The President's Daily Brief - PDB Afternoon Bulletin | May 24th, 2024: Putin's Ceasefire Ploy & The Border Agent Exodus Under Biden

Episode Date: May 24, 2024

In this episode of The PDB Afternoon Bulletin:    We’ll investigate reports claiming Vladamir Putin is open to a ceasefire with Ukraine that recognizes the current battlefield lines, as western officials warn it's a head-fake meant to stir divisions within NATO regarding support for the war. Amid the ongoing migrant crisis, a new report reveals that the U.S. Border Patrol has lost nearly 25 percent of their agents since President Joe Biden assumed office. 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 PDB Afternoon Bulletin.  Email: [e-mail] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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your eyes and ears on the world stage. Let's get briefed. First, we'll investigate reports, claiming that Russian President Putin is open to a ceasefire with Ukraine that recognizes the current battlefield lines, as Western officials warn that it's simply a head fake meant to stir divisions within NATO regarding support for the war. So basically, Putin is saying he's open to talking about a ceasefire as long as he dictates the terms. Also, amid the ongoing migrant crisis, a new report reveals that the U.S. Border Patrol has lost nearly 25 percent of their agents since President Biden assumed office. But first, our afternoon spotlight. A report from Reuters suggests Russian President Putin wants a ceasefire deal in Ukraine, or at least wants to act like

he wants a ceasefire deal in Ukraine. Now, remember, Putin also said he wants a ceasefire deal in Ukraine. Now, remember, For Putin also said he wasn't going to invade Ukraine a couple years ago before he then invaded Ukraine. My point being, I don't know, maybe Putin isn't completely trustworthy. Shocking. To that point, analysts have been quick to warn that this is likely an attempt to spread dissent among NATO members who have grown somewhat weary of the conflict, as Russia presses forward with their latest offensive in northeastern Ukraine. citing five unnamed Russian sources who either currently work with or have worked with Putin at a senior level,

Reuters said Putin is ready to negotiate a ceasefire that recognizes the current battlefield minds, but is prepared to fight long term if Ukraine and their Western allies fail to respond. Now, this is likely not a serious proposal, and by that I mean it's not a serious proposal, given the fact that such an arrangement would leave Putin with nearly 20% of Ukraine's territory and generally be seen as tantamount to surrendering by Ukrainian leaders. Putin knows this, and many are warning that this is simply a brazen attempt to position Russia as the responsible party in the conflict ahead of future escalations. The Russian sources, however, claim that Putin recently expressed his frustration regarding the war to a small group of advisors, lamenting that

Ukrainian President Zelensky's decision to rule out talks and alleged attempts by the West to undermine efforts to negotiate. They added that Putin feels he's seized enough Ukrainian territory to paint it as a victory for Russia over the West. Putin also reportedly fears Russia cannot make a significant breakthrough on Ukraine's front lines without another mass mobilization of Russian conscripts, which Putin has shied away from given significant public opposition within Russia. Now, while all that sounds plausible, Russia's current military preparations appear to betray their rhetoric about peace. Russian forces ran drills along their border this week with tactical nuclear weapons, and Putin traveled to Belarus on Friday for talks with ally Alexander Lukashenko

regarding nuclear weapons that Russia moved into his country last year. That's according to a report by the telegraph. Skeptics also noted the report comes just a week after Putin's summit in China, with Xi Jinping, where Putin thanked Xi for his supposed efforts to broker a peace agreement between Russia and Ukraine. As a reminder, last year, China issued a vague proposal aimed at ending the war, which called for a ceasefire and for direct talks between Moscow and Kiev. But it was widely rejected by the international community for failing to call on Russia to withdraw from occupied regions of Ukraine. Samuel Romani, a leading expert on international relations from the University of Oxford told the telegraph, quote,

Putin is effectively harnessing the immediate ceasefire component of China's peace proposal to present a good faith image, knowing that Ukraine will not accept this, end quote. Officials in Ukraine appeared to agree, calling the ceasefire remarks, quote, rather disgusting. A senior aide to Zelensky said the call for peace was disingenuous, saying, quote, Putin is once again mockingly offering democracies to lose, to kneel down, end quote. Ukrainian officials intend to outline their vision for ending the war at a peace summit in Switzerland next month. Officials warned that Putin's comments were also geared at derailing those talks by sending out false signals about their willingness to negotiate.

Russia has previously called that summit in Switzerland pointless and said they will not attend, well, in part because they weren't invited. Leaders in Kiev have long maintained that any peace agreement would require a complete withdrawal of Russian troops and the restoration of territories seized by Russia. Putin has made it clear that he would never agree to such a proposal, particularly at a time when he feels like he may have an edge in the war. Coming up after the break, we'll look at a report that reveals unprecedented numbers of Border Patrol agents have fled the agency under the leadership of the Biden administration. I'll be right back. Kayak gets my flight, hotel, and rental car right. so I can tune out travel advice that's just plain wrong.

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A review of staffing data from U.S. Customs and Border Protection by the Washington examines, found that more than 4,200 federal agents have left the Border Patrol since October 2020. The number of agents who have chosen to retire early has roughly doubled under Biden when compared with the rates seen under former presidents Trump and Barack Obama. A senior Border Patrol official who spoke anonymously to the examiner said, quote, the administration is so bad for morale. I'm not trying to be political. I'm just speaking facts. It's become so political.

catch and release is demoralizing for agents, end quote. The numbers include those who quit were forced to retire and those who chose to retire early as soon as they reached the eligible age. For context, between 2014 and 2021, the agency averaged roughly 257 early retirements per year. Well, that average has now doubled. It's surged to roughly 529 agents per year since 2021. Despite the significant drop in numbers for the Border Patrol, officials with the agency played down the declines. According to the examiner's report, they claimed their attrition rate

has stayed between 4% and 6% and has not had a major impact on their workforce. Now, agents in the field appeared to strongly disagree. An agent based in Arizona told the examiner, quote, under Biden, things are the worst they have ever been by far. Agents are calling in all the time, you always hear it doesn't matter or what's the point in reference to doing our job, end quote. As we discussed earlier this week, the strain on Border Patrol agents isn't just manifesting in an exodus from the agency. A recent investigation by the free press found that the rate of suicides within the agency has also surged in recent years. There were 14 suicides among agents in 2022, nearly double the amount from 2020 before Biden took office and three times the amount

recorded in 2014. According to the free press, some agents called their treatment by the White House, quote, a betrayal. Meanwhile, we're still on track to break records in terms of illegal border crossings this year. Look at that. We're on track to break a record. CBB records show the first six months of fiscal year 2024 had more than 1.3 million total encounters. And that doesn't include, remember, the known godaways, and that's exceeding the first six months of fiscal year 2023, which also set records. And that, my friends, is the PDB afternoon bulletin for Friday 24 May. If you have any questions or comments, please reach out to me at pdb at thefirsttv.com. And remember, if you want to listen to the show ad-free, be sure to check out our premium membership at pdbpremium.com.

and catch our extended weekend news show, the PDB Situation Report, airing tonight and every Friday night at 10 p.m. on the first TV, and available on all podcast platforms and our YouTube channel at President's Daily Brief on Saturday mornings. I'm Mike Baker. I'll be back with the Situation Report over the weekend. Until then, stay informed. Stay safe. Stay cool.