The President's Daily Brief - PDB Afternoon Bulletin | April 10th, 2025: China Seethes As Panama, US Sign New Security Agreement & Russian-American Ballerina Freed In Latest Prisoner Swap

Episode Date: April 10, 2025

In this episode of The PDB Afternoon Bulletin:   First, tensions between America and China over the Panama Canal are heating up, as the U.S. inks a new defense and security pact with Panama, and China accuses Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth of "spreading rumors and sowing discord" in the region. Later in the show, a Russian-American ballerina who had been wrongfully detained in Russia for more than a year was released from Kremlin custody on Thursday in the latest prisoner swap with the United States.  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 Jacked Up Fitness: Go to https://GetJackedUp.com and use code BAKER at checkout to save 10% off your entire purchase Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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Welcome to the PDB afternoon bulletin. I'm Mike Baker, your eyes and ears on the world stage. All right, let's get briefed. The first up, tensions between America and China over the Panama Canal are heating up, as the U.S. inks a new defense and security pact with Panama, and China accuses defense secretary Pete Hegeseth of, quote, spreading rumors and sewing discord. Later in the show, a Russian-American ballerina who had been wrongfully detained in Russia for more than year was freed by the Kremlin on Thursday in the latest prisoner swap with the U.S. But first, today's afternoon spotlight. Tariffs aren't the only serious point of contention currently between the U.S. and China, as tension builds over the Trump administration's push to exert more influence on the Panama

Canal. Chinese Communist Party officials are now accusing Secretary of Defense Pete Hankseth of deliberately attempting to sow discord in the region. The latest flare-up came during a trip by Hegsetz to Panama earlier this week, where he met with Panamanian leaders in the hopes of strengthening ties to counter what he described as China's, quote, malign influence in the region. Now, after a day of meetings, Hegset announced Wednesday that the U.S. and Panama had officially signed a new defense and security pact that outlines plans for increased military cooperation

between the two nations, while reaffirming Panamanian sovereignty over the district. strategic trade passage, that's according to a report from Fox News. Officials said the, quote, Memorandum of Understanding aims to boost military coordination on areas of engineering, security, and cybersecurity to push back against foreign interference. It also seeks to establish a cost-sharing model to cover services provided to U.S. warships and auxiliary vessels operating in the waterway, with the goal of keeping it cost-neutral.

While the broad framework represents some progress for the U.S. regarding President Trump's stated goal of reasserting dominance over the Panama Canal, we should stress that the language of the agreement remains exceedingly vague. Officials with the Panama Canal Authority emphasize that the agreement is simply a starting point for more cooperation that will, quote, be developed in later stages. But there are currently some conflicting reports about how comprehensive the framework will be. Hegsetth claimed on Wednesday that U.S. and Panamanian officials were finalizing a document that would grant U.S. warships and auxiliary vessels priority toll-free passage through the canal, but Panamanian officials have not confirmed such a deal, and Panama's precedent has previously

pushed back against a concept of granting the U.S. special privileges in the strategic waterway. Still, it appears slow but steady progress is being made to bolster military ties between, between the U.S. and Panama. As a further show of partnership, the U.S. is preparing to deploy the comfort that's a Navy hospital ship to the region in the coming weeks. Now, Hegsa's visit provoked a fierce reaction from China, as you might imagine, which the Trump administration has long accused of working to capture the Panama Canal. During his trip, Hegseth repeatedly warned that China's military presence in the Western Hemisphere is becoming too large and vowed to, quote, take back the strategic waterway from Chinese in the country.

influence. On Wednesday, Hegeseth said, quote, make no mistake, Beijing is investing in operating in this region for military advantage and unfair economic gain. They operate military facilities and ground stations that extend their reach into space. They exploit natural resources and land to fuel China's global military ambitions. He added that the U.S. and Panama must work together to, quote, prevent war by robustly and vigorously deterring China's threats in this hemisphere." He also made it clear that the U.S. was committed to taking steps to counter China's control over port infrastructure in Panama. It's an issue that has been in the spotlight since Trump returned to office. As we've been tracking here on the PDB, U.S. asset firm BlackRock is pursuing

a deal to take over control of two ports anchoring both ends of the Panama Canal from a Hong Kong-based company, though the deal is at risk of falling apart at this point after China opened an antitrust investigation into the matter. Hegeseth warned that China could use their holdover port infrastructure to conduct surveillance activities across Panama and undermine U.S. interests, though Panamanian officials have consistently downplayed the threat from the CCP. Hegsetz bluntly declared Wednesday that, quote, the U.S. will not allow China to threaten the canal's operations.

Well, as you can imagine, leaders in China didn't take too kindly to the statements. A spokesman for the Chinese Foreign Ministry hit back on Wednesday, sang Hegsseth had, quote, maliciously attacked China, was engaging in a form of diplomatic blackmail, and was, quote, spreading rumors and sowing discord in an attempt to sabotage China-Panama cooperation. The spokesman continued, quote, everyone knows who wants to control the Panama Canal. The U.S. side should take a look in the mirror to see who really threatens the security

and development of other countries, end quote. The war of words over Panama comes as, relations between the U.S. and China, well, continue to deteriorate. As we covered earlier on the PDB, the U.S. and China are now engaged in a fierce trade war with the U.S., placing a 125% tariff on Chinese goods on Wednesday, and China countering with an 84% tariff on American products. So far, well, it doesn't appear that either side plans on backing down anytime soon. All right, coming up next, a Russian-American ballerina who had been wrongfully to in Russia for more than a year, was released from Kremlin custody on Thursday in a prisoner

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hundreds of sites with kayak and get your trip right. Kayak, got that right. Welcome back to the afternoon bulletin. In a prisoner exchange between the U.S. and Russia on Thursday, Russian-American Senja Karellina was released from Kremlin Custiny, despite tensions remaining fraught between the two countries. As listeners of the PDB know, this is a story that we've been tracking for quite some time. For background, Karellina, a dual citizen and former ballet dancer, was arrested while visiting family in Russia in January of 2024. She was later sentenced to 12 years in a Russian penal colony on charges of treason, all stemming from just a $51 donation that she made to a Ukrainian charity on the day that Russia launched its full-scale invasion back in 2022. Her detention became a flashpoint

in U.S.-Russia relations. Moscow claimed the donation, funded the $51 donation, might I add, funded tactical gear, medical kits, and even ammunition for Ukrainian fighters, and dollars going a long ways, a charge that American officials, of course, labeled wildly disproportionate. Complicating matters further, the donation was made while Karellina was on American soil,

raising legal and moral questions about Russia's reach. Her boyfriend, Chris Van Herden, summoned up the outrage and blunt, terms, stating, quote, she didn't do this in Russia as a Russian citizen. She did this in America as an American citizen. The man that Moscow received in return is Arthur Petrov. He's a German-Russian dual national and is accused of something, well, far more consequential, helping orchestrate a clandestine smuggling network that funneled U.S.-made microelectronics to the Russian military via shell companies. Now, those components were later recovered from damaged Russian weapons on the

Ukrainian front lines. Petrov was arrested in Cyprus back in 2023 and extradited to the U.S. FBI assistant director James Smith called his case a prime example of Russia's efforts to circumvent Western export controls after its 2022 invasion of Ukraine. CIA director John Ratcliffe, who led the back channel talks alongside a senior Russian intelligence official, told the Wall Street Journal, quote, today, President Trump brought home another wrongfully detained American from Russia. The exchange occurred in Abu Dhabi. Secretary of State Marker Rubio confirmed the development early Thursday, stating, quote, American Senia Karellina is on a plane back home to the U.S.

For the Trump administration, the deal marks a continuation of its assertive approach to hostage diplomacy. As we covered here on the PDB in February, President Trump secured the release of Mark Fogel, a longtime American teacher in Moscow who'd been held since 2021 over a small amount of prescribed marijuana. Approximately 10 Americans remain imprisoned in Russia, including Stephen Hubbard, who's enduring a near seven-year sentence for allegedly serving as a mercenary in Ukraine, that's a claim that his family firmly denies. The U.S. designates him as wrongfully detained. For now, the Associated Press reports Karellina will touch down on American soil later Thursday at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland, while the Trump administration continues to push for the release of the other Americans

still held in Russia. And that, my friends, is the PDB afternoon bulletin for Thursday the 10th of April. If you have any questions or comments, please reach out to me at PDB at thefirsttv.com. And to listen to the show ad-free, well, you know what to do. Just become a premium member of the president's daily brief by visiting PDB premium.com. I'm Mike Baker, and I'll be back tomorrow. Until then, stay informed, stay safe, stay cool. Some follow the noise. Bloomberg follows the money, whether it's the funds fueling AI

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