The President's Daily Brief - PDB Afternoon Bulletin | October 24th, 2025: U.S. Bombers Buzz Venezuela & NATO Scrambles Over Europe

Episode Date: October 24, 2025

In this episode of The President’s Daily Brief:   A dramatic display of power off South America’s coast. Two U.S. B-1 bombers streaked past Venezuela’s shoreline in a bold show of force aimed at President Nicolás Maduro. We’ll break down what message Washington is sending—and how it fits into a broader military buildup in the region.   Later in the show—Spanish NATO jets scramble after Russian aircraft reportedly violate Lithuanian airspace, triggering another tense encounter near Europe’s eastern frontier.   To listen to the show ad-free, become a premium member of The President’s Daily Brief by visiting https://PDBPremium.com. Please remember to subscribe if you enjoyed this episode of The President's Daily Brief. YouTube: youtube.com/@presidentsdailybrief TriTails Premium Beef: Build the kind of tradition your family will remember. Visit https://trybeef.com/pdb Ridge Wallet: Upgrade your wallet today! Get 10% Off @Ridge with code PDB at https://www.Ridge.com/PDB #Ridgepod 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. First up, a dramatic display of power. Two American B-1 bombers flew past Venezuela's coastline, sending yet another message, President Nicholas Maduro as tensions in the region continue to rise. Later in the show, Spanish fighter jets scramble after Russian aircraft once again violate NATO airspace, triggering another tense standoff in Europe's skies. But first, today's afternoon spotlight. The United States, sent another message to Venezuelan President Nicholas Maduro this week. That's a lot of messages. Two U.S. Air Force B-1 bombers took off from Dias Air Base in Texas Thursday morning, heading south toward

Venezuela's coastline. Their flight path was picked up by open-source trackers. They're the train spotters of the skies, and later confirmed by senior U.S. officials, even as President Trump publicly denied, the mission took place. Multiple outlets, including the Wall Street Journal, Associated Press, and Fox News have since verified it. The B-1 Lancet, nicknamed the Bone, is a supersonic long-range heavy bomber designed to carry massive payloads of both conventional and nuclear weapons. It can fly intercontinental missions without refueling

and can skim just above terrain to avoid radar. These aircraft were also used for intelligence gathering and reconnaissance missions, giving them a dual purpose as both a strike and surveillance platform. But when the U.S. flies B1, near Venezuela, it isn't about launching an attack. It's about signaling capability. These planes represent one of America's most flexible tools for power projection. Their presence off Venezuela's coast serves as a reminder to Maduro, as if he needs one, that Washington can reach any point in the

Western Hemisphere within hours, and do so with overwhelming force if necessary. This latest show of force comes just a week after a similar bomber run. As we reported then, the Air Force and Marine Corps conducted joint maneuvers using B-52 bombers and F-35 fighter jets near an island off Venezuela's coast, the same area where Maduro's forces held military exercises just back in September. The bombers circled the region before returning home in what the Pentagon later called an attack demonstration. Together, these flights fit into a broader U.S. military buildup that we've been tracking here on the President's Daily Brief. That includes eight warships, a submarine, a P-8 maritime patrol, aircraft, MQ9 Reaper drones, two turtle doves, and an entire F-35 fighter squadron now positioned

throughout the Caribbean and Eastern Pacific. Each move appears designed to add pressure on Maduro's regime and signals to the region that Washington is prepared to act if its interests or personnel come under threat. Maduro, for his part, is trying to play both sides of the microphone. On Thursday, he issued a plea in English for peace, saying, quote, no crazy war, please, just a day after boasting about his country's air defenses. He claimed Venezuela has 5,000 Russian-made Igla-S anti-aircraft missiles positioned around key sites. Now, those are short-range, low-altitude systems, similar to American stingers, effective against drones or helicopters and slow planes, but not against a B-1 operating miles above the clouds. So while Caracas may try

to project strength, the reality is that Maduro's military has no real answer to American air power. Now, if you want more of a look at the U.S. pressure campaign on Venezuela and how it ties into the broader fight against Latin American cartels, you'll want to catch this weekend's PDB Situation Report. I'll be speaking with Epic Times Senior Investigator reporter Joshua Phillip about the Pentagon strategy and about China's quiet role behind the scenes. This latest episode of the Situation Report airs tonight at 10 p.m. on the first TV and can be found starting Saturday morning on our YouTube channel. Check that out. It's at President's Daily Brief, as well as on all your favorite podcast platforms. Coming up next, NATO jets scrambled, taking to the skies after Russian aircraft

allegedly entered Lithuanian airspace, reigniting tensions, of course, along Europe's front line. I'll be right back. Hey, Mike Baker here. Well, now, as you probably noticed, fall has arrived. I believe the fancy people call it autumn. And that means shorter days, colder nights, a fire in the fireplace, hopefully, and that season where families come together around the table for hearty comfort food and good conversation. And that's what Tritale's Premium Beef is all about. This is a terrific company. I want you to check them out. There are fifth generation ranching family out of Texas, still working their land, raising cattle the right way, and producing some of the best steaks and beef that you're ever going to taste, seriously. And it all gets shot.

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advancing about 700 meters from the neighboring Kalinigra. region before turning back. The incident prompted a swift reaction from NATO, which scrambled two Spanish Eurofighter typhoon jets from the Alliance's Baltic Air Policing Mission to escort the Russian aircraft out of Lithuanian airspace. That's according to a report from Fox News. While 18 seconds over Lithuania's borders may seem trivial, it's part of a wider and deliberate pattern by the Putin regime that appears designed to rattle NATO's eastern member states and probe the alliance's defenses. The messaging from the Kremlin appears to be, as the war continues to drag on, Russia is increasingly willing to test the limits of NATO's resolve, as well as the response

times of their military forces. The intent was not lost on Lithuanian's president, who said, quote, this evening, Russian military planes violated Lithuanian airspace. This is a blatant breach of international law and territorial integrity of Lithuania. Once again, it confirms the importance of strengthening European air defense readiness, end quote. Officials later announced that the Lithuanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs had summoned representatives from the Russian embassy to, quote, protest against reckless and dangerous behavior. Well, that should clear things up. The ministry added, quote, Russia must cease its aggressive behavior, respect international law,

and the borders of neighboring states. Well, I don't know. Hands up, who thinks that's not going to happen? But to no one's surprise, the Putin regime, there you go, is denying any breach of international law. Representatives for the Kremlin claimed that it's fighter jet. at which was accompanied by a refueling tanker, they were engaged in a planned training flight over Russia's Kalenigrad region, but said they did not, quote, violate the borders of other states. But radar tracking and data on the actual physical location of aircraft tell a different story.

As we've been tracking here on the PDB, over the past month, Russia has routinely violated NATO's territory with aircraft and drone incursions, most recently in Poland, Estonia, Romania, and Denmark. The provocations have fueled concerns about Moscow's alleged hybrid warfare campaign and the prospect that the Putin regime could expand its aggression beyond Ukraine's borders in the future. Russia's expanded use of drones over Baltic and Nordic airspace has exposed Europe's vulnerabilities in real time. In recent months, these drones have grounded civilian flights, triggered alerts at NATO bases, and menaced energy infrastructure like hydroelectric power plants. I should note that the use of the Kaliningrad region is significant,

as the territory is sandwiched between Poland and Lithuania. It offers Russia rapid access to NATO airspace and complicates NATO's deterrence model, as its geographical proximity, of course, reduces the alliance's ability to react quickly to incursions. The timing of the incident is also notable. It comes just days after President Trump shelved a previously announced summit with Putin in Budapest, saying he doubted Moscow's commitment to peace and didn't want to waste his time. As we discussed earlier on the PDB, Trump then moved to impose sweeping sanctions against Rosneff and Luke oil, Russia's two largest oil companies, targeting, of course, the backbone of the Kremlin's exports revenue. Europe quickly followed suit, with the European Union approving its own

round of sanctions targeting Russian natural gas, certain LNG cargoes, and additional parts of Moscow's so-called shadow fleet of tankers. It's safe to say that Putin likely has his knickers in a twist over the additional economic penalties, particularly as China signals that it will reduce its consumption of Russian oil, and that could be a potentially significant blow to Putin's ability to fund his war machine. All right, before we go, a quick reminder. Next week, we'll be releasing the sixth and final episode of our limited podcast series The Day the World Almost Ended. You can check that out and all five previous episodes by becoming a premium member at pdbbpremium.com, and as a premium member You can listen to the show ad-free.

And that, my friends, is the PDB afternoon bulletin for Friday, the 24th of October. If you have any questions or comments, please reach out to me at PDB at thefirsttv.com. I'm Mike Baker, and I'll be back over the weekend with the PDB Situation Report. Until then, stay informed. Stay safe. Stay cool. 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

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