Buck Sexton talks to Glenn live from the Middle East

This week, Buck Sexton, National Security Editor at TheBlaze and co-host of Real News, has been traveling through the center of the bloodiest conflict on the globe, near the Jordanian/Syrian border. On radio this morning, Buck called in from Cairo, Egypt to explain how bad the refugee camps are, what the outlook is, and what locals on the ground have to say about America.

To start, Buck explained the situation in Egypt and the welcome (or lack there of) he has received in the country. “I was in Tahrir [Square] just until a few minutes ago. I stepped away from it so I could get on a phone line where you'd actually be able to hear me. And also as you can expect, they don't particularly like people who look like they may be Western journalists walking around them with cellphones, cellphone cameras, et cetera,” he explained. “They were very testy when I just spoke to them before. The whole city right now, Glenn, and this is in Cairo… the whole city's on edge because of the one year anniversary of Muslim Brotherhood's Mohammed Morsi taking power. There are huge demonstrations going right now… And people are very worried, there's a serious possibility, even by Cairo standards, for things to get out of control and there to be real violence.”

The mainstream media has painted the uprisings in Egypt and the Arab Spring more generally as a revolutionary, pro-democracy movement that Americans should enthusiastically support. As it turns out, the Arab Spring set the Middle East on fire, and now it seems those living in the region have found a scapegoat: the United States.

“I thought there was a very Jeffersonian revolution. I heard that from Bill Kristol,” Glenn joked. “I thought this was going to be really a good thing.”

“Well, you'll be happy to know, Glenn, that the Egyptians have already come up with a very plausible explanation for all this, which is that it's America's fault,” Buck said. And I've been told this now many times. So it's not that they messed up the revolution. It's that somehow we messed up the revolution… But on top of that… the economy here is in such rough shape right now. I feel bad for these shopkeepers and these other guys who are trying to make a living for their families from tourism, but you know what? I mean, when the Muslim Brotherhood's running things and people are scared, they tend not to want to spend their vacation time, their vacation money worried as to whether they are going to get caught in a protest and catch a little teargas in the face.”

Buck explained that, at this point, many in the country are just looking for someone to blame, and America is an easy target. One of the explanations Buck has heard involves the United States orchestrating the Muslim Brotherhood’s rise to power and ruining the revolution.

In addition to being in Egypt, Buck visited Syrian refugee camps to better understand the breadth of the situation on the ground. What he found was staggering.

“I spent an entire day with the refugees yesterday in Zaatari, which is the camp. It's only a few miles from the Syrian border. The nearest town gets hit with errant shells from Assad's artillery,” Buck said. “And the stories, there are two things that really came out of my discussions there. One of them is just the level of violence and viciousness and evil that is going on in this conflict is well beyond what I think most people understand. People were absolutely terrified that I was going to take their photograph because they're worried about repercussions either for themselves or their families if they try to go back or anyone who's still there. They were worried about me taking a photo, Glenn, that had water bottles in it. Now, I said why is that a concern? You know, I was taking a photo of something and they said that recently some Assad troops found a family of five that had just come sort of across the border and they said, oh, those water bottles, those must have come from the refugee camp. They lay them all down, they executed them all on the spot, including three small children. So the viciousness is impossible to overstate.”

You could liken the situation to ethnic cleansing, but, as Buck explained, the situation is more like human cleansing.

“They are killing everybody they think is opposed to them,” he said. “And then, of course, you've got the guys with the beards in the camp who are clearly, shall we say not of the Jeffersonian model, and perhaps very obviously of the fundamentalist and even pro jihadist model. They wouldn't speak to me. They eyed me very warily and quite honestly there are a lot of fights and there have been some violence in the camp. So I had to watch out for that. They see me as the enemy. They made that very clear.”

So what are the Syrian opposition forces looking for?

“But they want guns. They don't want a no fly zone. They want guns. They want us to arm them. They want us to let them finish the job. They were very clear on that as well,” Buck said.

With the Obama administration publically proclaiming that the red line has been crossed and they are preparing to take action in Syria, the mindset seems to be that the U.S. can somehow swoop in and end the fighting. But that is simply not the case.

“No one is prepared for what's coming. There are so many more refugees, so much more violence. This thing is far from over,” Buck explained. “And the notion that we could end it, even if you wanted to, is kind of a fantasy. So it was eye opening. And these people are living in absolute squalor, by the way. I mean, the international community, forget the fact they can't stop the fight in Syria. They should be completely ashamed of themselves. They say this is what they're supposed to be able to do is feed starving children, and they are not doing a very good job.”

The last few days, Glenn has been open with his predictions that World War III may very well be on the horizon. And with border fights in the Middle East continuing and and international support varied, it seems difficult to avoid a global-scaled conflict.

“I don't think we can avoid a broader conflict really in the Middle East,” Buck said. “Look, you've already got Lebanon for all intents and purposes involved in this. Hezbollah has thrown their lot in. The Russians are backing Assad to the hilt. The fact that they will back this regime tells you all you need to know about the character of the Russian government or its complete lack of character. It's disgraceful. The Iranians have gone in… full force on this issue. And the international community's so slow to get involved.”

“But Glenn, I mean, this is the other side of it. I'm giving you evils of the Assad regime, right? I was staring into the eyes of small children yesterday who, one kid looked at me, we were kicking around a soccer ball, and he said, ‘They murdered my mother, they assassinated my brother, but my father is fighting for the Free Syrian Army, so everything will be okay.’ All right. That's one side of this,” he continued. “The other side are the people that I spoke to in Jordan who are in contact with, know the resistance well, have been up and back across the border. They say that when it comes to the real fighting against the Syrian regime, against Assad forces, 80% of the major combat effectiveness, not the numbers of people but the combat effectiveness comes from the jihadists, the hardliners, the guys who as soon as they can take control of Syria want to start raining hellfire into Israel right next door. The Israelis know this. That's why everybody's on edge.”

Ultimately, there is no easy answer.

“Other than I wish these kids that I saw in the camp had food and were living in tents that were 120 degrees in the middle of the desert, I don't know what the answer is,” Buck said. “You got two sides, we can't trust either one, and if this thing goes cross border, and it very well could, into Turkey, into Jordan, you name it, no one knows. How do they stop the violence? I don't know.”

As much as the people in the Middle East blame America and have written off the U.S. because of the Obama administration’s incompetence, Glenn believes it will be a small group of strong-willed individuals who will first save this country and then save the world.

“If we have any chance of saving this country and the planet and man's freedom, it will come from a small group of people, and I believe it will come from the people who have brushed across this audience,” Glenn said. “Love is the answer. Peace, peaceful resistance. Standing in the fire of God. Because when everything else is burning, there's only one thing that won't. It will just become more pure. And if we're not in that space, we will lose and the whole world will go the way of Europe. And strong men will return. Whether they're religious strong men or just brutal thugs, strong men will return. It can't happen here. Can't. We're the only hope the world has.”

Is the U.N. plotting to control 30% of U.S. land by 2030?

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A reliable conservative senator faces cancellation for listening to voters. But the real threat to public lands comes from the last president’s backdoor globalist agenda.

Something ugly is unfolding on social media, and most people aren’t seeing it clearly. Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) — one of the most constitutionally grounded conservatives in Washington — is under fire for a housing provision he first proposed in 2022.

You wouldn’t know that from scrolling through X. According to the latest online frenzy, Lee wants to sell off national parks, bulldoze public lands, gut hunting and fishing rights, and hand America’s wilderness to Amazon, BlackRock, and the Chinese Communist Party. None of that is true.

Lee’s bill would have protected against the massive land-grab that’s already under way — courtesy of the Biden administration.

I covered this last month. Since then, the backlash has grown into something like a political witch hunt — not just from the left but from the right. Even Donald Trump Jr., someone I typically agree with, has attacked Lee’s proposal. He’s not alone.

Time to look at the facts the media refuses to cover about Lee’s federal land plan.

What Lee actually proposed

Over the weekend, Lee announced that he would withdraw the federal land sale provision from his housing bill. He said the decision was in response to “a tremendous amount of misinformation — and in some cases, outright lies,” but also acknowledged that many Americans brought forward sincere, thoughtful concerns.

Because of the strict rules surrounding the budget reconciliation process, Lee couldn’t secure legally enforceable protections to ensure that the land would be made available “only to American families — not to China, not to BlackRock, and not to any foreign interests.” Without those safeguards, he chose to walk it back.

That’s not selling out. That’s leadership.

It's what the legislative process is supposed to look like: A senator proposes a bill, the people respond, and the lawmaker listens. That was once known as representative democracy. These days, it gets you labeled a globalist sellout.

The Biden land-grab

To many Americans, “public land” brings to mind open spaces for hunting, fishing, hiking, and recreation. But that’s not what Sen. Mike Lee’s bill targeted.

His proposal would have protected against the real land-grab already under way — the one pushed by the Biden administration.

In 2021, Biden launched a plan to “conserve” 30% of America’s lands and waters by 2030. This effort follows the United Nations-backed “30 by 30” initiative, which seeks to place one-third of all land and water under government control.

Ask yourself: Is the U.N. focused on preserving your right to hunt and fish? Or are radical environmentalists exploiting climate fears to restrict your access to American land?

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As it stands, the federal government already owns 640 million acres — nearly one-third of the entire country. At this rate, the government will hit that 30% benchmark with ease. But it doesn’t end there. The next phase is already in play: the “50 by 50” agenda.

That brings me to a piece of legislation most Americans haven’t even heard of: the Sustains Act.

Passed in 2023, the law allows the federal government to accept private funding from organizations, such as BlackRock or the Bill Gates Foundation, to support “conservation programs.” In practice, the law enables wealthy elites to buy influence over how American land is used and managed.

Moreover, the government doesn’t even need the landowner’s permission to declare that your property contributes to “pollination,” or “photosynthesis,” or “air quality” — and then regulate it accordingly. You could wake up one morning and find out that the land you own no longer belongs to you in any meaningful sense.

Where was the outrage then? Where were the online crusaders when private capital and federal bureaucrats teamed up to quietly erode private property rights across America?

American families pay the price

The real danger isn’t in Mike Lee’s attempt to offer more housing near population centers — land that would be limited, clarified, and safeguarded in the final bill. The real threat is the creeping partnership between unelected global elites and our own government, a partnership designed to consolidate land, control rural development, and keep Americans penned in so-called “15-minute cities.”

BlackRock buying entire neighborhoods and pricing out regular families isn’t by accident. It’s part of a larger strategy to centralize populations into manageable zones, where cars are unnecessary, rural living is unaffordable, and every facet of life is tracked, regulated, and optimized.

That’s the real agenda. And it’s already happening , and Mike Lee’s bill would have been an effort to ensure that you — not BlackRock, not China — get first dibs.

I live in a town of 451 people. Even here, in the middle of nowhere, housing is unaffordable. The American dream of owning a patch of land is slipping away, not because of one proposal from a constitutional conservative, but because global powers and their political allies are already devouring it.

Divide and conquer

This controversy isn’t really about Mike Lee. It’s about whether we, as a nation, are still capable of having honest debates about public policy — or whether the online mob now controls the narrative. It’s about whether conservatives will focus on facts or fall into the trap of friendly fire and circular firing squads.

More importantly, it’s about whether we’ll recognize the real land-grab happening in our country — and have the courage to fight back before it’s too late.


This article originally appeared on TheBlaze.com.

URGENT: FIVE steps to CONTROL AI before it's too late!

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By now, many of us are familiar with AI and its potential benefits and threats. However, unless you're a tech tycoon, it can feel like you have little influence over the future of artificial intelligence.

For years, Glenn has warned about the dangers of rapidly developing AI technologies that have taken the world by storm.

He acknowledges their significant benefits but emphasizes the need to establish proper boundaries and ethics now, while we still have control. But since most people aren’t Silicon Valley tech leaders making the decisions, how can they help keep AI in check?

Recently, Glenn interviewed Tristan Harris, a tech ethicist deeply concerned about the potential harm of unchecked AI, to discuss its societal implications. Harris highlighted a concerning new piece of legislation proposed by Texas Senator Ted Cruz. This legislation proposes a state-level moratorium on AI regulation, meaning only the federal government could regulate AI. Harris noted that there’s currently no Federal plan for regulating AI. Until the federal government establishes a plan, tech companies would have nearly free rein with their AI. And we all know how slowly the federal government moves.

This is where you come in. Tristan Harris shared with Glenn the top five actions you should urge your representatives to take regarding AI, including opposing the moratorium until a concrete plan is in place. Now is your chance to influence the future of AI. Contact your senator and congressman today and share these five crucial steps they must take to keep AI in check:

Ban engagement-optimized AI companions for kids

Create legislation that will prevent AI from being designed to maximize addiction, sexualization, flattery, and attachment disorders, and to protect young people’s mental health and ability to form real-life friendships.

Establish basic liability laws

Companies need to be held accountable when their products cause real-world harm.

Pass increased whistleblower protections

Protect concerned technologists working inside the AI labs from facing untenable pressures and threats that prevent them from warning the public when the AI rollout is unsafe or crosses dangerous red lines.

Prevent AI from having legal rights

Enact laws so AIs don’t have protected speech or have their own bank accounts, making sure our legal system works for human interests over AI interests.

Oppose the state moratorium on AI 

Call your congressman or Senator Cruz’s office, and demand they oppose the state moratorium on AI without a plan for how we will set guardrails for this technology.

Glenn: Only Trump dared to deliver on decades of empty promises

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The Islamic regime has been killing Americans since 1979. Now Trump’s response proves we’re no longer playing defense — we’re finally hitting back.

The United States has taken direct military action against Iran’s nuclear program. Whatever you think of the strike, it’s over. It’s happened. And now, we have to predict what happens next. I want to help you understand the gravity of this situation: what happened, what it means, and what might come next. To that end, we need to begin with a little history.

Since 1979, Iran has been at war with us — even if we refused to call it that.

We are either on the verge of a remarkable strategic victory or a devastating global escalation. Time will tell.

It began with the hostage crisis, when 66 Americans were seized and 52 were held for over a year by the radical Islamic regime. Four years later, 17 more Americans were murdered in the U.S. Embassy bombing in Beirut, followed by 241 Marines in the Beirut barracks bombing.

Then came the Khobar Towers bombing in 1996, which killed 19 more U.S. airmen. Iran had its fingerprints all over it.

In Iraq and Afghanistan, Iranian-backed proxies killed hundreds of American soldiers. From 2001 to 2020 in Afghanistan and 2003 to 2011 in Iraq, Iran supplied IEDs and tactical support.

The Iranians have plotted assassinations and kidnappings on U.S. soil — in 2011, 2021, and again in 2024 — and yet we’ve never really responded.

The precedent for U.S. retaliation has always been present, but no president has chosen to pull the trigger until this past weekend. President Donald Trump struck decisively. And what our military pulled off this weekend was nothing short of extraordinary.

Operation Midnight Hammer

The strike was reportedly called Operation Midnight Hammer. It involved as many as 175 U.S. aircraft, including 12 B-2 stealth bombers — out of just 19 in our entire arsenal. Those bombers are among the most complex machines in the world, and they were kept mission-ready by some of the finest mechanics on the planet.

USAF / Handout | Getty Images

To throw off Iranian radar and intelligence, some bombers flew west toward Guam — classic misdirection. The rest flew east, toward the real targets.

As the B-2s approached Iranian airspace, U.S. submarines launched dozens of Tomahawk missiles at Iran’s fortified nuclear facilities. Minutes later, the bombers dropped 14 MOPs — massive ordnance penetrators — each designed to drill deep into the earth and destroy underground bunkers. These bombs are the size of an F-16 and cost millions of dollars apiece. They are so accurate, I’ve been told they can hit the top of a soda can from 15,000 feet.

They were built for this mission — and we’ve been rehearsing this run for 15 years.

If the satellite imagery is accurate — and if what my sources tell me is true — the targeted nuclear sites were utterly destroyed. We’ll likely rely on the Israelis to confirm that on the ground.

This was a master class in strategy, execution, and deterrence. And it proved that only the United States could carry out a strike like this. I am very proud of our military, what we are capable of doing, and what we can accomplish.

What comes next

We don’t yet know how Iran will respond, but many of the possibilities are troubling. The Iranians could target U.S. forces across the Middle East. On Monday, Tehran launched 20 missiles at U.S. bases in Qatar, Syria, and Kuwait, to no effect. God forbid, they could also unleash Hezbollah or other terrorist proxies to strike here at home — and they just might.

Iran has also threatened to shut down the Strait of Hormuz — the artery through which nearly a fifth of the world’s oil flows. On Sunday, Iran’s parliament voted to begin the process. If the Supreme Council and the ayatollah give the go-ahead, we could see oil prices spike to $150 or even $200 a barrel.

That would be catastrophic.

The 2008 financial collapse was pushed over the edge when oil hit $130. Western economies — including ours — simply cannot sustain oil above $120 for long. If this conflict escalates and the Strait is closed, the global economy could unravel.

The strike also raises questions about regime stability. Will it spark an uprising, or will the Islamic regime respond with a brutal crackdown on dissidents?

Early signs aren’t hopeful. Reports suggest hundreds of arrests over the weekend and at least one dissident executed on charges of spying for Israel. The regime’s infamous morality police, the Gasht-e Ershad, are back on the streets. Every phone, every vehicle — monitored. The U.S. embassy in Qatar issued a shelter-in-place warning for Americans.

Russia and China both condemned the strike. On Monday, a senior Iranian official flew to Moscow to meet with Vladimir Putin. That meeting should alarm anyone paying attention. Their alliance continues to deepen — and that’s a serious concern.

Now we pray

We are either on the verge of a remarkable strategic victory or a devastating global escalation. Time will tell. But either way, President Trump didn’t start this. He inherited it — and he took decisive action.

The difference is, he did what they all said they would do. He didn’t send pallets of cash in the dead of night. He didn’t sign another failed treaty.

He acted. Now, we pray. For peace, for wisdom, and for the strength to meet whatever comes next.


This article originally appeared on TheBlaze.com.

Globalize the Intifada? Why Mamdani’s plan spells DOOM for America

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If New Yorkers hand City Hall to Zohran Mamdani, they’re not voting for change. They’re opening the door to an alliance of socialism, Islamism, and chaos.

It only took 25 years for New York City to go from the resilient, flag-waving pride following the 9/11 attacks to a political fever dream. To quote Michael Malice, “I'm old enough to remember when New Yorkers endured 9/11 instead of voting for it.”

Malice is talking about Zohran Mamdani, a Democratic Socialist assemblyman from Queens now eyeing the mayor’s office. Mamdani, a 33-year-old state representative emerging from relative political obscurity, is now receiving substantial funding for his mayoral campaign from the Council on American-Islamic Relations.

CAIR has a long and concerning history, including being born out of the Muslim Brotherhood and named an unindicted co-conspirator in the Holy Land Foundation terror funding case. Why would the group have dropped $100,000 into a PAC backing Mamdani’s campaign?

Mamdani blends political Islam with Marxist economics — two ideologies that have left tens of millions dead in the 20th century alone.

Perhaps CAIR has a vested interest in Mamdani’s call to “globalize the intifada.” That’s not a call for peaceful protest. Intifada refers to historic uprisings of Muslims against what they call the “Israeli occupation of Palestine.” Suicide bombings and street violence are part of the playbook. So when Mamdani says he wants to “globalize” that, who exactly is the enemy in this global scenario? Because it sure sounds like he's saying America is the new Israel, and anyone who supports Western democracy is the new Zionist.

Mamdani tried to clean up his language by citing the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum, which once used “intifada” in an Arabic-language article to describe the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising. So now he’s comparing Palestinians to Jewish victims of the Nazis? If that doesn’t twist your stomach into knots, you’re not paying attention.

If you’re “globalizing” an intifada, and positioning Israel — and now America — as the Nazis, that’s not a cry for human rights. That’s a call for chaos and violence.

Rising Islamism

But hey, this is New York. Faculty members at Columbia University — where Mamdani’s own father once worked — signed a letter defending students who supported Hamas after October 7. They also contributed to Mamdani’s mayoral campaign. And his father? He blamed Ronald Reagan and the religious right for inspiring Islamic terrorism, as if the roots of 9/11 grew in Washington, not the caves of Tora Bora.

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This isn’t about Islam as a faith. We should distinguish between Islam and Islamism. Islam is a religion followed peacefully by millions. Islamism is something entirely different — an ideology that seeks to merge mosque and state, impose Sharia law, and destroy secular liberal democracies from within. Islamism isn’t about prayer and fasting. It’s about power.

Criticizing Islamism is not Islamophobia. It is not an attack on peaceful Muslims. In fact, Muslims are often its first victims.

Islamism is misogynistic, theocratic, violent, and supremacist. It’s hostile to free speech, religious pluralism, gay rights, secularism — even to moderate Muslims. Yet somehow, the progressive left — the same left that claims to fight for feminism, LGBTQ rights, and free expression — finds itself defending candidates like Mamdani. You can’t make this stuff up.

Blending the worst ideologies

And if that weren’t enough, Mamdani also identifies as a Democratic Socialist. He blends political Islam with Marxist economics — two ideologies that have left tens of millions dead in the 20th century alone. But don’t worry, New York. I’m sure this time socialism will totally work. Just like it always didn’t.

If you’re a business owner, a parent, a person who’s saved anything, or just someone who values sanity: Get out. I’m serious. If Mamdani becomes mayor, as seems likely, then New York City will become a case study in what happens when you marry ideological extremism with political power. And it won’t be pretty.

This is about more than one mayoral race. It’s about the future of Western liberalism. It’s about drawing a bright line between faith and fanaticism, between healthy pluralism and authoritarian dogma.

Call out radicalism

We must call out political Islam the same way we call out white nationalism or any other supremacist ideology. When someone chants “globalize the intifada,” that should send a chill down your spine — whether you’re Jewish, Christian, Muslim, atheist, or anything in between.

The left may try to shame you into silence with words like “Islamophobia,” but the record is worn out. The grooves are shallow. The American people see what’s happening. And we’re not buying it.

This article originally appeared on TheBlaze.com.