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PDB Afternoon Bulletin | January 29th, 2025: Trump Axes $50 Million For Condoms In Gaza & Ukraine Gets Major Delivery Of Patriot Missile Interceptors
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Extra Speed slower above 40GB. It's Wednesday, the 29th of January. Welcome to the PDB Afternoon Bulletin. I'm Mike Baker, your eyes and ears on the world stage. All right, let's get ourselves briefed. First, as they work to trim waste across government agencies, the Trump administration has pulled $50 million in taxpayer funding allegedly earmarked by the previous administration for the distribution of condoms in Gaza. This is clearly a story that needs investigating. Then, following months of tense negotiations, the US military is transferring 90 Patriot missile interceptors from storage in Israel to Ukraine, marking the single largest delivery of weapons from Jerusalem to Kiev since Russia's invasion nearly three years ago. But first, our afternoon spotlight. And I, I know based on the tease that you're keen to get to our afternoon spotlight. The Trump administration's decision to temporarily freeze foreign aid has drawn attention to a rather bizarre use of taxpayer funds. And that, of course, would be the condoms for the people of Gaza. Okay. The Trump White House claimed Tuesday that the Biden administration had earmarked tens of millions of dollars for a condom distribution program in the Gaza Strip, an expenditure that was reportedly discovered during a review by Elon Musk's new Department of Government Efficiency, known as doge. At the first official White House press briefing of Trump's second term, press secretary Caroline Levitt told reporters that Doge, quote, found that there was about to be 50 million taxpayer dollars going out the door to fund condoms in Gaza. She called it a, quote, preposterous waste of taxpayer money and an example of the kind of rampant excesses. Well, that's true. That the Trump administration is trying to purge from U. S. Foreign aid programs. Levitt added, quote, that's what this pause is focused on, being good stewards of tax dollars. Officials with the former Biden administration were quick to hit back at those allegations. Andrew Miller, the former deputy assistant secretary for Israeli Palestinian affairs under Biden, told the Times of Israel that the White House's claims were a quote, feverish dream. He claimed that while it was possible that $50 million was set aside for, quote, sexual health or something of that nature, it was not going towards condoms alone. Ah, see, you have to really pay attention to what they say. So they did have a Johnny's for Gaza program, just maybe not totaling all $50 million. That, of course, would be called splitting hairs. The Trump administration has stood by their claim and said the planned spending has officially been axed. It's worth noting, strange as it might sound, that the condom issue potentially has real world consequences for the security of Israel. According to a report from Fox News, in 2020, militants in Gaza used scores of condoms to create IED carrying balloons that were then floated into southern Israel, causing panic on schoolyards and farmlands and highways. While it's not clear if the practice has continued, the incidents in 2020 reportedly burned thousands of hectares of land, causing millions in damages. As a reminder over the weekend, Secretary of State Marco Rubio paused all U.S. foreign assistance funded through the State Department and the U.S. agency for International Development for 90 days following an executive order from President Trump. The White House argued that the move was done to give the department time to review budgets and ensure that all taxpayer expenditures are aligned with the new White House administration's America first priorities. But the decision drew immediate outrage from Democrats, really, who said it would damage America's international standing and and jeopardize critical aid programs. The White House countered by pointing to the planned spending on condoms in Gaza, hardly a vital interest for US Taxpayers. Notably, Rubio did exempt emergency food programs and military aid to Israel and Egypt from the freeze as the funds are critical to maintaining the fragile ceasefire between Israel and Hamas. A State Department spokesperson said, quote, president Trump stated clearly that the US Is no longer going to blindly dole out money with no return for the American people. Reviewing and realigning foreign assistance on behalf of hard working taxpayers is not just the right thing to do, it's a moral imperative. End quote. Coming up, following months of tense negotiations, the US military is transferring 90 Patriot missile interceptors from storage in Israel to Ukraine. I'll be right back. Welcome back to the afternoon bulletin. The US military has transferred roughly 90 Patriot air defense missile interceptors from storage in Israel over to Poland this week. Now the maneuver is aimed at bolstering Ukraine's aerial defense capabilities against Russia's missile barrages on critical infrastructure. According to Axios, the American made interceptors integrated initially by into Israel's air defense network during the Gulf War, had been phased out in April last year. In favor of the country's more advanced Iron Dome and other advanced systems such as David Sling. Ukraine, facing a shortage of Patriot missiles, pushed Washington to repurpose the decommissioned interceptors. Negotiations over their fate began last year between the U.S. israel and Kiev, but the process was mired in diplomatic hesitation. Israeli officials, wary of provoking Russia, well, stalled for months. Moscow maintains a military presence in Syria, at least for now, and has the capacity to escalate arms supplies to Iran, which of course backs terror groups including Hamas and Hezbollah. With Israel already engaged in a two front war in Gaza and Lebanon, Netanyahu's government was reluctant to take any steps that could invite Russian retaliation. According to Ukrainian officials, frustration in Kyiv mounted as Prime Minister Netanyahu reportedly ignored President Zelensky's calls on the matter for weeks. Instead, Netanyahu sought to discuss a separate issue that would be allowing ultra orthodox Israelis to travel to the Ukrainian city of Oman for a religious pilgrimage. Zelensky, in turn, refused to engage on that request until the Patriot deal was approved. Ultimately, in late September, Netanyahu signed off on the transfer. Israel, however, denies any connection between the two issues. Now, to sidestep direct involvement in arming Ukraine, the Israeli government framed the move as merely, quote, returning the patriots to the U.S. an Israeli official emphasized that Moscow had been notified beforehand, echoing the approach taken when the US Transferred emergency artillery shells from Israeli stockpiles to to Ukraine back in 2022. In recent days, US Air Force C17 transport planes touched down at an air base in southern Israel, loaded the interceptors and ferried them to a key logistical hub for delivering Western military aid to Ukraine. In Poland, additional components such as radars and other critical systems will first be sent to the US for refurbishment before a potential deployment to Kyiv. This latest transfer underscores the Pentagon's urgency in reinforcing Ukraine's air defenses. As Russian missile barrages intensify, the newly supplied interceptors will integrate with Ukraine's existing Patriot batteries, boosting Kyiv's capacity to counter waves of aerial attacks. However, while this shipment provides a short term boost, Ukraine's long term security remains uncertain. Kiev continues to press Washington and NATO allies for additional military aid. That's a request complicated by the Trump administration's freeze last week on all foreign aid outside of food assistance and military aid solely to Israel and Egypt. For now, the question of future weapons deliveries to Kyiv from the U. S. Well, remains uncertain. And that, my friends, is the PDB afternoon bulletin for Wednesday 29 January. If you have any questions or comments, please reach out to me at pdb@thefirsttv.com and of course to listen to the show ad free. Well, that can be done. All you have to do is become a premium member of the President's Daily brief by visiting pdbpremium.com I'm Mike Baker. I'll be back tomorrow. Until then, stay informed, stay safe, stay cool. It.