Bill O'Reilly calls President Obama "weak", Putin "Stalin-lite" during interview with Glenn

The King of Cable News, Bill O'Reilly, joined Glenn on radio this morning to discuss his new book Killing Patton: The Strange Death of World War II's Most Audacious General, as well as the President's stance on the Islamic State. Unsurprisingly, O'Reilly did not mince words when it came to the President's record, calling him "weak" and saying that in the dangerous world we currently live in, weakness could be truly disastrous to America.

It's a fascinating interview, watch the full video below or scroll down for the transcripts.

GLENN: Good friend of the program and really famous guy, Bill O'Reilly is joining us now. He had a new book called Killing Patton. I don't know what his obsession with death is, but we were talking about his book last hour. And Bill, I don't know what your obsession with -- can I spoil the ending? Patton dies.

BILL: Did you read the book?

GLENN: I got to Page 143.

BILL: Good. For you, that's phenomenal. You must really like it.

GLENN: Do you normally get to Page 143, if you don't like it?

BILL: Yeah, Page 22 or 23.

GLENN: So Bill, lay out the premise here.

BILL: Look, last six months of World War II brutal beyond belief. Americans really don't know what happened in World War II. I didn't until I started researching the book. It's been romanticized for us, because it was the last great American world victory, but what was happening was really down and dirty. The problem was the Russians were allied with the United States, but the Russians were doing terrible things. And General Patton knew it. He wanted to fight the Russians after they defeated Hitler.

Eisenhower, FDR, Truman, none of them were on board with that. They kept trying to tell the American people that Stalin and Russians were good guys, our allies. That sets up the tension. Patton is adamantly opposed to the Russians. He rightfully predicted they would not leave the countries that they occupied, and he was setting up his third army to, after Hitler fell, go after the Russians and push them back, all right.

There's your tension.

So he lost the political game. He was about to come back to the United States to do a speaking tour, Patton was, saying what I just told you, that the Russians were bad guys. The day before he's supposed to come back to the United States, he gets into a hellacious automobile accident that is beyond belief, and I'll let you read the book to see, we lay out the facts.

GLENN: Because back then, if I'm not mistaken, cars just didn't get into accidents.

BILL: It was insane. He was in the hospital, partially paralyzed from the accident. He was joking with the nursing, drinking cognac conversing with his wife. He goes to sleep. The next morning the doctors come in to check on him. He's dead. Nobody knows why he's dead. No autopsy. He's right away put in a coffin and buried in Luxembourg. All the investigator documents disappear. All the witnesses to the accident on the other side, not the guys that were in

his car, but the other side that crashed into him, disappeared.

So it is a thriller about World War II, the end of the war, then a murder mystery about what happened.

GLENN: So Bill, if you would have reached out to me, I mean this sincerely, I have a document, a letter from Patton -- I will show it to you tonight on TV -- from Patton, to the guy he put in the rear command. He writes it at the Pentagon and he said these guys are going to screw this up. This is -- they are not going to do it and I am going in. And I'm not coming back. He knew he was on a suicide mission. He knew that the Pentagon was not with him, and he predicted his own death.

BILL: Yes, he did. Is that an original letter --

GLENN: Original letter.

BILL: That's amazing. I'm looking forward to seeing that. He did predict his death to his own daughters. The last time he saw them, he said I don't believe I'm going to survive, because he knew that there were two assassination attempts on him already. You expect that in war, but they were very, very nefarious.

Another thing was, there was a guy heading up the OSS, which today is the CIA, named Wild Bill Donovan. He hated Patton. He was adamantly against Patton, because he was Stalin's pal. All this is laid out in a thriller form. This is not a boring history book.

GLENN: Who are you alleging did it?

BILL: Stalin.

PAT: Stalin ordered a hit on him?

BILL: Yes. His Secret Service, who were assassinating people all over Europe.

PAT: Are you alleging Bill, in conjunction with the U.S.?

BILL: No, but I'm saying the OSS helped Stalin and his secret police and it wouldn't have been hard to get agents around Patton.

PAT: One of the other fascinating things in the book -- I never heard of this -- the British actually shot down Patton's personal plane.

BILL: RAF fighter attacked Patton. He survived because of the skill of his pilot, but it was a marked plane. Nobody knows who was piloting the plane, because there were a bunch of people, even Russian pilots that had access to those spit-fires, but there's a lot of stuff many this book that people are just going to keep you up at night.

GLENN: Bill, I so appreciate especially this particular book, because once we got into bed with the communists, we changed fundamentally as a nation. When the Progressives saw fascism and communism and they at first thought this was the way to go, and I think they still do, some people think communism is the way to go. That's what the global warming thing is about. We lost our way. And really bad nefarious things happened, because we were starting to look tell collective.

BILL: The communist influence, after World War II in the United States --

GLENN: Wait. Before World War II, during World War I, that's where the birth of the Progressive movement came from. One of my favorite dark quotes from any President was FDR saying I've got a lot of friends that are communists. Doesn't mean you are un-American.

BILL: True. That just heightened when we allied with the Soviet Union to fight Hitler. And all of that was in play. There was a tremendous amount of ideological stuff in play. Patton wasn't an ideological guy, but he was thinking of running for president, that's another reason people didn't like Patton. But he was a warrior and he saw the Russians as villains and he was right. I mean, there's no doubt that George Patton's vision of Stalin and the Russians was 100% correct, and if we had followed his vision, this world would be a totally different place now.

GLENN: Let me switch to current events. How are you, first of all?

BILL: Good. Overly busy, but good.

GLENN: Overly busy?

BILL: Yes. I work --

GLENN: You have a whole hour. Uh to work every day. The working man right now. Listening to you, like --

BILL: I should be a man of leisure, but I am compelled, as you are to bring the truth of the American people.

GLENN: Let's switch gears here and bring the truth to the American people. ISIS, we have anyone about this for a long time.

BILL: One year.

GLENN: This is the caliphate that some were warning.

BILL: You?

GLENN: And these guys are here. They are coming back over. Do you have a sense -- first of all, have you ever seen any time, even in World War II, you know, FDR says we aren't going to get involved, and then he switches gears, about '39, and says okay, I was wrong, puts new people around him. This president is not putting new people around him, not cleaning out Clapper or anyone else that said this is nothing to worry. Do you have any faith that we know what we are doing or on the right side?

BILL: I'm looking at Obama speaking now at the United Nations and his top priority is global warming, not fighting terrorism. He's a weak President. Any fair minded American would agree that he is weak. Weakness in a dangerous world is a threat to the country because the bad guys are emboldened by weakness. The best example is Putin. He's Stalin-lite.

So the president is a weak leader. His priorities lie in social justice, and in liberal causes like global warming. He has no stomach for the fight. I mean, can you imagine George Patton's opinion of Barak Obama? Could you just imagine? I mean Patton looked down on Eisenhower and FDR to some extent, but I don't believe we have a concerted plan to fight word-wide terrorism. A big mercenary army, under the supervision of Congress and trained by the United States, and financed by the coalition that the Obama administration is supposedly putting together but no, we don't have a uniform strategy. The president had to bomb ISIS because of the beheadings. He had to. He didn't want to, because like the "New York Times", which printed today on its editorial page, ISIS is not a threat, in the opinion of the "New York Times", to the United States. What are you going to do?

GLENN: You think that's sane at all, to say they are not a threat in the United States?

BILL: I can't see any way that you couldn't project in the future that a group like ISIS that's now controlling thousands of square miles would dispatch people to try to kill infidels in a number of countries. Why can't the "New York Times" project that out? It happened before on 9/11 and it was an organization that didn't have nearly the power of ISIS, al-Qaeda in Afghanistan. They hatched the plot. If they could do it, why couldn't ISIS do it and ISIS is up front saying we want to do it and we're going to do it, but still the "New York Times" doesn't see them as a threat. Doesn't make any sense.

GLENN: We are talking to Bill O'Reilly, author of the new book "Killing Patton", and he also does some TV show; but as you were researching the Nazis and looking at this, I can't help, because I'm a student of second Word War myself, I can't help but think we are repeating all of the mistakes, the same things are going on, the same denials are going on, making the same friendships, instead of making them with communists, we are making them with Islamic extremists. And ISIS is in my opinion, worse than the Nazis, because the Nazis at least had to hide everything.

BILL: Well, Nazis also had a structure whereby the Third Reich had ambassadors and this is before the war started in different countries and actually had elections -- they were rigged, all that. These ISIS people are just barbarians, and they made a terrible mistake in the beheadings of the two Americans and the Britain. If they had not done that, Beck, Obama would not be engaged right now.

So ISIS could have flown under the radar and expanded their power and influence and money, and they would not have been confronted by President Obama, but they made that big mistake, and now the United States is going to punish them. They will. We will. But that doesn't mean the jihadists are going to be defeated. They will pop up someplace else. You have to have a concerted plan to defeat this.

GLENN: If you were President of the United States today -- and I'm not -- I know that you would not salute the marines with a coffee cup in your hand -- if you were the President of the United States today what would you -- what would we be doing today?

BILL: Good question, and I will give you a precise answer. You could go on to O'Reilly.com for all the details --

GLENN: Don't do that.

BILL: The first thing you have to do is declare war on terrorism. Congress has to declare who are on the Jihadists. So the United States declares war on Islamic terrorism. That's the bill. Congress passes it, I sign it, as president. So now we have the power to go anywhere in the world to get these guys. But why should the United States taxpayers foot the bill for this, when it's a worldwide problem?

So we get our 50 nations -- that's what Obama says we have in our coalition -- and they pay for a 25,000-man force, mercenary force, that is under control of Congress, trained by NATO and American

officers on American soil. This is a rapid deployment force that goes everywhere in the world to confront these people when we need people on the ground to fight them. It doesn't diminish the United States armed forces. We still have our military intact. This doesn't have anything to do with them. These are private citizens that apply for the job, well-paid, and we choose the best all over the world, and we craft this force. This is going to happen, by the way. And that

force goes and fights on the ground against ISIS, al-Qaeda, whomever, Boko Haram, whatever it is. Now, this instills --

This instills fear into the jihadists, because they know there's nowhere to hide it's a declaration of war and they have elite fighters coming after them, who are going to kill them. So that's what I would develop on the military front. If you had a guy like Patton, who you could put in charge overall command, you do it. But we don't have anybody like Patton now. And that is a big deficit for the United States.

GLENN: Do you know why we don't?

BILL: Because of politics.

GLENN: They killed him.

BILL: Any real aggressive officers, they don't get promoted.

GLENN: I will tell you, that I love our military and I love our -- I just love our military and I respect they will, but I will tell you that I am gravely disappointed in some of the leadership in our military, because they have been, you know strung up --

BILL: Politicized.

GLENN: Yeah. Somebody needs to put their stars down on the table and say Mr. President, no thank you, and I'm turning it around, walking out of your office, going to the press.

BILL: Well you see it now with Gates and Panetta, two former Secretary of Defense, both have books ripping up Obama. Well, why didn't you do it when these mistakes were made.

GLENN: Thank you. It's one thing to read "Killing Patton". That's your theory, and this is your work and your job. It's not like why didn't you say something, Bill, on "The O'Reilly Factor".

You are in office, seeing these things, you don't wait for the book. You go out and you say it.

BILL: Right. I am resigning because this. This is happening. We are in danger. So I mean that's what we don't have. That's what Patton did. Patton told the press, he was very straightforward saying these guys, these Russians, they are dangerous. They are not our friends. And that got him killed.

GLENN: Bill O'Reilly, the man along with Roger Ailes, who built FOX News channel, talking to the guy who almost single-handedly destroyed FOX News channel. That wasn't my intent. I walk out going wow, crap that didn't work --

BILL: Well you destroyed CNN, so you got at least one of them.

GLENN: Thank you so much.

BILL: See you on TV tonight.

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

MANAURE QUINTERO / Contributor | Getty Images

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

Tasos Katopodis / Stringer | Getty Images

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

Bloomberg / Contributor | Getty Images

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.

Bloomberg / Contributor | Getty Images

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.

How private stewardship could REVIVE America’s wild

Jonathan Newton / Contributor | Getty Images

The left’s idea of stewardship involves bulldozing bison and barring access. Lee’s vision puts conservation back in the hands of the people.

The media wants you to believe that Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) is trying to bulldoze Yellowstone and turn national parks into strip malls — that he’s calling for a reckless fire sale of America’s natural beauty to line developers’ pockets. That narrative is dishonest. It’s fearmongering, and, by the way, it’s wrong.

Here’s what’s really happening.

Private stewardship works. It’s local. It’s accountable. It’s incentivized.

The federal government currently owns 640 million acres of land — nearly 28% of all land in the United States. To put that into perspective, that’s more territory than France, Germany, Poland, and the United Kingdom combined.

Most of this land is west of the Mississippi River. That’s not a coincidence. In the American West, federal ownership isn’t just a bureaucratic technicality — it’s a stranglehold. States are suffocated. Locals are treated as tenants. Opportunities are choked off.

Meanwhile, people living east of the Mississippi — in places like Kentucky, Georgia, or Pennsylvania — might not even realize how little land their own states truly control. But the same policies that are plaguing the West could come for them next.

Lee isn’t proposing to auction off Yellowstone or pave over Yosemite. He’s talking about 3 million acres — that’s less than half of 1% of the federal estate. And this land isn’t your family’s favorite hiking trail. It’s remote, hard to access, and often mismanaged.

Failed management

Why was it mismanaged in the first place? Because the federal government is a terrible landlord.

Consider Yellowstone again. It’s home to the last remaining herd of genetically pure American bison — animals that haven’t been crossbred with cattle. Ranchers, myself included, would love the chance to help restore these majestic creatures on private land. But the federal government won’t allow it.

So what do they do when the herd gets too big?

They kill them. Bulldoze them into mass graves. That’s not conservation. That’s bureaucratic malpractice.

And don’t even get me started on bald eagles — majestic symbols of American freedom and a federally protected endangered species, now regularly slaughtered by wind turbines. I have pictures of piles of dead bald eagles. Where’s the outrage?

Biden’s federal land-grab

Some argue that states can’t afford to manage this land themselves. But if the states can’t afford it, how can Washington? We’re $35 trillion in debt. Entitlements are strained, infrastructure is crumbling, and the Bureau of Land Management, Forest Service, and National Park Service are billions of dollars behind in basic maintenance. Roads, firebreaks, and trails are falling apart.

The Biden administration quietly embraced something called the “30 by 30” initiative, a plan to lock up 30% of all U.S. land and water under federal “conservation” by 2030. The real goal is 50% by 2050.

That entails half of the country being taken away from you, controlled not by the people who live there but by technocrats in D.C.

You think that won’t affect your ability to hunt, fish, graze cattle, or cut timber? Think again. It won’t be conservatives who stop you from building a cabin, raising cattle, or teaching your grandkids how to shoot a rifle. It’ll be the same radical environmentalists who treat land as sacred — unless it’s your truck, your deer stand, or your back yard.

Land as collateral

Moreover, the U.S. Treasury is considering putting federally owned land on the national balance sheet, listing your parks, forests, and hunting grounds as collateral.

What happens if America defaults on its debt?

David McNew / Stringer | Getty Images

Do you think our creditors won’t come calling? Imagine explaining to your kids that the lake you used to fish in is now under foreign ownership, that the forest you hunted in belongs to China.

This is not hypothetical. This is the logical conclusion of treating land like a piggy bank.

The American way

There’s a better way — and it’s the American way.

Let the people who live near the land steward it. Let ranchers, farmers, sportsmen, and local conservationists do what they’ve done for generations.

Did you know that 75% of America’s wetlands are on private land? Or that the most successful wildlife recoveries — whitetail deer, ducks, wild turkeys — didn’t come from Washington but from partnerships between private landowners and groups like Ducks Unlimited?

Private stewardship works. It’s local. It’s accountable. It’s incentivized. When you break it, you fix it. When you profit from the land, you protect it.

This is not about selling out. It’s about buying in — to freedom, to responsibility, to the principle of constitutional self-governance.

So when you hear the pundits cry foul over 3 million acres of federal land, remember: We don’t need Washington to protect our land. We need Washington to get out of the way.

Because this isn’t just about land. It’s about liberty. And once liberty is lost, it doesn’t come back easily.

This article originally appeared on TheBlaze.com.