On Thursday’s Mark Levin Show, in Friday’s meeting with Vladimir Putin, President Trump will attempt to forge an agreement between Putin and Zelensky. We’re told we need to discus s the meeting but how much do you know about Putin? He’s been in power for 25 years, longer than any Kremlin leader since Stalin. There’s no effective opposition because Putin has killed them all. Montesquieu says “any man who has power is led to abuse it; he continues until he finds limits.” This is Putin. Also, Trump’s action to curb D.C’s rampant crime is constitutional. In just a few days, his actions have resulted in hundreds of arrests and widespread resident approval, including from some Democrats. Democrats call Trump a dictator while they support criminals, Hamas, and illegal immigrants, manipulate crime stats, and defy court rulings. Later, PM Benjamin Netanyahu calls in and addresses the global propaganda against Israel in the Gaza conflict, including false claims of starvation and inflated casualty figures from Hamas. Israel’s delivery of nearly 2 million tons of aid, which is equivalent to one ton per Gazan, is stolen by Hamas. Netanyahu stresses the unprecedented measures to minimize civilian casualties, such as warnings via texts and calls. Netanyahu also explains that forces gang up against Israel and the U.S., chanting “death to Israel, death to America” as they seek to destroy free societies and impose a dark tyranny reminiscent of the early Middle Ages. Afterward, WABC’s Sid Rosenberg calls in to discuss the NYC Mayors race. Rosenberg endorses Curtis Sliwa as his top choice but predicts socialist Zohran Mamdani will likely win because no candidate will drop out anytime soon. Finally, On Power explains that the Democratic Party poses a significant domestic threat to America by seeking to breach constitutional safeguards in pursuit of a utopian society, influenced by Marxist, socialist, and Islamist elements, though not representative of all members. The progressive movement aim to fundamentally transform the nation’s character through centralized power, diminishing individual freedoms.
CSIS
Russia’s Battlefield Woes in Ukraine
Carnegie Endownment
How the Traumas of 2004 Blinded Putin
NY Post
DC sandwich slinger ID’d as DOJ employee, fired from position after hurling sub at federal agent
American Thinker
Comey’s Last Moves: Spying on a President, Setting the Trap, Lying About It
Photo by SERGEI GUNEYEV/POOL/AFP
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Rough transcription of Hour 1
Segment 1
Hello America. Mark Levin here. Our number 877-381-3811. 877-381-3811. You know, it’s very interesting, isn’t it, how the modern day media work, whether it’s radio, cable, whatever it is, there’s going to be a meeting, obviously, tomorrow, 3:30 p.m. Eastern time in Alaska. You’re Anchorage between Putin and President Trump. And so there’s a lot of speculation about what will happen. The president has made abundantly clear what his intentions are. And so there are people out there who think I should spend all day. Talking to you, I guess, for the next 3 hours, Mr. Producer. About my assumptions about what’s going to take place. Now, this is typical kind of news thinking these days. I have nothing new to tell you. I don’t know what’s going to happen in that meeting. Nobody knows what’s going to happen in that meeting. We know the president has had his wit’s end with Putin. He’s also made it clear he just wants a peace deal and he wants it now and they can figure out the particulars later. We know from the White House that. They’re likely if things go okay to have a meal afterwards and then after that, a press event. So the real news day is when Mr. Producer. Tomorrow. When we actually know what’s going on. Not today. Tomorrow. But I thought in preparation for tomorrow, whether we have a big hour or two, very big. At the bottom of the next hour. You know, yesterday was sort of governor’s show on the program. We had three governors who wanted to come on the program more than happy. They were news breaking. Governor of Alaska, Governor of Texas, governor of Florida. I was also contacted by the prime minister of Israel. He wanted to address some issues. So we spoke to him earlier this morning because there’s a seven hour difference and we spoke to him at nine this morning, which would be 4 p.m.. His time as he’s moving in between meetings, security meetings, since hope for some very, very interesting things that he said. I would argue newsmaking things that he said. But who knows if the news picks it up or not. But we’ll discuss that and play that next hour. That’s news. But I want to lay the foundation a little bit here. How much do you know about Vladimir Putin? How much do you know about him? Isn’t it amazing? We’re told today that we need to spend time talking about this. Is anybody talk to you about who he is, how he came to power, what he used to do, that he’s the richest man in the world. Does anybody discuss that with you? Well, I will say, you know, you’re dealing with. Putin’s been in power since 2000. That’s 25 years. 25 years. He’s 72 years old. So he’s been in power since he was a young man. You know, that’s longer than any Kremlin leader. Any. Since Joseph Stalin. Mister Producer. Longer than British name and all the rest. So you learn something just now that you haven’t heard all day. Putin has been in power since 2000 longer than any Kremlin leader since Stalin. He’s now in his fifth term. There’s no effective opposition anymore. Why? Because he killed them all. He killed the journalists who were real journalists. He killed the oligarchs. I raise questions. I wouldn’t give him his money, quote unquote. Political opponents. He killed them, too. He has killed scores and scores of people had them assassinated. Apparently the favorite is the swan dive out of the 29th floor of some building. But they’ve been shot in the back of their head and. They’ve claimed that that was suicide shot in the back of the head and a family shot and. Or they’ve used a certain kind of poison that only. The Russian government itself has access to. And they have killed people. Outside of Russia, inside Russia. Navalny they killed. It was one of the great opponents. First they tried to poison him in Germany. He came back to life. Then they put him in prison first for nine years, and then they extended it another ten years. And he died in prison. Of course. It’s a killer. Now early on. He seemed to embrace the so-called liberal democratic Russia, the liberal democratic Russia under Yeltsin member Boris Yeltsin. Boris Yeltsin. Who as a true Democrat, small d Democrat. But he was a drunk, as many are in the leadership in Russia. He was a drunk. And members of his inner circle had committed all kinds of financial crimes and so forth. So there he is. Putin. She’s in the inner circle. Worked his way up very quickly. Very quickly. From Saint Petersburg to Moscow. Moved up the chain. Positioned himself. He’d been a KGB agent. Secret agent. Rose to the level of Lieutenant Colonel. Up until 1990, 1991. And so the the Soviet Union collapsed. That’s when he began his political career, really, in 1996. St Petersburg And then in Moscow, he was viewed as an earnest, loyal, honest individual, relatively quiet. He got to know people. They got to know him. He became one of the deputy prime ministers. They had several by a handful. And then word has it. Yeltsin was ill and he was blackmailed. That’s right. He was basically told, hey, look, look, Boris, all these issues will go away and you won’t be charged with anything. Just hand power over to me. Putin. And he did. Some 25 years ago. So he came to power, but he was anything but a small D Democrat. As it turns out. Now Putin. He’s probably the richest man in the world. Elon Musk was asked about him several years ago, he said. They said, you know, you’re the richest man in the world, Elon Musk. And you know what he said and I quote, I do think that Putin is significantly richer than me. And when asked to elaborate, he refused. He got tight lipped and he never said it again. So Putin is viewed as, if not the richest but one of the richest men in the world. Why? 70% of the Russian economy is controlled. By the Kremlin 70%. He gets a cut of all of it. All of it. He insists he earns just $140,000 a year as president. That he lives modestly in a in an apartment in central Moscow, and he has few other assets. But he’s a liar. He owns a fleet of luxury cars, dozens of private jets, palatial mega yachts, including one. It’s valued at $900 million. Mr. Producer. Like years. He’s got extraordinary designer wardrobe. He’s got millions of dollars worth of rare and high end watches. Experts claim his real estate holdings, as reported by News.com Australia, are in the billions, including a castle like mansion on the outskirts of Moscow that’s twice the size of Buckingham Palace. Various holding companies and associates are used to launder and mask his ownership of high priced areas across the globe. Including in the south of France and even New York City. I think he’s even richer than Qatar. But it’s pride and joy. And you can see this online if you Google it. His pride and joy is a sprawling billion dollar actually 2.08 billion over $2 billion estate. Can you imagine that, Mr. Minister? Overlooking the Black Sea. Boasting over. A dozen bedrooms, actually dozens of bedrooms. A private nightclub in the house, in the estate, in the castle, a casino. Think of all the personnel. An underground ice hockey rink, a movie theater, a wine vineyard. It’s an enormous property. Sitting on hundreds and hundreds of acres of manicured gardens has been dubbed Putin’s palace by critics. Again, the worth is said to be over $2 billion. Putin denies it’s his. But it says. The American-British financier. Bill Browder, co-founder of the investment firm Hermitage Capital, once invested heavily in Russia. Then he became a fierce critic of Putin. In an interview several years ago, he claimed the president’s wealth is worth multiples of what he’s claimed multiples. He said the wealth came as a result of extortion and massive theft from state funds. At the time. This is 2018. He estimated Putin’s net worth real worth at 200 billion American dollars. So it’s at least double that now. Putin being targeted as the richest man in the world. Not even close. I’ve got more on Putin on that spree Alaska meeting. We’ll be right back.
Segment 2
I’m going to get into what’s been going on, not just in Ukraine, in other parts of Europe, that border on Russia under Putin in a moment. But I want you to listen to these statistics. When you listen to this. This is from the Center for Strategic and International Studies. Now, these statistics are about seven or eight months old, so it’s worse since January 20, 24. Seven months ago. Russia has lost roughly 1149 armored fighting vehicles. 3098 infantry fighting vehicles, 300 self-propelled artillery and 1865 tanks. Even more noteworthy Russian equipment losses have been significantly higher than Ukrainian losses, varying between a ratio of 5 to 1 and 2 to 1 in Ukraine’s favor. Russian fatalities and casualties have been extraordinary. Russia will likely hit the 1 million casualty mark in the summer of 2025. It’s already hit 1 million casualties, a stunning and grisly milestone overall. A high of a quarter of a million Russian soldiers have died in Ukraine. A quarter of a million. A quarter of a million. In three and a half years. We lost about 50,000 North Korea. We lost almost 60,000 in Vietnam. Just think about these numbers. They’ve lost a quarter of a million. With over 950,000 total Russian casualties, a sign of Putin’s blatant disregard for his soldiers. To put these numbers into historic perspective, ready for this? Russia has suffered roughly five times as many fatalities in Ukraine as in all Russian and Soviet wars combined. Between the end of World War Two and the start of the full scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. In addition, Russian fatalities in Ukraine in just over three years are 15 times larger than the Soviet Union’s decade long war in Afghanistan and ten times larger than Russia’s 13 years of war in Chechnya. That’s stunning, Mr. British. Now, Ukrainian fatality rates are also high at between 60,000 and 100,000 Ukrainian soldiers killed. Still, that’s not a quarter of a million. Any total of 400,000 casualties which include both killed and wounded, 400,000, which is probably closer to 450 to 500000 today. And then the case of Russia, over a million. 1.5 million. Casualties. 1.5 million. With up to half a million killed. Of the 1.5 million. Again, I’m going to get into these these different steps and timelines that have led to the invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. But before we do this, this is why this book on power, I think, is so critical to understand. I just told you about Putin, his wealth, his power. He has literally murdered scores and scores hundreds of people like Stalin did. And he’s been there 25 years. 25 years. This is why the founding of this nation is so, so fantastic. And this is why people are pushing Marxism and Islamism must be rejected and must be fought. Because this is what happens. You could think about you could think about Owen. You can think about the Middle East with the Islamists. You could think about Castro and Maduro and Noriega. These are killers. These are power hungry people. And what separates them from us is our founding and power checking Power. As my book explains.
Segment 3
Okay ladies and gentlemen, more on Vladimir Putin. You know the State of the Union. You know how they talk like two days before? What’s going to be in it? What’s going to be on it? What can you remember? What was it? The State of the Union? No, you can’t. This is how modern news works. It’s ridiculous. It doesn’t work. It’s why people don’t like it. They turn it off. I’m telling you about Putin. The background about Putin. I can’t tell you anything about what’s going to happen tomorrow. Brother Brian, kill me. A very dear friend of mine who interviewed President Trump, President Trump said, I don’t know what’s going to happen tomorrow. We’ll see. The plan is, you know, I’ll have a meeting and see how that goes. If it goes well, then we’ll see what the president and then maybe we’ll have another meeting down the road with Zelensky and so forth. Okay. But that doesn’t require 3 hours to keep saying that. Does it matter? It is. So I don’t play those games and I’m not going to play those games, period. I’m on the air almost 25 years for a reason. Other people screw things up. I don’t screw things up. I know you. I know who you are. So let’s start somewhere near the beginning. Ever hear the Orange Revolution? No. No, not that. The Orange Revolution. Ukraine was long part of the Soviet Union, but it became independent in 1991. Like all the other captive nations are about 15 of them. It is geographically located between Russia and the rest of Europe. In 2000 for Viktor Yanukovych if a pro-Russian candidate won the election for president of Ukraine. But the election was known to be fraudulent because Putin interfered in it. Interfered with it. So this led to the people rising up called the Orange Revolution, massive protest, which in turn led to another election. This time they pro-Western candidate, Viktor Yushchenko. He won. Putin was furious. And he declared this second election a farce. Now while this is going on at the same time. Putin is sending. His militia. Into the Donbass area, Eastern Ukraine. They’re not wearing Russian uniforms, but he sent them in there. To try and foment a war, but also to try and cause eastern Ukraine to separate from the rest of Ukraine. Now, this was the Orange Revolution that I’m talking about. There’s more. In 1991, also, Georgia became independent from the collapsing Soviet Union and allied with the West. The 2008. South Ossetia. Part of Georgia was trying to break away from Georgia. Russia sent troops in to support the rebels. A war broke out between Russia and Georgia, which of course, Russia quickly won. The result, South Ossetia was recognized as head of its own country by Russia. So it took about a third of Georgia. It was trying to consume and devour about 20 25% of Ukraine, all on its western border. There was no pushback from the international community. None. Then there’s Crimea. You’ve heard of Crimea? In 2014. Putin was emboldened. We remember Ukrainian President Yanukovych. This was the guy that was supposed to be pro-Western while he was poised to sign an agreement with the European Union for formalizing an alliance with Europe. Not narrow, but with Europe economically. But he got cold feet and he backed out. Somebody’s got to. So the public in Ukraine became furious with his reversal. He was ousted as president and he fled to Russia. Putin had gotten some. In 2014. Then Putin invaded Crimea. Crimea, which is Ukrainian territory, and he annexed it. It’s strategically very, very important. Essentially sits in the Black Sea. There was no effective pushback. So there he is trying to take eastern Ukraine. There he is. He took 25, 30% of Georgia. There he is. He took 100% of Crimea, which was Ukrainian. And then he. He puts. Almost 200,000 soldiers on the border with Ukraine in 2022. And this is where everybody said he’ll never invade. He’ll never invade. And this is where Biden said, well, if he takes a little land, it’s okay. It triggered. A full scale invasion of Ukraine, as you know. So Putin used Russia paramilitary and covert military involvement in the Donbas region of eastern Ukraine, which led to. Not a full scale war, but a war in 2014. And then eight years later, February 2022, we launched this massive military invasion into Ukraine, he declared at a special military operation. He claimed Ukraine was controlled by neo-Nazis who are threatening Russia. He claimed that he was coming to the defense of the Russian population in eastern Ukraine. This time the world did condemn it. As you well know. I have a document in front of me from 2021 that I’ve discussed with you in the years past. By Vladimir Putin. Obviously, somebody else wrote it for him, but he wanted it written for him on the historical unity of Russians and Ukrainians, where he’s making the case on why Ukraine is actually Russian and all the Russian speaking people there. The ancient Russian language, actually. Pervade pervaded most of Europe, as a matter of fact. And in this document, he talks about Poland. Romania. Lithuania. In other. European countries said he felt really are Russian. And he’s making the case really that all of these areas are Russian and. Ukraine. It’s part of quote unquote, the Russian motherland. And his goal was to cut through Ukraine. You may have heard of this other country and then seize back parts of Poland, he said, and Romania. Naito countries. I didn’t say it. He said it. And by the way, in 2024, when he was. Giving a speech again for his next presidential candidacy. You know, they go through the motions, what I call these Potemkin democracies. He repeated it. You know, we ought to listen to these people. Him. G on Iran. It’s not like they’re hiding what they want to do. This is why I wrote this book on power. Everywhere you look, whether it’s internally here in the United States, whether it’s overseas ballots in your private activities. Let’s say some program directors said, you know, we got it. We want to know what Mark’s going to do today. And, you know, not only that, but we need him to do X, y, z, A, B, C, C, that’s a power move. And not a very wise one. This in an example, in your own lives, you have situations like that, perhaps. This is why I want you to read this book. You’re going to be more informed than anybody else. Remember we talked about Montesquieu, how important he was. They’re the people who wrote our Constitution and ratified it. He was the most widely read incited philosopher during America’s constitutional period. He’s referred to many times in the Federalist Papers in the spirit of the laws as great book. He explained that, quote, Democracy and aristocracy are not free states by their nature. Political liberty is found only in moderate governments. But it is not always in moderate states. It is present only when power is not abused, but it has eternally been observed that any man who has power is led to abuse it. He continues until he finds limits. This is Putin, is it not? He said. Who would think it? Even virtue has need of limits. So that one cannot abuse power. Power must check power by the arrangement of things. That sentence resonated with the people who wrote your Constitution and created this republic. Which would be completely rejected by a Putin. He said a constitution would be such that no one will be constrained to do the thing as the law does not oblige him to do or be kept from doing the things the law permits him to do. Montesquieu further warned that. Should the distinct nature of the branches of government, the three branches. Dissolve and transition from separation of powers to the concentration of powers. The result will be tyranny. You have tyranny throughout Russia, a brutal, genocidal tyranny. He said When legislative powers united with executive power, any single person or any single body of the majesty. There’s no liberty because one can fear that. The same monarch. In this case, Putin or Senate that makes tyrannical laws will execute them tyrannical. Look how brilliant this man was. 5 to 600 years ago. Nor is there liberty if the power of judging is not separate from the legislative power and from the executive power. If it were joined the legislative power, the power over and life and liberty of the citizens would be arbitrary. For the judge would be the legislator for joining the executive power. The judge could have the force of an oppressor. All would be lost. The same man or the same body of principal men, either of nobles or of the people Exercise these three powers that are making the laws that of executing public resolutions and that of judging the crimes or the disputes of individual. And notice to Matt discuss observation that tyranny is not unique solely to despots, but it also to be feared. In the form of groups and bodies and mobs, even legislatures. So there you have it. If you really want to understand Putin, if you really want to understand what’s going on in the world, if you really want to understand what it is that makes this country are so different and why we need to defend it from the mundane things and the rest. A very deep understanding of it, but a very easy read is is in the book on power. If you want to understand Putin where he’s a dictator, then he really want to understand it. And then you understand when Trump’s going into negotiations, what all this means. It really is. An important thing to understand. It really is. We’ll be right back.
Segment 4
Have a treat for your next hour, an exclusive one on one interview with the prime minister of Israel. And he’s talking about a lot of very interesting and crucial subjects, Gaza, things he discussed I never heard before. He addresses anti-Semitism. It addresses many other things. Now, I think it’ll probably be pushed aside as news. Given what’s going on tomorrow, even though today. There’s been no real news about what’s going on tomorrow. How could there be? But. I think you’ll find it interesting nonetheless. I certainly did, Mr. Producer did. I think you will, too. Again, I want to thank all of you who’ve acquired your copies of Warren Power. I know a lot of you have not. You can get it at Amazon.com. Any major retail store. Books-a-million Barnes and Noble, Sam’s Wal-Mart. It’s there. You can even get it at the airport at Hudson. And I know you’re going to love this book and you’ll probably cut through it in two or three days or sooner, even if you highlight it in dog hear it. And many of you will. I know you’re going to love it. We’ll be right back.