The President's Daily Brief - January 10th, 2025: Iranian General Accuses Russia of Betrayal & Maduro’s Protest Problem

Episode Date: January 10, 2025

In this episode of The President's Daily Brief: A top Iranian General accuses Russia of betrayal, alleging their jets bombed empty deserts while claiming strikes on Syrian rebels. The U.S. Military launches its first strikes of the year against Houthi targets in Yemen, focusing on an underground weapons storage facility. In Venezuela, opposition leaders rally for mass protests as Nicolás Maduro prepares for his third-term inauguration. And in today’s Back of the Brief: Mexico’s President pushes back against President Trump’s proposal to rename the Gulf of Mexico as the Gulf of America. To listen to the show ad-free, become a premium member of The President’s Daily Brief by visiting PDBPremium.com. Please remember to subscribe if you enjoyed this episode of The President's Daily Brief. YouTube: youtube.com/@presidentsdailybrief Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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in the name of the person, and give me the deal, additional terms, conditions, and restrictions supply. It's Friday, 10 January. 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. Today, we start in the Middle East with a bold accusation from a top Iranian general. Now, he claims that Russia turned on its allies in Syria's final days,

faking airstrikes by bombing empty deserts while bragging about targeting rebels. Later in the show, the U.S. military launches its first strikes against the Houthis of the New Year, targeting an underground weapon storage facility in Yemen. Plus, the latest from Venezuela, where opposition leaders are calling for mass protests ahead of President Maduro's inauguration for a third term. And in today's back of the brief, the president of Mexico is pushing back against President Trump after he proposed, changing the name of the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America. But first, today's PDB spotlight.

We'll begin with an update on Syria as a top Iranian general issues a rare rebuke of their Russian allies, putting partial blame on the Putin regime for the sudden downfall of their ally Assad last month at the hands of Islamist rebels. Brigadier General Behruz-Zbati, Iran's senior ranking general, in Syria before Assad's overthrow made the remarks during a surprisingly candid speech last week at a mosque in Tehran. He accused the Kremlin of directly lying to leaders in Tehran as the HTS-led offensive got underway back in late November, according to an exclusive report from the New York Times. Now, the Kremlin apparently told Iranian officials that Russian jets were conducting a bombing campaign to blunt the advances of the rebels, including strikes on HTS's headquarters.

But it turned out the Russians were just putting on an elaborate show for their supposed allies in both Iran and Syria. I mean, seriously, if you can't trust Putin and his minions, well, what's the world coming to? In reality, his body said that Russia was simply bombing the empty desert to make it look like they were standing in Assad's corner. But his body implied that Russia's treachery was, frankly, hardly a surprise. He further accused Russia of turning off critical radars inside Syria throughout 2024 when Israel launched air strikes targeting Iranian military officials and militant infrastructure stationed in the country. By standing down the radars, he said Russia had enabled Israel's forces to attack much more effectively. The remarks, come as a former senior

aide to Assad, said Monday that the Kremlin had stalled critical military military. military assistance during the rebel uprising. The official said Assad had personally asked Vladimir Putin to approve airlifting military aid to Syria, and that was a request Putin reportedly agreed to. But when Syrian officials asked the Iranian regime about the aid, which was supposed to be transported via Iranian aircraft, well, they said they never received any such request from Moscow. Assad then tried to follow up with the Kremlin, but received no answers. sorry, nobody's home. The accounts from Isbadi and former members of Assad's inner circle

offer a rare peak behind the curtain of Russia's Middle East alliances and how damaged they've become, as a result, frankly, of their war on Ukraine. Still, Isbadi put the lion's share of blame for the situation in Syria on the Assad regime itself, which he said had become marred by internal corruption. Well, I mean, it does sound like the Iranian regime is blaming everyone, except, well, for the Iranian regime. The general added that relations between Damascus and Tehran became significantly strained over the past year after Assad refused multiple Iranian requests to facilitate attacks by Iranian-backed militias on Israel through Syria.

But he also put some blame on his own country. Oh, well, look at that. Breaking with Iran's diplomatic line regarding Assad's ouster. As Badi reportedly said, quote, I don't consider losing Syria something to be. proud of, well, there's an understatement. We were defeated and defeated very badly. We took a very big blow and it's been very difficult, end quote. The comments stand in stark contrast to the statements of Iran's president, foreign minister and other top leaders who have all attempted to

downplay the magnitude of Iran's strategic loss. But as we discussed earlier this week on the PDB, the collapse of the Assad regime is really nothing short of a catastrophe for Iran's regional ambitions. We learned this week that the Mullahs have pulled out nearly all of their forces from Syria in the aftermath of the rebel victory, marking the collapse of a year-long effort to use Syria as a central hub for their activities of their once powerful axis of resistance. The Iranian regime and its IRGC had poured billions of dollars into this effort, sending some 10,000 military personnel and allied fighters to Syria after the Civil War broke out. in 2011. At the height of their activity, the IRGC's elite Kud's force reportedly controlled at least 55

military bases throughout the country, using them to coordinate the activities of their proxy groups. Now, their forces have all but fled, their militia groups have disbanded, and most of their military equipment and weapons have either been seized or destroyed. Still, despite the losses, as Bonnie said the regime, plans to re-establish its operations in six. Syria. He said, quote, we can activate all the networks we have worked with over the years. We can activate the social layers that our guys lived among for years. We can be active in social media, and we can form resistance cells. The general ominously added, quote, we have already started, end quote. All right. Coming up next, the U.S. military kicks off the new year with airstrikes on

Houthi weapons facilities in Yemen, while Venezuela braces for mass protests as opposition leaders challenge Maduro's third term inauguration. I'll be right back. USAA knows dynamic duos can save the day, like superheroes and sidekicks or auto and home insurance. With USAA, you can bundle your auto and home and save up to 10%. Tap the banner to learn more and get a quote at usa.com slash bundle. Restrictions apply. Ojos with alergy and pickasone, contrail! And the ganador is,

Paraday, extra-furti. To alleviate, act more rapidly and supera Clarity Niflonez even at 24 hours. Paradee. Adelante. Welcome back to the PDB. Sticking with the Middle East,

Yemen's Qutti rebels, the last Iranian proxy group of any real capability left in the region, are back in America's sites. On Wednesday, U.S. Central Command, or Centcom, announced they had carried out their first precision strikes of the year, hitting weapons depots used by the Houthi terrorists

to target naval warships and commercial vessels in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden. Notably, the targets included the militant groups underground advanced conventional weapons storage facilities, that's according to a report from the Jerusalem Post. Officials at Sentcon, who declined to specify where in Yemen the strikes took place, said they're part of their ongoing efforts to, quote, degrade Iranian-backed Houthi attempts to threaten regional partners and military and merchant vessels in the region, end quote. It was the fourth U.S. strike on Houthi targets over the past month by the outgoing Biden administration, which is responding to the group's increased targeting of U.S.

naval vessels since November. Last month alone, the U.S. military managed to thwart two separate attempted strikes on naval and merchant ships by the Iranian-backed terrorists. It's worth noting that the latest strikes came less than 24 hours after CENTCOM's deputy commander met with the Israeli military's deputy chief of staff to discuss a unified approach to dealing with the ongoing Houthi threat. Sounds like they came up with a unified approach. Past meetings of this nature have almost exclusively focused on Gaza, Lebanon, or Iran, suggesting that Israel is now ready to make the Houthis one of their primary focuses as the new year gets underway. Over the past few weeks, The Houthis have also escalated their attacks on Israel,

firing ballistic missiles at Tel Aviv in the surrounding region on a number of occasions, including one this past Sunday. And some have managed to slip through Israel's missile defenses. While there have been no fatalities from Houthi attacks since last July, a ballistic missile struck a school in Tel Aviv on December 19th, causing some $3 million in damage. Several days later, a Houthi missile barrage injured 16 people at a park in Jaffa near Tel Aviv.

Israeli leaders have warned that if the attacks continue, the Houthis will suffer the same fate as HMas and Hizbullah. Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu also recently vowed to eradicate the last remnants of what he called the Iranians' axis of evil. As a reminder, the Houthis began relentlessly attacking Israel in the wake of last year's 7 October attacks by HMas. To date, they've fired more than 200 missiles and 160. 70 drones at the Jewish state. The militants have also targeted more than 80 merchant vessels

with hundreds of missile attacks in the Red Sea, significantly disrupting international trade. Okay, shifting to Venezuela. Opposition forces called for protest Thursday, as socialist dictator Nicholas Maduro prepares to solidify his grip on power with a third-term inauguration following last summer's heavily disputed election. Despite the opposition's request for mass demonstrations from the public to disrupt the inauguration, the streets of Caracas were eerily subdued on Thursday morning, reflecting the climate of fear under Maduro's increasingly repressive regime. Since New Year's Day, the city has been blanketed with security forces and armed pro-government groups known as collectivos, their presence, a warning, of course, to deter any uprising ahead of today's swearing and ceremony. In a rare show of defiance, a small group of protesters cautiously gathered in one Caracas neighborhood, chanting, quote, freedom. Their numbers slowly swelled as others joined and boldened by the unexpected appearance of opposition leader Maria Corina Machado.

Emerging from hiding, for the first time since August of this past year, her presence is a show of defiance against Maduro's efforts to eliminate dissent, even as she faced the imminent threat of arrest. Maduro's regime deployed a familiar playbook of suppression, blocking streets, and blaring loud music to drown out other potential protests. Mass arrests and other repressive measures have become hallmarks of the government's response since the disputed 28 July election, which saw Maduro declared the winner by a national electoral council, packed, not surprisingly, with loyalists. However, the council failed to provide detailed vote counts, that's surprising, and by that I mean it's not surprising, a stark departure from past elections and a blow to Venezuela's fragile democracy. The opposition countered with evidence. Publishing tally sheets from some 85% of

electronic voting machines, they claimed retired diplomat Edmundo Gonzalez had decisively won, securing twice as many votes as Maduro. Lending weight to their claims, the U.S.-backed Carter's Center, invited by Maduro's regime to observe the election, verified, the opposition's tally sheets as legitimate. Undeterred, the National Assembly, firmly under Maduro's control, is set to oversee his inauguration on Friday, signaling a further entrenchment of authoritarian power despite credible evidence of election fraud. Maduro's stranglehold on Venezuela was further on full display Tuesday during a televised address where he announced the capture of two Americans, labeling them as, quote, very high-leveled.

and, quote, mercenaries in an alleged plot against his regime. The socialist dictator provided no evidence, shocking, to substantiate his allegations. Maduro stated, quote, just today, we've captured seven foreign mercenaries, including two important ones for the United States, naming Colombians and Ukrainians among the group. The U.S. State Department swiftly dismissed these accusations as baseless, citing Venezuela's history of detaining Americans without cause. A spokesperson from the State Department reiterated Washington's support for a Democratic resolution to the country's crisis, calling Maduro's claims of U.S. involvement to overthrow Venezuela as, quote, categorically false. The identities of the detained Americans remain undisclosed.

Opposition candidate Gonzalez, recognized by the Biden administration as Venezuela's legitimate president-elect, was in Washington, meeting with U.S. officials when Maduro announced the arrests. President Biden doubled down on Washington's stance, reiterating that Gonzalez was the rightful winner of the July election and condemning Maduro's grip on power. Okay. Coming up in today's back of the brief, a war of words as Mexico's president fires back at President Trump over his surprising proposal to rename the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America. More on that when we come back. Choice Hotels gets you more of what you value. Comfort in.

It's calling your name. Save on the stay. Oh, and free waffles are yours to claim. Book direct at sourceotails.com. In today's back of the brief, Mexico's president, Claudia Scheinbaum, delivered a theatrical rebuttal on Wednesday when she mockingly proposed renaming North America America Mexicana, a sarcastic response to President O'Shea. elect Trump's suggestion to rebrand the Gulf of Mexico as, quote, the Gulf of America.

Standing before a 1607 map during a press conference, looking like a smug history teacher, Shinebaum gestured toward the swath of land encompassing present-day Mexico, the U.S. and parts of Canada. She asked, quote, why don't we call it America Mexicana? It sounds pretty. Isn't that true? End quote. Her words were not just a satirical cab at the president-elect.

but also a historical reference made earlier in the press conference by a former cultural secretary who explained that, quote, America Mexicana was once used to describe the region on a map commissioned by the Dutch East India Company. Scheinbaum added that the name also appeared in the Constitution drafted during Mexico's independence movement against Spain in 1814. While the reference predates Mexico's modern constitution by more than a century, she used it to underscore the historical ties of the term to the region. Trump's Tuesday announcement of the Gulf of America drew both support and backlash, with the president-elect justifying the name change by citing the U.S.'s economic and industrial footprint along the Gulf.

He claimed the U.S., quote, does most of the work there, referencing the region's role in petroleum refining and natural gas processing. But the announcement wasn't just about territorial, branding. The president-elect used the moment to slam Mexico for its ongoing stream of illegal immigration and drug trafficking into the U.S., adding that Mexico is run by the cartels in his wide-ranging news conference. Shinebaum, while still standing in front of the map, dismissed Trump's assertion that Mexico was overrun by drug cartels, stating, quote, Trump must think Calderon is still president, end quote. Now, that's a reference to former Mexican President Felipe Calderon, whose administration ended over a decade ago.

Her response did little to divert attention from Mexico's ongoing struggles with cartel violence. It's a glaring challenge facing her during her presidency. As Trump raised himself for office, his remarks and shine bombs, unsolicited history lesson, underscore the tensions currently in U.S.-Mexico relations. And that, my friends, is the President's Daily Brief for Friday, 10 January. Now, if you have any questions or comments, please reach out to me at PDB at thefirsttv.com. Now, it's been brought to my attention that today is Friday. And Fridays, of course, well, they mean new episodes of our extended weekend show, the PDB Situation Report.

This week's excellent guests include George Barrows from the Institute for the Study of War and retired colonel and man about town. Colonel John Mills. Smart guests, insightful analysis, catchy theme music, don't miss the latest episode of The Situation Report. New episodes at the airwaves every Friday at 10 p.m. on the first TV, and are also available on our YouTube channel at President's Daily Brief, and of course, all podcast platforms throughout podcast land. 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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