The President's Daily Brief
April 2nd, 2025: Russia Rejects Trump's Peace Plan & Iran Mulls Strikes On Key US Military Outpost
Wed, 02 Apr 2025
In this episode of The President's Daily Brief: We’ll begin today with an update on the war in Ukraine, as the Kremlin pushes back on President Donald Trump’s peace proposals, suggesting diplomatic talks between Moscow and Washington may have stalled. Later in the show, tensions between the U.S. and Iran continue to heat up, as the IRGC reportedly mulls strikes against a critical U.S. military outpost in response to President Trump’s threats to bomb their nuclear sites. Plus, China launches a major military drill off Taiwan's coast and calls their president a "parasite" in the CCP's latest escalation. In our 'Back of the Brief—a tragic update out of Lithuania, where the bodies of four U.S. soldiers who were killed during a training exercise last week near the Belarusian border have been recovered. 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 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: Who is the host of The President's Daily Brief?
It's Wednesday, the 2nd of April. Welcome to the President's Daily Brief. I'm Mike Baker, your eyes and ears on the world stage. And, yes, back on the road somewhere. Let's get briefed.
Chapter 2: What is Russia's response to Trump's peace plan for Ukraine?
First, the Kremlin is slapping down President Trump's proposals for ending the war in Ukraine, which they say are unacceptable in their current form, suggesting that peace talks between Moscow and Washington, well, may have stalled.
Later in the show, tension between the US and Iran continues to heat up as the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps, the IRGC, reportedly mauls strikes against a critical US military outpost in response to President Trump's threats to bomb their nuclear sites. Plus, China launches a major military drill. Oh, things are just peachy keen all around the world, aren't they?
China launches a major military drill off Taiwan's coast and calls the president a parasite in their latest escalation. That would be the Taiwanese president. Analysts warn the move is intended to send a message to the Trump administration that they won't back down on their territorial claims. And in today's Back of the Brief, a tragic update out of Lithuania, where the bodies of four U.S.
soldiers who were killed during a training exercise last week near the Belarusian border have been recovered. But first, today's PDB Spotlight. We'll begin today with another update on the war in Ukraine as the Kremlin pushes back on President Trump's peace proposals, suggesting that diplomatic talks between Moscow and Washington may have stalled.
Chapter 3: What are the key points of the Kremlin's stance on the Ukraine conflict?
Russia's Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Rybakov, a trusted foreign policy advisor to Vladimir Putin, said Tuesday that while Moscow is taking American ideas on how to end the war in Ukraine, quote, seriously, really, are they? The current proposals from the Trump administration remain unacceptable.
Rybakov said they don't go far enough to address Russia's long-term strategic concerns and fail to take into account what he claims are the underlying causes of the conflict. That's according to a report from the New York Post. Now, one could argue that the underlying cause of the conflict is that Russia invaded Ukraine in an attempt to take over a sovereign nation.
It's just the latest sign that the road to peace will likely remain a long and difficult one as the Trump administration struggles to bridge the divide between Moscow and Kyiv. Rybakov said, quote, We take the models and solutions proposed by the Americans very seriously. Uh huh. But we can't accept it all in its current form.
As far as we can see, he said, there's no place in them, meaning the proposals, today for our main demand, namely to solve the problems related to the root causes of this conflict. It's completely absent and that must be overcome, end quote. While Rybakov did not elaborate on Russia's specific demands, we can reasonably infer based on past statements and past demands from the Kremlin.
First, Moscow has consistently ruled out the idea of a temporary break in hostilities, arguing that it would only serve the interests of Ukraine and their NATO allies, allowing Kiev to replenish their arsenals. Putin has said he will only accept a comprehensive accord that ensures a lasting peace.
Putin has also previously insisted that any ceasefire must include Ukraine abandoning its NATO ambitions and withdrawing from four Russian-occupied regions that make up nearly 20% of Ukrainian territory. And as we pointed out here on the PDB,
A significant amount of the critical minerals that have been discussed during that so-called minerals deal, well, a significant amount of those in Ukraine actually are located in the 20% of the Ukrainian territory currently held by Russia. Additionally, Putin has repeatedly rejected proposals for a European coalition of peacekeeping troops in Ukraine to enforce a potential ceasefire.
That's something that Ukrainian President Zelensky has said is a necessary security guarantee to deter future Russian aggression. For Russia, NATO's presence in Eastern Europe is really at the heart of their long-term strategic aims. During the first round of bilateral talks between Russia and the U.S.
in late February, the Kremlin reportedly demanded the full withdrawal of NATO forces from the alliance's eastern flank. Oh, is that all they wanted? Putin has long sought the withdrawal of NATO forces, of course, from former Soviet and communist bloc countries. as it would obviously help restore Moscow's sphere of influence in Eastern Europe. While that demand was flatly denied by U.S.
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Chapter 4: How is the Trump administration handling the stalled peace talks with Russia?
Additionally, as we discussed on yesterday's show, Putin has ordered the conscription of 160,000 new troops. And you could argue that's hardly the move of someone with peaceful intentions. Zelensky accused the Kremlin of making a, quote, mockery of our partners' efforts to advance a peace agenda. And it would appear President Trump may at this point grudgingly agree with that assessment.
Trump said Sunday that he's getting, quote, pissed off by the Kremlin's attempts to stall negotiations and will consider imposing new sanctions on Russia's oil trade within the next month if he feels Moscow is actively seeking to undermine his efforts. But the Kremlin seems content with the status quo.
A prominent Russian foreign policy advisor to the Kremlin was recently quoted as saying, quote, the continuation of the war, which we are slowly but surely winning, is in our interest, especially considering that the main sponsor, the U.S., seems to be backing out. Why should we rush in a situation like this? End quote.
Now, let me just repeat that for anyone who's been wondering about Putin's intentions. The Kremlin advisers said the continuation of the war, which we are slowly but surely winning, is in our interest, especially considering that the main sponsor, the U.S., seems to be backing out. Why should we rush in a situation like this? All right. Coming up next.
Iran reportedly considers strikes against a critical U.S. military outpost in response to President Trump's threats to bomb their nuclear sites. Plus, China launches a major military drill off Taiwan's coast and calls the Taiwanese president a parasite in their latest escalation in the South China Sea.
You know, it's really nice to see peace and calm and stability and civility just breaking out all over the world. I'll be right back. Hey, Mike Baker here. Well, let's take a look around and see what we see. I'll tell you what we see. We see tariff wars, we see recession fears, and we see some stubborn inflation. It's no wonder that gold has been routinely hitting all-time highs.
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Again, text PDB to the number 989-898 today. Welcome back to the PDB. Iran's military leaders are reportedly weighing a preemptive strike on the U.S.-UK military base at Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean, warning they may act before it's used as a launch pad for attacks on the Islamic Republic. Someone should probably advise the mullahs that that wouldn't likely end well.
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Chapter 5: What are the latest developments regarding Iran's military threats against the US?
Taiwan's defense ministry tallied a total of 71 military aircraft, including drones, and 21 naval vessels operating around the island, with one group escorting the Shandong aircraft carrier positioned roughly 200 nautical miles east of Taiwan. Taipei, for its part, did not stand idle. Taiwan scrambled fighter jets, dispatched naval vessels, and activated its missile defense systems in response.
The Defense Ministry issued a sharp statement warning that, quote, we must ensure that they don't turn these drills into actual combat, underscoring the seriousness with which Taiwan is treating the maneuvers. Lai's administration condemned the maneuvers outright, describing Beijing as, quote, a troublemaker bent on destabilizing the region.
Yet the military dimension was just one element of Beijing's pressure campaign. Accompanying the drills was a torrent of propaganda aimed squarely at humiliating Taiwan's leadership. In one video titled Shell, President Lai is depicted as a green bug held aloft by chopsticks over a flaming map of the island. You're welcome for that visual.
The video labeled Lai as a, quote, parasite, hollowing out the island due to his separatist actions and deepening alignment with the U.S. Another production dubbed Subdue Demons and Vanquish Evils opens with a warrior soaring through clouds before cutting to PLA jets streaking over imagined battlefields.
Additional videos featured missile trajectories zeroing in on Taipei and computer-generated strike overlays that left, frankly, little to the imagination. The escalation comes nearly a year after similar war games that were staged last May, days after Lai's inauguration.
Tensions have only accelerated since March when Lai unveiled a sweeping set of 17 counterintelligence laws targeting Chinese infiltration, branding Beijing as a, quote, foreign hostile force. China, for its part, insists that the exercises are, quote, legitimate and necessary. That's a refrain often employed to justify military maneuvers under the guise of national defense.
Unsurprisingly, the U.S. weighed in on the alarming activity. White House Press Secretary Caroline Leavitt reiterated Washington's position, stating the U.S., quote, opposes any unilateral attempt to change the status quo by force, end quote. Though familiar, the language carried added weight considering the worsening U.S.-China relations.
The drills also coincided with a regional tour by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, who used stops in Tokyo and Manila to emphasize deepening military ties across East Asia and to issue pointed warnings about China's increasingly provocative behavior.
Intriguingly, Chinese state media noted that the drills did not receive a formal code name, unlike previous operations such as Joint Sword or Eastern Storm, suggesting a deliberate attempt to normalize such activities.
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Chapter 6: What is the significance of the Diego Garcia military base in US-Iran tensions?
Chapter 7: How is China escalating military tensions around Taiwan?
Chapter 8: What tragic event occurred involving US soldiers near the Belarusian border?
soldiers who were killed during a training exercise last week near the Belarusian border have been recovered. But first, today's PDB Spotlight. We'll begin today with another update on the war in Ukraine as the Kremlin pushes back on President Trump's peace proposals, suggesting that diplomatic talks between Moscow and Washington may have stalled.
Russia's Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Rybakov, a trusted foreign policy advisor to Vladimir Putin, said Tuesday that while Moscow is taking American ideas on how to end the war in Ukraine, quote, seriously, really, are they? The current proposals from the Trump administration remain unacceptable.
Rybakov said they don't go far enough to address Russia's long-term strategic concerns and fail to take into account what he claims are the underlying causes of the conflict. That's according to a report from the New York Post. Now, one could argue that the underlying cause of the conflict is that Russia invaded Ukraine in an attempt to take over a sovereign nation.
It's just the latest sign that the road to peace will likely remain a long and difficult one as the Trump administration struggles to bridge the divide between Moscow and Kyiv. Rybakov said, quote, We take the models and solutions proposed by the Americans very seriously. Uh huh. But we can't accept it all in its current form.
As far as we can see, he said, there's no place in them, meaning the proposals, today for our main demand, namely to solve the problems related to the root causes of this conflict. It's completely absent and that must be overcome, end quote. While Rybakov did not elaborate on Russia's specific demands, we can reasonably infer based on past statements and past demands from the Kremlin.
First, Moscow has consistently ruled out the idea of a temporary break in hostilities, arguing that it would only serve the interests of Ukraine and their NATO allies, allowing Kiev to replenish their arsenals. Putin has said he will only accept a comprehensive accord that ensures a lasting peace.
Putin has also previously insisted that any ceasefire must include Ukraine abandoning its NATO ambitions and withdrawing from four Russian-occupied regions that make up nearly 20% of Ukrainian territory. And as we pointed out here on the PDB,
A significant amount of the critical minerals that have been discussed during that so-called minerals deal, well, a significant amount of those in Ukraine actually are located in the 20% of the Ukrainian territory currently held by Russia. Additionally, Putin has repeatedly rejected proposals for a European coalition of peacekeeping troops in Ukraine to enforce a potential ceasefire.
That's something that Ukrainian President Zelensky has said is a necessary security guarantee to deter future Russian aggression. For Russia, NATO's presence in Eastern Europe is really at the heart of their long-term strategic aims. During the first round of bilateral talks between Russia and the U.S.
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