The President's Daily Brief
May 28th, 2025: UN Fumes As Mystery Group Takes Over Gaza Aid Operations & New Evidence Of War Crimes In Ukraine
Wed, 28 May 2025
In this episode of The President's Daily Brief: A shadowy new group is distributing aid in Gaza—but the United Nations is furious, major relief groups are boycotting it, and the organization’s director has abruptly resigned. We break down what we know about the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation. Later, intercepted Russian communications appear to reveal orders to execute surrendering Ukrainian soldiers—potentially a clear war crime if confirmed. Israel and Syria are quietly holding direct talks for the first time in years, hoping to ease tensions along their shared border. And in today’s Back of the Brief: a nationwide truckers’ strike is spreading across Iran, affecting over 40 cities and revealing growing unrest inside the regime. 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 TriTails Premium Beef: Visit https://TryBeef.com/PDB for 2 free Flat Iron steaks with your first box over $250 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Chapter 1: What is the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation?
It's Wednesday, the 28th of May. 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. We'll start things off with a look at a new group handing out aid in Gaza. The UN is furious. Okay, so it can't be all bad. Major relief groups are boycotting it, and its former marine director just walked away.
So, what's really going on with the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation? Later in the show, brutality in Ukraine. Intercepted Russian radio transmissions reveal orders to execute surrendering Ukrainian soldiers. If confirmed, it could mark another war crime chalked up to Putin's invasion. Plus, an unexpected development in the Middle East.
Israel and Syria are holding direct talks for the first time in years, aiming to cool tensions along their volatile border. And in today's back of the brief, a story worth keeping an eye on. In Iran, a nationwide trucker strike is spreading fast, hitting over 100 cities and potentially signaling deeper unrest. But first, today's PDB Spotlight.
In a story you might have missed, but one that could have major implications for the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, a new and somewhat controversial group has quietly taken over aid distribution in parts of the war-torn enclave.
It's called the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, or GHF, and while it presents itself as an independent contractor, it does have powerful backers, namely the governments of the U.S. and Israel. The U.S. State Department has publicly expressed support for the group's efforts, even as major humanitarian organizations have slammed the operation and are now boycotting it altogether.
So, let's try to figure out why the UN and humanitarian groups would be against an organization with the stated goal of delivering aid to the beleaguered Gaza Strip. In short, the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation appears to be part of a larger plan to strip Hamas of one of its most effective tools, and that would be control over aid distribution.
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Chapter 2: Why is the UN upset about the new aid group?
For years, Hamas has siphoned off international aid, using it to line its own pockets or sell on the black market to fund military operations. By putting a new group in charge, the goal appears to be to cut Hamas out of the equation. Controlling the international aid has been a key element of Hamas controlling the Palestinian population of Gaza. But this isn't just about Hamas.
It's also about the U.N. Israeli officials have long accused the UN of harboring anti-Israel bias, especially within agencies operating in Gaza. There's also plentiful evidence that aid groups that are overseen by the UN, like UNRWA, are compromised by terror groups. UNRWA itself has admitted in the past that it harbored members and supporters of Hamas.
By shifting food distribution responsibilities to the GHF, Israel hopes to bypass and ultimately replace the current UN-run system. Obviously, well, not everyone's on board. The UN, the Red Cross, and several other humanitarian organizations are refusing to work with the GHF, citing multiple concerns. First, they say, there's the issue of neutrality.
Critics argue that by involving governments in aid operations, the GHF has blurred the boundary between humanitarian work and political agendas. They warn that this sets a dangerous precedent for future conflict zones. Yes, like the dangerous precedent of efficiently delivering aid to the people that need it, rather than to the warlords or terror groups controlling those areas.
Second, there's the use of biometric screening at distribution sites. That includes facial recognition technology. Human rights groups say this opens the door to, oh, there it is, mass surveillance and possible targeting of Palestinians by Israeli security forces. Well, the privacy implications are obvious, especially in a war zone.
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Chapter 3: What are the concerns regarding biometric screening?
But you certainly wouldn't want to have the ability to identify terrorists in a war zone. And third, the aid itself is mostly being distributed in southern Gaza. That means residents from the north would have to travel south, often through active conflict zones, just to access basic supplies.
Now, critics say this could amount to coerced displacement, pushing civilians out of strategic areas under the guise of humanitarian relief. Although, frankly, and not to say that this justifies the concept, but just pointing it out, the residents of Gaza have been moving back and forth, north and south, within the Strip ever since Hamas started this conflict back in October of 2023.
So, who's running the show for the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation? Well, I'm glad you asked. Up until just a few days ago, the executive director of the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation was a fellow named Jake Wood. He's a former U.S. Marine and co-founder of Team Rubicon. That's a veteran-led disaster relief organization.
But Wood abruptly resigned on the 25th of May, just before GHF launched its operations in Gaza. He cited concerns of the group's failure to uphold basic humanitarian principles like neutrality and independence, basically echoing the UN's criticism.
Chapter 4: Who is leading the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation?
Another key player in this group is the man now effectively overseeing security for the operation, and that will be an important, obviously, part of this, a former Green Beret and later CIA officer named Philip Riley. Now, Riley helped train the Contras back in the 1980s, was one of the first CIA officers on the ground in Afghanistan after 9-11, and later served as CIA station chief in Kabul.
These days, he runs a private security firm, Safe Reach Solutions, which is managing on-the-ground operations for GHF in southern Gaza. And another question, who's footing the bill? Well, that remains somewhat unclear. According to GHF, it does not receive money from the U.S. or from Israel.
The organization recently told The New York Times that a Western European nation pledged more than $100 million to support the effort, but they refused to name the country. For now, the GHF is up and running. As of today, two distribution sites are operational, with two more expected to come online in the next few days. Now, one last note.
It's also worth noting that Hamas itself seems to be pretty upset that this group is operating. No surprise there. The terror group has denounced the GHF, calling it a, quote, agent of the occupation. and warning Palestinian civilians who accept its assistance that they will, quote, pay the price. Yet another sign of Hamas's benevolence towards the people they were supposedly leading.
So if you're wondering, well, which side of the fence to stand on in this particular dispute, if Hamas is against the GHF and is threatening Gaza residents and bullying them into not accepting desperately needed food aid, that might be a clue where to stand. All right, coming up after the break, intercepted Russian radio transmissions reveal orders to execute surrendering Ukrainian soldiers.
Plus, an unexpected development in the Middle East. Israel and Syria are holding direct talks for the first time in years. I'll be right back. Hey, Mike Baker here. Well, this July, maybe you've heard about this, there's going to be a big event in Rio de Janeiro. That sounds very posh, doesn't it? But it's a global summit of BRICS nations.
Now, this block of emerging superpowers includes China and Russia and India and Iran. And the BRICS countries are meeting with the goal of displacing the U.S. dollar as the global currency. And they're calling their effort the Rio Reset. That's a catchy name. So as BRICS nations push forward with their plans, well, demand for U.S. dollars could decrease.
And that, of course, would bring down the value of the dollar. And while the transition won't happen overnight, the real reset does mark a pivotal moment when BRICS objectives move from possibility toward reality. So you ask yourself, what can you do to help protect your hard-earned dollar savings?
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Chapter 5: What evidence of war crimes is emerging in Ukraine?
Chapter 6: What are the implications of Israel and Syria's talks?
Well, might I suggest that one thing you could do is check in with the professionals over at Birch Gold Group. Birch Gold can help you move your hard-earned dollar savings into a tax-sheltered IRA in precious metals. Just claim your free information kit on gold by simply texting PDB to the number 989-898.
With an A-plus rating with the Better Business Bureau and tens of thousands of happy customers, let Birch Gold arm you with a free information kit on owning gold before July and that Rio reset. Again, just text PDB to the number 989-898 today. Welcome back to the PDB. Intercepted Russian radio transmissions reveal what Kyiv officials say is a chilling pattern.
Direct battlefield orders to execute surrendering Ukrainian troops. The recordings, shared with international monitors and media outlets, reportedly align with drone footage captured in November of 2024 in the Zaporizhia region, where six Ukrainian soldiers are seen lying face down. Two appear to be shot at close range.
Another is disarmed and marched away by a soldier wearing Russian military gear. According to a transcript of the intercepted audio, the execution orders were repeatedly issued over a 26-minute span with escalating frustration from a Russian commander.
The audio begins with one Russian officer shouting, quote, ask who is the commander, take the commander captive, and kill everyone else, end quote. Four minutes later, that order is reiterated in cruder terms, quote, take the commander captive, take the senior, get rid of the effing others. The commanding Russian officer grows impatient as field troops fail to respond clearly.
He demands, quote, really? Because that order seems fairly clear. He demands, quote, someone answer or the soldiers surrendering are not, end quote. Eventually, a soldier radios back reporting that only a, quote, senior has been identified. The officer responds flatly, quote, take the senior, get rid of the others, end quote.
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Chapter 7: What is the significance of the truckers' strike in Iran?
Moments later, the drone footage reveals a masked figure in green military fatigues consistent with Russian uniforms approaching the Ukrainian soldiers. One captive gestures, seemingly pleading, before being shot in the head. The disarmed soldier is taken into custody. A final radio message confirms the outcome. Quote, we killed the effing others, end quote.
Ukrainian officials have identified the alleged perpetrators as members of the storm unit within the 394th Motorized Rifle Regiment, which falls under Russia's 127th Motorized Rifle Division. That same unit has previously been implicated in the beheading of a Ukrainian soldier in the same region, with Kyiv's prosecutors now formally charging its commanders.
CNN consulted a forensic audio expert who verified the authenticity of the transmission and found no signs of editing. While CNN has not independently linked the audio to the drone footage, analysts say that the timeline, the language, and context are consistent.
The UN Special Investigator on Extrajudicial Executions described the evidence as pointing to a deliberate strategy rather than isolated acts, calling the killings, quote, grave breaches of international law. The investigator said, quote, they would not happen at this scale without orders or at least consent from the highest levels of the Russian military, which means the presidency, end quote.
According to Ukraine's military intelligence, more than 150 cases of executed prisoners of war have been recorded since the full-scale invasion began back in February of 2022. Figures released on 24 May that officials say likely undercount the actual toll.
A separate report from the 19th of March from the UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Ukraine supports the allegation, citing testimony from Russian defectors who were told not to take prisoners. One deputy brigade commander was quoted as saying, prisoners are not needed, shoot them on the spot. Ukraine's prosecutor general has opened 75 criminal cases tied to POW executions.
Only eight were filed in 2022. That number jumped to 39 in 2024, many involving group killings. Already this year, 20 new investigations are underway. The head of Ukraine's war crimes prosecution unit said Putin's past remarks that, quote, Ukrainian soldiers captured in Russia should be treated as terrorists has created essentially a climate of impunity.
The prosecutor revealed that on the Kremlin's terms, quote, it's a green light to kill them. Moscow denies committing war crimes, well, there's a surprise, and insists that its forces follow international law. But Ukrainian officials say the growing body of audio, visual, and testimonial experience and evidence paints a different picture, one of systematic executions sanctioned from the top down.
All right, shifting to the Middle East, where for the first time in years, Israel and Syria are holding face-to-face meetings aimed at easing tensions along their shared border, marking a major pivot in a decades-long adversarial relationship.
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