Bannon on Trump, populism and Cambridge Analytica | Financial Times

Steve banner needs no no introduction Navy man student of history controversialist and it's almost a year to the day since we first met when I turned up in Washington at the White House nobody knew who I was because there was no reference to me in the system and I literally just walked away I went to a restaurant for now and then four hours later interviewing the president seen the Vice President and and then we met in your war room I mean you're still in touch with the president is it still as chaotic as that well that was ordered chaos we want to see how much you really want it now I think it's one of the best interviews the President had the Financial Times interview was fantastic but you got a full day now the flattery is gonna get you nowhere I know that I've dealt with you before um no I think Reince had a different you know the President and I think the president little bits going back to that tower yeah I think I think very no process no it's not no process he he manages in a different way he processes information in a different way and I think you saw at that time Ryan says style was a little more like President Trump was used to in Trump Tower general Kelley came in it was completely different very ordered very structured I think we've seen a reaction to that and I believe that you're gonna see the president in much more directly in contact with with staff people I've actually argued that if general Kelley at any time does decide to leave the president decides it's time for him to move on I don't believe there'll be another chief of staff I think they'll be direct I think there'll be five or six direct reports like there wasn't Trump Tower I think the president is a very hands-on manager and he feels more comfortable with that I think the structure and process that general Kelly put in it was probably too much and so I think you saw that day kind of a middle ground but by the way you saw the Vice President the chief of staff you interviewed the president I states in the Oval and you got to see the war room with all the the to-do lists I did do you miss the proximity to power no I didn't didn't enjoy it every time not a staffer so it's not just coming back to the president for a moment I mean do you think the scariest thing is that he actually now thinks he's really good at this well I think he is really good at this I think he's done a fantastic job and I think he's got natural instincts I know it's you know it's still triggers the the left the Democratic Party in the opposition party media still triggers people that he won he's president knighted States but he is president estates he won a resounding victory he won it the old-fashioned way by getting out on the hustings and in convincing the people he's the greatest orator I think we've had since William Jennings Bryan and I think it was his speeches that galvanized that galvanize people and so I think he wanted and I think the other day you saw Hillary Clinton still doesn't get it where she sits there in trashes the deplorable is again yeah let's leave mrs. Clinton out of it for the moment now just to be clear every but I should have said this at the outset because your conversation with me has aroused some controversy mr. bannon is not being paid for this interview there was no deal no under the table nothing I didn't get a discount on my ft subscription it's a premium product can we just get out now you've just come back from Europe and I've been doing a little bit of research and I don't just mean by reading page by page fire and fury by the way do you aggress being the primary source for that book no you know if you look at Jennifer Jacobs in Bloomberg did a very detailed analysis that book was authorized I mean her but her article in Bloomberg showed that Hope Hicks and the president authorized the book on the hundredth anniversary anniversary c-span had an entire day of the first hundred days of Trump's presidency Wolfe was on the sofa with Kellyanne Conway I think he actually referred to her referred to her as his Sherpa right they had access to 15 staffers I haven't seen anybody refute anything that was said in the book well I haven't read the book but no I don't regret it is what it is let's let's get back to that European tour that you've just been doing there's an article an interview which you gave to Nicolas Farrell in The Spectator magazine in which you say that you are quotes fascinated fascinated by Mussolini you refer to his virility also his amazing fashion fashion sense are you just trying to wind us up or or or do you actually really believe that Mussolini who was an anti-semite who brought chaos in his country disastrous invasions I mean what did I say he was a good guy in there they say who was it say who's a positive I said he's a guy's guy that means really good guy no no no I said he's a fascinating historical figure I think it's one of the problems with political correctness if you can't study these historical figures and see why they motivated people in time and what and how they spoke to people and how they motivated people you're never going to be able to understand that and to avoid it in the future I think he's a fascinating historical figure well and I've and I and one of the reasons I said that is is the the guy that did the interview wrote I thought one of the best biographies of of moose besides Dennis was a Dennis Mac Smiths Dennis Mac Smith you Dennis Mac Smith wrote the other definitive biography to this guy Lawler I think wrote the the counter biography to that I thought I think he's a fascinating figure and I thought he did a great job of writing the book and of course that's one of the problems we have today if you say something like that in a two-hour interview it's brought up and everybody get everybody because you are students of history and therefore you would be familiar with the private correspondence between Mussolini and his longtime lover by the way he he had five children by his long-suffering wife and nine children by his eight other lovers now did throw ility in their daily in in in the in the price that in the private correspondence between was Cellini and his lover he described Jews as pigs people destined to be my point is the point is the point is the point here to say no it's the point here to say Mussolini's not a good guy Mussolini's not by the way he's a very evil guy doesn't mean he's not fascinating but this is the this is the problem we have if you say the guy's fascinating and he's worthy of study because he is worthy of study particularly in today's environment right all of a sudden oh he's anti-semitic yes he was anti-semitic he was a terrible guy and he led his country to the verge of destruction if it wasn't for the deplorable --zz you know kids from Kansas and in in Wisconsin except her that went over and freed the Italian people so I didn't say it was a good guy I said he's a fascinating guy and even though he said all that stuff he's still fascinating right let's move on to the important speech that you gave in Zurich which talked about the new serfdom and you say here that the biggest danger we have is state capitalism these companies technology companies that debase the currency debates your citizenship and take your personhood digitally what did you mean by that and I especially bearing in mind the fact that you've done rather well outs of digital technology I think this is very important I think the three converging forces and we'll get into Cambridge analytic I'm sure in a second way well I'm sure we will what I said in Zurich and what I said in to the front Nationale people the centre of my discussion the reason I went to Zurich Zurich is the is the centre of the Silicon Valley of cryptocurrency you have three converging forces right now I believe in the world number one is this center-right populist nationalist movement that is politically driven and it's driven a lot by social media on the second you have this crypto currency or blockchain in the third you have this concept of digital sovereignty okay the taking of your of your intellectual property assets and they're all converging I think to empower empower this movement central government's debase your citizenship central bank's to base your currency in the central technocratic state capitalism we have with Google and Facebook take your personhood and basically take away your intellectual property your digital sovereignty and so and by the way I'm glad this amazing paper the Financial Times today in it did not get paid for that which the Financial Times never agree with in I think today it's lead editorial digital privacy rights required data ownership now they didn't give me a shout out for Zurich and four for four but they agree it the future by the way right now you're serfs okay you're well paid serfs but you're serfs they've to base your currency and so you're continuing the underwrite debt right for sovereign governments at zero interest rates so you're always on the spinning wheel like a little hamster trying to get ahead because they've destroyed the ability of threat of thrift of you to save to get ahead the same thing on digital current on your digital assets your intellectual property they take it all for free so when Zuckerberg goes on TV yesterday Zuckerberg gives the New York Times a an interview in the opposition party media plays pattycake with him it doesn't ask him one tough question okay his entire business model is made upon taking that data for free in monetizing it and then writing algorithms behind a wall that treats you like hamsters on a wheel well that's a business or business mom I'm so glad you've raised because as you know you were an investor in Cambridge analytical I help at Hamburg and yes you did and gave it and gave it that amazing name yeah what a stroke of genius a stroke of genius no because just branding it I mean it's actually empty shell it's branding what was the guy like Alexander nicks I'd rather not comment on earnest otoni an older tone Ian I'll chose about the education system among the elites in England but by the way let's talk let's talk about Cambridge analytic over say in the data the data is just a cause the data from Facebook is just about the cost of it that debt is out there's a marketplace for your data it's bought and sold every day yeah but the people know it was being late that's right that's the difference that's the issue between Cambridge the professor and Facebook and by the way there's an open we were you aware of that didn't even know but didn't even know about the Facebook I'm lining but hang up the point is that is Facebook's business in 2008 it was Google and Facebook that went to Barack Obama and met him in San Francisco Airport and told him all about the power of this personal data in 2012 and we have the we have the woman who headed up data integrity said hey Facebook gave us the information because they were quote-unquote on our side so the great opposition party media never went after the Obama campaign never went after the progressive left has it been doing this for years and in 2013 when I thought a data company might be important all sudden becomes global news and by the way the information out there the information for the Facebook thing it's just about the cost of it what did the guy pay $1 you got to pay you know two or three dollars for it's just a cost thing that dad is all out there and that's and that's how Facebook that's what they take your stuff for free they they sell it and monetize it for huge margins that's where the companies trade for such high valuations then they write algorithms and control your life and yet when Zuckerberg comes he sounds like a a first-year associate hired in corporate development mumbles through the whole interview and nobody asking him is a tough following question right let's just go back to that wonderfully named Cambridge analytical yep you will be no like a dog with a bone in its nature it's a tasty bone though there's a lot of joy still still a lot of meat left my phone yeah so let's just just pick it up pick it apart here because the mr. Nix he didn't just boast about the date he had he boasts about the dirty tricks that's awkward okay that's another Jim that's uh that's SEO there so that's his company run by Brits Oh old Etonians with Robert Mercer's investment absolutely not there's not a penny of Roberts money si oh no way SEL is a separate company it's their company that does stuff throughout the world so you're right all staffed by British guys from Cambridge and Oxford not all the onions and not all old Etonians but whatever they do in the world is not it all Cambridge analytic is the data scientist in the applied applications here in the United States it has nothing to do with the International stuff The Guardian actually tells you that and the observer tell you that when you get down to the tenth paragraph okay when you get down to the tenth paragraph and what nicks does overseas is what nicks does overseas right it was a data it was a data company by the way Cruz's campaign and that Trump campaigns say hey they were a pretty good data company but this whole thing on psychographics was optionality in the deal if it ever worked it worked but it hasn't worked it doesn't look like it's gonna work so so it was never even applied here's the point the progressive left and the opposition party cannot get over one basic fact Donald J Trump is Prezi nine states and he beat Hillary Clinton beat her badly first you had to run to Russia okay now Russia didn't work out how do we know Russia didn't work out because the House report shows you that muscle inclusion in Muellers and vest Mo's investigation shows you he's looking at either trump organization financials or he's looking at and he's looking at obstruction of justice my point is you struck out you struck you out on Russia and now you've got to go to Cambridge analytic oh that's what wonderful here's what want it for you here's what wanted for Trump economic nationalism and talking in a plain voice to the American people okay I think I've heard that record before but just just let's have a quick answer here didn't you believe that Donald Trump should shake up and say his legal team I've said that from day one I've said been public things I've joan downs well he got fired I mean they brought in Geneva to be much more aggressive and I think to look I think it's pretty obvious that that Ty Cobb in in John Dow did a very rare okay let's do stuff back why did I get lit up on Capitol Hill by the house Intel committee because the White House dom again exerted executive privilege over any questions about the transition or the White House I answered every question on the campaign about Russian collusion okay shifting these guys heads are blowing up today he's gonna subpoena me again because of the transition in the White House because Don McGann exerted executive privilege Ty Cobb and John Dowd had a radical theory let's totally cooperate and waive executive privilege okay I have said as I told the president and told everybody and I told brother doubt I think that's wrong there is a process there's a process that Reagan used as a process that Clinton used as a process of bush used and I think your to go through that process right and that's why by the way John Dowd is a good man and I think that's why essentially more aggressive attorneys got brought in that are now you know I think president Trump's going to war I think it's very obvious he's gonna go to Warren this right now let's just talk history for a moment you're a student of ancient Rome more Plutarch compared to me Tacitus would you if you think about it would you describe Donald Trump as the new American Caesar no not at all I think he's one of the Gracchi I've said he's like Tiberius Crockett he's he's a populist he's anything but a dictator he's a populist he's brought more people into this process of governing he's very prudent when he said when he talked about a dictator how could a dictator take nine months to make the decision he made on Afghanistan how could a dictator you you guys broke a story you know why I came up with that analogy because Donald Trump wanted this was the moment he wanted and once the military parade and the moment for Caesar when he crossed the Rubicon was when he brought the Roman soldiers into the Capitol that's the analogy Wow you're working that one no I think I think he's convincing I think he's no I think he wants he look he's a patriot he wanted France because he went to France and I think he was very he serve in Vietnam McCrone serving in a the French no but I think he was inspired by what he saw on Bastille Day it's a very inspiring thing we see all these military units what migrates bigger than your parade no but I do I do think I I think it's great for American patriot it's gonna be a Veterans Day I think it gives the veterans something to parade anything as when we truly think it's appropriate to have tanks rolling past the Capitol well they're not gonna have tanks but just by the way I think it's fine heavy tanks co-parents the Capitol remember after you won the Civil War we had a parade for two days the Grand Army of the Republic came for two days to the Capitol what's wrong with having our military go through the Capitol we're proud of our veterans were proud of our armed services this is the kind of reaction this is the kind of reaction that just makes the deplorable --zz angry and angry because they think the global elite in the propaganda arm for the global elite the paper of the Pope at the Financial Times it's a way that you go after you go after Trump on something's trying to do was wrong they think of Harry Truman who fought Douglas MacArthur that's what they think well President Roh by the way President Trump I think has done a fantastic job in in in with his generals I think President Trump has has he's taken he's taken look at you guys broke the story on Korea the very first time the president Trump ever really talked about Korea was in the Financial Times interview you guys did a year ago right and look at the movement that he's made on the Korean situation and I don't totally agree with everything that's happened there but he's done a fantastic job look in Afghanistan he's the least trigger-happy you know president we've had in a long time in the opposition media right in the entire time in the run-up to this campaign about what a madman he was how he's unstable he was unacceptable to be commander-in-chief in fact I think 80% of the Republicans involved in the national security apparatus would sign full-page ads in The Wall Street Journal is saying how unacceptable yes yet he's been incredibly prude and the reason is he respects the combatant commanders he respects general mattis he listens information and he's not quick on the trigger and I think it galls me that somebody like Jeff Zucker can walk in here and sit here and say that Fox News is a propaganda channel I'm not here to defend the Murdochs they're big boys they can defend themselves but you can't name a more propaganda outfit than CNN did anybody at CNN did any editor any news person any anchor anybody get fired for the awful mess they made of the 2016 campaign which was a disgrace to journalism no he is a that is a propaganda outfit every night it's hate Trump and I understand from a business model you want people to hate Trump crowd to rally around that but to come in here and say that another network is propaganda is absolutely totally absurd and he's not and by the way is anybody in the opposition media question him were going after him about that no they cheer him on so let's talk about propaganda outlets Breitbart news what's gone what's gone wrong the chief propagandist no look it's a it's a it's a it's a it's a it's a very difficult time to thinking in all conservative media particularly about how you going to pay for things right obviously advertising after we won right when I left the traffic was on fire we had costs under control all the advertisers there after after we won you know all sudden people woke up it had to be the Russians or had to be Breitbart right it had to be some reason besides you were just rejected by the American people so Breitbart became their oldest is hogged the audience's is down I think look I think that's I think that's enough doubt and it solved I think that's the difference between just being just doing aggregation and luck I had a theory you got a break news you got a make news right that's what people come for you have to have a sense of urgency you have to have a sense of urgency yeah and people and people have to feel that they need this information the site's a little more aggregation today I think the guys have a different strategy the people that's my team list they haven't got a political brain like you working it I mean a proper real propaganda I mean they're doing news maybe you know you say propaganda right today's environment there's no that the even-handed sources is a thing of myth the editorial page of the Financial Times is on the front page right it's on the front page just like it is the Wall Street Journal in the New York Times and so when you get a small taste of your own medicine pristine of your own medicine right and your support without fear and without favor read you're not raised the first thing I read every day yeah I read the FT so why would you want to read propaganda every day because I have to know what the party Davos thinks it's know they enemy that's why I read propaganda every day I just like to point out on the record that I haven't been to Davos for two years because you understand which way the wind was blowing the populist nationalist are taking over what why did President Trump go to see the gutless globalists in Devils I think it was a I think it was a terrific trip I think it was a terrific idea I would have liked the speech to been a little edgier I think it was a little too rah-rah but president Trump here's what I saw about Davos they were they were they were like ten-year-old kids they treat him like a rock star this is the sophistication that you see at Davos all the are at the end of the day is a collection of groupies they were running around trying to get selfies with him it was ridiculous embarrassing that is the global technocratic manager elite yes everyone's are saying those are sort of weird satisfaction from seeing all these billionaires yeah but in substantial terms you know you must have been aching in the gut well no I thought it was great that he went I'd like I said I would like the speech to have been a little edgier it was not a sellout I think he did a great job and given that the tax deal had just gotten done he's talking about American jobs he's bringing jobs back to the deplorable zhh the dinner the night before the CEOs I think was terrific so I would have you know been a little more like the moneychangers in the temple but he decided I think to have more of a rah-rah speech I think it played very well right so let's go back to your favorite subject which is a national populism you stood alongside marine lepen of the fullness you know and you said when they call you racist wear it as a badge of honor what do you mean there here's the thing and this is a great thing about the propaganda media if you look at that speech I built that was just a question no no no no no no no because this is the headline CNN had two seconds after it I built up to that well I mean when you did say hang on because I talked about what is economic nationalism that Donald Trump won on doesn't care about your race doesn't care about your color doesn't care about your ethnicity doesn't care about your gender doesn't care about your religion doesn't care about your sexual preference it cares about one thing that you're a citizen of the United States of America Donald Trump and the reason that Clinton did not have the big turnout among working-level blacks or Hispanics Donald Trump has done more for freedom an anti racism in this country than anybody we have the lowest unemployment of blacks and in American history 17-year low in Hispanic unemployment we have Y rising wages now in construction agriculture where you have a substantial black and Hispanic working class he really worked to have the repatriation of the of the of the dot of the three trillion dollars to be focused back on capital equipment in those things Donald Trump has done more for race relations through his economic program than any president and that's why I told these people I said listen the identity politics what Hillary Clinton came out the first week I was announced as the campaign CEO he said the race is you know white supremacist and I sat down on the TVs and I told the group right there I said if she's gonna run on identity politics and we run on economic nationalism this was August 19th and we're down by 12 points we are going to beat her okay and we did and that's the reason if they call your races they have nothing else to argue they will not and by the way CNN never thought up the quote about economic nationalism they never put up the court about what Donald Trump's done you know why they're gutless they're absolutely gutless and they will not debate the facts what they want to do is put the headline down there bana says races wear as a badge of honor and get a panel up there of everybody with their head blown up and that's why they're a propaganda outfit just like the New York Times now you're a student of history not just Italian history but also French history and therefore you will be aware that marine lepen denies that Jews were rounded up in 1940 at the velodrome and sent east to their deaths in the was she the runner-up in she did say that okay she said that was she the runner-up in the French election did 40-some percent of the people in France vote for her was I have to say those people are perfect they're not perfect the deplorable Czar not perfect I'm not perfect I believe in the tenets of the judeo-christian West that man has fallen we're not perfect but those are working-class people in France and by the way there's they're there they represent the second most perfect we're not perfect but again as a student of history doesn't it worry you when a political leader seats two arrays a dog chat certainly does sir and that's that is I didn't said I supported everything she said I went there for one reason I didn't say a supporter Front National I went there for reason to tell them they're not alone that this anti-establishment populist nationalist movement as personified in Italy a couple days before were two thirds of the people voted anti-establishment is on the rise it's on the move it's only going to get stronger it's only going to get more powerful there's only going to be more anti-establishment the reason is the party at davos is destroying your citizenship that are basing your currency and they're taking your data sovereignty and as long as they continue to do that people are going to rise up against it and you can see you can see it in the polls across europe and you can certainly see it in italy where they've had four government's forced on them from the european central bank and now you've got two-thirds of the people both left and right they've had 54 governments or 55 since World War two I mean in Italy that's because of whistling that's because of Mussolini they don't want a powerful central government so if there is this great tide of populism how come that macro one in France because he's like Obama he took he took the he's nobody no Obama ran as a populist one bomb it go back and look at how he ran into that hey Obama ran initially as an anti-war populist McCrone kind of came in as a bomb alike figure but micro stage the greatest military parade that really the president really liked him wants to emulate can you imagine Barack Obama holding a military he's quite different and he's he's he's taking on a lot of things of France but look he ran a good race and he beat them they lost they're not you're not going to beat him soundly you're not as I do as I tell people you're not gonna win every fight you're not gonna win every battle you're not gonna win every election it's the trend it's happy why why did you lose in Alabama I mean we lost in Alabama we lost we lost in Alabama very simply the Republican establishment are the people that came out with the pedophilia that was Mitch McConnell and Tim Miller and that crowd came out because they would rather not be in a majority than have guys like we're more worried more wasn't my guy my guy was mo Brooks okay my guy got blown out in the first round but it was very important to keep someone like Luther strange who is epitome of the swamp in support the Christian Right is what we did and by the way was Luther strange we're 32 million dollars not beaten by the people in Alabama by 10 points and Roy Moore would have won if it was not for the pedophilia thing that was put out by Tim Miller in the Republican establishment there's no truth in that don't reason what in this story about by the way they have plenty of time to adjudicate I don't happen I've looked at it I've looked at the evidence and don't think I think it's totally trumped-up however maybe not the right word I think that they don't have plenty of time to adjudicate that I believe the woman's going forward and we'll find out let's just step back for a moment Steve bannon's career trajectory you have at an extraordinary here into filmmaking here in military service goldman sachs then within a few meters sorry yards of the Oval Office and and now what next have you not got some media venture well I'm looking a lot of stuff I think for a principle well it's a lot of people are talking to me about different media things there's lots of media companies out there that either need capital need to be up for sale so it's not that's a very difficult time I think in news I think it's a very tough time in media I think particularly going forward it shouldn't be lost in us we're having this big debate about people's data and information a lot of the companies today depend upon the monetization of their subscribers data to make a go of it is we go off these legacy systems this pays a lot of bills right is we go off that system to a more digital system how you actually pay for that and how you build a community I think everything's about attention and influence attention and influence attention and influence how you monetize that over time is tough that's why a lot of people so I am looking at media properties but I'm also looking at building you know a digital grassroots army here in the United States to support the the populist nationalist movement and to start to get like a think-tank or something to start to weaponize ideas we need to have more well-defined economic it shouldn't be lost in anybody the big thing we fought for about China all the Hawks you know we have the the sixty billion dollars of terrorists but most importantly not enough is it well it's not enough but it's a 301 is very important because that is about force technology transfers that china demands to take our high technology okay but it's ironic that not in the program for the deplorable z-- is this four point three trillion dollar budget that's going to have trillion-dollar deficits as far as the eye can see and I think it's quite ironic on the day that you put up sixty billion dollars in tariffs to your creditor because if the Chinese are there they've got a finance you know they're the people we go to the financing or the bulk of the financing of these deficits and so I think that the permanent political class in Washington DC has to start to rethink this thing through because we're hurtling towards a financial crisis in the next couple years as night follows day even with four percent growth I think I think if you do the math even a four percent growth I don't think he gets you I don't think the deficits get down you know demonstrable yeah four and four percent growth I think you'd actually have higher growth the growth could be fine but doesn't mean you're not still digging yourself the tax deal was supposed to be have concomitant budget cuts over it right not that the permit focal class would have you know 1.3 trillion dollars of additional spending and by the way to cut to the heart of it the 780 billion dollars for the military spending is because we have it wreath our obligations we're the underwriter the guarantor of this liberal post-war rules-based order that everybody loves the party at davos loves it they had she there when when Trump was given the American Carnot speech she was there they were all raving about him right and we underwrite it the deplorable is underwrite it with their tax dollars and the deplorable is underrated with their kids Europe doesn't pull their weight NATO doesn't pull their weight the Gulf doesn't pull their weight the guys around the South China Sea don't pull their weight in the Northwest Pacific they don't pull their weight if they want to be allies they have to start to pull their weight the United States cannot continue to underwrite the rules-based international order and that's that's how you have a seven hundred eighty billion dollar defense budget and that's how you end up with trillion-dollar deficits as far as the eye can see now we're running out of time here but I wanted to ask you a couple more questions just tell us because you've spent a lot of time with the president what is the conversation gonna be like between president doll chun and kim yong-hwan i don't think it'll happen so i don't think there will be conversation so i just don't think that happen i mean the president of the Mait said it was gonna happen well the president may try to make it happen I just think the logistics of how you do it and where you do it etc are quite tough it's quite difficult I think the president's done very very smartly put the pressure on China to make sure they take care of this problem I know he he has said that he wants to meet with the dictator of North Korea I just in my betting man I think the over-and-under of that the reason you're saying that is because you you basically said there's nothing to be done they are gonna be nuclear power and we've lost and the president was furious about that I don't actually think I said that I said the solution to try there note that we can denuclearize North Korea what I say this is no bloody no G there's not a military solution I was very specific China is the key that picks a lock in North Korea if you North Korea is a creation its nuclear power its nuclear program is a creation of China okay they've used that to keep the Japan the United States back on their heel the solution to Korea goes through Beijing and I've said that consistently as a China Hawk from day one because it happens correct now the reason I don't happen to think and the president's gonna try to work them out I don't even know where you'd meet I don't believe a president United States would ever travel to the DMZ to meet with they could have in Moscow I just I just I just don't believe that the dictator of North Korea would ever leave his country man the dictator of Moscow or the dictator North Korea the dictator in North Korea right was that trying to get the Russian this is a that was a different the Russian think that was Frank you guys are obsessed with it okay Russia's economy I'm no apologist I was I was on a destroyer that job was mission was to hunt Soviet submarines right my daughter's a captain and wait no no yeah the the big reveal of President Reagan the reason that they put the plan together destroy the Soviet Union as one hit realized that the Soviet Union's economy was the size of California then he realized it's not some giant the Russia's economy is a size in New York State isn't a demographic death spiral it can't create any technology lives off natural resources are they bad guys absolutely at a kleptocracy absolutely but we've got we've got the greatest enemy in the greatest power we've ever had in our history in China the elites led by the opposition party meeting that never questioned them for 25 years have accelerated and exacerbated their growth they're now on the path to become a hegemonic power if you don't believe that listen the she's 19th Party Congress speech and listen to that speech last week that speech last week was as nationalistic as anything he's been going and now everybody's going oh my gosh look at this this has been 25 years in the making in the elites in this country and Peter Schweitzer's new book secret empires talks about Mitch McConnell and Joe Biden you know feeding at the trough of Chinese influence operations and nobody questions it do you think we got you think we we got in a situation with China just because it happened it didn't happen the elites in this country exacerbated their growth okay and that's why breaks it in 2016 are inextricably linked and they're linked because of China the exporting of Chinese deflation and overcapacity helped to gut the Midland heartland of England in a gutted the Upper Midwest of the United States if you go ahead and give the speech of workers the United States the Harvard study shows us a direct correlation between the factories that left the jobs that left with them in the opioid crisis the stuff just shouldn't happen this is this is a an important insight but I'm gonna leave you with one further historical insight perhaps you've often been described as an insurgent I can imagine if you've been living in an earlier age you would have been with that group swarming into the white house in 1828 with Andrew General Jackson you'd certainly have been there but if we go back to Mussolini Mussolini in one of his last you're gonna make another terrible off the moor analogy I've been - go ahead research go ahead and and have it I came across the let the love letter that Mussolini wrote to his longtime lover and he said the mother has nine children no there were eight lovers and nine children right just get that right okay he said virility goodbye darling if I could blow up the world with dynamite I'd do it do you sympathize with that did I say he was a bad guy even even the Financial Times you think you just do it once a week I like to blow up things don't you I think that institutions our institutions have to be questioned and have to be challenged not certain of them yeah absolutely there's no doubt there's no doubt positive note Steve Bannon thank you very much thank you you

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Keywords: business news, finance analysis, FT, Financial Times, finance news, international news, global news, Steve Bannon, Donald Trump, Lionel Barber, FT Future of News conference, Trump Tower style of management, populist nationalism, Cambridge Analytica

Id: e9xzY0y6RNM

Length: 38min 36sec (2316 seconds)

Published: Thu Mar 29 2018

Reddit Comments

[u/HiIAMCaptainObvious]

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