The President's Daily Brief - PDB Afternoon Bulletin | March 10th, 2025: Germany Wants Nukes & Hamas Floats Five-To-Ten-Year Truce With Israel

Episode Date: March 10, 2025

In this episode of The PDB Afternoon Bulletin:   First, following President Trump’s sharp reversal of U.S. policies on Ukraine last week, European nations are now scrambling to find their own solutions to countering the aggression of Russia, with Germany and Poland eying a nuclear deterrent. Later in the show, the Hamas terrorist group has reportedly proposed a five-to-ten-year truce with Israel to end the war in Gaza, following direct talks with the Trump administration’s hostage affairs envoy. 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 Stash Financial: Go to https://Get.Stash.com/PDB Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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It's Monday, the 10th of March. Welcome to the PDB afternoon bulletin. I'm Mike Baker, your eyes and ears on the world stage. All right, let's get briefed. First up, following President Trump's sharp reversal of U.S. policies on Ukraine last week, European nations are now scrambling to find their own solutions to countering Russian aggression, with Germany and Poland considering a nuclear deterrent. Later in the show, the Hamas terrorist group has reportedly proposed a five to ten-year truce with Israel to end the war in Gaza, following direct talks with the Trump administration's hostage affairs envoy. But first, today's afternoon spotlight. As European nations begin to question whether they can rely on the U.S. for military protection from Russia,

leaders in Germany and Poland are now looking to arm themselves with nuclear weapons. I don't see how this could go wrong. German Chancellor-in-waiting Friedrich Mertz said Sunday, that he would like to see his country engage in talks with France and Britain, the only European nations, of course, with nuclear weapons, about sharing their stockpile, though he stressed that they were not a substitute for U.S. nuclear protection on the continent, and that's according to a report from Reuters. For context, a number of international treaties bound Germany to only engage in non-nuclear defense due to their history during World War II. However, they do participate in NATO weapons-sharing arrangements. Mertz, whose center-right Christian Democratic Union, won the largest

share of the vote in Germany's federal election in late February, is hoping to form a viable governing coalition by Easter alongside the Social Democratic SPD Party that would enable him to pursue increases in defense spending and potential nuclear sharing agreements with Britain and France. On Sunday, Mertz said, quote, sharing nuclear weapons is an issue that we need to talk about, We have to become stronger together in nuclear deterrence. We should talk with both countries, always also from the perspective of supplementing the American nuclear shield, which we, of course, want to see maintained, end quote. But it's not just Germany that has their eye on acquiring a nuclear deterrent. Mertz's remarks came just two days after Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said his country

was already engaged in serious talks to gain some of France's nuclear arsenal for protection. That's according to our report from the New York Post. Tusk said Friday, quote, Poland must pursue the most advanced capabilities, including nuclear and modern unconventional weapons. This is a serious race, a race for security, not for war, end quote. The remarks followed the EU's Emergency Summit in Brussels last Thursday, which aimed to boost defensive spending among the bloc's members,

after President Trump indefinitely paused U.S. military aid and intelligence sharing, to Ukraine. In blistering remarks following the summit, Tusk took Europe to task over their failure to take unified and decisive actions against Russia when they first invaded Ukraine more than three years ago. He argued that Moscow would have been helpless against a unified Europe, but said, quote, cowardice among the continent's leaders prevented them from mounting the proper response, leaving them now in a vulnerable position. Tusk told his Parliament Friday, quote, our deficit has been the lack of the will to act, having no confidence, and sometimes even cowardice." Given the current stakes of the war, with Russia pressing their perceived battlefield advantage

over a newly hamstrung Ukraine, Tusk argues that nuclear weapons are needed to ensure that Poland does not suffer the same fate as Ukraine. Tusk added that Poland is working to build an armed force of 500,000 soldiers and is instituting a nationwide plan to ensure every adult male in Poland undergoes military training. For context, Poland currently has an army of roughly 200,000, and that's the third largest in NATO after the U.S. and Turkey. Furthermore, Tusk signaled that Poland will likely withdraw from a number of international treaties banning the use of certain bombs and other munitions as they work to beef up their weapons stockpile, though he said Poland is committed to maintaining a strong relationship with the U.S., which provides Poland with

most of its weapons. Still, the Prime Minister warned that given the events of last week, the continent must prepare for a future where they cannot rely on the U.S. to come to their aid. Coming up next, Hamas has reportedly proposed a five-to-10-year truce with Israel to end the war in Gaza, after the Trump administration's hostage affairs envoy engaged in direct talks with the Iranian-backed terror group. I'll have those details when we come back. This podcast is brought to you in part by Stash. Now, saving and investing can feel impossible, but with Stash, it's not just possible, it's easy. Stash isn't just an investing app. It's a registered investment advisor that combines automated investing with dependable financial strategies to help you reach

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For the first time, Hamas has publicly floated the prospect of a long-term truce with Israel, proposing a five-to-10-10-year ceasefire that would see the terror group disarm and cede political control over Gaza, and that's drawing cautious optimism from American officials. President Trump's hostage affairs envoy, Adam Boland, who held direct talks with Hamas, called the proposal, quote, not a bad first offer in an interview with the Israeli public broadcaster Khan on Sunday, Under the proposed framework, the U.S. would be responsible for ensuring that Hamas does not rebuild its tunnel networks or resume terror activities in the enclave. Boler's initial mission was narrowly focused on securing the release of an American-Israeli

hostage believed to be alive, as well as retrieving the bodies of four American-Israeli dual citizens. But the scope of his negotiations quickly broadened, expanding into discussions over a ceasefire agreement that could take shape in. the coming weeks. Boler told CNN, they, quote, I believe there is enough there to make a deal between what Hamas wants and what they've accepted and what Israel wants and it's accepted, end quote. In an effort to ease Israeli skepticism, Boler has been in contact with Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermar. He's a top negotiator and Prime Minister Netanyahu's inner circle. His objective, he said, was to, quote, jumpstart some negotiations that were in a very fragile place,

and press Hamas on whether this offer was a genuine step toward de-escalation. According to Israeli authorities, Hamas is still holding 24 living hostages and the remains of 35 Israeli captives. A working-level Israeli delegation is expected to arrive in Qatar today, with Trump's Middle East envoy Steve Whitkoff following on Tuesday. These talks described by officials as the most serious round of Israel-Khamas talks since Trump took office, could determine whether the proposal has real traction or is dead on arrival. Yet the viability of any ceasefire agreement may ultimately hinge on Israeli domestic politics. Netanyahu is racing against the clock to pass the national budget by the 31st of March,

while his coalition remains bitterly divided over enlisting ultra-orthodox men to the military, as well as some budget disagreements. Failure to pass a budget could collapse the government, forcing new elections and throwing negotiations with Hamas into limbo. An anonymous source familiar with the talks told NPR that Netanyahu may prioritize resolving his political crisis before committing to any ceasefire deal, especially one that could provoke backlash from his hardline allies. And that, my friends, is the PDB afternoon bulletin for Monday, the 10th of March. If you have any questions or comments, please reach out to me at PDB at thefirstTV.com. And in the event that you've somehow missed this bit of important

news, if you'd like to listen to the show ad free, well, you can do that, simply 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. Ryan Reynolds here from Mintmobil, the message for everyone paying big wireless way too much. Please for the love of everything good in this world, stop. With Mint, you can get premium wireless for just $15 a month. Of course, if you enjoy overpaying, no judgments, but that's weird. Okay, one judgment.

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