ICYMI: Chair Emeritus McCaul on "Fox News Sunday"
WASHINGTON – U.S. Congressman Michael McCaul (R-Texas) — chairman emeritus of the House Foreign Affairs and Homeland Security Committees — joined Shannon Bream on "Fox News Sunday" to discuss the latest on the war in Ukraine, the threat posed by Iranian nuclear proliferation, and the Trump administration's efforts to protect the homeland from violent illegal immigrants.
Excerpts from the interview:
On ceasefire negotiations between Ukraine and Russia:
"I think we have to be clear-eyed as to who Mr. Putin is. He has not come to the negotiating table. He is not called for ceasefire like Zelensky. And if you look at the targets that were hit by Ukraine — these were the bombers that carried the cruise missiles .... As opposed to [Putin's targets]: apartment complex buildings, schools, you know, maternity hospitals and churches. Killing civilians is a criminal act actually, according to the Geneva Convention. So, it's a very different playing field.
"How do we get them to the table though? I do think we need a negotiated settlement. We’re not going to have a storm to Berlin like in World War II [with an] unconditional surrender. So you have to put pressure [on Putin]. How do you do that? Secondary sanctions, and secondly, keep the flow of weapons going into Ukraine to pressure Mr. Putin to act in good faith. I have little confidence in him."
On Ukraine’s Operation Spiderweb and the United States’ ability to respond to similar threats:
"I think what we saw take place was a mastermind counter offensive. It was a seismic change in modern warfare technology — where you can take a very inexpensive little drone and take out a very expensive, big bomber that drops cruise missiles. I mean, it changes everything on its head, and I know the Pentagon's looking at this from a standpoint of 'how can we defend [against] this?' We don't have the countermeasures to block these UAVs, and we need to develop those because that will be the future of warfare."
On the threat of Iranian nuclear proliferation:
"Trump says [any deal must have] zero enrichment. He is right about that because if [the Iranians] have enrichment, they get a bomb. So, you know, I think you have to give the diplomats a chance, right? And then when diplomacy breaks down, you have war. There's no question in my mind, coming out of that meeting, what Mr. Netanyahu's intentions are, and that is to strike Iran when the negotiations go bad. The question [for Israel] is going to be, what will be the United States’ role? ... The retaliation from Iran will be severe, and we have a lot of troops there — US citizens there. They'll hit Jordan, they'll hit Saudi Arabia, and they'll hit Israel. And we are the only country along with Israel that can stop all this from coming in."
On the Trump administration's efforts to protect the Homeland from violent illegal immigrants:
"The Supreme Court had its order. He was returned to the United States, but now it's time for our justice. ... For 20 years he had a smuggling operation, including smuggling MS-13 gang members, according to the indictment when he came back in. I would argue, to him, you're probably better off than El Salvador than facing these kinds of charges, and this is precisely the [type of] case that Donald Trump ran on that got him a mandate from the American people.
"They're tired of seeing this, and what I'm amazed at — and I saw it at our hearing with Secretary Noem — is seeing the Democrats hold Mr. Garcia up as if he's some golden boy poster child that they all rally behind when he’s in fact related to MS- 13, a trafficker, he beats his wife. I mean, it's hardly a model for the Democratic party. I think they're making a terrible mistake politically, and we saw that play out in the last election."
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