Mike Baker

It's Thursday, the 28th of May.

Welcome to the President's Daily Brief.

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

And yes, thank you for noticing, I am on the road.

All right, let's get briefed.

First up, Iran continues projecting strength, but new reporting suggests the regime may be under enormous internal pressure as economic turmoil, fuel rationing, and the fallout from an 88-day internet blackout take their toll.

Later in the show, Israel says it's killed Hamas's new military chief less than two weeks after taking out its predecessor as the campaign to decapitate the terror group's leadership continues inside Gaza.

Plus, Ukraine may be losing backing for a key ammunition procurement effort as support for a Czech-led coalition begins to crack.

And in today's Back of the Brief, Russian bankers may soon have a new job description, and that would be drone defense.

Moscow has now authorized parts of its financial system to engage incoming UAVs, so the bankers have to be excited about that opportunity.

But first, today's PDB Spotlight.

Iran's leadership insists that the country is standing strong.

The regime continues issuing threats.

Revolutionary Guard commanders are denouncing diplomacy as weakness, and Tehran is still publicly refusing to surrender its nuclear ambitions.

But behind the scenes, a very different reality may be taking shape.

Because according to a growing body of reporting from outlets including Reuters, the Wall Street Journal, and others, there are increasing signs that the state of Iran may be far worse than the regime is letting on.

And perhaps the clearest indication of that came earlier this week, when Iran partially restored Internet access for some citizens after nearly three months of blackout conditions.

Internet access inside Iran remains unstable and heavily restricted.

Platforms like WhatsApp and Instagram are still blocked in many areas without VPN access.

But even the limited restoration may reveal something important.