The President's Daily Brief - July 9th, 2025: Russian Elites Are Dropping Dead & Mexico City Turns on Americans

Episode Date: July 9, 2025

In this episode of The President's Daily Brief: Mysterious deaths are shaking Moscow’s elite. A growing number of Russian officials and business leaders are turning up dead—from defenestrations to gunshots. Could this be the beginning of a new Putin purge? The Trump administration makes a controversial move, officially removing the terrorism label from a group led by Syria’s new president—a potential signal of warming U.S.-Syria relations. American tourists in Mexico City are facing a new wave of resentment, as locals blame them for rising rents, gentrification, and the erosion of local culture. And in today’s Back of the Brief—a leaked State Department cable reveals an alarming breach involving artificial intelligence: an unknown actor reportedly used AI to impersonate Secretary of State Marco Rubio via the Signal app. 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 DeleteMe: Get 20% off your DeleteMe plan when you text PDB to 64000. Message and data rates apply Lean: Visit https://TakeLean.com & use code pb20 for 20% off Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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Just text PDB to the number 989-89-89. It couldn't be simpler. You'll receive a free no-obligation information kit and learn how to convert an existing IRA or a 401k to a gold IRA. Again, just text BDB to the number 989-898. It's Wednesday, the 9th of July. 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, a number of mysterious deaths in Moscow as Russian officials. officials and business elites, keep turning up dead. Can you imagine that? Some falling from windows. Oh, others shot with Kremlin-issued firearms. Is it a coincidence or the start of a new purge? Well, spoiler alert, it's not a coincidence. Later in the show, in the latest sign of thawing relations between the U.S. and the new Syrian government, the Trump administration has officially removed the terrorism label from a group led by Syria's new president. Plus, American tourists are under fire in Mexico City, where locals are protesting mass tourism and blaming foreigners for rising rents and displacement.

And in today's back of the brief, a leaked State Department cable reveals an alarming breach. An unknown actor used AI to impersonate Secretary of State Marco Rubio and contacted officials using the Signal app. But first, today's PDB spotlight. We'll begin today in Russia, where the mysterious deaths of high-profile individuals surrounding Vladimir Putin have many wondering whether a new purge is underway. The latest death came on Monday when Russian transport minister Roman Starvoit allegedly shot himself in the head, just hours after being fired from his post by a presidential decree. Now, Starvoit was found dead

as Tesla parked in a Moscow suburb after he reportedly used a gun that was gifted to him by the Kremlin to take his own life. Hmm, that's what some folks might consider a clue. But given the history of untimely deaths among top Russian officials and elites, Starvoid's demise is, well, raising suspicions. Adding fuel to the speculations, one of his deputies at the transport ministry also died on Monday. What is going on? After allegedly suffering a heart attack during a meeting. That is quite the coincidence and also could be considered a clue. Then there's the case of Andrei Badalov, the vice president of Russia's state-owned oil pipeline monopoly, Transneft. He met his end on Friday after supposedly falling from a window at his home

in an upscale Moscow suburb. You have to be really careful around those windows. His death was also ruled a suicide, according to Russian state media. But window falls. as many have pointed out, seem to be an all-too-common occurrence among senior Kremlin officials and Russian oligarchs. Now, while all these cases could certainly be chalked up to a simple coincidence,

as the bodies continue to stack up, so do the questions. When it comes to Starovoid, it's worth noting that the transport minister was surrounded by a scandal that was deeply embarrassing to the Kremlin and rather personal to Vladimir Putin. That's according to a report from the New York Post.

For context, Starvoj was tapped for the role of Transport Minister in May of 2024, after serving as the governor of the Kursk region from 2018 to 2024. But in August, only a few months after he left his post as governor, Ukraine staged an audacious invasion of the region, seizing large swaths of the territory. It was the first time that Russia had lost land to an invader since World War II, marking a major humiliation for Putin. It took more than six months for Moscow to claw back most of the territory from Ukraine, during which the military was forced to redeploy resources from the front lines in eastern Ukraine.

Ever since, the Kremlin has been investigating allegations that officials in Kyrrhusk had embezzled state funds meant to fortify the region's defenses ahead of Kiev's cross-border assaults. Two of Starvoit's deputies from his time as governor, have been implicated in the embezzlement scheme, and Starvoid's successor in Kyrrhusk was arrested in April over the allegations. As the investigation intensified, Starvoid himself was said to be facing heightened scrutiny over his own potential involvement. Russian state media claimed in April that charges were pending against the late transport minister, though they had yet to materialize. The Kremlin, for its part, has been eerily silent on the circumstances,

surrounding Starvoys dismissal and subsequent death. Kremlin spokesman Dimitri Peascov said he was, quote, shocked by Starvoys alleged suicide, describing it as, quote, tragic and sorrowful. As for his sacking, Peskov claimed Monday that it was not due to a loss of confidence, though he refused to elaborate any further. When pressed by reporters, Peskov said, quote, I have nothing to add to what I've already said. But given the Kursk embezzlement scandal, it's safe to say,

that Starvoid had fallen out of favor with Putin. Shifting back to the alleged suicide of the Energy Executive Badlov on Friday, the circumstances around his death are even less clear. But observers have noted a string of suspicious deaths among senior executives in Russia's energy sector since Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. At least four deaths are linked to the state energy giant Gazprom, while several others involved executives at no. Novotech and Lukoyle, according to a report from the Moscow Times.

One of those was Russian oligarch Ravel Maganov, who served as chairman of board of directors for Lukoyle until his death in September of 2022. He reportedly fell from his sixth floor window in a hospital in Moscow. Hmm, there's that window again. Like Battalov, his death was ruled a suicide and linked to his use of end of depressants, but those close to him suspected foul play. conveniently, all the security cameras at the hospital had been turned off for repairs when he fell from the window. That, in investigative terms, could also be considered a clue.

Of course, given the Kremlin's tight grip over the media and Russia, all we are left with regarding any of these untimely deaths or speculations. But as the body count rises, well, suspicions continue to grow. All right. Coming up after the break, the U.S. removes a terror designation from Syria's new leadership, and Americans living in Mexico City are now feeling the heat from the locals. I'll be right back. Hey, Mike Baker here. I want to take just a few moments to talk about your online security. Look, right now, the headlines, as you probably have noticed, are chock full of data breaches and regulatory rollbacks, making us all, frankly, vulnerable. But here's the thing.

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trust and use them. With Shopify on your side, turn your big business idea into, sign up for your $1 per month trial at Shopify.com slash special offer. Welcome back to the PDB. In the latest move to normalize relations with the new serious government, the Trump administration lifted the terrorism designation on the former al-Qaeda affiliate, now at the helm of Damascus's transitional government. In a State Department press release Monday, Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, said the move, which formally took effect yesterday, quote, recognizes the positive actions taken by the new Syrian government following the ouster of the dictator Assad back in December.

The designation in question dates back years, originally targeting the, the Al-Nusra front, and later extended to its successor, Hayat Tharir al-Sham, or HTS, long viewed as one of the more hard-line Islamist groups in Syria's constellation of rebel factions. Despite HTS formally severing ties with al-Qaeda in 2017, the State Department had kept the group on the foreign terrorist organization or FTO list until now. But with HTS's former leader, Ahmad al-Shara, now occupying Syria's highest office, the U.S. appears to be acknowledging a new political reality, one that the Trump administration hopes

will finally bring a degree of stability to a country ravaged by more than a decade of war. The FDL revocation was authorized on 23 June, per notice in the Federal Register, after consultations between Rubio, the Attorney General, and the Treasury Secretary. Notably, it had not been previously announced. Speaking from the White House during a meeting with Israeli Prime Minister, Minister Netanyahu, President Trump defended the delisting and praised serious new leader, telling reporters, quote, I was very impressed by him, we took the sanctions off because we want to give them a chance, end quote. As we've discussed here on the PDB, Trump's personal rapport with

Al-Shara had been central to this pivot. The two met in May in Saudi Arabia as part of Trump's three-nation golf tour, a meeting that AIDS say set the wheels in motion for a major policy reset. Within weeks, the administration began preparing a package of measures to ease Syria's diplomatic and economic isolation. Seven days, after Rubio signed off on the FTO revocation, Trump followed through on a private commitment made to Al-Shava by signing an executive order, lifting wide-ranging economic sanctions imposed during the Assad years. The State Department, in its press release, cast the decision as part of a broader strategic

vision declaring, quote, this FTO revocation is an important step in fulfilling President Trump's vision of a stable, unified, and peaceful Syria. Netanyahu, in Monday's joint appearance from the White House, echoed that optimism. He said, quote, there's a lot to lose by going back to conflict, and there's a lot to gain by moving toward peace, end quote. Still, this isn't a blanket amnesty. Trump's order leaves in place several key sanctions targeting Assad-era war criminals, individuals linked to Syria's chemical weapons program and figures involved in the regime's narcotics trade, many of whom are believed to be outside of Al-Shara's inner circle. The Caesar Act, passed by Congress in 2020 to punish those aiding Syria's intelligence services,

also remains on the books, though the administration has granted temporary waivers for certain sectors. Rolling that act back permanently would require congressional action. The recalibration comes as Western governments begin cautiously reopening diplomatic channels with Damascus, hoping Al-Shera can chart a different path than the regime he replaced. Whether that gamble pays off, well, remains an open question. Okay, turning to Mexico, in protests in the capital against mass tourism, turned violent as masked agitators smashed doorfronts, demanding that Americans get out, even as millions of their own countrymen, remain undocumented in the U.S. The demonstration, which kicked off peacefully enough, saw hundreds march through Mexico City's tourist-choked neighborhoods, metro stations, and passed the U.S. Embassy, to rail against the so-called gentrification of the capital. But things took a turn when a mass

group of rioters broke off from the demonstration, vandalizing storefronts and confronting Americans in the streets, that's according to the Associated Press. Graffiti sprayed across broken windows read, quote, get out of Mexico, while protest signs demanded, quote, gringoes stopped stealing our homes, and urged foreigners, particularly Americans, to, quote, pay taxes, learn Spanish, respect my culture. Hmm. The protesters' complaints stems from a wave of Americans who moved to Mexico during the COVID-19 pandemic, seduced by loose lockdown rules and cheaper rent. Between 2019 and 2022, the number of Americans living in Mexico surged by 70%. Now, the U.S. State Department estimates that figure stands at approximately 1.6 million individuals currently. The protesters are

calling for tighter housing laws and stricter caps on tourism. Economists, meanwhile, are issuing a more sobering warning to be careful what you wish for. Notably, tourism accounts for nearly 10% of Mexico's GDP and supports about 10 million jobs. Any serious crackdown could mean economic self-sabotage on a national scale. And Mexico City isn't alone in its tourism pushback. Around the world, popular tourist destinations are increasingly pushing back at the visitors who fund their economies. In Barcelona, according to our Fox News report, activists last month sprayed visitors with water guns to quote, cool down tourism. In Greece, officials plan to charge cruise ship passengers $22 just for visiting Santorini. Protests have also popped up in Lisbon, Portugal, and Venice, Italy. But nowhere is the

finger-wagging quite so rich as it is in Mexico, where the protests demanding Americans leave the country managed to catch the attention of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, which couldn't resist tossing a little shade of its own, as the kids say. The age of the agents say. The Posted on X, quote, if you're in the U.S. illegally and you wish to join the next protest in Mexico City, use the CBP Home App to facilitate your departure. The Post landed like a government-issued eye-roll, mocking the idea of anti-tourist protests in a country where outbound illegal migration to the U.S. remains a national phenomenon. All right, up next in the back of the brief, an AI deep fake impersonates Secretary of State Marker Rubio, in a stunning national security breach. Stay with us.

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elixir collection by Calvin Klein. In today's back of the brief, I want to draw your attention to an alarming diplomatic breach that should serve as a wake-up call regarding the national security threats, by artificial intelligence. According to a State Department cable, first obtained by the Washington Post, an unknown actor has been using AI deep fake technology to impersonate U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio in an attempt to gain access to sensitive information. The cable recently sent to quote all diplomatic and consular posts. Warren said an account was created in mid-June of this year on the messaging platform signal with the display name Marco.rubio at state.gov. It was reportedly used to contact at least five non-department individuals,

including three foreign ministers, a U.S. governor, and a member of Congress. Even more disturbing, the unknown actor used advanced AI technology to leave voicemails for at least two of the targeted individuals, which were crafted to sound like Rubio. In another instance, the account sent a text message inviting another target to communicate on signal. The cable advised foreign diplomats to, quote, warn external partners that cyber threat actors are impersonating state officials and accounts. The cable continued, quote, the actor likely aimed to manipulate targeted individuals using AI-generated text and voice messages with the goal of gaining access to information or accounts. According to a report from CBS News, the breach resembled an earlier incident back in May by an unknown actor using AI to impersonate other senior U.S. government officials. The cable also warned of a separate breach that began in April by a Russian-linked cyber actor.

That effort involved a spearfishing campaign that targeted personal Gmail accounts associated with think tank scholars, Eastern Europe-based activists and dissidents, journalists, and former government officials. The cyber actor reportedly attempted to pose as a fictitious State Department official and attempted to get their targets to link a third-party application to their Gmail accounts that would have granted backdoor access to their accounts. The cable warned that the Russian-link cyber actor demonstrated a, quote, extensive knowledge of the department's naming conventions and internal documentation. While the FBI declined to comment on the Rubio impersonator, a spokesman for the State Department said the agency, quote, is aware of the incident and is currently investigating the matter.

Oh, well, that's nice. They stressed that the department is taking steps to improve their cybersecurity posture to prevent future incidents, but said that due to the ongoing investigation, they can't provide further details at this time. While it doesn't appear that any lasting damage, was caused by the cyber actor, it's an all too timely reminder of the unique national security dangers posed by AI. And that, my friends, is the PDB, the President's Daily Brief for Wednesday, the 9th of July. Look, if you have any questions or comments, please reach out to me at PDB at thefirsttv.com. And of course, to listen to the show ad-free, it is very simple. It just become a premium member of the President's Daily Brief by visiting PDB premium.

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