In this edition of Washington Watch, Tony Perkins brings listeners a plethora of discussions from international politics to health crises. In a riveting session, President Trump’s speech at the United Nations is dissected, revealing his strong stance against unilateral recognition of a Palestinian state, which he terms as a direct reward for terrorism. Congress’s clash over healthcare policies and the rise in autism rates, coupled with controversial medical claims, adds depth to today’s heated discourse.
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From the heart of our nation’s capital in Washington, D.C., bringing compelling interviews, insightful analysis, taking you beyond the headlines and soundbites into conversations with our nation’s leaders and newsmakers, all from a biblical worldview. Washington Watch with Tony Perkins starts now.
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We can’t forget October 7th, can we? Now, as if to encourage continued conflict, some of this body is seeking to unilaterally recognize a Palestinian state. The rewards would be too great for Hamas terrorists, for their atrocities. This would be a reward for these horrible atrocities, including October 7th.
SPEAKER 05 :
That was President Donald Trump at the United Nations General Assembly earlier today, warning that recognizing a Palestinian state would be a dangerous reward for Hamas. Welcome to this September 23rd edition of Washington Watch. I’m Tony Perkins, your host. Thanks so much for joining us. Well, coming up, leaders from a dozen countries, including Turkey, used sharp language against Israel at the UN General Assembly meeting in New York. Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan stated in an interview from New York that he doesn’t consider Hamas a terrorist organization, but a resistance movement. Ohio Congressman Warren Davison will join me later. Also, President Trump signed an order designating Antifa as a domestic terrorist organization yesterday and called for an investigation into its funders. Kyle Scheidler, senior counterterrorism analyst at the Center for Security Policy, will join me to explore what this means and what happens next. Well, at the United Nations General Assembly meeting, President Donald Trump called for peace and justice in the Middle East, urging the world to stand against terror and protect innocent lives. He warned that recognizing a Palestinian state now would reward those who commit violence against Israel and threaten regional stability. Joining me now is Washington Stand reporter Casey Harper, who has been following this story throughout the day. Casey, President Trump, I listened to his speech, read the transcript. He did not hold back in this wide-ranging speech at the U.N. today. Let me ask you, what were the primary topics he focused on, and how are people responding?
SPEAKER 08 :
Well, you’re right about that, Tony. He did not hold back. President Trump issued a strong warning today to the international community. He said recognizing a Palestinian state now would reward Hamas terrorists for their brutal terror attacks. Speaking at the United Nations in New York today, President Trump called for the immediate release of all the hostages, living and deceased, held by Hamas in Gaza.
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Instead of giving to Hamas and giving so much, because they’ve taken so much. They have taken so much. This could have been solved so long ago. But instead of giving in to Hamas’s ransom demands, those who want peace should be united with one message. Release the hostages now. Just release the hostages now.
SPEAKER 08 :
While many world leaders at the UN have vocally expressed support for Palestinian statehood, Israel and its closest ally the United States remain steadfast in opposing moves they argue would embolden Hamas and undermine security in the region. And it’s worth mentioning, Tony, another pretty shocking story today. The U.S. Secret Service discovered and dismantled a network of electronic devices within a 35-mile radius of New York City that threatened government officials just hours before President Trump’s U.N. speech. According to officials, those devices are capable of disabling cell towers and aiding cyber attacks and were found and seized across multiple sites.
SPEAKER 05 :
Thanks, Casey. I guess the good news is they found it, they discovered it, but it also shows us how great the risk continues to be within our country. Sticking with what’s happening at the United Nations, many countries, including Turkey, as I mentioned, have been highly critical of Israel. In fact, Turkish President Erdogan stated in an interview with Fox News that he does not consider Hamas as a terrorist organization.
SPEAKER 08 :
Yeah, that’s right, Tony. In that interview with Fox, the Turkish president said he considered Hamas a resistance movement. But he didn’t stop there. He used his speech at the UN General Assembly to call for wider recognition of a Palestinian state, a move that aligns with recent pushes from several countries. He also accused Israel of committing what he called a genocide. He said innocent people are dying and called for Israeli leaders to be held accountable under international law. It’s worth noting that Turkey itself has a poor human rights record, and the president’s government has been repeatedly accused of suppressing political dissent, limiting press freedom, and persecuting religious minorities, including Christians. One high-profile case, which I know you’re familiar with, Tony, is the case of Andrew Brunson, who was unjustly detained in Turkey for two years before being released in 2018 following strong pressure from the Trump administration. But Turkey’s decision is part of a growing opposition to Israel from more than 140 countries, leaving it increasingly isolated on the world stage.
SPEAKER 05 :
Well, thanks, Casey. You know, as Christians, we’re called to pray for Israel, especially, I think, now, as its very existence is literally under a threat. And so I want to invite all of our viewers and listeners to pray and stand with Israel during this critical time. As it says in Psalm 122.6, pray for the peace of Jerusalem. May those who love you be secure. In fact, Casey, later this week, we’re going to have a special focus on prayer for Israel during one of our editions of Washington Watch. I want to switch gears now. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert Kennedy made headlines yesterday announcing a possible link between Tylenol and autism. Casey, what’s the latest on that? That stirred up quite a bit of opposition.
SPEAKER 08 :
It did indeed. At the White House yesterday, President Trump and Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. suggested a possible link between autism, childhood vaccines, and the use of Tylenol during pregnancy.
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First, HHS will act on acetaminophen. The FDA is responding to clinical and laboratory studies that suggest a potential association between acetaminophen used during pregnancy and adverse neurodevelopmental outcomes, including later diagnosis for ADHD and autism.
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Now, the controversy is because those claims go against decades of established scientific research. Secretary Kennedy said the administration will launch an all-agency effort to explore all possible causes of autism, including toxins, vaccines, and drug exposures. And he urged doctors to use the lowest effective dose of Tylenol when necessary. Tony?
SPEAKER 05 :
TONY BLINKEN, Well, it’s a big issue. A lot of people care a lot about it, as they should. So I’m glad they’re looking at it, hope they will come up with answers. Casey, very quickly, any updates on the negotiations to extend government funding beyond September 30th?
SPEAKER 08 :
Well, President Trump, he canceled a meeting with top Democratic leadership over this standoff over extra spending attached to the CR. And now with Congress in recess this week, the deadline, October 1st, seems we’re closer and closer to a shutdown.
SPEAKER 05 :
Well, we’re going to watch that very, very closely. Thanks, Casey. Always appreciate the insights on what’s happening. Well, joining me now to go further into the details of yesterday’s announcement on autism is virologist and immunologist Dr. Robert Malone. He is founder and president of the Malone Institute, which aims to bring back integrity to government, the biological sciences, and medicine, all very much needed. Dr. Malone, welcome back to Washington Watch. Thanks for joining us. Thank you for having me on, Tony. These are interesting times. Extremely interesting times. You know, autism has surged nearly 400 percent since 2000. It affects one in 31 American children. You know, those who are kind of dismissing what the Trump administration did yesterday say that’s just because we’re doing better reporting. But it’s not just that. Let’s talk about what the president said and didn’t say yesterday.
SPEAKER 04 :
Well, it’s hard for me to know where to begin, Tony, with that kind of a lead in. What I found striking was the first words out of the president’s mouth at the start of the press conference in which he said that he had been waiting for 20 years for this moment. I believe those were his statements. And, of course, Barron Trump is on the verge of turning 20 years old right now. He also referenced a meeting that he had, I had no idea that this had happened, between him and Secretary Kennedy 20 years ago. The president clearly has as a very key driver his advocacy for children’s health and his strong feelings about autism. I want to quote three things that he said in addition. One is, I’m making these statements from me. That’s his words. I talk about a lot of common sense. And this is really significant. This will be as important as any single thing I’ve done. The president feels very strongly about this issue, as does the secretary. And the data support him and the secretary that this is, in fact, an epidemic of disease in children, which has all the characteristics of an environmental exposure. This is not genetics. There may be a genetic component, but genetics don’t change this rapidly. Now, the Secretary and the President has emphasized the role of folate receptors and potential therapeutic intervention that may help some children suffering from autism and ADHD. But the whole press narrative that this comes out of left field, there’s no scientific support, that flies in the face of the fact that there have been data, and those data are quite strong, that have existed in the peer-reviewed literature now for many, many years. We provided a review of some of those key studies in our posting today on malone.news. And you can read the papers yourself and make your own judgment about that. But I’ll defer to the opinion of the head of the Harvard School of Public Health, who unequivocally supports the thesis based on their work and her work, that there is a link between autism, Tylenol, and exposure in pregnancy. So this is not a wackadoodle from left field, Donald Trump just shooting off his mouth situation. And the pushback that, well, Bobby, show us the data. Well, the data have been out there for a long time. They’ve been suppressed.
SPEAKER 05 :
Well, let me ask you about that, because back when I was in office serving on the health committee, we had hearings on this issue and the research that pointed to possible connections were dismissed. I want to ask you this question. What role has big pharma played in either keeping this information from being taken seriously or outright suppressing it?
SPEAKER 04 :
So Tony, to be honest with you, I have not seen clear evidence that pharma and the pharmaceutical industry advocacy groups are behind this. It certainly stands to reason, but I don’t see the smoking gun personally at this point I just see the outcome. There’s no question that these data have been suppressed, that there’s the usual methods of gaslighting and harassment and ridicule and, frankly, bullying that have been characteristic of the behavior of big pharma. But unlike, for instance, the smoking gun letter from Bio saying they wanted to get Bobby by the end of September, I haven’t seen that smoking gun having to do with Tylenol.
SPEAKER 05 :
So what has kept this from seriously being considered? Why is it taken until now? You just have about 45 seconds left.
SPEAKER 04 :
I think it’s a great question and one that I don’t know that we have the answer to. There has clearly been a campaign to suppress any information or discussion about autism and potential linkage. And the case of Tylenol, understand that virtually all vaccines are associated with what’s called reactogenicity. which includes fever. So what we have here potentially is what may be a correlation, not causation, of people treating fever with Tylenol. And of course, if that’s the case, we have generations of pediatricians that have been advocating for the use of Tylenol because all the other anti-inflammatories are even worse.
SPEAKER 05 :
Dr. Malone, we’ve got to leave it there. We’re up against a break, but we’re going to continue tracking this. Don’t go away, folks.
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Three years ago, the Supreme Court issued its historic Dobbs decision, a ruling that overturned Roe versus Wade, which for nearly 50 years imposed abortion on demand, silencing voters and bypassing the democratic process across the country. The Dobbs decision was a huge step forward against abortion, but it didn’t outright ban it. It returned the power to the people. Now, 29 states have laws on the books protecting life. However, there’s a catch. Abortion numbers since Dobbs have actually gone up with an increase of 12% since 2020, climbing from 930,000 to over 1 million in each of the most recent years. So how can this be? The answer is simple, the abortion drug. Today, over 60% of US abortions involve abortion drugs, many of these without medical oversight. In 2021, the Biden administration quietly removed bare minimum longstanding safety protocols for the abortion drug that have existed for 20 years to protect women from life-threatening risks and ensuring informed consent. The Biden DOJ then declared that they would not enforce the Comstock Act, which prevents the mailing of anything that causes an abortion. This is not only illegal, but also dangerous. A study shows nearly 11% of women who take the abortion drug end up in the emergency room with serious complications. Unless the Trump administration reverses these reckless Biden-era policies, pro-life laws will remain largely symbolic. Without a full review and repeal of Mifepristone, unborn lives will remain in grave danger, and pregnant mothers will remain at risk. Let’s stand for life and end this mail order abortion drug pipeline. Sign the petition urging the Trump administration to take action at frc.org slash stop chemical abortion.
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In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God, and the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen His glory. Family Research Council invites you to join our Stand on the Word Bible reading plan as we reflect upon the life of Jesus, the Word who dwelt among us. Come with us and discover the glory of the Word. Read the Gospels and witness the life-changing story of Jesus, His life, death, and resurrection. Come read how Jesus transformed the lives of common people and how those same people transformed the known world through the power of the Holy Spirit. Come with us for 10 to 15 minutes a day and read the entire New Testament before the new year. Find our Bible reading plan in daily devotionals from Tony Perkins at frc.org slash Bible. Join us in Stand on the Word.
SPEAKER 05 :
Welcome back to Washington Watch. Thanks so much for tuning in on this Tuesday. Fascinating conversation with Dr. Malone. Unfortunately, ran out of time, but we’re going to give you back on. We’re going to talk more about that in the days ahead. I think it’s something that definitely needs to be looked at. You know, so many people are affected by autism and it’s growing. It’s rapidly. What’s behind it? Those questions need to be asked. Speaking of drugs and all of that, you know, today one of the greatest threats we face is the rapid rise of the abortion drug Mifepresto, now responsible for the majority of abortions in our nation, somewhere between 60 and 70 percent, if not higher. Now, FRC is committed to expose the truth about the abortion drug, protect mothers and the babies, and defend the sanctity of life. We now have more abortions today than we did before the overturn of Roe because of the abortion drug. So right now, thanks to generous friends of FRC, your support will have tripled the impact this week only. So to stand with FRC as we stand for life and for children for tomorrow, Simply text the word unborn. That’s unborn to 67742. Stand with us as we stand with the unborn and stop the scourge of abortion in this country. The fight is not over. Text the word unborn to 67742. All right. The president of Turkey, as I mentioned earlier, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, seems to be living in an alternative reality. One day after stating that Hamas is a resistance group and not a terrorist organization, he told the UN General Assembly today that there, quote, is no war in Gaza. There are no two sides, end quote. He instead called it an invasion, a genocide. Now, keep in mind that Turkey is a NATO country, a supposed ally of the United States. Joining me now to discuss this, Congressman Warren Davidson, a member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee. He represents the 8th Congressional District of Ohio. Congressman Davidson, welcome back to Washington Watch. Thanks for joining me. It’s always an honor, Tony. Thank you. All right, President Erdogan, is this an alternative reality that he’s living in, that Hamas is not a terrorist organization and there’s no war in Gaza?
SPEAKER 03 :
Yeah, he’s manufacturing information there. Obviously, there’s a war in Gaza. The whole world knows there is, and they want to change it. Unfortunately, a lot of countries are deciding to reward Hamas in their 10-7 massacre of Israelis, noncombatants, young people celebrating at a concert, and other horrific actions with the demands that recognize Palestine as a second state. He’s gone even further to say, no, they exist, and Israel’s just committing genocide against the peaceful people of Gaza. Absolutely crazy.
SPEAKER 05 :
Now, he is meeting with President Trump later this week. No doubt he’s going to be asking for the most advanced fighter aircraft, the F-35s, which they have not been given, even though they’re a NATO ally. Why is that important that they not have access to that technology?
SPEAKER 03 :
Well, in general, when we do foreign military sales, we do sell some sort of degraded capabilities to what we use for our own military to get a different electronic set. But you get the base airframe, and you get a lot of technology. So they’ve bought a lot of weapons systems from the United States, but they want the most cutting-edge things that they can get. They are a part of NATO. They have an incredibly important piece of geography. It would be better to have a great relationship with Turkey than to have a hostile relationship with Turkey. But Erdogan’s making it challenging with a lot of his positions.
SPEAKER 05 :
When you look at that relationship in NATO, that prohibits us from looking into their nuclear capabilities and different things. I mean, I could see Turkey, and as you rightly point out, very critical geographical space that they occupy. But I could clearly see them with the agenda that Erdogan is pursuing being on the dark side, being on the other side.
SPEAKER 03 :
Well, they’re kind of on their own lane. I mean, they don’t necessarily want close relationship with Russia either. And so they kind of, in a way, have rejected this bipolar world between the Soviet Union and the United States. They ultimately sided with the United States and became part of NATO, but loosely. And you see that in the post-Cold War era. Turkey’s kind of carved their own niche and been somewhat friendly with some of the groups that have caused a lot of disruption in the world. But on the other side, they’ve been pushing back against the Kurds who have committed acts of terror inside Turkey. So a complicated region, and Erdogan has certainly made it more complicated. But I guess, in a sense, he’s looking at it saying, what pushes Turkey’s own interests narrowly? And it’s hard to see how this actually aligns with anybody. It’s kind of his own island in a lot of ways.
SPEAKER 05 :
Well, I think he’s made it very clear he wants to reestablish the Ottoman Empire. I mean, he’s being driven by the Islamic religion, a once secular country now becoming very Islamist in its pursuit. Now, last week, speaking of that, you helped push through in the House Foreign Affairs Committee an amendment to the State Department authorization requiring a State Department report on free speech rights and censorship in NATO ally countries, i.e. Turkey. Why is that needed?
SPEAKER 03 :
Well, you have NATO countries and not just countries like Turkey, where, you know, yeah, they were originally part of the Ottoman Empire. They certainly, Erdogan has harkened back to a caliphate that he controls. And you see, okay, well, you recognize civil liberties might not be great there, but you’re seeing civil liberties being trampled in the United Kingdom, in France, in Germany. And when I was in Hungary earlier this year, You had people from Western Europe claiming asylum in Hungary, in Eastern Europe, behind the Iron Curtain, former Iron Curtain. And so what are we defending? I mean, it goes back to J.D. Vance’s question at Munich. What are we defending? And certainly not what’s going on right now.
SPEAKER 05 :
Well, the president today at the U.N. made reference to this, and a large part of that is the migration of the Islamic community into these European countries. That’s pulling the strings of leaders like Prime Minister Starmer in the U.K.
SPEAKER 03 :
yeah i mean he called uh… he called out the europeans especially for mass migration he called out the united nations for funding it and facilitating it undermining western countries uh… particularly uh… you know english-speaking countries and uh… but but really all of europe all of western europe they’re having the same kinds of problems and they’re modifying their culture to embrace islam basically and uh… london in particular so i mean you’re getting in trouble for speech there for practicing your religion Meanwhile, how dare a Jewish man go near, you know, a no-go zone where there’s five calls to prayer for Islam all day?
SPEAKER 05 :
Well, we’re going to talk about this later in the program, but the president was very clear on his call at the United Nations pointing that out. Congressman Davidson, always great to see you. Thanks so much for joining us today. Appreciate your insight.
SPEAKER 03 :
Thank you, Tony. God bless you and all your listeners and viewers.
SPEAKER 05 :
All right. Thanks so much. Congressman Warren Davidson of Ohio. All right. Coming up, President Trump has signed an order to designate Antifa, that movement as a domestic terrorist organization. What does that mean and what will come from it? That’s what we’re going to talk about next. Then still to come, we’re going to take a look at the president’s speech at the U.N. That’s later.
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SPEAKER 05 :
Welcome back to Washington Watch. Check out the website, TonyPerkins.com. Better yet, get the Stand Firm app where you can have access to Washington Watch no matter where you go. And you can get our news feed, the Washington Stand, news and commentary from a biblical perspective. It’s very important that we understand the events of our world through the lenses of Scripture. We help you do that with the Stand Firm app. Well, yesterday, President Trump signed an executive order to designate the Antifa movement as a domestic terrorist organization. The order directs the federal government to investigate, disrupt, and dismantle any and all illegal operations conducted by Antifa or any person claiming to act on behalf of Antifa. It also calls for investigation into and actions against the funding sources behind their operations. Now, given the unique makeup of Antifa, What could this move by the president actually accomplish? Joining me now to talk about this is Kyle Scheidler. He’s the director and senior analyst for Homeland Security and Counterterrorism at the Center for Security Policy. He is also editor of Unmasking Antifa, Five Perspectives on a Growing Threat. Kyle, welcome to Washington Watch. Thanks for joining us. It’s my pleasure to be here. Thank you. So before we get into the mechanics of this, let’s talk a little bit about Antifa. You know, we hear a lot about it, especially back after the George Floyd incident. But it’s not like a typical organization or even a movement. Give us the background.
SPEAKER 07 :
Well, Antifa is made up of a series of autonomous cells, or what they would describe as affinity groups. These affinity groups come together to conduct direct actions, which can be everything from sabotage and violence to protesting, rioting, and the like. But they are not organized from the typical top-down hierarchical structure that we typically think of, if you think about a mafia kingpin or something like that. They’re organized from the bottom up in these smaller structures. But they then connect these structures in a variety of different ways, including city chapters, regional networks, international networks, and the like. So they are actually heavily organized. They’re highly organized. They are just organized in a very deliberate, explicitly anarchist approach.
SPEAKER 05 :
So isn’t this this asymmetrical organization? I mean, this is kind of like the terrorist cells operate.
SPEAKER 07 :
Quite so. Yeah, absolutely. Or sometimes I’ll give the example to law enforcement when I’m briefing them of a description of like an outlaw motorcycle club or a street gang where you have individual groups of people who are well known to each other, who work closely together, and they then have relationships with other groups and they derive benefits from that larger connection and from the name recognition of the brand. And there was actually in 2007 an Antifa manual, a forming Antifa group manual that was printed online. And one of the things they said was if you identify as Antifa, you carry certain obligations to the larger group and the larger movement. And so they have ways of determining connections and relationships through that sense of obligation that is created.
SPEAKER 05 :
So how will the government go about going after their resources and their organizational structure? I mean, given what you’ve just described, how can they go about taking down this domestic terrorist organization?
SPEAKER 07 :
Well, I think it’s worth recognizing that there is technically no domestic terrorism organization list or designation that doesn’t have at current any statutory authority. But what I think the president is indicating with this executive order is that he really intends a whole of government approach He expects to see every law enforcement agency and national security agency playing its part to address what he sees as a threat to the national security of the United States, and quite rightly, in my view. So certainly my hope is that they will take a whole-of-government approach, that we will see federal law enforcement utilizing all manner of counterterrorism authorities, but that they’ll also look at certain white collar crime authorities, racketeering statutes, that they’ll look at things like utilizing charity fraud to take on some of these community organizations and bail funds that help support rioters and get them out of jail. That they’ll do things like, for example, utilize counterintelligence capabilities and authorities to target the connections between some of these organizations and foreign adversaries who operate abroad. There are a number of examples of ties to far-left terrorist groups, for example.
SPEAKER 05 :
I want to ask you about that, because while there’s no domestic terrorist organization authority statute dealing with that, if they’re connected internationally with these groups I don’t know if we would use the term terrorists, but there’s groups that find their way onto our international list. Would that be enough of a connection to use statutory authority to go after them?
SPEAKER 07 :
I think so. There are certainly a number of explicitly named Antifa groups that have conducted attacks overseas in some of our allied countries and even crossed international borders to conduct attacks against things like politicians and the like. So I think you could build the case for designating some of those Antifa groups abroad. and then backtrack to those connections that they have to international Antifa networks and then in turn to domestic Antifa networks. So I think with a little bit of work and investigative effort, you could put together a designation structure that would eventually have U.S.-based Antifa groups designated under a foreign terrorism organization. designation. But I recognize that it would be a challenge. The State Department would have to put some work in to make it happen. But I think it would technically be lawful.
SPEAKER 05 :
We just got about 25 seconds left. Funding. Where do they get their money?
SPEAKER 07 :
Well, most Antifa work is not that expensive, to be honest with you. They crowdfund a lot of it. They engage in all manner of community projects. Everything you can think of to do to raise money, they’ll do. Book fairs, bake sales, and the like. but most of their larger expenses are bail money and transportation, and those tend to get provided by larger fiscal sponsor 501c3 organizations, some of which do have connections to progressive foundations.
SPEAKER 05 :
All right, Kyle, thanks so much for joining us. Great information. Stick with us, folks. We’re going to be back with more after this.
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How should Christians think about the thorny issues shaping our culture? How should Christians address deceitful ideas like transgenderism, critical theory, or assisted suicide? How can Christians navigate raising children in a broken culture, the war on gender roles, or rebuilding our once great nation? Outstanding is a podcast from The Washington Stand dedicated to these critical conversations. Outstanding seeks to tear down what our corrupt culture lifts up with an aim to take every thought and every idea captive to the obedience of Christ. Whether policies or partisan politics, whether conflict in America or conflict abroad, join us and our guests as we examine the headlines through the lens of Scripture and explore how Christians can faithfully exalt Christ in all of life. Follow Outstanding on your favorite podcast app and look for new episodes each week.
SPEAKER 05 :
Welcome back to Washington Watch. Thanks so much for tuning in. Pray, Vote, Stand Summit is coming up October 17th through the 18th at Calvary Chapel’s Chino Hills in California at Pastor Jack’s Church. Come join us as we declare that the gates of hell will not prevail. We need you to be there. Prayvotestand.org. You can find out more and you can register. Again, that’s October the 17th and 18th, Calvary Chapel, Chino Hills in Southern California. Our word for today comes from Galatians chapter 3, where Paul explains the purpose of the Old Testament law. What purpose then does the law serve, he writes? It was added because of transgressions, till the seed should come to whom the promise was made. Before faith came, we were kept under guard by the law, kept for the faith which would afterward be revealed. Therefore, the law was our tutor to bring us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith.” So what Paul is saying is the law has a dual purpose, or it had a dual purpose. It revealed sin and restrained sin. As Paul notes in Romans chapter 2, God’s moral law was written on our hearts, but because sin corrupted our conscience, God engraved it on stone to show us his unchanging standard of right and wrong. Now, the word tutor here doesn’t mean teacher, but custodian, a servant charged with escorting a child safely to school. In the same way, the law was a guardian during the long season between God’s promise to Abraham and its fulfillment in Jesus. The law pointed forward, but only Christ brings the salvation that the law could never provide. To find out more about our journey through the Bible, text BIBLE to 67742. That’s BIBLE to 67742. All right, as we’ve been talking about, President Trump addressed the United Nations General Assembly today as the world body gathered to mark the 80th anniversary of its founding. And in a speech that went on for nearly an hour, the president covered a lot of ground. Joining me now to unpack the president’s address is our esteemed panel for today, Dr. A.J. Nolte, a professor at Regent University’s School of Government and the director of Regent’s Institute for Israel Studies, and Dr. Cal Beisner, founder and president and national spokesman for the Cornwall Alliance for the Stewardship of Creation. Dr. Nolte, Dr. Beisner, welcome back to Washington Watch. Thanks for joining us.
SPEAKER 13 :
It’s great to be here.
SPEAKER 05 :
Thank you very much. So President Trump had run-ins with broken equipment at the United Nations, escalator, teleprompter. Those seem to underscore deeper complaints about the efficiency of the United Nations. Now, President Trump criticized the U.N. as basically being irrelevant, and it’s because it’s failed in its mission to ensure global security and stability. Here’s one clip of what he had to say.
SPEAKER 19 :
The UN has such tremendous potential. I’ve always said it. It has such tremendous, tremendous potential, but it’s not even coming close to living up to that potential. For the most part, at least for now, all they seem to do is write a really strongly worded letter and then never follow that letter up. It’s empty words, and empty words don’t solve war.
SPEAKER 02 :
Dr. Nolte, your response.
SPEAKER 13 :
Yeah, so when you look at the foundation of the UN, there’s kind of three or four purposes. The first is to prevent World War III, right? And so the Security Council infrastructure is designed to prevent another global war. Whether it actually succeeded at that or was lucky in the fact that the Cold War never turned hot, that goal was accomplished for a very long time. Then there’s also, if you look at the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, there’s this idea of the UN promoting human rights. But the problem with that is that from the beginning, the Soviet Union, which is one of the worst human rights abusers of the 20th century, was on the Security Council and had a veto on pretty much anything. And subsequent to that, the People’s Republic of China, which was admitted in the 70s, also has a veto and also has a horrendous record on human rights. So that was never going to be achievable. And then, of course, finally, there’s the sort of peacekeeping and international development mission. And there you have a situation where there were a lot of high lofty ideals and no mechanisms for actually achieving that. And so I think the president’s basically right. It has largely failed to accomplish that. most of these lofty purposes, the one thing that it could potentially claim credit for, and I think there’s other factors as well, is that the Cold War never turned hot.
SPEAKER 05 :
Well, just one aspect I think illustrates the president’s comments about writing nice letters but not doing anything is the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which almost, I think, all but maybe one member state has signed on to, but yet does not abide by, and the U.N. does absolutely nothing.
SPEAKER 13 :
UDHR was written largely by Dr. Charles Malick, who was a Christian statesman, actually gave a very famous address at Wheaton College back in the 1980s about Christian statesmanship. And there’s a lot of good in it, and a lot of people have signed onto it on paper. But again, there’s no mechanism for enforcement. And even when it was signed onto, you had the USSR playing a charter role in the UN, and the USSR, Stalin was in charge. So they’re routinely violating UDHR even as they signed it. So it’s a lofty ideal, but again, the UN’s never had the capacity or really even the desire to enforce that.
SPEAKER 05 :
Moving on to another topic, President Trump also criticized Europe for their use of Russian oil as the war between Russia and Ukraine continues, which basically is funding that war. Play that clip.
SPEAKER 19 :
China and India are the primary funders of the ongoing war by continuing to purchase Russian oil. But inexcusably, even NATO countries have not cut off much Russian energy and Russian energy products.
SPEAKER 05 :
Cal, he talked a lot about returning to fossil fuels, getting rid of this green scam. And he was pretty critical about where Europe had gone when it came to the green energy deal.
SPEAKER 01 :
Yes, he was. And I think he was dead right on that. I mean, Europe has seen skyrocketing energy prices as it’s tried to replace extremely energy-dense, power-dense hydrocarbon fuels, that’s fossil, coal, oil, natural gas, with wind and solar, which are very low-density energy sources. And of course, when you’re trying to go from low-density to to the extremely high densities that we actually need to power our electrical devices, to move our vehicles down the road and so on. The more you have to go from low density to high density, the more it’s going to cost. So that’s why Europe has been struggling so much. You’ve seen manufacturing move out of Europe into other countries. And at the same time, we’ve kept manufacturing here in the United States. Some people think that we’ve lost a lot. As a matter of fact, our manufacturing totals have remained very high. We haven’t lost anything significant. And that’s part of why the U.S. is doing so well. And, frankly, he’s got really, really good people working with him. Lee Zeldin at EPA, Doug Burgum at Interior, and Chris Wright at Energy Department. These are men who really know their fields. They understand this stuff. And that’s unusual for Cabinet members. It’s really nice to see people who really understand the matters of energy and climate.
SPEAKER 05 :
Along those lines, in his speech, President Trump dismissed the threat of climate change. He pointed to predictions made over the years that turned out to be wrong, and he said they were made for bad reasons. I want to play that clip of him saying that.
SPEAKER 19 :
It’s the greatest con job ever perpetrated on the world, in my opinion. Climate change, no matter what happens, you’re involved in that. No more global warming, no more global cooling. All of these predictions made by the United Nations and many others, often for bad reasons, were wrong.
SPEAKER 05 :
I mean, he’s laying it all bare. I mean, everything they’ve been holding on to to grab power, he’s just pulling back the curtain on it.
SPEAKER 01 :
Yeah. And of course, as a president is wont to do, especially this president, he’s talking in broad generalities and fairly simplified terms. And yes, there’s been a lot of skullduggery behind the global warming, climate change alarmist movement. There’s been some decent science as well. But the really important thing is to recognize that While human contribution to climate change is real, it is not catastrophic. The benefits that we get from the energy we take from fossil fuels far outweigh any of the harms that come from the warming. And the added benefits to all plant growth, especially to crop yields from the added carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, also far outweigh the risks from climate change. Even the UN itself in its 2018 special report on global warming of 1.5 degrees said that basically if we did nothing to slow global warming, It would only reduce global gross domestic or gross world product per capita. That’s the value of everything that somebody produces in a lifetime. or in a year, it would only reduce that by 2.6 percent, meaning that instead of people making 9.1 percent, 9.1 times more per year than they would in 2018, instead they’re going to be making 8.8 times as much per year as they did in 2018. And so what that tells us is that global warming is certainly not a significant threat to humanity. People are going to be roughly nine times better off in 2100.
SPEAKER 05 :
I mean, I think you just look at the economy, look at the economy of China that has been putting coal powered plants online every week. Their economy is continuing to grow. Their base is very energy dependent and they have cheap energy. And that’s what you need to do manufacturing and to grow an economy. I mean, I think it didn’t come up in today’s speech by the president, but I think he understands that he’s got to get America’s energy base moving again if we want to continue to grow our economy and our GDP. Dr. Nolte, I want to bring you back in here on the topic of. Israel and Hamas. Now, again, I have to commend the president. He did not hold back on anything today. He framed the growing momentum for a two-state solution at the United Nations General Assembly as a reward for Hamas. Play that clip.
SPEAKER 19 :
We can’t forget October 7th, can we? Now, as if to encourage continued conflict, some of this body is seeking to unilaterally recognize a Palestinian state. The rewards would be too great for Hamas terrorists, for their atrocities. This would be a reward for these horrible atrocities, including October 7th.
SPEAKER 05 :
I mean, how can you not see that?
SPEAKER 02 :
I mean, he is absolutely right. How can you see it any other way? I think the only way you can see it any other way is deliberately not looking at it.
SPEAKER 13 :
So we just did a podcast on this through the Israel Institute and our Israel Institute podcast, and I’ll summarize it very briefly. Recognizing a Palestinian state here now today in September 2025, you’re recognizing something that doesn’t exist, that doesn’t have any governance capacity. where no Palestinian leadership has any legitimacy from the population they’ve actually governed, and no Palestinian entity has any ability to provide peace, order, and security over areas they have controlled thus far. So that’s called a failed state by any metric. So you’d be recognizing a failed state, and also you’d be empowering Hamas because the dispute in Palestinian politics is, do we pursue a negotiated peace, or do we use violence to try to achieve our ends? And so the Europeans and the Canadians and Australians are essentially rewarding the pursuit of violence by recognizing a Palestinian state in this specific context and also without demanding anything from Hamas in return for that recognition. So it’s unconditional recognition. Whatever they can say, the conditions are supposed to happen after the fact. And so it’s absurd. And I think it can only come from this. These are mostly leftist governments can only come from this idea that simply by speaking, we can incept a reality into being that does not exist. That’s the only way that you can convince yourself that this is a good idea. And unfortunately, that’s just not how the world works.
SPEAKER 05 :
I was talking earlier in the program about the migration, the shift of population, and the fact that we see a number of – I mean, these European countries are being overrun by Islamic populations. That has to factor into the fact that you have the prime minister of the U.K., Starmer – dropping the conditions previously that he stated in July, that they would have to release all the hostages, disarm, and not be a part of any government going forward. Those conditions were not on there this time around on Sunday when he announced that they would support a Palestinian state.
SPEAKER 13 :
I think there’s some of that. I think that there’s part of the coalition. Most of these left-wing parties are being supported by Islamic groups. But also, I think that’s letting them off too easily, frankly, because those left-wing parties are also the open borders parties. And so it’s not like the Muslims are going to turn around and vote for the opposition that wants to shut off immigration. So they don’t have anywhere else to go. I think that’s part of it, but it’s also just the sheer insanity of recognizing a failed state to try to punish Israel because you think that somehow by recognizing it, you can create a reality that doesn’t exist.
SPEAKER 05 :
A final question I was throwing out for both of you. When you look at the wide-ranging topics that the president addressed, I mean, he hit on pretty much every hot-button issue. And then he kind of wrapped up by saying, follow our lead. You know, get rid of the green energy. Go back to… producing real energy and stop the migration, close your borders and take pride in who you are. I mean, pretty strong message. I wonder how that will resonate with the member countries. I’ll start with you, Cal.
SPEAKER 01 :
Well, I think certainly the European countries are going to have to be learning lessons out of this. I mean, they’re suffering the results of their essentially open borders policies, bringing on high rates of crime and just failure of immigrants to assimilate into their cultures. You can’t keep a country going well long that way. I think they have a lot to learn from President Trump on this and from the policies that are now working in the United States. And I think that he was right to say.
SPEAKER 05 :
Dr. Nolte, I’ll give you the final word.
SPEAKER 13 :
I think countries that have retained a sense of sort of self-confidence and national identity and desire for independence will receive it well. I think that countries that are struggling with those issues will not receive it well. And so it’ll kind of end up being a Rorschach test of it will say less about Trump and more about actually where everyone else is, as Trump’s comments so often are.
SPEAKER 05 :
So there’ll be about a dozen countries that’ll be like what he had to say. Gentlemen, thanks so much for joining me today. Great to see you.
SPEAKER 13 :
Thanks for having us.
SPEAKER 05 :
Thank you. And folks, thank you for joining us as well. By the way, Dr. Malone is going to join me again on tomorrow’s program. We’re going to unpack this whole thing with the autism a little bit more. So be sure and tune in tomorrow. Until next time, I leave you with the words of the Apostle Paul. When you’ve done everything you can do and you’ve prayed, prepared and taken your stand, by all means, keep standing.
SPEAKER 15 :
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