On today's show, President Trump's plan on the Iran war flips. Once again. 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, Logan Sekulow. Welcome to Sekulow. We're back. It's Monday, August 3rd, 2026.
Phone lines are open for you at 1-800-68-43110. Will Haynes joining me in studio. Rick Grinnell's gonna be coming on a little bit later. ACLJ attorney Liam Harrell is gonna be joining us. It is gonna be packed, but I do want to hear from you still at 1-800-684-3110.
And once again, I'm reporting to you that President Trump has changed his mind again on what will be the next step with Iran, saying that maybe we have. A peace deal on the table. It's getting close. And of course, this comes after the major threat. Of bombing the blanket, a blanket, a blanket out of them.
And at this point, I have to be honest and just say, and I've said it a million times now, but I feel like we have to do it once again. That this negotiation in plain sight, negotiation in the press. These threats that turn into negotiation talking points. If they worked the first few times, okay, maybe. But I feel like this has been an ongoing back and forth now for months.
Where we come on here and say President Trump says he's going to do this. And then by end of day, end of weekend, oh, we've decided to put a hold on it. Wasn't actually going to happen. I'm a bit frustrated with all of this. I don't know if it's good for the American people to have this play out again in the public square.
I don't know if it's a good thing to I don't know if it shows strength for us to make these big threats and then to honestly not go ahead with them or to somehow be like, whoa, well, now they said they want to talk. When we've seen constantly the violation of them talking, and President Trump even put out a statement today. Uh about This issue. These were on Truth Social.
Some of these have come out. That's right.
So yesterday there was that announcement, or actually on the 1st rather, of August, that there was going to be this pause because Iran had asked to go back to the negotiating table and also the mediating countries, the Gulf nations, had asked for that as well. But then today you see this. This is after reports that the Iranians are saying, no, no, no, we didn't ask for that. We didn't ask for him to not bomb us. We didn't ask to talk again.
He puts this on Truth Social. This is graphic number two. It says, Iranian leadership is unbelievably duplicitous. They ask for a meeting.
Some would say, beg, talks begin with more scheduled in the immediate future. And they say openly and proudly that they're not having any discussions and that nothing is being talked about. And they're only dealing with Oman. They then go on to give their usual blathering in saying the Strait of Hormuz will be operated powerfully by them when it is already completely controlled by the United States Navy and our blockade. We know.
President Trump, they're liars. You know this. We've said this. We all know this. They lie.
They lie to you. They lie to the press. They lie in their statements. It's a continual circle of lies. And it's going to be that way unless you have a completely different group of people running this country.
But you didn't decide to go that route.
So now the decisions really have to be made. I don't want to see a continual war that goes back and forth. You know, either we need to finish this job or get out. I mean, I feel like those are going to be the options here because. This plan of this Mm-hmm.
Is simply not working. It's not working with public opinion, and it certainly doesn't seem to be working honestly when it comes to truly negotiating any kind of end to this deal because you are dealing with people, and I feel like you know this, and I feel like everyone knows this. That have no problem saying one thing and doing another or doing one thing and saying another.
Well, and there's more to this post that we'll get to in the next segment because I think it feeds basically back into what you're saying, Logan, and we'll give more analysis on that as well.
So stay tuned for that when we get back from this break. We'll finish what President Trump has had posted this morning on True Social, and we'll give analysis as we continue to look at how this war turns as it continues to kind of go down that same path. Yeah, where do you feel you're at right now with this constant back and forth? Are you exhausted? Are you okay with it?
Are you more wh wh where you stand? Give me a call, 1-800-68-431-10. And look, you have to agree with me. I'm happy to take anyone's point of view here. Just be kind, be respectful to our phone screeners.
That's at 1-800-684-3110. And again, 1-800-684-31-10. I want to thank everyone also. who helped us in our last drive. We got a new one coming for you.
We'll talk about it when we get back. Welcome back to Sekulow. Phone lines are lighting up. There's plenty of calls, or plenty of time to call in right now, 1-800-684-3110. Again, 1-800-684-3110.
We are discussing the sort of back-and-forth game of football that's happening right now between President Trump, the Trump administration, and the Iranian government. Because President Trump, as you know, as we were going off the air, Last week was threatening a major, and now what people are calling a World War II size, which I mean, that could be some words people don't want to hear. World War II size-level attack. on Iran. Essentially, to finish the job.
We thought. They would have done months ago. President Trump, a couple days later, says, you know what, we've decided we're holding back, we're not doing it. Because we've had some good negotiations.
Okay, understandable. Then Iran comes out and says, We don't know what you're talking about. We're not negotiating with you. Then President Trump has to go out and say, Well, that's because these people are lying to us. Can you believe this?
Yeah, we know. This is where we're at. And it's an endless cycle, it feels like right now. I know it's only been a few months, but it feels like a continual cycle in a game that is really, I think, going to affect the mental exhaustion. That would come from the American people, as well as our military, probably, to not understand what is coming next.
I'm sure, look, there's having these discussions way larger than what they haven't in public. But what they're having in public, I think, sends a message that's a little bit more chaotic than I would like from the American people. We have people calling in, a lot of comments coming in. A lot of people look agree with us. Say, you know what?
Maybe you're more of the people who are more on the side of their need to be full regime change. You're like, go finish the job. And then there's some people who are like, you know what? They're doing good. They've done enough.
Let's just get out of there. Very few, I feel like, want this. game of this blurriness that's coming from it.
Well, and when you read more into the statement he put out today, and we've got some sound also from President Trump. I believe that was on Air Force One with kind of a press gaggle. But he finishes this by saying. That nothing gets through to Iran, okay? Fact check confirmed.
We've seen that unless we want it to. And nothing will get through unless a deal or total surrender is accomplished. And I think that's the problem that we're having here today. Is that we don't think that a deal necessarily will get across the finish line. We've been saying that for months, but we have been willing to give the President the benefit of the doubt on this.
But he is showing the true picture of this. This is not like he's saying, oh, the only way is a deal. He's saying either deal or total surrender. Total surrender would come through military action. The problem is.
Is that he starts it off with the Iranian leadership is unbelievably duplicitous. Yeah, no kidding. We've said that. Also, he said that when they said, You used to say that you could work with these people, but what changed? He said, I got to know them.
He's already been down this road, and yet he is giving the diplomatic way another chance, and then having all this confusion and chaos. At what point? Does he either say We've accomplished our goals. We have destroyed their infrastructure. Yeah, they can still fire some ballistic missiles, but.
They have no ability to make a nuclear weapon. We've destroyed that. They don't have the infrastructure to get back to that. And if they do, we have intelligence. We'll send more missiles and bombs.
Does he get to that or does he say? Enough is enough, we're going to go forward with full regime change. I feel like those are the only two paths forward, and he could spin it, he could own it. As we have, as he even says here, it's very simple: Iran will never have a nuclear weapon. I do feel like, even though most people in the public eye maybe don't believe this at this point, because of the back and forth, he could say, We accomplished that goal.
We have put in a place that we know we have decimated the infrastructure. And if they try to start moving back and building again, we will just bomb them again. He could say that and probably take the win, but he won't. And I think we should also point to this: a new Reuters poll. that came out.
Shows that only a third of Americans, only one in three Americans. are now backing the conflict in Iran. That is extremely low for something that this President who is very focused on poll numbers. We know historically, he has always been someone that paid attention to that. If it is lower than probably any other metric he's pulled on, the economy, other the border, anything that they get policy-wise pulled on.
Only a third, so 33% of Americans are in favor of this at this point. That's the lowest in the recorded of the five months they've been asking this question.
Something other than the back and forth has got to change in his mind, I feel like, to change that narrative. We got calls coming in kind of on both sides here with a lot of different conversations. If you want to chime in, we'd love to hear from you. I got a couple lines still open at 1-800-684-30110. I actually would like to start with Ann in Pennsylvania, and then quickly we'll go the other side.
We'll go to Peter's. Let's go to Ann in Pennsylvania. Go ahead. Hey guys, great show. Just a little bit of a disagreement.
I'm not stressed out at all. I'm really not. I'm just kind of like sitting back and enjoying the show, if you will. I mean, for eight years, I was completely stressed out with Biden in office and all of the stuff that went on, all the corruption and so on and so forth. We don't know what's going on behind the scenes.
He is the commander in chief. And if anybody, I would question maybe some of his advisors, like maybe, maybe, quite maybe, Vance in particular. But having said that, I just feel like this is a chess game that we've been watching and I'm just waiting for the next move. And I know it's back and forth, and people are getting impatient, and I completely get that. But at the end of the day, He's the commander-in-chief.
And we spent so much time and energy trying to get President Trump elected.
Now is not the time. And I'm not saying you guys are not doing this. You guys are perfectly, you got a perfect analysis of this. I love it. But it's making me think.
It's making me think. And it's making me think. not question my intuitions and also my ability to understand and comprehend Trump and the way that he does things. And that he does things not on a whim. He plans it out.
And sometimes he is spontaneous. But I trust him. I'm sitting back. I'm not stressed out at all, guys. I'm not.
I appreciate you calling in with your point of view. And I understand that. I think it does become a little bit more heated when you're talking about. American lives on the line potentially too, when there is a bit more of this hostility that maybe comes towards some of this negotiation tactic. I don't mind the negotiation as much as I mind the way it's being played out in front of the public, because I feel like we are being used a bit in this Conversation where we're being told one thing and then it flips and then it flips and it flips and you start to lose not just patience.
I'm not, I'm not talking about patience here as much as I am talking about just frustration or exhaustion. From the conversation, from the flipping, when I do think that there was some early on, like you said, there may be some people he should have listened to, some people he shouldn't have listened to. Um but yeah, I I want to now kind of counter that. with Peter, who's calling in Texas. Peter, let's go to you.
You're on the air. Oh yeah yeah um So, um You know, I hate I hate war. I hate the killing of anybody. But knowing the Iranians and and knowing the IRGC, They're just any negotiation they do is just a stall tactic. I think we do need to take them out.
And we need to uh change the regime, maybe put on put on the crown prince. Or um or g give the freedom fighters a chance. Give your the true radi Irradium for the people. That love America, they love Israel, and give them a real chance, you know? Peter, I think, you know, we've said very similar things.
And the President, I think, has conducted it this way because he's kind of like you. He has always said he doesn't like war. He doesn't want to see American lives taken. And where the narrative, I think, has been lost a little bit is that. Iran, until this conflict, had never killed American soldiers.
That we know is a falsehood. They, ever since the revolution, all the way through even the Iraq war, and even post-Iraq war, their militias that are backed by Iran have been targeting U.S. troops and taking the lives of Americans.
So, as you say, it's not as if it diminishes the death toll that has happened during this conflict, but it's a fallacy to say that before this, Iran wasn't targeting and killing Americans. This is an extension of a 40-year war that began with that revolution. And I think that that is one thing that has not been clearly articulated, I feel like enough. It's been attempted at, but the articulation of that, they then used it. And President Trump, I don't think, did it very well when he tried to say, These comparisons, these posts about Vietnam, the death toll in Vietnam, and et cetera.
He got a lot of pushback, even from those on the right, because some people felt like he was diminishing the sacrifice of those that were killed in this conflict. And I think that is part of the poor PR, if you will, of this war: is that all of a sudden, this five-month conflict is the only, this is the vacuum that a conflict with Iran has existed in. And that's just not true. They've killed thousands of Americans. And that is one of the reasons, as Peter said, the IRGC and the regime, they have to be taken out.
They cannot exist in this current form, this theocracy that hates America and chants death to America. Because what will they do? Continue to kill Americans. And that is something I believe we all want to stop. Yeah, if that was going to be the case, then it does question why we did this in the first place.
Something to at least think about. Phone lines are open at 1-800-684-31-10. I do want you to have a big update on the work of the ACLJ. And we just got done with our Liberty Drive. We're moving into an impact month.
I want you to be a part of it today, but you're really going to see a big update of what we are working on right now with one of our attorneys, Liam, who's going to be joining us. You've heard about some of our Street Preacher issues out of Chicago. We got a big update coming from that in just a moment. Welcome back to Sekulow. Phone lights are completely jammed right now, but we will be taking more throughout the next half hour.
One of our ACLJ attorneys, Liam, is joining us from our studios in Washington, D.C. Before we get to that, Will, why don't we give people a little bit of update of what's happening and then we can check in with Liam? That's right.
You'll remember, and Liam has really taken the lead on this since the very beginning, defending these men who were in Chicago ministering on the street corner. And we've shown video before of Liam going up to Chicago, getting those victories for them in their criminal citations. But what that led to was the ACLJ seeing, oh, there seems to be a pattern here, right? Where these individuals going out, expressing their First Amendment right, sharing the gospel with individuals were specifically targeted. And many times they Were you know sided with noise ordinances or things of that nature, but they weren't even louder than the traffic in these cases.
And Liam fought hard, got them, the charges dismissed in these cases, but The ACLJ then decided we need to file a federal lawsuit against the city of Chicago for targeting people for their faith. And Liam, that's where we're at now. We are in this lawsuit phase, this federal lawsuit. And I wanted to get from you, because there is some updates. We've had to do some filings, where we're at and what this action we just had to take on Friday is and what that means in the case.
Absolutely. A lot of, you know, if you're keeping up with this case, you probably remember that the city of Chicago filed a motion to dismiss, trying to get this case completely kicked out, and the judge wasn't having it, and the judge allowed this lawsuit to proceed. We're now in the next stage, which is called discovery, and discovery is one of those. You know, it's not the T V kind of law. This is a lot of documents, a lot of paperwork.
We demanded all the receipts from Chicago. We want to look at their history of their noise ordinance, how they're enforcing it, against whom they're enforcing it. And that's all very important because we need to prove that this is part of a pattern and practice of hostility towards religious voices. What we ran into was a stone wall. The city of Chicago has certainly produced some documents, but there were entire categories of documents that they didn't want to provide and they didn't think they had to provide.
And that's not right. We have a viable claim. We're suing the city of Chicago. We are demanding those documents. And let me just say, since we've began this lawsuit, we have only found more and more victims of Chicago's supposed neutral noise ordinance.
People who have been protesting outside abortion clinics, people who have been preaching in Millennium Park or on the streets. It's not just our clients. And so we need these documents to prove our case and ideally to fix this problem so that people like our clients can continue to evangelize without this horrible regime silencing them.
Well, and as you said, as any case with the ACLJ, many times it may be one specific constitutional rights violation, but it's not just for that client. It is for anyone. It is to protect the constitutional framework that we live in and that we celebrate and as we try to continue to keep that strong in America. It's not just. For our clients, it's for everyone that wants to enjoy those liberties as well.
But I think that's what's so interesting here: one, a lot of times these cases, especially in an area of the country where you may have more liberal federal judges at the district court level, we were able to survive the motion to dismiss. That's already. A very big thing for this entire case is that we are moving on to that discovery phase. You said that it's not the TV law, but for many times, the attorneys, that's where they get most excited. That's where the case develops and where you can actually see what's going on and peek behind the curtain to continue to fight this out for our clients.
And as you said, we had to round into a brick wall, as sometimes you do. And tell us about this motion to compel that we had to file on Friday because of that brick wall we ran into.
Well, I want to be clear. We tried everything we could short of that, right? We've been back and forth with the city's lawyers. We explained why it is we need these documents. We explained our legal basis for our entitlement to these documents.
And what the city told us: so, first of all, the city chugged their feet. If this feels to our viewers like we're still here many months later, well, I think. I think they're right. The city really did drag their feet in getting here. And when we finally got here, yeah, that's what they did: they stonewalled.
They said that there were categories of documents that they weren't going to provide. And we, again, we had these back and forth. We had emails, we had phone calls. We said, no, here's our legal basis. We know this law.
We know that we're entitled to these documents. And so ultimately, when it comes to a legal case like this, when the other side isn't cooperating, we go to the judge and we laid out our case and we said, Your Honor, We need you to intervene and tell the city, no, this isn't going to stand. You need to provide these documents. You need to allow the ACLJ legal team to look at these documents. And that's exactly it.
It's peering behind the curtain. We get to really see what these politicians are saying behind the scenes, the directions they're giving to their officers. And we are confident that these emails, these communications, these orders are going to build our case and allow us to ultimately prevail at trial. Yeah, I mean, it's a process. The ACLJ team has to be ready to go and they have to be able, again, they hit those brick walls.
Well, you got a Kool-Aid man through that wall. That's how we send the ACLJ team. Yeah, you got to oh yeah yourself through that wall. And that's why we send our ACLJ team, our youngest and brightest, the ones that can just bash through it. But I do have to say, Liam, for those who have been tuned in, who have been watching this case, you said, you know, it does feel like it's long.
It does feel like it's an arduous process. But what is the next step in this? What should people be thinking about and praying for when it comes to? What will be the next step in this case?
Well, hold on. First of all, I'm writing down Kool-Aid Man. We're going to put that in our next brief. That's good. I think so.
I'm going to put right on the front. Yeah. There you go. Exactly. You know, when it comes to the next steps on this case, I mean, really, it comes to what we would call judgment, summary judgment, or trial, which is the ultimate part where we take all the facts we've learned.
We have the facts that we already have from our clients. We have the videos. We have their testimony. We have everything they've told us. We're going to combine that with everything we've learned from Chicago.
Once we finally get our hands on these documents, we're going to put all of that and we're going to bring it before the judge. And that's where the case really comes together. If we can find what we know is out there, these directives, these communications from politicians, from the people directing these officers, we can demonstrate that their pattern of practice is repugnant to the First Amendment. It is discriminatory towards people like our clients, and that it's not limited to just our clients. If we can get that case before a judge and we're confident we will, then we can secure victory.
And I think the victory is twofold. It's exactly what Will said. Is not just for our clients. A victory here tells the city of Chicago that they need to stop it, and the judge can intervene and not just protect our clients, because it's not about, at the end of the day, what happened happened. It's about going forward.
And when I speak to our clients, I think that's what's most heartening: they really understand that it's not about them, it's about the next generation, the people come after them, and everyone else to make sure that Chicago is a safe place for preachers. Yeah, what we've learned through all this ACLJ work is that it reverberates throughout the country.
So, what happens in Chicago, yes, it may be a local issue, but we know there's precedent being created, there's laws being created that often, though they may not have direct correlation to what's going on on the larger scale of the country, we know that once you have this plan, we can take it and expand it. Upon the rights of people around the country.
So I appreciate you, Liam, for being a part of the team and obviously for being a part of the broadcast today. When you support the work of the ACLJ, remember, you're not just funding a show that you enjoy each and every day. We love that. We've got a great team here, the best of the best. You also are funding the incredible legal team that is out there each and every day fighting for you.
So I encourage you to go to ACLJ.org when you can, make a donation, be a part of the team. It is an impact match month that we're kicking off.
So be a part of it if you can. We have a second half hour of the show coming up.
So don't go anywhere. If you're listening to non-terrestrial radio, some stations don't pick up the full hour. Find us broadcasting live 12 to 1 p.m. Eastern Time each and every day on aclj.org. Keeping you informed and engaged, now more than ever.
This is Sekulow. And now, your host, Logan Sekulow. We're back with a second half hour of Sekulow. Rick Rinnell's gonna be joining us in the next segment. I want to take your calls and comments as well.
We got two lines open at 1-800-68-431-10. We are talking about the conflict in Iran, and of course, the sort of back and forth that has been going on between President Trump. And the entire IRGC, whether they we believe them, whether we don't believe them, whether we are gonna bomb the blank and the blank, blank, blank out of them, or whether you are going to say, hold on, we've got a good thing going here and we are back in negotiations. It is a back and forth that is continual. It can be exhausting, it can be concerning as well.
I think seeing this all played out on a front street is not always The best tactic? But as people have said, maybe they put their trust in this administration to do the right thing.
So we'll see. Let's take some phone calls. Coming in.
Some people feel differently.
Some people are more on one side or the other. And I think it's important to hear from everybody. Let's go to Marion in Texas. Marion, ACLJA champion. Of course, somebody's on the show quite a bit.
Go ahead. Yeah, before I give my comment, I wanted to thank y'all for what y'all are doing for the pro-life movement because I used to get arrested in San Antonio for preaching in front of an abortion mill.
So I really appreciate what y'all are doing to help them all together. Got to step out there, that's for sure. Go ahead. Amen. And I know y'all supported us in which Taft Falls, Kansas City, I believe it was, when Operation Rescue was going on.
That's when I first encountered y'all. Y'all have been doing a great job. As far as Trump is concerned, I haven't heard anybody say what I believe. I believe Trump is doing everything that he's doing right now because they were going to take Congress a vote to stop the war. And they were on the verge of even getting Republicans to vote with him.
So what he did is he changed all the tactics and he said, oh, no, we're through with the war. We're now going on a peace mission. And they couldn't go after him for a peace mission. We're here just trying to get them to sign a contract, et cetera. And then that would give me more time.
And I think behind the scenes, he's probably trying to help. The Persians maybe be armed or something like that.
So I'm behind 100% of everything he's doing, except one case when he told Netanyahu he couldn't attack Lebanon after they were attacked, except for that, I'm 100% behind him. But think about it: if everything he's doing right now, including that funeral that they had for Ayatollah Khomeini, was to give himself more time to where he could do behind the scenes and accomplish his objectives.
So I don't have any problems that all of this is being delayed. After all these other liberals, they had years and years of war, and he hadn't even had one year, and they're already knocking him and trying to stop the war. Yeah, Marion, I think that you're right in the fact that I don't feel like the timeline is really, to me, one of those big issues. It's more the back and forth in the public square. Right, yeah.
And to your point, Marion, yes. Everyone, all of a sudden, as soon as this started, even the first month.
Sorry, man. Why is it still going? Right. Yeah. Like, you had headlines and articles.
How is this still going? This is another forever war. And it's been 30 days at that point.
Now we're. Five months in. But even that five months, a large portion of that has been under ceasefire with the negotiations. Yes, there will be some back and forths after Iran would strike a ship or fire at U.S. bases, and then it ramped up, obviously, for two weeks, and now it's quiet again.
I think to some degree, you are. Accurate on some of that analysis. Although he can also veto the uh if they send a a a War Powers Act resolution, he can veto that. And then they would have to override that with two-thirds majority. Uh they don't have anywhere close to the two-thirds majority.
To be able to do that.
So, one, I think that angle's a little bit lost as well. But then you start to think about this in practical terms. They're still trying to make this narrative that it is all-out war continuing, when in reality it has been for the past several months relatively calm as he pursued the negotiation. Tactics in the negotiation process.
So I think we'll see what happens, whether or not these plans that generals have given to him, if he ends up deciding that is the way we have to go. Clearly, it wasn't over the weekend, so we'll find out maybe soon. All right, phone lines are open for you. We're going to take a lot of calls and comments coming up.
Next segment, we got Rick Rinnell joining us live. After that, I want to hear from you.
So go ahead and get online. If you're already on hold, Steve, Chris, Martin, stay on hold. I'm going to get to you. And then if you call in now, I'll do my best to get to as many more calls as we can to that final segment. But again, work of the ACLJ continues.
Um go to aclj.org, have your donation match. But right now, I encourage you to give me a call. Right now. 684-3110. We're done with this segment.
We're going to take as many calls as we can to wrap up today's show. Thanks for all everyone who's been joining us. We are now going to go live to Rick Grinnell. Rick, we were texting over the weekend. You were spending time in Serbia, which I have to say looks amazing.
I do want to hear an update from there. I do. I mean, you were there for the big UFC event, heck of a main event. I know one of your favorite fighters had a great, very quick 30-second finish. It was pretty wild for those of you who are fans of UFC.
But beyond that, Rick, I kind of want to actually, before we move into sort of the topics of the day, just get your thoughts on this area of the world that seems to be thriving in a very different way. We know their history has been tied to a lot of things. When you have the Democratic Socialists of America having their rise here right now and having this sort of moment in the sun, and then you go and look at what's happening in Serbia, you look at what's happening in Some of these other countries who have been through things like this before, and at least have been through conflicts in relation to things like socialism before. What is the feeling there that maybe we're not getting here in America? Logan, it's such a great question.
I'm glad you brought that up because look, where I am right now, the former Yugoslavia countries have been traveling around in the region. And this is an area that George Soros has a lock on. This is an area that for 20 years he's been trying to peel it back. from a group of activists in every country who decided that they were tired of communism and they moved away from communism and they rejected it. In Albania, for instance, they came racing out of communism, embracing capitalism, and they've never looked back and now they're a member of NATO.
So I think that the lessons of this area are that people who are first and second generation Americans, immigrants coming to America want to live the American dream. They don't want to bring socialism here. They want to leave socialism and communism. They want to come to a place where you can be anything that you want if you work hard.
So that idea of hard work, I hope we never lose it. Immigrants know that, and that's why they're trying to claw their way here.
Well, and as we see all of the focus here in the United States, as we look forward to the midterms, or maybe not looking forward to the midterms in some cases, you see all these primaries happening. We have one in Michigan tomorrow where it's a pretty radical individual versus a pretty. And Benign normal DNC type figure. You have all of this chatter focusing on this divide within the party. And once again, you look at even Eastern Europe, the Balkan states, and even last night, I saw there was a sign you posted on X that.
Serbia, you know, a positive message to President Trump that, you know, we, President Trump, Serbia welcomes you. These are the kinds of. Images that are so different, that what we're fighting about here in the United States for countries that have been through not just political conflict, but real war between these ideas. I think that it's a time that Americans maybe should read some history of the Balkans, read some history of the Cold War and Eastern Europe, and really start to think: is that where we're headed? Is that really what we want as these kind of pivotal primaries are taking place these next few months?
Well, I have to tell you, Will, that's the exact pushback that I get when I travel throughout the Balkans, which is people pulling me aside saying, what in the world are Americans thinking? Why are they flirting with socialism? Why are they going backwards? The rest of the world is realizing they have to reject socialism. They're trying to climb out of communism.
They want individual rights. They want freedom. They want people who are going to allow them to be capitalists and come up with ideas and work hard, but I do think that the Democratic Party, because Donald Trump grabbed the middle, and I will argue and debate this with anyone until my last breath, Donald Trump became the common sense middle. And therefore, pushed the Democrats into crazy town. They are so far left.
They literally will do the opposite of whatever Trump says, including trying to tell kids to change their gender, trying to tell people that that it's good to have an open border. I I the border, for instance, is an issue Donald Trump salt And he doesn't get enough credit for that. He doesn't get enough credit for coming for an incredible problem and taking the hits. And now what does the left do? Democratic Socialists are trying to let's get rid of all immigration enforcement.
Let's get rid of ICE. That is radical. And we need to call it out and say to people: you know, you can be unhappy about the economy or you don't like wars or whatever, but the alternative is a crazy town left that literally wants to take away capitalism and freedom. Yeah, and we're seeing that over and over. We're seeing.
The sort of mainline Democrats, who maybe were the predominant voices. for liberalism. At least, if not moving to the right, seeing their party push so far to the left that it's leaving them behind. And it's become a really almost a trope at this point, where we've seen it over and over again. And the difference is, instead of trying to pull those people back, it feels like they've just decided that they're going to excommunicate.
People who were the traditional Democrats, who, again, you could at least kind of work with. Yeah, I I agree. I have this theory that the media is so far left and they protect the Democrats that the Republicans will benefit when we have a problem because the media Call it out, push us. They say you must change. You must get rid of this person.
You must change your policy. It's not working. They hound us. But when the Democrats go far left and they have a problem in their policies, when they have problem candidates, The media are hesitant to critique them, and therefore, their problems grow. And so we now see this Democratic Party that is so far left And now you've got people like Rom Emanuel, who's even so sick and tired of it, that they are saying, okay, enough is enough.
We can't have this radical policy. But they allowed it to fester. and to be a problem for so long that now they have a real crisis on their hands and they don't know how to fix it. Rick, I wanted to go back to something you just talked about. You talked about the border and how there's not even enough credit for that.
People were so shocked last week. Seeing that migrant rush into Spanish territory, which is on the northern part of Africa, it borders with Morocco. But people were like, their minds were blown seeing how many people were rushing into Spanish territory, violating the sovereignty of Spain. And all the conversation that kind of bubbled up about this. How easily and quickly we forget that's what Del Rio looked like.
That's what El Pass, Eagle Pass, looked like under the Biden administration. It was that shocking. It was that many people violating the sovereignty of the United States, rushing in because they could. And it feels like we have forgotten. We were just a few years now removed from that very same thing happening in our country.
And something did happen. There was an end to it. It actually wasn't that hard to do, but yet we've all forgotten that that was a problem we even had. Yeah, we don't give President Trump enough credit for that, but I would also say for the Spain situation that Europe is not remembering that they became Smaller. And less powerful because of Chancellor Merkel, Angela Merkel's policies on immigration.
She was doing unvetted immigration so much so That the British said, we're out of here. We're leaving the EU. We're leaving this chaos because you can't enforce basic immigration laws. The EU is struggling exactly because of this, and now we've got the Spanish President ushering it in.
Well, Rick, we appreciate you joining us today and really being a part of the show. We know you've been traveling a lot all over the world. We'll have you back on video here very soon. But thank you again for chiming in. I hope you're having an amazing time, and maybe we can join you there at some point.
Phone lines are open for you at 1-800-684-3110. That's at 1-800-684-3110. If you want to be on the air today, we do have one line still open for you. I did want to take a second first and say, Thank you for everyone who supported the ACLJ during our Liberty Drive. We were celebrating America throughout the month of July, and donations were matched.
We are really happy to announce that we are able to continue that match and move to what we're calling the impact match that is going to be happening throughout this month. I want to give you a little breather, a little break today, but I did want to tell you: if you did decide to donate, it will still be matched throughout this month, which is really great. Again, that's an ACLJ. You can be a part of that today. You've heard about the incredible work that ACLJ has been doing.
You've heard from our attorneys. You've heard from Rick Grinnell, me, and Will. There's going to be a lot more coming. That you're not gonna wanna miss out on.
So, I encourage you to be a part of that today. And again, even if you just like this show, remember that major sponsors and everything is not how this show is funded. It's not how we stay on the air. It is only because people like you support the work. We got an almost full bank of calls right now.
One line is still open at 1-800-68-430-110.
So, we are gonna go to the first three calls, have been a hold for over half an hour. The rest of you may hold for under five minutes. I'm gonna start with those half hour people. And then do my best to make it to be blue button hold for less than five minutes. But stay on hold.
We will do our best to get to you. Of course, it's going to be a big election day tomorrow.
So, a lot of you who are interested in what's going on in Michigan and other places, you're going to want to tune into the show tomorrow. We're going to have full coverage of that as well. And again, we're live each and every day, 12 to 1 p.m. Eastern Time. That's at ACLJ.org, YouTube, Rumble, however, you get your podcast later on archived.
We'll be back with your calls coming up. All right, it's time. Let's take some calls.
Some of you have been holding for so long, and I appreciate it. I'm going to kick it off with Steve in Illinois, who's been holding for almost 40 minutes. Thanks, Steve. Go ahead. All right, thank you.
I'll try to make this as quick as possible. I'm probably going to be the black sheep out of the group here, but You brought up Vietnam, there's other wars, Korea, Desert Storm, et cetera, et cetera, and you brought up about President Trump saying he didn't want to get into wars. This war that's going on in Iran right now is actually unconstitutional. War Power Act is actually unconstitutional. No President is the commander-in-chief twenty-four-seven.
That's in Article II, Section Two. where it says the President should be the Commander in Chief of the Army, Navy and Militia of the several States when called into actual service. Actual service is under Article one, Section eight, Clause eleven. uh where they declare war. And any any law that's created must pass Article six, Section two, that all laws pursuant to the Constitution and treaties shall be the supreme law of the land.
All others are nonwithstanding.
So what we're facing today is, is you were talking about up in Chicago, and I'm trying to put this all together real quick, You brought up about the preachers up there being arrested for preaching the gospel or the word of God. It's because we don't follow the Constitution. We've got a war going on over in Iran that is costing us American lives. It's costing us one billion dollars a day, and our Congress has failed to step up and do their job. Not only did these wars Since World War II, they have not been constitutionally.
Steve, I'm only cutting you off because I want to make sure we have time for other people as well. But I know Will's got something. He's shaking his fists.
Well, I mean, one, I do want to correct on Article 2, Section 2. I think it is a little bit misread by you, where it says shall be the commander-in-chief of the Army and Navy of the United States, which were the only established branches of military at the time, and of the militia of several states when called into the actual service of the United States.
So that called into actual service isn't all of that. It's not all-encompassing. It's specifically related to the militia of the states because they would have been state militias when they're called into federal service. That is when he is the commander-in-chief of them.
Now, think of the National Guard: how the commander-in-chief of the National Guard is the governor of the state unless they are called into federal service. That's the analogy there.
So, I did want to correct that, that he is commander-in-chief of the Army and Navy of the United States. Yeah. 24-7, to use your terms there.
Now, yes, I understand your point. It's well taken. That war has become a nebulous idea. Uh really post World War II. That these conflicts were not declared war, but it is also constitutional that the President can, as commander-in-chief, take action on behalf of the United States without a formal declaration of war.
I think that there are a lot of people that would agree with you, and to some degree I would as well, even looking at what Barack Obama did with a lot of the war on Texas. You can disagree with it. You can disagree with it. I do not know that I would argue this is an unconstitutional conflict, but it is, yes, it is semantics. There is a lot of semantics when it comes to war, conflict, et cetera.
But I did want to make that point. The President is the commander-in-chief. I want to try to get some more. Let's go to Martin, who's calling in North Carolina ACLJ champion. Martin, go ahead.
Hi guys, I just wanted I'll try and make this as quick as possible. Thank you. President Trump is an extremely smart guy. We're never going to know everything that's going to go on behind the scenes, although these things that I'm going to mention are true. I tried to fact check it.
Nine days before the first bomb was dropped, Chairman Bissett started doing some things that coordinate with the bombing and finding that there were institution, financial institutions and shell companies that the Iranians were funneling money through.
So he put a stranglehold on that. Then the bombing does something else too. And at the same time, we're looking at the results of that now where the Iranian proxies are not getting paid. That may be why Hamas is giving up so easily. The Houthis and Hezbollah It's a two-pronged thing, and they did mention about putting the stranglehold, but everybody forgot about that.
Well, and as well, Martin, remember that there was another round of sanctions that were in that bill that were Russia sanctions that were kind of the final project that Lindsey Graham was working on that the Senate then passed in his honor. And there was also Iranian sanctions, new rounds of that that were in that bill.
So I think to your point, That now, going forward, more economic stress on the Iranian economy could actually be something that's working behind the scenes that isn't something that is being as reported on as we see everything else. All right. Thank you, Martin. Chris in Indiana, line four. Go ahead, Chris.
Yeah. Yes, I was saying and thinking that this is not only Front and the art of the deal stuff going on, but our military has never And most military never will disclose, of course, everything that is planned and what they're strategizing and things on war and What's going on and Anyway, maybe just uh look I I'm I'm fully aware, and I think that you're right in this that we don't know the full picture and we probably will not know the full picture of what's going on. My more issues come to what is actually being played out in the public square. Not about what's happening behind the scenes. If you wanna have these negotiations behind the scenes, go for it.
I don't care. But when you start telling people to prepare for war, prepare for this giant destruction, and then you flip and you go three or four times, five or six times, it seems like it's continually happening. One, I think it's putting stress on families and military families, putting stress on the American people, ends up putting stress on the economy because you're trying to figure out what's going to happen here. And you start playing these threats in the public square, it becomes a bit harder for America to recover. And it also becomes harder for the American people to move forward.
So we'll see where that goes. But, Chris, I appreciate you calling. We got two minutes. Let me quickly take, I'm going to go to Candy in Georgia. It'll be the last call of the day, likely.
I'm sorry, Tim and Kathy. Call me back early tomorrow. I'll get to you. Katie, go ahead. Hey, thanks for taking my call.
At first, I was upset this morning with President Trump saying, well, will you please get this thing over with? But then he has been bombing them, and we do know that we can't trust them. I'm thinking this is just an opinion that he might be playing cat and mouse with them, and that's frustrating them even more. To at least get them to the negotiating tables. Whether they do anything or not, we know they probably won't.
Yeah, Candy, I think you're probably in the sense of, do I think they came to the negotiating table over the weekend? I do. I don't think President Trump is lying about that. I think they're lying in their response. But the problem is that you can't trust this government to do anything.
Look, he said the same about working with Vladimir Putin. The Vladimir Putin would have a great meeting, and then five minutes later, would be bombing a school. You know, like this was what would happen. And he'd have to realize that when you're dealing with these kind of negotiations and with these kinds of people, you're not dealing with even the business types who may be slick. But aren't always just completely nefarious.
You're dealing with governments that are being run in ways that are nefarious. That are thug-like. And what does that look like? It looks like this played out in the public square. We're gonna continue to take calls and comments on this over this course of the next few weeks.
I'm sure there will be major updates throughout. Look, I always wanna hear your opinions too. But I wanna say thank you for supporting us during our Liberty Drive as we move into the impact match. I want you to support the work of the ACLJ if you can. Thankfully, we're able to continue this.
Maybe we can hit our budgets this month. That would be great. If you can be a part of that as well, that's at aclj.org. And understand this, we're talking about this. It affects everything.
Again, at aclj.org. And we'll be back tomorrow and each and every day, Monday through Friday, from noon to 1 p.m. Eastern Time. Have you got your podcast live and, of course, archived on immediately following. Talk to you tomorrow.
