The President's Daily Brief - PDB Afternoon Bulletin | March 20th, 2025: China's Massive 'Invasion Barges' Spotted & Israel Unleashes On Gaza Following Ceasefire Collapse

Episode Date: March 20, 2025

In this episode of The PDB Afternoon Bulletin:   First, China has unveiled their new "D-Day style" amphibious assault barges, an ominous sign regarding their potential plans to invade Taiwan. Later in the show, Israel unleashes a new wave of airstrikes overnight across Gaza following the collapse of their fragile ceasefire with Hamas, as the IDF prepares to ramp up ground operations in the battered enclave. 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

It's only getting every customer's order right. It's only a point-of-sale system connected by Spectrum fiber-powered business internet, helping you track hundreds of secure transactions. And it's all backed by 24-7 U.S.-based customer support and local technicians. It's only everything. Get business internet advantage free forever when you get four mobile lines from Spectrum. Visit Spectrum.com slash free-for-life to find out how. Restrictions apply.

Service is not available in all areas. It's Thursday, the 20th of March. Welcome to the PDB afternoon bulletin. I'm Mike Baker, your eyes and ears on the world stage. Let's get briefed. First up, China's new amphibious assault barges are sparking fresh concerns that the Chinese Communist Party, the CCP, is in the early stages, or at some stage, planning a potential full-scale invasion of Taiwan. Later in the show, Israel unleashes a new wave of air strikes overnight across Gaza, following the collapse. of their fragile seats fire with Hamas, as the IDF prepares to ramp up ground operations in the enclave.

But first, today's afternoon spotlight. We'll start in China, where the regime's military has unveiled their new D-Day-style assault barges. That's an ominous sign regarding their potential plans to invade Taiwan. Footage recently emerged on Chinese social media platforms showing the Chinese Navy conducting what look to be amphibious landing exercises with the barges in the South China Sea. China has reportedly built at least five of these barges, which appear to draw inspiration from the portable mulberry harbors that were developed by Britain for the normative landings back in World War II.

They've got unique features that analysts say are tailored to facilitate a ground invasion from the sea. According to a report from the telegraph, each barge is equipped with an extendable road bridge that's about 400 feet long, roughly the length of one and a third football fields, capable of crossing water, mud, seawalls, mines, and other beach obstacles in order to reach coastal roads or firm ground beyond a beach. The design is meant to function as a floating retractable pier to allow troops and tanks, trucks, and other heavy equipment to be rapid offloaded directly onto shorelines. Responding to the footage, an analyst with naval news

remarked, quote, anyone wondering what an invasion of Taiwan might look like now has a fresh visual clue, end quote. Notably, the barges would allow the Chinese military to reach beaches previously considered unsuitable for amphibious landings without the need for first taking control of a Taiwanese port. Additionally, the barges feature stabilizing jack-up pill. for operation in poor weather conditions. They can also be connected to one another in an end-to-end configuration, which was seen during the recent exercises, effectively creating a lengthy bridge to an enemy shoreline. Naval analyst H.I. Sutton first reported on the barges back in January of this year, after photos emerged of them docked near the Guangzhou Shipyard,

that's in southern China. The vessels have reportedly been in development since 2022, but are believed to have been assembled last year over a period of just a few months. Sutton said they have limited civilian applications and appear, quote, tailor-made for an amphibious assault on Taiwan. While the recent footage of the barges was quickly scrubbed from social media, the fact that China allowed details of these vessels to leak to the public suggests the CCP wants to send a message to Taiwan and the West that they have the capabilities to swiftly take the island. It's a noteworthy development, particularly since U.S. military officials have long said that China lacks the capability to mount a ground invasion from the sea on Taiwan. An analyst with the Council on Geostrategie

explained to the telegraph, quote, a core problem for China in invading Taiwan is getting the necessary heavy equipment over the strait, and the solution to that problem is what we're seeing with these barges, and quote. Traditionally, Taiwan has relied on its natural geography and limited beach landing sites for defense, but the reach of these new barges, well, could change that equation, complicating Taiwan's defense strategies and allowing Beijing to bypass heavily defended ports. While these developments don't signal an imminent invasion, of course, given the CCP's continued military harassment of the island democracy, which escalated significantly throughout 2024, it's, international observers are growing anxious. It comes amid concerns over the CCP's expanded naval fleet,

which now has more ships than the U.S. Navy. And, I suppose, an interesting factoid to wrap up this segment, since 2019, China has built the equivalent of the entire British Royal Navy, producing at least 39 warships. Coming up next, Israel unleashes a new wave of air strikes overnight across Gaza, following the collapse of their fragile ceasefire with Hamas. I'll be right back. Ryan Reynolds here for MintMobil. I don't know if you knew this, but anyone can get the same premium wireless for $15 a month plan that I've been enjoying.

It's not just for celebrities, so do like I did and have one of your assistance assistants to switch you to MintMobil today. I'm told it's super easy to do at mintmobile.com slash switch. 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 fees extra. Seeful terms at mintmobile.com.

I wrote a little song to remind you, choice hotels get you more of the experiences you value. The can be a hotel's got it all. A rooftop bar, have a ball. Bring a date, your squad or even your mom. Book direct at choiceotails.com. Welcome back to the afternoon bulletin. Israel pummeled Gaza overnight in a new wave of airstrike. reportedly killing dozens, as the IDF ramps up its renewed ground operations following the collapse

of the fragile ceasefire earlier this week. According to hospital reports cited by the Associated Press, at least 58 people were killed in the latest round of Israeli bombardment, adding to the mounting death toll since the resumption of hostilities on Tuesday. The offensive, now in full swing once again, centers on Israel's demand for the release of hostages, while Hamas has outright rejected updated ceasefire terms. As it stands, 59 hostages remain in Gaza with Israeli intelligence, assessing that at least 34 of those are dead. The first phase of the ceasefire saw Hamas release 25 living hostages

and returned the bodies of eight others in exchange for around 2,000 Palestinian prisoners. But Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu, defended the decision to resume military action, arguing that Hamas had repeatedly stalled and refused to free more captives. In a video posted on X, the prime minister said, quote, for the past two weeks, Israel did not initiate any military action, hoping Hamas would change course. Well, that didn't happen, end quote. Israel holds Hamas responsible for shattering the truce, accusing the terror group of stonewalling negotiations. Hamas, in turn, claims Netanyahu violated the agreement and is putting hostages, quote,

at risk of an unknown fate. On the ground, the IDF on Wednesday confirmed that its forces are conducting targeted activities in Gaza seeking to reclaim strategic territory. This includes expanding the security zone of the Netserim corridor, that's a critical strip of land that divides northern and southern Gaza. It's worth noting that the corridor had been cleared during the January ceasefire, by Israel, briefly allowing hundreds of thousands of Palestinians to move between the two regions. But with movement now is restricted again, Israel has warned that Hamas' refusal to release more

hostages will carry consequences. Israeli defense minister Israel Cats doubled down on those warnings, issuing a direct message to Gaza's inhabitants, stating that evacuations from battle zones will, quote, begin again soon. Katz also invoked the advice from President Trump, urging Hamas to release the remaining hostages and to disband, telling Palestinians that doing so will open other options for them, quote, including going to other places in the world, pushing, of course, for their self-removal from the enclave. The resumption of warfare has ignited mass protests in Israel. By late Wednesday, thousands of demonstrators flooded the streets outside the Knesset in Jerusalem, accusing Netanyahu of prolonging the conflict to maintain.

his fractured coalition. Israeli police clashed with protesters, deploying crowd control measures and making at least a dozen arrests. By Thursday, Hamas retaliated with a fresh barrage of rocket fire, launching three long-range missiles from southern Gaza towards central Israel. Sirens blared across Tel Aviv as one rocket was intercepted, while the other two landed in open areas without causing injuries. With no immediate diplomatic breakthrough on the horizon, the ceasefire collapse has set the stage

for renewed fighting that obviously complicates U.S. and regional mediation efforts to forge a lasting truce. And that, my friends, is the PDB afternoon bulletin for Thursday the 20th of March. If you have any questions or comments, please reach out to me at pdb at thefirsttv.com. And as you are undoubtedly aware, if you'd like to listen to you. to the show ad-free, as simply become a premium member of the president's daily brief by visiting PDB Premium.com. It could not be any easier. 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

every story. Get the money side of the story. Subscribe now at Bloomberg.com.