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The President's Daily Brief
PDB Afternoon Bulletin | March 4th, 2025: Zelensky Apologizes For Oval Office Dust-Up & Trade War Begins With Canada, Mexico, And China
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Unknown Speaker
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Mike Baker
It's Tuesday, March 4th. Welcome to the PDB Afternoon Bulletin. I'm Mike Baker, your eyes and ears on the world stage. All right, let's get briefed. We'll kick things off with the latest fallout from Ukraine's Oval Office clash with President Trump. Zelensky has responded with a statement that could be interpreted as an apology. The question is, will it be enough to get US Military aid back on track? Later in the show, a new trade war begins as President Trump follows through on his tariff threat, enacting a 25% levy on Canadian and Mexican goods and doubling duties on Chinese goods to 20%. But first, today's afternoon spotlight this morning on the PDB. Well, we told you about the White House cutting off military aid to Ukraine. That was fallout, of course, from last week's Oval Office meeting where tensions ran high. Oh, that's putting it diplomatically between President Trump and Ukrainian President Zelensky. The sticking points? Well, Zelensky's perceived resistance to peace negotiations under current conditions and the ongoing back and forth over a critical minerals deal between the two countries. Since Friday's blow up, the White House has been firm. No progress on the minerals deal and no further support unless Zelensky apologized and showed what the White House considers to be a more serious commitment to negotiations. Well, it looks like Zelensky has offered up an apology of sorts and even some steps toward what could ultimately be a negotiated settlement. In a post to X, Zelensky admitted that his Washington meeting, quote, did not go the way it was supposed to. Well, yeah, that's a fair statement. He called it, quote, regrettable and said, quote, it is time to make things right. We would like future cooperation and communication to be constructive, end quote. Now, while not a display of fealty or a full bore mea culpa, it's certainly a shift in tone. Zelensky also reiterated that Ukraine is committed to ending the war, writing that his team is, quote, ready to come to the negotiating table as soon as possible to bring lasting peace closer. He added, nobody wants peace more than Ukrainians. My team and I stand ready to work under President Trump's strong leadership to get a peace that lasts. We are ready to work fast to end the war, end quote. Now, that's a notable olive branch. But it wasn't just about diplomacy. Zelensky made sure to remind Washington of Ukraine's gratitude, thanking the US for its past support and specifically calling out Trump's role in providing Javelin missile systems during his first term. As for concrete steps toward peace, Zelensky laid out a few initial proposals. A prisoner exchange between Ukraine and Russia, a truce in the sky that would halt missile and drone strikes, and a commitment to stop targeting energy and civilian infrastructure. Zelensky also floated the idea of a truce in the sea as part of the deal's first stage. He emphasized his desire to move quickly, saying Ukraine is ready to work with the US on securing a, quote, strong final deal to end the war. And on that critical minerals deal, one of the key issues that soured last week's talks. He said he sees it as a step toward long term security and hopes it can still be effective. So you ask yourself, will this be enough to get the aid flowing again? That's the big question. For now, Zelensky has made his move. Obviously, it's up to Washington to decide how to respond. And of course, well, there is the other player. That would be Russia. Putin has shown no indication that he intends to back off his existing hardline demands for even coming to the negotiating table. Coming up next, a new trade war kicks off with President Trump slapping 25% tariffs on Canada and Mexican goods and doubling existing duties on Chinese imports. I'll have those details when we come back.
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- [06:19]
Mike Baker
Welcome back to the Afternoon Bulletin. President Trump has kicked off a new trade war with America's top three global suppliers, sending stocks tumbling and sparking fears of a looming recession. Following through on his threat from last week, on Tuesday, President Trump imposed 25% tariffs on imports from Mexico and Canada, as well as an additional 10% tariff on imports from China, doubling duties on Chinese goods to 20%. As we've been tracking here on the PDB. Trump initially threatened to impose the tariffs on America's northern and southern neighbors in early February, but paused their implementation after Canada and Mexico promised to take comprehensive actions to secure their borders and to reduce the flow of migrants and drugs into the U.S. but on Monday, ahead of the move, Trump declared that the time for negotiations was over, arguing that all three countries had failed to take meaningful action to stem the flow of the deadly opioid fentanyl into the U.S. and that's according to a report from Reuters. All three countries quickly announced retaliatory measures targeting U.S. goods on Tuesday, causing all of Wall street and Europe's main stock indexes to fall as investors flee for safety. The tariffs could upend nearly $2.2 trillion, and that's a lot of fat stacks in annual US trade with America's top three economic partners. Trump suggested further escalation is possible, saying the US Would not back down from the fight. Well, it's a fight that the US Started, so you wouldn't expect that they'd back down. Trump defended the action, saying it will incentivize Mexico and Canada to get serious about combating illicit drug trafficking at their respective borders and that it would encourage foreign companies like car manufacturers to to move their production to the U.S. trump added that current trade imbalances are costing Americans millions of factory jobs and the tariffs were the only remedy. He said that import taxes were, quote, a very powerful weapon that politicians haven't used because they were either dishonest, stupid or paid off in some other form. And now we're using them, end quote. But Mexico and Canada and China swiftly struck back, denouncing the tariffs as a, quote, reckless attack on free trade and announcing retaliatory measures of their own. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Ottawa would impose immediate 25% tariffs on nearly $30 billion worth of American goods, including orange juice, peanut butter, alcohol, what? Coffee, appliances, apparel and motorcycles over the next 21 days. Trudeau said Canada will slap additional tariffs on more than $100 billion of American goods. Trudeau didn't mince words as he addressed Trump directly, saying, quote, you're a very smart guy, but this is a very dumb thing to do. He added that the new tariffs will, quote, disrupt an incredibly successful trading relationship. Now, Trudeau is likely feeling somewhat emboldened, given that he'll be out of his prime minister's job by the end of March. Beijing, meanwhile, retaliated with a new 15% tariff on imports of chicken, wheat, corn and cotton from the US along with a 10% tariff on US sorghum, soybeans, pork, beef, aquatic products, fruit, vegetables and dairy products. China's Commerce Ministry issued a statement condemning Trump's tariffs, saying that they violated World Trade Organizations rules and quote, undermined the basis for economic and trade cooperation between China and and the U.S. now, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum took a slightly more cautious approach, saying that her country would announce countermeasures on Sunday, including retaliatory tariffs, if Trump's tariffs were still in place come the weekend. While her response suggests that she's hopeful there's still wiggle room left with the Trump administration, she said there was, quote, no reason, rationale or justification for the tariffs, arguing Mexico had taken, quote, decisive actions against drug cartels and fentanyl trafficking along the US Southern border. The new tariffs have left investors rattled, fearing that the measures would devastate economic growth prospects and increase prices for American consumers. At a time when Americans are still grappling with inflation and high interest rates, many are predicting a recession is on the horizon, which some are already calling the looming Trump session. Honestly, it's. It's not the most creative nickname I've heard. The tariffs come just one day after the Federal Reserve bank of Atlanta significantly revised their first quarter GDP forecast. While just last week they predicted 2.3% US GDP growth, now they're forecasting a contraction of 2.8%. Criticizing the steep economic risks of Trump's tariffs, the CEO of Canada's Chamber of Commerce said, quote, today's reckless decision by the U S Administration is forcing Canada and the U. S toward recessions, job losses and economic disaster, end quote. And that, my friends, is the PDB afternoon bulletin for Tuesday for March. Now, if you have any questions or comments and I hope you do. Please reach out to me at pdb@thefirst tv.com. finally, as the old saying goes, if you want to listen to the PDB ad free, just become a premium member of the President's Daily brief by visiting PDB premium.com There's a lot of wisdom in those old sayings. I'm Mike Baker and I'll be back tomorrow. Until then, stay informed, stay safe, stay cool.
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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 thump 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.