Phil Giraldi : Trump Strikes Out Again

Added: 2026-05-09

[00:00:02]Undeclared wars are commonplace.

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[00:01:02]Hi everyone, Judge Andrew Npalitano here for Judging Freedom. Today is Wednesday, May 6, 2026.

[00:01:10]Phil Geraldi joins us now. Phil, it's a pleasure, my dear friend, as always. Uh, you have a fascinating piece out called Donald Trump Strikes Out again. And I would say about half to twothirds of it are is based on Trump's over-the-top vanity.

[00:01:31]How dangerous to national security is his over-the-top vanity.

[00:01:38]Well, I would say it's extremely dangerous because what he's doing essentially when you watch in addition to what I cite in the article what he winds up saying uh it the the whole package of of his failure to recognize the dignity and the seriousness of his office uh is a major problem. he is uh making decisions without uh decent inputs because he's worried about he's going to look either in a picture on uh on his website or uh he's going to look in some other context or uh be referred to and one of one of the one of the most astonishing statements I I cite a number of things he did over the past 10 days or so and one of the most astonishing statements is that He claimed that he is he is the most powerful person ever to exist.

[00:02:44]Now what kind of idiot comes out with a statement like that? And what what is going on in your head? And what do you actually believe to come out with that kind of statement? That that means in history ever no one has been as powerful as Donald Trump in his opinion and and I would add that to to the psychopans who who who has selected and gather around him and and cultivate this kind of thinking.

[00:03:18]>> Uh our friend and colleague Alistister Crook calls this confabulation meaning it's not a lie. he actually believes what he says, as absurd as some of it may be. You know, for example, uh uh yesterday he said, uh we're close to a deal uh in Iran. Manipulate the markets.

[00:03:40]Today he said, "Well, if they don't come to the to the negotiating table, they'll be bombed like never before."

[00:03:46]Manipulation of the markets. Alistar believes he actually believes that stuff. I I don't know if he could be that dull as to believe it or if this is some form of market manipulation which would be prosecutable for those who benefited from it knowing it was coming in another justice department.

[00:04:10]Well, I think it's it's deliberate and whether he is smart enough to really be thinking through the aspects of market manipulation uh or not is of course debatable but the fact is he is he's clearly doing it.

[00:04:28]It's well documented. how the extent to which his family has benefited uh from his his status in office and and the things he can get away with. And there are also many uh business connections that uh particularly people like his son-in-law have in the Middle East that were essentially derived from from his being the president and his timing uh of the comments that he makes to to affect the market. And uh this is outrageous. But he's not, as I noted in my article, he's not the first uh American political type to do this.

[00:05:10]Nancy Pelosi. Nancy >> and her husband became very wealthy um exercising insider trading.

[00:05:18]>> Right. Right.

[00:05:21]Um, has the CIA advised Trump what Alistair Crook believes MI6 believes, if you follow me, which is that no amount of bombing of the Iranians will change the minds of Iranian leaders on the issue of nuclear enrichment.

[00:05:41]I I think this is an accurate assessment whether they've gone so far as to actually confront him and say this is what our assessment is and and whether Mr. Ratcliffe is on board for that. Uh I don't know. I'm not hearing much out of them except that they um the my former colleagues that I'm still in touch with who who are still in touch more so with people that are still serving are saying how embarrassed they are by the entire situation where they come up with a judgment and it's a it's a almost immediately ignored when uh uh BB Netanyahu picks up the phone. Well, Ratcliffe is the director of the uh CIA.

[00:06:29]Is he controlled by Mossad or is he controlled by MI6 because he's not listening to what his own agents are telling him?

[00:06:38]>> Well, he he could be in a matter of speaking controlled by both of them if they're if they're if they're saying or they're getting along with for the ride in terms of what he has to provide them.

[00:06:52]Uh all these things are are are very even in um you know when I was still active in the agency um and we had George Tenant as director he was a guy who was totally political. He had no experience as a intelligence officer uh before he uh was elevated because he was the guy who played ball with the whole business about what was going on in the Middle East and with Iraq and so on and so forth. So this happens all the time.

[00:07:23]The question is uh does it become the mode of operation or is it just something that you have to put up with every once in a while? So it's a it it seems to me it's happening more and more often that that Trump is coming out with stuff that's just crazy. uh yesterday he again went after the pope uh and and said that the pope is uh is is clearly interested in giving people nuclear particularly Iran nuclear weapons.

[00:07:55]>> But this is insane. Every pope since pest I 12th in 1945 has condemned the concept of nuclear weapons.

[00:08:04]>> Yeah. Well, apparently the message hasn't gotten through to Donald Trump and and whether he truly believes that nonsense or not. Uh and and I guess Rubio will be meeting with the Pope today. What isn't it supposed to be?

[00:08:18]>> I believe I believe he it's tomorrow.

[00:08:20]He's probably in flight now.

[00:08:22]>> Yeah, tomorrow. And and at the same time, Trump is talking about the other out of the other side of his mouth about negotiations again with uh with Iran over the next 30 days. uh you know it's like he says things, he does things and it does and it it doesn't permeate to the point where you're making judgments that are based on good information.

[00:08:47]>> If anybody um uh is less attached to the truth than Donald Trump, it's this person with apologies, Phil. Chris number 13.

[00:09:03]This thing is over to the American people. I know gas prices are high and I know we're suffering right now, but you pay now, you pay later against thugs like Iran. They tried to get a nuclear weapon. And if you don't believe that, you shouldn't be allowed to drive in your hometown. Donald Trump stopped Iran, stopped Iran from having 8 to 10 nuclear weapons by bombing their enrichment facilities. God bless you, President Trump. We were weeks away from a nuclear armed Iran. No more.

[00:09:29]Everything has been obliterated. Their economy is in shatter is in tatters.

[00:09:34]Their military has been decimated.

[00:09:36]There's more to do. If we can control the straits, checkmate against Iran, blockade, plus arm the people. And to our allies throughout the world who depend on the straight of Hormuz more than we do, get off your ass and help us.

[00:09:52]>> Where to start, Phil?

[00:09:54]>> Well, first of all, you start by saying that everything he said was a lie. And uh that's a good place to start. And then I I think there hasn't been enough focus on the fact that that this clown has been in Israel every two to three weeks uh ever since all the this fighting and everything began. He's uh he's so close to the Israeli government that you wonder why he's getting paid by the American government.

[00:10:26]The danger u as I see it, Phil, is that he plays golf with the president. It's just the two of them in the golf cart. I don't know where the Secret Service is.

[00:10:37]I guess they're very close. Maybe in another cart. I don't know exactly how it is, how big the cart is, but he sits next to the president and gets to mouth this kind of nonsense uh into his ear.

[00:10:48]But one of the things that I caught was the opening line, it's over. Marco Rubio said it's over in the same week. Pete Hegsth said it's over in the same week.

[00:11:00]So this must be Phil the new administration mantra. We can't beat these people.

[00:11:08]We'll just declare victory and go home.

[00:11:12]>> I'm not so sure of that. I think the over might be a way of just kind of the continuing this tease of Congress uh by cutting out any possible thinking on their part that they might have to my god approve of this behavior and of this war. Uh there I think there are more games going on here in uh the this this whole idea of another month uh to to be negotiating.

[00:11:42]Come on. that that doesn't even make any sense. And and the fact is that, you know, I I think there's a there a lot of cons going on in terms of how uh there is manipulation of what's coming out and what they're worth saying. But the the sad part of it is they're not even they're not even smart enough to make these things sensible. They're just uh they're just things shot out there and they they're they're things that are useful for, you know, allowing this game to continue to be played, but uh they're not good for America and they're not good for the American people.

[00:12:19]>> Would uh Trump go to Beijing while he's bombing Thrron?

[00:12:25]>> Uh I don't know. You know, it's just like what >> I mean, would the Chinese receive him while he's bombing Tyran?

[00:12:34]>> Yeah. Well, that's a that's a that's a serious question because the Chinese are for real in terms of how they perceive the world. And u uh God knows um what what Trump is was planning or is planning now as as his uh his talking points and everything like that. The Chinese and Russians have both made it pretty clear that uh they want this this whole situation to kind of end but end in a real way not just a a temporary pause so that United States and Israel can start bombing again. This is um uh Iranian foreign minister Arachi as you know meeting with his Chinese counterpart and with a huge uh Chinese and Iranian delegation at this very large uh conference room uh table. our friend who was just on with us um Pepe Escobar says this this cannot be uh gain said because um this is serious the new Russia Iran uh Chinese uh alliance.

[00:13:45]>> Yeah, I suspect it is. I think they they they've suddenly well not suddenly they've been more sensible in terms of what's been going on ever since it started and and the fact is they realize that the uh the whole game the way it's being played by Donald Trump and his associates and and Israel is doing serious damage to the rest of the world and sooner or later it's going to hit them too. So, uh, these people are playing for real and for real stakes.

[00:14:18]>> Colonel McGregor has argued in a new piece he published today, I'll be talking to him about it, uh, tomorrow, that wealth and power globally are shifting to the east and Trump has accelerated that movement.

[00:14:36]Do you agree?

[00:14:38]Yeah, I think that's a that is a reasonable way to read this because the traditional centers of wealth and power mainly like Europe and the United States uh have been very much weakened in terms of their uh intrinsic uh infrastructures and things like that that gave them the wealth and power and gave them the ability to call the shots in terms of how econom eomic issues were moving and uh I it's going the other way now and uh we we've kind of been seeing this coming for a while uh in terms of the push to get away from the US dollar dominance uh but now I think it's becoming uh a broader issue and it's going to encompass a lot more elements in the in the economies >> let me uh ask you about your expertise on uh intell igence. When Trump goes to um Beijing next week, will the Chinese know in advance what his talking points are? I mean, he has, as far as far as I know, he has no cards to play, but he'll come up with something. But my point is, is Chinese intel over the president of the United States so good or not so good that it will advise President Xi what President Trump will say or can't they do that?

[00:16:09]>> Well, there there are two aspects to intelligence that we're talking about in a situation like this. Uh the one aspect is technical intelligence whereby you're listening in on everybody's phones. Uh you figured out who the key people are and you've managed to get their their phone numbers. You managed to tap into them and you managed to getting to get what they're talking to each other and to their wives and to you get all that kind of stuff. And the Chinese are very very good at this kind of intelligence, technical intelligence. The other kind of intelligence is a human intelligence where they would be seeking to recruit an agent or a spy like the Israelis have in our government. U that basically keeps them informed. Now that's a that's kind of a guessing game as to what they might have and might not have, but there's always that possibility. And when you have that, you get the whole game >> because you you get because the point is you get the uh you get the the the thinking behind uh the words and >> so correct me if I'm wrong. The Israelis surveil the White House. Do the Chinese?

[00:17:29]>> Uh I would suspect they do.

[00:17:32]>> All right. How about the flip side of this? When Trump goes to Beijing, will the CIA have advised him in advance what President Xi will say to him?

[00:17:45]Again, it comes down to the same issue.

[00:17:48]The question is in terms of technical intelligence, the CIA, NS, NSA are highly qualified and they're probably getting all kinds of telephonic information, all kinds of uh communications that go electronically.

[00:18:04]They're probably getting a lot of that if not really critical elements of that.

[00:18:11]They might be getting that too. Uh the question then becomes do have they recruited anybody? Uh I would give that a higher probability than the Chinese getting someone in Washington. the uh uh Chinese diplomats are are all over the world now because China is a major player and they would put this would put them in contact with intelligence officers from CIA from MI6 you know uh and once you get people in touch with other people then the the the the tools you have usually money uh to recruit them to provide you with information are Wow. I wonder what what do you think the uh Chinese governmental and political hierarchy thinks of Trump?

[00:19:05]>> Oh, I think that they they have a clear perception of Trump, which is like the perception that the Europeans have now, uh which also the Russians certainly have after having to negotiate with them, as it were. And uh the Iranians have the same percept. Yeah. Everybody has Trump is a joke and uh everyone knows it. The the question they have uh in their minds is well all right that's what he is but we have to deal with him >> right >> and what kind of uh advice can we kind of steer him towards? Uh how do we do it? And what's the way to get through a guy like this who basically doesn't have normal thinking and reasoning processes?

[00:19:58]>> Well, he doesn't uh he doesn't have a Henry Kissinger type person in his entourage. All he has are sycopants.

[00:20:09]>> Uh that seems to be the case. I mean there's a nobody you can point to to say that he he or she uh is someone who really has a good grasp or good experience even in terms of what goes on in the world and how it works. And uh as a result, we've got essentially people that their their easiest path to stay in the good graces of Donald Trump and not not get fired is to agree with everything he says. And that means of course everything the Israelis say since Donald Trump is uh is clearly controlled by the Israelis. I can't think of a of a single thing that uh Donald Trump has ever balked at that's come out of Israel. is the same as Joe Biden. This has been a pattern.

[00:21:00]>> So if Mrs. Abson and company want him to resume the bombing of uh Iran, he's probably saying, "Let me get back from Beijing, that I don't want to disrupt my trip to China." Larry uh Johnson, and we both know and love him, believes that the bombing will begin tonight, but that would material, unless it's just a 24-hour pin prick, that would materially disrupt his plans to go to China. And there's an enormous American entourage there already with a presidential limousine and all that stuff that travels before the president.

[00:21:37]>> Yeah. But that's why I think we're suddenly hearing this one month window uh for negotiations.

[00:21:44]Now, this may not turn out to be a onemon window. Well, they'll turn out to be a 10day window to get him through the the contacts with China and and try to get through that. Uh it'll probably declare victory at the end of it and u and then we're back to normal. uh where where you know Israel and the United States are figuring out what next to do to Iran.

[00:22:12]>> Wow. Bill Geraldi, thank you very much my dear friend. Regards to you from uh the great Gerald Senti and we'll look forward to seeing you again soon. All the best.

[00:22:23]>> Thank you. Look forward to it.

[00:22:25]>> Thank you. coming up tomorrow, Thursday, uh on all of this. And Colonel McGregor has a fascinating piece out about how the Chinese are so far ahead of us in uh wealth and investment, but he'll talk about it as well as of course the war in Iran. At 1:00, Colonel Douglas McGregor on these same topics. At 2:00, Colonel Lawrence Wilkerson and at 3:00 on whatever he wants to talk about, the golden boy, Max Blumenthal, judge the Paul Tano. He loves that. Judge the Paul Tano for judging freedom.

[00:23:22]Heat. Heat.