Ex-Trump advisor Steve Bannon warns of 'invasion,' urges ban on Islamic law in Texas

By Ian M. Giatti, Christian Post Reporter Wednesday, January 14, 2026

Former White House adviser Steve Bannon is warning Texas of what he called an “invasion” of Islamists that he contends are hurting Western society. 

Bannon, 72, gave a speech at the all-day “Save Texas From Radical Islam” conference at the Gaylord Texan Resort last Friday. The former strategist for President Donald Trump used the platform to frame the state as a symbolic and strategic linchpin in a looming ideological conflict with Western civilization.

"You've got a booming economy, you've got great people. But even more important than that is what Texas stands for in the world," Bannon said, sharing what he gleaned from his time as a former Navy officer and then later as an executive with Goldman Sachs.  

“Japan, Korea, France, in partnerships and deals, there's two brands they ask about,” he said. “One is Harvard, because all want to get their kids in … the other is Texas."

Organized by the Republican Party of Texas and Bannon's WarRoom platform, and sponsored by Patriot Mobile, the conference drew a capacity crowd of 750 attendees at the Gaylord, with over 1,000 additional ticket requests reported. The event featured keynote speaker and The Blaze founder Glenn Beck, along with about 150 grassroots leaders from nearly two dozen conservative groups.

In his speech, Bannon pointed to Texas’ mythic status as the “central event” of the founding of America.

“They all watch cowboy movies; they've all watched the westerns,” he said. “They all talk about it because here you took the common man, and in a relatively desolate place, you built a culture and society that drove the greatest power on earth into the 20th century."

"You don't think they don't know that in Qatar and Saudi Arabia and UAE and Turkey and all of it?" he asked. "That's why the invasion is here."

He claimed that the "invasion of Western civilization" is underway, saying "they've taken" cities like Amsterdam, Paris and London "without a fight." 

Far from striking a conciliatory tone, his speech drew on what he saw as parallels to the consequences of unchecked mass immigration from London to New York City, which Bannon said has “fallen" 25 years after the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks with the election of Mayor Zohran Mamdani.

“Could you imagine 25 years after that we have a Ugandan Marxist jihadist, and they gave it up without a fight?” said Bannon. “The greatest civilization in the world and the greatest parts of that civilization, Amsterdam, Paris, London, they've gone without a fight."

Bannon said he expects impending civil unrest in those and other European cities, and warned attendees about “civil war in the streets” if current trends continue — a development, he said, he does not expect to transpire in Texas, particularly on the subject of sharia, or Islamic law.

He highlighted Proposition 10, a 2026 primary ballot proposition from the Texas GOP that would be a non-binding measure encouraging the prohibition of sharia, one of 10 propositions from Texas Republicans on the March 3 ballot.

“The elites let this go forever, and that is what they are trying to do in Texas,” he said. "Now here is the good news: On March 3, we have a voice in what happens here. On the third of March, sharia law goes on the ballot in the state of Texas."

The “War Room” host also praised Gov. Greg Abbott, a Republican, for designating the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) a terrorist organization and linked broader concerns to figures like George Soros, claiming connections to a "red-green alliance" of what he called “neo-Marxists and jihadists.”

While Bannon’s speech coincided with plans to host his “War Room” program from Texas for the entire month of February, there’s been speculation that he could be positioning himself for a possible 2028 presidential run or even a position of influence in the constitutionally improbable event of a third presidential term for President Trump.