The President's Daily Brief - PDB Afternoon Bulletin | August 8th, 2025: Trump Greenlights Covert War Against Cartels & Israel Approves Gaza War Expansion

Episode Date: August 8, 2025

In this episode of The PDB Afternoon Bulletin: President Trump secretly signs off on using U.S. military force against Latin American drug cartels. It’s a dramatic escalation in the war on drugs—and it could put American troops on foreign soil. Israel’s security cabinet approves a new plan to seize control of Gaza City, aiming to evacuate nearly half the territory’s population and eliminate Hamas’s last major foothold. The controversial strategy is set to begin on the symbolic anniversary of the October 7th attacks—but critics at home and abroad are urging Israel to reconsider. 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 goldRidge Wallet: Get 10% Off your entire order & take advantage of Ridge’s Annual Sweepstakes by going to https://ridge.com/PDB #Ridgepod   American Financing: Call American Financing today to find out how customers are saving an avg of $800/mo. 866-885-1881 or visit https://www.AmericanFinancing.net/PDB - NMLS 182334, https://nmlsconsumeraccess.org Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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drug cartels. It's a dramatic escalation in a war on drugs, and it could put American troops on foreign soil. Later in the show, Israel approves a controversial new plan to seize control of Gaza's city, aiming to evacuate nearly half the territory's population and dismantle Hamas' last stronghold. But critics are warning the Jewish state against the new operation. We'll have the details. But first, today's afternoon spotlight. President Trump has authorized a dramatic escalation in America's fight against the drug cartels. According to reporting from the New York Times, the president quietly signed a directive instructing the Pentagon to begin using military force

against cartel organizations that are now designated as foreign terrorist groups. The directive gives the U.S. military, a formal basis for launching operations at sea and potentially on foreign soil. According to the reporting, military planners are already developing options for how these missions might look, including potential direct action raids, naval interdictions, and intelligence-driven operations targeting cartel leaders and infrastructure. Now, this is a big change from business as usual when it comes to the war on the cartels. Historically, the U.S. has handled the drug war primarily as a law enforcement issue, with military involvement limited to support roles, surveillance, logistics, and equipment sharing. But this new order is a fundamental shift in strategy.

For the first time in decades, American troops may be tasked with capturing or killing members of drug cartels abroad. As we reported back in February, Trump's State Department formally labeled a number of transnational criminal organizations as foreign terrorist organizations. That list included MS-13, Trenda Aragua known as TDA, and Venezuela's Cartel de Los Souls, a group the administration claims, is led by President Nicholas Maduro himself. Now, speaking of the Venezuelan despot, the U.S. has now doubled its reward for information leading to Maduro's arrest, offering $50 million, accusing him of running a global drug trafficking enterprise.

Secretary of State and National Security Advisor Marco Rubio, said this week that these organizations are not simply drug dealers, but armed terrorist groups, and that the U.S. must start using every available tool, the military included, to eliminate them. But there are serious legal questions surrounding this move, and no doubt there will be civil liberties, wanks, and lawyers rushing to talk about the need to not infringe on the rights of cartel members. Maybe that makes me sound little churlish. While labeling a group as a terrorist organization does allow for financial sanctions, it doesn't grant automatic authority for military strikes. Now, the administration is likely relying on the president's

constitutional power to defend the nation, citing the deadly fentanyl epidemic as justification. Still, launching unilateral military action in another country, especially without that country's consent, well, that is a major breach of international law. Now, Mexican president, Claudia Scheinbaum, has already rejected a proposal from Trump to allow U.S. military operations inside Mexico. There are also rules of engagement questions. Can U.S. forces kill suspected traffickers who don't pose an immediate threat? What happens if they capture someone? Can the military detain them as an enemy combatant or must they be handed over to civilian courts? You get the picture as to how complex this might be. In a move that may have foreshadowed this latest announcement, the current Trump administration

recently fired the top military lawyers for the Army, Navy, and Air Force, replacing them with new appointees who may be more aligned with this aggressive posture. It's a shake-up that clears the way, possibly, for broader interpretations of what's legally permissible. Meanwhile, the intelligence apparatus is already in motion. As we've reported previously, CIA drones are flying above Mexico, hunting for fentanyl labs, passing data to Mexican authorities. The military's Northern Command has conducted more than 300 surveillance missions along the southern border, so to some degree, well, the infrastructure is already in place.

If this operation moves forward, it could be the most consequential shift in U.S. drug policy since the 1989 invasion of Panama to remove Manuel Noriega, a move that, for all of its success, was condemned by the U.N. as a violation of international law. All right, after the break. approves a controversial plan to seize control of Gaza's city, aiming to evacuate nearly half the territory's population and dismantle Hamas's last stronghold. But critics are warning the Jewish state against the new operation. We'll have those details. I'll be right back. Hey, Mike Baker here, let me just take a moment of your time to talk about protecting your hard-earned assets.

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With Shopify on your side, turn your big business idea into... Sign up for your $1 per month trial at Shopify.com slash special offer. Major news out of Israel, where the nation's security cabinet has approved a new plan to take control of Gaza's essentially resulting in a full occupation of Gaza. According to sources familiar with this strategy, the operation will unfold in multiple phases and could take up to five months to complete. That may be an optimistic estimate. The first phase of the plan is set to begin by the 7th of October. Now that date was chosen intentionally. Obviously, it marks a second anniversary of the Hamas-led terror attacks that launched Israel's war in Gaza. The message from Israeli leadership is clear. In this opening phase,

Israel will significantly expand the distribution of humanitarian aid, but not within Gaza City itself. The thinking, according to officials, is that by withholding aid from inside the city, civilians will be more likely to evacuate, clearing the way for a major military operation. The plan is obviously a massive undertaking, one that will involve the forced evacuation of nearly half of Gaza's population. Imagine close to a million people in a space the size of half of Manhattan. Well, that's Gaza City. At present, Israel's military already controls about 75% of the territory, but Gaza City remains a major and, frankly, the last Hamas stronghold. As part of the decision, the Israeli cabinet also adopted five core principles for ending the war in Gaza.

First, the total disarmament of Hamas. Second, the return of all hostages, including the remains of those killed. Third, the complete demilitarization of the Gaza Strip. Fourth, Israel must maintain full security control over Gaza even after the war ends. And finally, a new civilian government must be established, one that is neither Hamas nor the Palestinian Authority. Notably, the announcement stops short of explicitly stating that Israel will take full control of Gaza. But Prime Minister Netanyahu made his intentions clear ahead of the vote. In an interview

with Fox News, he confirmed that Israel is preparing to occupy the entire Gaza Strip. Netanyahu said, quote, we intend to control all of Gaza. We don't want to keep Gaza, we want a security perimeter, we want to hand Gaza over to Arab forces that will govern Gaza properly. Now, that's a key distinction. While Israel says it doesn't want to keep Gaza, it also doesn't intend to give it to the Palestinian authority, and definitely not to Hamas or the remnants of Hamas. As you would expect, the reaction from Hamas was defiant. In a statement, the terror group called the plan a, quote, full-fledged war crime. Yes, that's coming from Hamas, warning that any attempt to seize Gaza City would come at a high cost.

Now, I don't want to be kept an obvious here, but the absurdity of the Iranian-backed Hamas terror group, a group that's pledged to the destruction of Israel, and, of course, responsible for the brutal murders and rapes and hostage-taking of 7 October, not to mention their past actions, while the absurdity of Hamas calling anyone out for war crimes is remarkable. But in response to the announced occupation plan, Western governments are also voicing strong objections. British Prime Minister Kier Starrmer said Israel's decision to escalate the war is, quote, wrong and urged the Netanyahu government to reconsider immediately. Starmor added, quote, this action will do nothing to bring an end to this conflict or to help secure the release of the hostages.

It will only bring more bloodshed, end quote. Germany, meanwhile, has taken a more tangible step, announcing it will not approve any future exports of military equipment that could be used by Israel in Gaza. That's a significant move from Israel's second-largest arms supplier after the U.S. and could signal further diplomatic fallout as the Gaza offensive intensifies. Regardless of the international pushback, Israel appears committed to retaking Gaza City and reshaping what the future of governance and security looks like in the enclave.

Now, obviously, hanging out there are so many unknowns. Can humanitarian aid be increased and delivered efficiently without interference from Hamas? Can the population be successfully temporarily relocated? Will the IDF be able to eliminate Hamas from their final strongholds while rescuing and recovering the remaining hostages? How long will the operation actually take? Will the Arab states step up to assist with long-term governance and security in the strip? And what will the rebuilding process look like? It's an enormous undertaking, but after almost two years and endless failed negotiations with Hamas, the Israeli security cabinet seems convinced that they have no other options.

And that, my friends, is the PDB afternoon bulletin for Friday the 8th of August. If you have any questions or comments, please reach out to me at pdb at thefirsttv.com. Remember to check out at this weekend's episode of our PDB Situation Report. Now, it airs this evening at 10 p.m. on the first TV. You can also find it and past episodes on our YouTube channel at President's Daily Brief, as well as on all your favorite podcast platforms. We have great guests this week. Well, we have great guests every week.

This week, including China expert and author Gordon Chang, and also Ali Reza Jafazadeh from the National Council of Resistance of Iran. We'll be talking about China's economic doom loop, Xi Jinping's grip on power and U.S.-China trade with Gordon, and we'll be looking inside the Iranian regime post the 12-day war with Israel with Ali Reza, including Iran's crackdown on its descent and internal protests. I'm Mike Baker, and I'll be back over the weekend with the PDB's Situation Report. Until then, stay informed. Stay safe. Stay cool.

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