The President's Daily Brief
April 28th, 2025: Border Patrol and Mexico Crush Cartel Posts — Cartels Launch Bloody Retaliation & Trump-Zelensky Private Talks
Mon, 28 Apr 2025
In this episode of The President's Daily Brief: A major cartel crackdown at the southern border scores big wins — but sparks bloody retaliation across Mexico. President Trump and Ukraine’s President Zelensky share a private conversation at Pope Francis’s funeral — before Trump delivers a warning to Vladimir Putin. U.S. and Iran conclude their latest round of nuclear talks — but major divisions remain over key issues. And in today’s Back of the Brief: A deadly explosion rocks Iran’s largest commercial port, killing at least 28 and injuring hundreds, with early reports pointing to a possible link to missile fuel. To listen to the show ad-free, become a premium member of The President’s Daily Brief by visiting PDBPremium.com. Please remember to subscribe if you enjoyed this episode of The President's Daily Brief. YouTube: youtube.com/@presidentsdailybrief TriTails Premium Beef: Visit https://TryBeef.com/PDB for 2 free Flat Iron steaks with your first box over $250. Plus, for a limited time enjoy 5% off on almost everything site-wide excluding subscriptions and B-stock. Birch Gold: Text PDB to 989898 and get your free info kit on gold Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Chapter 1: What major cartel activity occurred at the southern border?
It's Monday, the 28th of April. 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. We'll start things off with a major cartel crackdown at the U.S. southern border and the subsequent violent retaliation that's now erupting across Mexico.
Later in the show, President Trump and Ukraine's President Zelensky hold a private meeting at Pope Francis' funeral, just before Trump fired a warning shot at Russian President Putin. Plus, the US and Iran wrap up another round of nuclear talks. But major divisions, as you can imagine, are still standing in the way of a deal.
Und in heute's Back of the Brief, a massive explosion at Iran's largest commercial port kills at least 28 and injures hundreds, with earlier reports linking to a possible link to the mishandling of missile fuel. But first, today's PDB Spotlight. Auf beiden Seiten der US-Mexiko-Border sind Gefährdungsorganisationen auf der Strecke, und jetzt sind die Kartelle wieder auf der Strecke.
Zuerst in einem großen Wettbewerb für die US- und Mexikanische Kräfte. Die Border Patrol-Agenten in Tucson, Arizona, haben in der Vergangenheit real-time Intelligenz mit ihren Verteidigern auf der Grenze geteilt, lediglich zu der Zerstörung von Kartellschauplätzen auf der mexikanischen Seite der Grenze.
Working off those tips, Mexican forces raided several sites, arresting four suspects and seizing a cache of weapons and drugs. Another major bust happened just south of Arizona, along a popular tourist corridor between the Lukeville border crossing and the beach town of Puerto Penasco.
There, authorities uncovered weapons and equipment used by cartel scouts to monitor border patrol movements and coordinate smuggling operations through remote desert routes. The cartel lookouts serve as the eyes and ears for drug runners seeking weak spots and openings along Arizonas border. And the ongoing crackdown hasn't been limited to the border region.
Last week, Mexican Marines launched a major operation in the rugged mountains of Durango, dismantling two clandestine meth labs in the town of Tamazula. Marines seized roughly 330 pounds of meth, along with nearly 3,200 gallons and 770 pounds of chemical precursors, the raw materials used to manufacture meth destined for U.S. streets.
All of these latest blows are part of what's known as Operation Frontera Norte, the Northern Border Operation, which was launched in February after Mexican President Claudia Scheinbaum and Trump struck a deal to escalate joint efforts against the cartels.
As part of the agreement, Mexico deployed 10,000 National Guard troops across 18 cities near the northern border to stem the flow of drugs and dismantle cartel networks closer to their source.
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Chapter 2: What was discussed between Trump and Zelensky at the Vatican?
Many officials believe Moscow's sudden overtures are less about ending the war and more about buying time for further territorial grabs in order to leverage bargaining power in future negotiations. Zelensky, for his part, again urged the US to apply, quote, real pressure on Russia to accept a ceasefire that would mark not just a pause, but a true step toward ending the war.
Chapter 3: What challenges remain in US-Iran nuclear talks?
Okay, shifting to the Middle East. The third round of nuclear negotiations between the US and Iran ended on Saturday with major divides unresolved, particularly over Tehrans insistence on continuing to enrich uranium.
Chapter 4: What details emerged from the deadly explosion in Iran?
Speaking after the four-hour meeting, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Arakci struck a cautious tone, saying that while he remained hopeful, quote, some of our differences are very serious, end quote.
A senior Trump administration official, in contrast, painted the meeting as, quote, positive and productive, but declined to detail exactly where the differences referred to by Abakshi still lay, offering only that both sides had agreed to meet again soon in Europe. In other words, no real headway toward a deal.
At the heart of the stalemate is Iran's demand to maintain its ability to enrich uranium domestically. It's a capability that Washington views as a major proliferation threat.
According to US intelligence estimates, Iran is now producing enough enriched uranium each month to produce a single nuclear weapon each month and could convert it to bomb-grade material within one to two weeks if it chose to. Vor den Gesprächen in Oman hat der Staatssekretär Marco Rubio die Grundlage der USA wiederholen lassen.
Washington würde ein zivilistisches Nuklearprogramm für Iran akzeptieren, aber nur eines, das auf importiertes Gas verlangt, um einen Weg zum nuklearen Waffen zu schließen. Das iranische Regime hat lange diese Anforderungen verweigert, das domästische Wachstum als reiches Recht zu bezeichnen und es klar zu machen, dass es keine Intention hat, zurückzukehren.
That issue has become obviously one of the major sticking points, alongside American demands that any new deal curb Iran's ballistic missile program. Under the 2015 nuclear agreement, Iran had been limited to enriching uranium to just 3.67%, civilian-grade but far below weapons-grade levels.
Since the US withdrawal, Israel has blown past that threshold, enriching to 60%, dangerously close, of course, to the 90% enrichment needed for a bomb. In an effort to speed up negotiations, Trump has set a hard two-month deadline to finalize a deal, warning that failure could leave the US little choice but to consider military options.
Speaking to reporters on Friday, Trump said, quote, I think we'll have a deal. I'd much rather have a deal than the alternative, end quote. But despite Trump's public optimism, the foreign minister from Iran warned that the negotiations would be a, quote, difficult process requiring time. A not so subtle reminder that the Iranian regime wants more than just a piece of paper.
Iran is also seeking sweeping sanctions relief from the Trump administration's maximum pressure strategy, desperate to breathe life back into its battered economy. Like past talks, some exchanges were mediated indirectly by Omani officials, though top-level negotiators also held direct discussions. Technical teams from both countries were directly involved in the meetings.
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