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The President's Daily Brief
March 3rd, 2026: Trump Lays Out His 4 Objectives For Operation Epic Fury & Tehran Replaces Its Supreme Leader
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It's Tuesday the 3rd of March. 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. First up, six Americans are now dead as Operation Epic Fury enters day four. And and President Trump lays out the clearest statement yet of what this war is meant to achieve. But what may be most telling is what's not on that list of objectives. Later in the show, following the death of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei, Iran is already moving to fill the leadership void. We'll take a look at the three man council that supposedly now is in charge. Plus, US Embassies are under siege in multiple countries as pro Iranian regime Islamists take to the streets. And in today's Back of the Brief, we'll turn our attention to Europe where France has just made a major announcement regarding its nuclear program and the EU. But first, today's PDB Spotlight. It's day four of Operation Epic Fury. U.S. central Command confirmed last night that six American service members have now been killed since the start of the operation. All six fatalities stem from the same incident in Kuwait over the weekend when the Iranians struck Camp Arifjan. And we reported on that yesterday, it was a number of others remain seriously wounded from that incident. Meanwhile, CENTCOM says American forces have struck more than 1250 targets inside Iran since Saturday morning's opening strikes. Now, one thing worth focusing on today is something that President Trump said during an address yesterday where he outlined the US Objectives more clearly than at any point since this conflict started. According to Trump, the the first goal is to destroy Iran's missile stockpiles and eliminate their missile industry. That doesn't simply mean taking out launchers. It means dismantling the infrastructure, the factories, the fuel depots, storage sites and supply chains that allow Tehran to replenish its arsenal. To that end, the Pentagon has confirmed the deployment of B2 Spirit bombers armed with 2,000 pound munitions to hit hardened underground facilities. Now, if that sounds familiar. Well, it should. These were the same stealth bombers used during last year's Midnight hammer operation when 14 GBU 57 bunker busters were dropped on three major Iranian nuclear facilities. This time the targets include Iran's so called missile cities. These are the massive underground storage complexes carved deep into the mountains. The second military objective, well, that's to destroy Iran's navy. And on that front, early indicators suggest considerable success. Satellite imagery shows multiple Iranian vessels destroyed in the Gulf of Oman yesterday. US Central Command posted bluntly on social media, quote Two days ago, the Iranian regime had 11 ships in the Gulf of Oman. Today, they have zero. But there is some nuance that matters here. Iran has never relied solely on a traditional blue water navy. It its real strength lies in asymmetrical warfare, swarms of small, fast boats designed to harass commercial shipping and threaten the Strait of Hormuz. Even without larger surface ships, Iran retains the ability to disrupt maritime traffic. In fact, Tehran even claimed yesterday that it had closed the strait and warned that any vessel attempting to transit would be, quote, set ablaze. Now, U.S. officials dispute that claim, though shipping traffic suggests many commercial vessels are steering clear. For now, those first two objectives are somewhat conventional. They're the things you can achieve from the air. But the third and fourth objectives that President Trump laid out yesterday are where things become a little more complex. President Trump says the US Aims to ensure Iran can never obtain a nuclear weapon and that it can no longer arm, fund, or direct terrorist proxies across the region. Now, those goals go well beyond airstrikes. Preventing nuclear ambitions permanently would require either total dismantlement of Iran's program or a government that fundamentally changes its strategic intent. Likewise, cutting off support to proxy groups like Hezbollah, Hamas, and the Houthis would demand a structural shift in regime behavior. Those are the four objectives now that President Trump laid out. But there's something that's notably missing from that list, and that would be regime change. Secretary of War Pete Hegseth made that explicit yesterday, telling the media this is not a so called regime change, but the regime sure did change, end quote. Now, I suppose that could be considered a careful distinction. Earlier in the conflict, President Trump publicly encouraged the Iranian people to rise up. But at this stage, it appears Washington is prepared to accept a scenario in which the regime remains, provided it is essentially neutered. In other words, the overall objective of Operation Epic Fury could be not to replace the regime in Tehran, but to remove its teeth. And ultimately, if there's going to be a fundamental change in Iran's government, that decision will not be made in Washington or Jerusalem. It will be made in Tehran and in the streets of Isfahan and Shiraz and elsewhere across Iran. The US And Israel can degrade capabilities. They can dismantle infrastructure. They can work to remove the regime's ability to threaten its neighbors. But whether the system itself survives or collapses, as we've discussed before, well, that's up to the Iranian people. All right, coming up next, following the death of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei, Iran has moved quickly to fill the leadership void and US Embassies face violent protests across multiple countries from Islamists supporting the Iranian regime. I'll be right back. Hey, Mike Baker here. Now, you probably know me as the PDB host. At least hopefully you know me as the host of the pdb, but I'm also a business owner. Have been for years. And as a business owner, I'm always focused on finding and keeping clients right. Which is why I'm a fan of Quo. I'm talking Quo. That's Quo. Quo is a terrific business that ensures you never miss a call or message because as you might know, missed calls can be lost revenue. Missed calls are essentially just money out the door. Quo helps you and your team share one business number, reply faster, and stay on top of every customer conversation so you never miss an opportunity to to connect. That's why today's episode is brought to you by Quo. Again, that's Quo. The smarter way to run your business communications. Quo is the number one rated business phone system built for how modern teams work right. More than 90,000 businesses get that rely on Quo to stay connected, stay professional and stay consistently reachable. It's easy. Calls, texts, voicemails, transcripts and contact details all live in one clean view. Make this season the season where no opportunity and no customer slips away. Try Quo for free plus get 20 off your first six months when you go to quo.com PDB once again, that's Quo. Q U O Quo.com PDB Hey PDB listeners, Mike Baker here with a quick recommendation for your podcast Playlist. Look, if you like deep, insightful conversations with world class thinkers and who doesn't? Come on. Check out the Jordan Harbinger Show. It's available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you listen to. Jordan sits down with people who've been in the room at the highest levels. From national security leaders to thinkers reshaping how we understand the world. You'll hear ideas and stories that go way beyond the usual sound bites. Two episodes I'd recommend an interview with our friend Ryan Macbeth on Venezuela's collapse. That's a clear look at how a once wealthy oil state unraveled and what that means of course, for regional stability. And also his conversation with Douglas Murray where they explore the pressures facing Western democracies and what those trends mean for long term stability. Download the Jordan Harbinger Show. That's H A R B I N G E R Just like it sounds on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your shows. Or just go to jordanharbinger.com start to dive right in. It's one of those podcasts that makes you smarter, so give it a go. Welcome back to the bdb. We're beginning to see how the Islamic Republic is moving to stabilize itself in the wake of the death of the Supreme Leader and, of course, the deaths of a host of other officials and IRGC commanders, all killed in that decapitation strike at the opening of the war. Iran has since triggered a constitutional emergency clause, forming an interim council to hold power as the succession process unfolds. As we've been following Iran's Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, his death marked the most dramatic rupture in the regime's leadership since the 1979 revolution. Of course, Iran has vowed retaliation, and we've seen that as the Islamic Republic launches strikes against Israeli and US Assets across the Gulf. But at the same time, the clerical establishment moved quickly to avoid a power vacuum. The regime had spent time, of course, conjuring up a succession plan well before Operation Fury began. And that planning, in part, is Based on Article 111 of the Iranian Constitution, the mechanism designed to keep authority intact when the Supreme Leader dies, resigns, or is unfit to perform his duties. Here's the simple when that happens, the system immediately installs a temporary leadership council that assumes all of the Supreme Leader's constitutional powers. The council consists of three the president, the head of the judiciary, and a senior cleric from the Guardian Council. In other words, the executive branch, the judicial apparatus, and the clerical establishment, essentially the pillars of the regime. Now, as you might suspect, nothing about this process involves a public vote or broader consultation. These insiders collectively assume the Supreme Leader's authority, serving as a temporary head of state, while the assembly of Experts. How's that for the name of a group? The assembly of Experts, which is an 88 member clerical body elected under strict regime control, selects a permanent successor. It's all very controlled and is designed to eliminate dissent or opposition. So let's take a look at the three members of this council. Ayatollah Alireza Arafi is perhaps the most institutionally significant figure in the group. Appointed to the guardian council in 2019, he serves within the body that vets legislation for compliance with Islamic law and controls who is permitted to run for office. He also serves as Deputy Chairman of the assembly of Experts and leads Friday prayers in the Islamic Republic's most influential religious center. His presence ensures clerical authority remains embedded in both the interim leadership and the succession process. Next is someone we profiled before here on the PDB. And that's Iranian President Massoud Bezechkian, elected in 2024 on what was described as a reform oriented platform. That's quite the reformist. He campaigned on economic stabilization while pledging loyalty to the ISL Republic's governing framework. A former heart surgeon, Possession has attempted to balance domestic reform pressures with regional instability. But following Khamenei's death, he made clear of his stance, declaring that Iran considers it a, quote, legitimate duty and right to avenge what he called a historic crime. Before you get too carried away with that reform concept, remember he's the president in charge when they just finished slaughtering thousands of their own citizens to put down the protests. Then there is Golam Hossein Mohsini Ajiyi. He's Iran's chief justice and longtime hardliner within the establishment. He's led the judiciary since 2021 and previously served as intelligence minister and Prosecutor General. Under his tenure, the judiciary has overseen crackdowns on protests and warned of no leniency toward unrest. Recently, amid protests tied to the collapsing rial, he accused the US And Israel of fueling domestic disturbances after President Trump encouraged Iranians to challenge the regime. So you ask yourself, what does all that mean? Well, the Intermed Council prevents a leadership freeze at the top during wartime, keeping authority centralized, while the real decision of who becomes the next supreme leader, whoever that may be, is negotiated behind closed doors. The assembly of Experts must now choose that successor. Amid military confrontation, economic strain, and generational tension within the clerical elite. The question is whether this transition further consolidates the regime's grip or exposes fractures inside a structure built around one man's authority for nearly four decades. Okay, I want to shift focus to the American embassies in the Middle East. They've quickly become a symbol or lightning rod for radical Islamists upset with the US With US Embassy personnel being told to shelter in place as unrest spills beyond Iran's borders. Now, that's the directive that shelter in place from US Missions in Qatar and Bahrain, whose personnel remain under lockdown. Embassy personnel and American citizens across the region were told to remain indoors with food, water, medication, and essential supplies. Further guidance included avoiding demonstrations. Well, yes, that's a good idea. And keeping a low profile and staying alert to changing conditions. Essentially, Washington is now shifting into a defensive posture abroad because it understands the fallout of striking the Iranian regime will not not stay neatly controlled inside the Islamic Republic. As operations in Iran continue to unfold, Israel remains in a state of emergency, warning residents to prepare for the possibility of further Missile attacks. At the same time, US Diplomatic facilities are enduring something different. Retaliation in the form of street protests. Let's start in Pakistan because that's where the violence is most severe. Pro regime rioters angered by the killing of Iran's supreme leader move beyond slogans and signage. In Karachi, hundreds gathered outside the US Consulate. A group of young men even scaled the outer gate, forcing their way into the consulate driveway and smashing windows in the main building. Pakistani police responded with tear gas and according to Al Jazeera, gunfire was reported. As it stands now, at least 10 protesters are dead and dozens were injured in the clashes with Pakistani police. And Karachi wasn't alone. Reports of riots also erupted in Lahore. Authorities sealed off roads leading to the red zone. That's the heavily secured district that houses the U.S. embassy, the governor's house and other Pakistan Pakistani government buildings. When protesters attempted to push through those barriers leading to the American embassy, Pakistani security forces fired rubber bullets. Witnesses there, similar to scenes in Karachi, also reported hearing live rounds. In Islamabad, Thousands gathered in the capital chanting anti American slogans and calling for revenge against Israel. Some carried placards bearing Khamenei's image. The protests unfolded as Pakistan's government officially condemned both the joint US Israeli strikes and and Iran's retaliatory attacks on Gulf states. And then there was the Islamic Republic's neighbor, Iraq. In Baghdad, hundreds of masked men, many dressed in all black, attempted to breach the heavily fortified compound housing the US Embassy. There, rioters were seen hurling stones at security forces. One masked demonstrator told the AFP that the protest was aimed at demanding the withdrawal of American forces from Iraq in but was likely a reference to U. S led coalition troops, frankly, whose presence has already been significantly reduced in the country. So while Washington and Jerusalem confront Tehran directly, US Diplomatic compounds in the region are facing pressure from the angry mobs of regime supporters. Agitation fueled by anger over the strikes and amplified by Iran's broader network of influence and proxies. Okay, coming up next in the back of the brief, we head to Europe where France is expanding its nuclear umbrella for the very first time. More on that when we come back. Hey, Mike Baker here. Let me take a moment to talk about personal finances and the importance of diversifying your assets. So here's the question. Do you own physical gold? Well, in today's world, with its ups and downs and general instability, owning gold is something that everyone should consider. And here's a top tip. Acre Gold. That's Acre. A C R E. Acre Gold makes it simple, right? With Acre Gold, you Pick a plan fits your budget, make monthly payments, and when you've accumulated enough, they ship you a beautifully designed 24 karat Swiss gold bar. Gold is up 70% year over year and central banks, well, they're still buying at record levels. The reality is smart money has been moving into hard assets for a reason. Acre Gold makes investing and owning gold easier than ever. And let me just say once you hold a physical asset like gold in your hands, well, you understand the difference between owning something real, something physical, and just comparing it to investments that are just numbers on a screen. And right now, the folks at Acre Gold are giving away two 5 gram ancient collection gold bars. You can enter for free for a chance to win the gold bars and also subscribe to Gold@getacre.com PDB Once again, that's getacregold.com PDB Hey, Mike Baker here to tell you about a great company that every food loving person should know about, right? It's called Gold Belly. Now if you're a foodie, you are going to love Gold Belly. It's an amazing site that celebrates the best of the US by shipping the country's most iconic foods from legendary restaurants and chefs straight to your door. It's that simple. I've been a fan for a while now. One of my many favorites is Franklin's Barbecue from Austin, right? Brisket ribs to full Texas spread. Ordered it for poker night not that long ago at the Baker compound. And let me tell you something, it showed up perfectly packed, smoky and every bit as legendary as the real deal down in Texas. So whether you're craving Lou Malnati's deep dish Chicago pizza, Junior's cheesecake from New York, Joe's Stone Crab from Miami. Oh, gotta get those. Or meals from chefs like Ina Garden or Jose Andres. Gold Belly delivers the real thing. So if you're looking for that perfect gift, or maybe you just want to impress your friends and family with an epic meal, go to goldbelly.com and get 20% off your first order with promo code PDB. That's goldbelly.com code PDB for 20% off your first order. In today's back of the brief, France just announced a major move regarding nuclear deterrent across Europe. President Emmanuel Macron unveiled what he's calling a new doctrine of forward deterrence, signaling that France is now willing for the first time to temporarily deploy elements of its nuclear forces onto allied European territory. Now, that could mean nuclear capable French fighter jets participating in exercises abroad or other strategic assets positioned forward as a signal to adversaries during a crisis. Macron didn't outline exact numbers or timelines. And importantly, he made clear that France will retain absolute control over its nuclear arsenal. No shared launch codes, no joint decision making. Paris would remain fully autonomous. So you ask, what's up with Macron's decision? Well, this is Europe adjusting to a world that feels far less stable than it did just a few years ago. Russia's war in Ukraine has shattered long held assumptions about European security. At the same time, doubts in some European capitals about long term American commitment to European defense have prompted a strategic recalculation. Macron has long championed the idea of European strategic autonomy. Since the UK left the European Union, France is now the bloc's only nuclear power. It maintains roughly 300 warheads deployable from four ballistic missile submarines, at least one of which is always at sea, and from air delivered systems via French fighter jets. Paris spends about 13% of its defense budget maintaining that deterrent. Now France is offering deeper cooperation with countries like Germany and Poland, the Netherlands, Belgium, Greece and Sweden. Joint committees are being formed, exercises will expand, and strategic dialogue is accelerating. But let's be clear, this doesn't replace the American nuclear umbrella. Macron said that Europe still has to coordinate, of course, with NATO and Washington. Germany in particular reiterated that the US Deterrence umbrella remains a cornerstone of European security. What this move really signals is that nuclear deterrence, something many thought was fading into the background, is once again front and center in European defense planning. And that, my friends, is the President's Daily brief for Tuesday 3rd March. Now, if you have any questions or comments, please reach out to me@pdbhefirsttv.com and if you get a free moment in your day, I hope you'll check out our YouTube channel. Found, of course, on YouTube. Well, that makes sense. Just search at President's Daily Brief. If you like what you see. I hope you'll hit that subscribe button. I'm Mike Baker and I'll be back later today with the PDB afternoon bulletin. Until then, stay informed, stay safe, stay cool. Foreign.
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