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The President's Daily Brief
December 31st, 2024: Russia Rejects Trump’s Peace Deal & Hamas Chief Assassination Details
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- [00:12]
Mike Baker
It's Tuesday, the 31st of December, which, as you may have heard, is New Year's Eve. We're on the cusp of 2025. And, and what are the odds that the new year could be as wacky as 2024? Probably pretty good odds. 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 today with reports that the Kremlin has turned down critical parts of a peace deal pitched by Donald Trump and his incoming administration. We'll have those details later in the show. We'll shift our focus to Gaza, where hopes for a ceasefire and hostage deal have seemingly gone up in smoke again. Plus, we've got new details about the operation that took out Hamas chief Ismail Hanye as Israel for the first time admits its role in the assassination. And in today's back of the brief. Oh, look, we're wrapping up 2024 and it's the return of little rocket man. North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has announced plans to adopt strict anti U S Measures in the weeks leading up to Donald Trump's inauguration. But first, today's PDB President Elect Trump has perhaps been dealt a setback regarding his hopes for a quick compromise with the Putin regime to end Russia's war on Ukraine. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov rejected proposals on Monday that have recently been floated by Trump and members of his national security team on how to achieve a lasting peace in Eastern Europe, saying the Kremlin was not satisfied with numerous elements of the President elect's plans. That's according to a report from Newsweek. Oh, so the invading regime that's carried out a three year war against a neighboring country and is currently losing upwards of 1,500 Russian soldiers a day in the conflict isn't satisfied. Now that is a shame. As a reminder, Trump began outlining his plans for bringing the war in Ukraine to a quick conclusion in an interview with Time magazine earlier this month. While there are apparently multiple ideas being floated by Trump's advisers at this time, they include proposals to block Ukraine from joining NATO for at least 20 years, temporarily ceding portions of Ukrainian territory to Russia and deploying a European led coalition of ground troops in Ukraine to keep the peace. While no official proposals have been communicated to Moscow by Trump's transition team, Lavrov told reporters on Monday that the Kremlin doesn't like what they've heard so far. Again, what a shame. Lavrov said, quote, we're not happy of course with the proposals made by members of the Trump team to postpone Ukraine's admission to Ukraine for 20 years and to station British and European peacekeeping forces in Ukraine, end quote. He claimed Trump's plan amounts to freezing hostilities along the current lines of engagement and transferring further responsibility for confronting Russia to the Europeans. Lavrov countered by calling for the incoming Trump administration to pursue reliable and legally binding agreements that would eliminate the root causes of the conflict and seal a mechanism precluding the possibility of their violation, end quote. Yeah, not quite sure what all that means. Basically, Russia has no interest in participating in a more limited ceasefire that would allow Ukraine to eventually pursue NATO membership and potentially put them on a path towards regaining their lost territory. The remarks come in the wake of an end of year address given by Russian President Putin, who claimed he was ready to participate in possible peace talks with Trump once he returns to office. But Putin also said that any deal must be long lasting and listed a litany of preconditions, including that any negotiations should be based on the failed istanbul talks from 2022. As a reminder, those talks produced a draft treaty that would prohibit Ukraine from ever joining NATO, bar them from hosting foreign weapons, require sweeping reductions in their military forces and and have Kyiv officially cede Crimea and parts of the Donbas region to Russia. Oh, and Putin also said he wants a pony. At the time Ukrainian officials rejected the one sided proposal. There's a surprise and President Zelensky continues to maintain his stance that NATO membership is the only viable path towards peace. He's shown an openness to aspects of Trump's proposals, including temporarily ceding Russian occupied territories to Moscow and hosting a European peacekeeping coalition, but only if Ukraine is given security guarantees from the NATO alliance. But Lavrov said Monday that Russia would never accept Ukraine's membership into NATO, even in return for territorial concessions. He also expressed doubts that Trump would be able to bridge the divide within the US and among European allies regarding the war and successfully restore diplomatic relations between Russia and America. Lavrov said even if Trump tries to relaunch bilateral ties, he'll have to swim against the stream, considering the current bipartisan consensus on the policy of deterring Russia. We'll see what happens next, he said. If the Americans respect our interests, our dialogue will be gradually renewed. If not, everything will remain as it is. Meanwhile, President Biden is using his final days in office to boost financial and military aid to Ukraine, announcing on Monday another package of weapons transfers. This latest package is worth an estimated $2.5 billion and includes longer term supplies of air defenses, thousands of artillery rounds, thousands of rockets and hundreds of armored vehicles. The Biden administration has now approved nearly $5 billion in aid for Ukraine since Trump's reelection in November. Fearing that Trump may significantly reduce or cut off support once he takes office, Zelensky praised the move from the Biden administration and stressed the need for continued military support from Kyiv's Western allies, saying, quote, every additional supply from our partners means more saved lives, end quote. All right, coming up next, we'll head to Gaza where a ceasefire and hostage deal appears to have collapsed and Israel reveals its role in the assassination of Hamas leader Ishmael Kanye. I'll have those stories when we come back.
- [07:01]
Tucker Carlson
Hey, it's Tucker Carlson. We are proud to provide a venue for Oliver Stone's son Sean, who's a friend of ours and also a filmmaker, his latest documentary series called all the President's Men. It's a multi part series in which he explains in vivid detail how the First Trump administration 2016-2020 was subverted from the very first day by the deep state who picked off one by one members of the then president's inner circle. And some of them are still on the scene. You will see in depth interviews with, for example, Cash Patel, who was the incoming president's new FBI director, with Mike Flynn and many other people, you know, whose whole stories you may not have heard before. It's an amazing series. All the President's Men by Sean Stone playing right now ontucker carlson.com we're proud to have it. We think you'll like it.
- [07:53]
Mike Baker
Welcome back to the pdb. Hopes for a ceasefire and hostage deal in Gaza have crumbled once again, with Western officials warning that the conflict will likely drag on at least until President elect Trump returns to office later next month. As you may recall, just two weeks ago, many believed that a truce was imminent after Hamas reportedly yielded to some of Israel's key demands for a ceasefire, including agreeing to allow Israeli forces to remain in Gaza temporarily. But Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu reportedly told a group of ministers on Sunday that negotiations with the Iranian backed terror group were once again stuck after Hamas went back on their promises and hardened their stance. That's according to a report from the Jerusalem Post. Sounds like Hamas's puppet masters in the Iranian regime aren't much interested in a ceasefire arrangement. The terror group has reportedly returned to demanding a permanent end to the war as conditional for any deal which would necessarily include the withdrawal of Israeli forces. Netanyahu reportedly told his ministers that the situation was now less optimistic, adding that it appears the group does not want there to be a deal. Anonymous American and Israeli officials told the Times of Israel the chances of mediators finding a way to bridge the divide before Trump's January 20th inauguration were now extremely low. It's not immediately clear what exactly would change regarding the stalled talks after Trump gets sworn in, but the president elect vowed earlier this month that there would be all hell to pay for Hamas if they do not free the remaining hostages by the time that he takes the oath of office. As a reminder, Israeli officials say there are 96 hostages remaining in Gaza, although at least 30 are thought to be deceased. But Hamas reportedly doesn't even know where all the hostages are located. They claim that they'll be in a better position to provide accurate information on the hostages once there's a ceasefire. In the meantime, Israel is keeping Hamas on the back foot. The IDF launched a military raid on Friday at a major hotel in northern Gaza, where they carried out one of their largest single arrest operations since the war began. The hospital was described as Hamas's last bastion in the north, doubling as a shelter for hundreds of terror operatives who were using it to hide from Israeli airstrikes. Hamas claimed that 50 were killed in the operation, including hospital staff, and surprisingly, some international media ran with the story without bothering to fact check. Hamas. Well, that is shocking. Usually the international media does a terrific job of fact checking before running with the story. A subsequent update from the IDF revealed that while 19 terror operatives were killed in the two day raid, there were no known civilian casualties. The IDF actually managed to evacuate 600 civilians and another 95 patients, caregivers and medical personnel from the hospital during their two day operation. The IDF also arrested some 240 alleged terror operatives, including at least 15 who directly participated in the brutal 7 October attacks, along with several prominent commanders of Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad. Some of the militants allegedly attempted to pose as medical staff to evade capture, while others tried to escape on stretchers and in ambulances. Notably, the director of the hospital was also detained on suspicion of leading a double life as an operative for Hamas. Inside the hospital, the IDF reportedly found stores of weapons, including grenades, handguns, ammunition and and other military equipment. The patients, meanwhile, were transferred to a nearby hospital where the IDF provided fuel, generators and other medical equipment. Officials with the IDF said while they're still conducting some limited operations near the hospital, they have successfully disrupted Hamas efforts to regroup and will soon wind down their campaign in the area. But whether the loss of their last refuge in northern Gaza will encourage Hamas to come back to the negotiating table with concessions. Well, that remains to be seen and of course, depends on what the Iranian regime and the IRGC wants Hamas to do. Okay, sticking with Israel, I want to mention a story that we didn't cover over Christmas. For the first time, Defense Minister Israel Katz confirmed last Monday the country's involvement in the July assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Kanye in Tehran, Iran. Katz's remarks, delivered at a commemoration event for local security officers, broke months of speculations about Israel's role in the meticulously planned covert mission. The assassination, targeting Kanye, who was the leader of Hamas's political wing, occurred during his visit to Tehran for the inauguration of Iranian President Mossoud Pezeshkian. To avoid disrupting that event, Israeli operatives delayed the mission until after the inauguration. The operation's details, as reported by the New York Times, reveal the extent of Israeli intelligence capabilities. A bomb planted well in advance with precise knowledge of Kanye's accommodations. The heavily secured regime run guest house controlled by Iran's irgc, was remotely detonated in the early hours, killing him instantly. Compounding Katz's revelation, a General 12 report Thursday shed new light on the fragility of the operation's success. An unexpected technical glitch in the guesthouse's air conditioning system prompted Kanye to temporarily leave his room, raising fears among Israeli operatives that he might relocate to a different site. This would, of course, have rendered the mission impossible and Kanye would have inadvertently prevented his death. Ultimately, repairs to the system by guest house staff, how helpful of them, lured Chanye back to his quarters, sealing his fate. Katz used the commemoration event to contextualize the assassination within Israel's broader regional strategy. Comparing the operation to strikes targeting other militant leaders such as Yahya Sinwar and Hezbollah's Hassan Nasrallah, Katz declared, quote, we will strike the Houthi's strategic infrastructure and decapitate its leaders, just as we did to Khanye Sinwar and Nasrallah in Tehran, Gaza and Lebanon. Now, as we've covered on the pdb, the death of Kanye forced a rapid restructuring of Hamas's leadership. Yahya Sinmore, previously the military chief, briefly assumed the political mantle before his own demise during a surge in Israeli counterterrorism operations in Gaza this past October. Additionally, Iran's proxy Hezbollah in Lebanon saw its leader Hassan Nasrallah killed in a September Israeli airstrike. Katz's comments also come during intensifying hostilities between Israel and the Iranian backed Houthi rebels in Yemen, a conflict underscoring the ongoing shadow war between Jerusalem and Tehran. All right, Coming up in the back of the brief, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un is reportedly crafting plans to complicate life for Donald Trump as the US President elect prepares to take office. I'll be right back. Neat parts now.
- [15:36]
Tucker Carlson
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- [15:41]
Mike Baker
Get more parts your way at O'Reilly Auto Parts. Auto Parts. In today's Back of the brief, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un pledged to pursue the, quote, toughest anti US Policy, setting the stage for heightened tensions just weeks before President elect Trump returns to the White House. During a five day meeting of the ruling Workers Party that ended on Friday, Kim referred to the United States as, quote, the most reactionary state with an unwavering anti communist agenda. How about that? Kim ironically lambasted the U.S. south Korea, Japan security alliance as a, quote, nuclear military bloc for aggression, underscoring his regime's view of Washington's policies as inherently hostile. According to the state run Korean Central News Agency, Kim outlined a series of measures aimed at bolstering North Korea's defense posture, including advancements in military technology and morale building within the armed forces. I don't think that sending thousands of his troops to Ukraine to serve as cannon fodder for Putin is going to do much for their morale. The regime leader stops short of elaborating specific details about the promised anti U S policy. Kim's latest rhetoric against the US Unfolds against a backdrop of escalating military and diplomatic tensions. As we've been tracking on the pdb, North Korea has tightened its alignment with Russia, supplying Moscow, of course, with troops and conventional weapons for its campaign in Ukraine. This still blossoming romance between Kim and Putin raises alarms, of course, that Russia is reciprocating with advanced military technology, potentially bolstering North Korea's nuclear arsenal. The timing of Kim's statements coincides with a difficult diplomatic landscape. Of course, since the collapse of nuclear talks in 2019, relations between Washington and Pyongyang have worsened with North Korea ramping up missile tests and the U.S. south Korea and Japan intensifying joint military exercises that Pyongyang denounces as invasion rehearsals. Further complicating matters, Russia and China consistently blocked U S led efforts to tighten UN Sanctions on North Korea, providing Pyongyang with opportunities to circumvent those sanctions. And as Trump prepares to return to the White House, the question is, well, can his previous rapport with Kim Jong Un lead to a revival of diplomacy of sorts? Trump's first term summit with Kim temporarily eased the tense exchanges that had characterized their relationship. But the talks, of course, ultimately collapsed over disagreements on denuclearization. And that, my friends, is the President's Daily brief for Tuesday, 31st December it if you have any questions or comments, please reach out to me@pdbhefirsttv.com and here's a thought as 2025 sits there lurking in the wings, well, do me a favor and send along your New Year's resolutions. Send them to pdbhefirsttv.com we'll put together one of our Ask Me Anything episodes and highlight the top resolutions from the PDB community. No doubt. I suspect one of the most popular resolutions for the coming year will be to subscribe to our YouTube channel, ResidentsDaily Brief. It's just a thought. And of course, to listen to the show ad free. Become a premium member of the President's Daily brief by visiting pdbpremium.com it's that simple. I'm Mike Baker. I'll be back later today with the PDB Afternoon Bulletin. Until then, stay informed, stay safe, stay cool.