The Book of Trump Chapter 33: Warfighting

Ghost welcomes retired Army Lt. Colonel Oakland McCulloch back for a deep dive into the Marine Corps manual FM1 Warfighting and its lessons for both kinetic and information warfare. They explore timeless principles like friction, uncertainty, fluidity, and disorder, showing how simple plans, decentralized decision-making, and adaptability are as critical in today’s information battles as they are on the battlefield.

Colonel McCulloch shares insights from his time in Kosovo, where diplomacy, economics, and psychological operations proved more effective than bullets, and explains how concepts like the OODA loop, surprise, boldness, and tempo apply far beyond the military. With examples from World War II, the Gulf War, and modern geopolitics, the conversation illustrates how maneuver warfare, striking weakness instead of strength, reinforcing success, and exploiting opportunity, remains the key to victory. Together, Ghost and McCulloch connect battlefield strategy to Trump’s political maneuvers, the cultural struggle in America, and the broader war for sovereignty.