Can Trump and his team and the side of this defy political gravity?

You know, what we do face is a media onslaught of, quite frankly, lies.

You hear it every day.

They talk about, you know, how bad the war is.

You know, look, you know, as a military, and I've talked to almost, you know, I sit on the Foreign Affairs Committee, and I talk to almost every foreign ambassador in the region, and we all agree on four main points.

One is Iran should never have a nuclear weapon.

Two, they cannot have nuclear material.

How does Montana feel? How do you feel about where the economy is? How are you feeling about universities there have, you know, great programs? Give me a little thumbnail on Montana and how people are feeling about this moment.

What does this tell you about the November 3rd?

This is Trump country, and Montana's a lot of things, but we're not communists.

No one is like President Trump.

He's Mr.

Rally, and I've been with him a lot.

He's been to Montana probably more times than all the presidents combined, you know, and, and Montanans gravitate to the American First agenda, but they love President Trump.

I moved to this country 26 years ago the legal way, and I am a proud American citizen.

Please protect our president that we love and support with all of our hearts, and God bless the United States of America.

What does this tell you about the November 3rd?

This is Trump country, and Montana's a lot of things.

We're not communist.

No one is like President Trump.

He's Mr.

Rally, and I've been with him a lot.

And if they, if they get the chance to go to Washington, they're gonna take us right back to those Biden-era policies of open borders and defunding the police.

police.Higher taxes and reckless government spending.

Boo.

And woke DEI and boys in girls' sports.

Boo.

We will not go back.

[cheering] [applauding] As senator, I'm gonna fight for common sense policies that rein in Washington spending- [cheering] [applauding] ... keep our taxes low, protect our public lands- [cheering] [applauding] ... secure our borders and our elections- [cheering] [applauding] ... and confirm judicial conservatives to the United States Supreme Court.

A little less fight and a little more smart.

What does this tell you about the November 3rd?

This is Trump country, and Montana's a lot of things, but we're not communist.

I think Montanans are trying to f- are figuring out, you know, what the opposition is.

This agenda, you know, from the Democratic Socialist Party, that's a lie in itself.

It's a communist party 'cause you look at open borders, you know, boys playing girls' sports, sex change operations for children.

You know, Montana's not buying it.

You know, Montana supports the Constitution.

And when you talk about that, what, why is that, this race with Aaron Flint, a combat decorated veteran, served in Iraq, served in Afghanistan, and his opponent, why does that matter, that contrast?

Which job did you like the best?

Well, you know, I always have to say I was a commander at SEAL Team 6, and I loved being around people that were focused, patriot, hyper-competitive.

They just wanted to be the best in the world.

And I was never the best jumper, diver, explosive expert, et cetera, but I always knew who was.

And to be associated and be a part of that group I think was an honor in my life.

I enjoyed it.

The secretary job, I think Article 2, you know, they always say, you know, administration has the ball.

And I think if you look at it as a business person on a balance sheet of the United States of America, it's worth trillions of dollars.

Which job did you like the best?

Well, you know, I always have to say I was a commander at SEAL Team 6.

And I loved being around people that were focused, patriot, hyper-competitive.

They just wanted to be the best in the world.

And I was never the best jumper, diver, explosive expert, et cetera, but I always knew who was.

And to be associated and be a part of that group, I think, was an honor in my life.

I enjoyed the secretary job.

And I think if you look at it as a business person on a balance sheet of the United States of America, it's worth trillions of dollars.

The Secretary of the Interior has more power over energy than necessarily the Department of Energy, in your opinion.

Well, in the Department of Energy, 90%, and I love Chris Wright and the Department of Energy are great folks, but mostly what they do is regulate and look at our nuclear arsenal.

So 90% of their budget is that.

The other part of it is grants and innovation.

But the core of producing, leasing, inspections is actually the Department of Interior, all offshore.

is Department of Interior at one state or another, and then onshore federal lands comes the Department of Interior.

And as Interior, I helped write the executive order to go to energy dominance, and I was in a room when that energy dominance term was made the president.

And I think if you look at it as a business person on a balance sheet of the United States of America, it's worth trillions of dollars.

The Secretary of the Interior has more power over energy than necessarily the Department of Energy, in your opinion.

Well, in Department of Energy, 90%, and I love Chris Wright and Department of Energy are great folks, but mostly what they do is regulate and look at our nuclear arsenal.

So 90% of their budget is that.

The other part of it is grants and innovation.

But the core of producing, leasing, inspections is actually Department of Interior.

All offshore is Department of Interior at one state or another, and then onshore, federal lands.

It comes with the Department of the Interior.

And I think that if you look at it as a business person on a balance sheet of the United States of America, it's worth trillions of dollars.

Mm-hmm.

So they can use trail, uh, clearing method, you know, during the season, all right? And, and to make sure that the trail and public access, uh, is, is there.

And that's an important part, uh, of it looking at the landscape.

But at the end of the day, you know, these two areas are special.

You know, Lewis and Clark, uh, had much the same view in a lot of these different areas.

And now what we have done is we've, we've looked at what's important, how to manage it to make sure that your children and your children's children can have the same landscape view that was given to us that-

Mm-hmm.

Uh, so you know, that's why we have wilderness.

So we do have the chance to stay abreast of these modern cutting edge technologies and safeguard the lives of our service members and our capital assets overseas.

Well, you bring up a good point.

In many ways, the five-year plan, the fight up, is configured on a peacetime navy or peacetime army, where time isn't of the essence.

It's number of pieces of conventional forces, number of tanks.

number of planes, number of helicopters.

In many ways, those conventional pieces of power either have been diminished or no longer effective on the battlefield because drones that are fairly inexpensive and numerous can counter a tank and to reproduce a tank is time.

To reproduce a drone is a lot less time.

to have that trickle-down effect from these new acquisitions policies and high-level DOW and State Department policies to impact that military doctrine in a timely manner or even that law enforcement doctrine to make us successful in these massive acquisitions that are now being driven by our soldiers, sailors, airmen, and law enforcement officials?

Which one did you like the best?

Commander.

You know, I got to tell you, just to be around, you know, I was a commander at SEAL Team 6.

So I was the operational unit at the time.

And just to be around talent of young Americans brought from the full breast, from New York, from New Mexico, it's kind of like the Rough Riders.

And they just want to be the very, very best.

And you see that they are.

Give us what you see through your eyes in Iran, in Saudi Arabia with the Houthis, in Lebanon with the Hezbollah, in Hamas with Palestine.

Which one did you like the best?

Commander.

You know, I got to tell you, just to be around...

You know, I was a commander at SEAL Team Six.

So I was the operational unit at the time.

And just to be around talent of young Americans brought from the full breast, from New York, from New Mexico, it's kind of like the Rough Riders.

And they just want to be the very, very best.

What the heck? Are we going to sort this out?

Which one did you like the best?

Commander.

You know, I got to tell you, just to be around...

You know, I was a commander at SEAL Team 6, so I was the operational unit at the time.

And just to be around talent of young Americans brought from the full breast, from New York, from New Mexico, it's kind of like the Rough Riders.

And they just want to be the very, very best, and you see that they are.

And, you know, Delta Force, very, very similar in construct, only want to be the best.

What the heck? Are we going to sort this out?

What, what are we doing?

This is where we are, and I, I, I mostly agree with Bill.

I love Bill, by the way.

Um, but this is where we're at, is there's, there can be no nukes.

There can be no nuclear material.

There cannot be an arsenal of destruction, and the Straits of Hormuz has to be opened.

I've talked to almost every ambassador from the region, and all are united, and this is, this is unique.

Uh, what are your thoughts, um, you know, just about this moment and, and how beautiful that his sister is, is filling that void?

What are we doing? Yeah.

This is where we are.

And I, I, I mostly agree with bill.

I love bill by the way.

Um, but this is where we're at is there's, there can be no nukes.

There can be no nuclear material.

It cannot be an arsenal destruction in the streets or moons has to be open.

What are your thoughts, you know, just about this moment and how beautiful that his sister is filling that void?

What are we doing?

This is where we are.

And I, I mostly agree with bill.

I love bill by the way.

Um, but this is where we're at is there's, there can be no nukes.

There can be no nuclear material.

It cannot be an arsenal destruction in the streets or moons has to be open.

What are your thoughts, you know, just about this moment and how beautiful that his sister is filling that void?

And how much of a border you have with Canada?

The largest city.

Yes.

Well, you know, it's a great state.

You know, as you said, my background, I was a seal, like fifth generation, Montana, and I've served in the, in the Congress before that I became secretary and, And now, you know, I'm back on the front lines.

You know, the Iran, because I'm, you know, in foreign affairs.

This is my cut, John, is that the deal wasn't everything we expected.

How do you keep this separate? I mean, Hezbollah is Iran, and if they're going to be attacking our allies and attacking Americans, which they do as well, how do we keep this separate from this deal? It's not easy.

Mm-hmm.

When I came in, uh, every battle was-- there was gonna be some federal judge somewhere that was gonna, uh, was gonna dictate policy, and I, I think the Supreme Court, while not conservative, I think has, has been, uh, less biased, and I think the team's very, very good.

On the congressional side, there was rules.

You never voted against a rule.

You never changed your vote between whips unless you told leadership.

And on the Republican side, you can vote any way you want to on a bill.

But if you're voting against the chairman's bill, at least have the courtesy to say, "Mr.

... losing a committee position?

Was there an issue that you changed your mind on as a member of Congress as you met members from other parts of the country or other political parties? Or maybe an issue that you think differently about now, maybe serving in the administration, coming back to Congress?

Yeah, you know, I've always been a believer in conservation.

And even by Teddy Roosevelt's words, conservation is as much development as it is preservation.

And that was a lot harder to push, you know, reasonable mining, reasonable energy production.

And you can have both.

Well, but you got to reclaim the land when you're done.

And then I was surprised on when the issue of public lands for sale came up, which was a reason why I think I came back and defend that and make sure we don't we don't have a fire sale of our of our public land experience.

Are you troubled by that trend? Is that a trend you see continuing? And if so, how do you reverse it?

Congressman, so great to have you back on the show, and thank you again so much for your service.

Well, it's great to be with you.

You know, and affordability.

A lot of it breaks down to the cost of energy.

And quite frankly, when you go back to Trump 45, when we walked in as a nation, we were producing 8.3 million barrels a day and declining.

In just two years, we were 12.5 million barrels a day and the world's largest exporter.

Fast forward, now we see 40 miles of the straight-circuit news, really a two-mile channel, holding Asia and Europe hostage.

Is there anything behind the scenes that you're hearing about ways to help Americans get through the next few months?

Am I right, Congressman, that you trained the Luttrells? That Marcus and, obviously, Lone Survivor?

Well, I was commander at SEAL Team 6.

So, you know, I've had an interesting career.

Well, let's get to the issues, you know, on gas.

All right.

A third, 20 to 30 percent of the world's energy is coming out of the strait.

And in some places it's 40 miles and it's a two mile channel.

Isn't that a classic?

Am I right, Congressman, that you trained the Luttrells? That Marcus and, obviously, Lone Survivor?

Well, I was commander at Steel Team 6, so I've had an interesting career.

Well, let's get to the issues on gas.

All right.

A third, 20% to 30% of the world's energy has come out of the strait.

And in some places, it's 40 miles, and it's a two-mile channel.

So not a lot of room, and it is unacceptable that Iran, Given what they are, and I think the conditions that President Trump set are absolutely just and defendable, and we all need to get behind it.

Isn't that a classic?

So do you support the Trump team's efforts here to continue talks with Iran, or should they be wary given Iran's unwillingness to consider U.S. demands over the weekend?

You know, I always support dialogue, but I don't think we can move on the core position.

They cannot have a nuclear weapon.

They cannot possess material to make a nuclear weapon, and they can't have an arsenal of evil.

And they have to open up the Strait of Hormuz.

I think those are issues that we're not going to move on, but there's a lot of things we can move on.

Look, You know, the regime change, obviously the first echelon of the regime change is gone.

What is your reaction to that?

Congressman, how do you define imminent?

Well, I would, I would say this, uh, Iran did not change their modus operandi.

Their e- entire plan was develop a missile arsenal, uh, with ballistic and, and, and, and numerous s- surface to air missiles, et cetera, et cetera, that would inundate any defense.

And having one nuclear weapon, uh, remem- remember, it's not only, you know, Israel, it's not only our bases, but having a nuclear capability with that regime would mean that you could put it, let's say, in a shipping container.

Where would that shipping cont- container go? It would go to Houston.

It would go to DC.

It would go, go to anywhere in the US, and this is the evil of the regime.

So just to be, just to be clear, i- i- is it fair to say that this was more of a window of opportunity to attack Iran to prevent a potential imminent threat in the future rather than there being an imminent threat in this moment?