The President's Daily Brief
March 11th, 2025: Russian Troops Launch Sneak Attack In Kursk & Canada Gets A New Prime Minister
Tue, 11 Mar 2025
In this episode of The President’s Daily Brief: Russian forces are using a dangerous new tactic—sneaking through gas pipelines to ambush Ukrainian troops from behind. We’ll break down what’s happening in Kursk and why Ukrainian forces could be at risk of encirclement. A major shake-up in Canada—Mark Carney is set to replace Justin Trudeau as Liberal Party leader and Prime Minister. The new leader used his victory speech to take aim at Donald Trump. Chaos erupts in Romania after a right-wing presidential candidate is barred from running. Supporters are clashing with police, with claims of Russian interference once again at the center of the controversy. And in today’s Back of the Brief, a Palestinian activist who led student protests at Columbia University has been arrested by federal immigration authorities. 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 the new tactic used by Russian forces in Kursk?
It's Tuesday, 11 March. 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. First up, Russian forces unveil a dangerous new tactic, sneaking through gas pipelines to ambush Ukrainian troops from behind. We'll break down what's happening in Kursk in Russia and why Ukrainian forces could be at risk of encirclement.
Later in the show, a major shakeup in Canada. Mark Carney is set to replace Justin Trudeau as Liberal Party leader and prime minister. The new leader used his victory speech to take aim at President Trump. Plus, chaos erupts in Romania after a right-wing presidential candidate is barred from running.
Supporters are clashing with police with claims of Russian interference once again at the center of the controversy. And in today's Back of the Brief, a Palestinian activist who led student protests at Columbia University has been arrested by federal immigration authorities. But first, today's PDB Spotlight.
We'll begin with an update out of Eastern Europe, as Moscow's forces quickly advance inside Russia's partially occupied Kursk region, threatening Kiev's hold on its sole territorial bargaining chip at a crucial juncture in the war. Over the weekend, the Kremlin mounted a major counteroffensive aimed at recapturing the Kursk region from Ukraine.
Now, as of Sunday, Russia's defense ministry said they'd managed to retake four settlements in a matter of days as their forces attempt to encircle a 10,000-strong Ukrainian garrison stationed in the region. That's according to a report from the Associated Press. As a reminder, Ukraine launched a military operation last August inside the Russian territory, catching the Putin regime by surprise.
At the time, they managed to seize roughly 500 square miles of territory, which Kiev intended to use as leverage in potential future negotiations with Moscow. But Russia has since mounted several counteroffensives, clawing back more than half of the area captured by Kyiv's military.
Some 50,000 troops, supplemented by 12,000 North Korean soldiers, are once again on the move inside the territory, and reports say that Ukrainian forces have been forced into a steady, albeit controlled, retreat.
Additionally, Russia has been using an elite drone unit to carry out a wave of strikes on the main road into Kursk, destroying hundreds of military vehicles used to resupply the Ukrainian garrison. In a bid to cut off a possible full retreat of Ukrainian forces, Moscow's forces have also destroyed several bridges in Kursk near the border with Ukraine.
Dmitry Medvedev, the former Russian president and now deputy chairman of the country's Security Council, celebrated the developments, saying Sunday, quote, the lid of the smoking cauldron is practically closed, end quote, whatever that means.
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Chapter 2: Who is set to become Canada's new Prime Minister?
Romania's Central Electoral Bureau, the BEC, ruled on Sunday that Georgescu's candidacy, quote, doesn't meet the conditions of legality, citing his alleged ties to Russia and extremist organizations.
The move comes months after the country's constitutional court annulled the results of the November 2023 election, where Georgescu had emerged as a surprise frontrunner, plunging Romania into prolonged political turmoil.
As we reported last month on the PDB, intelligence assessments allege that Russia backed his campaign through an extensive online influence operation, deploying some 800 TikTok accounts to sway voters. The Kremlin considers Georgescu to be pro-Russian and are particularly pleased with his often stated desire to create distance between Romania and NATO and the EU.
Those claims of Russian interference led to the unprecedented court decision that scrapped the election just days before the scheduled 8 December runoff. Moscow, for its part, well, they dismissed the allegations as baseless. There's a surprise. On Friday, Georgescu formally submitted his candidacy for the 4 May rerun, triggering a 48-hour review process.
By Sunday, the verdict was in and the BEC disqualified him, stating that he had, quote, "...violated the obligation to defend democracy." The ruling was met with immediate backlash. Georgescu, who styles himself as a nationalist firebrand, condemned it as a, quote, direct blow to the heart of democracy worldwide. Posting on X, he declared Europe is now a dictatorship. Romania is under tyranny.
Should he appeal to Romania's top court, a ruling would be expected within 72 hours. His disqualification set off a wave of unrest in the capital. Thousands of his supporters flooded the streets, waving Romanian flags and chanting revolutionary slogans. As tensions escalated, rioters hurled paving stones, overturned vehicles, and set fires, forcing riot police to respond with tear gas.
At least four people were detained, though the real test for authorities came as hundreds of demonstrators refused to disperse, clashing with security forces in scenes reminiscent of February's protests when Georgescu was arrested while attempting to register for the race. At the time, he was charged with attempting to overthrow the constitutional order and membership in a fascist organization.
Those are charges he continues to deny. Georgescu built his political brand on promises to, quote, restore Romania's dignity and push back against NATO and EU influence. While he's openly praised Russian President Putin and questioned Ukraine's statehood, well, he insists he's not pro-Russian.
So, he praises Putin, he questions whether Ukraine should be independent, and he wants to distance Romania from NATO and EU, but he's definitely not pro-Russian. His disqualification has also drawn attention from the Trump administration. Vice President J.D. Vance last month slammed Romania's annulment of the November election as, quote, flimsy suspicions driven by intelligence agencies.
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Chapter 3: What is causing chaos in Romania's political scene?
Now, Khalil was one of the most visible student activists during last spring's protests at Columbia University, regularly giving interviews and engaging in negotiations with university officials over the protesters' lengthy list of demands.
He's been under investigation by a new Columbia University committee that has brought disciplinary charges against dozens of students involved in the demonstrations. Much like the protests that we covered on last week's show, the demonstrations last spring were often marked by anti-Semitism, with protesters praising Hamas and defending the brutal 7 October attacks on Israel.
Jewish and Israeli students have described a climate of hate on campus, with many increasingly fearful for their safety. Pro-Israeli student groups have long demanded stronger action from university officials to protect Jewish students. The Trump administration stepped in last week, pulling $400 million in grants and contracts from Columbia University over their failure to curb these protests.
$400 million in federal dollars? Now, I would have thought that a university like Columbia, a fine institution with an undoubtedly large endowment fund, wouldn't have to resort to taking government cheese. And in the event that you're curious, Columbia's endowment fund is now close to $15 billion with a B dollars. And that, my friends, is the President's Daily Brief for Tuesday, 11 March.
Now, if you have any questions or comments, and hopefully you do, well, please reach out to me at pdbatthefirsttv.com. And, of course, to listen to the show ad-free, it's simple. Just become a premium member of the President's Daily Brief by visiting pdbpremium.com. dot com. See? Very simple. I'm Mike Baker, and I'll be back later today with the PDB Afternoon Bulletin.
Until then, stay informed, stay safe, stay cool.
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