The President's Daily Brief
PDB Afternoon Bulletin | February 14th, 2025: Arab States Seek Alternative To Trump's Gaza Plan & Moscow Accused Of Striking Chernobyl Nuclear Plant
Fri, 14 Feb 2025
In this episode of The PDB Afternoon Bulletin: First, following President Trump’s proposal last week for the U.S. to take control of the Gaza Strip and relocate its Palestinian population, Arab leaders, led by Saudi Arabia, are now scrambling to develop an alternative reconstruction plan. Later in the show, a suspected Russian drone struck the former Chernobyl nuclear power plant in Ukraine overnight, damaging its protective shell. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called it a "terrorist attack," and proof that Vladimir Putin is not serious about pursuing peace. 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 Ramp: Get $250 when you join Ramp. Go to ramp.com/PDB. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Chapter 1: What is President Trump's Gaza Plan?
It's Friday, 14 February. Welcome to the PDB Afternoon Bulletin. I'm Mike Baker, your eyes and ears on the world stage. And I hope your Valentine's Day is going swimmingly. All right, let's get briefed. First, on the heels of President Trump's proposal last week for the U.S. to take control of the Gaza Strip and relocate its Palestinian population,
Chapter 2: How are Arab leaders responding to Trump's proposal?
Arab leaders led by Saudi Arabia are now scrambling to develop an alternative reconstruction plan. Later in the show, a suspected Russian drone struck the former Chernobyl nuclear power plant in Ukraine overnight, damaging its protective shell. Ukrainian President Zelensky called it a, quote, terrorist attack and proof that Vladimir Putin is not serious about pursuing peace.
But first, today's afternoon spotlight. President Trump's surprise proposal last week for the U.S. to take control of the Gaza Strip may have left the Arab world stunned, but it also appears to have forced regional leaders to address the problem of post-war governance in the battered enclave sooner than they likely had planned.
Chapter 3: What alternative reconstruction plans are being considered for Gaza?
According to 10 sources, that's a lot of sources, that spoke exclusively to Reuters, Saudi Arabia is now spearheading urgent Arab efforts to develop an alternative reconstruction plan for Gaza to counter Trump's proposal to relocate the Palestinian population and turn the enclave into a Middle East Riviera.
While details are fairly sparse at this time, draft ideas will reportedly be discussed at an emergency summit hosted by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in Riyadh later this month, and will include input from all the key regional players, including Egypt, Jordan, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, and Palestinian representatives.
Early reports indicate that proposals will focus on creating a Gulf-led reconstruction fund and striking a deal with the U.S. and Israel to sideline Hamas from any role in the future governance of the Gaza Strip. As a reminder, Trump made headlines, to put it mildly, last week when he declared that the U.S. would, quote, own Gaza by leveling the war-torn Strip in order to spearhead reconstruction
and create economic opportunities that could take up to 10 to 15 years. While reconstruction is underway, he said that the more than 2 million inhabitants of Gaza would be relocated to neighboring countries. The sources who spoke with Reuters said that Trump's idea left Arab leaders aghast and angry. Well, that's never a good combination.
I mean, you could be either aghast or you could be angry, but both at the same time, well, that's a recipe for chaos. As we previously discussed on the PDB, Egyptian, Saudi, and Jordanian leaders were quick to publicly condemn and reject the proposal.
Saudi leaders were particularly dismayed by Trump's remarks as it would upend their plans to make the creation of a Palestinian state a precondition to normalizing ties with Israel. But the oil-rich kingdom is also seeking to secure an ambitious military pact with the U.S.
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Chapter 4: What is the Egyptian vision for Gaza's reconstruction?
that would help shore up their defenses against Iran, and solving the Gaza problem in a way that's acceptable to the Trump administration will be likely critical to advancing those interests. Arab leaders are now hurriedly working to slap together a plan that they can sell to President Trump. They're even considering calling it the, quote, Trump plan in a bid to win his support. Seriously?
Sources say at least four proposals are currently on the table, but a plan recently put forth by Egyptian officials has reportedly emerged as the best potential path forward. So, you ask, what do we know about Cairo's vision for the reconstruction in Gaza? Well, the Egyptian plan involves creating a national Palestinian committee to govern the enclave, with Hamas barred from participating.
The committee would oversee a reconstruction effort that would rely on money from both the international community and the Gulf states, a fund that may potentially be named the, quote, Trump Fund for Reconstruction.
A buffer zone would also be established, and a physical barrier would be erected along Gaza's border with Egypt to prevent Hamas from building new tunnels, so possibly a big, beautiful wall. But I don't believe the Mexican government will pay for this one.
Chapter 5: How does the plan involve international cooperation?
Additionally, 20 areas would be set up as temporary living zones for displaced Gazans while some 50 Egyptian and foreign companies would be brought in to carry out rebuilding efforts The proposal would allow Palestinians to stay in the Gaza Strip with the hopes of eventually reaching a point where a two-state solution can be pursued
But any plan involving a two-state solution will be a tough sell, given Israel's historical opposition to such efforts. Officials in Jordan said MBS's involvement will be critical in selling the plan to the U.S., given the crown prince's generally warm relationship with Trump. The Jordanian official told Reuters, "...we are telling the Americans that we have a plan that works.
Our meeting with MBS is going to be critical. He is taking the lead." As I noted, however, many analysts doubt the feasibility of a plan that envisions a Palestinian state, noting Israel is not likely to accept such an outcome.
Israeli leaders, in fact, have publicly backed Trump's proposal to temporarily relocate Gazans out of the enclave, saying it would address their long-term security concerns in the region. When asked to comment on the upcoming Arab summit in Riyadh on 27 February, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said, quote, Right now, the only plan, and they don't like it, but the only plan is the Trump plan.
Chapter 6: What are the challenges to achieving a two-state solution?
So if they've got a better plan, now's the time to present it. End quote. Coming up next, a suspected Russian drone struck the former Chernobyl nuclear power plant in Ukraine overnight, damaging its protective shell. I'll have those details when we come back. Running a business isn't easy. I know that firsthand.
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Despite the Trump administration's push for peace talks between Russia and Ukraine this week, escalations on the battlefield are sowing doubts about whether the Kremlin is serious about ending their three-year-old war against Kyiv.
According to the Ukrainian military, a Russian military drone armed with a high explosive warhead struck the former Chernobyl nuclear power plant in Ukraine overnight, causing extensive damage to the containment shell that protects the reactor and prevents radiation leaks.
The protective shelter, which was installed back in 2016 over a separate containment structure, reportedly sustained a large hole from the unmanned aircraft, which also ignited a fire. Now, I'm sure you don't need reminding that Chernobyl was the site of the world's largest nuclear meltdown disaster in history, and that was back in 1986.
In a post on social media, Ukrainian President Zelensky called the damage, quote, significant, though stressed that the fire has since been extinguished and there were no signs of increased radiation at the plant following the incident. Officials with the U.N.
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Chapter 7: What recent developments occurred at the Chernobyl nuclear plant?
We're digging into cartel activity on the U.S. southern border and the potential for unilateral U.S. military action against the cartels. We're also talking about tariffs being announced by the Trump administration and their potential impact on the U.S. and global economies. We're also looking at the troubling U.S.
dependency on China and India for critical drugs, which one could argue is a serious national security concern. I'm Mike Baker, and I'll be back over the weekend with the PDB Situation Report. Until then, stay informed, stay safe, stay cool.