Ben Hodges
Appearances
Consider This from NPR
The fate of Ukraine hangs in the balance as Trump sides with Russia
All of our allies and friends in Eastern Europe, they are just amazed that we still continue to believe that somehow Russia has good intentions and they just want to be a normal, responsible country. The Russians have not stepped away from their original objective of destroying Ukraine as a state or destroying the idea of Ukraine as a state. Consider this.
Consider This from NPR
The fate of Ukraine hangs in the balance as Trump sides with Russia
The United States has an embarrassing record of naivety, of somehow thinking that they could figure out the Russians and work with them like they were some sort of normal country.
The President's Daily Brief
PDB Situation Report | May 31st, 2025: 50,000 Russian Troops Amass On Ukraine’s Border & No End in Sight for Gaza
And they are going to invest a lot of money in Ukrainian defense industry, particularly on helping Ukrainians develop their own long range precision strike capability. So whenever this aid looks like this is a positive thing that I think Europeans know they have to do it for their own security is this is not charity for Ukraine. Mm hmm.
The President's Daily Brief
PDB Situation Report | May 31st, 2025: 50,000 Russian Troops Amass On Ukraine’s Border & No End in Sight for Gaza
Well, thanks for the privilege, Mike.
The President's Daily Brief
PDB Situation Report | May 31st, 2025: 50,000 Russian Troops Amass On Ukraine’s Border & No End in Sight for Gaza
Well, once again, you put your finger on an important point. The Ukrainians, by the way, I don't think any serious people will show up in Istanbul from Ukraine on Monday. They know Russia better than we ever will. And they know that the Russians actually have zero interest in a real set of negotiations.
The President's Daily Brief
PDB Situation Report | May 31st, 2025: 50,000 Russian Troops Amass On Ukraine’s Border & No End in Sight for Gaza
And, of course, Ukrainians also know that the Russians cannot be trusted, would never live up to any agreement. That's why they've insisted there has to be a ceasefire. before you can get to real negotiations. So, all the talking, everything that's been going on so far, that's just to try and get to a ceasefire of some sort.
The President's Daily Brief
PDB Situation Report | May 31st, 2025: 50,000 Russian Troops Amass On Ukraine’s Border & No End in Sight for Gaza
And the Russians have made it clear they will not do a ceasefire until they get some kind of deal in place. Well, that's the exact opposite side of this. And so, I think people are realizing this is going to go on a lot longer. I do anticipate, at least what I read today, that what the German government is planning on doing, that there will be output, let's say, before the end of this year.
The President's Daily Brief
PDB Situation Report | May 31st, 2025: 50,000 Russian Troops Amass On Ukraine’s Border & No End in Sight for Gaza
Some new capabilities that are perhaps already in the works, but this economic boost from Germany and maybe even some technology boosts. And of course, that's why the Russians immediately threatened Germany. They said, well, obviously the Ukrainians can't do this without Germany. So if they do, they will have to strike Berlin. That's a big, giant, fat, empty, empty threat.
The President's Daily Brief
PDB Situation Report | May 31st, 2025: 50,000 Russian Troops Amass On Ukraine’s Border & No End in Sight for Gaza
But it has worked in the past, these kinds of threats.
The President's Daily Brief
PDB Situation Report | May 31st, 2025: 50,000 Russian Troops Amass On Ukraine’s Border & No End in Sight for Gaza
Well, another drunken stupor by Medvedev, who they try out about every two weeks to threaten nuclear war and all that, because he knows that, frankly, during the Biden administration, the Biden administration was very susceptible to these threats of nuclear war, as were several European countries, particularly Germany. Now you've got new leadership in Germany that is not shaken by this. And
The President's Daily Brief
PDB Situation Report | May 31st, 2025: 50,000 Russian Troops Amass On Ukraine’s Border & No End in Sight for Gaza
Well, I have to say I'm skeptical. There may be a lot of troops there, and certainly the Russians would like to try and get momentum somehow. But as General Cavoli said a month ago in his testimony to the House and Senate Arts Services Committee, Russia is losing momentum. On the battlefield, they have demonstrated they do not have the ability to knock Ukraine out of the war.
The President's Daily Brief
PDB Situation Report | May 31st, 2025: 50,000 Russian Troops Amass On Ukraine’s Border & No End in Sight for Gaza
I imagine that the Trump White House also is not moved by the nuclear threats.
The President's Daily Brief
PDB Situation Report | May 31st, 2025: 50,000 Russian Troops Amass On Ukraine’s Border & No End in Sight for Gaza
So I think he will only sit down when he realized what he's forced to when he realizes they are either going to lose or there's no way that they can win. You know, his economy is being propped up right now. It's on a somebody called it a sugar high of defense investment, which is not a sustainable way to do it.
The President's Daily Brief
PDB Situation Report | May 31st, 2025: 50,000 Russian Troops Amass On Ukraine’s Border & No End in Sight for Gaza
And then so if we would go after their oil and gas industry in such a way so that they could not export to India and China, then they would not be able to pay for what they're doing. So the economic pressure would be enormous. And I think that kind of pressure is what it's really going to take, using our economic power.
The President's Daily Brief
PDB Situation Report | May 31st, 2025: 50,000 Russian Troops Amass On Ukraine’s Border & No End in Sight for Gaza
That's us working with Europe, working with the Saudis and others, so you can manipulate the market and severely damage the Russian side. I think it's only going to be that or... With a commitment by the United States and European countries, we're going to help Ukraine win. My business, we're with you for as long as it takes, BS, but we're going to help them win. And here you go.
The President's Daily Brief
PDB Situation Report | May 31st, 2025: 50,000 Russian Troops Amass On Ukraine’s Border & No End in Sight for Gaza
We're putting as many attack guns, javelins, artillery, everything you could possibly use. It's coming. then I think Putin would realize, and the people around him would realize, okay, we're never going to, we've got to get out of here somehow. I think that's the only way. What does it look like a year from now? Obviously, it depends on what the U.S. does and what Europe does.
The President's Daily Brief
PDB Situation Report | May 31st, 2025: 50,000 Russian Troops Amass On Ukraine’s Border & No End in Sight for Gaza
I think if nothing changes, I think we'll be about where we are right now come December.
The President's Daily Brief
PDB Situation Report | May 31st, 2025: 50,000 Russian Troops Amass On Ukraine’s Border & No End in Sight for Gaza
They can only kill innocent people with their attacks at nighttime on cities, but they don't have the land power. And certainly they're not integrated with air power supporting land operations the way we would. So while they may have a bunch of troops, I don't think they have a lot of equipment. So I'm skeptical that this is going to be some breakthrough kind of point in the war.
The President's Daily Brief
PDB Situation Report | May 31st, 2025: 50,000 Russian Troops Amass On Ukraine’s Border & No End in Sight for Gaza
Well, I mean, you could imagine that there are villages or places where the Russians may gain a thousand meters or two kilometers or something like that. But when you go back to where they were, I mean, frankly, today, the situation on the ground is not one bit better for the Russians than it was before 22 February or about the time that they launched their large-scale invasion.
The President's Daily Brief
PDB Situation Report | May 31st, 2025: 50,000 Russian Troops Amass On Ukraine’s Border & No End in Sight for Gaza
And yet since that time, they've lost close to 900,000 casualties. They are using museum pieces for armored vehicles. They've got soldiers attacking in golf carts and scooters. So I think that they can still put lots of troops on the ground, but these are not going to be well trained and they're not going to be part of a mobile armored formation that can penetrate Ukrainian defenses.
The President's Daily Brief
PDB Situation Report | May 31st, 2025: 50,000 Russian Troops Amass On Ukraine’s Border & No End in Sight for Gaza
Now, I don't want to overstate this. For the Ukrainians, obviously, on the receiving end of these attacks, they're getting pounded with drones and artillery and rockets. And it's still a very, very difficult close fight. But I try to think... more broadly about what's going on. And here we are after 11 years with Russia having every advantage. They still cannot knock Ukraine out of the war.
The President's Daily Brief
PDB Situation Report | May 31st, 2025: 50,000 Russian Troops Amass On Ukraine’s Border & No End in Sight for Gaza
Their air force has still not gotten their superiority. The Black Sea Fleet, nobody even talks about it anymore.
The President's Daily Brief
PDB Situation Report | May 31st, 2025: 50,000 Russian Troops Amass On Ukraine’s Border & No End in Sight for Gaza
Well, you've put your finger on it. The decisive part of this war now is what's going on inside Putin's head. He obviously doesn't care about casualties. That's not his concern. And this war is not going to be won because the Ukrainians finally killed a million or a million plus Russians killed or wounded them. And they'll probably hit that million number by the end of the summer.
The President's Daily Brief
PDB Situation Report | May 31st, 2025: 50,000 Russian Troops Amass On Ukraine’s Border & No End in Sight for Gaza
It's as long as Putin thinks that he can win.
The President's Daily Brief
PDB Situation Report | May 31st, 2025: 50,000 Russian Troops Amass On Ukraine’s Border & No End in Sight for Gaza
which means as long as he believes that the West is not going to actually give Ukraine what's needed, support Ukraine with what's needed, both in terms of real support, but also the West using its economic power to wreck Russia's oil and gas industry, and especially if he sees or believes that the United States under this administration is not going to help,
The President's Daily Brief
PDB Situation Report | May 31st, 2025: 50,000 Russian Troops Amass On Ukraine’s Border & No End in Sight for Gaza
And I think he keeps on going because he has never backed away from any of his stated objectives. He still doesn't recognize Zelensky or refuses to recognize President Zelensky as a legitimate leader. The Russians have zero interest in actually coming to a negotiated settlement. So as long as he thinks he can win, he'll keep doing this.
The President's Daily Brief
PDB Situation Report | May 31st, 2025: 50,000 Russian Troops Amass On Ukraine’s Border & No End in Sight for Gaza
This is just more nonsensical noise from the Kremlin. They're not interested in actually having a conversation. And you see what they're doing. And so far, our president has been completely reluctant to do anything that causes pain or problems for the Russians.
The President's Daily Brief
PDB Situation Report | May 31st, 2025: 50,000 Russian Troops Amass On Ukraine’s Border & No End in Sight for Gaza
And so by tossing out a bone here that, hey, we really want to have negotiations that they believe, I believe, that the Russians believe, that that would be all that President Trump needs is to say, see, the Russians really don't want to talk, so no sanctions. And so this is part of them continuing to play the administration.
The President's Daily Brief
PDB Situation Report | May 31st, 2025: 50,000 Russian Troops Amass On Ukraine’s Border & No End in Sight for Gaza
Well, I think you're right that the White House is not on the same project train as the Russians. And that's been the problem from the beginning. The administration's approach, I think, was doomed to failure from the very start because they never really understood or appreciated the history, the culture, the geography, why Ukraine is fighting, what the Russians actually want.
The President's Daily Brief
PDB Situation Report | May 31st, 2025: 50,000 Russian Troops Amass On Ukraine’s Border & No End in Sight for Gaza
And you'll remember back in the beginning of the administration where Secretary Rubio said, Well, obviously Ukraine's going to have to give up something. That's before any negotiation. I mean, that doesn't quite sound like art of the deal to me, you know, when you start by giving up something.
The President's Daily Brief
PDB Situation Report | May 31st, 2025: 50,000 Russian Troops Amass On Ukraine’s Border & No End in Sight for Gaza
And, you know, the president, the couple of rare times where he was critical of Putin, he also would badmouth President Zelensky also. And so the Russians can see this. And The fact is, I mean, they're mocking the president. You know, two days ago or three days ago, the president said Putin's gone crazy. I don't know what happened.
The President's Daily Brief
PDB Situation Report | May 31st, 2025: 50,000 Russian Troops Amass On Ukraine’s Border & No End in Sight for Gaza
You know, then Peskov, the spokesman of the Kremlin, says, well, obviously, the president is under great emotional stress. I mean, they're haunting this administration. And I kept hoping for the last few months that the president would finally be so confident
The President's Daily Brief
PDB Situation Report | May 31st, 2025: 50,000 Russian Troops Amass On Ukraine’s Border & No End in Sight for Gaza
angry and irritated with what their how the russians are making us look foolish and frankly making him look foolish and weak that he would say okay i'm i'm sick of this and he would use all the enormous leverage that the president of the united states has whether it's to provide ukraine everything they need or to help european countries stop these
The President's Daily Brief
PDB Situation Report | May 31st, 2025: 50,000 Russian Troops Amass On Ukraine’s Border & No End in Sight for Gaza
illegal Shadow Fleet vessels that are taking oil and gas out of the Baltic Sea and Black Sea, or do something in the markets that would lower the price of oil and gas so much that it would wreck Russia. He's done those things, and I don't think he ever will.
The President's Daily Brief
PDB Situation Report | May 31st, 2025: 50,000 Russian Troops Amass On Ukraine’s Border & No End in Sight for Gaza
Well, of course, you're right. I'd be speculating. I don't know. It's been a mystery to me. Never in my life did I imagine that a Republican president would be so... unwilling to use our great leverage and power, economic as well as industrial power, against Russia. It's difficult to understand. Now, I know there are a lot of people that speculate about what the president's motivation is.
The President's Daily Brief
PDB Situation Report | May 31st, 2025: 50,000 Russian Troops Amass On Ukraine’s Border & No End in Sight for Gaza
Is it there's a personal thing? Is there some, does he envision himself as one of the three great leaders along with Putin and Xi to divide up the world? Is it one of those kind of things? Um, or is it, I honestly, I think the president has zero interest in Ukraine is, you know, these issues about sovereignty and freedom of navigation don't, don't mean anything to him. Um,
The President's Daily Brief
PDB Situation Report | May 31st, 2025: 50,000 Russian Troops Amass On Ukraine’s Border & No End in Sight for Gaza
It's not a big moral decision for him. I think this is about, can I get a good deal here with Ukraine or can we get the business with Russia? It feels like that's what's motivating this. The problem is, of course, the Chinese are watching all this. The Chinese are watching to see, oh, the U.S. seems to be kind of flexible when it comes to sovereignty.
The President's Daily Brief
PDB Situation Report | May 31st, 2025: 50,000 Russian Troops Amass On Ukraine’s Border & No End in Sight for Gaza
That's bad news for Taiwan and the Philippines, or that the U.S. is not so keen on this international law or freedom of navigation. It's not such a big deal. I think that tells the Chinese kind of where our limits are.
The President's Daily Brief
PDB Situation Report | May 31st, 2025: 50,000 Russian Troops Amass On Ukraine’s Border & No End in Sight for Gaza
But my hope is that the Congress, you know, it looks like Senator Graham has got at least 80 other senators, Republicans and Democrats, that are prepared to put forward a big sanctions package. I think the Republican senators, particularly the ones that have been there for a long time and have always been pro-NATO, pro-Transatlantic,
The President's Daily Brief
PDB Situation Report | May 31st, 2025: 50,000 Russian Troops Amass On Ukraine’s Border & No End in Sight for Gaza
They're very uneasy with how the White House is handling things right now. And so we could see a case soon where the Senate puts forward a sanctions package, maybe in the next couple of weeks, with or without the president's endorsement. They could override it if the president tried to stop it. I think they would much rather do it in support of the president. So, we'll see where that goes.
The President's Daily Brief
PDB Situation Report | May 31st, 2025: 50,000 Russian Troops Amass On Ukraine’s Border & No End in Sight for Gaza
But that's my hope is at least the Congress will take some action.
The President's Daily Brief
PDB Situation Report | May 31st, 2025: 50,000 Russian Troops Amass On Ukraine’s Border & No End in Sight for Gaza
Well, I think European countries realize that if Ukraine fails, that they're next. I mean, that Putin has been very open about, you know, he has aspirations beyond Ukraine. And they also know that if Ukraine fails, millions more Ukrainian refugees will be heading west into Poland, Germany, Romania, and other parts of Europe.
The President's Daily Brief
PDB Situation Report | May 31st, 2025: 50,000 Russian Troops Amass On Ukraine’s Border & No End in Sight for Gaza
so there's a economic problem as well as the security problem so i think they're recognizing i think they've come to the conclusion frankly that this administrator administration is not going to actually do anything of substance and therefore um this has been put completely in their lap and that's why you've got uk and france and now germany uh much more forward-leaning on support to ukraine
The President's Daily Brief
PDB Situation Report | May 31st, 2025: 50,000 Russian Troops Amass On Ukraine’s Border & No End in Sight for Gaza
Now, they should have been doing this all along, but the fact is they are stepping up to do it now. The new Bundeskanzler, Mr. Merz, indicated that he's not going to talk publicly about, you know, what they provide and don't provide anymore, which I think is probably smart. You know, we should quit advertising. Okay, we just said 10 more, whatever.
The President's Daily Brief
PDB Situation Report | December 28th, 2024: Ukraine's Weapons Surge & America's Fentanyl Crisis
Well, I think from a Russian perspective, they're getting bodies. And, you know, I've seen lots of different numbers out there like you have and how many have actually then have deployed from North Korea into the theater of war in Ukraine. anywhere from 15 to 50,000.
The President's Daily Brief
PDB Situation Report | December 28th, 2024: Ukraine's Weapons Surge & America's Fentanyl Crisis
But still, that's not inconsequential, and it probably helps Russia avoid doing what they dread doing, which is drafting men out of Moscow and St. Petersburg and other places like that. So if they're getting fodder for the war, that's a benefit for them, as well as getting the majority apparently, of artillery ammunition they use comes from North Korea.
The President's Daily Brief
PDB Situation Report | December 28th, 2024: Ukraine's Weapons Surge & America's Fentanyl Crisis
For the North Korean side, I'm not sure what the agreement is. Certainly, North Koreans are getting combat experience. They have none. I mean, there's no Korean soldier that has combat experience, even though every general I see on pictures with Kim Jong-un has a chest full of medals. They have no combat experience. So that's worth something to the North Koreans.
The President's Daily Brief
PDB Situation Report | December 28th, 2024: Ukraine's Weapons Surge & America's Fentanyl Crisis
I just don't know how much they're willing to say, okay, bad luck, we lost 50,000 killed or captured. And I saw yesterday the first captured North Korean soldier. I imagine we're all going to learn something from this. I'd like to know what they're thinking about in Seoul, what the Republic of Korea, what the Army is thinking about there.
The President's Daily Brief
PDB Situation Report | December 28th, 2024: Ukraine's Weapons Surge & America's Fentanyl Crisis
Like here you've got North Korea sending away thousands of troops plus huge amounts of ammunition. If I was thinking strategically and in charge of all of it, it might be a good time to do a snap exercise in South Korea to put pressure on the North while they're sending away ammunition and troops for Russia.
The President's Daily Brief
PDB Situation Report | December 28th, 2024: Ukraine's Weapons Surge & America's Fentanyl Crisis
Yeah, I would not have guessed that North Korea would be a true contributing nation for Russia's war against because, you know, the whole narrative from Pyongyang had always been that the South is going to attack any day, and we've got to be ready, and that sort of thing, and now to send away, apparently, tens of thousands of troops.
The President's Daily Brief
PDB Situation Report | December 28th, 2024: Ukraine's Weapons Surge & America's Fentanyl Crisis
Now, there could be huge amounts of money involved in this, or Russian oil and gas being provided to North Korea. I mean, I'm sure the North would not do it if they weren't getting something really good.
The President's Daily Brief
PDB Situation Report | December 28th, 2024: Ukraine's Weapons Surge & America's Fentanyl Crisis
You know, two or three things that I would want to address right off the top. First of all, what courage and skill of these pilots that managed to get that aircraft on the ground in Kazakhstan after it was hit and after they were denied the ability to land somewhere on the western side of the Caspian. They then were diverted across the Caspian and crash landed in Kazakhstan. That's incredible.
The President's Daily Brief
PDB Situation Report | December 28th, 2024: Ukraine's Weapons Surge & America's Fentanyl Crisis
I mean, as I've listened to aviation experts talk about what the loss of controllability that the pilots could keep that thing even in the air to get to land and Apparently about a third to a half of the passengers survived that terrible crash. It was incredible, and I think that credit goes to those pilots. Secondly, why was the Grozny Airport still open?
The President's Daily Brief
PDB Situation Report | December 28th, 2024: Ukraine's Weapons Surge & America's Fentanyl Crisis
I mean, there have been reports coming from the Russian side that there were Ukrainian drones all around Grozny Airport, part of this ongoing series of Ukrainian strikes deep into Russia. And so typically, I know I live near the airport here in Frankfurt, anytime some knuckleheads out with his own personal drone, they shut down the whole airport.
The President's Daily Brief
PDB Situation Report | December 28th, 2024: Ukraine's Weapons Surge & America's Fentanyl Crisis
So why would the Grozny Airport still be open so that this airliner from Azerbaijan would be trying to land there? It should have been diverted long before that. Finally, I think there's no doubt that this aircraft was hit by Russian air and missile defense. Of course, there'll be an investigation. Of course, they'll have to do it as they should.
The President's Daily Brief
PDB Situation Report | December 28th, 2024: Ukraine's Weapons Surge & America's Fentanyl Crisis
But just looking at the footage that you and everybody else has looked at, those are not bird strikes.
The President's Daily Brief
PDB Situation Report | December 28th, 2024: Ukraine's Weapons Surge & America's Fentanyl Crisis
Yeah, the city of Magdeburg. So, of course, it's terrible if you watch the video of this car slamming into the crowd. And as most of your listeners know, in Germany, it's famous for its Christmas markets, and people are out there, and it's cold, and it's a nice... I mean, it's a classic Christmas sort of ambulance.
The President's Daily Brief
PDB Situation Report | December 28th, 2024: Ukraine's Weapons Surge & America's Fentanyl Crisis
Well, I couldn't put a specific number on it. There has been reporting about, finally, a sense of urgency of delivering what had already been approved authorized and so to get that delivered, but I don't know how much of what we're seeing now, what's going is something that was approved months ago or in the last few weeks. I couldn't offer any kind of a meaningful quantity.
The President's Daily Brief
PDB Situation Report | December 28th, 2024: Ukraine's Weapons Surge & America's Fentanyl Crisis
But after the attack on the Berlin Christmas market back about, I think it was four or five years ago, they started putting up the stanchions or other sorts of balustrades, I think they're called, to reviewing a vehicle for being able to drive into an open-air place. Now, it looks to me, in this case, that they didn't have those in this particular market.
The President's Daily Brief
PDB Situation Report | December 28th, 2024: Ukraine's Weapons Surge & America's Fentanyl Crisis
I don't know that for a fact, but that's the kind of thing that the Minister of the Interior, the Federal Ministry of Interior, and then the state-level Ministry of Interior would have been looking at why were they not better protected.
The President's Daily Brief
PDB Situation Report | December 28th, 2024: Ukraine's Weapons Surge & America's Fentanyl Crisis
Now, once, you know, the initial response would have been, oh, my gosh, there's another, an Arab or a Muslim that did this, and so the knee-jerk reaction was going to be, uh, AFD alternative for Deutschland, which is the right wing political organization in Germany, uh, was going to seize on this because, you know, there's a federal elections coming up in 23 February here in Germany.
The President's Daily Brief
PDB Situation Report | December 28th, 2024: Ukraine's Weapons Surge & America's Fentanyl Crisis
But it turns out in a strange twist, the gentleman who was driving was, uh, a guy who's a legal, a legitimate, uh, He's a doctor, and he's been here for years, and he's pro-FAFD against illegal immigrants. I mean, that's a hard one to piece together. But nonetheless, it still will be seized on by different groups Why didn't the government do a better job of protecting people anyway?
The President's Daily Brief
PDB Situation Report | December 28th, 2024: Ukraine's Weapons Surge & America's Fentanyl Crisis
That's one of the underlying themes of extremist organizations.
The President's Daily Brief
PDB Situation Report | December 28th, 2024: Ukraine's Weapons Surge & America's Fentanyl Crisis
Well, I was encouraged by the selection of General Kellogg to be the envoy for the Trump administration to Ukraine to deal with the, how do you bring this war to a conclusion? Because General Kellogg understands the strategic significance of this. And he also is very clear-eyed about Russia being somebody you can't trust and that Ukraine's sovereignty is important. So, that gave me some optimism.
The President's Daily Brief
PDB Situation Report | December 28th, 2024: Ukraine's Weapons Surge & America's Fentanyl Crisis
And also, I think Mr. Waltz, the National Security Advisor, also is a realist about who and what Russia is. I'm also encouraged by the fact that most of the senior Republican leadership in the Congress, House and Senate, are pro-NATO. They understand the significance of the transatlantic relationship for the United States and why it's important that we help Ukraine.
The President's Daily Brief
PDB Situation Report | December 28th, 2024: Ukraine's Weapons Surge & America's Fentanyl Crisis
So I think the administration will seek to do what they can to, as the president-elect had talked about, But the reality is just getting an agreement is not going to do anything to help make America safer or help our allies.
The President's Daily Brief
PDB Situation Report | December 28th, 2024: Ukraine's Weapons Surge & America's Fentanyl Crisis
And so I think as the reality of that sets in, and especially since most of the administration is so focused on China, what better way to tell the Chinese that we're not goofing around than to demonstrate that we have the political will and the capability to help Ukraine defeat Russia, to shut down Iran, to shut down North Korea, And then the Chinese would have to take note of that.
The President's Daily Brief
PDB Situation Report | December 28th, 2024: Ukraine's Weapons Surge & America's Fentanyl Crisis
Well, I really appreciate the privilege, and 2025 is going to be a doozy. I'm sorry, General, was that a military term, doozy? In some parts of the army.
The President's Daily Brief
PDB Situation Report | December 28th, 2024: Ukraine's Weapons Surge & America's Fentanyl Crisis
Well, and of course, as you'll know and your listeners will know, there's any number of reasons why it may not go flying off the shelf or out of the warehouse or out of the factory into Ukraine. If it's something that was manufactured in the United States, it has to be shipped over and then received and then transported across Europe.
The President's Daily Brief
PDB Situation Report | December 28th, 2024: Ukraine's Weapons Surge & America's Fentanyl Crisis
into the airport in eastern Poland, which is kind of the portal for everything that then goes into Ukraine. And understandably, nobody's advertising, hey, today we're shipping X number of missiles or vehicles or routes of ammunition. The Ukrainians, of course, don't advertise this because the Russians, this would be the kind of information none of us would want to advertise.
The President's Daily Brief
PDB Situation Report | December 28th, 2024: Ukraine's Weapons Surge & America's Fentanyl Crisis
It is interesting to me, though, that the Russians have failed after almost three years since the beginning of the large-scale invasion to destroy a single convoy or train moving equipment and ammunition from Poland. to the front lines. Not one time. That's an incredible failure of Russia's Air Force to be, or even their special forces, to be able to do that. Why do you think that's the case?
The President's Daily Brief
PDB Situation Report | December 28th, 2024: Ukraine's Weapons Surge & America's Fentanyl Crisis
I think we take for granted, we're spoiled in the United States with our Green Air Force and our naval aviators, how good they are, how much they train, the whole system of systems, you know, of command and control and suppression of enemy air defense, the work that we do to make sure that any pilot that's shot down can be recovered. That's expensive. That takes a lot of time.
The President's Daily Brief
PDB Situation Report | December 28th, 2024: Ukraine's Weapons Surge & America's Fentanyl Crisis
It takes rigorous training. My sense is that the Russian Air Force never had that level of training. They certainly didn't have that level of expertise or experience. Their warfighting flying was against Syrian...
The President's Daily Brief
PDB Situation Report | December 28th, 2024: Ukraine's Weapons Surge & America's Fentanyl Crisis
terrorist organizations basically you know not not against an intensive uh air and missile air defense uh threat or enemy air and so because of that they failed their number one task which is the number one task of any air force to achieve air superiority they failed to achieve that against ukraine even though they had a huge advantage in terms of technology and numbers of aircraft
The President's Daily Brief
PDB Situation Report | December 28th, 2024: Ukraine's Weapons Surge & America's Fentanyl Crisis
they never could defeat Ukrainian air defense enough to be able to do what they need to do. Because of that, and because Ukrainians targeted the Russian equivalent of AWACS, the aircraft that are up there that can provide command and control, the Russians don't have the ability to loiter in Ukrainian airspace and then go do what we would call dynamic targeting, going after convoys or trains
The President's Daily Brief
PDB Situation Report | December 28th, 2024: Ukraine's Weapons Surge & America's Fentanyl Crisis
that are bringing in equipment. Now, the location of the railroads and the highways is not a mystery. They have struck some of the rail terminals, but they've never had a single train. That's incredible to me.
The President's Daily Brief
PDB Situation Report | December 28th, 2024: Ukraine's Weapons Surge & America's Fentanyl Crisis
Well, if you're a lieutenant or a captain or a sergeant in Ukrainian Armed Forces in eastern Ukraine, it's pretty grim. I mean, you're getting pounded every day. You're looking out across at thousands of Ukrainian and, I'm sorry, Russian and now North Korean troops that are attacking. But if you're thinking strategically,
The President's Daily Brief
PDB Situation Report | December 28th, 2024: Ukraine's Weapons Surge & America's Fentanyl Crisis
At the operational level and strategic level of warfare, it's been over almost a year since the Russians captured Avdiivka, and they've barely moved a few kilometers beyond that while losing over 1,000 troops a day. not to mention the thousands of vehicles and how it serves, et cetera.
The President's Daily Brief
PDB Situation Report | December 28th, 2024: Ukraine's Weapons Surge & America's Fentanyl Crisis
So I think it sucks if you're in that fight, but it's incredible to me how well they have held off Russia from making any sort of breakthrough, any big gains. It's just this constant attrition that they're able to do because we have not given Ukraine the capability to strike deep We have not given them enough capability to strike deep, to knock out headquarters and logistics.
The President's Daily Brief
PDB Situation Report | December 28th, 2024: Ukraine's Weapons Surge & America's Fentanyl Crisis
And then on the north side of Ukraine, of course, the Kursk bridgehead that Ukrainians established back in August, the Russians have finally retaken probably about half of that. But even that is remarkable, that since August, there is still a sizable Ukrainian foothold or bridgehead inside Russia. That's not inconsequential. It's costing the Russians resources that they're having to throw at it.
The President's Daily Brief
PDB Situation Report | December 28th, 2024: Ukraine's Weapons Surge & America's Fentanyl Crisis
And it also creates a problem if you start getting into negotiations and you're talking about, okay, everybody keep what you got. Ukraine has a piece of Russia. And so I think all of this factors into the Ukrainian operational thinking.
The President's Daily Brief
PDB Situation Report | December 28th, 2024: Ukraine's Weapons Surge & America's Fentanyl Crisis
I think that the Russians are content to keep doing what we're doing, what they're doing, if they feel that we are going to turn our backs on Ukraine. that at the end of the day, the Russians' only hope is that we quit supporting Ukraine, and then eventually Ukraine would have to come to the negotiating table in a very weak position. So I think that's what the Russians are holding out for.
The President's Daily Brief
PDB Situation Report | December 28th, 2024: Ukraine's Weapons Surge & America's Fentanyl Crisis
They have no interest in actually negotiating good faith. There's nowhere in their history have they ever lived up to any agreement unless they were absolutely forced to do it. And so I'm not against negotiating, but we should have our eyes wide open about who it is that we would be asking the Ukrainians to negotiate with.
The President's Daily Brief
PDB Situation Report | December 28th, 2024: Ukraine's Weapons Surge & America's Fentanyl Crisis
This is the same guys that shoot down civilian airliners, that kill innocent people every day of the year, not just on Christmas. Frankly, I thought this war could have ended last year if we, the United States, and our allies had made that commitment. Because some capabilities of long-range strike, no interruptions in ammunition, we'd be in a completely different place.
The President's Daily Brief
PDB Situation Report | December 28th, 2024: Ukraine's Weapons Surge & America's Fentanyl Crisis
So what Ukraine has achieved is despite our failure to commit to actually helping them win this conflict.
The President's Daily Brief
PDB Situation Report | December 28th, 2024: Ukraine's Weapons Surge & America's Fentanyl Crisis
I think a year ago, there was hope that the Biden administration and other allies were going to finally realize that it was in our interest to help Ukraine nationally win. And we were going to do all these things needed. And here we are a year later, and we're still not providing those capabilities that would really make the difference.
The President's Daily Brief
PDB Situation Report | December 28th, 2024: Ukraine's Weapons Surge & America's Fentanyl Crisis
And in fact, I think that the talk about negotiations is causing some people to think that, okay, well, it's never going to get better from a U.S. or European perspective in terms of help. So if that's the case, then I would say Ukraine is probably in a slightly weaker position.
The President's Daily Brief
PDB Situation Report | December 28th, 2024: Ukraine's Weapons Surge & America's Fentanyl Crisis
On the other hand, and I hate to sound wishy-washy, Ukraine's own capability of producing long-range weapons and their munitions has increased, which is remarkable. They have increased their capability for producing weapon systems. And finally, just yesterday, I think another battalion's worth of Leopard tanks from Germany has arrived.
The President's Daily Brief
PDB Situation Report | December 28th, 2024: Ukraine's Weapons Surge & America's Fentanyl Crisis
So after a long delay, they're now up close to 100-plus German Leopards are arriving in Ukraine. None of this happens on a straight-line delivery schedule. It comes in various, for different reasons. None of this happens in a vacuum.
The President's Daily Brief
PDB Situation Report | December 28th, 2024: Ukraine's Weapons Surge & America's Fentanyl Crisis
And, of course, sitting across the table, you've got a Russia that not only has had hundreds of thousands of casualties about which they don't care, but their economy is, I think, is in trouble. Their ability to produce... armored vehicles, howitzer barrels, tank barrels, these kinds of things, is severely degraded.
The President's Daily Brief
PDB Situation Report | December 28th, 2024: Ukraine's Weapons Surge & America's Fentanyl Crisis
And so most of the reporting I see indicates that they cannot go beyond next year in terms of industrial capacity. So... If we got serious about this and started stopping, it began to really stop Russia's ability to export oil and gas through their so-called shadow fleet. then they would have no money left to buy ammunition from North Korea or missiles from China or Iran.
The President's Daily Brief
PDB Situation Report | December 28th, 2024: Ukraine's Weapons Surge & America's Fentanyl Crisis
I'm not avoiding your question, but it's not that simple. If the only solution is, well, we just want to stop the fighting, okay, there are things that are worse than no fighting. I mean, if you're a Ukrainian that lives in Russian-occupied territory, you'd much rather be fighting.