00:00It's numeric in terms of various types of targets that they think they're going to knock down, they're going to
00:06destroy.
00:06That's his clear objectives.
00:08The problem is Iran is asymmetrically firing the rockets at major, you saw yesterday,
00:18liquefied natural gas, oil refinery places in the Red Sea and in Kuwait and Qatar.
00:25It's causing a ripple effect around the world.
00:28Winning decisively may be knocking out their boats and their missiles and their infrastructure,
00:33but this is like a Tom Clancy novel in terms of the impact spreading around the world with the no
00:38end in sight.
00:40We've been spending a lot of time today, Tony, talking about U.S. stockpiles,
00:47talking about where defense spending is going, who benefits off of this,
00:54and the upcoming military spend seems to be giving probably a lot of the big defense contractors
01:00and the whole supply chain a lot of visibility going forward because the spend is going to continue.
01:05What are your expectations?
01:06I mean, is that it?
01:07We are now living in a world where it kind of blows my mind.
01:11I thought the whole idea was that we didn't have to spend so much on defense going forward.
01:15Do you see this as the whole world kind of upping their defense spending because we kind of have to
01:21going forward?
01:22Or is this just an administration right now that is really focusing on this?
01:28I think it's the administration.
01:30Here's a couple things you need to keep in mind.
01:33A trillion dollars was passed for 26.
01:37The Pentagon got another $153 billion from the big, beautiful spending reconciliation bill.
01:43And now there's a talk of a $1.5 trillion 27 budget and now this potential $200 billion supplemental.
01:53So if I'm the Office of Management of Budget, I'm scratching my head thinking,
01:57how can the defense industry absorb all this money?
02:00How can it be spent efficiently?
02:02Efficiently, excuse me.
02:04So that's the conundrum that they're dealing with right now.
02:06You can throw all these figures out.
02:08Thinking it through, though, how can the money be spent so efficiently if our industrial base is as problematic as
02:16Secretary Hex says it is,
02:18especially on all his arsenal of freedom tours.
02:21So there's a lot of talk here.
02:23We'll know a little bit more better.
02:24We'll know better in April about how the dollars spread out.
02:28But how do you absorb all that money?
02:30And then the other thing, if polls show that drop in support for the war, for this endless, even though
02:37we're decisively winning war,
02:39that's going to embolden a number of congressmen, I think even Republicans, to vote against massive increases because they'll have
02:45top cover from their voters.
02:47Listen, I'm going to ask the idiot question in the room.
02:49It's like if we're winning decisively, like we all keep asking this in the newsroom.
02:53I think everybody's asking it.
02:55I think the president was asked, if we're winning decisively, why do we need to even continue spending?
02:59Why do we need another $200 billion?
03:01And as you say, how do we absorb it?
03:04I mean, is there a good chance that this money is there and it actually can't be spent because we
03:11can't absorb it?
03:13Yeah, there's a good chance that that could happen.
03:16OMB, one of their jobs is to decide on spend rates, what the capacity is of the industrial base,
03:23and how the money can be – are there enough workers to make all the equipment they want?
03:29There's a new hypersonic weapon that the Army is going to field.
03:32A couple days ago, the head Army general in charge of the program talked about how a lot of Lockheed's
03:38program was handmade, hand tooling on specific components.
03:43I was scratching my head on that.
03:44So there's a question of absorbing.
03:46You can say all you want about the big figures, but then at the end of the game, end of
03:50the day, how can it be spent efficiently?
03:53And will Congress go along if a number of their voters are increasingly disenchanted with the war?
03:59That gives top cover to say enough is enough.
04:02Yeah, that's what I'm wondering, the politics of this, Tony, and to what extent that money even ends up being
04:07released.
04:08Because do Democrats get on board here?
04:12Not really.
04:13I don't think they will.
04:14If you've got a $200 billion supplemental – which, by the way, there was a trial balloon floated yesterday by
04:20the Washington Post through the administration.
04:23That is still being vetted by OMB.
04:26I guarantee it's going to be a bit less than $200 billion.
04:30But the politics and the money on this, that's going to drive a lot of the debate.
04:36I think the poll numbers are going to drive a lot of the debate.
04:38And also, if we're decisively winning – nobody asked this today of Hexeth.
04:42He only called a lot of his right-wing softball artists.
04:46Are they the only ones there?
04:47Nobody asked him that.
04:48Yeah, are they the only ones there, though?
04:50No, I was there.
04:51There were about 20 – I would say about 20 mainstream reports who all left in October.
04:57But he didn't call on any of us.
04:59He's got like a seat – we all have a seating chart – names on our seats.
05:02There's a seating chart.
05:03So he calls the comfortable right-wing, who aren't going to press him.
05:07Nobody asked about the Strait of Hormuz.
05:09When do you open it?
05:10What is the purpose of the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit, General Cain?
05:15Nobody asked those questions.
05:16And if we're decisively winning, how do you explain oil prices skyrocketing because Iran is able to knock the hell
05:23out of certain places in Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and Kuwait?
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