Allen Jackson NOW

Allen Jackson: Good evening, and welcome to Nashville. I’m Allen Jackson. Chinese President Xi Jinping arrived in Washington for his first state visit to the United States in more than a decade, and President Trump made the unusual decision to personally greet him at Joint Base Andrews. There is obviously a great deal of symbolism in a visit like this, but the more important question may be what is happening beneath all of that ceremony, because China today is our nation's most consequential competitor.

If you want to understand just how seriously the United States takes that competition, look north. President Trump signed a new agreement with Denmark and Greenland that dramatically expands America's security position in the Arctic. It makes it much harder for adversaries such as China to establish a military foothold in Greenland. But that's only one part of what is unfolding. At the United Nations, President Trump defended the war against Iran and argued that allowing threats to grow only makes the eventual danger greater.

At the same UN gathering, however, much of the international criticism was directed not at Iran but at Israel. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned about Israeli policy in Gaza and the West Bank, saying that Israel was participating in ethnic cleansing. French President Emmanuel Macron sharply criticized Israel's West Bank policy, saying it was harming Palestinian rights and the prospects of reaching a two-state solution. British Prime Minister Andy Burnham said London will not stand by while Palestinian suffering continues.

Have some governments become so obsessed with condemning Israel that they risk losing sight of the principal threats in the Middle East, like Iran and its terror proxies? I think it's important that we maintain in our imagination that on a global scale, good and evil exist. Nations represent expressions of good and evil. Iran has long declared its intent. Their leaders continue to chant "Death to Israel, Death to America." Iran is a state sponsor of terrorists. They have poured billions of dollars annually into Hamas in Gaza, Hezbollah in Lebanon, the Houthis in Yemen.

These are terrorist organizations, instruments of destruction. They're trained and armed to attack and massacre innocent people. Yet why have so many international leaders criticized Israel for defending its citizens and ensuring that its sons and daughters don't suffer another genocide like they did on October the 7th? Just look at the big picture. There's a strategy that's been in place for decades. It's the ascendancy of globalism. We've seen previous leaders in the White House push for globalism.

Instead of dealing with the Iranian nuclear threat directly, then-President Obama in 2015 pursued a deal he negotiated alongside EU nations, Russia, and China, with the UN Security Council as oversight. In one of his first speeches in Europe in 2009, Obama said, and I quote here, "In America, there's a failure to appreciate Europe's leading role in the world. There have been times where America has shown arrogance and been dismissive, even derisive." You mean like when we came to the rescue in World Wars?

It fits the globalist ideal of a humbled America integrated into the global community rather than a dominant superpower. I'm grateful for the bold and courageous approach being taken by President Trump and his administration in confronting evil. In his address to the United Nations General Assembly, President Trump argued that his foreign policy during the first two years of his second term had made the world a safer place, and he's right. He defended his decision to launch a war against Iran, saying that he made the decision to prevent the development of Iranian nuclear weapons.

He declared, "As president of the most extraordinary nation in history, I have no interest in leaving dangers to grow for another day." Trump pointed to the US intervention in Venezuela as evidence that America would not allow hostile powers to establish strategic footholds in the Western Hemisphere. He also described Communist-controlled Cuba as a failed state and said the United States is seeking fundamental change on the island. I think it's remarkable to see the United States use its strength to confront expressions of evil.

When it comes to Israel, in my lifetime, I've never seen so much hatred towards the Jewish people as what's being expressed in public right now. It's just illogical. America and freedom-loving nations should support Israel. They are our only meaningful ally in the region. We're living in fierce times, but I believe in the midst of it, we can make courageous choices. As a nation and as Christ-followers, I believe we can demonstrate tremendous courage by simply choosing to show our bold support for the Jewish people. I believe it'll bring good things to us if we'll honor their right to that land and do our best to see that it's defended.

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Allen Jackson: Tonight we're joined by the founder and president of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, Cliff May. Welcome to the show, Cliff.

Cliff May: Good to be with you, Allen. Thanks for having me.

Allen Jackson: The UN General Assembly has been taking place and we've had leaders from multiple nations descending on New York. President Trump spoke on the first day, a pretty typical bold speech. He said he's confronted with a choice to annihilate Iran or to make a deal with them. He was urging other national leaders to join him in the economic sanctions against Iran. Do you think the economic policy is going to be adequate to bring a deal forward?

Cliff May: I think it's an important measure to take. It's important to economically strangle this regime, but no, I think there'll be more what we call kinetics as well, more military actions, probably. I think there's more to be done. I think what the president was saying—I just want to be real accurate—I think he made very clear he'd like to see Iran become a prosperous and free nation. That can't happen so long as the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps is in charge. Keep in mind, this is not the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps. This is the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

They are not patriots. They don't care about Iran. They think patriotism is a form of paganism: you worship your country instead of Allah. So he needs to cripple this regime economically and militarily. He's done a lot of damage. I think there will probably be more to do to keep it from "building back better," if you'll excuse the phrase. But this regime needs to be crippled. It would be even better if it collapsed. Even better if there was a new regime there. That's hard to do, but it's not an impossibility.

Allen Jackson: Regime change has proven to be a very difficult assignment. Do you think that the Crown Prince, the son of the former Shah, or is there another transitional figure that you think could step in and help us provide some leadership?

Cliff May: The son of the Shah, Reza Pahlavi, is the most popular. There's nobody else to compare with him. And the point that he's been making for some years is, "Look, I don't want to be Shah in the sense of a dictator or king. I want to help unite the nation and bring about a change in which he would be a constitutional monarch, a symbol of the nation, and he would help convene a free and democratic government underneath him." It's not easy to do, and I'll tell you why it's particularly not easy to do.

Back in January, over a two-day period, this regime slaughtered literally tens of thousands of people. Maybe 30,000, maybe 40,000. There are different estimates, but they're not in the hundreds; they're in the tens of thousands. That should have been a huge story around the world for months. It still should be. It should be what they're talking about at the UN, but they're not. When have you seen a regime slaughter that many of its people? Now, what they're doing when they do that is they're slaughtering people who oppose them.

They're slaughtering dissidents. In a kind of Stalinist fashion, they're killing also people who may not be their enemies but could become their enemies. This does make it very hard for regime change because everybody now knows: you stand up to this regime in a peaceful way, and they will shoot you. They will slaughter you. They will fire bullets at your eyes. They will kill the doctors who treat you in the hospitals. And the world will yawn at all of this.

So it's tough, but at the same time, the president is right in saying—and he said this many times—this regime is not going to be allowed to have nuclear weapons. He hasn't always explained exactly why that's the case, so I'm going to do it very succinctly: it's because they might use them, and they would certainly threaten to use them. This is a regime that for 47 years has pledged death to America and death to Israel. What they haven't had are the capabilities to achieve that, but they've been working on that over all this time.

You ignore that for a while and say, "Oh, I'm sure it's not serious. I'm sure they don't mean it," and eventually they get to the point where they carry out what they've been threatening to do all this time. So they can't have that. That may require additional kinetics, additional strikes, places like Pickaxe Mountain. And if it does, it does. This regime must be prevented from being able to project power. That requires economic measures, and I think it will require some additional kinetic measures, military measures.

Allen Jackson: We have a clip of President Trump's speech. I want you to hear it and then I've got a follow-up.

Donald Trump: There is no better example of a danger that was allowed to gather strength at the world's peril than the number one sponsor of terror, the Islamic Republic of Iran. For 51 years, the fanatical Iranian regime has ruled with bloodshed and mass murder, spreading death and carnage and chaos across the entire Middle East and beyond. They were the bully of the Middle East, but they are the bully no more.

Allen Jackson: Conventional wisdom seems to be that Iran is stalling for the midterm elections, thinking they'll gain some leverage over Trump with a change in Congress. How do you see that playing out?

Cliff May: First, I just want to say, you just heard something very unusual at the United Nations: somebody telling the unvarnished truth. Second, you're entirely right that they do hope that they have allies and apologists in the US and in Europe, and they do, who can stay Trump's hand. The only way Congress can do that, if the midterms turn out badly for the president or for Republicans, I would say, is for Congress to say, "We're cutting off money that can be used for this war. We want you to capitulate. We want you to surrender."

We want you to let the Islamic Republic of Iran begin to again build its missile arsenal and to build its nuclear weapons and its intercontinental ballistic missiles. And I mention those missiles in particular because those are the missiles that are intercontinental, which means they can deliver nuclear warheads to American cities. We really cannot have that. It would be very bad to allow that to happen. I'm sure this president will not. But yes, the regime believes in its own ability.

This—I mentioned this regime has been threatening America for 47 years. But the people who run this regime, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and the supreme leaders—there have been now three. I mean, there was Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini when I went there; he took over back in 1979. That's when the Islamic Revolution, not the Iranian Revolution, took place. And then there was Ali Khamenei; he died February 28th. And now there may be Mojtaba Khamenei. We've never seen him, who may be the supreme leader.

But the important thing is how do they self-identify? How do they see themselves? They believe they are fighting a jihad. When did the jihad start? And the jihad is a holy war against Christians and against Jews and against Hindus and against Baha'i and against Sikhs and others. It began 1,400 years ago. 1,400 years ago. So I know people don't like long wars, but if you look back in history, long wars are more prevalent than short wars. How long were the Christians and Muslims fighting in Spain before the Reconquista, the expulsion of the Muslims from Spain? I think it was like 700 years. Sorry, those are long wars.

Allen Jackson: In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus told us a handful of times, "Do not worry." Well, here's what I know about Jesus: if He tells us not to do something, it's possible for us to put it down. Well, we've put together a six-week email series to help each of us lead lives free of worry. Folks, we live in a tumultuous world, lots of confusion, but I don't believe we have to be plagued by worry. You can go to AllenJackson.com/freedom, sign up for the email series. Let's live worry-free.

Guest (Male): You are more than a conqueror, and the truth and the reality is you can't win without fighting.

Guest (Male): People in this community are looking for a gospel. They're looking for a faith that actually transforms their community and cares about their kids.

Guest (Female): But their purpose of bringing men to Christ and then spurring them to good works is what allows for a flourishing democratic society.

Guest (Male): There's a real battle in the world between light and darkness, between good and evil. And Jesus steps into our world to say, "I am the answer for an evil world."

Guest (Male): We should, as Christians, get beyond the four walls. The four walls is for us to come and congregate together and worship together. We need to permeate into society.

Guest (Male): Darkness doesn't overwhelm the light. The light is dimmed, and the darkness grows more intense. So if we want to know the way out of this place, it's to turn up the light.

Allen Jackson: We're back now with the founder and president of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, Cliff May. Cliff, President Trump has reached a historic deal with Denmark and Greenland to bolster permanent US military presence in the Arctic. What are we making of the deal and how important is that in reality?

Cliff May: It's a good deal and it's important in reality. The Arctic is becoming increasingly significant from a defense point of view and from a resources point of view as well. The Russians have recognized that. The Chinese have recognized that. They're in an alliance—I would call it an axis—it's called a "no limits" partnership. And Greenland was vulnerable to both of those powers. Maybe it could have been done in a prettier way; the president certainly got a lot of people angry at him.

But the fact of the matter is the sovereignty for Greenland, which is a possession of Denmark at present and has been for a long time—that will not change, but the US will have the uses it needs militarily in Greenland. It's a good conclusion.

Allen Jackson: When the President of Iran took to the podium at the United Nations, he painted Iran as the victim of terrorism, accusing the United States and Israel of unleashing terrorist activities against his nation. For decades, Iran's been the global sponsor of terrorism. Does anybody treat his word seriously?

Cliff May: Well, I hope not, but I'm sure there are people in that audience at the UN who perhaps do. But they are foolish or they are ignorant or something along those lines. Very important to realize the Iranian negotiators, people like the president—they don't have much power, but they're good at what they do in the sense that many of them speak very good English, many of them are very adept at lying. And it's both Republicans and Democrats who have said for years that the Islamic Republic of Iran is the most important state sponsor of terrorism.

And it's been very strategic in that they have over time preferred not to have their own people committing the acts of terrorism if they can have Arabs do it for them. They're not Arabs. Then they'd much prefer to do that. And in particular what they set up was what the Israelis sometimes call the "Ring of Fire." That's various proxy organizations, proxy terrorist organizations that are powerful. The most powerful had been Hezbollah. I don't think it's still as powerful now; I think you know why, but we can talk about that.

Hamas, which is not Shia but Sunni, if you want to get into that. The Houthis, which are Shia, although a slightly different sect of Shia, but they are more impressive and more powerful than a lot of people understood. You have various Shia militias in Iraq that have prevented Iraq from being as free and democratic as it could be. People say the Iraq War was a terrible thing—we can have that argument—but Iraq presents no danger or threat to the United States. The most important problem it has is the fact that it gets controlled by these Shia militias who are separate from the government.

And anyhow, there are others as well. The Israelis since October 7, 2023, have been fighting all of them on multiple fronts and have diminished the power of all of them. Of course, Syria was a vassal state of Iran. It's not anymore. It is now under somebody who had been an ISIS leader. He seems more moderate. He's close to Turkey, but he's influenced by the Saudis. It's a complex situation, but it's probably better than it was.

Allen Jackson: It seems to me that global leaders have a lot of confusion when it comes to Hamas and Israel. French President Emmanuel Macron addressed the UN and accused Israel of violating Palestinian rights in the West Bank and stated that Hamas had never operated in the West Bank. It's not even credible. How do they get away with saying that?

Cliff May: Well, I don't know if Macron is really that ignorant—I hope he's not—but if he's not, why is he lying? Does he not know that Hamas is very deeply embedded in the West Bank? Hamas has been committing terrorist acts in the West Bank as recently as this week, more than one. By most polls, if there were an election in the West Bank—should have been over these years, but there hasn't been in about 20 years—Hamas would probably win.

I haven't seen a recent poll. Maybe people in the West Bank see what's happened to Gaza and think that's not a great idea for them, but I'm not sure that's the case. So it's hard to tell. There's a kind of cowardice we're seeing and it disturbs me a lot from our European allies like Macron. They don't want to criticize the Communist Chinese for what they've been doing to the Uyghurs, Muslim East Turkestanis. The US government and other governments say it's a genocide against them, a serious genocide, wiping them out, not what Israel's accused of.

Palestinians have grown in population despite the war. They don't want to talk terribly much about Russia and what it's been doing to Ukraine, which is also a kind of genocide. Putin wants the Ukrainian nation to disappear and be absorbed into the Russian Empire. They're very disappointing right now, a lot of—but not all, I have to say. Not—I mean, the Poles are standing up to the Russians and they're being good allies and they're contributing to the collective security. The Estonians, the Latvians, the Lithuanians.

The Germans are even doing a much better job. But the further west you go, maybe the worse it is. Spain, very bad. Britain can't stop military-age Muslim illegal immigrants from flooding into their country. They're an island; how hard can that be? The growth of socialism—anyhow, I'm a little saddened by some of our European friends. I want to like Europe.

Allen Jackson: It is dismaying seeing what's happening to our allies for so many years. Cliff, I thank you for your time today. You help bring some clarity to a rather confusing global circumstance. Appreciate your time.

Cliff May: Glad if I could do that. Always good to be with you, Allen.

Allen Jackson: Hey, just a reminder, if you ever miss a live broadcast, you can always go to AJNow.com. There is a full archive there of all the programs. You can watch them at your leisure. They're easy to share with a friend. At the end of the day, the more people that watch, the greater the opportunities we have. Thanks for your emails. They're always a highlight. Drew G from Bradenton, Florida, wrote: "What a great episode with Frank Turek. Both you and Frank are examples of Christian men. So grateful for your show, your ministry, and your never-ending fight to keep Christians around the world brave and courageous."

Well, Drew, I like your idea. It does take courage to be a Christ follower. I think for far too long we've thought we had to get our theology just right. The truth is I believe you can make heaven if your systematic theology has a flaw or two, but I doubt you'll make it if you don't have courage. And we have to encourage one another. To be discouraged is to be without courage; to be encouraged is to have it. Let's determine to use our voices and our influence to encourage people to honor God with their lives.

If we'll do that in our homes, in our extended families, and with our friends, I believe we can change the world. We don't have to be a majority. We just have to agree with God. He's moving in the earth. Let's join Him. Good night, and God bless.