The President's Daily Brief
May 26th, 2025: Hamas On The Verge Of Collapse & A Cartel Kingpin Goes Down
Mon, 26 May 2025
In this episode of The President's Daily Brief: Hamas is facing the worst crisis in its history. With key leaders dead, finances depleted, and fighters unpaid, the terror group’s grip on Gaza is beginning to collapse. Russia launches its largest missile and drone barrage since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine—then hours later, agrees to a major prisoner swap with Kyiv. President Trump threatens a fresh wave of tariffs—targeting both the European Union and Apple with steep penalties. And in today’s Back of the Brief: A top Sinaloa Cartel leader with ties to El Chapo’s son is killed in a gunfight with Mexican forces. 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 crisis is Hamas currently facing?
Let's get briefed. We begin in Gaza, where the Iranian-backed terror group Hamas is facing the worst crisis reportedly in its history. Its leadership has been decimated, and now the group can reportedly barely pay its fighters. We'll have those details.
Later in the show, Russia launches its biggest aerial assault of the war after swapping hundreds of prisoners with Ukraine because nothing says I'm interested in peace like swapping some prisoners and then launching a massive aerial assault. Plus, President Trump drops more tariff bombs, threatening the European Union and Apple with steep new penalties.
And in the back of the brief, a high-ranking Sinaloa cartel boss once aligned with El Chapo's son is gunned down in a firefight with Mexican police. But first, today's PDB Spotlight. As a new week begins, the signs are mounting that Israel is preparing to launch the next phase of its war against Hamas.
Chapter 2: What recent developments occurred in the Israel-Hamas conflict?
According to Israeli media, all, all, and I repeat that again, all of the regular army's infantry and armored brigades have now been deployed inside the Gaza Strip, positioning the Israel Defense Forces, the IDF, for the renewed ground offensive announced by Prime Minister Netanyahu. This repositioning follows an intensification of Israeli airstrikes.
Over the weekend, the IDF said it struck more than 100 targets in just 24 hours, claiming the attacks focused on Hamas infrastructure across the strip. And the impact on Hamas is now coming into focus. And the picture, emerging from inside Gaza, points to a terror group in serious crisis.
One of the most significant blows came in the form of a precision airstrike that killed Mohamed Sinwar, the de facto head of Hamas in Gaza, and brother, of course, of the group's terminated leader, Yahya Sinwar.
According to Hamas and Arab officials speaking to The Wall Street Journal, Mohamed Sinwar was attending a meeting in a tunnel beneath Qan Yunis with several of Hamas's top commanders when the strike hit. The meeting reportedly violated Hamas's own wartime security protocols, creating a rare opportunity for Israeli forces to eliminate multiple high-ranking figures in one blow.
Alongside Sinwar, the strike also killed Mohammad Shabana, the commander of Hamas's Rafah Brigade, and other senior militants. Their bodies were recovered and quietly buried in temporary graves hidden within the tunnel network.
This strike has left a gaping hole in the group's top leadership, compounding what insiders now describe as the worst internal crisis that Hamas has faced since its founding. According to a report published Saturday by the Saudi-owned Ashark al-Awsat, sources within Hamas say the organization is in a state of financial collapse.
Civil servants under Hamas's governance haven't received regular pay, and the group's military wing, the Al-Qassam Brigades, hasn't paid its fighters in approximately three months. Funding for ministries and social services, once central to Hamas's ability to maintain public support, has all but dried up.
The group is reportedly struggling to supply its fighters with basic military equipment, and even the families of dead or wounded members are no longer receiving consistent aid. And that's a major shift from Hamas's previous wartime policy. administratively. The situation is reportedly no better.
Following Israel's targeted strikes, Hamas is finding it difficult to fill key leadership roles inside Gaza. Anyone perceived to be attempting to re-establish or coordinate government functions is being targeted by the IDF, creating a climate of fear and paralysis within Hamas's governing apparatus.
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Chapter 3: What military actions did Russia take recently?
Russia's Defense Ministry claimed responsibility for the strikes in a telegram post, calling them part of a, quote, massive strike by sea, air, and land-based precision weapons and unmanned aerial vehicles, targeting what it described as Ukraine's military-industrial infrastructure, including drone factories, satellite facilities, and electronic hubs.
The ministry added they, quote, all designated targets have been hit. In Poland, which obviously shares a border with Western Ukraine, the Armed Forces Operational Command confirmed that its fighter jets were scrambled overnight in response to what it termed, quote, intensive activity by Russian long-range aviation near Polish airspace.
Chapter 4: How did the recent prisoner swap affect the conflict in Ukraine?
Chapter 5: What are the implications of President Trump's new tariffs?
And in the back of the brief, a high-ranking Sinaloa cartel boss once aligned with El Chapo's son is gunned down in a firefight with Mexican police. But first, today's PDB Spotlight. As a new week begins, the signs are mounting that Israel is preparing to launch the next phase of its war against Hamas.
According to Israeli media, all, all, and I repeat that again, all of the regular army's infantry and armored brigades have now been deployed inside the Gaza Strip, positioning the Israel Defense Forces, the IDF, for the renewed ground offensive announced by Prime Minister Netanyahu. This repositioning follows an intensification of Israeli airstrikes.
Over the weekend, the IDF said it struck more than 100 targets in just 24 hours, claiming the attacks focused on Hamas infrastructure across the strip. And the impact on Hamas is now coming into focus. And the picture, emerging from inside Gaza, points to a terror group in serious crisis.
One of the most significant blows came in the form of a precision airstrike that killed Mohamed Sinwar, the de facto head of Hamas in Gaza, and brother, of course, of the group's terminated leader, Yahya Sinwar.
According to Hamas and Arab officials speaking to The Wall Street Journal, Mohamed Sinwar was attending a meeting in a tunnel beneath Qan Yunis with several of Hamas's top commanders when the strike hit. The meeting reportedly violated Hamas's own wartime security protocols, creating a rare opportunity for Israeli forces to eliminate multiple high-ranking figures in one blow.
Alongside Sinwar, the strike also killed Mohammad Shabana, the commander of Hamas's Rafah Brigade, and other senior militants. Their bodies were recovered and quietly buried in temporary graves hidden within the tunnel network.
This strike has left a gaping hole in the group's top leadership, compounding what insiders now describe as the worst internal crisis that Hamas has faced since its founding. According to a report published Saturday by the Saudi-owned Ashark al-Awsat, sources within Hamas say the organization is in a state of financial collapse.
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Chapter 6: Who was killed in the recent Sinaloa cartel fight?
Civil servants under Hamas's governance haven't received regular pay, and the group's military wing, the Al-Qassam Brigades, hasn't paid its fighters in approximately three months. Funding for ministries and social services, once central to Hamas's ability to maintain public support, has all but dried up.
The group is reportedly struggling to supply its fighters with basic military equipment, and even the families of dead or wounded members are no longer receiving consistent aid. And that's a major shift from Hamas's previous wartime policy. administratively. The situation is reportedly no better.
Following Israel's targeted strikes, Hamas is finding it difficult to fill key leadership roles inside Gaza. Anyone perceived to be attempting to re-establish or coordinate government functions is being targeted by the IDF, creating a climate of fear and paralysis within Hamas's governing apparatus.
Recruitment has also slowed dramatically as the group is no longer able to offer payments or support to new members. That, paired with the leadership vacuum, military losses, and airstrike pressure, paints a picture of a terror group that's bleeding from every direction.
While the war is far from over, Hamas does appear to be facing its greatest test date, not just on the battlefield, but from within. All right, coming up after the break, Russia unleashes its biggest aerial attack of the war, and President Trump threatens steep new tariffs on Apple and the EU. I'll be right back. Hey, Mike Baker here. Let's talk about trees, shall we? And plants.
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Russia unleashed another deadly wave of missile and drone strikes across Ukraine over the weekend, killing at least 18 civilians in the middle of the largest prisoner exchange of the three-year war.
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