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The President's Daily Brief
PDB Afternoon Bulletin | March 25th, 2025: LEAKED! Trump Officials Text Houthi War Plans To Journalist & Russia, Ukraine Agree To US Brokered Black Sea Ceasefire
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- [00:01]
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- [00:42]
Mike Baker
It's Tuesday, the 25th of March. Welcome to the PDB Afternoon Bulletin. I'm Mike Baker, your eyes and ears on the world stage. All right, let's get briefed. First, the Trump administration is in hot water over an explosive report from the Atlantic which revealed the publication's editor in chief was accidentally added to an encrypted group chat on the private messaging app Signal, where more than a dozen top Trump officials discussed sensitive military plans. Later in the show, after meetings with officials from the Trump administration in Saudi Arabia, Russia and Ukraine have tentatively agreed to a limited maritime ceasefire to ensure the safety of shipping in the Black Sea. But first, today's afternoon spotlight. President Trump is downplaying the alleged leak of sensitive military plans by senior administration officials on an encrypted group chat that included a journalist. The conversations took place during the run up to the Pentagon strikes against Yemen's Houthi militants, but Trump said the disclosures are being blown out of proportion and didn't put any military operations at risk. Now, to bring you up to speed, the Trump administration suffered a major embarrassment on Monday when Atlantic editor Jeffrey Goldberg revealed that he was inadvertently added to a group chat on the private messaging app Signal that included more than a dozen top Trump officials. He was allegedly accidentally added by National Security Adviser Mike Waltz. Well, that doesn't sound like a national security advisor thing to do. Just hours before the administration began their bombing campaign on 15 March against the Houthi militants of Yemen, did you get added? I'm just curious. I mean, I. I didn't get added to the chat group and frankly, I'm feeling a little left out here. According to the report from Goldberg, the group included Vice President J.D. vance, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Waltz, and others, including CIA Director John Radcliffe. In the messages published by the Atlantic, Hegseth, Vice President Vance and other officials debated their plans to launch airstrikes against the terror group. In messages Goldberg withheld from publication, he alleges that Hegseth also disclosed, quote, operational Details of forthcoming strikes on Yemen, including information about targets, weapons the US Would be deploying and attack sequencing, end quote. Well, as you might imagine, the report said shockwaves throughout the capital, with lawmakers on both sides of the aisle, along with Pentagon officials expressing concerns about the judgment of those involved. Oh, look, they've come to a bipartisan agreement on something. It was not immediately clear if the specifics discussed by Hegseth were officially classified, though experts note that such plans often are and are at least kept secret to protect personnel and operational security, according to a report from the Associated Press. Others called it an extraordinary breach of American national security and questioned whether the actions violated the espionage act governing the handling of classified information. As the conversations took place on a commercial app outside the secure government channels that would traditionally be used for war planning, former national security officials told the New York Times that the use of a commercial app was particularly irresponsible given ongoing Chinese hacking efforts. It's worth noting that government officials often use Signal for organizational discussions, though we should also stress that the app is vulnerable to hacks. The White House and National Security Council subsequently confirmed the authenticity of the chat, though disputed the Atlantic's account of what was discussed. Secretary Hegseth lashed out at Goldberg on Monday, calling him a, quote, deceitful and highly discredited so called journalist, alluding to his reporting on the Russia collusion investigation, as well as a highly disputed report that alleged Trump once criticized veterans. He added that the characterization of the messages was incorrect and stated flatly that, quote, nobody was texting war plans. Mike Waltz arguably drew the most amount of scrutiny as it was through his phone number that Goldberg was added to the chat group. On Tuesday, President Trump defended Waltz, saying it appeared a staffer for Waltz who had Goldberg's number made the mistake. Trump said, quote, michael Waltz has learned a lesson and he's a good man, end quote. He also backed up the statements from Hegseth, saying that the mistake had, quote, no impact at all on the operations against the Houthis and did not put any sensitive military information at risk. Trump expressed full confidence in his national security team, saying the incident was, quote, the only glitch in two months and it turned out not to be a serious one, end quote. Well, look at that. Only one glitch in a couple of months. White House Press Secretary Caroline Levitt later said that no classified material was sent to the thread, but said the National Security Council is investigating how Goldberg's number ended up in the group chat. Still, Congressional Democrats and critics of the Trump administration are acting Furious over the ordeal, with many calling for the president to fire Waltz and Hexeth to resign. Seriously, you should never let a crisis go to waste. Senate Democrat Leader Chuck Schumer, who's frankly never met a camera that he's now willing to leap in front of, called it one of the most stunning breaches of military intelligence he's ever seen. Democrat members of the Senate Armed Services Committee said they'd be intensely investigating the matter. Not just investigating, but intensely investigating. Look, it's been a while since Democrats have had anything to cheer about, so their glee and their rush to the cameras to announce that the sky has fallen shouldn't be a surprise. Republican lawmakers, well, they were more muted in their criticism, but many still expressed concerns and said they'd be looking into the incident on a bipartisan basis. In a statement about the incident, a spokesman for the National Security Council framed the conversations as a, quote, demonstration of the deep and thoughtful policy coordination between senior officials, end quote. Well, I wonder if he was referring to the deep and thoughtful criticism of NATO allies being tossed around in the group chat by some of the participants. The spokesman added, quote, the ongoing success of the Houthi operation demonstrates that there were no threats to our service members or our national security, end quote. Okay, look, setting aside the partisan outrage, which is really the fuel that powers Washington, D.C. and the Trump administration's downplaying of the situation, the reality is top US Government officials in highly classified positions dealing with highly classified information on a regular basis should be using their NSA approved and provided comms devices to conduct any remote discussions. Signal and similar apps are discreet and more secure than an open line, to be sure, but they are vulnerable to hostile actors. And in today's world, there are a number of hostile actors out there with hostile intent. You want to create a party line to talk about military strikes or to slag off our European allies? Yeah, use the secure comms that are there for just that purpose. Coming up next, after meetings with officials from the Trump administration in Saudi Arabia, Russia and Ukraine have agreed to a limited maritime ceasefire proposal that would ensure the safety of shipping in the Black Sea. Well, Russia has sort of agreed. I'll have those details when we come back. Hey, Mike Baker here. Look around the world. What do you see? Well, I mean, right now you see tariff wars, some recession fears, stubborn inflation. I mean, it's no wonder that gold has been routinely hitting all time highs and in volatile markets like the one that's right now. Well, don't sit on the sidelines with your head in the sand. That's not what you should do. You should take control and safeguard your savings. That's why so many Americans today are turning to Birch Gold Group now. 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- [11:38]
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- [12:05]
Mike Baker
That'S shopify.comtech welcome back to the Afternoon bulletin. In what may be movement toward a broader ceasefire, the US Announced Tuesday it had brokered parallel agreements with Ukraine and Russia aimed at securing safe navigation in the Black Sea and instituting a mutual freeze on strikes against energy infrastructure. The Trump administration, eager to demonstrate progress on its campaign pledge to end the war, swiftly adopted a dual track diplomatic approach, pushing limited, highly specific truces as building blocks for a more comprehensive peace deal. The maritime and energy ceasefires are at this stage the clearest indication that that Washington could be inching toward a negotiated off ramp to the three year old conflict. But Moscow is still keeping one hand on the brake. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov made clear that the Kremlin has no intention of locking itself into compliance without further guarantees and more specifically, significant financial sanctions relief. In addition, in an address on Russian state television, Lavrov said Russia would only consider the maritime deal binding if Washington explicitly orders President Zelensky to uphold it. Lavrov stated, quote, the guarantees can only be the result of an order from Washington to Zelensky and his team to do one thing and not the other. End quote. Kyiv, for its part, confirmed that it had signed on to both the maritime and energy infrastructure agreements. But Ukraine's Defense Ministry warned that it would view any unauthorized Russian naval movements in the eastern Black Sea as a breach, resulting in grounds for immediate retaliation. As part of the arrangement, the US Also agreed to facilitate the expansion of Russian grain and fertilizer exports, nodding to a long running Kremlin grievance that Western sanctions have choked off its agricultural sector. The move appears designed to replace the defunct Black Sea Grain Initiative, which had enabled Ukraine to export over 30 million tons of grain before Moscow unilaterally pulled out in 2023. Well, that deal fell apart because Moscow at the time unsuccessfully demanded additional financial sanctions relief. As we reported here on the PDB, President Trump last week proposed a 30 day cease fire in what was an idea welcomed in principle by Kiev. But Russia quickly responded with a list of demands, including that Ukraine abandon its NATO bid and cede control of four Russian occupied regions in Ukraine, effectively forcing US Diplomats back to the drawing board. Since then, the strategy has shifted to more incremental gains. While Trump has struck an optimistic tone about the diplomatic gains, European allies, well, they remain wary. They're growing fears in Brussels that the White House may be moving too quickly, making side deals that could inadvertently compromise NATO's long term security posture. Talk of freezing battlefield lines or cutting side arrangements outside the NATO framework has raised alarms among Kyiv's European backers. Zelensky has repeatedly warned that any agreement involving territorial concessions would amount to betrayal, and is questioned whether Russian President Putin can be trusted to honor even the most basic terms of any peace deal. For now, the Black Sea and energy ceasefires remain tentative but symbolically important. Whether they hold will depend on Washington's ability to walk the tightrope between Ukraine's concerns and Russia's demands. And that, my friends, is the PDB Afternoon bulletin for Tuesday 25th March. If you have any questions or comments, please reach out to me@pdbhefirsttv.com and of course, as the old saying goes, to listen to the show ad free. Well, become a premium member of the President's Daily Brief by simply visiting PDB premium.com I'm Mike Baker and I'll be back tomorrow. Until then, stay informed, stay safe, stay cool.
- [16:22]
Mike Slater
Hey, I'm Mike Slater. I have a podcast called Politics by Faith. We have a very simple mission. We take the news of the day and we filter it through a biblical worldview. So here's the big story of the day. What does the Bible say about it and how can we apply it? It's amazing. There's nothing new under the sun. The Bible has something to say about everything that's going on today. So basically we thumped the Bible over on Politics by Faith. I think we ought to keep MAGA going. And I think the way to take it beyond just a political victory into a true rebuilding and awakening and revival in America is to make sure that this is all grounded in biblical principles. And that's what we do on the podcast Politics by Faith. And you can subscribe to Politics by Faith wherever you're listening to the show right now.