# Forever War (Trump's Version) > Source: > Published: 2026-07-15 07:05:00+00:00 # Forever War (Trump's Version) Boko Haram fighters are using AI chatbots like Claude and ChatGPT to design bigger explosives and plan attacks — and no one in government is doing anything about it. Pod Save the World # Forever War (Trump's Version) Boko Haram fighters are using AI chatbots like Claude and ChatGPT to design bigger explosives and plan attacks — and no one in government is doing anything about it. TL;DR Tommy Vietor and Ben Rhodes dissect the collapse of the Iran-US ceasefire and the return of open warfare over control of the Strait of Hormuz — a conflict they argue was always doomed by sloppy, Kushner-drafted diplomatic language [1] — Tommy Vietor "The Iran-US ceasefire collapsed because Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff drafted ambiguous MOU language that Iran used to claim control of t…" 13:00 . Israel's embarrassing failed plot to install Ahmadinejad as Iran's leader via a fake Budapest climate conference [2] — Tommy Vietor "Israel used its ties to Viktor Orban to lure former Iranian President Ahmadinejad to a fake Budapest climate conference, then planned to bo…" 26:18 and a Mossad extraction plan is unpacked, along with Trump's retaliatory subpoenas against New York Times journalists [3] — Tommy Vietor "Canada paid $4.7 billion for the Gordie Howe Bridge entirely on its own. Then Matthew Moroun, heir to the competing Ambassador Bridge, dona…" 36:05 . Corruption threads run through the episode: a Canadian bridge deal tied to a billionaire donor [4] — Ben Rhodes "Secretary of State Marco Rubio is running Venezuela from Washington — deciding how the country's money is spent, which businesses operate t…" 48:08 , Marco Rubio running Venezuela from Washington [5] — Tommy Vietor "A Cambridge University study based on interviews with 27 former Boko Haram fighters found the group uses AI chatbots to design explosives, …" 50:58 , and Boko Haram using AI chatbots to design explosives [6] — Tommy Vietor "Turkish President Erdogan gave every leader at the NATO summit a personally engraved vintage .357 Magnum with six live rounds. The gifts im…" 1:00:40 . Congressman Ro Khanna then recounts being detained by armed Israeli settlers in the West Bank. Key takeaway: only a diplomatic deal — not military force — can reopen the Strait of Hormuz. Tommy Vietor and Ben Rhodes cover the collapse of the Iran-US ceasefire, Israel's failed plot to install Ahmadinejad, Trump's attack on press freedom over Air Force One reporting, the Gordie Howe Bridge corruption story, Venezuela's earthquake and Marco Rubio's micromanagement, Boko Haram's use of AI, Erdogan gifting NATO leaders loaded guns, World Cup controversy, and an interview with Congressman Ro Khanna about his West Bank detention by Israeli settlers. - After a sponsor read for Fast Growing Trees offering 20% off with code WORLD, the hosts dive into a warm studio reunion. Ben has just returned from Norway, where he watched matches in a bar and joined tens of thousands of Norwegians doing the famous Viking Row after their wins. Both hosts lament that every underdog they backed — including Norway — got knocked out on questionable calls, and Tommy floats the theory that the entire tournament is 'rigged for Argentina.' The banter sets an irreverent, engaged tone before the episode's heavier material begins. - Tommy runs through a densely packed agenda: the war between the US and Iran is back on; a crazy Israeli scheme to install Ahmadinejad has new details; questions about the Qatari-gifted Air Force One led to subpoenas against journalists; a bridge between Detroit and Canada is at the center of a corruption story; Venezuela's earthquake toll is catastrophic; Boko Haram is using AI; Erdogan gave NATO leaders guns; and Ben spoke with Congressman Ro Khanna. Ben summarizes the Khanna interview — how Khanna was threatened by heavily armed settlers in the West Bank, detained by the IDF, and then criticized by fellow Democrats for going. Ben asks the obvious question: why is a foreign ambassador setting the itinerary for an American congressman visiting territory that isn't legally Israel? - Tommy plays a supercut that juxtaposes Trump and Steve Witkoff's ebullient ceasefire rhetoric — 'the way we've done business for 47 years is a mistake' — with Trump's later truth-social threats of '1,000 missiles locked and loaded.' Ben diagnoses the pattern: 80-90% of what the Trump team says is pure bullshit, and the roller coaster rhetoric obscures a static reality — Iran controls the strait, the regime has gotten more hardline, and the nuclear question remains unanswered. Tommy explains the proximate triggers: Israeli intelligence about an alleged Iranian assassination plot against Trump, and a dispute over which shipping channel vessels should use in the Strait. The key fault line is MOU paragraph 5, which Iran reads as granting it sovereignty over maritime services in the strait. Oil futures jumped 10% on the news, Wall Street coined the 'Nacho Trade' (Not A Chance Hormuz Opens), and Goldman Sachs is studying bypass pipelines that won't be ready until 2027-2028. Ben's core argument: you cannot solve this with military force. Iran is there. It's not going anywhere. Only a diplomatic deal will reopen the strait. - Tommy highlights a Washington Post investigation detailing a series of military leadership failures during the Iran conflict: soldiers were moved from a defended base to a smaller, poorly surveilled one without air defense; officers prematurely ordered troops out of bunkers; and one brigadier general allegedly hid in a bunker rather than helping rescue survivors. Ben uses the story to complicate a common progressive framing — yes, Trump is an idiot, but that doesn't mean the Pete Hegseth-run military is competently run. The hosts note that the true damage, the true casualties, and the actual military strategy remain opaque to the public. - Tommy walks through the extraordinary story: Israel used its relationship with Viktor Orban to get a Hungarian university to invite Ahmadinejad to a fake climate conference in Budapest, where Israeli operatives could meet him. A parallel meeting was arranged in Guatemala. The extraction plan involved bombing Ahmadinejad's compound, killing his guards, and picking him up in a Peugeot to take him to a safe house — which he quickly abandoned. His Kurdish army backers never materialized. Ben connects Orban's far-right political symbiosis with Netanyahu, noting that Netanyahu's 2009 campaign consultants became Orban's 2010 consultants, and that Orban's allies hired Black Cube — former Mossad operatives — to spy on critics and leak to the Jerusalem Post. The broader lesson: the Mossad's vaunted reputation is for killing, not building. No one in Jerusalem apparently asked the basic question: with what army was Ahmadinejad supposed to take power? - The decision to leave the Qatari-gifted Boeing 747 behind was publicly attributed by Trump to letting troops tour it, but the New York Times reported the real reason: the new plane lacks missile defense countermeasures. Trump was reportedly furious at the story. What followed was extraordinary: FBI Director Kash Patel canceled a personal trip to sit in the White House for eight hours, then served subpoenas on Times journalists with five days to comply. The Pentagon and DOJ simultaneously announced a joint task force to prosecute leakers. Ben draws a sharp distinction between normal leak investigations — years-long, cast-wide nets focused on government employees, run by independent US attorneys — and this: the president directly ordering his FBI chief to immediately target journalists from the White House. He calls it 'a total new Rubicon' and 'fucking Putin-esque behavior.' The key detail that crystalizes the story: Kash Patel canceled his girlfriend's country concert to spend eight hours at the White House running this political operation. - Tommy tells the story of the Gordie Howe Bridge with novelistic specificity: Canada paid $4.7 billion entirely on its own to build a six-lane bridge across the Detroit River, covering roughly 25% of all US-Canada truck trade and $100 billion per year in commerce. The existing Ambassador Bridge is privately owned by the Moroun family, notorious Detroit slumlords. When Matthew Moroun — son of the late Matty Moroun — donated $1 million to a Trump-aligned PAC and met with Howard Lutnick, Trump posted a truth-social screed hours later demanding the US own 'at least one half' of the bridge and blocking its opening. The eventual deal gave the US a cut of net tolls for 15 years and gave Moroun's bridge a veto over any competing price cuts below comparable crossings. Ben zooms out: point a camera at any Trump-adjacent deal and you find something like this. It's not random — it's systemic. He compares it to how Russia under Putin runs its economy, where no bridge gets built without a kickback to someone in the circle. Tommy adds a fresh example: a New York Times story posted mid-recording revealed Trump received $2 million from a South Korean company under US trade investigation, listed as a 'nonrefundable development fee.' - Tommy reads ads for four sponsors. Sundays for Dogs is promoted with an anecdote about office dogs going crazy for the fish recipe. Squarespace's Blueprint AI website builder is highlighted. Hims offers online access to ED treatment with generic Sildenafil. Bilt rewards renters and homeowners with points redeemable for flights, hotels, Lyft, and more through its AI neighborhood concierge. - Tommy updates the Venezuela situation: nearly 4,500 dead, 16,000 injured, up to 50,000 missing in a disaster the administration has pledged $300 million to address — funneled through the very international organizations it has systematically defunded. President Dulce Rodriguez hurt herself politically by wearing a $1,300 ski jacket while visiting victims. A New York Times story confirms what was long suspected: Marco Rubio is making granular decisions about which businesses operate in Venezuela, how money is spent, and even vetting Rodriguez's media appearances. Ben's reaction cuts through the triumphalism: to what end? Venezuelans are still repressed. Americans aren't seeing cheaper gas. The only plausible explanation is that Trump-connected Florida cronies are getting contracts to build Venezuelan infrastructure — the same extractive pattern as the Canadian bridge. - The Cambridge paper — titled 'God Has Helped Us and So Will AI: How the Terrorist Group Boko Haram Uses Frontier AI' — gives the hosts a jumping-off point for a wide-ranging conversation about AI governance failure. Boko Haram members describe using Claude, ChatGPT, and Grok in three ways: learning to assemble weapons and manufacture bombs, improving surveillance, and planning specific attacks. One fighter says AI told them which chemicals to add to make their bombs 'heavier.' ISIS has dedicated AI units. Ben argues this is the predictable consequence of building transformative technology entirely in private hands with no regulation, no legislation, no international dialogue between the US and China, and no UN summits. Even if US companies add safety filters, open-source replicas will replicate the dangerous capabilities — a dark AI will emerge just as the dark web did. Tommy adds parallel threats: North Korean coders infiltrating US tech companies, AI-generated targeting for military strikes, and the bio-threat frontier where AI could help synthesize novel pathogens faster than any defensive response. Ben's bottom line: there's no single villain — the overall failure is that we cannot slow down long enough to put rules around a technology that companies insist is the most transformative in human history. - Tommy recounts the story with barely suppressed delight: Slovakia's president opened a box on camera to reveal an engraved pistol and note, next to six live bullets. The gift came from Turkey, now the world's third-largest exporter of small arms — making the gesture as much product placement as diplomatic communication. Ben notes that the inclusion of live ammunition is what makes it truly extraordinary: you could immediately shoot someone with it. European leaders scrambled to deal with strict domestic gun laws; Belgium's PM had to surrender his to police, Ursula von der Leyen donated hers to a military museum, others decommissioned theirs at Turkish embassies. Canada's Carney brought the revolver home but inexplicably left the bullets in Turkey. Ben reminisces about the Turkish Olympic shooter who went viral for holding his pistol sideways like a gangster — and suggests that's probably what Erdogan was trying to evoke. - Tommy flags a detail from the Dan Patrick Show: a source told Patrick that FIFA committee chairman Mohammed al-Kamali of the UAE made the decision to lift Balogun's ban alone, without informing the rest of the committee. The UAE is among the most commercially entangled parties with Trump's business interests. Ben says this was entirely predictable: if Trump wants something fixed in the Gulf, you know who he calls. He's more frustrated with sports podcasters who ran away from the story than with Trump himself — every soccer fan on Earth cared about this, and pretending otherwise was pure audience cowardice. Both hosts are clear that they didn't think the original call should have been a red card — but Trump's intervention has turned the US team into international villains regardless of whether they deserved the win. - Tommy and Ben both vouch for Helix mattresses — Ben specifies his model is the Dawn Luxe. The Helix read emphasizes the 120-night sleep trial and lifetime warranty. The Pod Save the UK promo features the UK hosts describing their irreverent, progressive politics show, humorously uncertain about who their boss is and whether it's Tommy, Favreau, or Lovett. - Ben interviews Ro Khanna about his decision to take a Palestinian-led tour of the West Bank, inspired by Ben's insights and journalist Jasper Nathaniel's embedded reporting. Khanna describes arriving at Zunada Village — destroyed by settler Ynon Levy, whose murder of a Palestinian was caught on camera — when two armed settlers in their early twenties blocked his van. The IDF arrived and sided with the settlers, telling Khanna his group was in an illegal area (the IDF later acknowledged it was not). After 75 minutes, a US embassy career official, David Brownstein, reached the Israeli government and police came to release them. Khanna pointedly notes this has not happened to a US congressman abroad since Leo Ryan's assassination at Jonestown in 1978. Netanyahu responded on Meet the Press by calling the settlers 'juvenile delinquents' — a 150-person fringe, he claimed, among 99.9% law-abiding settlers. Khanna dismantles this framing, recounting Palestinian families terrorized nightly by settlers throwing objects, planting flags on their homes, vandalizing cars; a school shooting where the principal was never asked about the shooter; an American citizen detained for ten months with no trial, released emaciated and scarred. The interview turns to Democratic Party politics: Josh Gottheimer and the DMFI attacked Khanna's character rather than his policies. Khanna reads this as a deliberate strategy to stop other members from visiting the West Bank by making the trip seem illegitimate. He also acknowledges with striking candor that he previously voted for the $3 billion in annual US military aid that contributed to the conditions that led to his own detention. He calls on a future administration to sanction settler banks and construction companies, and set a 100-day deadline for the IDF to arrest named extremist settlers and destroy illegal outposts. He closes on a note of hope: the Palestinian families he met showed his Jewish American colleagues nothing but warmth and no bitterness. - Tommy thanks Congressman Khanna (calling him 'Congressman Connolly' in a slip) and previews a bonus pod recorded at the Aspen Security Conference where he and Ben plan to 'hang out with some blobby friends.' Ben jokes that the mics will probably be turned off for the good stuff. Show credits acknowledge producers Alona Minkowski, Michael Goldsmith, and Anisha Bonergy, and the team's unionization with the Writers Guild of America East. A promotional segment for Stacey Abrams' podcast Assembly Required closes the episode. - MOU (Memorandum of Understanding) - A non-binding agreement between parties outlining intentions; in this episode, refers to the Iran-US ceasefire document whose vague language on the Strait of Hormuz became a flashpoint. - Strait of Hormuz - A narrow waterway between Iran and Oman through which roughly 20% of global oil supply passes; control of it is the central military and diplomatic dispute in the US-Iran conflict. - IRGC (Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps) - Iran's elite paramilitary force, separate from the regular military, that controls much of the country's missile and drone capabilities and foreign operations. - Nacho Trade - Wall Street slang coined after fighting resumed in the Strait: acronym for 'Not A Chance Hormuz Opens,' a bearish trading strategy on oil supply through the strait. - LLM (Large Language Model) - AI systems like ChatGPT, Claude, or Grok trained on vast text data to generate human-like responses; Boko Haram fighters reportedly used these to plan attacks and design explosives. - DMFI (Democratic Majority for Israel) - A Democratic Party-aligned lobbying group that spends heavily to elect pro-Israel Democrats; criticized in the episode for attacking Ro Khanna's West Bank trip as a publicity stunt. - APAC / AIPAC - The American Israel Public Affairs Committee, a powerful pro-Israel lobbying organization that funds trips, endorses candidates, and exerts significant influence over Congressional votes on Israel. - Codel - Congressional delegation trip — an official overseas visit by one or more members of Congress, typically funded by the government or a sponsoring organization. - Black Cube - A private intelligence firm staffed by former Mossad and Israeli intelligence operatives, hired in this episode's context by Orban allies to conduct sting operations against critics. - Zero-day exploit - A previously unknown software vulnerability that can be weaponized by hackers before the developer is aware of it; mentioned as a risk when AI systems are used for offensive cyber operations. - Impunity - Exemption from punishment or consequences; used in the episode to describe how Israeli settlers operate in the West Bank without legal accountability for violence against Palestinians. - Perfunctory - Carried out with minimal effort or care; implied in the episode's description of the rushed, sloppy diplomatic language in the Iran-US ceasefire MOU. - Suzerain / Viceroy - A ruler who governs a territory on behalf of a higher power; used metaphorically to describe Marco Rubio's role effectively running Venezuela's government from Washington. - Massey Amendment - A congressional amendment, co-led by Ro Khanna and Rep. Massey, to zero out US military aid to Israel; brought to a House vote in the week of the episode's recording. - Protective presence - A non-violent human rights practice where international or Israeli observers physically accompany Palestinians in the West Bank to deter settler violence through their presence. - Model weights - The numerical parameters that define an AI model's behavior; stealing or leaking these gives competitors a shortcut to replicating an AI system without training it from scratch. - Omnipotent - Having unlimited or near-unlimited power; used by Ben Rhodes sarcastically to challenge the perceived infallibility of intelligence agencies like the Mossad. - Dehumanizing - Treating someone as less than human; used by Ro Khanna to describe settler practices in Hebron including throwing acid and urinating on Palestinian residents. Chapter 2 · 02:17 ## Episode Preview: Iran, Ahmadinejad, Air Force One, and Ro Khanna Tommy runs through a densely packed agenda: the war between the US and Iran is back on; a crazy Israeli scheme to install Ahmadinejad has new details; questions about the Qatari-gifted Air Force One led to subpoenas against journalists; a bridge between Detroit and Canada is at the center of a corruption story; Venezuela's earthquake toll is catastrophic; Boko Haram is using AI; Erdogan gave NATO leaders guns; and Ben spoke with Congressman Ro Khanna. Ben summarizes the Khanna interview — how Khanna was threatened by heavily armed settlers in the West Bank, detained by the IDF, and then criticized by fellow Democrats for going. Ben asks the obvious question: why is a foreign ambassador setting the itinerary for an American congressman visiting territory that isn't legally Israel? [15 claims fact-checked this episode See with Pro](/upgrade/?source=episode-story-claims) Chapter 3 · 09:07 ## Return to Forever War: The Iran-US Ceasefire Collapses Tommy plays a supercut that juxtaposes Trump and Steve Witkoff's ebullient ceasefire rhetoric — 'the way we've done business for 47 years is a mistake' — with Trump's later truth-social threats of '1,000 missiles locked and loaded.' Ben diagnoses the pattern: 80-90% of what the Trump team says is pure bullshit, and the roller coaster rhetoric obscures a static reality — Iran controls the strait, the regime has gotten more hardline, and the nuclear question remains unanswered. Tommy explains the proximate triggers: Israeli intelligence about an alleged Iranian assassination plot against Trump, and a dispute over which shipping channel vessels should use in the Strait. The key fault line is MOU paragraph 5, which Iran reads as granting it sovereignty over maritime services in the strait. Oil futures jumped 10% on the news, Wall Street coined the 'Nacho Trade' (Not A Chance Hormuz Opens), and Goldman Sachs is studying bypass pipelines that won't be ready until 2027-2028. Ben's core argument: you cannot solve this with military force. Iran is there. It's not going anywhere. Only a diplomatic deal will reopen the strait. [The Iran Ceasefire Was Always Doomed](/bit/podbit/9023/) The Iran-US ceasefire collapsed because Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff drafted ambiguous MOU language that Iran used to claim control of the Strait of Hormuz. Paragraph 5 said Iran would make 'arrangements' for 'safe passage' — words that sound diplomatic but mean opposite things to each side. [Ceasefire collapse → forever war](/bit/snapshot/9796/) The Iran-US ceasefire broke down over disputed language in paragraph 5 of the MOU about who controls the Strait of Hormuz, reigniting open warfare. [10%](/bit/podbit/9024/) Oil futures surged 10% after fighting resumed, and Wall Street traders created the 'Nacho Trade' — Not A Chance Hormuz Opens. Goldman Sachs is studying alternative pipelines, but any solution is a 2027-2028 project at best. [10%](/bit/snapshot/9797/) Oil futures jumped roughly 10% after the resumption of fighting, and Wall Street traders coined the term 'Nacho Trade' — Not A Chance Hormuz Opens. [Nacho Trade coined by Wall Street](/bit/snapshot/9807/) Wall Street traders coined 'Nacho Trade' — Not A Chance Hormuz Opens — as a trading strategy following the resumption of US-Iran fighting, reflecting pessimism about reopening the strait. Chapter 5 · 20:50 ## Israel's Absurd Ahmadinejad Plot: Budapest, a Peugeot, and a Kurdish Army That Never Came Tommy walks through the extraordinary story: Israel used its relationship with Viktor Orban to get a Hungarian university to invite Ahmadinejad to a fake climate conference in Budapest, where Israeli operatives could meet him. A parallel meeting was arranged in Guatemala. The extraction plan involved bombing Ahmadinejad's compound, killing his guards, and picking him up in a Peugeot to take him to a safe house — which he quickly abandoned. His Kurdish army backers never materialized. Ben connects Orban's far-right political symbiosis with Netanyahu, noting that Netanyahu's 2009 campaign consultants became Orban's 2010 consultants, and that Orban's allies hired Black Cube — former Mossad operatives — to spy on critics and leak to the Jerusalem Post. The broader lesson: the Mossad's vaunted reputation is for killing, not building. No one in Jerusalem apparently asked the basic question: with what army was Ahmadinejad supposed to take power? [Israel's Embarrassing Plan to Install Ahmadinejad](/bit/podbit/9025/) Israel used its ties to Viktor Orban to lure former Iranian President Ahmadinejad to a fake Budapest climate conference, then planned to bomb his compound, kill his guards, and extract him via a Mossad agent in a Peugeot. The plan collapsed, and Ahmadinejad is now under house arrest. Chapter 6 · 26:20 ## Air Force One and the Attack on Press Freedom The decision to leave the Qatari-gifted Boeing 747 behind was publicly attributed by Trump to letting troops tour it, but the New York Times reported the real reason: the new plane lacks missile defense countermeasures. Trump was reportedly furious at the story. What followed was extraordinary: FBI Director Kash Patel canceled a personal trip to sit in the White House for eight hours, then served subpoenas on Times journalists with five days to comply. The Pentagon and DOJ simultaneously announced a joint task force to prosecute leakers. Ben draws a sharp distinction between normal leak investigations — years-long, cast-wide nets focused on government employees, run by independent US attorneys — and this: the president directly ordering his FBI chief to immediately target journalists from the White House. He calls it 'a total new Rubicon' and 'fucking Putin-esque behavior.' The key detail that crystalizes the story: Kash Patel canceled his girlfriend's country concert to spend eight hours at the White House running this political operation. [Trump's Air Force One Stunt Becomes a Press Freedom Crisis](/bit/podbit/9026/) Trump was furious the New York Times reported that the Qatari-gifted Air Force One lacked missile defenses. Within 48 hours, FBI Director Kash Patel — who had been working out of the White House — served subpoenas on reporters demanding testimony in five days. Ben Rhodes calls it a new Rubicon and 'Putin-esque behavior.' Chapter 7 · 36:05 ## Corruption Watch: The Gordie Howe Bridge Shakedown Tommy tells the story of the Gordie Howe Bridge with novelistic specificity: Canada paid $4.7 billion entirely on its own to build a six-lane bridge across the Detroit River, covering roughly 25% of all US-Canada truck trade and $100 billion per year in commerce. The existing Ambassador Bridge is privately owned by the Moroun family, notorious Detroit slumlords. When Matthew Moroun — son of the late Matty Moroun — donated $1 million to a Trump-aligned PAC and met with Howard Lutnick, Trump posted a truth-social screed hours later demanding the US own 'at least one half' of the bridge and blocking its opening. The eventual deal gave the US a cut of net tolls for 15 years and gave Moroun's bridge a veto over any competing price cuts below comparable crossings. Ben zooms out: point a camera at any Trump-adjacent deal and you find something like this. It's not random — it's systemic. He compares it to how Russia under Putin runs its economy, where no bridge gets built without a kickback to someone in the circle. Tommy adds a fresh example: a New York Times story posted mid-recording revealed Trump received $2 million from a South Korean company under US trade investigation, listed as a 'nonrefundable development fee.' [The Gordie Howe Bridge: Pay a Million, Block a Bridge](/bit/podbit/9027/) Canada paid $4.7 billion for the Gordie Howe Bridge entirely on its own. Then Matthew Moroun, heir to the competing Ambassador Bridge, donated $1M to a Trump super PAC, met Commerce Secretary Lutnick, and hours later Trump posted a rant blocking the bridge's opening — demanding US ownership of 'at least one half.' The corruption is textbook. [$4.7B](/bit/snapshot/9799/) Canada funded the entire $4.7 billion Gordie Howe Bridge, then Trump blocked its opening after a billionaire Ambassador Bridge owner donated $1M to a Trump-aligned super PAC. [25%](/bit/snapshot/9810/) Nearly one quarter of all US-Canada truck trade — roughly $100 billion per year — passes through the Detroit area crossing, making the Gordie Howe Bridge strategically vital. [$2M](/bit/snapshot/9809/) A New York Times story reported Trump received $2 million from a South Korean company that was facing a US trade investigation, described in his financial disclosure as a 'nonrefundable development fee.' Chapter 9 · 47:00 ## Venezuela: 4,500 Dead, Marco Rubio Running the Country From Washington Tommy updates the Venezuela situation: nearly 4,500 dead, 16,000 injured, up to 50,000 missing in a disaster the administration has pledged $300 million to address — funneled through the very international organizations it has systematically defunded. President Dulce Rodriguez hurt herself politically by wearing a $1,300 ski jacket while visiting victims. A New York Times story confirms what was long suspected: Marco Rubio is making granular decisions about which businesses operate in Venezuela, how money is spent, and even vetting Rodriguez's media appearances. Ben's reaction cuts through the triumphalism: to what end? Venezuelans are still repressed. Americans aren't seeing cheaper gas. The only plausible explanation is that Trump-connected Florida cronies are getting contracts to build Venezuelan infrastructure — the same extractive pattern as the Canadian bridge. [4,500](/bit/snapshot/9798/) Venezuela's earthquake death toll has climbed to nearly 4,500, with over 16,000 injured and up to 50,000 people still missing — making the official count a likely dramatic undercount. [Marco Rubio: Viceroy of Venezuela](/bit/podbit/9028/) Secretary of State Marco Rubio is running Venezuela from Washington — deciding how the country's money is spent, which businesses operate there, and even approving President Dulce Rodriguez's social media appearances. Ben Rhodes asks the obvious question: is life any better for Venezuelans or Americans? [Marco Rubio vetting Venezuelan social media](/bit/snapshot/9808/) Secretary of State Marco Rubio is reportedly micromanaging Venezuela from Washington, including vetting President Dulce Rodriguez's social media and media appearances. [27](/bit/podbit/9029/) A Cambridge University study based on interviews with 27 former Boko Haram fighters found the group uses AI chatbots to design explosives, plan attacks, and improve surveillance. One member said AI told them which chemicals to add to make their bombs bigger. ISIS has its own dedicated AI units. Chapter 10 · 51:00 ## Boko Haram Is Using AI to Build Better Bombs The Cambridge paper — titled 'God Has Helped Us and So Will AI: How the Terrorist Group Boko Haram Uses Frontier AI' — gives the hosts a jumping-off point for a wide-ranging conversation about AI governance failure. Boko Haram members describe using Claude, ChatGPT, and Grok in three ways: learning to assemble weapons and manufacture bombs, improving surveillance, and planning specific attacks. One fighter says AI told them which chemicals to add to make their bombs 'heavier.' ISIS has dedicated AI units. Ben argues this is the predictable consequence of building transformative technology entirely in private hands with no regulation, no legislation, no international dialogue between the US and China, and no UN summits. Even if US companies add safety filters, open-source replicas will replicate the dangerous capabilities — a dark AI will emerge just as the dark web did. Tommy adds parallel threats: North Korean coders infiltrating US tech companies, AI-generated targeting for military strikes, and the bio-threat frontier where AI could help synthesize novel pathogens faster than any defensive response. Ben's bottom line: there's no single villain — the overall failure is that we cannot slow down long enough to put rules around a technology that companies insist is the most transformative in human history. [27](/bit/snapshot/9800/) A Cambridge University study based on interviews with 27 former Boko Haram fighters found the group used AI chatbots to design explosives, plan attacks, and improve operational security. [Boko Haram AI-designed bigger bombs](/bit/snapshot/9801/) A Boko Haram member told Cambridge researchers that before AI, their bombs were smaller, but AI told them which chemicals to add to make explosives more powerful. [There Will Be a Dark AI — And We're Not Even Talking About It](/bit/podbit/9030/) Even if US AI companies add safety filters, open-source replicas won't have them — and there will be a dark AI just like there is a dark web. Ben Rhodes says the US and China, the two AI superpowers, have had zero diplomatic dialogue about any of this. No legislation, no international summits, nothing. [North Korean Coders Are Getting Hired at Major US Tech Companies](/bit/podbit/9036/) Nicole Perlroth's reporting at the New York Times revealed that North Korea trains elite coders and gets them hired as IT employees at major US tech companies, giving them insider access to critical systems. Some companies, knowing this, are reluctant to fire them because they're genuinely good at their jobs. [Erdogan Gave Every NATO Leader a Loaded Gun](/bit/podbit/9031/) Turkish President Erdogan gave every leader at the NATO summit a personally engraved vintage .357 Magnum with six live rounds. The gifts immediately created legal chaos: Belgium's PM had to hand his to police, Canada's Carney took the gun but left the ammo behind, and others decommissioned theirs at embassies. Turkey is now the world's third-largest exporter of small arms. Chapter 11 · 1:01:20 ## Erdogan's Gift: A Loaded .357 Magnum for Every NATO Leader Tommy recounts the story with barely suppressed delight: Slovakia's president opened a box on camera to reveal an engraved pistol and note, next to six live bullets. The gift came from Turkey, now the world's third-largest exporter of small arms — making the gesture as much product placement as diplomatic communication. Ben notes that the inclusion of live ammunition is what makes it truly extraordinary: you could immediately shoot someone with it. European leaders scrambled to deal with strict domestic gun laws; Belgium's PM had to surrender his to police, Ursula von der Leyen donated hers to a military museum, others decommissioned theirs at Turkish embassies. Canada's Carney brought the revolver home but inexplicably left the bullets in Turkey. Ben reminisces about the Turkish Olympic shooter who went viral for holding his pistol sideways like a gangster — and suggests that's probably what Erdogan was trying to evoke. [3rd](/bit/snapshot/9802/) Turkey is now the third-largest exporter of small arms globally, a fact that gives Erdogan's gift of engraved pistols to NATO leaders a clear marketing dimension. Chapter 12 · 1:03:30 ## World Cup Corruption: Trump, UAE, and the Balogun Red Card Fix Tommy flags a detail from the Dan Patrick Show: a source told Patrick that FIFA committee chairman Mohammed al-Kamali of the UAE made the decision to lift Balogun's ban alone, without informing the rest of the committee. The UAE is among the most commercially entangled parties with Trump's business interests. Ben says this was entirely predictable: if Trump wants something fixed in the Gulf, you know who he calls. He's more frustrated with sports podcasters who ran away from the story than with Trump himself — every soccer fan on Earth cared about this, and pretending otherwise was pure audience cowardice. Both hosts are clear that they didn't think the original call should have been a red card — but Trump's intervention has turned the US team into international villains regardless of whether they deserved the win. [Folarin Balogun's Ban Was Lifted by One UAE Man — Without Telling the Committee](/bit/podbit/9034/) According to a Dan Patrick Show source, FIFA chairman Mohammed al-Kamali of the UAE unilaterally lifted Folarin Balogun's automatic red-card ban without informing the committee. The UAE is deeply tied to Trump family business interests. Ben Rhodes says it was entirely predictable: if Trump wants something fixed, he goes through the Gulf. [1 UAE chair overruled FIFA committee on Balogun](/bit/snapshot/9803/) According to a Dan Patrick Show source, FIFA's Mohammed al-Kamali of the UAE unilaterally lifted Folarin Balogun's automatic red-card ban without informing the rest of the committee. Chapter 13 · 1:08:10 ## Sponsor Block & Break: Helix Sleep + Pod Save the UK Promo Tommy and Ben both vouch for Helix mattresses — Ben specifies his model is the Dawn Luxe. The Helix read emphasizes the 120-night sleep trial and lifetime warranty. The Pod Save the UK promo features the UK hosts describing their irreverent, progressive politics show, humorously uncertain about who their boss is and whether it's Tommy, Favreau, or Lovett. [The Ro Khanna Detention: IDF Sided With the Settlers](/bit/podbit/9032/) Congressman Ro Khanna's convoy was blocked by two armed settlers near Zunada Village in the West Bank. When the IDF arrived, instead of dispersing the settlers, it sided with them and told Khanna's group they were in an illegal area. He was held for 75 minutes until a US embassy official intervened. Netanyahu later called the settlers 'juvenile delinquents.' Chapter 14 · 1:12:10 ## Ro Khanna Interview: West Bank Detention, Settler Violence, and the Democratic Party's Israel Problem Ben interviews Ro Khanna about his decision to take a Palestinian-led tour of the West Bank, inspired by Ben's insights and journalist Jasper Nathaniel's embedded reporting. Khanna describes arriving at Zunada Village — destroyed by settler Ynon Levy, whose murder of a Palestinian was caught on camera — when two armed settlers in their early twenties blocked his van. The IDF arrived and sided with the settlers, telling Khanna his group was in an illegal area (the IDF later acknowledged it was not). After 75 minutes, a US embassy career official, David Brownstein, reached the Israeli government and police came to release them. Khanna pointedly notes this has not happened to a US congressman abroad since Leo Ryan's assassination at Jonestown in 1978. Netanyahu responded on Meet the Press by calling the settlers 'juvenile delinquents' — a 150-person fringe, he claimed, among 99.9% law-abiding settlers. Khanna dismantles this framing, recounting Palestinian families terrorized nightly by settlers throwing objects, planting flags on their homes, vandalizing cars; a school shooting where the principal was never asked about the shooter; an American citizen detained for ten months with no trial, released emaciated and scarred. The interview turns to Democratic Party politics: Josh Gottheimer and the DMFI attacked Khanna's character rather than his policies. Khanna reads this as a deliberate strategy to stop other members from visiting the West Bank by making the trip seem illegitimate. He also acknowledges with striking candor that he previously voted for the $3 billion in annual US military aid that contributed to the conditions that led to his own detention. He calls on a future administration to sanction settler banks and construction companies, and set a 100-day deadline for the IDF to arrest named extremist settlers and destroy illegal outposts. He closes on a note of hope: the Palestinian families he met showed his Jewish American colleagues nothing but warmth and no bitterness. [75 min](/bit/snapshot/9804/) Congressman Ro Khanna's convoy was blocked by armed Israeli settlers in the West Bank and he was held for approximately 75 minutes before a US embassy official secured his release. [$3B](/bit/snapshot/9806/) Ro Khanna admitted he previously voted for $3 billion in annual US aid to Israel, aid which he says has now been used against Americans and Palestinian Americans in the West Bank. [1978](/bit/snapshot/9805/) Khanna noted that the last time a US congressman was detained or shot at abroad was in 1978, when Leo Ryan was killed at Jonestown in Guyana. [Being Attacked by DMFI Is Now a Progressive Badge of Honor](/bit/podbit/9033/) Pro-Israel Democrats like Josh Gottheimer and the DMFI attacked Khanna's character rather than his policy — calling the West Bank trip a publicity stunt. Khanna argues this is a deliberate strategy to stop other members from going. But politically, being attacked by AIPAC-aligned groups has become a badge of honor with the progressive base. [Hebron: Settlers Throw Metal Parts, Rotten Vegetables, and Acid on Palestinians](/bit/podbit/9037/) In Hebron, Khanna saw shop owners point to netting above their stalls installed to block objects thrown by settlers living above them. When the barricades went up, settlers escalated to urinating and throwing acid. Khanna called it utterly dehumanizing. [Palestinians Showed Khanna Nothing But Love — and That's What Gave Him Hope](/bit/podbit/9035/) Despite living under occupation, the Palestinians Khanna met welcomed him and his Jewish American colleagues with food, hugs, and warmth. No bitterness toward Jewish Americans or Israelis. Khanna says a 25-year-old Parkland survivor pushing him to be stronger on the issue showed him the next generation has it right. No indexed bits in this chapter. ## Show stoppers ## Snapshots () ## Key Quotes () Sign in to keep viewing Create a free account to keep exploring this episode's insights, snapshots and quotes.