Trump's right-hand MAGA ally who correctly predicted Iran strikes now has a chilling warning about World War III
Longtime Donald Trump ally Steve Bannon who was spot-on with his prediction that the president would strike Iran on Saturday is now warning that it could spark World War III.
Bannon, who served as Trump's chief White House strategist during his first term and continues to be an influential voice in the MAGA movement, referenced the looming attack on his 'War Room Pandemic' podcast hours before U.S. bombers carried out the strike.
'I'm just reporting what I'm hearing from pretty good sources. The party is on,' Bannon said on his podcast.
'So another big weekend in this unfolding aspect of the Third World War – and no, anyone that's telling you that the Third World War is not here, is absolutely, does not understand the development and evolution of kinetic energy,' he said.
Hours later, Trump surprised the world a little before 8 p.m. ET Saturday by announcing on Truth Social that he had given the go-ahead to attack Iran.
Trump used six massive 30,000-pound 'bunker buster' bombs and 30 Tomahawk missiles to destroy Fordow, Natanz and Esfahan.
Trump addressed the nation, calling the strikes on a trio of Iranian nuclear sites a 'spectacular military success.'
'Tonight, I can report to the world that the strikes were a spectacular military success. Iran's key nuclear enrichment facilities have been completely and totally obliterated.'
He also gave a stark warning to Tehran that more attacks would be coming if the regime didn't make peace.
But his ally Bannon lunched with Trump at the White House on Thursday, and reportedly argued against the U.S. joining in Israel 's attacks on Iran.
Bannon connected the dots on his 'party is on' comment, clarifying that it meant the operation was set to go.
'I will tell you, remember in 'A Bridge Too Far,' in the movie about Market Garden and the last bridge at Arnhem. The phrase there was, "The party is on,"' he said, referencing the 1977 film about the failed Allied operation in Europe near the end of World War II.
He also took a swipe at former George W. Bush White House Press Secretary Kayleith McEnany, now a host of 'the Five' on Fox News Channel.
'And so that is our analysis this morning. Is the party on? Is this thing, are we inexorably drawn into this, and maybe today's the day of action? You know, just the one swoop of a jet that Keyleigh McEnany wants, just one swoop of a jet, just going across,' he said.
His comments came before a top House Republican turned on Trump and called the U.S. attack on Iran 'unconstitutional.'
Bannon spent time on his Saturday show arguing about the risks and losses associated with an attack on Iran.
He said the country needed to remain 'focused on the mass deportations' of illegal immigrants.
'I still argue that as important as this as high a priority it is to stop the nuclear program at whatever stage it is for the Iranians, for us yo've got to rank order of strategic concerns. The vital national security interests of this country lie with us making sure that the 10-12 million illegal alien invaders that came here ... have to be deported,' he said.
'This is a central front of what we call the third World War.'
'This is all costing a vast amount of money. Who's paying for that?' he asked. 'Is Israel paying for that? No, they would not be ... You know who's paying for it? You,' he told his listeners.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Guardian
21 minutes ago
- The Guardian
Iran's proxy militias may be unable to help if Tehran opts to hit back at US
Iran's proxy militias across the Middle East have yet to retaliate for the overnight strikes against the Islamic Republic and are sending mixed signals about their willingness to strike US targets – or even Israel – in coming days. The apparent reluctance or inability of such groups to come to Iran's aid will limit Tehran's options if decision-makers there opt to escalate the conflict with the US. Iran's Revolutionary Guards warned the US on Sunday in a statement carried by state TV to 'expect regrettable responses' to its strikes on the country's nuclear sites. Iran, it said, would 'use options beyond the understanding … of the aggressor front' and would continue to target Israel, which has been hit by multiple waves of missile and drone attacks since it struck Iran on 13 June. On Friday, a new wave of Iranian missiles launched in a first response to the US strikes hit sites in central Israel, injuring at least 10 people, according to Israeli rescue services. The strongest statement in support of Tehran from the militant groups that make up its coalition of proxies across the Middle East – the so-called 'axis of resistance' – has come from the political bureau of the Houthi movement in Yemen. The Iran-backed group called on Muslim nations to join 'the jihad and resistance option as one front against the Zionist-American arrogance', saying it was ready to target US ships and warships in the Red Sea. The Houthis have already fought American forces in recent months, after the US president, Donald Trump, launched an air offensive against the group following months of attacks on shipping in the Red Sea and against Israel. A ceasefire was agreed in May. 'The Houthis still retain enough capability to do what they like doing. If they want to hit US vessels in the Red Sea, they still have that capability. They are a wild card and the Iranians don't spend a lot of time trying to restrain them,' said Michael Knights, an expert in Iranian proxies at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy. There is, however, little evidence that Iran-aligned and supported groups in Iraq, which have struck US targets in the past, were planning imminent action. Such groups could do considerable damage to US bases in Iraq, Syria, Kuwait and Jordan if mobilised, and have been attacked by the US in the past but are likely to be deterred by the potential high cost of launching new strikes against US. 'They could do some damage but the US understand these targets and would find them pretty fast,' said Knights. One Tehran-backed Shia militia in Iraq, Kata'ib Hezbollah, has threatened to attack 'US interests' in the Middle East in response to Washington's participation in Israel's support. One of its commanders, Abu Ali al-Askari, was quoted on CNN as saying that US bases in the region 'will become akin to duck-hunting grounds'. However, the group suffered heavy losses in US airstrikes after killing three US soldiers at a base in Jordan last year and may not follow through on its rhetoric. Hezbollah, the powerful Islamist militant militia based in Lebanon that has long been supported by Tehran, has made no official statement, with its officials briefing journalists in the region that it would stay out of any new clash between Iran and the US. Hezbollah, the keystone of Iran's axis of resistance, was very significantly weakened by Israel's air offensive and ground invasion of Lebanon last year. Its entire leadership was killed and stocks of missiles, intended to deter Israel from attacking Iran's nuclear programme, destroyed. Hamas, another member of the coalition of militant groups built up by Tehran over recent decades, is in no position to threaten the US or Israel currently, analysts said. Links between the proxies and Tehran have been further weakened in the last week after assassinations conducted by Israel. Several senior officials in the Revolutionary Guards killed in airstrikes were involved in running the coalition of militant groups, including Behnam Shahriyari, who Israeli military officials said was in charge of equipping proxy forces with weapons including ballistic missiles. Shahriyari was killed while driving in western Iran on Friday, Israel's military said. The US has about 20 bases in the Middle East and tens of thousands of troops. It also has an extensive diplomatic presence, that could potentially be targeted. The US defence secretary, Pete Hegseth, said military generals have elevated protection measures across the region, especially in Iraq, Syria, and the Gulf. 'Our forces remain on high alert and are fully postured to respond to any Iranian retaliation or proxy attacks, which would be an incredibly poor choice,' Hegseth told reporters at a press conference on Sunday. Underlining the threat, a Middle East-based maritime centre overseen by the US. military warned on Sunday that there was a 'high' risk to US-associated ships after the American strikes. 'The threat to US-associated commercial shipping in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden is currently assessed as HIGH,' the Joint Maritime Information Center wrote in an advisory to shippers. Other means of retaliation available to Tehran may take longer to mobilise. In previous decades, Iran has used massive bomb attacks against US troops in Lebanon or Jewish and Israeli targets as far away as Argentina. Last week, the FBI intensified investigation and monitoring of 'sleeper cells' linked to Hezbollah in the US.
Reuters
24 minutes ago
- Reuters
Hague NATO summit protest shifts focus to Iran
THE HAGUE, June 22 (Reuters) - An anti-NATO protest in The Hague on Sunday shifted its focus to Iran after overnight U.S. strikes hit key nuclear sites there. The peaceful demonstration took place days before The Hague hosts a NATO summit. The planned protest against NATO's military policies pivoted to condemnation of the U.S. attacks on Iran, with participants voicing concern about rising tensions in the Middle East. Thousands marched toward the Peace Palace, home to the International Court of Justice, a Reuters witness said. Organizers estimated the crowd at 5,000, while police said they do not track attendance numbers. Protesters carried banners calling for de-escalation, diplomacy, and for NATO to be disbanded, with some saying "No Iran War" and "Hands off Iran". Iranian protester Nikita Shahbazi told Reuters it was "heartbreaking" to see what is going on in her home country. "I feel devastated. (The U.S. attacks) can trigger a wider war. It has opened the paths for illegal attacks on nuclear installations everywhere in the world." Protesters also opposed a proposed 5% defence spending target pushed by U.S. President Donald Trump and backed by NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte, who hopes to secure consensus at the summit, beginning on Wednesday. "There's no need for this provocation, this 5% of GDP spending on weapons, that will benefit the military-industrial complex. This has nothing to do with the needs of people," said British protester Pippa Bartolotti.
The Independent
25 minutes ago
- The Independent
Why some key Tehran allies have stayed out of the Israel-Iran conflict
Hezbollah has long been considered Iran's first line of defense in case of a war with Israel. But since Israel launched its massive barrage against Iran, triggering the ongoing Israel-Iran war, the Lebanese militant group has stayed out of the fray — even after the U.S. entered the conflict Sunday with strikes on Iranian nuclear sites. A network of powerful Iran-backed militias in Iraq has also remained mostly quiet. Domestic political concerns, as well as tough losses suffered in nearly two years of regional conflicts and upheavals, appear to have led these Iran allies to take a back seat in the latest round convulsing the region. 'Despite all the restraining factors, wild cards remain,' said Tamer Badawi, an associate fellow with the Germany-based think tank Center for Applied Research in Partnership with the Orient. That's especially true after the U.S. stepped in with strikes on three nuclear facilities in Iran. The 'Axis of Resistance' Hezbollah was formed with Iranian support in the early 1980s as a guerilla force fighting against Israel's occupation of southern Lebanon at the time. The militant group helped push Israel out of Lebanon and built its arsenal over the ensuing decades, becoming a powerful regional force and the centerpiece of a cluster of Iranian-backed factions and governments known as the ' Axis of Resistance.' The allies also include Iraqi Shiite militias and Yemen's Houthi rebels, as well as the Palestinian militant group Hamas. At one point, Hezbollah was believed to have some 150,000 rockets and missiles, and the group's former leader, Hassan Nasrallah once boasted of having 100,000 fighters. Seeking to aid its ally Hamas in the aftermath of the Palestinian militants' Oct. 7, 2023 attack on southern Israel and Israel's offensive in Gaza, Hezbollah began launching rockets across the border. That drew Israeli airstrikes and shelling, and the exchanges escalated into full-scale war last September. Israel inflicted heavy damage on Hezbollah, killing Nasrallah and other top leaders and destroying much of its arsenal, before a U.S.-negotiated ceasefire halted that conflict last November. Israel continues to occupy parts of southern Lebanon and to carry out near-daily airstrikes. For their part, the Iraqi militias occasionally struck bases housing U.S. troops in Iraq and Syria, while Yemen's Houthis fired at vessels in the Red Sea, a crucial global trade route, and began targeting Israel. Keeping an ambiguous stance Hezbollah has condemned Israel's attacks but did not immediately comment on the U.S. strikes on Iran. Just days before the U.S. attack, Hezbollah leader Naim Kassem said in a statement that the group 'will act as we deem appropriate in the face of this brutal Israeli-American aggression.' Lebanese government officials have pressed the group to stay out of the conflict, saying that Lebanon cannot handle another damaging war, and U.S. envoy Tom Barrack, who visited Lebanon last week, said it would be a 'very bad decision' for Hezbollah to get involved. Iraq's Kataib Hezbollah militia — a separate group from Hezbollah — had said prior to the U.S. attack that it will directly target U.S. interests and bases spread throughout the region if Washington gets involved. The group has also remained silent since Sunday's strikes. The Houthis last month reached an agreement with Washington to stop attacks on U.S. vessels in the Red Sea in exchange for the U.S. halting its strikes on Yemen, but the group threatened to resume its attacks if Washington entered the Iran-Israel war. In a statement on Sunday, the Houthis' political bureau described the U.S. attack on Iran as a 'grave escalation that poses a direct threat to regional and international security and peace." The Houthis did not immediately launch strikes. Reasons to stay on the sidelines Hezbollah was weakened by last year's fighting and after losing a major supply route for Iranian weapons with the fall of Syrian President Bashar Assad, a key ally, in a lightning rebel offensive in December. 'Hezbollah has been degraded on the strategic level while cut off from supply chains in Syria,' said Andreas Krieg, a military analyst and associate professor at King's College London. Still, Qassem Qassir, a Lebanese analyst close to Hezbollah, said a role for the militant group in the Israel-Iran conflict should not be ruled out. 'The battle is still in its early stages," he said. "Even Iran hasn't bombed American bases (in response to the U.S. strikes), but rather bombed Israel.' He said that both the Houthis and the Iraqi militias "lack the strategic deep strike capability against Israel that Hezbollah once had." Renad Mansour, a senior research fellow at the Chatham House think tank in London, said Iraq's Iran-allied militias have all along tried to avoid pulling their country into a major conflict. Unlike Hezbollah, whose military wing has operated as a non-state actor in Lebanon — although its political wing is part of the government — the main Iraqi militias are members of a coalition of groups that are officially part of the state defense forces. 'Things in Iraq are good for them right now, they're connected to the state — they're benefitting politically, economically,' Mansour said. 'And also they've seen what's happened to Iran, to Hezbollah and they're concerned that Israel will turn on them as well.' Badawi said that for now, the armed groups may be lying low because 'Iran likely wants these groups to stay intact and operational.' 'But if Iran suffers insurmountable losses or if the Supreme Leader (Ayatollah Ali Khamenei) is assassinated, those could act as triggers," he said.
