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The President's Daily Brief
January 26th, 2026: Iran Chemical Weapons Claims & Minneapolis Shooting Fallout
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It's Monday, the 26th of January. Welcome to the president's Daily Brief. I'm Mike Baker, your eyes and ears on the world stage. And yes, if you said to yourself, looks like Mike's back on the road, you'd be right. Coming to you this morning from some nondescript airport somewhere. All right, lets get briefed. First up, new reports out of Iran suggest that the regime may have deployed chemical agents against protesters, raising serious questions about how far Tehran is willing to go to crush dissent. I'll have the details later in the show. We'll break down the latest developments from Minneapolis, where a Border Patrol agent shot and killed a man during the immigration crackdown, leading to more calls for federal law enforcement to leave the state. Plus, the trilateral talks between Russia, Ukraine and the US have wrapped up with leaders projecting optimism but little tangible progress. Well, of course, hope is the thing with feathers. And in today's Back of the Brief, President Trump claims a secret weapon, apparently not really secret anymore, which he called the, quote, discombobulator. I'm not making that up. And he claims it was decisive in the raid that captured Venezuela's Nicolas Maduro. Now, if I'm not mistaken, I believe the original discombobulator, it first appeared in of the Austin Power movies. I may be wrong on that. But first, today's PDB Spotlight. We're tracking new reports out of Iran that suggest the regime may have outdone itself in its brutal crackdown on protesters. According to multiple accounts and officials in the United Kingdom, Tehran's security forces may have used lethal chemical agents against demonstrators. It's an allegation that, if confirmed, would mark a major escalation in the regime's use of force against its own people. Witnesses and medical sources describe symptoms that go far beyond what you'd expect from standard riot control agents like tear gas. Protesters reportedly experienced severe respiratory distress, sudden collapse and prolonged breathing complications, effects that raised immediate alarms among outside observers. In some cases, victims required urgent medical care, while others described lingering symptoms hours after exposure. Sources even alleged delayed health reactions that led to deaths of those exposed days later. Footage captured during one protest appeared to show security personnel wearing full hazmat suits and protective masks positioned atop military vehicles moving through city streets. That's an image that has only added to concerns about what may have been deployed by the regime. Now, it's important to be clear here. These are reports from the ground, but access inside Iran remains tightly restricted. It is independent. Verification is difficult, and the regime is offered no transparency. I know. I too am shocked that the mullahs and the Revolutionary Guard Corps have not been transparent about their brutal efforts to remain in power. But multiple outlets and analysts say the accounts are consistent enough and serious enough that they warrant close international scrutiny. If Tehran did in fact deploy chemical agents against civilians, that would represent not just another brutal episode in its long history of repression, but a step into territory that carries enormous legal and moral and strategic consequences, none of which would likely bother the Iranian regime. Chemical weapons are banned under international law, and their use, especially against a civilian population, would further isolate an already isolated regime. If the reports are determined to be accurate, we can count on the United nations and the international community to issue a very terse memo. Of course, this new reporting comes against the backdrop of growing internal pressure. Iran's leadership continues to face unrest, economic strain and deep public resentment. The use of extreme measures would suggest a regime increasingly willing to accept international condemnation in exchange for short term control at home. Meanwhile, it appears the regime is preparing for the possibility of a US strike at the highest level. New reporting indicates that Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has moved to a fortified underground bunker amid rising concerns that tensions with Washington could boil over into direct military action. While Iranian officials have not confirmed that move, such a step would be consistent with contingency planning at the very top of the regime. This comes as US Military assets continue to flow into the region. As we've reported here, a carrier strike group, or as Trump called it, an armada. Air defenses and support forces have been repositioned, giving Washington a wide range of options if it chooses to escalate. Publicly, U.S. officials have stressed deterrence and readiness rather than imminent action. But the posture itself sends a clear signal. At the same time, the regime remains defiant in the face of the U.S. buildup in the region. Iranian military commanders and senior officials have issued sharp warnings, vowing that any American strike would be met with a full scale response. State media continues to project confidence, emphasizing Iran's missile capabilities, regional proxy network, and readiness for confrontation. This dual posture, private precaution paired with public defiance, is familiar. Tehran wants to deter action by projecting strength even as it quietly prepares for worst case scenarios. The messaging is aimed as much at domestic audiences as it is at Washington. The regime wants to appear unshaken, unbowed and firmly in control. And finally, new reporting suggests that if a strike does occur, the US may not be acting alone. According to regional reporting, Jordan, the United Arab Emirates and the UK could provide support in the event of US military action against Iran. The nature of that support remains unclear, and none of the governments involved have publicly confirmed such plans. Taken together, though, these developments paint a picture of a regime under extraordinary strain, accused of extreme brutality at home, preparing for conflict with the US and facing a shifting regional environment that may be less forgiving than in the past. Alright, coming up next, a fatal shooting in Minneapolis escalates tensions at home, and Russia, Ukraine and the US Conclude talks in Abu Dhabi with little to show for them. I'll be right back. Hey, Mike Baker here. Let me take just a moment of your time to talk about security, specifically your online security and to tell you about DeleteMe. DeleteMe is a great company out there working hard to make people safer online. 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Just go to JoinDeleteMe.com PDB and enter code PDB at checkout. That's JoinDeleteMe.com PDB CodePDB. Welcome back to the PDB. A federal immigration operation in Minneapolis again turned deadly when a Border Patrol agent was forced to fire on a man during an armed encounter, sending tensions across the city soaring, fueling renewed protests for federal law enforcement to leave Minnesota. Here's what we know so far as we've been tracking here on the pdb, federal agents have been in Minneapolis for over a month now, carrying out what the Department of Homeland Security describes as an immigration enforcement operation. Federal agents on Saturday were operating in an area that has increasingly become a protest flashpoint as demonstrations against ICE officers have flared in recent weeks. Agents were in the middle of a targeted enforcement action when a crowd began to gather, adding pressure to an already tense scene. According to video and official accounts, that's when an individual, Alex Pretti, entered the picture. He was near the agents as the operation unfolded, moving through a crowded environment where protesters and officers were already pushing against one another. What had been a confrontational standoff quickly collapsed into seconds of chaos. Multiple videos from the scene show a close quarter struggle unfolding amid the crowd. In multiple clips, officers can be heard shouting, he's got a gun. As Pretty is forced to the ground. An officer is then seen in one video reaching into Pretty's waistband and pulling out a 9 millimeter semiautomatic handgun the moment federal officials say the encounter became deadly. If you slow the footage down, it does appear that as the weapon is retrieved by an ICE officer during the struggle, the gun's slide appears to move, suggesting that it may have discharged. Seconds later, an agent fires multiple rounds at close range. The shots came with officers and bystanders just feet away. When the gunfire stops, Pretty is motionless on the ground. DHS said Border Patrol agents were engaged in a federal arrest action already underway and not a random patrol when Pretti approached them armed with a handgun, two magazines and no id. However, there is video footage that appears to show Pretty holding a phone, not a handgun. One does not look like the other. According to government's versions of events, officers attempted to disarm him, but he violently resisted. In what officials described was a dangerous confrontation, an agent fired what the department characterizes as, quote, defensive shots. The officer who fired the fatal rounds was identified only as an eight year veteran of the Border Patrol. Within hours, authorities explained their response on the ground. Minnesota National Guard troops were deployed to assist local police with units sent both to the shooting site and a nearby federal building that's become a regular focal point for demonstrations. Again, a bystander video obtained by the Associated Press shows Pretty reaching for and holding a cell phone, not brandishing a weapon. Minneapolis Police Chief Brian o' Hara said police believe Pretty was a lawful gun owner with a permit to carry something. That's still under investigation. Minnesota is a carry state, meaning that if Pretty purchased the gun legally and held a permit to carry, he had every right to have that weapon on his hip. That's the Second Amendment into action. What investigators are now working to determine is exactly when the weapon became visible to officers and whether Pretti was in the process of drawing it during the confrontation. The problem, as always in this world of social media and smartphones, is that there's always a rush to judgment or a rush to exonerate before an actual investigation identifies all the facts. DHS was quick to claim that Pretty approached the ICE officers with a weapon in his hand and an intent to caus bodily harm. Protesters, however, were quick to claim Pretty was innocent and was holding a phone and was not posing a threat to the officers. Only one of those versions can be true, and that truth is determined through a thorough examination of all available video footage, witness statements and forensics. DHS Secretary Kristi Noem addressed those questions in a press conference. She said Pretty attempted to, quote, impede a law enforcement operation and questioned why he approached eight federal agents in the first place. Noem emphasized the threat. Fearing for his life and for the lives of his fellow officers, an agent fired defensive shots. Pretty was pronounced dead at the scene. President Trump weighed in on Truth Social, criticizing governor Tim Walz and the mayor of Minneapolis. Trump shared images of the handgun recovered at the scene and accused local leaders of failing to protect federal officers, arguing that their liberal rhetoric is inciting insurrection. Border Patrol Chief Gregory Bovino defended his personnel's actions, noting that the officer involved had extensive training. Bovino warned that federal agents in Minneapolis are facing increasingly aggressive actions while carrying out enforcement operations. This latest shooting, of course, happened just over a mile from where an ICE officer shot Renee Good on 7 January after DHS said she used her vehicle as a weapon against an agent. That earlier incident sparked days of protests and left Minneapolis already on the edge before Saturday's confrontation even began. Despite the deployment of National Guard troops, demonstrations persist now with protesters defacing public property and shoving federal agents, underscoring just how volatile the environment around immigration enforcement has become in Minneapolis. Alright, Shifting gears After last week's discussions in Davos, the diplomatic effort shifted to Abu Dhabi, where US Negotiators brought Russia and Ukraine to the same table, opening a phase of trilateral talks framed as progress, even as the toughest questions and most contentious details remain unsolved. That has been, to be fair, the history of any discussions around Putin's four year war on Ukraine, optimism and hope in the face of little actual progress. Over two days, delegations from Washington, Moscow and Kyiv met for talks hosted by the uae. Political and military officials were all involved, and the focus, according to Ukrainian officials, was on possible parameters for ending the war. Ukrainian President Zelenskyy said the delegations agreed to head back to their capitals and coordinate next steps, adding that follow up meetings could take place as early as the beginning of February. From Kyiv's perspective, this wasn't about producing a deal on the spot. It was about keeping the format intact, keeping the US Actively involved and keeping talks from stalling out entirely. From Washington's side, officials close to the talks describe the meetings as a new phase of constructive US Mediation. Advisers to President Trump came away sounding cautiously optimistic, saying the talks helped narrow gaps on the biggest sticking point, which of course is territorial control of eastern Ukraine. It's worth pausing there because progress in this context doesn't mean a possible solution. It means positions that have been frozen for months, particularly on the Kremlin side, are at least being tested again. U.S. officials say it took months of quiet diplomacy to get Moscow and Kyiv to agree to a trilateral format under American mediation. The talks began on Friday and continued through Saturday. At times, US Mediators sat in joint sessions with both sides, and at other moments Russian and Ukrainian negotiators met directly without the Americans in the room. As for the negotiation teams, the US Delegation included, well, Trump advisers Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, with Army Secretary Dan Driscoll and and the commander of US European Command, General Grinkowich. Ukraine's delegation was led by Zelensky's chief of staff and included his national security adviser, Rustem Umarov, along with the country's military chief of staff and other senior presidential advisers. Russia's delegation was led by Admiral Igor Kostakov, the chief of Russian military intelligence, according to U.S. officials. The groundwork for these negotiations was laid early last week, as we discussed on the pdb. It began with Trump meeting with Zelensky and Davos, followed just hours later by a four hour meeting in Moscow between Russian President Putin, Wykoff and Kushner. But that Moscow meeting also underscored the ceiling on this process. Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov described the discussions as extremely frank, saying a lasting settlement would be unlikely without resolving territorial issues, according to what he called the formula agreed in Anchorage, a reference to the August Putin Trump meeting in Alaska. Ushakov and Putin made clear that without addressing territory, there's no point in hoping for a settlement. You may remember that ahead of the Alaska summit, the Kremlin demanded Ukrainian forces withdraw from parts of Donetsk and Luhansk, which are not occupied by Russia. That's a demand that Kyiv consistently rejects. After being briefed by his negotiating team, Zelensky said the talks again focused on possible parameters for ending the war and emphasized U.S. oversight as a critical component of any agreement. Still, there was no rush to declare success. A Ukrainian official cautioned that while some progress had been made, it remains unclear whether Putin is prepared to give his negotiators any authority to strike a deal in the next meeting. So, in short, it's still too early to judge what tangible progress came out of the talks. That same Ukrainian official said that if the next trilateral round moves things further along, discussions could eventually shift to Moscow or Kyiv, venues that have not hosted negotiations in years. And this is where the practical limits of the talks became clear. Zelenskyy has said any territorial decision would ultimately have to be made by Ukrainians themselves, either through an election or a referendum. A December poll showed roughly 75% of Ukrainians oppose any peace deal that includes withdrawal from the Donbass without firm security guarantees. All right, coming up in today's Back of the Brief, Trump says a secret weapon was crucial to the raid that captured Venezuela's Nicolas Maduro. We'll have those details. Hey, Mike Baker here. Well, it is 2026. You knew that, of course. Now with the New Year, did you make any New Year's resolutions? Right. I made a few. And I think the most important one that I made was to get better sleep every night. Yeah, because sleep is basically the foundation for the rest of your day. With a good night's sleep, well, you have more energy, you handle stress better, you think more clearly. You know all of this, come on. And to help make it a reality, what? I turned to CBD products from CB Distillery. Their sleep gummies with a combination of CBD and melatonin really do the trick. 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In today's back of the Brief, we're learning a bit more about the confirmed use of the secret weapon President Trump says helped US Forces capture Venezuelan strongman Nicolas Maduro. In an exclusive interview with the New York Post, Trump confirmed that a classified system known as the discombobulator was unleashed as US helicopters moved into Caracas on 3 January to arrest Maduro and his wife on federal drug and weapons charges. Trump said quote, the discombobulator. I'm not allowed to talk about it, confirming its use while making clear there are limits to what he can publicly explain. Still, he offered enough to possibly understand the effect. As we've discussed here on the pdb, Venezuelan forces had Russian and Chinese supplied rocket, air defenses and radar in place for decades in anticipation of an eventual US Attack. But nothing happened. The night of the operation, Trump said, quote, they never got their rockets off. We came in, they pressed buttons and nothing worked. And, quote, it's a shame they never got their rockets off. That's got to be frustrating. The way Trump tells it, this wasn't a scramble or a near miss. Regime defense has simply failed to respond, allowing US Forces to move in and secure their target without losing a single American life. Trump's comments came after he was asked about reports that the Biden administration previously purchased a pulse energy weapon tied by some researchers to the so called Havana Syndrome. Now, for those unfamiliar, that term refers to unexplained neurological symptoms reported by American diplomats and intelligence personnel overseas, including dizziness and cognitive problems, which some officials suspect may stem from directed energy exposure. And while little is publicly known about the system that Trump described, what stands out is how closely his account aligns with what was reported on the ground in Venezuela in the aftermath of the raid. One member of Maduro security detail told the New York Post that radar systems shut down without warning just before the assault began, according to the guard. Next thing he saw were drones, a lot of them suddenly appearing overhead, and then came the US Helicopters. The guard said defenders were then hit by what he struggled to describe, something that felt less like a conventional weapon and more like an overwhelming physical force, he said, quote, it was like a very intense sound wave. It felt like my head was exploding from the inside. He claimed several regime guards suffered nosebleeds, nausea and severe disorientation, leaving them unable to stand or respond as U.S. forces secured the complex, possibly with the help of the dreaded discombobulator. And that, my friends, is the President's daily brief for Monday 26th January. Now, if you have any questions or comments, please reach out to me at pdb@the first tv.com and hopefully you had the chance to catch the latest episode of our extended weekend show. That's the PDB situation report. Daniel DiMartino, Venezuelan analyst from the Manhattan Institute, along with author and China analyst Gordon Chang, join the show to talk all things Venezuela and China. You can catch it in past episodes on our YouTube channel. Just head on over to YouTube and search up Presidence Daily Brief. It's also available, of course, on all podcast platforms. I'm Mike Baker and I'll be back later today still from the road with the PDB Afternoon Bulletin. Until then, stay informed, stay safe, stay co. It.