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The President's Daily Brief
May 26th, 2025: Hamas On The Verge Of Collapse & A Cartel Kingpin Goes Down
00:20:35
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- [00:01]
Ollie
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- [00:42]
Mike Baker
It's Monday 26th May. For those of you in the US I hope you're having a very relaxing and enjoyable Memorial Day weekend. Now, I don't know who said it, but in the words of someone unknown, it's foolish and wrong to mourn the men who died. Rather, we should thank God that such men lived. Welcome to the President's Daily Brief. I'm Mike Baker, your eyes and ears on the world stage. Let's get briefed. We begin in Gaza where the Iranian backed terror group Hamas is facing the worst crisis reportedly in its history. Its leadership has been decimated and now the group can reportedly barely pay its fighters. We'll have those details later in the show. Russia launches its biggest aerial assault of the war after swapping hundreds of prisoners with Ukraine because nothing says I'm interested in peace like swapping some prisoners and then launching a massive aerial assault. Plus, President Trump drops more tariff bombs, threatening the European Union and Apple with steep new penalties. And in the back of the brief, a high ranking Sinaloa cartel boss once aligned with El Chapo's son is gunned down in a firefight with Mexican police. But first, today's PDB spotlight. As a new week begins, the signs are mounting that Israel is preparing to launch the next phase of its war against Hamas. According to Israeli media. All, all and I repeat that again, all of the regular army's infantry and armored brigades have now been deployed inside the Gaza str. Positioning the Israel Defense Forces the IDF for the renewed ground offensive announced by Prime Minister Netanyahu. This repositioning follows an intensification of Israeli airstrikes over the weekend. The IDF said it struck more than 100 targets in just 24 hours, claiming the attacks focused on Hamas infrastructure across the Strip. And the impact on Hamas is now coming into focus. And the picture emerging from inside Gaza points to a terror group in serious crisis. One of the most significant blows came in the form of a precision airstrike that killed Mohammed Sinwar, the de facto head of Hamas in Gaza and brother, of course, of the group's terminated leader, Yahya Sinwar. According to Hamas and Arab officials speaking to the Wall Street Journal, Muhammad Sinwar was attending a meeting in a tunnel beneath Khan Yunis with several of Hamas's top commanders when the strike hit. The meeting reportedly violated Hamas own wartime security protocols, creating a rare opportunity for Israeli forces to eliminate multiple high ranking figures in one blow. Alongside Sinwar, the strike also killed Mohammad Shabana, the commander of Hamas's Rafah Brigade, and other senior militants. Their bodies were recovered and quietly buried in temporary graves hidden within the tunnel network. This strike has left a gaping hole in the group's top leadership, compounding what insiders now describe as the worst internal crisis that Hamas has faced since its founding. According to a report published Saturday by the Saudi owned Ashark Al Awsat, sources within Hamas say the organization is in a state of financial collapse. Civil servants under Hamas's governance haven't received regular payments, and the group's military wing, the Al Qassam Brigades, hasn't paid its fighters in approximately three months. Funding for ministries and social services, once central to Hamas's ability to maintain public support, has all but dried up. The group is reportedly struggling to supply its fighters with basic military equipment, and even the families of dead or wounded members are no longer receiving consistent aid. And that's a major shift from Hamas previous wartime policy. Administratively, the situation is reportedly no better. Following Israel's targeted strikes, Hamas is finding it difficult to fill key leadership roles inside Gaza. Anyone perceived to be attempting to re establish or coordinate government functions is being targeted by the idf, creating a climate of fear and paralysis within Hamas's governing apparatus. Recruitment has also slowed dramatically as the group is no longer able to offer payments or support to new members. That, paired with the leadership vacuum, military losses and airstrike pressure, paints a picture of a terror group that's bleeding from every direction. While the war is far from over, Hamas does appear to be facing its greatest test date, not just on the battlefield, but from within. Alright, coming up after the break, Russia unleashes its biggest aerial attack of the war and President Trump threatens steep new tariffs on Apple and the eu. I'll be right back. Hey, Mike Baker here. Let's talk about trees, shall we? And plants. Oh, and don't forget shrubs. Now, did you know that fast growing trees is the biggest online nursery in the U. S? It's true. With thousands of different plants and over, get this, 2 million happy customers. They have all the plants your yard needs, like fruit trees, privacy trees, flowering trees, shrubs and so much more. Whatever plants you're interested in, fast growing trees has you covered to get your dream yard delivered directly to your door. Now. It's an excellent business and this spring they have the best deals, up to half off on select plants. And now listeners to our show get 15% off their first purchase when using code PDB at checkout. That's an additional 15% off at fast growingtrees.com using the code PDB at checkout. Fast growingtrees.com code PDB and don't forget, with springtime in full swing, now's the perfect time to plant. Use PDB to save today. Offer is valid for a limited time. Terms and conditions may apply. Welcome back to the PDB Russia unleashed another deadly wave of missile and drone strikes across Ukraine over the weekend, killing at least 18 civilians in the middle of the largest prisoner exchange of the three year war. The strikes occurred Saturday into Sunday after Russia and Ukraine began their largest prisoner exchange since the full scale invasion began in 2022. On Friday, swapping nearly 1,000 captured soldiers from both sides in a rare instance of coordination that briefly, I would emphasize the word briefly raised hopes of a diplomatic thaw. But the renewed bombardment swiftly undercut any notion of de escalation. According to Ukraine's air force, Russia fired 367 so called Air attack vehicles during the overnight barrage, including nine Iskander ballistic missiles, 55 cruise missiles, four guided air launched missiles and nearly 300 attack drones. It marked the fourth straight night of large scale Russian bombardment, suggesting the Kremlin has resumed a deliberate campaign of long range strikes aimed at exhausting Ukraine's defenses. Air raid sirens sounded in nearly every region of the country. Ukrainian officials said they shot down 266 drones and 45 cruise missiles, but the sheer volume of projectiles overwhelmed some air defense systems. Ukraine's Interior Ministry confirmed 18 civilians were killed and 85 wounded. More than 80 residential buildings were reportedly damaged and 27 fires reported. President Zelensky described the attacks as, quote, deliberate strikes on ordinary cities and said first responders were dispatched to more than 30 towns and villages. Russia's Defense Ministry claimed responsibility for the strikes in a telegram post, calling them part of a quote, massive strike by sea, air and land based precision weapons and unmanned aerial vehicles targeting what it described as Ukraine's military industrial infrastructure, including drone factories, satellite facilities and electronic hubs. The ministry added, they quote, all designated targets have been hit. In Poland, which obviously shares a border with western Ukraine, the Armed Forces Operational Command confirmed that its fighter jets were scrambled overnight in response to what it termed, quote, intensive activity by Russian long range aviation near Polish airspace. Meanwhile, Ukraine's own drone campaign inside Russia shows no signs of slowing. Moscow's Defense Ministry claimed it intercepted 110 Ukrainian drones overnight, although it did not detail any damage or casualties. As we've been tracking here on the pdb, the broader diplomatic picture, well, remains bleak. Despite the prisoner swap, US Brokered talks under President Trump have failed to produce a breakthrough. Ukraine continues to insist on a 30 day ceasefire as a precondition for entering negotiations, something that the Kremlin has refused to grant. Zelenskyy has also rejected any deal that includes the surrender of territory including Crimea and the four occupied eastern regions annexed by Moscow since 2022. Putin's demands remain unchanged. Recognition of Russian sovereignty over annexed territory, that permanent ban on Ukraine joining NATO, and the so called denazification of Ukraine. That's language that's rooted in a widely discredited Kremlin narrative portraying the Ukrainian government as a fascist dictatorship. Putin's intention, of course, is to remove Zelensky and replace him with a pro Russian leader. The Trump administration has signaled frustration with both sides, but has not moved to escalate pressure on Moscow. While the President has threatened additional sanctions, none have materialized despite repeated calls from Kyiv and several European capitals for stronger action. Zelensky framed Sunday's attacks as further evidence of Russia's unwillingness to negotiate in good faith. He said, quote, each such Russian terrorist strike is a sufficient reason for new sanctions against Russia. Adding silence from America only encourages Putin. Zelensky doubled down that the war can be stopped, but only through Western pressure on the Kremlin to force Putin to think about ending the war rather than launching aerial assaults. Okay, moving over to the U.S. president Trump is now threatening to hammer both Apple and the European Union with punishing new tariffs, escalating pressure over what he described as unfulfilled trade expectations and offshoring American companies. In a pair of scathing truth social posts, Trump zeroed in on Apple, warning the tech giant that it could soon face a 25% tariff on imported iPhones unless it shifts production back to American soil. The threat came just days after a private meeting with Apple CEO Tim Cook at the White House in a sit down that apparently did little to change Trump's view. Trump posted, quote, I have long ago informed Tim Cook of Apple that I expect their iPhones that will be sold in the US Will be manufactured and built in the US Not India or anyplace else, end quote. The warning lands as Apple accelerates its pivot to India, aiming to reduce its exposure to Chinese manufacturing and sidestep existing American tariffs. Bloomberg reports the company plans to assemble a growing share of its US bound iPhones in India moving forward, something that Trump is clearly determined to block. But Apple was only half the story. In a separate post, Trump lashed out at the European Union, threatening to impose a 50 tariff on all EU imports starting 1 June unless Brussels returns to the negotiating table with what he called, quote, fair and reciprocal terms. The eu, he claimed, was, quote, formed for the primary purpose of taking advantage of the US on trade and had become increasingly obstinate in talks. The president cited a litany of grievances ranging from the block's value added tax structure, which essentially is a consumption tax added at each stage of production and distribution paid by the consumer, which he said acts as a stealth tariff to regulatory barriers, corporate litigation and what he described as, quote, monetary manipulations. All he says are contributing to a staggering $250 billion annual trade deficit. Trump's post went on to say, quote, there is no tariff if the product is built or manufactured in the U.S. the threat marks a return to Trump's signature American first economic agenda, which prioritizes reshoring manufacturing and rebalancing trade relationships that he claims have long tilted against the U.S. trump stated that the current negotiations were, quote, going nowhere. The 90 day trade window between Washington and the EU expires on 8 July, meaning time is running out to avert a tit for tat tariff war. The administration, for its part, has already imposed a 25% levy on steel, aluminum and automobiles, with a 10% baseline covering most other imports. Officials say a fresh round of retaliatory penalties is ready to roll if Brussels doesn't blink. Over the weekend, Vice President J.D. vance met with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and Italy's prime minister in a bid to dial down the rhetoric. But with Trump throwing down the gauntlet Friday, well, hopes of a quick breakthrough seem increasingly remote. All right, coming up next in the back of the brief, a cartel kingpin with links to El Chapo's son goes down in a hail of gunfire. I'll have those details next.
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Ollie
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- [15:52]
Mike Baker
In today's Back of the Brief A top Sinaloa cartel operative aligned with El Chapo's son was killed in a gunfight with Mexican security forces on Friday, ending a high stakes operation to arrest one of the most wanted fentanyl traffickers in the hemisphere. Jorge Umberto Figueroa, better known by his cartel alias El Peres, was a senior member of the Los Chapitos faction loyal to Ovidio Guzman, the son of imprisoned kingpin Joaquin Guzman, notoriously of course known as El Chapo. According to authorities, Figueroa opened fire on Mexican troops during the attempted arrest and he was fatally shot in the exchange. Mexico's Secretary of State Omar Garcia Harfuch confirmed the raid in a statement posted to X writing, quote, as part of the strategy to build peace in Caloa, an operation was carried out to arrest Jorge Umberto Figaroa. Now, he didn't mince words about Figueroa's rap sheet either, calling him, quote, one of the main orchestrators of the attacks on authorities in 2019 in Kulakan and linking him to a string of homicides and kidnappings that had, quote, affected the peace and tranquility of Caloa society. Figaroa had been wanted by US Federal prosecutors on charges of conspiring to import and distribute fentanyl. The State Department had placed a $1 million bounty on his head, naming him a top player within most Chapitos, the ultra violent wing of the Sinaloa cartel blamed by US Officials for flooding American streets with synthetic opioids. His notoriety surged during the infamous 2019 Culiacan siege, when cartel gunmen waged open warfare against the Mexican state after Ovidio Guzman was briefly captured. Figueroa is believed to have helped coordinate the mayhem, deploying armed cells wielding military grade weapons that forced the government into an extraordinary retreat. That retreat ended with Guzman's release, the optics of that moment where the government backed down to a cartel that drew international backlash and symbolized Mexico's broader failure to control lawless regions overrun by organized crime. Guzman would later be recaptured in 2023 and is now serving a life sentence in the US at the federal Supermax facility in Colorado. As for Figueroa, he remained a fugitive until Friday's raid. His death marks a rare win for Mexican authorities and a significant hit to Los Chapitos as the cartel grapples with mounting pressure from Washington and a bloody internal power struggle with rival factions. And that, my friends, is the President's Daily brief for Monday, 26 May now if you have any questions or comments, please reach out to me at pdb@the firsttv.com and hopefully you had a chance to catch the latest episode of our extended weekend show, the PDB Situation Report. You can find it and and past episodes on our YouTube channel. Check that out at President's Daily Brief, as well as all the podcast platforms out there in podcast land. I'm Mike Baker and I'll be back later today with the PDB Afternoon Bulletin. Until then, stay informed, stay safe, stay cool.
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