The President's Daily Brief - PDB Afternoon Bulletin | May 20th, 2025: Report: Trump Threatens To 'Abandon' Israel & Russia Launches Fresh Drone Attacks After Trump-Putin Call

Episode Date: May 20, 2025

In this episode of The PDB Afternoon Bulletin:  First, a bombshell report out of the Washington Post is claiming that the Trump administration has threatened to abandon Israel if they do not end the war in Gaza. But the White House is pushing back, calling the claim “absurd.” We’ll have the details. Later in the show—despite President Trump’s efforts to broker ceasefire negotiations between Ukraine and Russia, the war shows no signs of slowing. Ukraine and Russia accused each other of launching fresh drone attacks overnight, just hours after Trump spoke directly with Vladimir Putin about reviving direct talks between Kyiv and Moscow. 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 TriTails Premium Beef: Visit https://TryBeef.com/PDB for 2 free Flat Iron steaks with your first box over $250 Birch Gold: Text PDB to 989898 and get your free info kit on gold Jacked Up Fitness: Go to https://GetJackedUp.com and use code BAKER at checkout to save 10% off your entire purchase Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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All right, let's get briefed. First up, a bombshell report out of the Washington Post is claiming that the Trump administration has threatened to abandon Israel if they don't end the war in Gaza. But the White House is pushing back, calling the claim, quote, absurd. We'll have the details. Later in the show, despite the Trump administration's efforts to broker-seas-fire negotiations between Ukraine and Russia, the war, well, shows no signs of slowing. Ukraine and Russia accused each other of launching fresh drone attacks overnight, just hours after Trump spoke directly with Putin about reviving direct talks between Kiev and Moscow.

But first, today's afternoon spotlight. The White House is slamming an anonymously sourced report from the Washington Post, claiming that President Trump has threatened to, quote, abandon Israel if they don't end the war in Gaza. Oh, look, an entire story based on an anonymous source. There, is rigorous, objective journalism at its finest. The source told the post that there is a growing fissure between the Trump administration and Israeli leaders, particularly over the ongoing fight against Hamas in Gaza and Israel's expanded ground operations that began this weekend in the battered enclave. The report claims that the president has been steadily increasing pressure on the government of Prime Minister Netanyahu and even threatened to leave Israel isolated on the international stage if they don't change course. The source says,

said, quote, Trump has been letting Israel know, we will abandon you if you do not end this war, end quote. Well, the White House did not take too kindly to the allegations with multiple administration officials denying the report as a baseless attempt to drive a wedge between the U.S. and Israel, which have enjoyed a particularly close relationship since Trump returned to the Oval Office. One official bluntly told the Jerusalem post, quote, that is a lie. The idea that we would abandon Israel is absurd, end quote. Now, U.S. National Security Council spokesperson James Hewitt later told an Israeli publication, quote, Israel has never had a better friend in history than President Trump. Well, although, to be fair, Moses was a pretty solid pal.

Hewitt added that we continue to work closely with Israel to secure the release of the hostages, ensure that Iran never obtains nuclear weapons, and strengthen regional security in the Middle East, end quote. U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee issued a similar denial saying, quote, their reporting is nonsense. They need to listen to what the president says, not what some uninformed source pretends to know. Now, the Washington Post report came just a few days after Israel launched a large-scale ground offensive across the Gaza Strip as part of a major new offensive that aims to dismantle Hamas's remaining military capabilities and to take full control of the enclave. When asked about the campaign at a press briefing on Monday, White House press secretary Caroline Leavitt

said the president, quote, has made it very clear he wants to see this conflict in the region end. The statement raised some eyebrows as it was hardly a ringing endorsement of the new Israeli operation. So, you ask yourself, is there any truth to the reports of some diplomatic friction between the White House and leaders in Jerusalem? Well, we know that Israeli leaders have been a bit miffed by some of Trump's recent foreign policy moves, and yes, that's the first time I've used the word mift in the PDB. The president bypassed Israel to negotiate a ceasefire with the Iranian backtroutis in Yemen, securing a deal that did not include protections for the Jewish state. He again bypassed Israel last week to directly negotiate with Hamas, securing the release of the last surviving American

hostage in Gaza. Additionally, Israeli leaders are on edge over Trump's decision to engage in diplomacy for a new nuclear deal with Iran, as many have advocated for an aggressive military approach. Finally, Trump opted not to visit Israel during his Middle East tour this past week, where he struck major investment deals with the wealthy Gulf countries, including Qatar, a state that's long accused of aiding Hamas financially. Other White House officials told Axios on Tuesday that while the claims that Trump is pressuring Israel or issuing threats to abandon them are false. Well, the president is growing frustrated by the lack of progress to end the war in Gaza and is particularly upset by the images of suffering Palestinian children. They say the president

has told Nanyahu he would like to see operations in Gaza wrap up soon. The official stressed of the relationship remains strong, but that the two leaders have some differences of opinion on the best path forward. One White House official told Axios, quote, the president is frustrated about what is happening in Gaza. He wants the war to end. He wants the hostages to come home, he wants aid to go in, and he wants to start rebuilding Gaza, end quote. It's worth noting that on Monday Netanyahu partially lifted the blockade of humanitarian aid into Gaza to address the threat of famine, and that's a move that is thought to have been influenced in part by the Trump White House. We should also mention that even his ground operations ramped up

this weekend, Netanyahu signaled a willingness to wind down the conflict, saying Monday that it'll end the war, quote, if the remaining hostages are released, Hamas lays down its arms, its murderous leaders are exiled, and Gaza is demilitarized. But Hamas continues to reject such terms, making a diplomatic breakthrough, well, unlikely. A White House official told Axios, quote, the president sees a real chance for peace and prosperity in the region, but added, quote, there is a lot of frustration by this crisis getting dragged on. Coming up next, despite President Trump's efforts to broker ceasefire negotiations between Ukraine and Russia, the war shows no signs of letting up. You know, it's almost like Putin isn't serious about ending his invasion.

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Trump. Ukraine's Air Force on its Telegram Channel reported that Moscow launched 108 Iranian-made Shahed drones, of which 35 were reportedly shot down, another 58 jammed along with decoy drones in an attempt to overwhelm defenses. At least four eastern Ukrainian regions reported damage, although the officials said full assessments are still ongoing. Meanwhile, Russia's defense ministry claimed it downed eight Ukrainian drones, part of a growing pattern of cross-border attacks that have become near-nightly occurrences, as both sides settle into an attritional style of warfare. The barrage unfolded in the shadow of a nearly two-hour phone call between Trump and Putin,

as we discussed on today's PDB. Trump phoned in from the Oval Office, while Putin called from a music school in the Black Sea Resort City of Sochi, in the most direct effort yet by the Trump administration, to re-engage Moscow in talks. While the call was cast by both sides as relatively positive, it quickly became clear that expectations, or perhaps hopes, at least on the U.S. side, were outpacing. reality. Following the conversation, Trump told reporters that ceasefire talks would begin, quote, immediately, and that, quote, something is going to happen. But Putin signaled that Moscow was only

open to a temporary truce, and even then, only if, quote, corresponding agreements were reached. Kremlin aid Yuri Ushikov confirmed that there was no agreed upon timeline, no mechanism, and no concrete steps in place. Well, that sounds promising. Ukrainian President Zelensky responded with skepticism to the talks. In opposed to social media following a relay call with Trump, Zelensky accused Putin of using the ceasefire talks as a stalling tactic, saying, quote, it's obvious that Russia is trying to buy time in order to continue its war and occupation, end quote. That view was echoed by one of Zelensky's advisors, who said bluntly, quote, unfortunately, following the Trump-Puton phone call, the status quo has not changed, end quote. European leaders have responded to the

by stepping up pressure on Moscow. German Chancellor Friedrich Mertz said in a post to X that new sanctions would be introduced following Trump's private briefing with European allies. For now, though, Washington appears to be holding fire on additional sanctions. The Trump administration's calculus appears to be that pressuring Moscow too early could derail the possibility of meaningful talks, however remote that they might be. Of course, Putin's war on Ukraine is over three years old, so I suppose you could ask, when is actually too early to increase the pressure on the Kremlin?

Zelensky confirmed that discussions are underway to determine a venue for the next round of diplomacy. The mission remains the same, secure a ceasefire and chart an off-ramp from a war that, well, right now, shows no signs of slowing. And that, my friends, is the PDB afternoon bulletin for Tuesday the 20th of May. Now, if you have any questions or comments, please reach out to me at PDB at the first TV, And as I'm sure you've heard on the nightly news, if you want to listen to the show ad-free, well, you can do that simply by becoming a premium member of the President's Daily Brief by visiting PDB Premium.com. And finally, if you get a minute of free time in your busy day, be sure to take a peek at

our YouTube channel. You can find that at President's Daily Brief. It's frankly everything you want in a YouTube channel. Take a look. I'm Mike Baker, and I'll be back tomorrow. Until then, well, stay informed. Stay safe. Stay cool.

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