The President's Daily Brief - PDB Afternoon Bulletin | August 18th, 2025: Graham Threatens Russia With State Sponsor Of Terrorism Label & Iran's Subversive Sabotage Campaign Inside Israel

Episode Date: August 18, 2025

In this episode of The PDB Afternoon Bulletin:  First—U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham threatens bipartisan legislation designating Russia a state sponsor of terrorism over the Putin regime’s mass abduction of Ukrainian children.  Later in the show—officials in Jerusalem are sounding the alarm on efforts by the Iranian regime to recruit Israeli citizens for acts of sabotage and assassination plots. 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 Birch Gold: Text PDB to 989898 and get your free info kit on gold       Beam: Visit ⁠https://shopbeam.com/MIKE⁠ and use code MIKE to get our exclusive discount of up to 40% off. Lean: Visit ⁠https://TakeLean.com⁠ & use code pb20 for 20% off Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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for acts of sabotage and even assassination plots. We'll have those details. But first, today's afternoon spotlight. As President Trump continues with his efforts to end the war in Ukraine, a key ally in the Senate is demanding one essential stipulation in any peace agreement. Moscow must return tens of thousands of missing Ukrainian children to their home country. On Sunday, U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham threatened to pursue bipartisan legislation designating Russia a state sponsor of terrorism over the Putin regime's reported mass kidnapping of Ukrainian children. As we've been tracking here on the PDB, Keeve has officially confirmed the abduction of more than 19,500 children since the war began back in February of 2022. Of the Ukrainian

officials, well, they say the number is much higher, anywhere from 35,000 to a staggering 150,000, that's according to a report from the New York Post. In an interview on Fox News's Sunday morning futures, Graham said, quote, I intend to push the return of these children, until I can't push anymore. If they do not return these children to Ukraine, the 19,000, then I'm going to push legislation to make Russia a state sponsor of terrorism under U.S. law, end quote. He added that such a move would make Russia, quote,

radioactive in the international community. Well, I don't know. You would think after invading another country three years ago and being responsible for over a million casualties on both sides, not to mention their transfer of key weapons, technology to rogue states, Iran, and North Korea. Oh, and a variety of sabotage efforts in the EU, well, you'd think they'd already be radioactive. But I guess I'm just being churlish. The children, many whose parents have been killed by Russian forces in occupied regions of Ukraine,

are put up for adoption and then systematically deported to Russian families in Moscow and other regions, with the goal of raising them to be Russian. Last week, the NGO, Save Ukraine, uncovered a disturbing online database offering abducted Ukrainian children for adoption, sorted by physical features like eye color, hair color, and even personality traits. The site is hosted on the official web portal of the Russian-controlled education department in the Lahansk region. Save Ukraine's CEO, Mikola Kuleva, said most of the children listed were born in La Hanzk prior to Russia's invasion and held Ukrainian citizenship, and warned that the database

is just the latest phase in a broader Kremlin-backed effort to erase Ukrainian identity and forcibly assimilate the next generation. He said, in addition to being part of an initiative to remold Ukraine into a Russian sphere of influence, the Kremlin is also using the children to prop up plummeting population numbers. Kuleba described the online database as, quote, indistinguishable from a slave catalog, and accused the Putin regime of engaging in, quote, child trafficking in the 21st century. The White House has taken notice, stressing ahead of last Friday's summit between President Trump and Vladimir Putin, that the mass abductions remain atop concern. During the summit, Trump handed Putin a letter from First Lady Melania Trump urging peace, citing the negative toll that the conflict is taken on children, though the note reportedly didn't explicitly mention the issue of mass kidnappings.

The UN, the European Union and human rights groups have also all condemned the forced transfers. Ukrainian President Zelensky, meanwhile, has made the return of these children a non-negotiable pillar of any future peace deal. Graham echoed Zelensky, saying Sunday, quote, they should be a state sponsor of terrorism until they return the children. So any peace deal must include the return of the kidnapped children by Russia to Ukraine. If you don't, that's not a just end of the war, end quote. Graham is partnering with Connecticut Democrat Senator Richard Blumenthal on the potential bipartisan and legislation. Specifically, the proposal would give Russia 60 days to prove that the missing children have been returned and reintegrated into Ukrainian society. Otherwise, the bill would

direct Secretary of State Marker Rubio to designate Russia and their ally Belarus as state sponsors of terrorism. Up next, we'll look at the Iranian regime's ongoing efforts to recruit Israeli citizens for acts and sabotage and assassination plots. I'll be right back. Hey, Mike Baker, here. Let me take just a moment of your time to talk about protecting your hard-earned assets. Now, you've probably looked around out there in the big wide world and thought to yourself, hmm, seems to be a little turmoil in the economy. Well, you would be correct. Trade wars, tariffs back and forth, a U.S. Federal Reserve that seems a bit at odds with the White House. Uncertainty over employment numbers, a volatile stock market, well, you do get the picture.

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According to court filings obtained by the New York Times, Victorson's first task was small-scale, scrolling anti-government slogans around his neighborhood, including one comparing Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu to Hitler. Within weeks, he and his partner, Anya Bernstein, who is accused of carrying out assignments alongside him, pocketed about $600. But the missions escalated quickly to sabotaging power boxes with Sophia

acid, torching cars, constructing crude bombs, and finally, finally, a $100,000 contract to kill an Israeli professor. By late September, prosecutors say Victorson was haggling with his handler over the price of a sniper rifle, boasting he could score one for $21,000. Hours later, he and Bernstein were arrested, charged with conspiracy to murder, arson, vandalism, and maintaining contact with a for an agent. Court records show he occasionally balked at assignments at one point sending stock image photos when tasked with capturing protest pictures or refusing acid sabotage for fear of injury, but prosecutors insist he crossed the line into terror. His case is one of more than 25 online recruitment plots unraveled by Shinbet in the past year, which Israeli officials say reflects a

deliberate Iranian strategy to lure locals with minor tasks and then shove them toward bloodshed. Since 2023, more than 40 Israelis have been arrested, ranging from teenagers to retirees, Jews and Arabs alike. One immigrant from Azerbaijan was ordered to surveil military sites. Two others were tasked with installing cameras knew the defense minister's home, but ultimately backed out. And in one of the most dramatic convictions, a 72-year-old Israeli businessman was sentenced to 10 years in April of this year, after being smuggled into the Islamic Republic twice, hidden in the back of a truck, where he allegedly discussed assassinations face-to-face with regime agents. Now, the money wasn't life-changing, usually just a few thousand in cryptocurrency,

but the risks, obviously, were immense. Indictments detail recruits, smuggling weapons and explosives, and surveilling sensitive sites throughout Israel. While some quit early, others pressed ahead until security forces intervened. Prosecutors say Bernstein pushed Victorson to torch cars, while their Iranian handler offered debt relief and relocation abroad if they carried out the assassination. It all underscores how layered Iran's shadow war on Israel has become. As we've covered on the PDB, while Jerusalem has struck deep inside the regime bombing nuclear facilities, assassinating nuclear scientists and crippling security sites, the Mullah's lower-cost tactic of exploiting Israelis from within presents a different kind of threat, internal fracture. And officials say the trendline

accelerated after the 7 October 23 terror attacks, with Tercran investing heavily in the destabilization of the Jewish state. Now, as you probably won't be shocked to learn, the Islamic Republic denies orchestrating any of it. We don't know anything about this. Instead, accusing Israel, Israel of staging sabotage to smear Tehran. But Israeli authorities insist the evidence is mounting and have launched a public awareness blitz, warning its citizens that, quote, easy money can carry a, quote, heavy price of years behind bars. And that, my friends, is the PDB afternoon bulletin for Monday, the 18th of August.

Now, if you have any questions or comments, please reach out to me at pdb at thefirsttv.com. And, of course, to listen to the show ad-free, you can certainly do that. 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. Hey, Mike Baker here.

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