The President's Daily Brief - August 25th, 2026: Iran’s Economic Lifelines Are Being Cut Off & North Korea’s Next Deployment

Episode Date: August 25, 2026

In this episode of The President's Daily Brief: • Washington launches a sweeping economic campaign against Iran, warning foreign governments and companies to choose between doing business with Tehran and retaining access to the American financial system. Iran responds by threatening to detain dozens of tankers in the Strait of Hormuz. • Ukraine expands its attacks on Russia’s consumer economy, striking warehouses belonging to Ozon, the country’s second-largest online retailer. • North Korea prepares for another possible troop deployment to Russia after already supplying Moscow with more than 15 million artillery rounds. • In today’s Back of the Brief, the United States brings Israeli and Syrian officials together for talks aimed at preventing another dangerous regional escalation. To listen to the show ad-free, become a premium member of The President’s Daily Brief by visiting https://PDBPremium.com. Please remember to subscribe if you enjoyed this episode of The President's Daily Brief. YouTube: youtube.com/@presidentsdailybrief Goldbelly: Impress your family and friends - get free shipping and 20% off your first order at https://GOLDBELLY.com with code PDB. Cardiff: Get fast business funding without bank delays—apply in minutes with Cardiff and access up to $500,000 in same‑day funding at https://Cardiff.co/PDB  HomeServe: Protect your home systems from expensive repairs with https://HomeServe.com/dailybriefand get 50% off your first year of coverage. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

I'm Megan Kelly. Every day on the Megan Kelly show, we bring you the news, and this summer we're bringing you something extra. Before I was a journalist, I was a lawyer. I've spent 20 plus years now covering crime and the law. So I built a true crime series that I always wanted to listen to. We're calling it M.K. Confidential. And there we cover cases that you've heard about, like John Bonae Ramsey, Chandra Levy, the D.C. Snipers, Scott Peterson, and some that you haven't. One case per week, five episodes, Monday through Friday. New episodes every weeknight. Search for The Megan Kelly Show, wherever you listen to podcasts, and you will find MK Confidential.

It's Tuesday, the 25th of August. Welcome to the President's Daily Brief. I'm Mike Baker, your eyes and ears on the world stage. All right, let's get briefed. First up, Washington tells the world to choose between America and Iran, as the Iranian regime threatens dozens of tankers in the street. trade of Hormuz. Confused? Well, we'll have the details. Later in the show, Ukraine sets its sights on a new target, striking warehouses belonging to Russia's second largest online retailer.

Plus, North Korea prepares to send more troops to Russia after already supplying Moscow with more than 15 million artillery rounds. Well, after all, what are friends for. And in today's back of the brief, Washington brings Israel and Syria to the negotiating table in an attempt to prevent further conflict. But first, today's PDB spotlight. The Trump administration has launched a campaign designed to force every country to make a choice, continue doing business with Iran, or preserve access to the American economy. Treasury Secretary Scott Besant announced the campaign Monday under the name Operation Economic Outcast. They must have an office somewhere in Washington, D.C. that is tasked with coming up with these names. Operation Economic Outcast,

He said the objective is to sever every remaining economic lifeline available to the regime and impose what he called a, quote, zero leakage approach to Iranian revenue. The opening round targets more than 60 individuals, companies and vessels accused of helping Iran obtain nuclear and missile technology. Additional sanctions will target digital assets, gold, aviation, shipping, and technology with further moves expected in the coming weeks. Bessent also singled out Bank Melly. That's Iran's largest state-owned bank. He said its foreign branches must close or risk being cut out of the U.S. dollar system. And that's the real power behind the

campaign. Washington is not simply telling American companies to stop doing business with Iran. It's warning foreign governments, foreign banks, and corporations that they could lose access to the American financial system if they continue providing Tehran with revenue. In simple terms, They can do business with Iran or they can do business with the U.S. The administration is telling them they cannot do both. But despite the economic D-Day branding, Monday's announcement was still largely a warning shot. Bessent did not identify which major countries or financial institutions will be targeted. He acknowledged that Washington is giving governments time to change their behavior before the hammer falls.

Now, the decisive factor, as we've discussed previously on the PDB, will be China. Beijing purchases most of Iran's exported oil, often through small independent refineries, with limited exposure to the U.S. That trade has helped Tehran survive previous rounds of American sanctions. Asked whether Washington would target Chinese banks involved in those transactions, Besson would only say that no one is beyond the reach of U.S. sanctions. He added that the administration prefers to handle those conversations through quiet diplomacy. The pressure may already be producing results,

elsewhere. The UAE suspended all trade and financial transactions with Iran last week, shortly after President Trump spoke with Emirati leader Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayyad. Neither government has confirmed that Trump demanded the suspension, but Bessent said the timing was, quote, not a coincidence. Now, that is a major loss for the Iranian regime. Trade between Iran and the Emirates was worth roughly $28 billion in 2024, and the UAE had been Iran's largest source of import goods. Meanwhile, conditions inside Iran continue to deteriorate. The Rial fell Monday to a record low of 2.02 million Rial to one U.S. dollar. Since the war began, rice prices have increased roughly 60 percent, while beef prices have risen more than 150 percent. The International Monetary Fund

expects Iran's economy to shrink by more than 5 percent. The regime's response now has been to threaten the economic interests of everyone else. A newly created Iranian body called the Persian Gulf Strait Authority has blacklisted 45 tankers for allegedly violating Iran's rules in the Strait of Hormuz. The list includes massive crude oil carriers, liquefied natural gas tankers, and vessels connected to major companies in Saudi Arabia and the Emirates. Iran says the ships could be fined, detained, or have their cargoes confiscated, and a vessel conducting a ship-to-ship transfer with one of those tankers could also be blacklisted, according to the regime. Tehran has not clearly explained which rules those vessels broke.

Iranian officials have previously demanded that ships receive Tehran's permission to cross the strait and pay Iran for security and other services. So this is Iran's attempt to create leverage of its own. If the regime can't escape America's blockade and sanctions, it can threaten the shipping, carrying the Gulf Energy's exports to the world. But that strategy may be difficult to sustain. The U.S. says tanker traffic through Hormuz is gradually recovering. Energy Secretary Chris Wright says the seven-day average of oil leaving the straight

has climbed above 8 million barrels per day, with the U.S. Navy helping vessels make the passage. And every threat against Saudi, Emirati, or international shipping, risk pushing those governments closer to Washington. Even as both sides escalate, however, the diplomatic channel, oh, here we go, supposedly remains open, perhaps, maybe. President Trump reportedly called Pakistan's army chief field marshal Assim Munir last week before Munir traveled to Tehran. According to Pakistani sources, Trump asked him to use Pakistan's influence to bring Iran back to negotiations. Munir arrived Monday with Pakistan's interior minister and met Iranian parliamentary speaker and lead negotiator, Mohamed, Mohammed Baka Ghalibov. He was also expected to meet Iran's presidents and other senior officials.

Now, a question, hanging over any discussions with Iran, of course, is who exactly is in charge. It does seem increasingly apparent that Ghalibov is not the one making decisions, and anything he discusses with mediators is then taken back to Tehran and reviewed by what could be a small cadre of hardliners. Pakistan helped broker the interim agreement that was signed in June, and it's again trying to bridge what one Pakistani source described as a deep trust deficit between Washington and Tehran. It's almost like the two sides don't like each other. So the administration's strategy appears to be operating on two tracks. Publicly, Washington is threatening to isolate Iran from nearly every significant source of trade and banking and foreign

revenue. Privately, Trump is using Pakistan to determine whether the regime is prepared to negotiate before the next round of sanctions could take effect. The question is whether Operation Economic Outcast can force Iran's remaining partners, especially China, to comply. Now here's a spoiler alert. It's unlikely that China will comply with the White House's demands. It would not appear that any Venn diagram shows Washington and Beijing's interests and concerns aligned, which then puts the U.S. in a position of deciding to what degree

it's willing to do battle with China. All right, coming up next, Ukraine strikes Russia's second largest online retailer, as North Korea prepares to send Putin more troops after reportedly supplying 15 million artillery rounds. I'll be right back. I break down the new wars and weapons systems that are totally reshaping our world in my show, Kappi Army. But we go beyond simply just telling you what happened in a war.

We actually investigate deeper into the war. Why and how? At KAPI Army, everything is informed by my experience as an average U.S. Army infantryman in Iraq and a war correspondent covering the front lines of the war in Ukraine. Just search Kappy Army on Apple Podcast or Spotify to get weekly open source intelligence reports. And remember to follow today. Hey, Mike Baker here with a pro tip for everybody out there who loves delicious food. Come on, there's a lot of you out there. Have you heard of Goldbelly?

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or you want to impress your friends and family with an epic meal the next time you host, just go to goldbelly.com and get 20% off your first order with promo code PDB. That's goldbelly.com code PDB for 20% off your first order. Welcome back to the BDB. After spending weeks, pounding Russia's largest online retailer, Walburys, Ukraine has now turned its sights on the competition, an online retailer called Ozone. Now, Ozone began as an online bookstore, not unlike Amazon, but today it's Russia's second largest e-commerce company. Together, ozone and Walburys are projected to control 77 percent of the country's online retail market by the end of this year. And that makes their warehouses an increasingly important part of Russia's economic infrastructure,

and an increasingly attractive target for Ukrainian drones. Ozan says six of its facilities have been targeted in just three days. On Monday, attacks were reported against four logistics hubs across southern Russia. One facility in the Southern Republic of Dagestan caught fire and was forced to suspend operations. Ozone said several people were injured. Another fire broke out at a warehouse outside Krasnodar, while workers were evacuated from two other facilities. The attacks followed strikes over the weekend against Ozan centers in the Samara and Orenburg regions. More than 300 workers were evacuated from the Orenberg facility and operations were temporarily

suspended. Russian officials also said at least three teenagers were killed during the wider wave of Ukrainian drone attacks in the Krasnodar region. The financial reaction was immediate. Ozan's shares plunged almost 30 percent on the Moscow Exchange Monday, shares in its largest investor, that's the private equity firm AFK Systema, fell more than 13%. That wiped away a significant part of what had been an extraordinary run for the company. Ozone's stock had climbed nearly 300% since the market turmoil that followed Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022. And Ozone may be more financially vulnerable than Wildberries. Wildberries is partnered with the state-owned bank VTB, giving it access, of course, to government-backed

support. Ozan's largest shareholder, meanwhile, is already carrying substantial debt and may have less capacity to finance a major rebuilding campaign. As we've previously reported here on the PDB, Ukraine is targeting these logistics networks as part of its broader campaign against Russia's economy. Keeb says some of the warehouses help supply Russian forces with drone components and other equipment. The strikes are also intended to disrupt commerce and bring the consequences of the war closer to ordinary Russians. The Kremlin's response suggests that the pressure is being felt. Putin has promised government assistance to rebuild damaged warehouses, while Russia's finance ministry has prepared tax breaks for affected companies and small businesses. The Russian Central Bank has also

urged lenders to support companies damaged by the attacks. Putin has now gone a step further, signing a decree that allows the Russian government to assume temporary control of important infrastructure, deemed inadequately protected or deemed too slow to recover after an attack. Well, how very communist of him? And Ukraine may soon gain an even greater ability to strike deeper inside Russia. British Prime Minister Andy Burnham arrived in Kiev Monday and is expected to provide Ukraine with classified information about British-made components used in scalp-long-range cruise missiles, The UK is also helping Kiev expand its domestic production of long-range weapons.

Now, the Kremlin called the move another attempt by Britain to, quote, add fuel to the fire, and the Kremlin apparently said that with absolutely no sense of irony or self-awareness. Spokesman Dmitri Peskov warned that Russia's military is already gathering intelligence on potential missile production sites, and it tends to destroy them. All right, I want to turn now to North Korea, where Kim Jong-un's regime, is continuing to prepare for the possibility of sending more troops to help Putin maintain his war in Ukraine. Now, just how many troops we're talking about, that's an open question. Earlier this month, Ukrainian President Zelensky claimed that Kim could eventually send as many as 50,000 additional soldiers.

Now, that's a claim that Kim's sister, Kim Jong, denied last week. South Korea's defense ministry says North Korea is still preparing for another deployment. What Seoul isn't seeing, at least for now, is any indication that those troops are actually getting ready to move. North Korea began sending troops to support Moscow's military operations in late 2024, after the two countries signed what's essentially a NATO-style mutual defense pact. It was sort of a no-limits friendship. I think they even traded friendship bracelets. The stay was touching.

Just last week, we discussed reports that North Korean forces in Russia now include a dedicated drone unit capable of carrying out strikes inside Ukraine. Kim, of course, has been keeping Russia's war machine supplied with a variety of resources for quite some time. North Korea has been shipping weapons to Russia since at least 2023, according to South Korean, Ukrainian, and Western assessments, despite previous denials from Moscow and Chongyang. South Korea says those shipments are still ongoing. Included in those shipments have been short-range ballistic missiles and an enormous amount of artillery ammunition. Seoul now estimates that Pyongyang has supplied Russia with more than 15 million rounds. And importantly, North Korea appears to be learning from what happens when their

munitions are put to use on the battlefield. South Korean intelligence says North Korean missiles used in Ukraine may actually be becoming more accurate, as Kim's military collects real combat data, while Russia provides technical advice and support with key components. So Putin gets the missiles and ammunition he needs to keep his war going, while North Korea gets an opportunity that it could never reproduce through yet another carefully controlled missile test back home. And that is the chance to see how its weapons perform in an actual war. And that's where this relationship starts becoming a much bigger problem for South Korea and the U.S. Seoul says development of some North Korean ballistic missiles and multiple rocket launchers believed to be intended for use in a potential conflict with South

Korea are now in advanced development. Some of those weapons can reach much farther. South Korea says the Huasong 12 intermediate range ballistic missile is now being prepared for operational deployment with a range that puts the U.S. territory of Guam within reach. Now, North Korea's intercontinental ballistic missiles, they can reach farther still. South Korea says they already appear to have the flight capability to reach the U.S. mainland, although Pyongyang is yet to prove it can reliably deliver a warhead. That's because every North Korean ICBM test has been conducted on a steep loft of trajectory, leaving Seoul unable to verify whether a warhead could survive re-entry under the conditions

of an actual long-range strike. So while another North Korean troop deployment may not be immediately imminent, the preparations are continuing. And in the interim, North Korea is on the receiving end of battlefield data and real combat experience that they can then pour back into the forces and weapons that their regime is building to threaten South Korea,

Japan, and the U.S. All right, coming up in the back of the brief, Israel and Syria quietly enter U.S. mediated talks following a new round of Israeli airstrikes. More on that when we come back. Hey, Mike Baker here.

Now, many of you may know me as the host of the President's Daily Brief. In fact, I hope you do know me as the host of the PDB. but I am also a business owner, have been for years. And I want to take just a moment to talk with all of you business owners out there. Now, you probably already know that small businesses face an uphill battle with big banks, right? Where getting a loan means endless paperwork and delays.

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deeper into the why and how. At Kappi Army, everything is informed by my experience as an average U.S. Army infantrymen in Iraq and a war correspondent covering the front lines of the war in Ukraine. Just search Kappy Army on Apple Podcast or Spotify to get weekly open source intelligence reports. And remember to follow today. In today's back of the brief, I want to discuss a new U.S. effort to to ease tensions between Syria and Israel, with the two countries now back at the negotiating table after a period of stalled diplomacy. The two sides met for high-level American mediated talks in Jordan on Sunday. The U.S. has spent more than a year trying to broker a security agreement between Israel and

Syria, and earlier this year, the two sides apparently came close. In fact, Syria's foreign minister says they had agreed on paper to, quote, almost everything. Then the war with Iran began, the negotiations were suspended, and that diplomatic opening largely disappeared. Last week, things deteriorated even further. Israel struck Syria's Abu al-Duher air base, saying Turkey was preparing to establish a military presence there. Damascus cut off contact entirely, and suddenly, well, the two sides weren't talking at all. Now, Washington has managed to get them back in the same room. To be fair, these are not peace talks. What the U.S. is trying to do right now is much more immediate, and that's lower the temperature before another Israeli strike or regional crisis

sends everything backward again. And there are really two potential flashpoints that Washington is trying to contain. The first is between Israel and Syria. Syria State News Agency says the delegations discussed ways to halt Israeli strikes, arrests, and targeted operations inside Syrian territory while getting those security negotiations moving again. The second involves Turkey. Ankara and Jerusalem have both developed significant interests inside Syria since Assad's fall, and Sunday's talks included efforts to keep their growing rivalry from spilling onto Syrian territory. Now, I mentioned that Syria's foreign minister says the two sides had already agreed to quote almost everything earlier this year.

So let's look at what that actually means. The minister says the negotiations included proposed security zones in southern Syria and a buffer zone where only UN forces would be present. But agreeing to something on paper, and trusting the other side to carry it out, of course, are two very different things, particularly, it seems, in the Middle East. Damascus doubted Israel would implement the agreement, and Syria's foreign minister says that lack of trust hasn't gone away. Now that the talks are moving again, Syria is returning to the table with significant demands.

Damascus says its immediate priority is getting Israeli forces to withdraw to the positions they held before Assad was overthrown in December of 2024. Syria also wants the full restoration of the 1974 Disengagement Agreement, which established a UN-monitored buffer zone separating Israeli and Syrian forces. Syria also says it will not accept an agreement, restricting its ability to rebuild its military or choose its own allies and partners. Then there's one dispute that goes back much further than Assad's fall, and that would be the Golan Heights. Syria reiterated that it considers the Israeli-held territory Syrian, while acknowledging that negotiations over its final status would be premature.

For those of you who are unfamiliar with the history here, Israel captured the Golan Heights from Syria during the 1967 Six-Day War and later annexed the territory. The U.S. recognizes Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights, although most of the international community does not. And it's important here to explain Israel's side of this as well because these strikes inside Syria aren't happening in a vacuum. Israel has repeatedly targeted Syrian military sites ever since Assad's government collapsed and Jerusalem says those operations are necessary to protect Israeli security.

Syria insists it poses no threat to Israel and has demanded an end to Israeli strikes and incursions. And that, my friends, is the President's Daily Brief for Tuesday, the 25th of August. Now, if you have any questions or comments, just reach out to me at pdb at thefirsttv.com. And finally, if you have spent years wondering about what it would be like to have an ad-free PDB experience, or you want to catch one of our special PDB series, or you maybe want to listen to one of our Ask Me Anything episodes, well, just become a premium member of the president's Daily Brief by visiting PDB Premium.com. It's really that simple.

I'm Mike Baker, and I'll be back later today with the PDB afternoon bulletin. Until then, stay informed. Stay safe. Stay cool.