Shawn Ryan: Trump’s Betrayal, Iran, Government Spying, Encounters With Demons, and Finding God
Episode of The Tucker Carlson Show · July 24, 2026 · 1 h 54 min
Tucker Carlson talks with podcaster and former Navy SEAL Shawn Ryan about his disillusionment with politics, a harrowing ibogaine experience, spiritual conversion, surveillance, and the Iran war.
Summary
Shawn Ryan returned to The Tucker Carlson Show and said he never again wanted to involve himself in the U.S. political system or vouch for any politician, describing nearly every politician he had interviewed as lying, with Joe Kent and Eli Crane as rare exceptions. Carlson said he was reassessing his own support for Donald Trump, arguing Trump had joined the "Uniparty" by aligning with Chuck Schumer, and questioned whether a political solution existed.
Ryan described a spiritual transformation that followed an ibogaine and 5-MeO-DMT session in which he said he felt what hell was like, as well as ongoing encounters with evil for which he had consulted exorcists. He said he was returning to the Catholic Church, attending mass several times a week with his children, had quit social media, cannabis, alcohol, caffeine and nicotine, and planned a Bible-study series on his show. He recounted an earlier episode in Sedona involving a guard who seemed to read his mind and a text from the daughter of his late friend Dan Cirillo. Ryan said praise from his audience had inflated his ego and that he had chased metrics in the run-up to the presidential election.
The conversation turned to institutional dishonesty, including Ryan's account, drawn from Delta Force veteran Pete Blaber, that intelligence justifying the Iraq invasion misidentified a water truck and an air conditioner as WMD infrastructure. Carlson argued that nations survive decline only if they remain coherent peoples with self-respect, contrasting Russia with Britain and Germany, and expressed concern about immigration and demographic change in the United States.
Ryan discussed his interview with Pete Hegseth, which preceded Hegseth's nomination as Secretary of Defense, criticized the renaming to the Department of War, and said service members he knew believed the Iran war was being fought for Israel. He argued the war had turned Iran into a global power through its control of the Strait of Hormuz and that gas prices would not come back down. He also described the Glacier privacy app his company launched, and said he sees a religious resurgence among younger people and his special-operations peers.
Chapters
- 0:05
Disillusionment with politics
Ryan says he will never again vouch for a politician, and Carlson questions his own support for Trump.
- 4:20
Obsession with evil and a glimpse of hell
Ryan describes how exposing evil and receiving praise affected him, and his ibogaine experience of hell.
- 17:48
Lies in the military and the Iraq invasion
Ryan recounts Pete Blaber's story of misread intelligence before the Iraq War and lies within the SEAL teams.
- 26:17
Encounters, faith as fact, and the Bible project
Ryan says encounters with evil forces and work with exorcists have made God a fact to him.
- 36:56
Great powers in decline
Carlson argues national coherence and self-respect determine whether a declining power survives, citing Russia, Britain and Germany.
- 45:48
Ego, praise and the podcasting business
Ryan discusses chasing metrics and a Rogan-sized deal, quitting social media, and missing time with his children.
- 1:00:46
The Sedona experience
Ryan recounts a mind-reading guard, a look-alike of his late friend Gabe, and a text from Dan Cirillo's daughter.
- 1:15:45
Quitting vices and the phone as forbidden fruit
Ryan explains giving up substances and social media, and the two discuss the Apple logo as a symbol of forbidden knowledge.
- 1:22:12
Surveillance and the Glacier app
Ryan explains how paranoia about being monitored led to his privacy app venture.
- 1:32:09
Hegseth, Fox News and the Iran war
Ryan discusses his Hegseth interview, criticizes Fox News and U.S. trade policy toward Canada, and argues the Iran war empowered Iran.
- 1:42:10
Troop morale and veterans' views
Ryan says service members believe they are fighting for Israel and many GWOT veterans feel betrayed.
- 1:47:31
Religious revival
Ryan describes taking his children to mass and a turn toward spiritual warfare among special operators.
Key points
What was said, by whom, with the exact words. Timestamps jump to the moment.
- Shawn Ryan
Ryan says he has learned he never wants to involve himself in the U.S. political system or vouch for any politician again.
“I've learned I never want to involve myself in the U.S. political system or vouch for any man again”
- Tucker Carlson
Carlson says Trump, whom he campaigned for as an alternative to the Uniparty, ended up aligning with Chuck Schumer and joining it.
“Trump, the last hope, winds up aligning with Chuck Schumer and just joins the Uniparty in the most obvious way”
- Shawn Ryan
Ryan says an ibogaine and 5-MeO session left him with a feeling of what hell is like, which he never wants to experience again.
“I just got back from a Ibogaine 5-MeO experience. Didn't go great. Found hell. Hell. Hell”
- Shawn Ryan
Ryan relays Pete Blaber's account that Delta Force identified supposed WMD imagery as a water truck, an air conditioner, and a man urinating, and that this was ignored before the invasion.
“that's a water truck, huge water truck, because they're in the middle of the desert and they need water”
- Shawn Ryan
Ryan says he has worked with respected exorcists and experienced frightening events that he considers proof of God's existence.
“I've talked to some of the most respected exorcists in the country and I've been working with them and things have happened and like really scary shit”
- Shawn Ryan
Ryan says belief in God is no longer faith but fact for him.
“Yeah, it's not faith to me anymore. It's fact. It is 100% fact”
- Tucker Carlson
Carlson argues that long-term national survival requires a coherent nation with shared history and culture, plus dignity and self-respect.
“There are only two things you need to survive long-term in my opinion. One is a coherent nation”
- Tucker Carlson
Carlson relays a Midwestern industrial employer's claim that factories cannot find enough English-speaking workers and a competitor is going out of business over labor shortages.
“there just aren't enough english speakers in the united states to staff a factory”
Listen from 43:08 · Illegal immigration to the United States
Linked moment · 49:46Skip to 49:46 using a listen link in the info box.
Shawn RyanRyan says that in the year leading up to the last presidential election he leaned into his audience and was driven by praise and metrics.
“I leaned into the audience there for about probably a little over a year, like leading up to the last presidential election”
- Shawn Ryan
Ryan says psychedelics open a forbidden realm and that he received strict guidance from God not to use them anymore.
“you're just in a forbidden realm that maybe we should or should not be fucking around in. But I won't be fucking around in that realm anymore”
- Shawn Ryan
Ryan claims many VPN companies advertised by podcasters are secretly owned by China, Israel or Russia.
“a lot of the VPN companies that podcasters are representing are owned by China or they're owned by Israel or they're owned by Russia”
- Shawn RyanPrediction · being checked
Ryan says the Glacier app is iOS-only for now, with an Android version planned within a couple of months.
“It's just for iOS right now. We'll have Android out in a couple months”
- Shawn Ryan
Ryan believes his interview with Pete Hegseth influenced Hegseth's selection as Secretary of Defense five days after its release.
“Now, I'm not saying, like, I'm the guy. But for that one, that interview definitely had some influence”
- Shawn Ryan
Ryan argues erratic U.S. trade policy toward Canada, including escalating tariffs, makes the U.S. an unreliable partner.
“if I was a foreign country, there's no way in fucking hell I would do business with the United States”
- Shawn Ryan
Ryan argues Fox News, like other outlets, hides the full picture on subjects such as the Epstein files and the Iran war.
“They're hiding the full picture of the Epstein files. They're hiding the full picture of everything. The Iran war”
- Tucker Carlson
Carlson argues U.S. leaders keep the country perpetually at war to distract from their own bad leadership.
“identifying a foreign threat or foreign enemy or something to worry about far away removes attention from our own bad leadership”
- Shawn Ryan
Ryan argues the U.S. failure to stop Iran's control of the Strait of Hormuz means gas prices will not come back down and has made Iran a global power.
“hello, new gas prices, like they're not fucking coming back down. We just turned Iran into”
- Shawn Ryan
Ryan says special operators he knows believe they are fighting for Israel rather than the United States, which he says harms morale.
“Everybody knows what this is. Everybody knows they're fighting for Israel. It's a joke”
- Shawn Ryan
Ryan says that as a deployed SEAL he resented liberal Democrats criticizing the war but now concludes they were right.
“the only gripe was coming home and listening to all the liberal Democrats bitching about the war. Turns out they were right the whole fucking time”
- Shawn Ryan
Ryan says many veterans in his special-operations community are now turning to spiritual warfare.
“there's just so many of us that are diving into spiritual warfare and learning about it”
People
In the conversation
- Tucker CarlsonConservative broadcaster cited as part of right-wing media
- Shawn RyanFormer U.S. Navy SEAL and CIA contractor, host of the Shawn Ryan Show
Discussed
- Donald TrumpPresident of the United States whose conduct of the Iran war is the episode's main subject
- Chuck SchumerSenate Democratic leader
- Joe KentFormer U.S. official who resigned and disputed stated motives for the Iran conflict
- Eli CraneArizona congressman and former Navy SEAL
- Pete BlaberRetired U.S. Army Delta Force commander, author of The Mission, The Men, and Me and The Common Sense Way, later a biotech executive
- Colin PowellU.S. Secretary of State who presented satellite imagery on Iraqi WMD to the UN in February 2003
- Pete HegsethU.S. Secretary of Defense overseeing the Iran campaign
- Tyler Andrew Vargas-AndrewsU.S. Marine wounded in the Abbey Gate bombing in Kabul
- Ryan MontgomeryEthical hacker mentioned by Kelly as a source on Wi-Fi hacking
- Joe RoganAmerican comedian and host of The Joe Rogan Experience
- Tom SatterlyRetired Delta Force operator who served in Somalia
- Vladimir PutinPresident of Russia
Topics
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From the publisher
Shawn Ryan on Trump’s betrayal and his own spiritual transformation. (00:00) The Lies of Politicians (03:20) Shawn Ryan's Spiritual Transformation (18:02) How Shawn's View on Christianity Has Changed (37:34) Has America Lost Its Place as the Global Superpower? (1:20:14) How Your Phone Enslaves You Shawn Ryan is a former Navy SEAL, a former CIA Contractor, owner of Vigilance Elite, and host of The Shawn Ryan Show (https://www.youtube.com/@ShawnRyanShow). Paid partnerships with: Curativa Bay: Take your health back into your own hands. Get 15% off at CurativaBay.com/Tucker VanMan: Use code TUCKER for 15% off your first order at http://vanman.shop/tuckerDutch: Use code TUCKER for $50 off your vet care at https://dutch.com/tucker Carnivore Bar: Use code TUCKER for 15% off your first order of the Everyday Bar at https://carnivorebar.com/tucker Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Summary, chapters and key points were generated from the episode transcript on September 30, 2026. Quotes are checked word for word against the transcript.