The Daily Signal - They Hyped Iranian Drones—Trump Warns the Terror Threat Is Already Here | Drew Allen

Episode Date: March 17, 2026

A confidential FBI alert about a possible, unverified Iranian drone attack on California quickly faded after officials downplayed it. But the episode exposed far greater risks from embedded terrorists shielded by Gov. Gavin Newsom’s sanctuary policies, lax border enforcement and reflexive anti-Trump posturing—threats that recent incidents and historical precedents show are already here and growing. The real danger is not from some far-off drone. It is from adversaries already here, protected by sanctuary policies and years of weak borders. California’s own history is a warning: 2015, San Bernardino: Fourteen people were murdered by a radicalized immigrant couple inspired by Islamist extremism. 2001, San Diego: 9/11 hijackers Nawaf al-Hazmi and Khalid al-Mihdhar lived openly in the Golden State for months, receiving guidance at local mosques and planning their attack right under authorities’ noses. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

When West Jet first took flight in 1996, the vibes were a bit different. People thought denim on denim was peak fashion, inline skates were everywhere, and two out of three women rocked, the Rachel. While those things stayed in the 90s, one thing that hasn't is that fuzzy feeling you get when WestJet welcomes you on board. Here's to Westjetting since 96. Travel back in time with us and actually travel with us at westjet.com slash 30 years. On Wednesday night, David Muir sat behind the ABC World News Tonight desk and delivered what sounded like a nightmare coming true.

He reported that the FBI had warned California law enforcement about intelligence showing Iran might be planning to launch surprise drone attack. Fired from an unidentified ship off our coast, targeting locations right here in California. For millions of viewers, that was terrifying. But here's the problem. It wasn't true. And after the White House called them out, ABC quietly added an editor's note

and updated the story with the full FBI version. Why would a major network like ABC present a flimsy, unconfirmed tip as if it were a clear and present danger. What does that tell us about how exposed we are to actual homegrown threats that have been quietly building for years under open borders and sanctuary policies? Jordan. Jordan. Yeah. Why'd you come to Egypt?

Why'd you come to America? For a joke. How many potential terrorists are already hiding in sanctuary California? How many potential terrorists are already hiding in sanctuary California? On Wednesday night, David Muir sat behind the ABC World News Tonight desk and delivered what sounded like a nightmare coming true. He reported that the FBI had warned California law enforcement about intelligence showing Iran might be planning to launch surprise drone attacks. Drones fired from an unidentified ship off our coast targeting locations right here in California is retaliation for U.S. strikes in the war. For millions of viewers, that was terrifying.

The idea of Iranian drones slipping in from the Pacific, hitting American soil in cities during an active war, it felt like the conflict had finally arrived at our doorstep. It was imminent. But here's the problem, and it's rather significant. It wasn't true. Not in any real substantiated sense. The very bullet in ABC was quoting contained the critical line. They either buried or omitted altogether. We recently acquired unverified information.

We have no additional information on the timing method, target, or perpetrators of this alleged attack. Unverified, no details, no evidence of any active plot. Within hours, California officials, Governor Newsom, Mayor Lurie, local leaders, they were all saying the same thing. There was no imminent threat. Stay calm, everybody. It's unverified. It's nonspecific. The Trump administration was blunter.

Press Secretary Caroline Levick called it one email about a single, unverified tip. President Trump himself said he wasn't worried about Iran-backed attacks here at home, not like that. No, I'm not, he said. He pointed instead to the real danger. Iranian sleeper cells already inside the country, thanks to border failures from previous administrations. And after the White House called them out, ABC quietly added an editor's note and updated the story with the full FBI version, but the initial broadcast had already done its damage. why would a major network like ABC present a flimsy unconfirmed tip as if it were a clear and present danger? Why pump fear into American living rooms when the facts didn't support it?

Hmm. Yet even sloppy partisan reporting can stumble into a real question. If a flimsy unconfirmed whisper about foreign retaliation can explode into national headlines overnight, What does that tell us about how exposed we are to actual homegrown threats that have been quietly building for years under open borders and sanctuary policies? And that brings us to something even more disturbing. The steady erosion of trust in leaders who can't even handle crises we see coming. Look at the Palisades fire in California on January 7, 2025. We had extreme Santa Ana winds, bone dry conditions.

Everybody knew this was coming. 12 people are dead. More than 6,800 homes and buildings are gone across nearly 23,000 acres, thousands forced out. Hydrants went dry because local tanks were empty and the huge 118 million gallons Santa Anaes reservoir had been offline for over a year. Routine maintenance. After action reports laid it out. Disorganized command, communication breakdowns, no real pre-deployment, even though the forecasts screamed danger. and, of course, years of neglect on brush clearance and vegetation in high-risk zones. Veteran fire officials testified before a Senate Homeland Security hearing that leadership let earlier fires burn unchecked, ran without unified command, and put other priorities ahead of prevention.

And if California leaders, if they couldn't keep people safe from a wildfire we've known about for decades, how are we supposed to believe their promises of perfect coordination when it comes to terrorism? More importantly, Governor Newsom has made a habit of putting Californians at risk just to signal he's against Trump. Even when Trump's moves could actually help the state by closing border holes or keeping energy stable, Newsom called the strikes on Iran illegal. He called them dangerous. He called them a manufactured crisis. He blamed them for gas prices going up. But of course, he offered zero plan to protect Californians from the fallout, even though those strikes hit a regime that threatens us here. Newsom's turned California into a self-proclaimed bullwork against Trump.

Expanding sanctuary rules, suing the feds over immigration enforcement, refusing to cooperate on border security. Critics say these moves shield potential threats and sabotage national counterterrorism. It's political theater over real safety. He's leaving Californians more vulnerable to exactly the internal dangers the Trump administration keeps warning about and is trying to protect us from. The real danger is not from some far off drone. It's the adversary's already here protected by sanctuary policies and years of weak borders. California has more undocumented immigrants than anywhere else. About 2.25 million by the latest estimates.

Under the Biden administration, terror watch list encounters at the southern border exploded. 169 caught in fiscal year 2023, up 10 times from 2021. That's only the ones we caught. Congress estimates roughly 2 million known gotaways nationwide since fiscal year 2021. And that number is probably low. I mean, how many of them disappear into California City, suburbs, and rural counties. The recent arrest tell the story.

Eight Tajik nationals tied to ISIS picked up in 2024, one living in Los Angeles after sneaking across, an Afghan on the watch list detained near San Diego in 2023, Yemeni watch list cases in California back in 2021. The FBI has been warning about possible Iranian sleeper cell activation after the recent strikes. Hezbollah operatives, radicalized lone wolves, they could be hiding in our ports, Silicon Valley, packed urban neighborhoods, sanctuary laws like. SB 54 in California,

stop state and local police from working with ICE on detainers, even when it's someone with potential terror links. We keep expanding benefits like full Medi-Cal for undocumented residents, while DHS is begging for custody of over 33,000 criminal aliens sitting in state prisons, murderers, sex offenders, serious felons. These policies put risks right back on our streets, and they undercut federal counterterrorism. Our own history in California is a warning.

2015 San Bernardino, 14 murdered by a radicalized immigrant couple inspired by Islamist extremism. The 9-11 hijackers, Nawaf al-Hasmi and Khalid al-Mintar, lived openly in San Diego for months, getting guidance at local mosques, planning right under our noses.

California's density, our economic power, our landmarks, Hollywood, Golden Gate Bridge, they make us a prime target, especially now with campus activism, Iranian proxies, and rising radicalization and anti-Semitism. And look at just the past few weeks. March 12th, naturalized U.S. citizen, Iman Mohamed Mohammad Ghazali, born in Lebanon, came here in 2011 on a spouse visa. He got citizenship in 2016 under Obama. He just rammed a vehicle loaded with a rifle and mortar explosives into Temple Israel Synagogue in Michigan. He crashed through the door,

started a fire, injured a guard. Security, thank God, shot him. dead. Relatives killed in a recent Israeli strike in Lebanon may have set him off, we're told, but it's targeted terrorism from someone who's been a citizen for a decade. March 7th, New York City, two young guys through TAP-Laced IEDs, improvised explosive devices at anti-Muslim protesters outside Gracie Mansion. The devices didn't fully go off, but authorities called it ISIS-inspired. One yelled ISIS when arrested. The other admitted pledging allegiance and warning mass casualties, homegrown radicalization right in the middle of the Iran conflict. You know, the exact number is impossible to know, and that's exactly what makes it so terrifying. Watchlist data shows

hundreds of known risks. Godaways mean the real numbers much higher, of course. In wartime, a single encrypted signal could wake up dormant terror cells. The claim that unrestricted migration brings only cultural and economic benefits ignores the harsh realities of terrorism. and radicalized individuals already embedded here. Some naturalized. Some slipped through. Most of them shielded by sanctuary policies. It dismisses the mounting evidence of threats,

watch list encounters, God-Away's recent arrests, historical attacks like San Bernardino and 9-11 planning in San Diego, and of course the current wave of incidents tied to the Iran conflict. God forbid a terrorist attack hits the Golden State. But if it does, responsibility, responsibility lands squarely on the Biden administration, on Democrats, and on Gavin Newsom. When will Democrats wake up and see that their Trump derangement syndrome, open borders, and sanctuary policies are putting actual American lives in danger?

Enough is enough. In California, for one, repeal SB 54, secure the border, put citizens safety first, demand leaders who prevent disasters instead of reacting to them. In the 2026 gubernatorial race, Californians need to reject the policies that created this vulnerability. The question is no longer just how many. It's when will they act? California and the nation can't afford to become the next preventable tragedy. Getting ready for a game means being ready for anything. Like packing a spare stick. I like to be prepared. That's why remember 988 Canada's suicide crisis helpline. It's good to know just in case. Anyone can call or text for free confidential support from a train responder anytime.

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