The President's Daily Brief - November 26th, 2025: Trump Ready for Direct Talks With Maduro & Moscow Signals 'No Deal' On Ukraine

Episode Date: November 26, 2025

In this episode of The President's Daily Brief: President Trump signals he’s ready for direct talks with Nicolás Maduro—even as Washington labels the Venezuelan leader a terrorist. Xi Jinping makes a rare personal call to President Trump to discuss Taiwan and Ukraine. Russia appears set to reject the latest U.S.–Ukraine cease-fire proposal, suggesting the war will grind on through Christmas. And in today’s Back of the Brief—a Russian drone breaches deeper into NATO airspace than ever before, triggering a rapid scramble by Romanian and German jets. 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 Masa Chips: Ready to give MASA or Vandy a try? Get 25% off your first order by going to http://masachips.com/PDBand using code PDB. Lean: Visit https://BrickhouseSale.com for 30% off Birch Gold: Text PDB to 989898 and get your free info kit on gold Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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It's Wednesday, the 26th of November. Ooh, Thanksgiving is almost here. Welcome to the President's Daily Brief. I'm Mike Baker, your eyes and ears on the world's stage, and with apologies for the late upload this morning. A bit of technical difficulty meant a late release. All right, let's get briefed. First up, an unexpected twist in Washington's pressure campaign on Venezuela.

It looks like President Trump is now ready to talk one-on-one with Nicholas Maduro, even as the U.S. labels him a terrorist. Later in the show, an unusual moment on the diplomatic front, Xi Jinping personally phones President Trump to talk Taiwan and Ukraine, a rare move from Beijing. Plus, the ball is now in Russia's court, and all signs point to them picking it up and going home. Sources say Moscow is poised to reject the latest U.S.-Ukraine peace plan,

meaning, of course, the fighting won't stop anytime soon. And in today's back of the brief, a Russian drone, pushes further into NATO territory than any previous incident, forcing Romanian and German jets into the air yet again. But first, today's PDP spotlight. A major development in the standoff between Washington and Caracas. President Trump is now signaling that he's ready to speak directly with Venezuelan leader Nicholas Maduro. That's a notable shift in tone,

considering that the administration just formally designated Maduro as the head of a terrorist organization tied to drug running that one. And behind the scenes, U.S. officials are now openly acknowledging that while military options remain on the table, diplomacy appears to be taking the lead, at least for the moment. According to senior officials who spoke with Axios, the president has told his advisors he intends to make direct contact with Maduro. That alone is a remarkable reversal, possibly almost even surreal. As we've been tracking here on the PDB, the White House spent months now authorize, rising targeted maritime strikes against Venezuelan vessels believed to be involved in narcotics

trafficking. Those operations have rattled the Venezuelan government, tightened Maduro's circle of loyalists, and sparked fresh fears of a broader confrontation in the Caribbean. And yet, here we are, with the president now expressing willingness to talk. When asked about the possibility of the U.S. attempting to snatch or assassinate Maduro, one White House official told Axios, quote, nobody is planning to go in and shoot him or snatch him at this point. I wouldn't say never, but that's not the plan right now, end quote. That phrase at this point signals that Washington's pressure campaign is still very real, of course, and very active, or at least they want to give that impression,

but that the White House also believes diplomacy may now offer something that military strikes can't, and that would be leverage. And that leverage brings us to a critical question. What exactly does Maduro have to offer the U.S. in any potential negotiation? Well, the answer, according to analysts who spoke with Reuters, may be, you can probably guess, oil. Venezuelan crude is heavy and dirty, but U.S. Gulf Coast refineries are built specifically to process that kind of oil. When the U.S. halted Venezuelan imports years ago and imposed sanctions on the Maduro regime, refiners had to seek alternatives, often, of course, at higher coal.

or more logistical difficulties. Now with markets still tight and energy prices playing a major role in global politics, there's renewed interest in whether Venezuelan shipments could re-enter the picture. Right now, Venezuela exports about 1.1 million barrels of oil per day. More than 80% of that goes to China. That means Maduro actually does have flexibility, the ability to redirect cargoes, sweetened deals, or offer dedicated supply to American refiners if it means gaining political or economic concessions from Washington. For a regime isolated by sanctions, that's one of the only real bargaining chips that Maduro still has.

Admittedly, it's a big one. Venezuela doesn't have much to offer the U.S. anymore, but it does have the oil, and the infrastructure to deliver it quickly if sanctions are lifted or relaxed. That's why some experts believe this sudden openness to dialogue. from both sides is less about goodwill and more about transactions. Each party has something the other wants, and the broader pressure campaign may be part of pushing those negotiations forward. And, of course, President Trump is often characterized as a transactional person. But this wouldn't likely be a simple oil for sanctions relief arrangement. For one thing,

U.S. negotiators are approaching this from a position of strength, of course. The Venezuelan economy is collapsing under the way of corruption, mismanagement, and sanctions. Maduro's government does desperately need cash for an investment and some measure of legitimacy. Meanwhile, the U.S. isn't exactly hurting for oil, but access to specific grades of heavy crude would be strategically useful. So, what should we watch for next? Good question. First, whether the White House clarifies what form this potential contact with Maduro would

take. that's something to watch for. A phone call is one thing. A meeting is another. U.S. officials are very carefully choosing their words, suggesting that a conversation is on the table without committing to anything more formal. Second, whether Maduro publicly signals a willingness to make concessions,

particularly around oil exports, production targets, or the role of American energy companies in Venezuela. If he does, that's a sign the regime is preparing for a real negotiation, rather than a symbolic exchange. And finally, whether the U.S. shows or recalibrates its maritime operations in the Caribbean, if those strikes continue at the same intensity, it tells us Washington believes pressure remains the most effective tactic. If the tempo slows, well, it may signal that diplomatic groundwork is being laid quietly behind

the scenes. All right. Coming up after the break, Xi Jinping personally phones President Trump in a rare diplomatic move, and Russia looks ready to reject the latest U.S.-Ukraine peace plan. I'll be right back. Hey, Mike Baker here. PDB host and well-known snack expert. Now, let me ask you a question.

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conversation to be focused on Ukraine. Now, it's rare for those two issues to collide in a single conversation, and even rarer for Beijing to take the initiative to reach out at this level, which is why the call, of course, immediately drew Washington's notice. Privately, sources say the call did begin on the topic of Taiwan, at Xi's insistence, before shifting toward Ukraine, once Trump redirected the discussion, a sequence that Beijing worked aggressively to spin once the call became public. According to those familiar with the exchange, Xi didn't waste time getting to his point. He went straight into the familiar historical argument about Taiwan, referencing post-war agreements, the U.S. and China's World War II partnership, and the idea that both countries should

protect the so-called, quote, gains of that era. A citation from China state media reports that she told Trump, quote, Taiwan's return to China is an important component of the post-war international order. But given the fact that Japan is now openly warning that it would join any fight over the Democratic island, Xi's message came across less like a reminder and more like a warning. And that set the tone for the rest of the call, though the two sides framed the talk very differently afterward. state media said Trump acknowledged, quote, the importance of the Taiwan issue to China, but Washington's readout of the conversation didn't mention Taiwan at all. Instead, Trump posted to truth social that he and Xi discussed Ukraine, fentanyl, soybeans, and trade, and that he accepted

the Chinese president's invitation to visit Beijing in April, with Xi slated to visit Washington later in 2026. But in an eyebrow-raising twist, the spokeswoman for China's foreign ministry suggested the U.S. was the one who requested the call, contradicting the reports that she initiated the discussion due to escalating tensions with Tokyo. But despite those claims, Beijing's urgency to reach out to Washington starts to make sense once you review the recent tense exchange with Japan. As we've been tracking, earlier this month, Japan's new prime minister warned that a Chinese takeover of Taiwan would pull Japan directly into the fight. China erupted, of course, accusing Tokyo of threatening

quote, armed intervention, and snapped again when the U.S. State Department reaffirmed Washington's commitment to its alliance with Japan and to preserving the status quo in the Taiwan straight. Still, to basing all of this turbulence creates a narrow but valuable opening. Sources close to CCP officials say she sees a chance to shape Trump's thinking at a moment when Washington's posture on Taiwan is at times ambiguous. Trump, unlike Biden, has held back from saying whether the U.S. would defend the Democratic island, arguing that showing his hand would undermine his leverage with Xi Jinping. Trump has also said Xi privately vowed not to invade during his presidency, though Beijing has never verified that particular claim. While Beijing

remains firm that the phone call was largely about Taiwan, China state media did publish a comment from Xi, saying, quote, China supports all efforts committed to peace in Ukraine. Of course they As our longtime listeners know, Beijing has provided crucial diplomatic and economic support to Russia since the 2022 invasion, essentially keeping Putin's war machine running. And now, as Trump continues to accelerate his own peace push, China does appear eager to position itself as a player in whatever settlement emerges. Okay, sticking with Ukraine, the Trump administration's shuttle diplomacy sprint to lock in a peace deal, appeared to buy. real momentum, but, well, as you might guess, it may not be enough. The White House now believes Moscow may reject outright the 19-point blueprint and could use disinformation and its usual misinformation to keep President Trump engaged while the war grinds on through Christmas. When we last

talked about this, U.S. Army Secretary Dan Driscoll touched down in Abu Dhabi to start the week, just as U.S. and Ukrainian negotiators finished carving Trump's original 28-point peace plan down to 19 points. engaging in damage control after the original document leaked to the media. The Geneva rewrite left Washington and Kiev mostly on the same page, with territorial concessions deliberately kicked up to a future leader-level discussion between Trump and Ukrainian President Zelensky. White House Press Secretary Caroline Levin said yesterday that Driscoll made, quote, tremendous progress.

She added that only, quote, a few delicate but not insurmountable details remained to solidify potential peace. But the very changes that made the peace deal survivable for Ukraine are now, of course, threatening to sink it with Russia. According to sources who spoke to the New York Post and two U.S. officials familiar with the talks, Moscow is set to reject the new 19-point plan outright. The problem isn't just the latest edits.

It's at the U.S.-Ukraine rewrite, moved the document, supposedly, away from what the Kremlin believes, Trump implicitly blessed at his August summit with Russian President Putin in Anchorage. Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov has gone on the offensive with that line. He says Moscow expects to see an interim version of the deal, reflecting Ukrainian input, but warned that if the document overall strays from what Putin thinks he's secured in Alaska, there'll be a problem. Lavrov framed the original 28-point proposal as the only acceptable baseline.

Well, that's because it included most of Russia's demands, even though the Kremlin was never fully satisfied, oh, there's a shame, warning the situation will be, quote, fundamentally different from Moscow if the new framework deviates from the original version. Well, it does. Still, I'd like to point out that publicly, Moscow is walking a, well, relatively speaking, careful line. Kremlin officials don't want to appear to be dismissing Trump outright, a move that could harden the administration's position, and erode whatever leverage Moscow thinks it has. analysts following the latest rumblings out of Moscow told the New York Post that Russia may instead fall back on familiar disinformation tactics, such as issuing ambiguous statements, signaling openness to future talks, or signing documents that look constructive while ultimately refusing to implement any ceasefire terms.

Trump has repeatedly warned that Putin is trying to drag out the war, accusing the Russian strong man of, quote, tapping him along. A senior administration official says the White House is determined not to let Moscow run out the diplomatic clock, particularly with a narrow window for Trump and Zelensky to finalize a deal if the Ukrainian president does visit Washington in the coming days. From Keeves' perspective, however, the 19-point framework still looks like something Moscow will never sign. American officials working on the deal are increasingly concerned about leaks to the media, which means the public remains in the dark on the verified picture of all the points, though we do know it bears little resemblance to the original. Even so, the Kremlin has made no secret of its expectation of concessions far beyond anything

Washington or Kiev willing to offer. Putin has long insisted that Ukraine's NATO aspirations were among the so-called, quote, root causes of his 2022 invasion, a position he shows no signs of backing away from. For the Trump administration, the burst of the first of the Trump administration, the burst of shuttle diplomacy was meant to convert a fragile moment into a breakthrough for peace. But White House officials and analysts acknowledge the risk that the effort could collapse, just as so many others have, if Russia decides it has more to gain by stalling than by negotiating in good faith. Not that Putin has ever negotiated in good faith.

All right. Coming up in the back of the brief, Romania scrambles jets after the deepest Russian drone intrusion yet into NATO airspace. It's a move that officials are calling a deliberate provocation. I'll have those details when we come back. Hey, Mike Baker here. Now, I suspect that you know this, but Black Friday is almost here. It's right around the corner. And you've probably asked yourself, hmm, do doctors have Black Friday sales? Well, that's a good question. The answer is the doctors at Brickhouse Nutrition do. And they just announced their Black Friday 30% off sale. It's the biggest sale of the year. The most impressive health and nutrition products in the industry are now 30% off. Like, as an example, lean, L-E-A-N. It's the doctor-formulated weight loss supplement for people who want

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Your music deserves Bose. Find your perfect product at Bose.com. In today's back of the brief, Romania and Moldova reported new drone incursions on Tuesday as Russia launched a major missile and drone attack against Ukraine. once again, raising alarms about NATO's eastern flank. Romania's defense ministry says two Russian-made drones

crossed directly into NATO territory early Tuesday morning, triggering immediate air defense alerts and prompting NATO to place forces stationed in neighboring Poland and Bulgaria on high alert. The breach happened near Romania's Danube border with southern Ukraine, the same region where debris and errant drones have landed repeatedly since the war began. But this time, Bucharest says the UAVs didn't just slip the frontier, one penetrated deeper into Romanian airspace than ever before. Two Eurofighters from a German air policing mission in Romania were initially scrambled to track the first drone,

which flew over a county near Ukraine's southern border, before crossing back into Ukrainian airspace. Romanian officials later deployed two F-16 fighter jets and activated ground-based air defenses after the army detected a second airspace breach near the border county of Galatine. Romanian's defense minister said the fighter jets nearly shot down the drone, but held off over concerns about falling debris causing damage to civilian areas. Radar contact was eventually lost, but a Russian drone without an explosive device was later found more than 150 miles from the Ukrainian border, making it the deepest verified intrusion into NATO airspace since the war began.

leaders in Bucharest condemned the incursions, which marked the 13th breach of Romanian airspace since the war began, calling it another major Russian provocation. The incident comes less than a week after a Russian drone flew roughly five miles inside Romania before radar contact was lost, also during a major bombardment of Ukraine by Moscow. Meanwhile, Moldova's defense ministry said they also suffered an airspace breach on Tuesday morning with six Russian. drones detected crossing into their territory. One of the drones, sporting a spray-painted Z symbol, frequently used by the Russian military, fell on a guards building in a border area near Ukraine but did not explode. Now, while NATO has dealt with a pattern of spillover since 2022, the increasing frequency of these incidents is forcing NATO to reassess the Kremlin's broader intentions and has heightened fears that the war could soon spill into the alliance's

Eastern territories. The incursions appear geared towards testing the response times of NATO aircraft and overall capabilities of Western air defenses, while leaving enough strategic ambiguity to avoid triggering retaliation. These latest drone incursions came as Russian forces pounded Kiev and other regions with another massive missile and drone attack. A total of 22 missiles and 464 drones were fired during the bombardment on Ukrainian energy infrastructure, killing seven people and wounding 21 in Kiev while knocking out electricity and heating systems across the capital. While this shouldn't come as a surprise, the latest aerial attack coincides with the renewed push by the Trump administration to broker a peace deal to end the war. The demonstration

from Moscow is likely meant to illustrate the consequences for Ukraine if the Putin regime doesn't get their way in the current negotiations. And that, my friends, is the President's daily brief for Wednesday, the 26th of November. If you have any questions or comments, please reach out to me at PDB at thefirsttv.com. And if you'd like to listen to the show ad-free, well, you can do that and you can do it very simply. Just consider becoming a premium member. Visit PDB premium.com. It's that simple. I'm Mike Baker, and I'll be back later today with the PDB afternoon bulletin. Until then, stay informed. Stay safe. Stay cool.

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