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The President's Daily Brief
PDB Afternoon Bulletin | September 9th, 2025: French Government Collapses & Maduro Blinks In Venezuela
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Looking to diversify and protect your hard earned assets. Well, schedule a free consultation with the Birch Gold Group. They're the precious metals specialists. Just text PDB to the number 989898 and you'll receive a free no obligation information kit. And you'll learn how to convert an existing IRA or a 401k into a gold IRA. Again, text PDB to the number 989898. Foreign 9th September 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 up, a major political shakeup in Europe. France's government has collapsed for the second time in less than a year. The political gridlock is paralyzing a country dealing with serious economic issues and potential threats to their much loved but costly social safety network. We'll have the details later in the show. Venezuela's strongman might be blinking. President Nicolas Maduro has pledged to fight drug trafficking, a move that, well, looks a lot like a concession to Washington's demands. But first, today's afternoon spotlight. We'll start things off today in Paris, where for the second time in less than a year, the French government has collapsed. Prime Minister Francois Bayroux, who's only been in office for nine months, is out. He fell on Monday after losing a brutal no confidence vote in France's National Assembly. The final tally wasn't even close. It was 364 against him and only 194 in support. By Ru is the fourth prime minister to fall in the past 20 months. And now President Emmanuel Macron has to go shopping for yet another replacement or call for elections. The issue at the heart of this political train wreck money, or more precisely, the lack of it, France's massive debt crisis. To put it plainly, France is drowning in debt. Bairu wanted to freeze welfare payments, cut national holidays. Oh, Zootalor, as we say, and save more than $50 billion a year. That seems like a reasonable expectation. The deficit is swelled to nearly 200 billion, about 6% of the economy. And the national debt now equals 114% of the nation's GDP. The talk of austerity didn't make him friends on either side of the political aisle. Both ends of the political spectrum, Marine Le Pen's right and the left and far left coalitions joined forces to sink his government. For Le Pen, the answer was simple. Cut spending on immigrants, not on French citizens. Now Macron has a real problem. He issued a statement saying he'll accept Byron's resignation on Tuesday and appoint a new prime minister in the next few days. But the options aren't great. He can try to plug in another centrist, but that would look like putting a band aid on a sucking chest wound or lipstick on a pig. Your choice. Or he could turn to the Moderate Socialists, but they don't have the numbers. Or he could call new elections, but that's risky. Opinion polls suggest that Marine Le Pen's National Rally would walk away with the advantage, cementing their rise as the dominant political force in France. Le Pen herself is currently barred from running for office after being convicted of embezzlement earlier this year. She's appealing that decision with a hearing set for early 2026. But she's already grooming her protege, 29 year old Jordan Bardella, as the face of the party. Bardella is popular, charismatic, and if new elections are called, could be within striking distance of becoming prime minister, because who wouldn't want a 29 year old prime minister with no experience? All of this leaves France teetering on the edge of political paralysis. The prominent political scientists compared it to the 1958 crisis. You remember that one that brought Charles de Gaulle to power and created the Fifth Republic. But back then, well, France had de Gaulle, a strong figure who, whether loved or hated, at least had a plan. Today, there's no such leader in sight. Meanwhile, Macron looks increasingly isolated. His approval rating is cratered to just 15%. That's down in Chuck Schumer territory. He's term limited with only about 18 months left in office. And he's been spending most of his time on international issues, trying to position himself as a mediator in Ukraine and Gaza and spending less time on France's economic storm. The perception is that he's distracted abroad while his country unravels at home. The deeper problem is this. French politics are fractured into three blocks, left, center and far right. Each is big enough to block the others, but not strong enough to govern. Unlike Germany or Italy, France has very little tradition of coalition building. And so the system stalls. The French call it blockage. It. It sounds better if you say it while you're smoking a Galois. It's a political deadlock that leaves the country drifting without direction. And it's not just politics. The French social model, the safety net of pensions and health care and welfare, is considered almost sacred. Any attempt to cut it sparks furious backlash. Remember last year's pension reform fight? Protesters filled the streets when Macron raised the retirement age from 62 to 64. Byrou's proposal to cut national holidays and freeze welfare was always going to run into the same wall of resistance. In fact, Bhairu knew he was finished before the vote was even cast. He reportedly invited his aides to a farewell soiree that evening. Now, soire, of course, is French for party. You're welcome. Calling it a moment of truth, his final warning to lawmakers was stark. Byru told them, quote, you have the power to topple the government, but not the power to topple reality, end quote. So where does that leave France? Well, it leaves him in uncharted waters. Macron has to appoint a new prime minister quickly before protests scheduled for Wednesday spiral into more unrest. But no matter who he chooses, the underlying math doesn't change. The debt is enormous, the deficit is unsustainable, and any serious fix means pain. And the last time a French ruler disregarded the people and suggested they simply enjoy a nice piece of cake, well, it didn't end well. All right, coming up next, the latest on the showdown in the Caribbean where Venezuelan President Maduro is boosting troops on the coast to to tackle drug trafficking. Look at that. Fine narco trafficking fighter of a man. At least that's what he says. I'll be right back. Hey, Mike Baker here. Now, many of you know me as a fashion icon, right? So let me tell you about a great clothing company that's out there. It's called True Classic. 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And that's important as well. Look, I spend a lot of time on the road, as you PDB faithful know. And So I trust ExpressVPN when using airport or hotel Wi Fi. I use ExpressVPN anytime I'm on public WI fi because it just makes good sense. Protect your privacy today@expressvpn.com Baker that's B A K E R to get up to four extra months free. Again. ExpressVPN.com Baker welcome back to the PDB Afternoon Bulletin. Turning now to the Caribbean, where as tensions rise, Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro appears to be possibly acquiescing to Washington. Caracas has announced it will sharply boost troops in coastal states to tackle drug trafficking. Venezuela's defense minister says the military is sending a surge of troops into key coastal regions that serve as drug trafficking routes. He also pledged to expand the armed forces presence on several islands in eastern states. Some 25,000 troops are being deployed in the operation. That's more than double the 10,000 that Venezuela already had on the Colombian border. In a video posted online, the minister declared, quote, no one is going to come and do the work for us. No one is going to step on this land and do what we're supposed to do. And then he added, I have no idea why we weren't doing what we're supposed to be doing, whatever that is, end quote. Okay, fair Enough. I, I made up that last little bit of the quote, these deployments aren't random. Venezuela's coastline has become a critical artery for the international cocaine trade, with smugglers moving shipments from Colombia through Venezuela territory and out into the Caribbean. Fishing villages have been turned into staging grounds and tourist hubs are now notorious launch points for drug laden boats and aircraft. By pouring troops into these regions, Maduro is likely trying to give the impression that he's willing to confront the traffickers. Of course, the announcement comes right on the heels of US Moves in the region. As we reported yesterday, the Pentagon ordered an additional 10 fighter jets to Puerto Rico to conduct operations against drug cartels. President Trump has made his reasoning clear, comparing the staggering number of American overdose deaths to war casualties as he argues for aggressive action. Trump has also said that he's weighing more than just interdiction patrols. Over the weekend, he confirmed that military strikes against drug cartels inside Venezuela are on the table. Asked point blank if the U. S. Military will hit targets inside the country, Trump responded, quote, well, you're going to find out. And the U. S. Has the firepower in place to back that up. Washington has surged a powerful naval force into the eastern Caribbean. At least eight warships, including three Arleigh Burke class destroyers, the cruiser USS Lake Erie and the amphibious assault ship USS Iwo Jima, which carries Marines, Harrier jets and Osprey aircraft. Alongside them, destroyers and cruisers are armed with Tomahawk cruise missiles and advanced air defense systems. Beneath the waves, the nuclear powered submarine USS Newport News prowls with its own arsenal of torpedoes and cruise missiles. So while Caracas insists that this troop surge is about cracking down on cartels, the timing points to something else. A strongman leader with, with his own ties, of course, to narco trafficking. Feeling the pressure, scrambling to show Washington that he's at least trying, or pretending to try. And that, my friends, is the PDB afternoon bulletin for Tuesday 9th September. Now if you have any questions or comments, please reach out to me at pdb@thefirsttv.com and to listen to the show ad free. Well, that's simple enough to do. Just become a premium member of the President's Daily brief by visiting PDB premium.com I'm Mike Baker and I'll be back tomorrow. Until then, stay informed, stay safe, stay cool. Hey, Mike Baker here. Now this is for anybody working on a job site or maybe just getting stuff done around the yard or banging around the garage. Look, I want to tell you about a great company out there. It's called Brunt B R U N T Look Choosing work boots right used to mean sacrificing comfort for durability. You know what I'm talking about. But Brunt workwear are hands down the most comfortable work boots I've ever worn. Seriously. I have the Marin Soft toe boot and they've been comfortable right from the very start as soon as I took them out of the box. And importantly, Brunt stands behind what they make. You can wear them to work and if they don't feel right, just send them back. There's a company that believes in their product. Brunt was tired of the workwear brands that are out there cutting corners. 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Corporate megastores are spending millions lobbying D.C. politicians on one sided policies that send small businesses tumbling. They want to enact harmful credit card mandates that take resources away from your local credit union and community bank, leaving Main street businesses with less access to credit, making it harder for your family to pay for everyday goods like gas and groceries. Tell Congress to guard your card and oppose the Durbin Marshall credit card mandates.
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Paid for by Electronic Payments Coalition.