U.S. Special Forces rescue two pilots inside Iran. the weekend of the miraculous rescue of our weapons systems operator who was actually being converged upon by an Iranian mob hiding 7,000 feet in elevation with a pistol and a prayer. And we went in and got him. It was great. Very expensive. Left behind a couple of planes because they got the noses stuck in the sand or whatever. The way this is being detailed, first of all, if you’re not watching Fox News or Newsmax or One American News, if you’re not tuned in to Salem News Channel or listening and watching one of our shows, you don’t even know. the intricate way that our airman was rescued. It is a story for the ages. It’s being described as one of the most miraculous rescue operations our military ever achieved. And it should be the only thing we’re talking about. Now, as you probably know, after it was confirmed that the airman was rescued, President Trump decided to post a profane warning to Iran. That, of course, triggered the entire anti-Trump world into fits of spasms and And hyperventilation because he was profane on Easter Sunday. Now, being profane on Easter Sunday, probably not on my top ten list of things that I would prefer. But not being our pastor, he is who he is. So I think I’ve got to play… the Kristen Welker monologue from Meet the Press, because I guarantee you, she stares at the ceiling at night saying, this is what I have to do on Sunday mornings, Meet the Press? If it’s Sunday morning, it’s Meet the Press, and Kristen Welker having to say something

SPEAKER 01 : 2:44

Breaking news overnight. In an extraordinary turn of events, the United States has rescued the second crew member who was in the U.S. F-15 fighter jet shot down over Iran Friday. President Trump texting me directly this morning, the rescue was an Easter miracle. The enemy was large and violent. The rescuers were brilliant, strong, decisive, and as cool as anyone can be. The Iranians thought they had him, but it wasn’t even close. And remember, we got two, but couldn’t talk about the first in that it would have highlighted that there was a second. Such a rescue has never happened before in so violent an enemy territory. It is usually not done because it is considered not doable. Such a great military like no other. Adding on Truth Social, open the effing straight, you crazy bastards, or you’ll be living in hell.

SPEAKER 05 : 3:37

She kind of reads that like, well, you know, all right, after that, he posted, open the straight, open the effing straight, you crazy bastards, or you will be living in hell. She left out, I’m not sure where they clipped that particular clip, from Kristen Welker, but right after that he said, praise be to Allah, President Donald J. Trump, which is obviously trolling Iran. Matt Vespa over at Town Hall writes, President Trump’s Easter message was one for the history books. It was hilarious and triggered all of liberal America, so you know it was good. He also dropped an F-bomb into the mix. And here was the full tweet. He wrote, Tuesday will be power plant day, meaning we’re going to take out their power plants, and bridge day, taking out more bridges, all wrapped up in one in Iran. There will be nothing like it. Open the F-ing straight, and he didn’t say F-ing, you crazy bastards, or you’ll be living in hell. Just watch. Praise be to Allah, President Donald J. Trump. Matt Vesper writes, of course, the Democrats seized on this because they’re losers with nothing better to do. All they do is whine and look for ways to raise the cost of living and ruin the country. The good news is that we don’t care. They’ve been eager to get a Trump is unwell narrative going because voters see through it. That’s why he’s president and not Kamala. Despite the brave actions of our soldiers and the overwhelming dominance of our military, some people in our own government inexplicably seem to be hoping for an American defeat. Gosh, there’s so much. So much drama. And I just wonder if you get tired of it. I wonder if you get tired of the constant chattering and the sniping and the back and forth. The rhino Republicans. Man, this Tom Tillis in North Carolina, he cannot get out of office fast enough. Of course, he resigned. The whole state, I think, is revolting practically against him. He sounds every day like a fierce, vicious James Carville- James Carville-inspired Democrat. Tom Tillis, this guy is losing his marbles. I mean, here he is now. You’ve got to hear this. And this is what Trump is up against. Besides having to see Saturday Night Live and its audience rooting for his assassination, after they did try to assassinate him a couple of times, he’s got to deal with people like this in the U.S. Senate. I give you North Carolina Senator Tom Tillis.

SPEAKER 06 : 6:46

The investigation of Jerome Powell, there will not be another Fed chair confirmed until that’s disposed of or until for the first time since the allegations were made public. They can actually prove there’s even a scintilla of criminal activity. We have seven Republican members of the banking committee saying there wasn’t. Now, separate matter, for me, the threshold for somebody following Pam Bondi ends the moment I hear they said one thing that excused the events of January the 6th. I’ve been very clear on that. So I hope whoever they have in mind to follow General Bondi was very clear-eyed on my position on January the 6th. That’s why I didn’t support two other nominees who were coming through Judiciary Committee, and I won’t support any nominee who thought that any element of January 6th was excused. I mean, just…

SPEAKER 05 : 7:37

January 6th was 9-11 and Pearl Harbor and the Titanic and the bubonic plague. Worst thing that’s ever happened in the country. And I don’t know that people like him believe that because I don’t want to believe they’re that stupid. I just don’t want to accept that they could be that moronic. But maybe they are. I don’t know. I can’t get into these people’s heads or hearts. Of course, on the heels of the successful rescue, Trump set a deadline and made an ominous promise if the Iranian government missed it. President Trump posted a very ominous warning to Iran on his truth social account that has got the whole world sort of holding its breath. I liked what KT McFarlane wrote. We haven’t had KT on the show in a while. We’ve got to bring her back. National security expert. She’s served ably for many years. And she posted last night, actually early this morning, the USA is in a vibe shift. It’s now the age of heroes and miracles. The U.S. hockey team takes the gold. U.S. military rescues pilots in Iran. Artemis II travels to the far side of the moon. Whether it’s on ice, in air, or in space, Americans can do the impossible. I like that. And it’s a good way to start a Tuesday, April 7th, 2026. We’ve got a lot of breaking news because, again, just minutes ago, President Trump posted on Truth Social that, A whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again. I don’t want that to happen, but it probably will. However, now that we have complete and total regime change, where different, smarter, and less radicalized minds prevail, maybe something revolutionarily wonderful can happen. Who knows? We will find out tonight. Now, already, as you can imagine, the social media… world is exploding in reaction to President Trump’s tweet. Piers Morgan wrote, this is a brazen pre-admission of genocide against the Iranian people, which would obviously be a war crime. Madness. Now, I’m there for the ratio. I looked at the comments that people have. Let me read some of the reactions to what Pierce said would be war crimes and genocide. President Trump, writes one poster, is clearly referring to the regime that has been genociding its own people. Eighty percent of the Iranian people want this regime gone, and many are willing to die to see this liberation take place. Here’s another one. Sit down, Pierce. We know that your country, the U.K., has already surrendered. Let the adults in charge handle the tough situations. Jim Hansen tweeted, The God bless the great people of Iran really sends that home. Huh, Pierce? He’s obviously speaking of the Iranian regime, the Islamic Republic, but you go ahead and demagogue. Yeah. And then finally somebody said to Piers Morgan, do you dare ask Iranians what they want? The president’s gambit paid big dividends, bringing all sides to the table to broker a fragile ceasefire. Were his critics satisfied? Of course they weren’t. I have a theory that it’s all about the monetization that they need in order to make a very healthy, lucrative living. And the more outrageous they are, I mean, you should have heard Megyn Kelly yesterday. Megyn Kelly, who of course has had a love-hate relationship with Trump over the years. Megyn is literally using the F-word to complain about Trump using the F-bomb in his Easter Sunday message. I mean, you can’t make this up. Megyn, who I’ve known for years, been on her show many times, She now has a very successful podcast. There’s Meghan saying, I’m effing tired of this S with Trump. And what is, who does he think he is? This is effing ridiculous. She’s cursing out Trump for using the F-bomb on the Easter Sunday message. And I’m looking at this thinking, lady, do you hear yourself? Are you hearing what you’re… And she’s like, well, I’m a talk show host, but he’s the president, and I’m effing tired of this S. I mean, she slings obscene words willy-nilly whenever she feels like it. But she’s clutching her pearls now because President Trump issued a tweet Sunday morning or yesterday morning that arguably brought Iran… to the negotiating table. One could make the argument that it was his bombast, it was his over-the-top rhetoric that got the Iranian leader’s attention. Because, look, I know it’s going to be, as Vice President Vance put it, this is going to be a fragile ceasefire. And I don’t know how it’s going to play out. But what I do know is by last night, at least, you saw a pretty spectacular win for the President of the United States. Here is the way Laura Ingraham described it last night on Fox News Channel.

SPEAKER 02 : 14:00

Matt, I want to move on to this Iran deal, the ceasefire deal that was announced tonight. It looks like Trump ultimately hits the home run here, takes it to the brink. Iran blinks. And now it’s just a matter of time. They’re going to wrap up these details, notwithstanding the Iranian PR they’re trying to put out tonight, which is obviously ridiculous.

SPEAKER 08 : 14:21

Well, when will the Democrats and some Republicans ever learn that the rhetoric he uses is done for a reason? And it works. And they fall for it every single time. As you noted earlier in this show, I was shocked when everyone said, oh, he wrote such terrible things on Easter. He knows what he’s doing.

SPEAKER 05 : 14:38

And that’s where we are and why we are where we are tonight. That’s Matt Towery, who is a guest with Laura. And we are winning. And he said despite Iran’s propaganda, I’d have to say despite the propaganda that people like this poor delusional former Jewish woman from Arkansas who called us a few moments ago, despite the propaganda that they’re being fed by American broadcasters, by American podcasters, by American influencers. There’s a lot of propaganda going on here in the United States. Let’s go right to the horse’s mouth, the Secretary of War, Pete Hegseth, who earlier today laid out the status of Iran today.

SPEAKER 07 : 15:22

Iran’s navy. is at the bottom of the sea, whether it’s the Soleimani class, their frigate class, their prized drone aircraft carriers, submarines, mine layers sunk. Iran’s air force has been wiped out. Iran no longer has an air defense, any sort of a comprehensive air defense system. We own their skies. Their missile program is functionally destroyed. Launchers, production facilities, and existing stockpiles depleted and decimated. And almost completely ineffective. Iran shot hundreds and hundreds of missiles and attack, one-way attack drones at our aircraft carrier. They were obsessed with it. And they never got even close. Every single one of those shots easily shot down miles and miles away from the Abe Lincoln. They were blowing ammo. into fantasy land. Contrast that with most significantly, in last night’s wave of more than 800 strikes, we finished completely destroying Iran’s defense industrial base, a core pillar of our mission objective.

SPEAKER 05 : 16:35

That’s Pete Hegseth, the Secretary of War. And you just have got to try to stay focused on the things that are true, the things that matter. Man, oh man. Portions of our show brought to you by MyPillow. Get to tell you every day about the MyPillow text line. I love your feedback on the text line. I love hearing from you on the text line. Mike Lindell and his MyPillow employees want to thank you for supporting them the way you have. They’re bringing back the Mega Sale. I almost want to call it the MAGA Sale. But it’s the mega sale, classic MyPillow, normally $49.98. That’s the pillow that started it all. With the wholesale pricing, you’re going to get it for just $14.98. Have you been thinking about getting a MyPillow once and for all? Hey, you get it now for $14.98. How about taking any mattress, turning it into the best mattress ever with the made-in-the-USA MyPillow mattress topper? Save up to $100. Or a set of the MyPillow Giza Dream Sheets, as low as $29.98. Or those towels that are really thirsty and absorbent towels. They look great, they feel soft, and they really absorb the water, just $34.98. So do me a favor, go to MyPillow.com. Make it a MyPillow Thursday. Look for the Mike Gallagher Special Square. Click on that box, and then when you place your order, enter the promo code MikeG. You’ll save a ton of money. MyPillow.com, promo code MikeG, MyPillow.com, promo code MikeG, or call 800-928-6034, 800-928-6034. Sing along with me. For the best night’s sleep in the whole wide world, visit MyPillow.com. promo code mike g and don’t forget free shipping on everything on at the site it’s the mega sale free shipping on everything mypillow.com promo code mike g this is the mike gallagher show week in review podcast if you need another argument against open borders consider this story about an illegal immigrant in naples florida Have you seen the story of what happened here in Florida, near Fort Myers, Florida? A Haitian illegal immigrant released into the United States by the Biden administration’s open border, lax immigration policies, took a hammer and bludgeoned to death a clerk. outside a convenience store, 51-year-old woman, this lunatic Haitian illegal is out in the car smashing her car with a hammer. So she understandably goes out into the parking lot. It’s all caught on camera in broad daylight, Mark. He takes the hammer and bashes her head in. Kills her. Broad daylight. Right? 7.20 in the morning. Guy was an illegal, again, an illegal immigrant admitted during the Biden administration’s lax policies. Mark, how many of these stories, how many of these stories are going to have to happen before the American people say there’s no way we could elect another Democrat again for crying out loud? It’s their policies that led to this 51-year-old Robert, this poor 51-year-old woman dying. to get her head blood smashed in by an illegal. It’s got to stop, Mark.

SPEAKER 04 : 19:38

This is madness. It is, and for some horrible reason, the reaction, the proper human reaction, only happens within the bubble. And by that I mean our conservative bubble. I don’t want to sit here and say that only conservatives care about human life and that liberals by their nature are blind and willfully ignoring horrible things like this and the reason why these things happen. It’s a big ask to tell the half of America that’s Democrat or Democrat adjacent to admit a seething failure of the open borders that are the official position of your party. Because, in fact, what’s the… It’s asking every Democrat to go full Fetterman. And look what’s happening to him. I don’t know if he’ll survive a Democrat primary in Pennsylvania. There are Republicans who are probably more liberal than Fetterman on some issues. I think we’d welcome him in as a Republican if he wanted to switch. But you’re asking for basic earth logic and basic nerve endings and a basic beating human heart from people who have… put an intentional pause on those things because they hate Trump’s guts and they don’t want to admit that he’s right. And that’s all that drives it, is the hatred of one man.

SPEAKER 05 : 20:57

You did a wonderful thing over the last few weeks supporting our Food for the Poor campaign. Larry Elder, my friend and colleague here at Salem, and I even had some fun over it. A few times a year, the Salem Media Network hosts get together and we do these fundraisers for important missions and causes. And for years, this show always wins in the friendly competition between my fellow hosts and me. And… One guy in particular always gets frustrated at the generosity of this audience. Not that he’s frustrated at the generosity of the audience. He just gets frustrated because he never comes close to raising the kind of money that we raise on the Mike Gallagher Show. And this year, we had the Food for the Poor springtime campaign, and it was four hosts. Chris DeGaulle, who now has departed to run for Congress in Missouri, me, Hugh Hewitt, and Larry Elder. And Larry just is always flummoxed. He cannot figure out. He’s always like, what’s the secret sauce? How does Gallagher and his audience keep raising so much money for Food for the Poor and Prison Fellowship and all the different organizations that we want to help? And a number of years ago in a fit of pique, Larry reached out to me and says, what do you do? Now, you have to know, first of all, Larry and I are friends. I don’t want anybody to think there’s any bad blood here. Because the trash talking coming from Larry on this is playful. And I just got the biggest kick out of this. Because this is a funny story. So a few years ago, Larry said to me, what is it you do? I don’t understand this. I’m out there. I’m pitching. I’m telling everybody what wonderful food for the poor is. But you just always raise so much more money than I do. And I stupidly said to him, his recollection is that my answer was, talent, Larry, just talent. My recollection is that I said, I’m just that good. But whatever I said, it infuriated him. He never forgot it, okay? So Larry always works hard to try to beat me. And he never does. He never, frankly, even comes close. But this year was different. I think this year Larry said, I’m going to dive into the Food for the Poor campaign. I’m going to pour my heart and soul into this campaign. Well, the four of us, Stegall, Gallagher, Elder, Hewitt, raised over $260,000 to deliver clean, pure living water to some of the poorest communities in the world. It came down to the wire between me and Larry. And I was ahead by $10,000 or $15,000 in the final day or two of the campaign. It ended officially, I think, midnight Sunday. Anyway, the final totals came in. My show raised $88,000 and some change. Larry’s show raised $88,000 and some change. And Larry beat me by $54,000. I can’t believe, I mean, I’m still in a state of shock.

SPEAKER 1 : 24:23

$54.

SPEAKER 05 : 24:24

That’s like Joe Biden beating Donald Trump in Fulton County, Georgia. It was like $88,637 to my $88,597. He beat me by $54. So I’m gracious. All right. Good for, and I love Larry. So I wrote him an email, said, congratulations. You did it. You really poured your heart and soul into this campaign. You worked hard. And he wrote back to me. He says, well, are you going to try to tell me you didn’t work hard? As they say in the hood, Mike Gallagher, who’s your daddy? So, and sure enough, I got a text from Indiana before I even told you this story. Hey, Mike, who’s your daddy? And then somebody in Kentucky said, Larry Elder said he beat you and raised more money. Don’t worry. Happy birthday. You’ll always be my number one host. Yeah, he beat me by $54. That’s a rounding error. But it does show how elections can be close and fundraising campaigns can be even closer. And the fact that Larry and I combined, along with Chris and Hughes, shows all raised well over a quarter of a million dollars is a blessing, it’s a miracle. And hey, hats off to Larry Elder. I think it’s cute how excited Larry is about beating me. I think Larry’s more excited about beating me by $54 than he would have been had he won governor of California. And he came kind of close. He could have done it. I contributed to that campaign. So anyway, hats off to the Larry Elder audience. You beat the Mike Gallagher audience by $54. All I’ll say, Mr. Elder, to your taunting email, who’s your daddy, all I will say back to you is enjoy it while it lasts, because it ain’t ever happening again. It won’t surprise you to learn that around these parts, we think President Trump is a terrific leader for America. On the merits, we think you should too, but there are some people we will never convince. And then there’s Hank in South Carolina. Let me take Hank. Of all the hostile callers, maybe he’ll be a little less hostile than others. Hank, what’s on your mind?

SPEAKER 10 : 26:51

I just wanted to know what is so funny about all of this when this guy is talking about just going in and just blowing up this country. I mean, what’s so funny about this rabbit and this bunny and all this crap?

SPEAKER 05 : 27:07

Well, that’s a different topic. That’s a different topic, Hank. That’s a different topic. The bunny on the balcony is one thing. Iran is another. Those are two different issues. But go ahead. Go ahead with your cranky call.

SPEAKER 10 : 27:20

No, I just don’t understand why people in Trump’s orbit… What is so fascinating about this man when Everything that seems like he does, you can spin it into something. I mean, if he passes gas, it’s like perfume, okay?

SPEAKER 05 : 27:37

Well, if your question is, why do people appreciate him? Am I trying to translate, interpret for you? Is that what you mean? Is why do people like the guy? Why do we appreciate his presidency? Is that what you’re—

SPEAKER 10 : 27:49

Is that fair?

SPEAKER 05 : 27:52

I just don’t get it. Well, I get that you don’t get it. Can I try to give you an answer real quick here in the minute we have left together? Because I’m sure it’s a good faith question. How about a secure border? How about a secure border? Does that matter to you? After years of open borders, is that okay? A sealed border? How about a fortified U.S. military? Does that matter? How about respect for law enforcement? How about tax cuts for the middle class and a recovering economy? Those are the kind of things, Hank, policy-wise, that we deeply appreciate about President Trump’s presidency, his administration. What don’t you get about that, Hank?

SPEAKER 10 : 28:32

I don’t understand even how, you know, in other people in other countries, in this United States, a convicted felon can be the president of the United States. How about that? How about that?

SPEAKER 05 : 28:48

How about that? How about that? I mean, so you’re not even going to try to answer my question, are you, Hank? You’re not even going to make an effort. You’re not even going to try. Are you? There you go. You’re spinning it up. Yeah, that’s very good. There we go. Thank you, Hank. Appreciate it. God bless you. We’ll pray for you. Finally, a politician and activist, Ken Blackwell, wrote a great piece on X This Week that puts the conflict with Iran in perfect perspective. This is an essay that is probably, it’s going to be about two, three minutes long, but I want you to hear it because you’re getting a lot of noise about Iran right now. We’re getting a lot of mixed messages and a lot of the Trump haters who are trying to convince you that somehow Trump is losing with Iran. Ken Blackwell wrote, “‘Mean tweets and world peace with a ceasefire. Trump wins again.'” Here’s what Ken Blackwell wrote on X, and I’m going to make this essay available to you, and I’ll tell you how in just a moment, but check this out. Some of you may not be old enough to remember the Iranian hostage crisis, but you should understand what it meant because it explains everything we are watching right now. Back in 1979… After the Iranian Revolution, Iranian militants stormed the U.S. Embassy and held American diplomats hostage for 444 days. Not hours, not days, more than a year, with the U.S. publicly humiliated while a new regime made it clear that hostility toward America was not temporary, it was foundational. That crisis didn’t end because of a beautifully worded statement or a breakthrough panel discussion. It ended when the regime in Tehran understood that a different kind of president was about to take office. When Ronald Reagan came in, the calculation changed overnight. Strength or even the credible expectation of it forced a decision that months of careful diplomacy had failed to produce. That was the lesson. That was the lesson. And for decades, We have drifted away from that lesson. Iran didn’t reform. It adapted. It learned how to operate through proxies, how to bleed American interests without triggering a full response, how to stay just below the line while still advancing its agenda. American troops have been killed by Iran-backed forces. Terror networks funded by Tehran have targeted our people and our allies. This has been a slow-grinding conflict for nearly half a century. So when tensions spike today and people act like harsh language is the greatest threat on the board, it tells you how far this conversation has drifted from reality. This week, Ken Blackwell writes, the rhetoric escalated quickly and unapologetically. Not polished, not polite, the kind of language that makes the professional class visibly uncomfortable. And right on cue, the warnings started. We were told this was reckless. We were told this would lead to war. We were told there was no off-ramp. Ken Blackwell says Tucker Carlson was wrong. Candace Owens was wrong. Alex Jones was wrong. Because what actually happened didn’t follow their script. Instead of a spiral, we got a pause. Instead of escalation, we got a ceasefire. Instead of doors slamming shut, we got the beginning of talks. And that didn’t happen in spite of the pressure. It happened after the pressure. That’s the part people don’t want to engage with, because it forces a much bigger admission. For years, Iran has operated in an environment where delay worked in its favor. Push a little, pull back a little, rely on the assumption that the United States would respond cautiously and predictably. In that environment, there was no urgency to change course. Well, this week introduced urgency, he said. When the cost of continuing down the same path rises quickly enough, the calculation changes. What was comfortable becomes risky. What was easy becomes dangerous. And when that shift happens, even a regime with 47 years of hostility baked into its identity starts looking for a way to reduce that risk. That is when movement happens. Not because anyone suddenly became cooperative, but because the alternatives stopped looking safe. Now, none of this means the problem is solved. Iran is still Iran. The ideology hasn’t changed. The networks haven’t disappeared. Anyone pretending this is permanent peace is not paying attention. But dismissing what just happened because you didn’t like how it sounded is not serious. The same people who insisted that strong rhetoric would eliminate diplomacy are now watching diplomacy unfold after that rhetoric. The same voices who said there was no off-ramp are now watching one get used. At some point, Ken Blackwell concludes, you have to be willing to question the framework that led you to be so confidently wrong. You don’t have to like the style. You don’t have to defend every word. And this week, whether people want to admit it or not, that lesson showed up again. Trump was right. That’s a terrific essay. It’s available for you if you text the keyword Blackwell to the MyPillow text line. We’ll send it back to you, free of charge. Standard texting rates may apply. Or you can go to mikeonline.com, where Tracy has it up. The column is posted. But a very meaningful, powerful reminder. Don’t bet against this guy. Trump knows what he’s doing. Again, if you want that essay from Ken Blackwell, just text BLACKWELL to 800-655-MIKE or visit mikeonline.com. And that wraps up the Mike Gallagher Show Week in Review podcast, Friday, April 10th. Thanks for joining us. Please subscribe to all of our podcasts. If you like what we do, share it with a friend. We’ll see you back here next week on the Mike Gallagher Show Week in Review podcast.

SPEAKER 03 : 35:23

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