Today on Sekulow, a report of a new Iranian threat against President Trump deepens the Air Force One mystery. Keeping you informed and engaged now more than ever. This is Sekulow. We want to hear from you. Share and post your comments or call 1-800-684-3110.
And now your host. Welcome to Sekulow. It's a Friday and I will be joined momentarily by Logan Sekulow in studio. A lot of moving parts around here this morning at the ACLJ. But this is a big story that came out.
It was an exclusive from the Wall Street Journal. It dropped last night, and we're going to talk about it because I think it adds a layer to the whole mystery that's been going on around the plane change with the Air Force One transiting back to the United States after the NATO summit in Turkey. There's a lot of information coming out, a lot of questions from reporters. Why did we plane change planes? Why are we on the old Air Force One?
Why did you make us lower our shades before we took off? Things of that nature. But now we're finding out that Israel warned the United States that they had had intel and they gave it over to the U.S. that there is a fresh Iranian plan to assassinate President Trump. We know that he has been a target by the Iranians since the death of Qasem Suleimani.
They vowed revenge against him, against our colleague Mike Pompeo, and many other former Trump administration officials from the first term. They were targeting them. And we also know That This sort of a plan with the new leadership in Iran would also directly violate the Memorandum of Understanding. It gives us a little bit more understanding of why the President seemed so dissatisfied, displeased with the Iranians in Turkey a few days ago when he had said, you know, why, Mr. President, did you say that they were great, they were easier to work with, much more rational, and now you're saying that they're horrible?
He said, I got to know them.
Well, maybe he also got to know that they are still planning on taking him out. That is still an objective of the Islamic Republic of Iran. Not that it seems like it matters at this point, but remember, these leaders had signed on in the Memorandum of Understanding to point two that says the United States of America and the Islamic Republic of Iran undertake to respect each other's sovereignty and territorial integrity and to refrain from interfering in each other's internal affairs. I think trying to assassinate the President of the United States of America would be a little bit in conflict with that point, point two with MOU.
So, when the President says in his mind it's dead, I think we have a little bit more understanding why now. And we are going to talk about in the next segment that mystery surrounding Air Force One when you layer it with this new plan that we're learning of of Iran still wanting to assassinate the President of the United States. Yeah, maybe there was a plane change for a reason. We're gonna get to that. But I also wanna hear from you.
Does it surprise you? That, as far as they had come in the talks, that this was still an objective of the Iranians to kill the President of the United States of America? Give me a call, 1-800-684-3110. That's 1-800-684-3110 to talk to me and Logan on air. He'll be joining me in the next segment.
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Welcome back to Sekulow. Will Haynes here and joined by Logan. I switched seats. It's fun. It's musical chair Friday.
Yeah, I said, get out of chair one. Yeah, that's reserved for lunch. That's how I do that. I say, you can't sit there. The tension between us during a break when he's like, get out of my seat, it's wild, folks.
You wouldn't believe it. But here we are. Here we are. 1-800-684-3110 to get on the air today. And Will, it looks like the top story we were talking about is this threat.
And look, the threat of President Trump's life is something that he seems to, after being, you know, had multiple assassination attempts. And everything that we see in the news right now, obviously the currently the Tyler Robinson Hearing happening right now. You think it would be something that would come off a bit more even serious, but the way President Trump talks about it does feel weirdly disarming. But maybe that is dealing with the fact that you have to understand that the reality is that you are threat number one in the world. That's right.
And I think we should play this. This is actually byte two from our list, where a reporter was directly asking about. A threat to Air Force One. Remember, they flew over on the new Air Force One. That is the one that was widely showcased at the America 250.
It did a flyover. It has the red, white, and blue color scheme, which is a departure from the kind of baby blue color scheme that is historically with Air Force One. And what was, you know, they switch planes all the time. There's more than one of the old-style Air Force Ones. There's always a backup in case something happens, right?
It's less noticeable when the colors are the same of the plane. This is a different aircraft than they flew over on, and it's clear for everyone to see that you're walking onto a different planet. It's like an older model, if you will. You went down to an older model, 747, instead of the new one, as well as the livery of it, the paint scheme is completely different.
So it caused reporters to ask questions about it. And specifically, the border of Iran and Turkey, they are neighbors.
So the Iranians having a much closer strike point, if they were to want to try and do something against the President of the United States, it's a lot closer than even him being in Europe.
So here's what the question was, because remember, they switched planes. There was some question about putting the shades down.
Now, I've been on commercial flights all the time where they ask you, hey, lower your shades, whether it's a nighttime flight in there wanting people to be able to sleep or sometimes the heat. There's all sorts of different things. I understand why it would be alarming. But here's what we have. Byte two, we're asked directly about a threat from Iran against Air Force One just yesterday.
Were you aware of any credible threat by Iran against her family? I'm number one on their list before you. But if I go, you go. Right? But with their specialty, perhaps someday you want to change professions.
So once again, there is the President saying, I'm number one on their list. And says, if I go, you go, making a joke with the reporters that are clearly nervous, which is probably an unsettling conversation. I'm sure every time you're especially in international areas, not just flying over the country. Right. But anytime you get on the airplane, look, I'm not a great flyer.
Anytime I get on an airplane in general, I'm always concerned. But getting on an airplane with the President of the United States in an active war that's happening right now, when he just called a bunch of people who he had a ceasefire with, you know, scum and was going after them and all of those things happening. Clearly, you know that you're taking an extra step of risk.
Well, and here's what we know now. The Israelis have intelligence that they shared with the United States that there is a fresh Iranian plot to kill the President of the United States. That is their goal. It has been their goal. He even says, I'm their number one target.
Uh there I guess maybe Was a sense that that had quieted down with the MOU, with new leadership, that they are not. For any reason whatsoever, that they would still be wanting to carry that out. It is clear that it seems that is still an objective of the Islamic Republic of Iran. Maybe that is partially why we heard his language change in Turkey. When he said it wasn't just the strikes against the shipping vessels, but also this new intelligence report that they are still actively trying to target the President of the United States.
That to me. Leads more to him saying that the MOU, the Memorandum of Understanding, and the ceasefire is dead because it violates the very second point that we will respect the sovereignty of each other's nations. I think it also tells us that if they're still going after the President, I think when you think historically of President Trump, he gave them an opportunity, but maybe a regime change isn't so far off the table as we may have thought. They are still targeting him. They are still going after him.
And then you hear this language where he all of a sudden says they're scum. He says they're the worst humans. All of these things. And they say, well, you were praising them. He said, well, then I got to know them.
His view, whether he had this view the whole time and was giving them the benefit of the doubt or playing out this discussion, is clearly publicly changed on the leadership in Iran.
Now, there was also a Truth Social post this morning. Where he said the Islamic Republic of Iran has asked us to continue talks. We agreed to do so. But the United States has stated to them in no uncertain terms, the ceasefire is over. Thank you for your attention to this matter.
So, the President, even willing to let Iranian delegations still meet with our negotiators. With Jared Kushner, with Steve Witkoff. I doubt we'll see the vice President necessarily unless it, for some reason, there is a change in tone. I doubt he will join those talks again. But.
He is saying, yeah, you can try and salvage this all you want. But that doesn't mean we are withholding, firing back at you, and taking out targets if we have intelligence that we need to strike. And I think I want to go to a call. Let's go to Bill in Wyoming. Bill is on the show a lot.
He's an ACLJ champion. When you're an ACLJ champion, by the way, you get bumped to the front of the line in the phone calls.
So if you call in, you tell the phone screen you're a champion, they check it out, and you get bumped to the front. I always like to give that just a little perk, by the way. A champion is someone that gives on a monthly basis. And right now, we are in Independence Week. We are wrapping it up today.
It's the last day where you can get that special offer right now or gifts over $250 at aclj.org slash USA. Get that free cooler bag and the ACLJ challenge coin. And again, you can support the work of the ACLJ directly at aclj.org. All donations are doubled right now. But let's go to Bill in Wyoming.
Bill, thanks for calling once again. All right, can you hear me? We gotcha.
Okay. Uh I just well, first of all, let you know that uh I I sent my uh dose uh my money in yesterday. Thank you so much. I appreciate it. about this whole thing, I I'm fairly well cool with what the President says and does.
It's just the fact that I I get the idea that the press thinks that he's that he's got to be responsible to them for whatever he thinks, says and does, considering not only the this country, but also Iran. And I just really get upset about this.
Well, once again, the The way that the media has become and evolved in this country is frankly wild. When you see even the way they're covering like the main race, and we'll talk about some of that with Rick Rennell later. But yeah, all of a sudden, when it's their safety, they're very concerned. And I get that. I mean, I would probably be a little bit concerned too.
I mean, even the shade thing, the shades within the Air Force One. I mean, I say, you know, I've been on airliners that do this. It clearly was something that alarmed the reporters, though. Because they did directly ask about that as if it was something that they hadn't experienced before.
So even that is able to look and say, hey, something was different when that plane left Turkey. And there was a heightened sense among the other people. President Trump obviously was able to make jokes, but he's the one who's had a target on his back for a long time. But the individuals on that plane with him clearly. Clearly felt uncertain.
Based off the changes, based off the itinerary changes, based off things they were asked to do that they felt were out of the ordinary. And remember, the press pool is typically the same people traveling with the President often.
So it wouldn't be like, oh, you've just never been on Air Force One before. These are people that know the routine, they understand the entire protocols as well as the security things that go into this.
So, once again, I think getting this new report. Does shed a lot more light on that entire scenario where, oh, yeah, Iran is still actively trying to take out the President of the United States. And when he was in Turkey, he was right at their doorstep. That would be a time that you would think that a plot would be something they would try to execute at that point. Yeah, I mean, this isn't.
The way President Trump talks, as I said, can make it feel A bit less serious, but look, remember, this is a man who has already survived multiple assassination attempts. We are talking about these kinds of things in the news right now, and you know, obviously, from the Charlie Kirk assassination. It's nothing to joke about. And though President Trump may be trying to disarm them a little bit, disarm the press, even. By saying, ha ha, you know, I'm number one on the list.
Maybe you're getting a different profession if you didn't. I mean, somewhat that's just, again, joking, but it's also dealing with the reality of a time at war. We have seen this now many times, and let's not joke around too much about it. Understand the press is concerned, and I understand that. I want to hear from you, though.
What do you think? 1-800-684-3110. I think in general, we need to just be making sure not just we're praying for President Trump or praying for the leadership, praying for everybody, praying for this country. That we will be able to get through everything safely and. You have a protected Country protected leadership.
The security succeeds. Uh and the fact that this all gets played out. in front of you. It's not unlike what I've said with the war, the back and forth of the war, when it gets played out in front of you in the press. It changes the way your mind It comprehends all of this.
Let's go. 1-800-684-3110. Give me a call. 1-800-684-3110. Again, support the work of the ACLJ.
Last day of Independence Week. Be a part of it at aclj.org. We'll be right back with more on Sekulow. Welcome back to Sekulow. We're going to be taking your calls in this segment at 1-800-684-30110.
We also have a special video presentation we're going to run in just a moment. Before we do that, I want to take D. She kind of reiterated what I was even saying in the last segment: D in California. Go ahead. Yes, as a Christian, I'm very concerned.
I think we, as Christians, need to. Really pray not just for President Trump, but his family, our vice President and his family, all the administration and their families. Because they don't this kind of group in Iran, they don't care who they go after. Um so that being said, I think Yeah constant prayer. And also, I while I was on hold, I thought of another thing I shared with people.
I don't know that President Trump is a modern day Job, but when you think of the story of Job and what all he and his family went through, and what President Trump and his family have gone through It makes you wonder, you know. Yeah, well, I think that the reason biblical stories resonate For millennia, for thousands of years, is because they have direct correlation a lot of times of what's happening in our world, and they get told over and over again because you can take something from them, you can apply them to your lives.
So, I assume that's even what you're saying. I think we can all do that for a lot of the stories from the Bible. That being said, Dee, look, I want you to be very understanding and very clear. This is why this hits home a little bit for us. Everyone in this studio has had these threats happen to them.
Yeah, we may not be getting those directly from the Ayatollah and the thing, but. The internet, the way the press works, the way the vitriol has come. You're talking about real security risks for any of us that even are just public figures in the smallest of scale. And understand.
So I ask you not only to pray, pray for the protection of our country, pray for the protection of our families as well, because I'll pray for your family. Because you're even taking arithmetic, calling. This is the craziest part of the world we live in. You're just calling in. Give me your first name, you're in your state.
And there could be someone listening who is unhinged who decides that that is enough. The fact that you said you should call and pray for President Trump, or you connected it to a biblical story. Trevor Burrus, Jr.: Well, in even that, even when it comes to the Iranian threat, we've had Secretary Pompeo on this set. You've seen that. That's no hidden secret that he's been in our office.
And we've seen the protocols and protections that have to go into his travel. Because he has a direct threat against his life by the Iranians. But I think this ties actually very well because we can pray for our leaders, even if we don't agree with them. Even if it is Joe Biden in office, or if it were Kamala Harris, you should be praying. For your leadership.
You should be praying that God will influence their life and that they will be making wise decisions for this country that they are in leadership over. And not even that it'll be the right policy decisions that you agree with, but they will have wisdom to shepherd this country forward. And I think that's why this video is important because. We during this Independence Week, we are talking about protecting the foundations of this country and fighting for this country. And that's exactly what this video leads into.
So I'm just going to play it and we'll talk to you on the other side. But take a look at what our team put together for you. As we celebrate America's 250th birthday, there's plenty of patriotic pride in the red, white, and blue. There's also a lot of negativity around America. There are questions like: are we united?
Are we exceptional? Are we worth defending? Yet, despite all of America's faults, flaws, and blemishes, There remains one undeniable fact. The world needs America. The world needs America's ideals that were first endowed by our Creator, recognized in the Constitution, protected by our soldiers, and preserved by its citizens.
You don't need to go far beyond America's borders to understand the forces aligned against us. When America is weak, we've seen what kind of evil can propagate. Those forces need Americans like you to get distracted and become disengaged because America's force for good in the world can only be sustained if we stay in the fight. Otherwise, some brand of evil will slowly take our place of influence. We live in a democratic republic.
And We need to defend the values of this republic, so it's worth defending that constitution today.
Sometimes it's easy and popular to criticize the wars America has fought. question the values behind the sacrifices made by our soldiers. But if you were to ask them, They tell you they didn't fight for a political party, a policy, or for the latest trend to spike in the polls. They fought to preserve the American ideal and its place in the world. If you live in this country, then support it, regardless of who the politicians are.
I would like people to to look at this place and say this is gorgeous. Why not support it?
Well, I come from uh Family of veterans. My grandfather served in World War One, my dad in Korea, Vietnam, and It's worth celebrating. the freedoms that we have because of what people like them ordinary people have done, they truly are heroes. Definitely would encourage them to join the services, whether it's Army, Navy, Marines, Air Force, or going into the Coast Guard, any of these services that do great things for our country and be a part of the solution. Enjoy what we have and do what you can.
to make our country better. You see, the truth about America was recognized and written at its founding. to form a more perfect union. America wasn't perfect 250 years ago, and it's still not perfect now. That's why the ACLJ defends your rights, like freedom of the press, freedom of speech.
and freedom to worship.
so that those same rights are protected and perfected. for future generations. Whether it's defending your right to vote for the candidate of your choice, Or defending the right of a girl in middle school who just wants to talk about Jesus. the ACLJ is working to make our union more perfect. Because if we lose the American ideals here at home, The light of those ideals projected into a dark world will also go out.
It's what we work for. and pray to preserve for another 250 years. And that, of course, is why we are also celebrating America 250 this week. And look, I just got out of another interview as well. We kind of even said, we like to celebrate America as patriotic Americans all year long, you know, every day we can.
However, it did feel like the celebrations kind of wrapped up. We all moved on and back to the normal chaos. Of being an American right now in 2026. But that's why we wanted to celebrate this entire week with Independence Week. And I encourage you as we wrap up this first half hour.
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We take less than a minute break. If you're watching online, that's at aclj.org. Be right back. Keeping you informed and engaged now more than ever. This is Sekulow.
And now your host, Logan Seculum. Welcome to the second half hour of Sekulow. Rick Cornell is going to be joining us in the next segment. We're going to take as many calls as we can. We got a few lines open at 1-800-684-30110.
For those of you who are just joining us right now, of course, we are discussing the new fresh threats, if you will. And the Air Force One mystery that happened over the last few days. And again, this isn't something to be taken lightly or to be thrown into conspiracy theories. I think you're dealing with. A really, I mean, without saying a hot war, a hot war, you know, that is happening with Iran.
And we know that Authorities within Iran, like Will said, we have people like Mike Pompeo on this show, and uh, they've had real threats where you know, if you could imagine when they would travel during those times, the amount of security that they have to go through, the amount of security our team even has to go through. These are not jokes. President Trump may break it down with a little bit of a lighthearted moment here and there to try to calm everyone down. Or to at least deflect. But these are real.
They're happening around the country. They're happening around the world. When you get on an Air Force One, I'm sure there is that concern. Every time. And I think we can play this from President Trump.
This was to a reporter byte for. We're talking about why they had to even close the windows as well as if there's a credible threat from Iran. This was just on that flight coming home from the NATO summit earlier this week. Let's hear from the President and the reporters asking questions. Do you know why they had us close our our window blinds?
That was not usual.
Well yeah because uh you're you know probably on a dangerous way because of the sleaze bags that we have to deal with. I mean if they ask you to close your windows probably they feel that way. They didn't ask me to close mine, but if they did I would have done it.
Now these are sick people.
So I could see something like that. I didn't know they did that, but I could see something like that. Were you aware of any credible threat by Iran against Air Force? I have a threat all the time. I'm number one on their list before you.
But if I go, you go. Right? But with their situation, perhaps someday you want to change professions. Even there, the President talking about automatically saying, well, if they're asking you to do something you feel like is out of the normal, it's probably because of who we have to deal with. And his tone markedly changed this week on Iran at that summit in Turkey.
Now we're having this reporting that Iran is still, it seems like they are still actively trying to kill the President of the United States despite the ceasefire, despite the memorandum of understanding. And I think we should take Grant very quickly from Florida. Line three, you're on Sekulow. Go ahead. Hi, yes.
I was just thinking about also, you know, the verse in the Bible where Jesus tells us to pray for our enemies as well. You know, he's on the cross, and basically, us and our sins, we're crucifying him. And he's praying for us, you know, Father, forgive them. And so I think if we could put together some kind of like national where we're even while we're whooping them down in the war, still praying for them, praying to soften their hearts, telling them that we love them in some way, You're fighting fire with water rather than with fire. I think that would be uh Gotcha.
Well, Grant, I 100% encourage every single person listening to this broadcast, watching this broadcast. Yes, pray for the people of Iran. Pray for their leadership in Iran, that they will, as you said, God will soften their hearts. They will have a change of heart. They will reject the apocalyptic.
Theology that they have. Yeah, that is something everyone should be praying for. Apocalyptic genocidal death cult. I mean, that's what they are. And so I agree with you, Grant, though.
That is what we as Christians should be praying for. Of course. I also don't think that and never have that. that you should run foreign policy. Based off of what you are called to, per se, do in your personal faith.
That if there is a threat against the country, that the government should be protecting its citizens, that doesn't mean turn the other cheek as a nation. I think that those are directives Christ is giving his followers and Christians, not necessarily governments that have a role that Christ, God established governments on this earth, that they do have a role to protect their citizens.
So there is some nuance there. Yeah, we can get into that. You can call in 1-800-684-3110. Open up some theological discussions here with Will. Phone lines are open, as I said.
Rick Rinnell's going to be joining us in the next segment. But if you're on hold, stay on hold. We'll get to you at the final. And if you want to get on hold right now, it's a good time to get in line. 1-800-684-3110.
Final day. To get that cooler back, you can do it right now at aclj.org. Slash USA. Welcome back to Sekulow. We're joined now by Rick Rinnell.
Rick, it's good to see you. There's a lot to cover this Friday. One, we've seen since we had you on earlier in the week, now that the Senate candidate in Maine has decided he will step down from the race, but not yet. He's still got to wait. And actually, it seems like he's having some retribution on the party bosses by waiting till the last moment.
Reports are he will not withdraw from the race until the deadline on Monday. It seems like on his way out, he's trying to cause even more chaos within his party. What do you think about that?
Well, look, you know, he won. He won the right to represent Democrats in Maine. All of the Democratic establishment knew exactly who he was, a Nazi tattoo, and all of the accusations came out a while ago. And they just went with the guy, and it was a little drip by drip that. Suddenly shifted, and I think the democratic establishment has been very, very tough.
to say you gotta get out. And now there's a rift there because the Democratic establishment lost the primary. And he knows that Graham Plattner knows that. And so now Graham Plattner is wanting to make sure that his supporters get a very far-left, progressive, socialist type that borders on communism. That is what Graham ran on, and that's what the Democrats of Maine voted for, knowing full well who Graham Plattner was.
And so, this kind of new information that we want to replace him with party bosses picking the replacement, I think is really going to not sit well with the Graham Plattner supporters. And there's going to be a lot of tussling going on until then. And I would just add one more thing, Will. Any Democratic establishment member who decides to lead the revolt. To push him out and put someone else in is going to get.
The ire of the voters in Maine. Nobody wants to be the leader to do it. They all want to go along with it, but nobody's going to step up and say, Okay, this is the guy that's going to replace Graham Plattner.
So I think Graham Plattner is in the driver's seat right now. It is interesting, Rick. I'm almost trying to decide where the panic is. Is the panic within the party or is the panic within the voter? And it feels like the party and the voter are now finally, and maybe it took some time, are having this rift.
But the question is, who's going to win? And at the end of the day, it may be that, like you said, he won the election and he won his spot there, not underhandedly. Everyone knew a lot of these things beforehand.
So will there be this big split or does the party have to embrace? what they've built here. It's such a great question. And look, I'm old enough to remember all of the iterations when the Republicans. Overstepped, right?
When they became either too conservative or too whatever, and there was a shift within the party structure, the RNC, the battles at the Republican National Convention. I remember all of those moments were facilitated by the media. The media is the one who highlighted the splits. The media is the catalyst for letting the activists know that there is this camp and that camp. Otherwise, it's really difficult to have a come to Jesus moment with the party structure.
What is missing from the Democrats over the last 10 years as the party begins to do this communism, socialism, capitalism split. Is the media. The media have always protected the Democrats. They haven't pronounced on this split. They've tried to paper over it and pretend like, oh, we're socialists and capitalists can all get along and that this is just normal.
And so, because they haven't had that concentration of here are the two camps and where do you stand, and the media push, the Democrat change in their entire Democratic National Committee structure has been much slower than the Republican split. We I hate having the media constantly push, and sometimes we have to ignore because they push on issues that are not real. But when there is a real split, the media has been there to highlight it and force us to have that conversation faster. The Democrats are not doing that conversation.
Well, and I think we should be clear: the real reason why the leadership. decided to force Graham Plattner out. It wasn't because of the story that came out from Politico. It wasn't because of the New York Times reporting before that. It wasn't because of his Reddit posts.
It wasn't because of his Nazi tattoo. It was because polling came out that showed he was about 10 points down from Susan Collins. And then the party decided, oh, this actually is a failure. We need to do something. It's the exact same playbook.
as the 2024 election. They were going to stick with Joe Biden, even though common sense told everyone that's not the right play if you want to win. Obviously, we tried not to give them any tips there. But it's until they realize and they wake up and be like, oh, wait, the voters didn't do the right thing for us to win, per se. That's when Politico dropped the story.
It is a, you want to talk about a collusion story. It's that the media then decided, hey, okay, we're allowed to publish this now.
Okay, we will. And then they force them out. And I think that is also the twisted nature here. Then the Democrats say, look, we did the right thing. We heard you.
This guy is clearly not good. It's like, no, you had every opportunity as a party to do what you wanted. It was the polling. And so don't let anybody. It was the polling and the money.
Yes. The money began to dry up because the activists who really began to lose power began to say, look, don't fund this guy. And so little by little, the money started to reflect. And then Graham couldn't keep up because he didn't have money to hit back or to run commercials. And then the polling numbers followed.
But I think you always got to follow the money here. Rick, this is a final thing here. There's something from the Manhattan Institute. They have investigative journalists that also do work there as well. But they uncovered that.
The Mayor of New York's Commissioner for International Affairs. Was trying to meet with the Iranian ambassador while they were here for the UN. Just on July 7th.
So, the Iranian ambassador to the UN they wanted to meet with. This is at a time where obviously the US is engaged in a conflict with Iran, even though there's a ceasefire. The meeting was called off after the State Department met with their administration to clarify what acceptable conduct is. You've worked with the UN for a long time. You understand the protocols and everything.
Just to break down for people, because as someone who's not an expert on the UN or the UN issues, This raises a lot of red flags that the mayor of New York's Commissioner for International Affairs is wanting to meet with the Iranians while we're in the middle of a conflict. Yeah, look, I'd have to get a little more details. I don't necessarily think meeting is a bad thing if that person who's an American understands that we have one policy at a time, one administration. And the best thing to do is to reach out to the State Department and say, hey, I'm the commissioner for international here in New York. The ambassador from Iran is coming in.
Is there anything I can say or do that would be helpful to keep Americans safe? But the problem comes is when they have their own agenda. I mean, look, I'll give you a quick example: I worked with the Biden administration on the Balkan policy. I didn't always agree with it and I would push back, but there were a couple of times that they would reach out and say, Hey, we know you've got credibility in that region. Here's what we're working on.
Can you help us? And, you know, sometimes you choose to help and sometimes you just choose to stay silent. But the reality is, is that if you are working in international affairs, you should be able to. Go to the State Department, no matter who's in charge, and say, Hey, I have this position. Can I be helpful?
Or this is what they're saying: you work for America, you work for an American government, even if it's a local government and you should be cheering for America, not for the other side. Rick, thanks so much for joining us today. We appreciate it. Look, the ACLJ is wrapping up our Independence Week, still celebrating right now. And I want you to be a part of the team as well, just like Rick and amazing supporters.
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We'll be right back. Welcome back to Sekulow. Phone lines are open for you at 1-800-684-3011. A lot of you calling in. Let's go to Alicia, who's calling in Colorado online too, to kick us off.
Go ahead. Hi there. This is my first time calling. I appreciate the time given. I'm just a willing ambassador for God, and I spiritually know that Trump was a target, and he still is a target.
I pray for all world leaders. And I know that we need to pray for the world because we need it. I'm all for peace until we have to go to war to retain peace.
So I call to say if a person or entity wants to change their ways, excuse me, if they want to change their ways, they will and they will do what they have to do to prove it. Otherwise, once a snake, always a snake.
So take them for face values. Alicia, I think this administration is given a lot of chances. Maybe more than anyone I've ever seen where the where we went back and forth so publicly. Very unlike how we've dealt with wartime before, where. The ceasefires on, off, off.
It honestly felt closer to something like what happens in the Middle East. To where these ceasefires are not an end of an incursion, they are temporary. That's right. And once again, we've talked about that big question of whether the amount of leadership that was taken out and the way that the mullahs had been sidelined, and it was IRGC, which is a terrorist organization and so is terror around the world. But if the leadership that was several levels down.
Were they true believers in the Islamic Republic, or were they true believers in power? And if they were given an opportunity to cling to power, but not true believers, then maybe this is the way forward. I think they've shown their true colors. I think that they have shown they are true believers. That theology or that hate for America still exists.
You saw even at the funeral for the Ayatollah, who was, they said, was laid to rest in his final resting place today.
So it was a weeks-long funeral. Was signs that said, you know, kill Trump, et cetera, from the people that were there mourning the death of the Ayatollah.
So. I think you get into that. And as Alicia says, even the ability to give second chances here has been exhausted to some degree. Yeah. All right.
Let's continue on. I want to take some more calls. Hopefully, we'll have time to get to a lot more of you. Let's go to Alfia, who's calling in Texas online for Alfia. Go ahead.
Hi, how are you guys? I'm a little worried because I think they don't get it, that we're one nation and that we must be protected. I think Trump gets that, but we better stand together and get it. My husband was Military Special Forces. My dad.
Top secret, my son guarded the general, my grandson is the Space Force, they're all doing their part. We have to be strong. You can never close your eyes because there's people out there that were raised from children to do this kind of thing.
Okay, you can't that's very you can't change that.
So if we're under threat, you need to be protected, highly protected, and you have to have a strong leader. Yeah, Alfia, I just want to take a second also first and thank your entire family for all they've done for this country and continue to do. I think you hear it in her voice. This is what military families are going through. This is what people who are actually dealing with these situations firsthand are dealing with.
A little bit different than us, kind of waxing poetic and discussing it in a theoretical state. These are the people that are dealing with it on a actual everyday Level and have for their entire lives, people that have dedicated their lives to the service to the military. I don't think any of us could put ourselves in those shoes unless you've been there. We certainly haven't.
So, again, our gratitude is for you, Alfia. And I understand the frustration and I understand the concern.
Well, and once again, we are able to stand united as a nation without getting behind every single policy. I mean, we've seen that in our history, even our recent history. The sad part is that when you are seeing what is being pushed by some of these radical candidates for the House, when they're saying things like, I didn't have a napkin, so I used the American flag behind me to wipe my hands. I see that. That was one of the individuals that won in New York.
That was a public thing. She tweeted that out. Um that is not That's not a Democrat-Republican divide. That is an anti-American sentiment.
Now, Yeah, you know.
Well, this is someone who will now be a thing you'd say as like a protesting college student. Right. Yeah, no, recent, uh, recent statement by the individual. And once again, you also see in in Colorado the Democrat socialist candidate that unseated a 30-year progressive candidate in the Denver area. They're not taking this in the primary season from a, we believe in the foundations of America and want to preserve that.
They are trying to disrupt it. And yes, I think that our nation is strong, but that is why you need organizations like the ACLJ to fight the lawfare. The twisting of our foundation, the legislating away of our foundational freedoms and rights. That's why you need organizations like us to be here at a time like this, because the onslaught is coming internally as well, through the legislative process and through the courts to try and undo what we have preserved for 250 years. But we're here and we're going to keep fighting for as long as it takes.
All right, let's continue on. Marie is calling from Virginia. Line one, go ahead. Yeah, hi. I'm a 73-year-old grandmother of 18.
I voted for Trump twice. I care about what my children and grandchildren hear. It seems to me, now answer for me. Who helps Trump? with his communication.
Who helps him and guides him? Because life and death is in the power of the tongue. Look, he is t he's facing life, he's facing death. Why does he continue to contribute to the vitriol and rhetoric? It seems to incite all kinds of crazy.
Marie, I'll tell you. Who's controlling President Trump's rhetoric? Who's advising him? Himself. I will say this.
Look, I don't, I understand. I got small kids. When the President comes on, often I have to change the channel because I don't know what's going to be said or what's not going to be said. It's not because I agree or disagree with what he's about to say, but you are right. The rhetoric can get a little out of hand.
But we know this has been President Trump's MO since the very beginning. But also, she was tying that to the Iran issue as well as other political issues. The other political issues aside, the Iranians did not need President Trump's rhetoric to fuel their hatred against us. They've been killing Americans since the Islamic Republic was established.
So they were doing fine without the President's rhetoric of killing Americans. I think that you can put that aside for that. And you also have to remember that we're dealing with a language gap here. We're dealing with things that could get lost in translation.
So President Trump's speaking very boldly, very cleanly, very directly, sometimes, like you said, to the detriment of, and maybe sometimes. Coming off like he is inciting some more crazy rhetoric. But you got to make sure your message gets heard, it gets heard around the world. And if you get into sort of flowery language, and then you have to have that all translated, and you never know what can get lost. Yeah, I don't think we have time to take Red from Louisiana, but his statement to the screener was: God hardened Pharaoh's heart before the Exodus.
Could there be a similar issue with the leadership and ideology in Iran? I'm not going to speak or try to claim I know what God's plan is when it comes to leaders and world governments. But here's what I also know. Uh God, even though he had hardened Pharaoh's heart, He still sent Moses to do that mission. He still sent Moses to set the people of Israel free from the slavery that they were under, the Pharaoh.
And even though the heart was hardened by Pharaoh, He still kept on that mission because that was God's plan.
So I don't know if it's an analog here, but I do know that we are going to keep fighting here at the ACLJ until we can no longer. All right, that's going to do it for today's show and for the week. We appreciate it. Make sure you're staying engaged with the ACLJ on all our platforms, new content posted each and every day. Go to aclj.org.
You can go download the ACLJ app, subscribe to all the podcasts, subscribe to all the YouTube channels, do what you can to be a supporter, but also today, support financially. Last day to get that cooler bag, aclj.org/slash USA. Yeah. Uh
