The President's Daily Brief - PDB Afternoon Bulletin | February 3rd, 2025: Mexico & Panama Capitulate To US Demands & Trump Moves To Gut Major US Aid Agency

Episode Date: February 3, 2025

In this episode of The PDB Afternoon Bulletin:   First, President Donald Trump’s unique foreign policy strategy is starting to yield results, as Mexico partially caves over Trump’s tariff threats, and Panama makes a big concession aimed at curbing China’s influence over their vital canal. Then, we’ll discuss this weekend’s drama over the U.S. Agency for International Development, or USAID, after Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency seized control of USAID’s headquarters and locked out their employees, vowing to dismantle what officials say is an agency beyond reform. 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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on the world stage. Let's get briefed. First up, President Trump's unconventional foreign policy strategy appears to be starting to yield results, as Mexico appears to somewhat capitulate to Trump's tariff threats. And Panama makes a significant concession aimed at curbing China's influence over the vital Panama Canal. Then, we'll discuss this weekend's drama over at the U.S. Agency for International Development or USAID after Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency seized control of USAID's headquarters and locked out their employees, vowing to dismantle what administration officials say is an agency beyond reform.

But first, our afternoon spotlight. It appears that President Trump's approach to foreign policy, well, may be paying dividends. As PDB listeners know, Trump imposed 25% tariffs on goods from Mexico and Canada on Saturday, largely over concerns about illegal immigration and fentanyl trafficking, as well as current imbalances in the North American Free Trade Pact. But the tariffs immediately stoked fears that Trump's approach could ignite a trade war with two of America's top economic partners. Mexican President Claudia Scheinbaum had recently promised to retaliate. with tariffs of her own if Trump moved forward.

But on Monday morning, well, she appeared to take a different approach. President Trump announced Monday that he's pausing the 25% tariff on Mexico for one month after Shinebaum agreed to immediately deploy 10,000 Mexican soldiers to the U.S. border to stem the flow of fentanyl and illegal migrants. Trump said that Secretary of State Marka Rubio and others in his administration would spearhead further negotiations with Mexico during the tariff pause, adding, quote, I look forward to participating in those negotiations as we attempt to achieve a deal between our two countries, end quote. Now, Canadian leaders, on the other hand, well, they're digging in their heels.

Over the weekend, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau condemned the move and announced he would impose 25% retaliatory tariffs on more than $100 billion in U.S. goods. It's important to note, however, that Trump briefly spoke with Trudeau on Monday morning and said he has another call scheduled for Monday afternoon, although he didn't elaborate on the nature of the discussions. Turning further south, Trump's return to the Oval Office has also come with threats of territorial expansion, with much of his attention focused on combating China's expanding influence, over the Panama Canal. The canal handles roughly 40% of U.S. container traffic. Secretary of State Rubio traveled to Panama over the weekend on his first foreign trip as

America's top diplomat and secured major concessions from Panamanian President Jose Raul Molino. As we've discussed here on the PDB, Trump continues to threaten to reclaim the Panama Canal, which was turned over to Panama as part of a 1977 treaty. Days before Rubio's visit, Molino said that discussions about the canal were off the table, but apparently, canal discussions did make it back onto the table. While Molino said Panama's claim over the canal was still not up for debate, he was willing to address Trump's concerns over Beijing's growing influence on the critical waterway. As a reminder, Panama established diplomatic relations with China in place of Taiwan back in 2017.

and Beijing has since undertaken significant infrastructure developments near the waterway. But Molino said Sunday that his country would not renew their agreements with Beijing under China's Belt and Road Initiative, which will make them the first Latin American country to leave China's vaunted global infrastructure development project. He said the agreement is due for renewal in, quote, a year or two, but said that his government would study whether it can be finished earlier or not. Instead, Panama will seek to work with the U.S. on new investments for infrastructure projects, dealing a significant blow to Beijing's strategic interests in the region. Molino said, quote, I think this visit opens the door to build new relations and try to increase as much as possible U.S. investments in Panama.

Meanwhile, Rubio pailed the development as, quote, a great step forward for U.S.-Panamo relations, a free Panama Canal, and another example of President Trump's leadership to protect our national security and deliver prosperity for the American people." Coming up, over the weekend, well, chaos ensued at the U.S. Agency for International Development or USAID after Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency seized control of USAID's headquarters and locked out their employees, vowing to dismantle what administration officials say is an agency beyond reform. I'll be right back. Starting a business can seem like a daunting task,

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Up front payment of $45 for three-month plan equivalent to $15 per month required. Intro rate first three months only, then full price plan options available. Taxes and Feas Feasful Terms at MintMobile.com Welcome back to the afternoon bulletin. It appears that some major changes are coming to USAID. That's the agency responsible for distributing civilian foreign aid, humanitarian aid, and development assistance worldwide. The agency has long been considered an important instrument of projecting American soft power.

According to reports, the once independent agency will now be merged into the U.S. State Department and we'll see major cuts in its workforce. The agency went into crisis mode this weekend, as the Department of Government Efficiency, or Doge, seized control of the agency's headquarters, locking out over 600 employees, and placing dozens of senior officials on administrative leave. USAID saw its operations grind to a halt

as Doge assumed control. By Sunday, the agency's signage had been stripped from the Ronald Reagan building in Washington. and how about that? And an internal email sent to remaining staff stated, quote, at the direction of agency leadership, the headquarters would be closed to personnel on 3 February. Doge's head, of course the billionaire tech mogul Elon Musk,

placed more than 50 senior staff members on administrative leave under a gag order, according to senior congressional sources who spoke to Fox News. The takeover has ignited national security concerns. The Associated Press reported that the Trump had mentioned, administration placed two top security chiefs at USAID on leave after refusing to grant Doge personnel access to classified intelligence, citing their lack of proper security clearances. Initially blocked, Doge operatives ultimately gained access to intelligence reports and other restricted materials by Saturday. Musk has aggressively defended the overhaul, arguing that USAID is beyond reform. In an ex-space's

conversation, he claimed that President Trump shared his view that the agency should be dismantled entirely. Musk described the agency as, quote, a bowl of worms, insisting that it was too corrupt to be salvaged. In a string of posts on X, Musk went even further, branding USAID, a, quote, criminal organization, and a vipers nest of radical left Marxists who hate America, end quote. Trump echoed those sentiments, stating that USAID has been run by a, quote, bunch of radical lunatics, and his administration was, quote, getting them out, end quote. Now, speaking from Joint Base Andrews, Trump praised Musk's leadership and his cost-cutting measures, stating, quote, I do think Elon is doing a good job. He's a big cost cutter. He's a smart guy,

very smart, and he's very much into cutting the budget of our federal government. end quote. The upheaval at USAID follows Secretary of State Mark Arrubio's move last month to pause all U.S. foreign aid under Trump's executive order. The 90-day suspension has forced aid organizations to lay off hundreds of employees who could no longer meet payroll, stalling humanitarian aid, development, and security programs worldwide. The restructuring, of course, has drawn fierce backlash from Democrats, which should surprise a total of zero people. New Jersey Senator Corey Booker condemned the move, accusing Trump and Musk of, quote, recklessly and illegally dismantling USAID. Booker warned that the shutdown would exasperate

global public health and migration crises worldwide. And that, my friends, is the PDB afternoon bulletin for Monday, 3 February. If you have any questions or comments, please reach out to me at PDB at thefirstTV.com. And as all the Hepcats know, to listen to the show ad-free while it's simple, 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 or crypto's trillion dollar swings. There's a money side to end. every story get the money side of the story subscribe now at bloomberg.com