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The President's Daily Brief
September 19th, 2025: Trump Declares War On Antifa & A Rift In Netanyahu’s Government
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Foreign.
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It's Friday 19th September. Welcome to the President's Daily Brief. I'm Mike Baker, your eyes and ears on the world stage and yes, quite clearly still on the road. All right, let's get ourselves briefed. First up, President Trump says he's labeling antifa a quote, major terrorist organization, calling the group a dangerous radical threat. We'll take a look at the group and the potential legal Jews with the President's declaration later in the show. Israel's push into Gaza City isn't just dividing the public, it's exposing major rifts between Prime Minister Netanyahu and his own security chiefs. Plus, Israel quietly offers Syria a sweeping new security deal and Damascus now says a border agreement could be sealed within days. And in today's back of the brief, Venezuela launches major military exercises after a string of US Military strikes on alleged drug boats in the Caribbean. But first, today's PDB Spotlight. We start today with more fallout from the murder of Charlie Kirk. The killing has sparked renewed attention on extremist groups and radicalization inside the U.S. and this week, President Trump made headlines by announcing his intention to designate the left wing network known as Antifa as a terrorist organization. In a post to Truth Social, Trump declared, quote, I am pleased to inform our many patriots that I am designating Antifa a dangerous radical left disaster as a major terrorist organization. I will also be strongly recommending that those funding Antifa be thoroughly investigated in accordance with the highest legal standards and practices, end quote. Trump also called Antifa members, quote, professional agitators. He accused them of throwing bricks at ICE and border patrol vehicles and argued their actions amount to subversive crimes rather than legitimate Protestants. So who are antifa? Well, to understand the group in a sense, let's get some context. You have to go back to Germany. In the early 1930s, as Adolf Hitler and the Nazi party were rising, communist activists launched a militant street movement which became nicknamed Antifa. It wasn't one organized party with membership cards and dues. It was more of a loose coalition of far left factions, primarily communists, who believed violent confrontation was the only way to stop fascism in its tracks. Once Hitler seized power, the Nazis crushed the movement, jailing or killing its members. But the imagery, black and red flags, masked activists, and the tactics, street violence, vandalism, intimidation, were revived decades later by radicals in Europe and eventually carried across the Atlantic. In the U.S. antifa has never been a centralized organization. Instead, it's a banner under which loosely affiliated agitators rally, showing up at protests, often hijacking them and directing them into chaos. Over the years, Antifa linked individuals have engaged in arson, vandalism, violent assaults, and in some cases, murder. That track record has led many to describe them not as activists, but as a domestic network of violent extremists operating in plain sight. But here's the challenge. While Trump's declaration sends a political signal for sure, backing it up with legally approved actions, well, that may prove difficult. The US Government has a well established process for designating foreign terrorist organizations, groups like Al Qaeda, ISIS or Hezbollah. That authority rests with the U.S. state Department. But there's no equivalent process for labeling a domestic group as a terrorist organization. And since Antifa is not only based in the US but also lacks formal leadership, membership roles or a centralized command structure, it's nearly impossible to pin down in the way that authorities do with foreign groups. So while Trump can announce that Antifa is being treated like a terrorist group, the legal levers to enforce that designation aren't really there. Now, that doesn't mean that the administration is powerless. Federal Prosecutors already have a range of tools that they can use. When antifa activists commit assaults or vandalism or intimidation, prosecutors can bring charges under existing criminal statutes. Local authorities can use riot, assault, and arson laws. And federal investigators can pursue individuals who provide material support. That would be money or logistics or supplies for criminal actions tied to antifa protests. In other words, you don't need a blanket terrorist label to hit these activists with serious charges. You just need the will. Another option that's likely to come into play here is the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act. Now, that's better known as rico, which was originally used, of course, to take on the mobile. RICO lets prosecutors go after not just the foot soldiers committing crimes, but the broader network that enables and coordinates them. If authorities can prove antifa activists are part of an ongoing criminal enterprise, say, planning assaults online or pooling funds for weapons, or running coordinated intimidation campaigns, then RICO becomes a powerful tool. Convictions under RICO can bring long prison sentences and stiff financial penalties. The challenge again, though, is antifa's structure, or, frankly, lack thereof. Unlike the Mafia, which has bosses and captains and soldiers, Antifa is designed to be decentralized. There's no clear hierarchy, no national council, and no official membership. That makes it difficult to prove the kind of organized enterprise that RICO was built to target. Still, if investigators can map out patterns of coordination linking activists across multiple cities, tying their actions to the same funding streams, or tracing communications networks, then prosecutors could argue antifa functions as a de facto enterprise. And that would open the door to sweeping indictments against not just individuals smashing windows, but the organizers and financial backers behind them. For Trump, the announcement accomplishes two things. Politically, it signals toughness. He's taking on a group that conservatives have long viewed as a domestic menace. Legally, it lays the groundwork for prosecutors and law enforcement to lean harder on antifa affiliated activists, donors, and organizers. But the President's declaration is more of a rallying cry than a legal decree. Unless Congress creates a mechanism to designate domestic groups as terrorist organizations, the US Government will have to rely on existing criminal laws, state statutes, and tools like RICO to crack down on antifa's activities. In the meantime, the group will likely continue to operate the way it always has, loosely organized, masked, and creating chaos on the streets. All right, before we go to break, a quick announcement. This morning, we launched the second episode of our brand new podcast series, the Day the World Almost Ended. Available exclusively to our PDB Premium subscribers, it's the series where we revisit the moments when our world got to the brink of catastrophe and then somehow pulled back. This latest episode takes us inside the belly of a Russian nuclear submarine, submarine B59, as it was known at the height of the Cuban Missile crisis, where one man, Captain second rank Vasily Arkhipov, found himself as the final voice standing between the world and nuclear war. It's an incredible story you won't want to miss. You can listen to both episodes of the series right now by subscribing@pdb premium.com it's very simple. All right, coming up next, Israel's Gaza offensive sparks rifts between Netanyahu and his generals while Syria signals a border deal with Israel. Could be just days away. I'll be right back. Hey, Mike Baker here. Now, you've probably heard me talk about Jacked Up Fitness, a terrific company and their amazing all in one home gym. Look for home fitness. That thing is a game changer. Well, now I'm excited to tell you that Don and his terrific team at Jacked Up Fitness have some more news. And they know. Look, they know that many people are short on time and short on money, but still want to get fit. So now listen to this. You can start your fitness journey for under $60 and in just six minutes each day. Think about that. Introducing Here's a blast from the past, the all new Shake Weight by Jacked Up Fitness. 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Welcome back to the PDB Israel's advance on Gaza City is creating major divisions between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his top security chiefs, fractures that are now also mirrored in the Israeli public. As we've covered here on the pdb, it all comes down to three recent policy moves by Netanyahu ordering the storming of Gaza City, green lighting last week's strike on senior Hamas officials in Qatar, and hardening cease fire terms on Hamas. Each has pitted him against the very military and intelligence leaders that he relies on, who warn that Netanyahu is dragging Israel further into a war that it cannot sustain, ignoring both mounting domestic doubts and international fallout. Take IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Ayles Amir. Netanyahu once hailed his quote, aggressive approach. But yet Zamir has long resisted the Gaza City order since its inception, citing exhausted soldier reserves after nearly two years of fighting and the risk that Jerusalem could wind up governing some 2 million Palestinians. Israeli security officials also warn that the offensive endangers the estimated 20 Israeli hostages still alive that are trapped in the city in Hamas custody. Still, the operation went ahead, and Gaza was not the only flashpoint. Zamir, joined by Mossad chief David Barnea, opposed the timing of Israel's strike on Hamas leaders in Doha. Their case was that it undermined Qatar's role as ceasefire mediator and rattled Washington. Three sources familiar with the deliberations, who spoke anonymously, said the strike went ahead over Barnea and Zamir's objections. The ceasefire talks exposed perhaps the sharpest break. Netanyahu ditched the long debated phased deal that Hamas had claimed they would accept in favor of a maximalist, all or nothing approach for the release of the hostages. Military chiefs, intelligence leaders and even his own national security advisor argued for the phased approach but were brushed aside. Hamas, as expected, rejected the prime minister's gambit. Israel's system affords little room for defiance. Generals obey or they resign. Zemir has chosen to stay, vowing the Gaza City offensive will deliver a decisive defeat to Hamas, while still stressing the hostages return remains a national and moral obligation. The public mood, however, is shifting. Recent polls show most Israelis now favor a negotiated hostage deal over Netanyahu's demands and Many doubt the government's claim that Hamas could be entirely eradicated after nearly two years of war. That, of course, has failed to do so. Many Israelis now accuse Netanyahu of prolonging the war to placate far right coalition partners and to dodge accountability for the security failures of the Hamas. 7 October terror attacks. And where past defense ministers wielded real political clout as a counterweight to the prime minister, the current Defense minister, Israel Katz, is widely viewed as a Netanyahu loyalist, promising to, quote, unleash hell on Hamas until it surrenders or is eliminated. Some political analysts inside the Jewish state warned that this unchecked balance leaves national security decisions concentrated almost entirely in Netanyahu's hands, shattering decades of consensus between political and military leadership. One Israeli democracy expert put it as, quote, the chief of staff has been forced to take his soldiers into a battle that he doesn't necessarily believe in, end quote. And beyond Israel's borders, Netanyahu's policy moves have frayed ties with Arab states and drawn condemnation and sanctions from traditional allies. The end result is a war strategy shaped less by consensus than by one man's judgment, leaving the IDF to execute policies its generals have openly questioned. Okay, staying in the region, Israel has put a new security blueprint for Syria on the table. One that would carve out demilitarized zones from Damascus to the Israeli border as the negotiations reportedly inch toward a possible deal. On paper, it marks the most serious bid in decades to reset relations between two sworn enemies. @ the same time, Israeli warplanes are still occasionally hitting Syrian targets, including strikes this month on a Syrian air force base and military barracks. Washington, for its part, has taken a warmer line with new Syrian President Ahmed Al Sharrat. Shira, of course, is the one time Al Qaeda operative whose Islamic coalition of fighters toppled and replaced former President Assad last year. Since then, the Trump administration has been quietly greasing the wheels of back channel diplomacy. Speaking Wednesday in Damascus, Al Shirra said peace with Israel could be within days. Casting himself as the voice of a war weary Syria after 13 years of bloodshed. He added, quote, we could reach an agreement at any moment, but warned the real test would be where the Jerusalem holds up its end. The latest security accord session in London brought together Israeli Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer, Syria's foreign minister, and US envoy to Syria, Tom Barrack. It was the third such meeting. And while insiders say that progress has been made, no one appears to be betting on a sudden breakthrough. Still, the very idea of a deal carries weight it would replace the 1974 disengagement agreement, which created a UN patrolled buffer zone that kept the two countries shared border, mostly qu it for decades. Israel has since entered occupied parts of that buffer, citing potential threats from Damascus's new Islamist regime and says the deal collapsed with Assad's ouster. Al Sharra insists that Syria kept its side of the bargain, accusing Jerusalem of being the one to break with the faith. The framework on the table borrows heavily from Israel's 1979 peace treaty with Egypt, which divided the Sinai into three security zones with varying levels of demilitarization. This draft, from what we know as details remain limited, applies the same model to Syria, with the area closest to the Israeli frontier occupied only by Syrian police and internal security no army units or heavy weapons. The second zone would permit limited Syrian troop deployments with light arms, and the third, furthest from the Israeli border, would allow a capped but larger Syrian military presence. The buffer itself would be stretched 2km into Syrian soil. Critically, it's worth noting that the whole stretch becomes a no fly zone for Syrian aircraft while Israel keeps its own skies untouched. In exchange, Israel would gradually pull back from the Syrian territory annexed in recent months. But don't expect for everything to be on the table. Mount Hermon and the Golan Heights are not up for discussion during these negotiations. Reportedly, Israeli officials say those holdings are non negotiable for the Jewish state. And the bigger picture? Well, a senior Israeli official emphasized that Jerusalem intends to preserve an aerial corridor through Syria to Iran, keeping the door open for future strikes on Tehran's Islamic regime. That reminder pulls the focus back to the larger regional chessboard, from Iran's stalled nuclear talks with Washington to the unknown state of the regime's enriched uranium stockpiles following June's 12 day war. Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu is even weighing a possible face to face with Al Shira from Syria on the sidelines of the upcoming UN General assembly later this month, though inside sources do say that those odds are slim. For Syria, battered militarily and economically, leverage in the talks is scarce, Israeli demands are sweeping, and the asymmetry is obvious. Still, Al Sharaz overture signals to Damascus ready, it seems to lock in at least a measure of stability, even if largely on Israel's terms. Coming up next, at today's back of the brief Venezuela stages three days of drills following US attacks that sank suspected narcotics traffickers at sea. More on that when we come back. Hey, Mike Baker here. This podcast is brought to you in part by Stash. 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Thank you Dana. We heard you introducing the New York Times Family Subscription. One subscription, up to four separate logins for anyone in your life. Find out more@nytimes.com family in today's back of the brief, the US military has struck again in the Caribbean, taking down a third suspected drug boat in what the Trump administration calls its most muscular counternarcotics push in decades. President Trump confirmed the strike on the White House lawn, telling reporters, quote, we knocked off actually three boats, not two, but you saw two as we covered on Tuesday's afternoon bulletin, the President was referring to the Pentagon released footage showing three alleged traffickers killed in a US Strike earlier this week that came on the heels of the September 2 strike that left 11 suspected narco traffickers dead. Trump did not specify the death toll. In this latest third action, Trump also singled out the South American country's most notorious gang, the Trenda Lagua, or TDA gang, warning Venezuelan strongman Nicolas Maduro directly to quote, stop sending members of the TDA to the US Stop sending drugs to the US the president later on Truth Social blasted the cartel as, quote, extraordinarily violent narco terrorists. As you might imagine, the military strikes and Trump's rhetoric didn't sit well with Venezuela's dictator. Maduro accused Washington applauding regime change, declaring that recent communications with the U.S. had, quote, broken down and vowing Venezuela was ready for a, quote, armed struggle. He threatened to declare a Republican arms if U.S. warships and jets turn their guns from drug boats to the regime itself. And so Venezuela is now matching its rhetoric with as much muscle as it can muster. The Defense Ministry has launched three days of large scale exercises dubbed Sovereign Caribbean, featuring a dozen ships, 22 aircraft, 20 small boats and armed drones. Maduro's regime officials said the maneuvers would showcase, quote, air defense deployments and electronic warfare actions against the so called threatening, vulgar Voice of the US Meanwhile, as we've been tracking, the Pentagon has anchored eight warships, some with amphibious assault capability, alongside F35 fighter jets and some 4,500 troops in the theater. The Trump administration also maintains a $50 million bounty on Maduro's head. I wonder if his security team is aw that. Citing his connection to lesser known drug pushers in Venezuela, known as the Cartel of the Suns. For Maduro, framing the American strikes off his country's coast as imperial aggression offers political oxygen at home even as his regime witnesses the reality of US Firepower that it can never match. And that, my friends, is the President's Daily brief for Friday 19th September. Now if you have any questions or comments, please reach out to me at bdb@thefirst tv.com and don't forget what your mother told you. New episodes of our acclaimed and possibly one day award winning weekend show the PDB Situation Report. They launch every Friday evening at 10pm on the first TV. And would you look at that. Today is Friday. This weekend's most excellent guests include Eric o', Neill, former FBI counterterrorism and counterintelligence operative to discuss the Charlie Kirk murder and the subsequent investigation, as well as the Heritage Foundation's China expert Steve Yates. We're looking at efforts to create a US Tick tock firewalled from the influence of the Chinese Communist Party, but yet still delivering those cute raccoon and cat and dog videos that we've all come to expect. You can also catch the situation report on our YouTube channel. You can find that on YouTube, of course, at President's Daily Brief. I hope you'll check that out and subscribe and podcast platforms everywhere. And finally, I hope you think about becoming a premium member of the President's Daily Brief. Just go to PDB premium.com to sign up and once you do, you can access our brand new special series, the Day the World Almost Ended. It's what folks refer to as a as a humdinger. 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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