The President's Daily Brief - July 11th, 2024: F-16s Deployment, Biden's Summit Spotlight, & China's Hacking Exposed

Episode Date: July 11, 2024

In this episode of The President's Daily Brief:   A major announcement from Secretary of State Antony Blinken at the NATO summit in DC. After months of training and negotiations, the first F-16 fighter jets are on their way to Ukraine and will be flying sorties this summer. All eyes are on Joe Biden's performance at this week's summit as the White House seeks to dispel doubts about the 81-year-old's capability as commander-in-chief. The U.S., Australia, and six other allies sound the alarm on a Chinese state-sponsored hacking group, exposing a coordinated cyber threat orchestrated by Beijing's intelligence services. In today’s Back of the Brief, the Biden Administration’s ill-fated Gaza pier is set to deliver its final cargo of humanitarian aid in the coming days, marking the end of the road for this controversial initiative. 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. Email: [e-mail] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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You talking to me? Kayak, got that right. Start your day off with a tasty hot cup of blackout coffee. It's the coffee of choice here at the Baker compound, which is, I'm sure, what you are wondering. Blackout coffee is family-owned, premium coffee, fresh roasted, and shipped out within 48 hours of roasting. Go to blackout coffee.com, promo code PDB for 20% off your first time purchase. It's Thursday, 11 July. Welcome to the President's Daily Brief.

I'm Mike Baker. your eyes and ears on the world stage. Let's get briefed. In today's spotlight, a major announcement from U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken at this week's NATO summit in Washington, D.C. After months of training and negotiations, the first F-16 fighter jets are on their way to Ukraine and will be put into action this summer. Later in the show, the eyes of the world are on President Biden's performance at this week's NATO summit, with the White House hoping to reverse doubts that the 81-year-old can still hack it as commander-in-chief. Now, here's a quick reminder for the White House. President Biden isn't Benjamin Button. He's not improving over time. Plus, the U.S., Australia,

and six other allies sound the alarm on a Chinese state-sponsored hacking group, exposing a coordinated its cyber threat orchestrated by Beijing's intelligence services. Now, there's a phrase that should shock a total of zero persons, a coordinated cyber threat orchestrated by Beijing's intelligence services. And in today's back of the brief, it's the end of the road for the Biden administration's ill-fated Gaza pier, which is slated to deliver its final cargo of humanitarian aid in the coming days. The pier is a classic example of a knee-jerk idea designed to placate your protesting political base to show that you're doing something. Turns out that that something was simply throwing a lot of money into the sea. But first, today's PDB spotlight. We'll kick things off today with the latest on Ukraine,

which is set to receive a major assist from NATO allies aimed at bolstering Keeves' air defenses and pushing back Russian troops from their front lines. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken announced at the NATO Summit in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday, that the U.S. and European allies have begun transferring the first of more than 60 American-made F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine. Blinken added that the Ukrainian military will start using the aircraft later this summer with the hopes of upending Putin's current strategy, which is focused primarily on aerial bombardment of Ukrainian cities, due to their lack of air defenses. While the Biden administration was initially reluctant to send such sophisticated weapons to Ukraine

in the early days of the war over fears of escalation with Russia, the Kremlin's continued aggression has changed that calculus. The breakthrough will allow Keeve to target incoming Russian missiles and drones, as well as established localized zones of air superiority, to support offensive ground operations by Ukrainian troops. The jets can also be outfitted with air-to-air missiles, opening up the possibility that Kiev could leverage these fighters to strike aviation targets inside Russian territory. That's according to a report by the Wall Street Journal. Denmark and the Netherlands are already in the process of delivering the first batch of fighters,

while F-16s from Belgium and Norway will arrive later this year. Blinken said, quote, those jets will be flying in the skies of Ukraine this summer to, make sure that Ukraine can continue to effectively defend itself from the Russian aggression, end quote. As a reminder, Ukrainian leaders first requested the F-16s more than a year ago, but the U.S. initially balked at the idea, worrying that the cost was too high and would require extensive training for Ukrainian pilots. But in March of 2023, the Biden administration changed course, approving a plan to train Ukrainian pilots to fly the Western-made jets. A coalition, led by the Netherlands and Denmark, began training Ukrainian pilots late last year

on an accelerated timetable, along with training technicians and support personnel. The first group of pilots reportedly finished their training in May. In a statement thanking NATO allies, Ukrainian President Zelenskyy said, I am confident that they will assist us in better protecting Ukrainians from brutal Russian attacks. F-16s bring just and lasting peace closer, demonstrating that, error must fail everywhere and at any time." It's difficult to overstate just how desperately Kiev needs improved aerial defense capabilities amid Russia's relentless bombardment of their cities.

On Monday, during one of Russia's largest attacks in months, a missile struck a children's hospital in Kiev, killing at least 33 and leaving more than 100 wounded. Ukrainian officials said the brutal attack, which sparked international condemnation, was timed to send a message to NATO ahead of this week's summit, as Putin grows angrier about the alliance's renewed efforts to strengthen Kyiv's military. We should note, reports suggest Putin is facing an increasingly bleak outlook when it comes to Ukraine. Despite suffering heavy losses this year in Moscow's unsuccessful attempts to break Keeves' front lines, the war has largely been a stalemate since last summer. A NATO official told Reuters on two,

Tuesday, that their intelligence suggests Russia currently lacks the munitions and troops needed to mount a major new offensive, and is also running extremely low on ammunition. The anonymous official told Reuters, quote, to sustain real offensive operations, we think that Russia would have to secure significant ammunition supplies from countries beyond what it is already getting from Iran and from North Korea, and Putin would have to order a new large-scale mobilization, end quote. Now, whether that assessment is based on corroborated intelligence from sources with access, or whether it's more general open source assessment of what is known about Moscow's military production capabilities and rough estimates about troop strength, sprinkled with

hopeful thinking from NATO analysts, well, that's currently unknown. As an aside, if you're interested in learning more about the transfer of F-16s to Ukraine, and it's potential impact on the conflict. Don't, don't miss my interview, I'm serious, don't miss my interview with intelligence analyst Ryan McBeth on last week's PDB Situation Report. You can catch the full conversation as a podcast or watch the video on our YouTube channel at President's Daily Brief. All right. Coming up next, all eyes are on President Biden's performance at this week's NATO summit, as the White House seeks to dispel doubts about the 81-year-old's mental acuity and abilities as commander-in-chief. Plus, the U.S. and its allies are sounding the alarm on a Chinese state-sponsored hacking group,

exposing a coordinated cyber threat orchestrated by Beijing's intelligence services. We'll have those stories when we come back. Some follow the noise. Bloomberg follows the money. because behind every headline is a bottom line. Whether it's the funds fueling AI or crypto's trillion dollar swings, there's a money side to every story. And when you see the money side, you understand what others miss.

Get the money side of the story. Subscribe now at Bloomberg.com. Welcome back to the PDB. I want to shift our focus to the U.S. presidential race as rumors continue to swirl around whether President Biden will remain the Democrat candidate. As you know, we don't usually wade into presidential politics here on the PDB, but it's hard to ignore the geopolitical implications as doubts regarding President Biden's fitness for office continue to mount. Following his disastrous debate performance

against former President Trump just two weeks ago, a growing number of prominent Democrat party leaders and commentators have openly called for the president to bow out of the president. presidential race. President Biden has pushed back, and his small and insular team of key advisors and gatekeepers appear to be on a mission to prove that he is still up to the task. In a bit to reverse doubts about his age, Biden delivered a speech on Tuesday to open the NATO summit in Washington, where the anxious eyes of America's European allies were watching for any signs of weakness, according to a report from Politico. Biden managed to avoid fumbling his words and did not not commit any major gaps, as he used the speech to take credit for keeping Russia at bay

in their quest to conquer Ukraine. While it was a more powerful speech than we've seen from Biden in recent months, not that we've seen many speeches from him, it seems overly optimistic to think a single, cleanly delivered speech read from a telepropter will do much to ease the minds of the American public and NATO allies. I mean, setting the bar for being commander-in-chief at don't flub a teleprompter speech is probably not good for the future of America. The Biden team, however, aware that every utterance from the president will be under a microscope, both at home and abroad, is apparently eager to take the risk. He had a full schedule of meetings with foreign leaders on Wednesday, and will participate in a rare news conference today,

where he's expected to address concerns about his age head on. The Biden camp reportedly feels that the NATO summit is the best veteran. for judging the president's ability to handle the responsibilities of the office, arguing his role in rallying Western support for Ukraine since Putin's invasion was proof that he can continue serving in the role. Actually, it's proof that he worked hard to rally Western support for Ukraine. It doesn't mean anything related to the future and his existing mental acuity. Now, despite the optimism of the Biden team, Democrat leaders and front, fundraisers continue to undermine the White House narrative. The latest was former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi,

who refused to answer whether she supported Biden as the party's nominee during an interview on Wednesday on Morning Joe. Pelosi danced around the question saying it was, quote, up to the president to decide if he's going to run. She added, however, that time is running short and that Biden needs to make a final decision soon. It's interesting because Biden has been fairly clear that His decision is that he's in. He is the nominee. So Nancy Pelosi is wordsmithing here. It was an artful display from the former speaker,

given that Biden himself, as repeatedly said publicly, he has no intention of stepping aside. Even George Clooney. Yes, yes, even George Clooney. And, by the way, George is definitely not my favorite Clooney. That, of course, would be Rosemary. He's lent his voice to the debate, calling for Biden to drop out in an op-ed in the New York Times on Wednesday.

It was quite the turnaround for George, who hosted a fundraising event for Biden in June. Although we aren't quite sure exactly what political wisdom the actor brings to the table, his comments are very interesting. The problem for the Biden team is that more and more politicians and celebrities who have up until the past couple weeks been perfectly happy to show for Biden and engage in the cover-up of his declining mental acuity, are now starting to realize that they themselves are vulnerable to being called out for their complicity in the great quest

to hide Biden's condition. And nothing is more powerful in Washington, D.C., than self-preservation and the urge to cover one's own ass. Okay, shifting focus now to cybersecurity, where in an unprecedented move, Australia, the U.S., and six other nations have jointly accused a state-sponsored Chinese hacking group of coordinated cyber attacks. Now, this marks a rare collective response by Western governments to Beijing's cyber activities.

On Tuesday, Australia published the advisory joined by an intelligence coalition known as the Five Eyes, which is composed of the U.S., UK, Canada, and New Zealand, as well as Australia. And notably, Germany, Japan, and South Korea also joined in the United Advisory Front. This is the first time that South Korea and Japan have attributed malicious cyber activities to China alongside Western nations. Australia's leadership in this effort is particularly noteworthy, given its otherwise cautious stance towards China, which is its largest trading partner. The advisory noted the sophisticated cyber attack operations carried out by hackers linked to China's Ministry of State Security.

Advanced Persistent Threat 40, also known as APT40, The group identified in the advisory as being behind two targeted attacks on networks in 2022 is known for conducting regular reconnaissance against foreign networks of interest and rapidly deploying exploits against vulnerabilities. According to the advisory, the threat is ongoing. Well, of course it is. CEO of the Cybersecurity Cooperative Research Center, Rachel Falk, stressed the significance of the collective attribution by multiple nations,

stating, quote, you don't see collective attribution from so many agencies about one malicious cyber threat actor very often. She described APT 40 as adept at blending in with legitimate network traffic to steal valuable data. A Chinese foreign ministry spokesman admitted that the Chinese regime has been engaged in cyber attacks and economic espionage for decades, saying, quote, we're guilty and we feel terrible about our actions. Wait, no, I'm sorry, I got that wrong. The spokesman actually dismissed the advisory as a smear campaign. Yeah, that's more like it.

He responded by accusing the U.S. and its allies of exaggerating China's cyber activities to deflect attention from Washington's global surveillance efforts. In 2021, U.S. prosecutors charged four Chinese nationals connected to APT-40 with hacking campaigns targeting various entities to benefit Chinese companies, contrary, of course, to the foreign ministry spokesman's suggestion of a smear campaign. The stolen data included advanced technologies and sensitive research. U.S. officials are now expressing concerns that China's hacking aims extend beyond data theft to targeting critical infrastructure, potentially disrupting civilian life and future conflicts. So wait, wait, the U.S. officials are just now expressing concerns?

That can't be right. The Chinese regime's intel apparatus has been targeting critical infrastructure for years. And of course, the goal is to use the information they've been gathering for any future major conflict. Another instance of China's global hacking operations came just last year when Microsoft revealed that Chinese hackers targeted networks in Guam and the U.S., including vital communication and transportation sectors. All right. Coming up, the Biden administration's ill-fated Gaza Pier is set to deliver its final cargo of humanitarian aid in the coming. days, marking the end of the road for this controversial initiative. I'll have the details in today's back of the brief.

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A rooftop bar, have a ball. Cocktails up here feel just right. Is Cambria amazing all right? Bring a date, your team, or even your mom. Book direct at choiceotails.com. See you on the roof. In today's back of the brief, it looks like the final chapter in the long-suffering Gaza Pier has now been written. The U.S. military pier, which was built to assist in humanitarian aid

to Gaza, was reinstalled temporarily on Wednesday along the coastline, with the aim of clearing accumulated aid before being dismantled permanently in the coming days. You may recall in previous reports on the PDB that the $230 million pier was part of a broader initiative unfailed by the White House in the state of the union address back in March. It aimed to complement the limited aid allowed through land crossings by Israel. Now, to be fair, despite the peer being plagued by adverse weather, security issues, and logistical challenges, well, it did facilitate the distribution of about 19.5 million pounds of food to Gaza's population during the ongoing nine-month-long conflict. Initially, the pier was projected to be operational until August or September, according to U.S. officials.

However, the eastern Mediterranean Sea off the Gaza coast has been choppier than expected, resulting in damages to the pier and subsequent relocation. It's scheduled to remain in place for a few days only to facilitate the transfer of humanitarian supplies that have accumulated in Cyprus and on a floating dock since the pier was last operational on 28 June before being scrapped. Since its installation on the 17th of May, the pier has been operational for fewer than 20 days. So it's been operational for approximately two and a half weeks of the total seven plus weeks since it was first installed. Now, I'm not known for my math abilities, but that would mean the peer costs the U.S. approximately $13 million per operational day. And actually, you could argue that in U.S. government terms, it's fairly inexpensive.

At least three U.S. service members sustained non-combat-related injuries related to the Peer's operation back in May. The Pentagon reiterated that the peer was always a temporary measure to encourage Israel to open land routes for more efficient aid delivery to Gaza's 2.3 million residents. The number of trucks entering Gaza through the remaining open crossings has dramatically decreased with only 18 trucks entering so far in July compared to 840 in May. The U.S. is actively engaged in discussions with Israel, the U.N. and humanitarian organizations to find ways to overcome the current constraints, and to ensure that aid doesn't get commandeered by Hamas, but instead is actually

distributed to the residents of Gaza. And that, my friends, is the president's daily brief for Thursday, 11 July. If you have any questions or comments, please reach out to me at PDB at thefirsttv.com. To listen to the show ad-free, well, become a premium member of the president's daily brief simply by visiting pdb premium.com. It's that simple and it's great value. I'm Mike Baker. I'll be back later today with the PDB afternoon bulletin. Until then, stay informed. Stay safe.

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