Mike Baker

It's Thursday, the 25th of June.

We are making our way through this month.

Welcome to the President's Daily Brief.

I'm Mike Baker, your eyes and ears on the world stage.

All right, let's get briefed.

First up, while the world has been preoccupied with Iran, China has maintained its focus on a key objective.

China is quietly surrounding Taiwan.

New reporting reveals Beijing now maintains a near-constant naval presence around the island, turning what were once military drills into the new normal and raising fresh questions about China's long-term strategy.

Later in the show, the UN's nuclear agency says it expects inspectors to visit Iran's enrichment facilities as part of the next phase of negotiations.

But the Iranian regime says, not so fast, bub.

Actually, I don't know if there's a word in Farsi for bub, but you hopefully get my point.

Plus, Russia is accusing the Trump administration of drifting away from peace negotiations and closer to Ukraine.

Well, that must be disappointing for Putin.

He's always been about peace.

And in today's Back of the Brief, Iran's banking system is grappling with the aftermath of a cyber attack that disrupted services at three of Iran's largest financial institutions.

But first, today's PDB Spotlight.

Late last month, Chinese warships were positioned north, south, east, and west of Taiwan.

Guided missile destroyers and other naval vessels formed a loose ring around the island, creating the appearance of a military encirclement or blockade.

Now, 10 years ago, this kind of deployment would have triggered alarm bells across the region and dominated international headlines.

Today, meh, it's just become another day in the Taiwan Strait.