The President's Daily Brief - March 5th, 2024: Trump’s Triumph, Terror Threats, & NATO’s Frontline Flex

Episode Date: March 5, 2024

In this episode of The President's Daily Brief: A significant legal win for Donald Trump: The Supreme Court rules that states cannot exclude him from the presidential primary ballot. British intelligence heightens the UK's terror threat to its highest level post-9/11, citing Middle Eastern conflicts as a catalyst for terrorist recruitment. NATO's newest allies commence military drills in proximity to Russian territory, signaling a bold statement to Vladimir Putin. In the Back of the Brief: A tragic encounter at the border as Border Patrol agents confront and fatally shoot a criminal targeting migrants. 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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It's Tuesday, 5 March. Welcome to the President's Daily Brief. I'm Mike Baker, your eyes and ears on the world stage. Let's get briefed. We're going to kick things off today with some U.S. domestic news. As the Supreme Court hands former President Trump a major victory unanimously ruling that states cannot prevent his name from appearing on the presidential primary ballots. Later in the show, we'll examine a report out of the U.K. British intelligence has now raised the nation's terror threat to the highest level since the 9-11 attacks, warning that the war in the Middle East is being used as a recruitment advertisement for terrorist groups. Plus, we'll take a look at how NATO's newest members have launched major military exercises

right on Vladimir Putin's doorstep. And finally, in today's back of the brief, we have a reminder of the dangers that migrants face crossing into America as the Border Patrol engages and fatally shoots a ban. who's been targeting migrants. Now, before we get started with today's show, I've got a major announcement to share. Today marks the launch of the President's Daily Brief Premium Membership. That's right. It's the launch of the President's Daily Brief Premium Membership, and I know historians will be

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Now, while a lot of folks love the ads and hearing from our terrific sponsors, we have received a lot of email and faxes and postcards and even telegrams from folks who said they love the podcast but would prefer an ad-free. version. Well, you asked and we delivered. We're also excited to offer exclusive content that will only be available to our premium members, which includes a monthly Ask Me Anything session. Now, within reason, okay, I mean, but it's a pretty wide playing field. This is your chance to dive deeper into the issues that matter the most to you with personalized insights and analysis that you can't find anywhere else. We've looked and you can't find it anywhere else. So take the next step

in enhancing your listening experience and become a part of the President's Daily Brief, premium community. To sign up, it's easy. I'm telling you, it is very easy. Just visit bdb premium.com. That's pdbb premium.com, and you can begin your ad-free listening today. Thanks very much for considering joining us as a premium member. Now, let's get into today's briefing. It was a good day for former President Trump yesterday, as the Supreme Court unanimously decided to toss out a Colorado ruling that would have barred him from the state's presidential primary ballot. The final decision, as I mentioned, was unanimous 9 to 0, with the court's three progressive justices voting alongside the conservative majority. That's about as ironclad

as Supreme Court decisions get. At question was whether or not states can ban candidates from appearing on the ballots under Section 3 of the 14th Amendment. Now, for a little historical context, the 14th Amendment was adopted in 1868 during Reconstruction, and that was just three years after the end of the Civil War. The amendment says that no person can serve as an officer of the United States, who, having previously taken an oath of federal office, quote, engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the United States. Now, it's somewhat obvious that this was meant to prevent former Confederates from holding federal office. However, the Colorado Supreme Court ruled back in December that Trump had indeed violated Section 3 of the amendment, and that was the first time that any court had done so. Colorado's high court decided that Trump had engaged in insurrection, citing his role at the January 6th Capitol riots, specifically citing Trump's comments like asking his supporters to, quote, fight like hell.

The Trump campaign immediately appealed the Colorado decision, which brings us to yesterday's ruling. The Supreme Court said in its ruling, quote, We conclude that states may disqualify persons holding or attempting to hold state office, but states have no power under the Constitution to enforce Section 3 with respect to federal offices, especially the presidency, end quote. The court added that, quote, responsibility for enforcing Section 3 against federal office holders and candidates rests with Congress and not the states. The judgment of the Colorado Supreme Court, therefore, cannot state.

Now, Colorado was one of three states to block Trump from a primary ballot, and that was alongside Maine and Illinois, and challenges were still underway in more than a dozen other states. So Monday's ruling, well, that puts an end to all of those efforts. Following the announcement of the ruling, the former president said, quote, it was a very important decision, very well-crafted, and I think it will go a long way toward bringing our country together, which our country needs, end quote. All right. Coming up after the break, an update from the UK, where the national terror threat level has been raised to its highest level since the 9-11 attacks. British intelligence warns that conflicts in the Middle East may be fueling a surge in terrorist recruitment. Plus, we'll have coverage on NATO's latest military maneuvers, exercises that are unfolding on the doorstep of Vladimir Putin's Russia.

I'll have those stories when we come back. Welcome back. Intelligence officials in the UK are sounding the alarm about grave security risks facing the homeland amid rising tensions regarding the war in Gaza. The officials briefed to British MPs on the security threats facing the Commonwealth in recent days, telling leaders that the threat of a terrorist attack on UK's soil is the highest it's been since the 9-11 attacks more than two decades ago, and that's according to an exclusive report by the mail on Sunday. Intelligence officials said their agents are intercepting what they called a staggering number of messages from potential terrorists, adding that they're particularly concerned about possible attacks

during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, which begins on March 10th. MPs were told that the current Israel-Hamas conflict in Gaza has served as a, quote, recruitment advert for disaffected extremists within the UK. One of the MPs that was briefed on the situation told the mail on Sunday, quote, the level of extremist chatter is off the scale. This is something they've seen growing and growing. It's like when the Twin Towers came down in 2001, and there was a big spike of hate, end quote. The threat level in the UK has now been raised to substantial, and that's the UK's third highest level.

This means security officials consider a terror attack to be likely. Another source, familiar with the intelligence briefing, said fears are high of both lone wolf attacks and 77-style attacks. That's referring to the suicide bomb attacks on the London turn. transit system in 2005. They killed 52 people and injured nearly 800 others. The private warnings to lawmakers and heightened threat level come as the UK's foreign office issued a terror advisory to British tourists traveling to Turkey, saying that terror groups linked to Daesh and Al-Qaeda are very likely to try to carry out attacks in the region. They warrant tourists to avoid large gatherings or protests linked to the Israel-Hamas conflict, noting that there is, quote,

a high threat of terrorist attacks globally affecting UK interests and British nationals, end quote. Highlighting the heightened risk from extremists throughout Europe, authorities in Belgium arrested four teenagers on Sunday, who were allegedly plotting a shihadi terrorist attack, though details of what they were planning remain unknown. Okay, shifting our focus to Russia. NATO kicked off a massive military drill in Finland, Norway, and Sweden on Monday, in a show of force to the Putin regime.

The exercise will continue for two weeks in the northern regions of the Nordic countries and will include the participation of roughly 20,000 soldiers from 13 nations. The drills are meant to flex NATO military muscle in the face of Russia's invasion of Ukraine and serve as a reminder of what Putin would face if he gets any ideas about expanding his war into other European countries. The commander of Norwegian air operations said on Monday, quote, we need to be able to fight back and stop anyone who tries to challenge our borders, values, and democracy. With the current security situation in Europe, the exercise is extremely

relevant and more important than ever before, end quote. The drill, which is dubbed Nordic Response 2024, marks the first time that Finland will participate in a foreign military exercise. Finland is a NATO newcomer who joined the alliance in April 23, in response to that Putin regime's aggressive behavior, and that ended a decades-long position of neutrality. And as we recently covered on the PDB, Sweden secured NATO membership as well on February 26th, creating a unified front in the Nordic region in a major strategic blow to Putin. The Nordic drill is part of what's called Steadfast Defender 2024, and that's NATO's largest military exercise since the Cold War. It rehearses the execution of NATO's regional plans,

which detail how the alliance would respond to an expanded Russian attack on Eastern European member states. An estimated 90,000 personnel from all member states are participating in the exercise, which began in late January and will continue through May. The drills include some 50 naval ships from various member states, as well as more than 80 fighter jets, helicopters, and drones, and an estimated 1,100 combat vehicles. When top NATO officials announced the unprecedented exercise in January, they warned that their intelligence indicates an all-out war with Russia is a substantial risk over the

next 20 years. They went as far as to advise all European nations to make plans to rapidly mobilize their civilian populations in the event of a large-scale war. Now, the start of the Nordic drill comes as Albania, a NATO member, opened a rebuilt Soviet-era air base to serve as a regional hub for the alliance on Monday. Amid the increased threat from Russia, NATO leaders have been eager to strengthen their capabilities in the Western Balkans region. And now finally, coming up in today's back of the brief, a violent criminal who was terrorizing and robbing migrants along a remote stretch of the U.S. southern border has been neutralized by a tactical unit of the U.S. Border Patrol. I'll be right back.

How many discounts does USA Auto Insurance offer? 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. In today's back of the brief, I wanted to highlight a story that illustrates the diverse range of threats that U.S. border agents have to contend with amid the current migrant crisis. An elite tactical unit of the U.S. Border Patrol shot and killed an accused bandit in a remote section of the U.S. Southern Border San Diego sector on Sunday after the bandit attempted to rob a group of migrants at gunpoint. The migrants were on their way

to a facility to surrender to agents for processing when they were targeted by a small group of bandits who had followed them across the Mexican border. That's according to a report from Fox News. During the encounter with the Border Patrol squad, one of the bandits was fatally shot while the remaining criminals fled back across the border to Mexico. The shooting came just days after Border Patrol officials had released surveillance images of armed bandits robbing another group of migrants attempting to illegally cross the border. Border Patrol agents said that roving gangs of bandits targeting illegal migrants are becoming a regular problem at the border as they take advantage of record levels of migrant crossings.

The bandits reportedly come across the border illegally from Mexico, to prey on those trying to enter the U.S. Now, Jason Owens, chief of the U.S. Border Patrol, said the incident was, quote, yet another example of the dangers that these criminals and smugglers pose to the public, the migrants, and our agents. In the current fiscal year, which began on October 1st of 2023, border agents have apprehended more than 890,000 illegal immigrants, while another 120,000 have escaped authorities.

Among those apprehended are members of violent criminal gangs, including MS-13 and Venezuela's Trendera-Augua. And that, my friends, is the President's Daily Brief for Tuesday, 5 March. Now, just a reminder, please check out our premium membership which launched today. As a member, you'll get an ad-free version of the show, as well as other membership perks. You can check that out by heading over to PDB Premium.com. That's PDB Premium.com. If you have any questions or comments, please reach out to me at PDB at thefirsttv.com. I'm Mike Baker.

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