The President's Daily Brief
January 30th, 2025: Iran Warns Proxies: Don’t Provoke Trump & Syria Demands Reparations From Russia
Thu, 30 Jan 2025
In this episode of The President’s Daily Brief: Iran has ordered its proxy forces across the Middle East to lay low, as the regime grows increasingly concerned about the threat it faces following Donald Trump’s return to the White House. Syria’s new government is demanding reparations from Russia in an effort to “rebuild trust” after a high-stakes meeting between Damascus’ new leadership and a Moscow delegation. A Massachusetts man is in custody after allegedly threatening to assassinate top Republicans, including newly confirmed Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. And in today’s Back of the Brief, the Trump Administration is revoking temporary protected status for over 600,000 Venezuelan migrants, a major shift in U.S. immigration policy. 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 has Iran ordered its proxy forces to do?
It's Thursday, 30 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 start things off today with reports that Iran has ordered its proxy forces across the Middle East to lay low as the regime grows increasingly concerned about the threat it faces following Donald Trump's return to the White House.
Later in the show, the new rebel-led government in Syria is making major demands of Russia, calling for reparations to, quote, rebuild trust after a high-stakes meeting between Damascus' new leadership and a Moscow delegation. It kind of makes you wonder what the price tag is for trust in that relationship.
Plus, a Massachusetts man is in custody now after allegedly threatening to assassinate top Republicans, including newly confirmed Treasury Secretary Scott Besson and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. And in today's Back of the Brief, the new U.S. administration makes another major move on immigration, revoking temporary protected status for over 600,000 Venezuelan migrants.
But first, today's BDB Spotlight. We'll begin in Iran, where a pervasive sense of paranoia is reportedly gripping the country due to Donald Trump's return to the White House.
The leaders of Iran's Islamic regime have given orders to their regional proxy forces to exercise restraint and tread carefully when it comes to the US, fearing that angering President Trump could spark a crisis in the Middle East that threatens the longevity of their weakened regime.
Specifically, Iranian officials have told their remaining militias to lay low and avoid any provocations that could escalate regional tensions. And that's according to an exclusive report from The Telegraph.
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Chapter 2: What reparations is Syria demanding from Russia?
Chapter 3: What recent threats have emerged against U.S. Republicans?
But first, today's BDB Spotlight. We'll begin in Iran, where a pervasive sense of paranoia is reportedly gripping the country due to Donald Trump's return to the White House.
The leaders of Iran's Islamic regime have given orders to their regional proxy forces to exercise restraint and tread carefully when it comes to the US, fearing that angering President Trump could spark a crisis in the Middle East that threatens the longevity of their weakened regime.
Specifically, Iranian officials have told their remaining militias to lay low and avoid any provocations that could escalate regional tensions. And that's according to an exclusive report from The Telegraph.
As regular PDB listeners know, the mullahs have a complicated history with Trump, the man who they've spent years trying to assassinate over the 2020 killing of Quds Force Commander Qasem Soleimani. Trump engaged in a, quote, maximum pressure campaign against Iran during his first term after pulling the U.S. out of the Iranian nuclear deal, resulting in sanctions that crippled their economy.
Given their history and Trump's penchant for holding a grudge, well, they likely have good reason to fear his return to the Oval Office. Adding to their concerns, their regional position has been catastrophically weakened due to their proxy war against Israel, which has laid waste to Iran's once-powerful axis of resistance over the past 15 months.
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Chapter 4: How is Trump's return affecting Iran's regional strategy?
Iran's chief regional ally, Bashar al-Assad, has also been ousted from power in Syria, cutting off a key weapons smuggling route for their terrorist proxies. Due to these concerns, Iranian-backed proxy commanders have been told to maintain their defensive positions, but to cease any activity that could be interpreted as aggressive by the U.S. and its regional allies."
A senior Iranian source told The Telegraph, quote, the regime feels an existential threat with Trump's return. In Iraq and Yemen, forces have been told not to target any American assets. And if they do, they're explicitly warned against using Iranian weapons, end quote. Meanwhile, Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei is reportedly fearing for his own life.
At a recent funeral for two judges who were assassinated last week, Khamenei was spotted wearing a bulletproof vest. The senior Iranian official told The Telegraph, "...the fall of Assad has intensified fears in the regime. There are now fears that they may not be able to hold on to the country after witnessing what happened to Assad, which no one here expected."
The source added, quote, a large scale operation is underway to identify and arrest Israeli spies and infiltrators. And there are concerns that they may have infiltrated high ranking offices, end quote.
In a rare admission or actually a statement of the obvious, Iran's vice president publicly acknowledged last week that Israel has managed to extensively infiltrate their military and civilian operations. He blamed the impact of international sanctions for leaving the regime vulnerable.
Additionally, Iran's foreign minister has publicly conceded that Tehran's regional proxies have been dealt, quote, several serious blows by Israel and won't be of much use to Iran until they can rebuild their forces. All of these developments have left Iran feeling cornered, prompting the regime to floor the gas on their pursuit of a nuclear weapon.
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Chapter 5: What are the implications of Assad's ouster for Syria and Russia?
Chapter 6: What significant changes are happening in U.S. immigration policy?
Plus, a Massachusetts man is in custody now after allegedly threatening to assassinate top Republicans, including newly confirmed Treasury Secretary Scott Besson and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. And in today's Back of the Brief, the new U.S. administration makes another major move on immigration, revoking temporary protected status for over 600,000 Venezuelan migrants.
But first, today's BDB Spotlight. We'll begin in Iran, where a pervasive sense of paranoia is reportedly gripping the country due to Donald Trump's return to the White House.
The leaders of Iran's Islamic regime have given orders to their regional proxy forces to exercise restraint and tread carefully when it comes to the US, fearing that angering President Trump could spark a crisis in the Middle East that threatens the longevity of their weakened regime.
Specifically, Iranian officials have told their remaining militias to lay low and avoid any provocations that could escalate regional tensions. And that's according to an exclusive report from The Telegraph.
As regular PDB listeners know, the mullahs have a complicated history with Trump, the man who they've spent years trying to assassinate over the 2020 killing of Quds Force Commander Qasem Soleimani. Trump engaged in a, quote, maximum pressure campaign against Iran during his first term after pulling the U.S. out of the Iranian nuclear deal, resulting in sanctions that crippled their economy.
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Chapter 7: How are Iranian officials reacting to Trump’s presidency?
Given their history and Trump's penchant for holding a grudge, well, they likely have good reason to fear his return to the Oval Office. Adding to their concerns, their regional position has been catastrophically weakened due to their proxy war against Israel, which has laid waste to Iran's once-powerful axis of resistance over the past 15 months.
Iran's chief regional ally, Bashar al-Assad, has also been ousted from power in Syria, cutting off a key weapons smuggling route for their terrorist proxies. Due to these concerns, Iranian-backed proxy commanders have been told to maintain their defensive positions, but to cease any activity that could be interpreted as aggressive by the U.S. and its regional allies."
A senior Iranian source told The Telegraph, quote, the regime feels an existential threat with Trump's return. In Iraq and Yemen, forces have been told not to target any American assets. And if they do, they're explicitly warned against using Iranian weapons, end quote. Meanwhile, Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei is reportedly fearing for his own life.
Chapter 8: What is the state of trust between Syria and Russia?
At a recent funeral for two judges who were assassinated last week, Khamenei was spotted wearing a bulletproof vest. The senior Iranian official told The Telegraph, "...the fall of Assad has intensified fears in the regime. There are now fears that they may not be able to hold on to the country after witnessing what happened to Assad, which no one here expected."
The source added, quote, a large scale operation is underway to identify and arrest Israeli spies and infiltrators. And there are concerns that they may have infiltrated high ranking offices, end quote.
In a rare admission or actually a statement of the obvious, Iran's vice president publicly acknowledged last week that Israel has managed to extensively infiltrate their military and civilian operations. He blamed the impact of international sanctions for leaving the regime vulnerable.
Additionally, Iran's foreign minister has publicly conceded that Tehran's regional proxies have been dealt, quote, several serious blows by Israel and won't be of much use to Iran until they can rebuild their forces. All of these developments have left Iran feeling cornered, prompting the regime to floor the gas on their pursuit of a nuclear weapon.
But they're also growing concerned that the U.S. and Israel could strike their nuclear facilities, which would, of course, eliminate their last bargaining chip. Senior Iranian sources said their leaders are currently engaged in extensive talks on how to prevent a possible strike, noting that the regime takes Trump's threats about a return to a maximum pressure campaign seriously.
A consensus is reportedly forming around pursuing direct diplomatic talks with the Trump administration, though disagreements among Tehran's top brass remain. As we recently discussed on the PDB, Trump reportedly favors a diplomatic approach over a direct military confrontation.
While he's not ruled out direct strikes on Iran's nuclear facilities, Trump told reporters last week that he would prefer to bring Iran to the negotiating table to strike a new nuclear deal. Still, when asked in December if the U.S. could go to war against Iran, Trump responded, quote, Well, anything can happen.
Meanwhile, the Iranian public is reportedly increasingly turning on the regime due to their floundering economy, and many reportedly are now putting their hopes in Trump. An Iranian small business owner told The Telegraph, quote, people are cursing the regime and hoping that Trump will do something, either sit down and talk with them or bring an end to their rule, end quote. All right.
Coming up after the break, Syria's new leadership is demanding reparations from Russia, and a Massachusetts man is in custody after allegedly threatening to assassinate top Republicans. I'll be right back. Hey, Mike Baker here. Let's talk about trees, shall we? And plants. Oh, and don't forget shrubs. Now, did you know that Fast Growing Trees is the biggest online nursery in the U.S.? It's true.
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