The President's Daily Brief - PDB Afternoon Bulletin | March 5th, 2025: The US 'Reclaims' The Panama Canal & White House Designates Yemen's Houthis A Foreign Terrorist Organization

Episode Date: March 5, 2025

In this episode of The PDB Afternoon Bulletin:   We'll kick things off with President Trump's address to Congress last night, where he declared that the U.S. is "reclaiming the Panama Canal." His statement comes as we learn that asset manager BlackRock has struck a billion dollar deal to place the canal's ports under U.S. control. Later in the show, Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced Tuesday that the Trump administration has officially designated the Iranian-backed Houthi rebels of Yemen as a foreign terrorist organization, reimposing a label that former President Joe Biden had lifted. 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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I'm Mike Baker, your eyes and ears on the world stage. All right, let's get briefed. We'll kick things off with President Trump's address to Congress last night. Did you catch that? Where he declared that the U.S. is, quote, reclaiming the Panama Canal. His statement comes as we learn that the asset manager BlackRock has struck a billion-dollar deal to place the canal's ports under U.S. control. Later in the show, Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced Tuesday,

that the Trump administration has officially designated the Iranian-backed Houthi rebels of Yemen as a foreign terrorist organization, reimposing a label that former President Biden had lifted during his administration. But first, today's afternoon spotlight. We'll begin today with President Trump's address to a joint session of Congress Tuesday evening, where he touted his administration's rapid early moves to reign in government and reshape the geopolitical landscape. The speech largely focused on the Trump administration's achievement state side, touching on his blitzkrieg of executive actions over the past six weeks. The record drop in illegal migrant encounters at the U.S. border, efforts to overhaul the federal workforce, and cut fraud, and his quest to unleash American energy by slashing

the regulatory state. He framed his actions thus far as a, quote, common-sense revolution proclaiming, quote, America is back, though the speech drew regular jeers from Democrats, though, that's surprising, some of whom walked out of the chamber in protest. On the foreign policy front, Trump touted his use of tariffs to reshape America's economic relationship with our allies, asking the American people to bear with any economic turbulence that the policies may cause in the short term. He also signed his willingness to sign a minerals deal with Ukraine to accelerate an end to the war with Russia, and vowed to bring peace to the Middle East by expanding the Abraham Accords from his first term. But I want to focus in on the

president's remarks regarding the Panama Canal, which he's long said he intends to take back from the Panamanian government, citing the threat of China's growing influence at the canal's ports. For some context, the American-built canal has been solely controlled by the Panamanian government for 25 years, after the U.S. ended its joint partnership in controlling the strategic waterway back in 1999. On Tuesday evening, Trump said, quote, to further enhance our national security, our administration will be reclaiming the Panama Canal, and we've already started doing it. He continued, quote, we didn't give it to China, we gave it to Panama, and we're taking it back, end quote. Now, Trump highlighted a deal, announced Tuesday,

led by the American asset firm BlackRock and a consortium of investors, which have close ties to the White House to place the Canal's ports under U.S. control. The deal, valued at $22.8 billion, will see Hong Kong-based conglomerate C.K. Hutchinson, which operates two of the four major ports at the canal's entrances, sell their stake to the group of U.S. and Swiss investors. That's according to a report by NBC News. Under the terms of the tentative agreement, agreement announced Tuesday, the U.S.-led consortium will gain control of 80% of C.K. Hutchinson subsidiary Hutchinson ports, which operates 43 ports in 23 countries around the world. They'll also acquire 90% of Panama ports, which operates the Balboa port on the Pacific side

of the canal and the Christobal port on the Atlantic side. Sources familiar with the potential sale said the White House and members of Congress were briefed on the matter earlier on Tuesday. While the Chinese firm C.K. Hutchinson denied that their move to sell had anything to do with politics, Trump touted it Tuesday night as a major victory, implying it was a result of diplomatic pressure exerted by his administration. As a reminder, the economic importance of the canal to America is hard to overstate. Roughly 40% of the U.S. container traffic relies on the vital waterway, with roughly 70% of all vessels traversing the canal, either traveling to or from American ports. But Trump feels the U.S. gave away the canal to Panama

for nothing, and that China had moved in and essentially captured the strategic trade route. It's worth noting that Panama established diplomatic relations with China in place of Taiwan in 2017, and Beijing quickly undertook significant infrastructure developments near the waterway. Officials with U.S. Southern Command have long expressed concern over China's activity in the region, particularly their stake in the two ports covered by Black Rock's acquisition, warning that it could enable the Chinese Communist Party to influence canal operations. There were also concerns that China would introduce surveillance technology into the canal's infrastructure in order to monitor U.S. naval and commercial movements.

While Panama has rejected accusations that China essentially controls the canal, they did agree to abandon their agreements with Beijing under China's Belt and Road Initiative, following a visit from Secretary of State Marco Rubio in early February. That decision, condemned by leaders in Beijing, made Panama the first Latin American country to leave China's vaunted global infrastructure development project and appears to have opened the doors for U.S. investment. Coming up next, reversing another Biden-era policy, Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced Tuesday that the Trump administration has officially redesignated the Iranian-backed Houthi rebels of Yemen as a foreign terrorist organization. I'll have those details when we come back. Whether it's a movie night or just midday, Skinny Pop is a salty snack that keeps on giving. Made with just three simple ingredients for an irresistibly delicious taste,

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The State Department has officially designated Yemen's Iran-backed Houtis as a foreign terrorist organization, fulfilling one of President Trump's foreign policy pledges upon taking office. Secretary of State Marker Rubio announced the long-expected decision on Tuesday, making clear that the United States, quote, will not tolerate any nation or entity that engages in business with the Khutis. Since Hamas launched its terror attack on Israel on 7 October 23, the Khutis have carried out over 100 attacks on commercial and military vessels in the Red Sea, threatening, of course, a vital artery for global trade. In his statement, Rubio emphasized that the desert is a crucial step in countering terrorist activities, stating, quote, today's action demonstrates

commitment to protecting our national security interests, the safety of the American people, and the security of the United States, end quote. Rubio added that the designation carries severe financial and legal penalties for any entity engaging with the terror group. The Iranian-backed Houthis have long been a destabilizing force in the region. After seizing Yemen's capital, Sana'a, in 2014, the Iran proxy entrenched themselves in a civil war that has devastated the country. While they remain heavily dependent on Tehran for weapons and logistical support, American intelligence assessments suggest that the Houthis operate with a degree of autonomy, particularly in maritime warfare, something that has made their Red Sea attacks even more

unpredictable. Trump formally reinstated the Houthis terrorist designation in January, reversing a Biden administration policy from 2021 that sought to facilitate humanitarian aid to Yemen. In an executive order, Trump justified the move by stating that the Houthi's actions, quote, threaten the security of American civilians and personnel in the Middle East, the safety of our closest regional partners, and the stability of global maritime trade, end quote. His decision, however, comes at a moment of growing volatility. As we've been tracking here on the PDB, Trump has repeatedly fled,

floated the idea of removing Palestinians from Gaza in a reconstruction plan contingent on a fully implemented ceasefire between Israel and Hamas. That proposal provoked a furious response from the Khouti leader who delivered a televised threat against both the U.S. and Israel, vowing retribution. In response, U.S. military officials are debating how best to neutralize the Khutis. Some advocate for a targeted counterterrorism strategy, pinpointing key terror operatives behind recent attacks, while others push for a broader military campaign aimed at dismantling the group's infrastructure. For now, U.S. forces continue protecting commercial and military vessels in the Red Sea from further Houthi aggression. The question is whether the U.S. will escalate

its confrontation with the terror group and how far it is potentially willing to go. And that, my friends, is the PDB afternoon bulletin for Wednesday afternoon 5 March. If you have any questions or comments, please reach out to me at PDB at thefirsttv.com. And of course, to listen to the show ad-free should you be interested in doing so, well, you can do it simply. Just become a premium member of the president's daily brief by visiting pdbpremium.com. See how simple. I'm Mike Baker.

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