The President's Daily Brief
January 23rd, 2025: Trump Gives Putin An Ultimatum & The Stargate Project Explained
Thu, 23 Jan 2025
In this episode of The President's Daily Brief: Donald Trump warns Vladimir Putin of massive tariffs and sanctions if no deal is reached to end the war in Ukraine. Russia faces a major blow in Syria as its 49-year port contract is terminated by the new government, losing a critical foothold in the region. President Trump announces The Stargate Project, a $500 billion initiative to revolutionize America's AI infrastructure over the next four years. And in today's Back of the Brief: Yemen's Houthi movement releases the crew of a cargo ship seized in November 2023. 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 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Chapter 1: What is President Trump's ultimatum to Putin?
It's Thursday, 23 January. Welcome to the President's Daily Brief. I'm Mike Baker. Your eyes and ears on the world stage. Let's get briefed. We'll kick things off with President Trump's tougher-than-expected stance on Russia, threatening massive tariffs and sanctions if Vladimir Putin doesn't strike a deal to end the war in Ukraine.
Later in the show, Russia suffers a major setback in Syria as the new government of Syria terminates a 49-year contract for a critical port, costing Moscow a key foothold in the region. Plus, big news on artificial intelligence. President Trump unveils the Stargate project, pledging $500 billion over four years to revolutionize AI infrastructure.
And in today's back of the brief, Yemen's Houthi movement, the Houthi rebels, announced the release of the crew of a cargo ship that they seized back in November of 2023. But first, today's PDB Spotlight. Now that he's back in the Oval Office, it appears President Trump is talking a tougher stance with Russian President Putin than many had anticipated.
Trump took to Truth Social on Wednesday to threaten the Putin regime with massive tariffs and sanctions on Russian products if they fail to strike a deal to end the nearly three-year-old war in Ukraine.
It was the first time that Trump got candid about how he plans to pressure Moscow to come to the negotiating table and also included some direct shots at Putin's leadership, according to a report from Politico.
While Trump said he has a good working relationship with Putin and loves the Russian people, well, that's nice, he criticized Putin's stewardship of the Russian economy, which he said is, quote, failing due to the Kremlin's myopic focus on continuing the war on Ukraine.
Trump said he does not want to financially harm the Russian people, but warned that Putin will leave him with little choice if he refuses to negotiate. In his post, Trump stated, "...I'm going to do Russia and President Putin a very big favor. Settle now and stop this ridiculous war. It's only going to get worse.
If we don't make a deal, he said, and soon, I have no other choice but to put high levels of taxes, tariffs, and sanctions on anything being sold by Russia to the United States and various other participating countries." The president added, quote, we can do it the easy way or the hard way. And the easy way is always better. It's time to make a deal. No more lives should be lost, end quote.
Now, just how effective these proposed sanctions would be remains an open question. Trade ties between the U.S. and Russia have already been severely diminished significantly. since the war broke out, with Russian exports to the U.S. dropping from some $29.6 billion in 2021 to just around $2.9 billion in 2024.
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Chapter 2: How has the war in Ukraine affected Russia's economy?
Separately, retired General Keith Kellogg, Trump's special envoy for Ukraine and Russia, has set a goal of ending the war within Trump's first 100 days. Since Trump's inauguration on Monday, he's significantly escalated his rhetoric towards the Putin regime.
Putin had offered glowing praise on Monday of Trump's, quote, courage during the 2024 campaign and congratulated him on his return to office. But during a press conference Monday evening in the Oval Office, Trump issued his harshest critique to date of Putin and his leadership, saying he was, quote, destroying Russia by not making a deal. Trump continued, quote, he can't be thrilled.
He's not doing so well. It's not making him look very good. Russia is bigger. They have more soldiers to lose, but that's no way to run a country, end quote. Well, he's not wrong. It's hard to overstate the carnage on the front lines, with Russian troop losses now exceeding a staggering 800,000. That's a number that includes both killed and wounded.
Then there's the domestic front, where Russia faces persistently high inflation, labor shortages, and interest rates that are sitting at an historic high of 21% due to the ongoing war. Putin, for his part, said Monday that he was ready to engage with the Trump administration on the subject of reining in nuclear arms and ending the war in Ukraine, though he qualified his statements,
warning that Russia's territorial gains in eastern Ukraine must be accepted by the West if they want talks to get off the ground. But many in the West remain skeptical that his supposed interest in a peace deal is genuine, particularly since the Kremlin's rough proposals for peace amount to little more than a full Ukrainian surrender.
Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Zelensky has expressed a willingness also to make a deal to end the brutal conflict. Following Trump's inauguration, Zelensky said, quote, Ukrainians are ready to work together with Americans to achieve peace, real peace. This is a chance that must be seized, end quote. President Trump has indicated he plans to meet with both Zelensky and Putin in short order.
Their representatives for the Kremlin have said no preparations are underway at this time. All right, coming up next, Russia loses a critical foothold in Syria as its port contract is terminated. And President Trump announces the Stargate project, a $500 billion plan to transform AI infrastructure. I'll be right back. Hey, Mike Baker here. Let's talk about trees, shall we? And plants.
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Chapter 3: What is the Stargate Project and its significance?
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Sticking with Russia, the Putin regime has just suffered an embarrassing blow to their strategic interests in the Middle East, as Syria's new leaders move to boot Russian forces out of the country.
On Tuesday, Syrian media reported that the new rebel-led government terminated a 49-year investment agreement with Russia that allowed Moscow's forces to have a long-term military presence in the Mediterranean. It had been brokered back in 2019 under ousted leader Bashar al-Assad after Russian forces intervened on behalf of the dictator during their bloody civil war.
The agreement pertained to Russia's naval base at the port of Tartus along Syria's western coast. It's a critical outpost that provided Russia with their only access point to the Mediterranean Sea. The base also functioned as the main transit hub for Russian military assets into African countries, a key strategic interest for the Putin regime.
Syrian officials said Tuesday they had requested that all Russian forces leave the port completely and that all revenue from the port's operations would now go solely to serving the interests of the Syrian state. Under the agreement with Assad, Russia had kept 65% of the port's profits. Apparently, the other 35% went straight into Assad's pocket.
Moscow had been planning to invest some $500 million to modernize the port, but since the fall of the Assad regime on December 8th, questions had swirled over whether the Kremlin would be able to keep their only real military foothold in the Middle East.
While the Russians spent the better part of December attempting to negotiate a settlement with the rebel group HTS to keep their base in Tartus, the discussions bore little fruit, obviously. In late December, the Kremlin began withdrawing large amounts of military equipment and troops from the TARDIS base and moving their naval ships out into open waters where they sat in a holding pattern.
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Chapter 4: What recent developments have occurred in Syria regarding Russia?
The Galaxy Leader, a Bahamian-flagged vehicle carrier operated by the Japanese shipping company NYK, was intercepted by Houthi forces using a helicopter while sailing from Turkey to India. The vessel was targeted due to its indirect Israeli ownership links.
Documents from the Isle of Man Government Companies Registry reveal the vessel's connection to an Israeli businessman and co-owner of its parent company, Raycar Carriers.
As we've been tracking on the PDB, the Houthis' maritime aggression has escalated over the past 15 months, with attacks involving missiles, drones, and small boats targeting dozens of merchant vessels in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden. These assaults have resulted in two ships being sunk, the deaths of four crew members, and significant disruptions to global shipping.
Many companies have had to reroute vessels from the Suez Canal to the longer, more expensive route around the southern tip of Africa, underscoring the economic toll of the Houthis' terror attacks. In conjunction with the Gaza ceasefire, the Houthis signaled a reduction in their campaign.
Chapter 5: What are the implications of the terminated port contract for Russia?
Chapter 6: How are the international relations shifting with Trump's return?
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Sticking with Russia, the Putin regime has just suffered an embarrassing blow to their strategic interests in the Middle East, as Syria's new leaders move to boot Russian forces out of the country.
On Tuesday, Syrian media reported that the new rebel-led government terminated a 49-year investment agreement with Russia that allowed Moscow's forces to have a long-term military presence in the Mediterranean. It had been brokered back in 2019 under ousted leader Bashar al-Assad after Russian forces intervened on behalf of the dictator during their bloody civil war.
The agreement pertained to Russia's naval base at the port of Tartus along Syria's western coast. It's a critical outpost that provided Russia with their only access point to the Mediterranean Sea. The base also functioned as the main transit hub for Russian military assets into African countries, a key strategic interest for the Putin regime.
Syrian officials said Tuesday they had requested that all Russian forces leave the port completely and that all revenue from the port's operations would now go solely to serving the interests of the Syrian state. Under the agreement with Assad, Russia had kept 65% of the port's profits. Apparently, the other 35% went straight into Assad's pocket.
Moscow had been planning to invest some $500 million to modernize the port, but since the fall of the Assad regime on December 8th, questions had swirled over whether the Kremlin would be able to keep their only real military foothold in the Middle East.
While the Russians spent the better part of December attempting to negotiate a settlement with the rebel group HTS to keep their base in Tartus, the discussions bore little fruit, obviously. In late December, the Kremlin began withdrawing large amounts of military equipment and troops from the TARDIS base and moving their naval ships out into open waters where they sat in a holding pattern.
The Russians continued staging various equipment at Tartus for transfer in early January, but Syrian forces subsequently moved to block Russian ships from re-entering the port. After news broke out of the canceled lease on Tuesday, however, satellite images showed Russian vessels entering the port to collect their equipment, suggesting they were now engaged in a full evacuation from Tartus.
The Kremlin has yet to comment on the embarrassing development, but it will significantly damage their ability to project power across the Middle East and Africa. UK military intelligence released a statement Tuesday saying, "...there is no comparable alternative base for the Russian Navy in the region.
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