The President's Daily Brief - PDB Afternoon Bulletin | February 28th, 2025: Trump Explodes At Zelensky During Heated Meeting & A Secret CIA Drone Program Is Hunting Down Cartel Bosses

Episode Date: February 28, 2025

In this episode of The PDB Afternoon Bulletin:   First, an explosive confrontation between Presidents Trump and Zelenskyy that played out in front of the world today. What started as a meeting for a major deal quickly turned into a heated exchange—and it didn’t end well for anyone. Later in the show, as Mexico extradites nearly 30 high-level cartel leaders and members to the U.S. under threats of new tariffs from the Trump administration, we are learning of a covert CIA drone program being used in Mexico to help hunt down major drug kingpins.   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 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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Second Half, 2025. All rights reserved. It must provide a recent consumer mobile bill in the name of the person, and give me the deal, additional terms, conditions, and restrictions supply. It's Friday, 28 February. Welcome to the PDB afternoon bulletin. I'm Mike Baker, your eyes and ears on the world stage. All right, let's get briefed. We'll kick things off with, well, a once-in-a-lifetime

explosive confrontation between President Trump and President Zelensky that played out in front of the world today. What started as a meeting for an important deal-siding quickly turned into a heated exchange, and frankly, well, it didn't end well for anyone. Well, okay, perhaps except for Vladimir Putin and his minions, who undoubtedly watched the televised argument with delight. Later in the show, as Mexico extradites nearly 30 high-level cartel leaders and members to the U.S., under threats of new tariffs from the Trump administration, were learning of a covert CIA drone program being used in Mexico to help hunt down

major drug kingpins. But first, today's afternoon spotlight. What was supposed to be a productive meeting between President Trump, Vice President Vance, and Ukrainian President Zelensky quickly turned into an explosive confrontation, and the whole world got to watch. The meeting was set to finalize a minerals deal, an important mineral steel, but things started going downhill almost immediately once the press was invited into the Oval Office. Trump and Vance began and accusing Zelensky of not showing enough gratitude for the U.S. support over the years, after Zelensky interrupted Vance at one point to ask what type of diplomacy Vance thought might work with Putin. And they made it clear also that they felt Zolensky was in a bad position

at the negotiating table. A clearly irritated President Trump accused Zelensky of, quote, gambling with World War III and being very disrespectful to the United States. Things got even more heated when Vance pointed out that Ukraine was dealing with manpower and military recruitment problems. Zelensky responded by saying that war means everybody has problems, even you, and he said that the U.S. would eventually feel the war's effects in the future. Well, Trump wasn't having that. He fired back saying, quote, don't tell us what we're going to feel. We're trying to solve a problem. Don't tell us what we're going to feel, end quote. In true Trump fashion, the whole episode concluded, with the president declaring, quote, this is going to be great television.

Well, he wasn't wrong. Seriously, I cannot do justice to just how big of a goat rope this meeting was. I mean, really, there hasn't been anything comparable in modern times. Shortly after the fireworks ended, the minerals deal that had been on the table was pulled off. Trump reportedly asked Zelensky to leave the White House, ending the meeting rather abrupt. Later, Trump took to truth social to share his thoughts, saying, quote, I've determined that President Zelensky is not ready for peace if America is involved, because he feels our involvement gives him a big advantage in negotiations.

I don't want advantage. I want peace. He disrespected the United States of America. In its cherished Oval Office, he can come back when he's ready for peace, end quote. Zelensky, for his part, took to X after leaving the White House, thanking the U.S. for its support. He wrote, quote, thank you America. Thank you for your support. Thank you for this visit. Thank you, POTUS, Congress, and the American people.

Ukraine needs just and lasting peace. And we are working exactly for that, end quote. Now, let's be clear. Zelensky definitely dropped the ball here. He completely misread the room and what was required on his part. This wasn't a meeting with former President Biden where the U.S. president had made it clear he's a strong supporter of Ukraine and its fight against Russia. This was Donald Trump, someone who's been vocal

about his skepticism toward continued U.S. funding for Ukraine. Trump has already made it known that he's not exactly keen on the billions of dollars being sent overseas for Ukraine's defense, especially considering his domestic agenda, is focused on cutting spending. Zelensky, of all people, should have recognized this dynamic. Instead of pushing back in any way, he should have been diplomatic, appreciative, especially knowing Trump's stance on foreign aid and U.S. involvement. He and his advisors, meaning Zelensky and his advisors, should have arrived on scene with a very tightly scripted plan. Be humble, appreciative of the past support, and focus on finding common ground with Trump. Instead, his comments and demeanor only added fuel to the fire,

alienating an ally that he clearly needs. Now, in order to salvage this, Zelensky and his team need to sit back down with Trump's team, whether it be Secretary of State Rubio or National Security Advisor Mike Walz, and do whatever is necessary to get that Minerals deal signed. Look, it's not perfect, but it's an important, visible, and clear step that shows continued alliance with the U.S. and strengthening economic ties between the two countries. Finally, the White House staff, those responsible for orchestrating this meeting that devolved into an unfortunate spectacle, while they should have also had a very tightly scripted game plan. This should never have played out in front of the cameras, airing the laundry out in the open in front of Putin, allowing him to enjoy the moment, well, that's a net negative.

The fallout from this televised event will be reverberating for some time, and it will be. will be very important to see how all the various players process what happened, whether it's NATO or the EU, Putin, the Ukrainian population, and whether Zelensky can walk this dog back and figure out a way to both salvage a mineral steel that could be an important step in an eventual peace negotiation, but also to salvage his relationship with the U.S. administration. Coming up next, Mexico extradites dozens of top cartel members to the U.S. as new detoures. details emerge about a covert CIA drone program targeting major drug kingpins. I'll be right back. Kayak gets my flight, hotel, and rental car right, so I can tune out travel advice that's just plain wrong.

Bro, Skycoin, way better than points. Never fly during a Scorpio full moon. Just tell the manager you'll sue. Instant room upgrade. Stop taking bad travel advice. Start comparing hundreds of sites with kayak. Your trip? Right. Kayak. Got that right. Welcome back to the afternoon bulletin. With the threat of new tariffs looming large, Mexico is stepping up its crackdown on violent drug cartel leaders in a historic fashion. On Thursday, Mexico extradited 29 alleged drug cartel members to the United States, including the former leader of the Guadalajara cartel involved in the kidnapping and murder of a DEA agent. The unusual handle, said to be one of the biggest extradal. traditions in Mexico's history marks a major step forward in bilateral security relations between

the U.S. and its southern neighbor, and comes as the Trump administration increases pressure on Mexico's city to curb the flow of fentanyl and other deadly drugs into the U.S., that's according to a report from the BBC. Among those extradited were the founders of the brutal Los Zetas criminal syndicate, known as one of Mexico's most dangerous drug cartels, as well as the former boss of the Roarez cartel, and a Canadian citizen accused of participating in a massive U.S. and Canadian drug smuggling ring. According to the U.S. Justice Department, at least six of the 29 detainees could be subject to the federal death penalty for their many crimes, marking a significant departure for the Mexican government,

which has historically resisted extradition requests if the suspects might face capital punishment. In a statement, U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi said, quote, as President Trump has made clear, cartels are terrorist groups. We'll prosecute these criminals to the fullest extent of the law in honor of the brave law enforcement agents who have dedicated their careers and in some cases given their lives to protect innocent people from the scourge of violent cartels, end quote. Perhaps the most high profile in the group of extradited criminals is notorious drug lord Rafael Caro Contrero, who has been wanted by U.S. authorities for decades over his involvement in the kidnapping,

torture and murder of DEA agent Enrique Kiki Camarena in 1985, all the way back in 1985. Contrero was a founding member of Mexico's Guadalajara cartel and helped shape the modern drug trafficking enterprise in Mexico. He had spent 28 years in prison, but was released on a technicality in 2013, much to the frustration of American authorities. Quintero returned to drug trafficking as a senior leader of the Sinaloa cartel and he was arrested again in July of 2022 during a raid by the Mexican Navy that resulted in the deaths of 14 Mexican Marines in a helicopter crash, according to a report from CNN. DEA acting administrator Derek Malts said Thursday, quote,

Kano Kintaro, a cartel kingpin, who unleashed violence, destruction, and death across the United States and Mexico, has spent four decades, atop DEA's most wanted fugitive list, and today, we can proudly say he's arrived in the U.S. where justice will be served, end quote. He added that Quintero's extradition represented an extremely personal victory for the men and women of the DEA, as well as the Camarena family. The extraditions come as Trump threatened earlier on Thursday to impose a 25% tariff on Mexican imports starting next week over what he said was their continued failure to combat drug trafficking along the U.S. southern border. The extraditions were announced following a meeting in Washington on Thursday between U.S.

Secretary of State Marker Rubio and Mexico's foreign minister. Now, in the wake of these extraditions, we're also starting to learn how some of these drug lords were captured. According to an exclusive report from the Wall Street Journal, the CIA has been operating a covert drone program in Mexico in partnership with Mexico. Mexican authorities to spy on drug cartels and hunt down their leadership. The drones, many of them MQ9 reapers, operate out of Mexican airfields, employing surveillance technology that can capture a license plate from 20,000 feet above the ground. While only just coming to light publicly, the program has been operational from more than two decades, helping authorities map out cartel smuggling

operations and clandestine drug labs. The drones were reportedly instrumental, in the arrest of Sinoloa King Ben-Wakino Chapo Guzman back in 2013 and again in 2016, as well as his son Ovidio Guzman in 2023, who he had taken over cartel operations from his father. Just last week, the drones helped Mexican authorities track down another one of El Chapo's sons, Ivan Guzman, who has been fighting a turf war with factions within the Sinolawa cartel. If Thursday's extraditions are any indication, it appears pressure from the Trump administration has helped incentivize the Mexican government to bring their fight to the violent drug cartels with renewed vigor. And now, my friends, is the PDB afternoon bulletin for Friday 28 February.

Now, if you have any questions or comments, please reach out to me at pdb at thefirsttv.com. Finally, don't forget to check out this weekend's episode of our PDB situation report. As usual, the new episode launches tonight at 10 p.m. on the first TV, and is also available on our YouTube channel, and you can find our YouTube channel at President's Daily Brief, and wherever you get your podcast stuff. We have great guests this weekend, Robert Greenway, former senior advisor to President Trump, and Daniel Turner of the Energy-focused organization, Power the Future. We're talking Gaza, the fragile ceasefire, Ukraine, energy independence in the U.S., and more. Check it out, please. So that would be please check.

I'm Mike Baker, and I'll be back over the weekend with the BDB Situation Report. Until then, stay informed. Stay safe. Stay cool. Yamava Resort and Casino at San Manuel is California's number one entertainment destination for today's superstars. Catch the Jonas Brothers return to the Yamava Theater stage on April 30th, the powerful vocals of Demi Lovato on May 17th, and the signature Southern Country Rock of Eric Church on July 19th. Tickets on sale now at Yamava Theater.

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