The President's Daily Brief - November 25th, 2025: U.S. & Ukraine Agree to Ceasefire Deal & UK–Russia Naval Clash

Episode Date: November 25, 2025

In this episode of The President's Daily Brief: Washington and Kyiv appear to have hammered out a new 19-point peace plan in Geneva. We’ll explain what’s in the draft—and why several major issues remain unresolved. Another confrontation in U.K. waters, as the Royal Navy shadows and intercepts a Russian corvette and tanker moving through the Channel. Plus—President Trump announces plans to designate the Muslim Brotherhood a foreign terrorist organization, citing concerns over the group’s radicalism and reach. And in today’s Back of the Brief—a major win for James Comey, as a federal judge throws out the DOJ’s indictment against the former FBI Director. To listen to the show ad-free, become a premium member of The President’s Daily Brief by visiting https://PDBPremium.com. Please remember to subscribe if you enjoyed this episode of The President's Daily Brief. YouTube: youtube.com/@presidentsdailybrief Nobl Travel: Protect your gear and travel smarter—NOBL’s zipper-free carry-on is up to 58% off at https://NOBLTravel.com TriTails Premium Beef: Feed your family and your legacy. Grab your Black Friday gift before it’s gone! Visit https://trybeef.com/pdb Birch Gold: Text PDB to 989898 and get your free info kit on gold Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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.

Looking to diversify and protect your hard-earned assets, well, schedule a free consultation with the Birch Gold Group. They're the precious metal specialists. Just text PDB to the number 989-89-89-8, and you receive a free, no-obligation information kit, and you'll learn how to convert an existing IRA or a 401k into a gold IRA. Again, text PDB to the number 989-89-89. It's Tuesday, the 25th of November. 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, Washington and Kiev reportedly have hammered out a new 19-point peace plan in Geneva. And if my math is correct, that's nine points less than President Trump's reported 28-point peace plan. We'll break down what's in the draft, apparently nine fewer points, and why several key points are still unresolved. Later in the show, another confrontation.

in UK waters as the Royal Navy shadows and intercepts a Russian corvette and tanker moving through the English Channel. Plus, President Trump announces plans to label the Muslim Brotherhood a foreign terrorist organization citing concerns over the group's radicalism. And in today's back of the brief, a major win for James Comey and a major setback for Trump's Department of Justice. As a federal judge, throws out the DOJ's indictment against the former FBI director. But first, today's PDB spotlight. We're starting things off today with the latest plan to end the war in Ukraine. When we last checked in, Washington was pushing a 28-point-piece framework that European

capitals saw as a one-sided ultimatum. Now, after a stretch of talks in Geneva, that document has been whittled down to 19 points, more favorable to Kiv, and far less like the deal that Moscow thought it might be offered. As we previously discussed, Secretary of State Mark Arubio and U.S. Envoy Steve Whitkoff sat down with a Ukrainian delegation led by Kiev's presidential chief of staff, Andre Yermak, to reopen the text line by line over the weekend. By Monday, the document shrunk by nine points. Ukraine's deputy foreign minister, who was involved in the talks, said, quote, very few things are left from the original Trump plan. and while the current draft stands at 19 points, negotiators stressed the final number isn't yet agreed upon. Alexander Bev's and advisor to Yermak, who was in the room, described the sessions as, quote, tense and tough, but ultimately productive. And even he acknowledged the shift.

The deal, he said, has been reshaped enough that it can now, quote, be considered whereas before it was an ultimatum. In practice, that means many of the provisions that triggered the loudest backlash in Kiev have either been softened, rewritten, or removed entirely. Both sides agreed to remove clauses about U.S. Russian engagement that didn't directly involve Ukraine, preventing President Zelensky from being pulled into unrelated Washington-Moscow discussions. As for issues touching Europe, they were put on a separate track, and Ukraine pushed successfully for its NATO aspirations to be governed strictly by NATO's own rules, effectively killing the earlier draft idea of giving Russia de facto veto over Kiev's future into the alliance. As we mentioned, the deadline is no longer

the ticking clock that it once was. What began as a Thanksgiving or else moment continues to look more like a desired target than a hard stop. Beves said the priority is to finish the text, not force Keeve into signing an unfinished document. That's show. shift diluted the earlier pressure campaign considerably, especially after previous reporting that the U.S. had warned of cutting intelligence and military support if Ukraine flat out refused to engage. But for all the edits, the hardest piece hasn't moved much at all, and that would be territory. Zelensky has not authorized anyone but himself to discuss land swaps or withdrawals, which meant negotiators, made little progress on the original suggestion that Ukrainian troops

retreat from parts of the Donetsk region. Ukrainian officials made clear that if there are ever talks on borders, they want them to start from the current line of contact, not from a Russian wish list about the rest of the Donbass. American envoy, according to Bev's, signaled they understood exactly how combustible this part of the plan is to Ukraine. Any perceived sellout on territory could, of course,

spark protests or even military backlash in Ukraine. It now appears that Washington is not willing to risk forcing Keeve into that corner, leaving one of Moscow's core demands parked off to one side, unresolved. As for Trump and Zelensky, well, they're expected to take up those political third rails themselves in a meeting or phone call that hasn't yet been scheduled. Trump hinted at the progress on truth social after the Geneva round, posting, quote, don't believe it until you see it, but something good just may be happening. Europe, meanwhile, is watching this long. largely from outside the room. As we mentioned in Monday's BDB, the EU leaders were blindsided

by the first draft and rushed to pull together their own edits. They chose not to introduce a competing plan, instead working from Washington's 28-point framework, raising the cap on Ukraine's peacetime military, insisting that territorial negotiations begin at the front line, and calling for U.S. security guarantees that more closely resemble NATO's Article 5. Their draft also pushes back, on returning frozen Russian assets, arguing that they should be used to fund Ukraine's reconstruction until Moscow pays damages for the war. But timing wasn't on Europe's side. While European leaders were in Angola for a summit, Washington and Kiev were already rewriting the plan. The Trump administration didn't ignore Europe, but they didn't wait for Europe either. Their priority

was getting a viable draft on the table, something sturdy enough to survive a Trump-Selensky conversation. And then there's Russia, remember them? Well, Kremlin spokesman Dmitri Peskov said Russia has not received any official text of the, quote, updated and refined peace framework that's emerging from Geneva, though he stressed that Moscow is, quote, closely monitoring the situation and remains open to negotiations. And I'd like to point out a notable shift. As a Russian presidential aide claimed that there have been, quote, certain signals from the U.S. about the possibility of setting up a meeting to discuss the proposal. Another indication that Washington and Moscow may soon test whether any of this new text is

actually workable. Russian President Putin has already said that the earlier 28-point plan could, quote, serve as the basis for a final peace settlement. That was a clear hint that the Kremlin saw that initial plan as, of course, favorable to Russia, which it was. So we've gone from a 28-point American ultimatum that alarmed Kiev in Brussels to a 19-point U.S.-Ukrainian deal that better reflects Ukraine's red lines, but may be a harder sell to Moscow, and that Europe still fears as being finalized without their input.

All right. Coming up next, the Royal Navy intercepts a Russian corvette and tanker in the English Channel, and President Trump moves to designate the Muslim Brotherhood a foreign terrorist organization. I'll be right back. Hey, Mike Baker here. Now, PDB regulars know this. They know that I'm on the road constantly. So I want to take a moment to talk about something that I feel like I know a lot about,

and that would be luggage. And specifically, about a company out there designing and making great luggage. And that would be noble travel. That's N-O-B-L, noble travel. Look, their products are smart, thoughtfully engineered, and secure. Now, I'll bet most of you, as an example, have rollerboards or suitcases that use zippers, am I right? Now, maybe you use a luggage lock, and that's nice. But the problem is those zippers are the ones.

weak link from a security perspective. They can be breached in seconds, even with a ballpoint pen. And just like that, your stuff is gone. That's why so many experienced travelers and frequent flyers travel with the noble all-in-one, right? Zero zippers, no zippers. The bag uses latches, secure and impossible to pry open. And the noble all-in-one has everything you need. It's got a charger, cup holder, front laptop pocket, 360-degree wheels. Look, over 12,000 pilots and crew carry it. And it's number one rated on trust pilot with a a lifetime warranty. Think about that. Look, their biggest sale ever is now live, up to 58%. And yes, I did say 58% offsitewide. Just hit nobletravel.com. That's nobletravel. And when they ask

who sent you, and tell them the PDB. Ryan Reynolds here for Mint Mobile, the message for everyone paying big wireless way too much. Please, for the love of everything good in this world, stop. With Mint, you can get premium wireless for just $15 a month. Of course, if you enjoy overpaying, no judgments, but that's weird. Okay, one judgment. Anyway, give it a try at mintmobile.com slash switch. Upfront payment of $45 for three-month plan, equivalent to $15 per month required. Intro rate first three months only, then full price plan options available.

Taxes and fees extra. See full terms at mintmobile.com. Welcome back to the PDB. The English Channel appears to be the setting for some old-fashioned Cold War action. A Royal Navy patrol ship intercepted a Russian Corvette War. ship and tanker after tracking them through UK waters. Another reminder that Moscow, despite being bogged down in their Ukraine invasion, is also busy elsewhere. The UK's Ministry of Defense said Sunday that Russian movements around UK waters have climbed by 30% over the past two years,

a shift that defense officials say is now impossible to dismiss as routine. Within the past two weeks, HMS-7 tracked the Russian Corvette Stoiki and the tanker Yelna, as they moved through one of the world's busiest maritime corridors. By the time Severn pulled alongside the pair, the episode already felt familiar. Britain has been watching more of these unannounced Russian transits slip through the channel. Each one treated less like an isolated curiosity and more like a recurring pattern. And when the Russian ships finally peeled off toward Brittany, they hand off to a NATO ally wasn't just a pattern,

it was a quiet reminder of how much the alliance now shares the burden of keeping tabs on Moscow's fleet. London is leaning hard on that wider network. The Ministry of Defense confirmed that Britain deployed three Poseidon surveillance aircraft to Iceland as part of a NATO mission, tracking Russian submarine and intelligence vessel movements across the North Atlantic and Arctic waters, where Moscow has become noticeably busier. British defense officials talk about these deployments with a steady subtext. None of these sightings are coincidences, and none of them are happening in a vacuum. In that point, came into sharper focus in our recent coverage here on the PDB. Defense Secretary John Healy disclosed that the Russian ship Yantar

aimed lasers at the pilots of British surveillance aircraft, monitoring its activity off Scotland's coast in a move that London condemned as, quote, reckless and dangerous. And then came the latest discovery off the Welsh coast. Volunteered divers clearing litter from a marine conservation zone surfaced with what defense analysts now believe is a Russian hydroacoustic tracking device. As we reported yesterday, the four-foot metal cylinder was quickly identified as a Russian sonoboi, the kind deployed by the Kremlin's T.U.142M. Maritime Patrol aircraft to monitor submarines.

That find added a new layer to Britain's concern of a broader Russian campaign that extends from the surface to the seabed. But Moscow still insists that the West is overreacting. The Russian embassy in London accused Britain of, quote, whipping up militaristic hysteria. and claimed Moscow has zero interest in undermining UK security. Of course they have zero interest. Nothing to see here, comrades. And by the way, you want to talk about whipping up militaristic hysteria? Try invading Ukraine.

In an effort to further thwart Russian activity near the coastline, Healy has threatened to push for increased military spending ahead of next week's budget talks. British Prime Minister Kirstarmer has pledged to bolster defenses in the face of mounting threats from Russia, China, and Iran. But with a multi-billion-pound fiscal shortfall looming, ministers are weighing tax hikes and spending cuts, even as Russian activity grows more assertive, forcing London to make tougher choices about how quickly it can ramp up its defenses.

Okay, moving now to Washington, D.C. President Trump says he's preparing to designate the Muslim Brotherhood as a foreign terrorist organization. He told reporters this will be done, quote, in the strongest and most powerful terms, with final documents already being drafted. It's a major announcement, and depending on how the administration implements it, this could be one of the most consequential counterterrorism decisions of Trump's second term.

But to understand why, well, you have to understand what the Muslim Brotherhood is and what it isn't. The Brotherhood isn't a single organization. It's a movement, almost a century old, founded in Egypt in 1928 by an Islamic scholar named Hassan al-Bana. His idea was simple but ambitious to revive the Muslim world through political Islam, social activism, missionary outreach, and, when necessary, militant resistance. Over time, the Brotherhood became the most influential Islamist movement on earth, spawning chapters and affiliates and ideological offshoot across the Middle East, North Africa, Europe, and the U.S. Now, here's where it gets complicated.

Not every branch of the Muslim Brotherhood is violent. Some countries treat their local Brotherhood chapter like a political party. Others treat it like a subversive threat. Still others ban it outright. But the Central Movement has absolutely produced extremist organizations, the most well-known being Hamas, explicitly identified in its original charter as the Brotherhood's Palestinian branch. Other Brotherhood-aligned groups have been tied to political violence, assassinations,

and insurgencies across the region for decades. That mix, social movement, political network, and ideological parent of violent offshoots is what has made the Brotherhood so difficult for U.S. policymakers to classify. For years, national security officials have wrestled with the question. Do you treat the Brotherhood as a monolithic organization or a loose family tree with some branches engaged in terrorism and others not? Countries like Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates, Well, they've already answered that question.

They classify the entire movement as a terrorist organization, full stop, and they've been pressuring the U.S. to do the same for years. For decades, Washington resisted. Some administrations argued the Brotherhood was a political organization with ugly ideas, but legitimate electoral support in places like Egypt and Jordan. Others feared that treating the entire movement as a terrorist group could drive millions of supporters into the arms of more radical factions. Intelligence agencies were.

warned that the Brotherhood's diffuse structure makes it difficult to draw a clean and enforceable legal line, and U.S. diplomats worried about complicating relationships with countries where Brotherhood-aligned parties still sat in Parliament. But the flip side of that argument is the Brotherhood's documented role in ceding, supporting, or inspiring militant Islamist groups around the world. Critics say the organization has spent decades, presenting one face to the West, moderate, political, respectable, while nurturing a hard-line, anti-Western ideology behind the scenes. They point to the Brotherhood's writings. Its spokespeople, its youth wings, and its long list of affiliates as proof that the organization is not simply a political

party with religious overtones, but the intellectual wellspring of modern Islamist extremism. And that's the argument that the Trump administration is now leaning on. Officials say the U.S. can't keep treating the Brotherhood like just another political movement while its offshoots are firing rockets into Israel or fomenting unrest across the Middle East. They also note that many Western security services already monitor Brotherhood-linked groups as potential gateways to radicalization. So, what happens next?

I'm glad you asked. Once the designation is official, the U.S. can pursue the Brotherhood's financial networks, restrict travel, sanction its leaders, pressure member states and prosecute anyone providing material support. It could also affect domestic organizations accused fairly or unfairly, of ideological alignment with the Brotherhood. But this moment has been building for a long time.

Republican lawmakers have pushed for this designation for more than a decade. Middle Eastern allies have repeatedly pushed for the designation, and National Security Hawks have warned about the Brotherhood's influence for years. Okay, coming up in the back of the brief, good news for former FBI director James Comey, after a federal judge tosses out the DOJ's case against him. I'll have that when we come back. Hey, Mike Baker here with a message from my friends over at Tritails Beef.

All right, here's the deal. Tritails Premium Beef, a terrific fifth-generation Texas ranching family, is running their biggest Black Friday event of the year. Look, you've got to check out Tritails. They're all about raising cattle the right way and delivering delicious beef right to your door. I'm serious about this. I love their steaks and roasts.

This stuff is amazing. So here's the deal. With every qualifying purchase, you're going to get a gift added to your order. No gimmicks, no runaround, just spend and get rewarded. It's about putting the best tasting beef you've ever had on the table, ribbyes, filets, roast, steaks, and getting something extra while you're at it. If you've been waiting to stock up, well, now's the time.

Feed your family and grab your Black Friday gift before it's gone. Just head over to trybeef.com slash PDB. Again, that's tribeef.com slash PDB. Hey, Mike Baker here, with a message from our pals over a birch gold group. Now, it is that time of year again, and you say to yourself, what time of year is that? Well, I'm going to tell you, it's the one time of year that Birch Gold Group gives away free gold with every qualifying purchase. That's right. For Black Friday, when you convert an existing IRA or a 401k into a tax-sheltered IRA in gold,

Birch Gold will send you free gold to your home for every $20,000 purchased. Look, gold started the year at, what, around $2,600 an ounce, and by October it was over $4,000 an ounce, and you may say, well, why is that? And the answer is, and global uncertainty. Look, 2025 has been defined by trade wars and real wars and general unease, and central banks are pulling away from the U.S. dollar as the global reserve currency. So, as you probably know, gold thrives in times of uncertainty. If you're looking to diversify your savings, birch gold can help. Plus, now through November 30th, get free gold with a qualifying purchase. Just text BDB to 989-89898 to claim your eligibility and for a free information kit on gold. But your opportunity for free gold with purchase

ends on November 30th. So don't wait. Text PDB to the number 989-89-89-89 for all the details. In today's back of the brief, the former FBI director, James Comey, is breathing a sigh of relief today. A federal judge has just thrown out the indictment against him, not because of the facts of the case, but because the person who brought the charges had no legal authority to do it. The decision comes from U.S. District Judge Cameron Curie. In her ruling, she dismissed the charges against Comey after finding that Lindsay Halligan, the attorney who presented the case to the grand jury, was never properly appointed as U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia. According to the judge, that invalid appointment contaminated the entire process from start to finish. And this

wasn't a small technical slip. Judge Curry noted that Halligan was the only person handling the case, no career prosecutors from the Eastern District, no supervisors from the Justice Department. Allegan and Lone walked the grand jury through the allegations, signed the charging documents, and pushed the indictment forward. The judge said that without a lawful appointment, none of that work had any legal grounding whatsoever. She warned that allowing the indictment to stand would create a precedent where, in her words, quote, the government could send any private citizen into the grand jury room. That cannot be the law. In other words, if the prosecutor is, actually a prosecutor, the indictment is dead on arrival. Now, the dismissal is without prejudice,

which means the Justice Department could refile the charges, but only under a properly appointed U.S. attorney. The DOJ also has the option to appeal the ruling. After addressing Comey's case, the judge applied the same logic to another high-profile figure, and that would be New York Attorney General Leticia James. Her indictment, which stemmed from alleged bank fraud issues tied to the Trump's civil litigation was dismissed for the same reason. Halligan signed it, and Halligan wasn't legally empowered to act as a federal prosecutor. There's also the timing factor. Prosecutors were racing the statute of limitations in both cases, especially in Comys, where the clock was within days of running out. This ruling resets everything, but it also means the DOJ may have

to move quickly if they move at all. So for now, James Comey walks away from the indictment, not because the court weighed the evidence, but because of basic procedural mistakes. And that, my friends, is the President's Daily Brief for Tuesday, the 25th of November. Now, if you have any questions or comments, please reach out to me at PDB at thefirsttv.com. And remember to take a moment out of your busy day, if you can, to wander over to YouTube and find and subscribe to our channel. Just search at President's Daily Brief. I'm Mike Baker, and I'll be back later today with the PDB afternoon bulletin. Until then, stay informed.

Stay safe. Stay cool. 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.