‘Oh My God’: Dr. Phil Shows Trump a Document That Gets His Attention
Dr. Phil McGraw, well-known for his daytime TV presence, recently presented former President Donald Trump with a map highlighting farmland purchased by Chinese companies connected to the Beijing government. These acquisitions are strategically situated near American military installations.
During an extended interview in July—prior to President Joe Biden’s decision to step back from his reelection bid, effectively endorsing Vice President Kamala Harris as his successor—McGraw showcased the map, which revealed numerous Chinese farmland purchases close to critical military sites across the United States.
“They’re surrounding our military bases. We’ve allowed that to take place,” McGraw said. “You may come in and inherit all of this, and it may get worse.”
Trump acknowledged the significance of foreign investment in the U.S. but expressed concern over the substantial amount of land being purchased. He remarked that it’s “a lot of activity around those nuclear sites, to put it mildly.”
WATCH:
An exclusive report from the New York Post this week highlighted the extent of the issue:
China has been acquiring farmland near strategically important military installations across the U.S., raising serious national security concerns about potential espionage or sabotage.
The Post identified 19 military bases across the country, from Florida to Hawaii, that are located near land purchased by Chinese entities. These sites could potentially be exploited by spies working for the Chinese government.
These bases include some of the U.S. military’s most crucial sites: Fort Liberty (formerly Fort Bragg) in Fayetteville, North Carolina; Fort Cavazos (formerly Fort Hood) in Killeen, Texas; Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton in San Diego, California, and MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa, Florida.
Robert S. Spalding III, a retired United States Air Force brigadier general specializing in U.S.-China relations, told The Post, “It is concerning due to the proximity to strategic locations.”
He further explained, “These locations can be used to set up intelligence collection sites, and the owners can be influential in local politics, as we have seen in the past. It is alarming that we do not have laws on the books to prevent the Chinese from buying property in the U.S.”
Under the guise of farming, these Chinese landowners could establish surveillance sites, deploy tracking technology, and use radar and infrared scanning to monitor military bases or even attempt to fly drones over them, sources informed The Post.
A report from the Wall Street Journal in September 2023 disclosed that Chinese intruders have tried to breach U.S. military facilities over 100 times in recent years. These incidents include attempts to infiltrate a missile range in New Mexico and sightings of scuba divers near a government rocket launch site in Florida.
The threat posed by the Chinese government to the U.S. is substantial, with the FBI labeling it as a “grave threat.” FBI Director Christopher Wray warned in April that hackers have gained access to critical U.S. infrastructure and are waiting for the “right moment to deal a devastating blow” and “physically wreak havoc.”
The Department of Homeland Security has also expressed concerns about Chinese spies potentially infiltrating the U.S. through the Southern border, blending in with the over 30,000 individuals who have been admitted since October of last year. These spies may engage in “economic espionage” and seek to “illicitly acquire our technologies and intellectual property,” according to DHS’s Homeland Threat Assessment 2024. However, President Joe Biden has not altered his border policies, and Vice President Kamala Harris, appointed by Biden to address illegal crossings, has yet to propose any solutions.
Morgan Lerette, a former contractor for the private military company Blackwater, is sounding the alarm.
“The Chinese are, or will, use this farmland to learn more about U.S. military capabilities, movements, and technology,” Lerette told The Post.
“This will allow them to better understand how to transition their military from a defensive strategy to an expeditionary one,” he continued, adding that they’ll figure out “how to move forces quickly for conflicts such as taking Taiwan and how and when U.S. forces would respond to their incursions based on troop movement at these bases.”