Returning to Peace Through Strength | Just the News AMAC Special

Transcript:

John Solomon: Good evening, America, and welcome to this Just the News, Real America’s Voice, special report brought to you by the Association of Mature American Citizens, or better known as AMAC. Tonight, we’re going to be discussing how peace through strength has changed the world in just four short weeks of the Trump presidency.

After four years of destabilization, growing violence, and uncertainty among both American allies and adversaries, Donald Trump has brought a clarity to foreign policy and America’s security priorities. The message is clear. America won’t be bullied, it won’t tolerate aggression or attacks on freedom or our citizens, and it will act first and foremost with the interests of Americans first.

That clarity, backed by early actions, has already triggered a realignment across the globe. Mexico and Canada. they quickly moved to fortify security at the southern and northern borders to avoid facing American terrorists Hamas and Israel. they reached a ceasefire even before President Trump took office because his envoy went to the region and did what the Biden administration couldn’t strike a deal.

China has begun negotiations on reducing the chemicals that flow from its country as precursors to the fentanyl poison produced by Mexican drug cartels and the American relationship with Russia. last week it was rebooted with a historic meeting in Saudi Arabia. Yep. This week now, special teams are being created to start the process of seeking a peace deal in the Ukraine war.

These things don’t happen in a vacuum. They happen when the lens of peace through strength is applied to U. S. foreign policy. The Biden administration had a different compass. It believed peace could be achieved through appeasement and payments. America’s enemies did not comply. They became more aggressive as the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the Iranian proxies of Hamas The hoodies and Hezbollah showed today the carrot and stick clarity of the Trump administration’s foreign policy has pushed adversaries Back into a corner and challenged allies to step up to this moment in history and the necessity to provide greater strength And greater will tonight we’re going to be exploring how this dynamic began and where it goes We’ve got an all star lineup of guests to take us through this conversation But first i’ve got an amazing co host to join me on this journey throughout the night She’s the ceo of amac and my very good friend Rebecca Webber.

Rebecca, welcome.

Rebecca Weber: Oh, John, it’s great to be with you today. under President Donald Trump, the United States really did redefine its role on the global stage, not through endless wars or weak diplomacy, but through unwavering strength and bold leadership. And so we see how his peace through strength strategy really does ensure that our enemies think twice that our allies, step up and that American interests come first, just as the American people.

So I’m thrilled to be here with you today to really focus on the issues and, how Donald Trump is really proving that a strong America. is a safer America. No

John Solomon: doubt about it. And it’s that philosophy of peace through strength that binds all the patriots together who are part of the great AMAC nation as well.

So excited to have this conversation. All right, joining us now, a man who served his country on the front lines of war and today serves it in Capitol Hill. He’s a retired U. S. Marine Corps, Lieutenant General and Congressman from the great state of Michigan, Jack Bergman. Congressman, good to have you on the show, sir.

Hey, great to be with y’all. We love your perspective because you saw it on the front lines of the military and then you brought that wisdom into Congress. I think Congress is getting a great understanding that the last four years were a pretty weak time for America and that this reassertion of American interest in strength is starting to change the world.

What are you seeing? What are your colleagues telling you?

Rep. Jack Bergman: there are two perspectives. Those who have had their eyes opened up to not only the strengths that president Trump Brought in, but it is, it’s even more magnified by the weaknesses that became evident in the last four years of the Biden administration and not, to pick on, former presidents or whatever, but, Ronald Reagan is the classic quotable piece through strength and we, as the United States.

Did not exhibit, did not show, did not embody strength of will, strength of character, strength of purpose, strength of Michigan under the Biden administration in no way, shape, or form. So here we are now. With President Trump back in, and there is definitely, the 21st century version, I believe, of the peace through strength that the Trump administration is already showing on the world stage.

Rebecca Weber: Congressman, Zelensky seems to be pushing back on Trump’s diplomatic approach. How should America respond to Ukraine’s reluctance to pursue peace, especially considering the billions of dollars in aid that we have sent? Should there be consequences?

Rep. Jack Bergman: there’s, consequences for everything that’s, and if you think, if anyone thinks it’s just like a little child who, if they think that they can pull the wool over their parents eyes or their teacher’s eyes or their pastor’s eyes, they’re going to try.

And it’s up to those influencers, those leaders, the parents, let’s say in the case of the family unit to say, you know what, you cross the line, stop that because this is not how this family, acts or reacts. And I think in some cases, what, we, most of us who voted for aid to Ukraine over the past, several years, we asked for one thing and that was accountability for every dollar that was sent there, how it was used and what was the end game.

And did Ukraine need more or less? But were they carrying out their end of the bargain? And, I think what we’re seeing now, in fact, I know it is, there’s an uncomfortability, with. Ukraine and Zelensky to be able to continue to, articulate their case and why the United States needs to be their bestie, to use modern terms.

And president Trump. and is going to hold everybody accountable. And that’s a good thing. That’s why we voted for him. He holds himself accountable. Why wouldn’t we hold everybody else, including our allies, including entities who have been the benefit of our, beneficiary of our aid, whether it be dollars or, bullets and bombs and intelligence and whatever else it happens to be.

Rebecca Weber: That’s right. It’s exactly what the American people mandated. Now, the Pentagon has an 850 billion budget. But has never passed an audit. So Secretary Hegseth has called for a full accounting of military spending. shouldn’t the American people demand to know where all this money is going?

Rep. Jack Bergman: Real short answer is yes.

And the Pentagon has never passed an audit. But there is one service who has passed an audit in the last few years. And that’s the United States Marine Corps. And for two reasons. Number one, we hold ourselves accountable. And number two, we are usually the least resourced. Of all the services, every dollar the department, the Navy gets, we, the Marine Corps have to fight with the department, the Navy, because we’re under their, their, if you will, their enterprise.

And if the, rest of the Pentagon needs an example. On how to pass an audit, call up their friends down on the E ring in the Marine Corps and say, Hey, how did you guys do it? And I can give you a chapter and verse back from the, probably the 2004. So we’re talking 20 years ago, timeframe of doing a simple audit, at the department of defense wide at then secretary Rumsfeld’s, request.

And the subject was simple. Tell me where all your activated Guardsmen and Reservists are, because after 9 11, we, activated thousands, tens of thousands of Reservists and Guardsmen to go to Iraq, to go to Afghanistan to fight. And at the time, even then, 20 years ago, the Marine Corps was the only one who could say, Here’s where they all are.

Here’s how long they’ve been there and the other services couldn’t. So the defense department, has some catching up to do, but it’s more of the bureaucracy, not necessarily the uniform, service members in there. But, there’s been a kind of a. what’s the three card Monty game, the shell sleight of hand game.

There’s been some of that going on in the Pentagon for decades. No

John Solomon: doubt about it. You put a big smile on my face, Congressman, because I had an uncle and he would come to Christmas parties and said, I know how to fix Washington. Just send a few more Marines here. We’ll get the job done. And it made it. I just was thinking of that very fondly when you said that.

I want to turn to another theater and that is the theater with China. We have lots of challenges with China. Their shipbuilding is surpassing ours. Their AI is starting to catch up. Their long range missiles and the hypersonic missiles are pretty strong. What is the way to rebalance that relationship quickly?

Rep. Jack Bergman: very quickly, China is not an innovator. We know that they, are masters of intellectual property theft and have been forever. That’s part of their business model. They will put the money into spying and stealing as opposed to innovating like the United States, where it puts its money.

So the first best step. In dealing with China is to make sure going back to the peace through strength, but to show China, we’re not going to let you steal any of our intellectual property because we spent time and money innovating it. We’re not going to give it to you. We will talk with you. But we’re going to stop the stealing.

John Solomon: Great point.

Rebecca Weber: Great message. Israel’s Iron Dome, missile defense system has been increasingly effective in stopping incoming threats. Is it realistic to build an Iron Dome for America? And if so, what will it take to really make that the reality?

Rep. Jack Bergman: an Iron Dome in America will look different than an Iron Dome in Israel because just of the sheer geographic size, but to use the technologies and the processes for evaluating, speed of missiles.

Trajectory, all of those things, it is possible and doable, especially with the, use of advanced artificial intelligence with basically quantum data, computing to, to create a, an iron dome like capability in our country.

John Solomon: Pretty amazing. And president Trump seems to be moving in that direction again, quickly Fulfilling a dream that maybe started with Ronald Reagan. So you mentioned something that’s important in the AI and how it’s going to change warfare Part of that AI battle is going to be won on a different field Which is the energy field because these new supercomputers need so much energy How important is donald trump’s energy policy to his national security policy?

Rep. Jack Bergman: they’re tied hand in hand. And when you think about people who, if they really are concerned about energy, clean energy going forward, if we as a country don’t return to the idea of the small modular nuclear reactors, not only for the, For the creation, the generation of the energy, but also for the protection of the grid in a small modulized, think of a honeycomb in a, different form, but that is the future of energy here in the, in America.

And I believe it is the future of energy, literally in most parts of the world to, keep it, capable of producing the electricity we need. To power the computers we have and are going to have, because you have to balance for the forward end of the energy need, not just what, are we using today?

Because the math doesn’t match on the equation. Generation plus, transmission plus distribution does not equal need, if you will, or requirement. And that’s just, that’s simple math.

John Solomon: Great point. Great point.

Rebecca Weber: With, Donald Trump now in office for, only just a handful of weeks. we’re really seeing how quickly he’s been able to mobilize and demonstrate peace through strength.

how much did Joe Biden’s chaotic foreign policy and his disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan weaken Americans standing on the world stage, and how quickly? Can we reverse the perception of U. S. strength?

Rep. Jack Bergman: when you think about how did the Biden administration start with its, the, debacle withdrawing from Afghanistan.

So that set the tone right away. is the hole any deeper that we’re in today? probably not greatly deeper. It’s just that some of the relationships over time internationally have, suffered a little bit. But I tell you, I spent a lot of time, speaking with especially our NATO partners and, our, partners over in the Indo Pacific, whether it be the Philippines, Taiwan, whoever it happens to be, they, knew we as an American society are probably the least patient of any society.

But folks around the world who, are more patient than we are, know that they didn’t get too far behind with Biden. It didn’t help them, but it’s not an insurmountable gap. We just have to apply the pressure now to, put the foot on the accelerator, which president Trump has done in so many different ways.

And, and our partners are, the good ones are, ready to, along with us. 

John Solomon: think both adversary and ally are beginning to feel a big difference in America since Donald Trump came in. Congressman, it is such an honor to have you on your service to your country. Rising to the rank of general, then coming back and serving in Congress a rear crowd that you’re in.

Great. Thank you for your service and your time today. Alright folks, we’ve got a lot more ahead of us in the next half hour or next hour, excuse me. great conversations ahead. But first I want to give you a homework assignment. It’s an important one. Go to amac us slash no noise. That’s amac. us slash no noise.

You have a very special offer this month. You can get a membership like me for 47 percent off. And you say, why 47%? In honor of our 47th president, Donald Trump. Point your camera at that QR code or go to amac. us slash no noise during the commercial break. Go take advantage. Go be a member like me. I’m a card carrying member and very proud.

Alright, we’ll be back in a few minutes with more conversations.

Welcome back, everyone, to this just the news. Real America’s Voice special report, returning to Peace Through Strength. And it’s all brought to you by AMAC, the Association of Mature American Citizens. I’m still joined by AMAC’s CEO, Rebecca Weber, as my co host for tonight. And it’s time to get to our second guest of the evening.

Joining us now, retired Army Colonel, he’s also a senior columnist at Town Hall, and author of the book, The Attack, Kurt Schlichter. Kurt, good to have you back.

Kurt Schlichter: Hey, great to be here. Always love doing the AMAC thing.

John Solomon: We love doing it as well. We learn so much, we come out a lot smarter. And I think today, we are looking at so much of what’s going on with Donald Trump.

It’s wow, the world is changing before our eyes and at a speed we’ve never seen before. There’s a velocity to the change, but all of it on the foreign policy and security side seems to come from the position that America has to deal from a position of strength, no more appeasement. What have you seen in your early impressions from the Trump security policy?

Kurt Schlichter: I think that, the United States is, operating, pretty much as I was trained to, operate, in the United States Army. Move fast, hit hard. and go for the enemy’s weaknesses. It is, refreshing to see that there is no backing down. There is no hesitation. Trump has foreign policy and, military, objectives in mind, and he is moving to seize them.

everything from Ukraine to revitalizing NATO. I’m interested in seeing what happens, with the engagement towards China, but I have a feeling that we’re going to strengthen our Pacific, firepower as well. I’m looking across the board at success after success. And I wrote about it in town hall recently, where I said, I’m now recommending that people join the military again for a long time.

I wasn’t, made me sad. And, under a leadership of Pete Hegseth, who’s exactly the type of secretary of defense we need for this moment. We are getting back into a warrior culture. My analysis has always been that the big problem with the American military, the number one problem, the one that has to be stopped first is not procurement.

It’s not, getting a strategy together. We haven’t had one in a long time. It is bringing back a warrior culture. So they bring in a field grade infantry officer with a combat infantry badge, the kind of guy who goes out there and gets filmed running at ODAR 30 on some German concern. That is exactly the energy we need to cure our recruiting crisis and let the field know, hey, this is an organization dedicated to war.

Rebecca Weber: Thank you, Kurt. Now, Secretary Pete Hegseth recently argued that Ukraine should never join NATO and that Europe must take primary responsibility for Ukraine’s security. do you agree with this stance or do you believe that the U. S. should continue leading the Western alliance in handling the conflict?

Kurt Schlichter: No, I, think Pete Hegseth’s exactly right. and let me give you a little background. I was deployed, with a unit that included Ukrainian soldiers. I went to Ukraine and trained them. Ukraine was horribly wronged and has every right to fight back against the Russians. And I, would hope it is victorious.

That being said, I’m not Ukrainian. I’m American. So American interests are paramount to me. None of this is, predicated on hostility towards Ukrainians. It’s predicated on, service to the United States interests. The United States needs to face down China. That needs to be our primary responsibility.

The Europeans who outnumber us considerably, have not been doing their fair share for decades and decades. I know. I served in NATO, in the 80s. I served in NATO in the 2000s. They have not been pulling their weight. They need to take primary responsibility. The war in Ukraine, it is in America’s interest that the war in Ukraine end.

The war in Ukraine is not going to end with the Russians being driven out of every inch of Ukraine. I’m sorry. I wish it could be. that would be a just result, but we’re not here for justice. We’re here for American interests, and this war ending is America’s interest. Great point.

Rebecca Weber: Yeah, very good point.

Zelensky is now admitting that America won’t be writing blank checks forever, and meanwhile General Kellogg is saying that Europe won’t be at the table for peace talks. Is it time, I guess you’re saying, for America to cut the cord and let Europe deal with this mess?

Kurt Schlichter: I think Europe needs to, take a leadership role, but they haven’t done that.

So we’re going to have to do what we have to do. The thing about Donald Trump and the reason he’s driving people crazy is he is unrepentantly and unapologetically pursuing American interests, not the interest, not the amorphous interest of some bizarre global elite. it is, I’ve been seeing a lot lately.

Wow. Trump is betraying the Ukrainians. Trump is a traitor to the free world. I actually see people write that you can’t betray something unless you have an obligation to it. We are, not in a treaty alliance with Ukraine, nor should we be because it’s right on the edge of, Russia and we have, no American interest in being a tripwire or having it as a tripwire that brings us into war.

an interest in America can only be created when we have an alliance. An alliance can only be created when the Senate ratifies a treaty. Okay. You don’t get to say we’re allies because. A bunch of us who went to Georgetown Foreign Policy School think it’s a great idea. If you’re going to commit American blood, if you’re going to commit American treasure, we need our Senate to, Senate to speak on it and ratify it.

And again, I, was part of NATO. I have a NATO medal. NATO has an important role, but that role has changed over the last 80 years. And you don’t just create obligations on a whim. It has to be done right where the American people’s voice is heard. And the American people voted for Donald Trump. He said he was going to end this war.

They elected him. He’s doing what he said he would do. I don’t understand. You may disagree with this policy, but this fake, hysteria about Donald Trump loves Putin, Donald Trump loves America, and that’s what offends him.

John Solomon: Kurt, I want to shift, theaters for a second and talk a little bit about China.

On Just the News the other day, we had this extraordinary story based on research from the House Homeland Security Committee. Sixty plus Biden. Basically, China was running all over America. and infiltrating corporate secrets, Pentagon secrets, putting spy balloons, of course, as we painfully remember them.

what is the early answer from the Trump administration? Obviously tariffs and got their attention on, fentanyl. Where do you think the next step goes? And down the road, do you see a payto to match NATO, a Pacific alliance, forming?

Kurt Schlichter: look, I, think we definitely need that in the Pacific. I think when countries like Japan, South Korea, the Philippines.

Vietnam gets scared enough, they’re going to look to America. Unfortunately, America has allowed its shipbuilding, and other, military industrial base, facilities to decay. China can build, what, 350 times as many boats as we can? It’s crazy. Their navy now outnumbers ours. The quality isn’t the same.

The experience level isn’t the same. I, sometimes you just want to have more stuff. And that’s an advantage. the fact is China is serious about its objectives. It intends to take Taiwan. whether you believe that’s right or wrong doesn’t really matter. China needs to be deterred from doing that.

We can only deter them with a, show of strength. As for the spies here in America, holy cow, we’ve had the FBI out chasing, preying grandmas at abortion clinics and people taking selfies in the rotunda. What a waste of resources. Look, I live in the South Bay of Los Angeles. Down in Redondo Beach and El Segundo is the heart of America’s aerospace industry.

You mentioned 60 examples of Chinese spies. There are probably 60 examples on every block down there. When we start taking Chinese espionage seriously, I know we’re not, we’re actually taking China seriously.

John Solomon: Great point.

Rebecca Weber: Very good point. AMAC members are thrilled to see that President Trump is really addressing the radical left that turned our military into a testing ground for woke ideology.

they had pronoun training, drag shows on bases, prioritizing DEI over combat readiness. How much damage do you think that has really done over the last handful of years, and can it be reversed?

Kurt Schlichter: It’s done enormous damage and it is being reversed. Look, there’s really two kinds of, there’s several kinds of leaders and a, Secretary of Defense needs to be a leader.

There are the, the very technical guys, the ones who look at poor structure and building and such, on the good side, you have a guy like Rumsfeld, who I think was a underrated, Secretary of Defense. And you have guys like Robert McNamara, who was absolutely awful. We need a different kind of guy.

We need a leader. We need a guy who’s out there showing the troops. Hey, you count. I’m bringing back military culture. That’s what Pete Hegseth is. Pete Hegseth is the guy who can get out there and beat most, captains and lieutenants in a pushup contest. And that means something to the guys who’ve got to pick up a rifle and run to the top of the hill, kill everybody at the top of the hill, and wait to be told what hill to go to next to take.

That’s what we need today. We need a hardcore leader who’s going to inspire and, show, Americans that our military is back to being a military. Look, I’m very excited to see, the, the current crop of army ads. Have you guys seen those? instead of having, Heather’s got two mommies and now she’s, a supply sergeant.

You got, this is my squad. I’m Corporal Smith. I carry the M240 machine gun. I’m Corporal Garcia. I’m the Grenadier. And we’re, watch us attack this building with all the explosions. That’s what we need. We need a hard charger right now to reorient the military back to what it’s about, which is having the capability to stack enemy bodies if they cross us.

John Solomon: So well said. Kurt, you do such great thinking. Your thought leadership in this space is so important. And I think for the first time in a few years, all those great ideas you’ve been writing about, they’re going to get implemented on this watch. Great honor to have you on the show today.

Kurt Schlichter: always, love joining you and I love being with AMAC.

John Solomon: Yeah, absolutely. Great, conversation. All right, folks, don’t go anywhere because after the break we’ll have another retired colonel on this time from the Air Force. And before we go to break, I want you to go to amac. us slash no noise right now. amac. us slash no noise because for a limited time you can get 47 percent off an AMAC membership to celebrate President Trump’s becoming America’s 47th president.

That’s amac. us no noise to get 47%. Go do that right now. We’ll be right back.

Welcome back, America, to this special edition of Just the News, No Noise, in partnership with AMAC, the Association of Mature American Citizens. AMAC CEO Rebecca Weber and I are bringing you this deep dive into the Trump administration’s military and foreign policy in a return to Peace You Think, a little novel idea.

Joining us now to talk more about that, he’s a 32 year United States Air Force combat veteran and retired colonel, Rob Maness. Rob, great to have you back on the show.

Col. Rob Maness Ret.: Thanks for having me back, John.

John Solomon: I love the writing you do, the thought leadership you apply every day. There is a lot going on. Sometimes I don’t think we look, close enough to our nearest, continent, Latin America.

A lot of concerns with China rumbling around that continent and, trying to gain influence in our backyard. Tell us where Trump is starting to make progress on that.

Col. Rob Maness Ret.: I just took a really deep look at Panama over the last couple of weeks and everything. And, the Chinese Communist Party has a company at each end of the Panama Canal.

And the president has really taken the initiative, and put the Panamanian leadership on notice and they’ve responded appropriately that, the belt and road initiative from the Chinese Communist Party is out, and, support. And, effort from the United States of America and controlling from the United States of America is now in.

So that’s a key choke point, actually the key choke point, for the ability of the United States to project power, not just over in Europe. but more importantly, out into the Indo Pacific region and take on the Chinese communists.

Rebecca Weber: And China just unveiled its new sixth generation fighter. Is this a real threat to our air superiority or is the CCP, CCP inflating its capabilities like they often do?

Col. Rob Maness Ret.: as your question implies, Rebecca, the, sixth generation moniker on that platform, is under very serious look. And, most of us that, watch this and are professionals in combat aviation, have serious doubts on whether this is actually the next generation of fighter.

As opposed to what the United States is currently doing with our next generation of long range bombers and our next generation of fighters, where we are actually getting them in the field. But the next step is really the non sexy part. And the non sexy part is we can’t build enough things in this country to be able to support ourselves if, God forbid, the Chinese decided to go to war, with the United States and fire off, and spark a global war.

We can’t build enough fast enough to replace the things that we know we’ll lose in a very short amount of time. If you look at the last Six or seven war games over Taiwan, between the United States and the PRC. You’ll see that within a couple of weeks, we’re out of missiles. our aircraft, are severely degraded.

so we don’t have the capability to build enough of that. And even more less sexy, is infrastructure. we need to build more airfields. We need to build more ports. We need to have more mobile port. Capability to move around the Pacific and we need to build more sealip merchant marine ships in order to be able to control the entire pacific and deter china from ever going against Taiwan kinetically

Rebecca Weber: really good important point I want to speak briefly about your latest column where you discussed Senator Marco Rubio’s move to cut off UN dollars that have been funding lawfare in Latin America. how dangerous is it that our own government was exporting the same tactics that the radical left used against President Trump?

Col. Rob Maness Ret.: interestingly enough, the USAID scandal that Elon Musk has uncovered actually shows a lot of the tentacles that the United States of America, the defenders of freedom, the, beacon on the hill for democracy, the democratic republic of the first kind known to man, that’s brought more people out of poverty and saved more lives and created prosperity, and defeated tyranny all around the world.

Is exporting legal tyranny into countries that are supposed to be our friends and defeating This is the worst part defeating Governments and candidates in elections that are for freedom and putting in place those that are for tyranny and doing things like censorship and taking out their political opposition through this lawfare and that type of thing.

That’s a heck of a export item, to be on the record of the United States of America, and I was proud to write that article. I’m glad that, Secretary of State Rubio is taking such a strong, stance against this type of activity. And you know what? Thank God Donald Trump won this election big enough, this last time.

So the lawfare is not having any effect on him and on his supporters, and it’s going to generate a positive effect around the world. To folks that are running for office and that are in office that believe in freedom and freedom of the individual as opposed to charity And we’re starting to see that effect already in places like hungary poland they’re getting stronger where countries like germany and the united kingdom which are anti free speech obviously based on what you’ve seen in most recent reporting on J. Vance’s speech and they’re anti doing their own defense. so that positive effect is very important and we hope to see leaders get elected in those countries that will turn those countries back to freedom. I

John Solomon: think, J. D. Vance’s speech was a clarion call to all western world to get back on. the case of freedom.

It was really remarkable speech. Colonel, I want to turn to one of the things I think could revolutionize the military warfare fighting, and that is artificial intelligence. A lot of people don’t understand how supercomputing and artificial intelligence are going to change battle battlegrounds, but they are.

Tell us where we are. It seems like America’s a little bit ahead of China, but China’s chomping at our bit.

Col. Rob Maness Ret.: the United States still leads in manufacturing and industrialization in one area, in the world today. And that is software developments, aka art, the artificial intelligence, effort that’s being undertaken right now.

So we are still in the lead on that. the concern is. Can it get out of control? will there be enough good policies in place to have, adequate, guardrails so that the artificial intelligence is used for what it’s supposed to be, which is a tool to help make better decisions that do things like save lives, and those kinds of things, especially in the military.

we’ve seen these drones swarm videos that are controlled by a type of artificial intelligence. and if you can see that on your television and open source, media platforms, then in the dark spaces, research and development on the military side, no matter what country you’re talking about, they are much further ahead.

Then even that, when you combine what we’ve seen with something like the drone swarm I just mentioned, and what’s actually happening in combat in the war in Ukraine and Russia or between Israel and, and Hamas and Gaza, and what they’re doing with drone warfare, you overlay the artificial intelligence piece on that, and it’s critically important that the United States not only is in the lead, But continues to take, be in the lead and increase that lead and get control of this so that we can use it effectively to defend ourselves and help our allies when called upon.

John Solomon: So important.

Rebecca Weber: Thank you, Colonel. We hear a lot about Pentagon bloat and wasteful spending. In your experience, where do you think the most waste is in the military and what should be cut first to make sure that resources go where they’re actually needed?

Col. Rob Maness Ret.: Two places. First is the acquisition system. The most critical place to get fixed in the Department of Defense is the acquisition system.

We can’t field a tanker, which is a basic. passenger aircraft with some special fittings and parts, put onto it, with some avionics that I can integrate it in with military forces, in the combat zone installed in it. It took us over 20 years to field the latest tanker, the KC 46. The F 35 program is the worst acquisition program that we have ever seen.

And I spent over 30 years in the military while the F 35, for a big chunk of it. was being developed. It was way beyond its delivery date. It doesn’t meet the capability that was laid down in the initial requirements. Even today, it does not. And quite frankly, about 35 percent of them are mission fully mission capable.

That leaves 65 percent of your aircraft. Out there, not mission capable, having to be worked on by maintenance, which is low band. So the acquisition system has got to be fixed. I would love to see Musk, take a really hard look at that with his brilliant, men and women that he is using with doge and come up with a fix for that because it’s been talked about by multiple administrations, way beyond Ronald Reagan, even back during the Vietnam war days of how bad the system is and the worst part is.

And it delivers things late, it delivers them, it doesn’t meet requirements that we know we have the technological capability to deliver. and then when it does get out there, you can’t keep it fixed at an adequate rate in order to fight and win America’s wars against a place like China, when they’re called upon to do that.

So we’ve got to get that fixed. The other place is the civilian personnel, system, the personnel system, itself and the money we put into it. The numbers of people we have in it are way over, stated they’re bloated. It needs to be cut. I would love to see a slash and burn operation from Doge, coming around that you start with those two things.

And you can, then you can start getting into the other things, that. Build a system that ensures the war fighting soldier, sailor, airman, marine, and I think the space guys are called guardians, and coast guardsmen, and women, are getting the things they need to do their main mission. Their only mission, which is to fight and win America’s wars, and be lethal to any enemy that dares raise its ugly head against the United States of America or its allies.

John Solomon: Common sense, brilliance. Colonel, that’s what we get every time you come on the show. Always enjoy having you on. Thanks for joining us today.

Col. Rob Maness Ret.: Thank you, John. Thank you, Rebecca.

John Solomon: What a great conversation. A lot of good ideas there. Elon Musk, hopefully he’s watching and paying attention. Alright, coming up after the break, former Assistant Secretary of State Bobby Charles will be here to discuss more about the Trump administration’s foreign policy goals.

And while we’re in the break, it’s a perfect opportunity to head over to amac. us slash no noise and take advantage of that 47 percent off an AMAC membership. Now you say 47 percent off, that’s odd, right? No, it isn’t. It’s in celebration of America’s 47th President, Donald Trump. Alright, go check that out.

We’ll be right back.

Welcome back America to this Just the News special report, returning to peace through strength. It’s all brought to you by AMAC, our friends at the Association of Mature American Citizens. So let’s bring back in AMAC CEO, Rebecca Weber, as well as our latest guest. He’s a former assistant secretary of state, and now he’s a national spokesman for AMAC.

He’s our good friend, Bobby Charles, and also the author of one of my favorite books, Cherish America, Stories of Courage, Character. And kindness. Bobby, good to have you on.

Robert Charles: Always a blast to be on with you guys.

John Solomon: at the top of the show today, we started to talk a little bit about the speed and velocity of foreign policy successes that Donald Trump has already had in his first four weeks.

Normally foreign policy takes a little time to unfold, but not in this Trump presidency. You had Mexico. In Canada, immediately buck on tariffs and start securing the border better. Russia at the table now, restoring diplomatic relations, beginning a peace process with Ukraine. So many other things happening.

is it surprising to see the velocity of foreign policy success for this president?

Robert Charles: in some ways, John, it is, it’s not just mourning in America, it’s mourning in the world. and it’s mourning in the world because it’s mourning in America. What has happened here is, we haven’t seen anything, honestly, I, I often say we haven’t seen anything like this since Ronald Reagan, but I think he’s actually, far outpacing Ronald Reagan in the speed with which, President Trump is going after these things.

The bottom line is it’s, how you set the table makes all the difference, John. Deterrence is one. Way of, deterrence and peace through strength is one way of. Creating and preserving world order and appeasement is another approach. And Biden pushed appeasement the way, Neville Chamberlain pushed appeasement and Trump is pushing deterrence the way Reagan and Churchill pushed deterrence.

So let’s get right down to it in every single situation where you have an interaction with our allies. They are now quite well aware that we are the largest economy, the largest military and frankly, the country that will decide whether or not there is a stable global environment. And they either follow us or fall off the wagon.

And then on the adversary side, every single one of our adversaries are back on their heels, John. So what we’re, pivoting toward very quickly because people believe Donald Trump. They trust his word. They are understanding clearly that we’re on a deterrence track and we are off the appeasement track.

Great points.

Rebecca Weber: Thank you, Bobby. Senator Rubio has been a fierce advocate for a strong America. First foreign policy. Now that he’s at the helm of the State Department, how would you grade his performance so far? Is he making the bold moves needed to reverse the global weakness that we saw under Biden?

Robert Charles: Great question, Rebecca. And actually, a question that’s quite interesting for the AMAC audience and frankly, the global audience. I did not expect Rubio to be as forward leaning as he has been, but really two things define so far what he’s done. The first is, he’s walking into all these countries from Panama to, Europe with a, with a clear Trump like message, which is, follow us or get out of the way.

And, and secondly, he’s delivering the kind of clarity that, again, I’m really gratified to see it. I, again, on whether it’s tariffs or whether it’s, our defense coming back again and how we feel about that, whether it’s our allies being told that they, we, expect an alliance. to be mutual, whether it’s our adversaries being pushed back on their heels, or in the case of Panama, really calling the shots, one of the most remarkable things he’s done is to go down to Panama and essentially completely reverse in a matter of hours, the, mental attitude and the geopolitical position of Panama.

we built that canal with 13, 000, I think Americans died building that canal and Theodore Roosevelt had it under America controlled it until Jimmy Carter decided to give it away. And within one year of giving it away, the Chinese controlled both ends of the canal. And Rubio, as Trump has done, went down and said, look, this, day is over.

Our national security, both trade and warships have to be able to pass through that canal with absolute certainty, clarity, and, no, no hesitation or delay when we need them. And Probably what we’re going to find is that China’s out of the business of controlling the canal and we very collegially will be in the business of working with Panama to control the canal we built.

Rebecca Weber: President Trump’s idea of acquiring Greenland, that was mocked by the left, but the reality is that it could provide America with strategic advantages in the Arctic. do you think that this deal could actually happen under Trump? And if so, how would it counter China and Russia’s growing military presence in that region?

Robert Charles: So again, two very important aspects that come out of that question, Rebecca. The first is that you’re, spot on. The first is that Greenland represents because of Arctic ice and because of the potential Northwest passage, the whole idea that we are in a position where China or Russia could gain an advantage in us strategically if Greenland is essentially allowed to be, neutral.

And at the end of the day, what that really means is China would take control of a portion of the North Atlantic that we cannot afford to let them have. So at the very least we’re in a dialogue that didn’t exist before because people are aware of strategic concerns that Biden and frankly, every, everybody back to Clinton didn’t really pay any attention to.

Could it happen? The second big question, people didn’t think the Louisiana purchase would happen. They didn’t think Alaska would happen. They didn’t think Hawaii would happen. I think that, Greenland is a group. It is a population that looks at themselves and feels somewhat alienated, by Europe.

And I put nothing out of the world of possibility when Donald Trump is in the White House. Why? Because he can incentivize behaviors and create win. deals that no other president, you know, back to maybe Reagan or Theodore Roosevelt have, ever, been able to do.

And you look at the Middle East, for example, again, an example of where you have to think outside the box. You have to imagine the impossible for a minute and then get everybody else to start thinking about what’s possible. So could Greenland become somehow affiliated with the United States? yeah, it could happen.

John Solomon: Pretty amazing. Bobby got about a minute left. there was a little thing that happened that has spoke big words to China. A little bit of change of word on the state department side about Taiwan independence sends a pretty big message to China. No.

Robert Charles: Yes. I think it’s pretty clear that, Trump is saying we will define, defend Taiwan.

We will defend freedom all over the world. We don’t want to go to war. We want you to. Get your head about you and understand that, a peaceful coexistence is a far better option than, and then another war. I’ll also note that Trump has put 10%, tariffs on China and China says, we’re going to put 15 percent tariffs back on you.

So the irony in this is that Trump is actually pushing China, but China’s attempt to push back is going to be useless. They put taxes on coal, on oil, gas, and pickup trucks. guess what we make a lot of. Coal, oil, gas, and pickup trucks, okay? So China’s ability to push us around is going to zero, or damn close.

And I, think Trump is just doing great things. And frankly, he’s also getting fentanyl out of this country, by putting tariffs, on, Mexico and Canada. So thank

John Solomon: God. China played right into his hands on that one. No doubt about it. Bobby, it’s always a great honor to have you on, folks. Go check out his amazing book, Cherish America.

It is a great read. And, also be sure to go to amac. us slash. No noise right now. AMAC slash, amac. us slash no noise. Go check out that incredible 40 percent off offer. We’ll be right back with some parting thoughts right after these messages.

Welcome back America. So grateful for the last hour and the great conversation that our friends at AMAC made possible. Returning to peace through strength has enormous consequences for the future of our country. I just want to bring in my amazing co host for the evening tonight. Rebecca, so much, was discussed here.

a lot to process, but there’s a clear theme, which is when America’s strong, the world is safer, no?

Rebecca Weber: Oh, yes, and we can see how Trump is really focused on rebuilding our military, securing our borders. he wants to renegotiate unfair trade deals. He really is standing firm against our adversaries.

So I think that the Trump administration is once again proving that a strong America is a safer America. And he does that with peace through strength. What amazing guests we’ve had today, all of them very energized and believing that is the path forward and the best path forward. Unfortunately, we’re coming out of four years of, a terrible foreign policy under Joe Biden.

and we’re seeing how quickly, in just a few short weeks, Donald J. Trump is reversing course and, bringing America, and America First policies to the forefront.

John Solomon: I have a lot of great, little reminders of my career over the last 35 years. One of my favorite is my AMAC card. Being an AMAC member, being part of not just a service, but a community of great patriots is amazing.

And I want to remind folks, over the last four years when we were glum and down about where we were under Joe Biden, it was AMAC that was writing and putting the vision forward for a return, not only for Donald Trump, but a return to peace through strength. You guys have championed this for a long time.

Our moment’s here now to deliver, isn’t it?

Rebecca Weber: Oh, yeah. None of it would be possible without over 2 million AMAC members. we’ve got to continue the fight to put America first. The real work is starting now. we need more members. We’re thrilled to offer everyone that great discount. 47 percent off a four year membership.

Go ahead and check out the URL or scan that QR code but we’re excited. we need more members, John. The more members we have, the stronger our voice in Washington and beyond.

John Solomon: I’ve just seen, whether it’s at the boot camps, Rebecca, that you have hosted, or at the, just the, watching your action team go into action and make a difference in conversations in state houses and in Congress, you are an army to be reckoned with, you’ve made America strong already, and it’s been a blast to host this conversation with you the last half hour, I have the last half hour, thanks for joining us, alright folks, one more time, go to amac.us slash no noise, amac. us slash no noise, Take advantage of that incredible 47 percent off on a membership. Join me. I’m a card carrying member. You could be too. The benefits are just extraordinary. Best investment you’ll make. All right. We’re going to say good evening. have a great night. We’ll be back to our regular program.