The President's Daily Brief - June 3rd, 2024: Peace Plan Pressure, Common Defense Debate, & Trump Trial Reactions

Episode Date: June 3, 2024

In this episode of The President's Daily Brief: President Joe Biden unveils a peace plan for Gaza, urging Israel and Hamas to end the conflict. We’ll dive into the details and the reaction from the Israeli government. With the war in Ukraine ongoing, two prominent EU members are advocating for a united air defense shield. We’ll explore the debate over a common EU defense force. An update on the border crisis: May’s early numbers show a surge of Chinese nationals attempting to enter the United States. In today’s Back of the Brief, we examine the international reaction to former President Donald Trump’s conviction on 34 felony counts in the “hush money” trial. 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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Gold Gold. They've been the top-rated gold IRA dealer for seven years in a row. That's seven years in a row. Go to Patriot Gold Group.com or call 1-888-621-3856 for a free investor guide. It's Monday, 3 June. Welcome to the President's Daily Brief. I'm Mike Baker. Your eyes and ears on the world stage. Let's get briefed. President Biden appears to be putting the squeeze on Israel, announcing a peace plan for Gaza during an appearance on Friday, making a public appeal to the Jewish state and Hamas to bring an end to the conflict. We'll take a look at the details and the reaction from the Israeli government. Later in the show, with Putin's war in Ukraine well into its third year, two prominent members of the European Union are calling for the establishment of a united and Ukraine. air defense shield, rekindling the long-standing debate over a common EU defense force.

Plus, I'll give you an update on the crisis at the border, with the early numbers in May showing a continuing surge of Chinese nationals attempting to enter the U.S. And finally, in today's back of the brief, we'll examine the overseas reaction to the conviction of former President Trump on 34 felony counts in his historic hush money trial. But first, today's PDB spotlight, President Biden unveiled a new framework for a peace plan for Gaza during a press briefing on Friday. According to Biden, the three-stage plan, the bulk of which we've seen before in previous proposals, would begin with a six-week ceasefire during which the Israeli defense forces, the IDF, would withdraw from populated areas of Gaza. This initial stage would also see a surge of humanitarian

aid and the exchange of some hostages for Palestinian prisoners. After that, the two sides would discuss a full hostage release and a full military withdrawal. Ultimately, the deal aims to achieve a permanent, quote, cessation of hostilities and initiate a major reconstruction plan for Gaza. Missing from this, it would seem, is what happens with Hamas. It's important to note that there is nothing particularly new about this framework. It essentially follows the same formula as most previous plans, and in some respects, offers even fewer details than past failed attempts. Throughout his statement, Biden repeatedly framed this plan as an Israeli proposal and aimed his comments, mostly at Hamas. The president said during the briefing, quote, this is truly a decisive moment.

Hamas says it wants a ceasefire. This deal is an opportunity to prove. whether they really mean it, end quote. White House National Security spokesperson John Kirby continued on that theme during an interview on Sunday saying, quote, this was an Israeli proposal. We have every expectation that if Hamas agrees to the proposal, then Israel would say yes, end quote. However, while the White House has been careful in its wording,

this public show should be seen as an effort to pressure Israel, particularly Prime Minister Netanyahu. By framing it as an Israeli proposal, the White House is essentially putting Netanyahu in a position where he'd appear to publicly contradict himself if he rejects the deal. Now, interestingly, over the weekend, Democrat congressional leader Hakeem Jeffries referred to the proposal as, quote, Biden's peace plan, not Israel's peace plan, which, of course, begs the question, whose plan is it? Now, for their part, Hamas said in a statement on Friday that it viewed the peace plan positively. Israel's position has been a little harder to pin down, and they sent out mixed signals over the weekend. In a statement on Saturday, Nanyahu's office reiterated that Israel's conditions for ending the war remain unchanged.

And these conditions include the destruction of Hamas's military and governing capabilities, the freeing of all hostages, and ensuring that Gaza no longer postage. as a threat to Israel. He said Israel will continue to insist that these conditions are met before agreeing to a permanent ceasefire. However, on Sunday, the prime minister's office appeared to be a little more amenable to the proposal. On Sunday, Netanyahu's top foreign policy advisor confirmed that Israel had accepted the framework but described it as, quote, not a good deal and acknowledged that a lot of details still needed to be hammered out. Do you think so? Yeah, a lot of details needs to be.

to be hammered out, like how do you sell a peace plan if it leaves Hamas still in power in Gaza? Perhaps John Kirby or someone at State Department could elaborate on how you get lasting peace by negotiating with Hamas. All right, coming up after the break, Poland and Greece appealed to the European Union to establish a united air defense, a possible turning point, in a decades-long debate over the EU's common defense. And a little later, we'll take a look at the latest numbers from the U.S. southern border, which suggest that the influx of illegal migrants from China and the Middle East

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I want to turn our attention now to the European Union. As Russia's invasion of Ukraine continues, EU member states are returning to a debate that has divided the bloc for decades. common defense. It's being reported that two EU nations have proposed the creation of a possible united air defense shield, and top EU officials are already signaling their approval. The two men who are spearheading this effort, Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Misaltakis, and Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk, presented their idea to European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen in a letter last month, who quickly endorsed it. Not long after, the EU's top

diplomat Joseph Borrell also signed on. Ahead of the EU Foreign Affairs Council in Brussels, Burrell said, quote, I welcome that member states say that to defend our airspace, why should we look at that in a fragmented manner? Now, according to Mitsultake, Sintas, the plan isn't just about military capabilities. It's about sending a clear message to any potential aggressors. Okay, well, that would be Putin, that the EU stands united on defense. Of course, There are a lot of practical questions that would have to be addressed, of course, before anything like this could become a reality. For example, where are you going to put all these air defenses? A logical plan would be on the EU's eastern flank, but, well, that would inevitably be seen as an

active aggression by Moscow. Another major sticking point for some EU member states is the bloc's reliance on non-European hardware, including the Israeli-American Arrow-3 missile and the Patriot Systems. This dependence on foreign supplied weapons raises concerns about strategic autonomy, meaning what's the point of an EU defense initiative if they ultimately have to rely on the U.S. to sustain it? However, the biggest hurdle might be overcoming the decades-long resistance that many nations of the EU have toward establishing any form of integrated military. While member states are more than willing to be part of a common economic market with their EU partners, A common military is seen as something entirely different.

Many member states view their independent militaries as central to their national sovereignty. That resistance was on full display earlier this year when Italy's foreign minister publicly called for the formation of an EU army. The proposal led to an immediate backlash from fellow members of the bloc, specifically Slovenia, Spain, Denmark, and Poland, which doubted the need for establishing such a force, considering they, already have NATO. Now, the establishment of a common air defense isn't exactly the same as an EU army, but it does illustrate the difficulty that the bloc has when balancing the political needs of its member states with security demands. That's a divide that's only grown deeper as nations like Hungary and Slovakia appear to drift closer to Moscow. Okay, let's shift gears to the U.S.

southern border, where we've been closely watching the spike in illegal might. migrants from China and the Middle East. First, let's look at the overall picture. Fox News got its hands on some early data from Customs and Border Protection for the month of May, and according to CBP, roughly 118,000 migrants are reported to have crossed into the U.S. illegally during the month and were apprehended by Border Patrol. Now, I should note that that, of course, does not include the known Godaways who didn't encounter the Border Patrol. The issue continues to shift to the meaning that the Tucson sector in Arizona had the most run-ins, clocking in at over roughly 33,000 illegal encounters,

while the San Diego sector, well, they came in second falling just short of that number. Digging a little deeper into those numbers, over 6,300 of the monthly total were classified as, quote, special interest aliens from countries with potential national security concerns, mainly China. In the past month, more than 3,500, Chinese nationals were caught crossing the border illegally. That surge in Chinese nationals is, frankly, off the charts. For some context, the number of Chinese migrants who crossed the border this May alone is 75% higher than in the entirety of 2022, when about 2,000 Chinese nationals crossed during the total 12 months of that year. Now, without being alarmist, this should be a red flag for

national security, you think? Ooh, I just won the PDB statement of the obvious award for today. The recent crossings in San Diego raise a particular security concern given city houses a key U.S. Naval base. Once these migrants are let go by Border Patrol, well, they usually hop on a bus to a San Diego trolley station, and there, they're picked up by informal taxi services run by other Chinese nationals. Look, this isn't just a hypothetical security concern that we're talking about. According to a report by the Wall Street Journal, China has managed to sneak onto U.S. military bases and other sensitive spots over 100 times in recent years. Now, the rise in Chinese migrants, it's not the only cause for concern. In the month of May, there were also over 770 Jordanians crossing into the U.S.

and that's especially concerning in light of the incident involving two individuals from Jordan who tried to breach the Marine Basic Quantico last month. As we've previously discussed here on the PDB, at least one of those Jordanian nationals was in the U.S. illegally and was released into the interior of the U.S. This past Saturday on the PDB's Situation Report, I spoke to the vice president of the National Border Patrol Council Chris Cabrera, who offered his take on the disturbing rise of China. and other foreign nationals entering through the southern border. If you get the chance, check out that interview.

Chris has a great deal of experience and had some very interesting insights. All right, former president Donald Trump was convicted of 34 felony counts in a Manhattan courtroom on Thursday. You might have heard about it. I'll have the international reaction to last week's verdict in today's back of the brief. I'll be right back. How many discounts does USA Auto Insurance offer? Too many to say here.

Multi-vehicle discount. Safe driver discount. New vehicle discount. Storage discount. Legacy. How many discounts will you stack up? Tap the banner or visit usaa.com slash auto discounts. Restrictions apply. This episode is brought to you by Redfin. You're listening to a podcast, which means you're probably multitasking. Maybe even scrolling home listings on Redfin, saving homes without expecting to get them.

But Redfin isn't just built for endless browsing. It's built to help you find and own. a home. With agents who close twice as many deals, when you find the one, you've got a real shot at getting it. Get started at redfin.com. Own the dream. In today's back of the brief, now, this story, frankly, has received very little coverage in the media. It seems like almost nobody is talking about it, but former President Trump was found guilty of all 34 charges on Thursday in his so-called hush money trial. The verdict makes him the first, former American president to be convicted of felony crimes. Now the domestic political fallout from this

news remains to be seen, but frankly I'd like to focus on the international reaction, which has been varied to say the least. While official statements from overseas governments have been sparse, the BBC has provided a very interesting rundown of some of the more colorful takes. I thought it might be informative to see how the U.S. is being viewed in various parts of the world. In a brief segment that I'm calling how the U.S. is being viewed in various parts of the world. Okay, starting in China, commentators in the state-run outlet Guantancha have described the U.S. election as, quote, a battle between old people and criminals, end quote. Another commentator in the same outlet said the ruling exposed the deep polarization in U.S. party politics.

I don't know what gave them that idea. Moving on to Europe, Russia's response was, frankly, somewhat expected. The Putin regime portrayed the war. trial as part of the battle for the White House between President Biden and Trump. Kremlin spokesman Dmitri Peskov said, quote, they are effectively simply removing political rivals using all possible legal and illegal means. That much is clear, end quote. Now, if anyone knows about removing political rivals using all means, well, of course, it would be Putin and his cohorts, so they speak from experience. Meanwhile, one popular Polish newspaper declared that the, quote, American left has shes,

itself in the foot, with Trump's conviction describing the former president as, quote, a victim of the overzealous politically correct moral inquisition, end quote. That's quite a statement. In Germany, the U.S. correspondent Peter Berghardt lamented that the verdict would have little impact on the upcoming election he was lamenting. He wrote, quote, guilty 34 times. After such a verdict, a candidate for the most powerful job in the world should be politically finished.

Instead, his party continues to bow down to Donald Trump. End quote. There have been some comments by heads of state as well. In a post on X, Hungarian Prime Minister Victor Orban described the former U.S. President as a, quote, man of honor. He wrote, quote, as president, he always put America first. He commanded respect around the world and used this respect to build peace, end quote. Okay, now, moving south of the border, a prominent Colombian newspaper had a front page article with the headline, quote, a criminal headed for the White House, end quote.

And the Mexican Daily Reforma, well, they went in a slightly different direction with a headline that simply read, Guilty of Pornowgate. Okay, there you have it. U.S. politics, commanding respect across the globe. And that, my friends, is the president's daily brief from Monday, 3 June. Remember, to listen to the show ad-free. Become a premium member of the president's daily brief by visiting pdbpremium.com. I'm Mike Baker. I'll be back later today with the PDB afternoon bulletin.

Until then, stay informed, stay safe, stay cool.