The President's Daily Brief - September 27th, 2022. China Keeps Buying American Land Near Military Bases, Joe Biden's Team Doesn't Mind.

Episode Date: September 27, 2022

It’s September 27th. You’re listening to the President’s Daily Brief. Your morning intel starts now. ------ The White House said something remarkable last week about China buying farm-ground near sensitive military bases. Joe Biden’s spokesman dismissed the concern, calling it a “home ownership” issue unworthy of his time. So we’ll discuss that statement, explore the facts, and let you decide. As always, I’m keeping an eye out for developing stories. Put these two on your radar. First, the official price tag is out for the Biden Administration’s student loan forgiveness plan. I’ve got that number plus a reminder that most borrowers say they don’t need the assistance. Second, an update on the War in Ukraine — specifically whether Russian men are fleeing their country to avoid being forced into service. And, of course, we’ve got a listener’s question, today from Blaine in Nebraska, who wrote in wondering if he’s the only one worried about gas and groceries, not climate change. ------ Please remember to subscribe if you enjoyed this episode of the President's Daily Brief. Email: [e-mail] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It's September 27th. You're listening to the President's Daily Brief. I'm your host and former CIA Officer Brian Dean Wright. Your morning intel starts now. First up, the White House said something remarkable last week about China buying farm ground near sensitive military bases. Joe Biden's spokesman dismissed the concern, calling it a home ownership issue unworthy of his time. So we will discuss that statement, explore the facts, and let you know. you decide. As always, I'm keeping an eye out for developing stories, put these two on your radar. First, the official price tag is out for the Biden administration student loan forgiveness plan. I've got that number, plus a reminder that most borrowers say that they actually don't need

the assistance. Second, an update on the war in Ukraine, specifically whether Russian men are fleeing their country to avoid being forced into service. And of course, we've got a listener question today from Blaine in Nebraska, who wrote in wondering if he's the only one worried about gas and groceries and not climate change. But first, let's get started with today's main brief. One week ago to date, there was one of the more remarkable exchanges in recent memory between a journalist and the White House about the threat of China. Now, the question was simple enough. Does Joe Biden think it worrisome that China is buying American farm ground all across the country, especially close to military bases.

And I say it's a simple question because what the CIA, FBI, and U.S. military have all made clear is that China is America's greatest threat, the greatest that we have ever faced. So the response to this simple question should have been equally simple. China buying much of anything in the United States is bad. But that wasn't the response. Instead, the spokesman for our National Security Council said that the issue is no more than, quote, home ownership disputes. So I'm going to read that entire exchange between the spokesman and the journalists in just a moment

because it's really that remarkable. But first, some context. The question was raised because of a Chinese company's purchase of farm ground in Grand Forks, North Dakota. We talked about this story a few times here on the PDB, but to refresh our memories, the Hong Kong-based conglomerate Fu Fang Group bought 370 acres of land for 2,000. $2.6 million earlier this year, claiming that they wanted to build a wet corn mill on the property that allegedly would produce ingredients for animal feed. But even if that's true, the chairman of the Fufang group, a man named Li Shuchun, is a member of and has close ties to the Chinese

Communist Party. That's according to a group of senators who wrote to the Departments of Defense and Treasury weeks ago saying that the deal should not be allowed. Now, the senators were especially alarmed because the mill would be 16 miles from Grand Forks Air Force Base, which houses operations critical to top U.S. intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance capabilities. In other words, the drones. So not surprisingly then, the major drone operator at that base, a company called General Atomics, said that it firmly opposes this new mill at Grand Forks, too. The CEO said that his company uses local airspace to conduct significant test and evaluation efforts,

all related to unmanned aircraft, radar systems, and other advanced military technologies. So if the Chinese mill were allowed to be built, the secrecy of those new weapons would be compromised. Meanwhile, the company's spokesman added that Chinese business efforts are inseparable from Chinese government efforts. So given the proximity of the Fufeng Group's operations to critical national airspace and sensitive military operations, well, he said, quote, American leaders should be very, very concerned, end quote. So based on all of that opposition, bipartisan groups of senators, drone operators, the U.S. military, you would think that American leaders, most especially Joe Biden and his national security team, would be very, very concerned. but you would be very, very wrong. Let me read you the exchange between a reporter and Joe Biden's National Security Council spokesman, which was one week ago today.

The reporter who was a woman named Kimberly Halkett, she asked the spokesman, Mr. John Kirby, about Chinese-linked people and organizations buying up U.S. real estate, in some cases farms around military installations. And so she asked, quote, is that on the administration's radar? And what is being done, perhaps, to study this or to protect Americans? So Mr. Kirby, Biden's spokesman, responded by saying, quote,

I think the question of home ownership is a little bit out of my swim lane, end quote. Well, the reporter, a bit shocked, tried to clarify by saying it's actually a national security issue, particularly when it comes to military installations. The spokesman, Mr. Kirby, once again, avoided the issue and said, what I will tell you is that the president has been nothing but clear about our concerns about Chinese unfair trade practices and economic practices. Well, once again, the reporter fired back, quote,

this isn't about trade. This is about national security and buying up land around military installations. And quote, once again, Mr. Kirby of the National Security Council staff said, I'm probably not the right person to ask about home ownership here in the United States. So folks, this went on and on like a ping pong match until White House spokeswoman Ms. Jean-Pierre said to the reporter, we can get back to you later. We are going to move on now. So it's been seven days since that exchange, and there's been no getting back to this issue. So before we get into analysis and opinion on this, I want to drive home the point that the reporter was trying to make.

Because this isn't just about North Dakota and that one military base. We are seeing this pattern all over the country. Consider the case of Loughlin Air Force Base in Texas and a Chinese billionaire and former Chinese military officer named Sun Guan Xin. A few years ago, he bought a massive farm and he wanted to install a wind energy project on it, which would of course give him both access to the electricity grid in Texas and proximity to the Air Force Base. So we can also add in Malmstrom Air Force Base in central Montana.

That's where we've got more than 100 intercontinental ballistic missiles, our nuclear weapons, buried deep in underground missile silos. It's also where an FBI investigation found back in 2019 that there are cell phone towers with Chinese equipment surrounding those silos. According to reports from the Wall Street Journal and CNN and others, the FBI determined, determined that the equipment was capable of capturing and disrupting highly restricted military communications, including those used by the personnel of our country's nuclear weapons. And those cell towers with Chinese equipment, well, they're not just isolated to central Montana.

The FBI also found that this equipment is scattered all throughout the country, near military bases and interstates connecting key nodes of our military infrastructure. All of this, by the way, is totally legal. Many rural cell providers actually bought this Chinese equipment because it was so much cheaper than American and European equipment. In fact, the Rural Wireless Association has acknowledged this, saying that at least 25% of its members use Chinese technology all throughout America, but most especially in rural America. which takes us back to the remarkable exchange between that reporter last week and Joe Biden's

national security spokesman. Again, the question was very simple. What is being done to study this problem or to protect Americans? And Joe Biden's spokesman once again responded, I think the question of home ownership is a little bit out of my swim lane. So folks, what do you think about all this. Because on this one, I'm actually not going to offer up my opinion or analysis. Instead, I'm going to put this one in your hands. And I'm simply going to ask you why. Why is Joe Biden and his staff so unconcerned about China's purchase of land and businesses next to our nuclear weapons or our drone technology? Why would he and his staff dismiss what the FBI, the CIA, and U.S. military have all said is our most serious threat. Instead, they're simply

calling it a home ownership issue when quite clearly it's not. So as you ponder these questions and come up with your own answers, I can't help but be reminded about this. Back in May of 2019, Joe Biden was running for his party's nomination for the presidency. He was at a campaign rally, I believe in Ohio, and he said of the Chinese communist government, they're not bad folks, folks. Now, what we know is that during those years, his son Hunter, had an extensive set of business deals with the Beijing Communist Party worth many millions of dollars. Now, we have evidence that that money from those deals flow directly to his father, 10% for the big guy, if you recall, and he now, of course, sits in the White House. Now, Joe Biden denies that he benefited from any of those deals and that

he ever, ever talked to his son about those foreign business arrangements. But again, we know that is patently false. Even Democrat leading newspapers like the New York Times have acknowledged that it's true. So I encourage you to keep that in mind as we all ask ourselves the question of why. Why is Joe Biden and his team both dismissing this threat? because something just doesn't make sense here. So think on it, form your own opinions, and consider this issue in the upcoming elections. Because between you and I,

I think that the country's future depends on it. Coming up, ladies and gentlemen, a closer look at what's on my radar. Two quick briefs for you. One on the student loan forgiveness plan and the other on the war of attrition in Ukraine. We'll be right back. Own it all.

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Put these two on your radar. First, let's talk about debt forgiveness. Joe Biden previously announced a plan to forgive $10,000 in federal student debt for actually most borrowers in this country. There had been a lot of debate about whether his executive order was actually legal. That's actually still being litigated. Plus, even more debate about how much it would actually cost the country. Well, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office came out with its assessment yesterday, the total cost. And here is the number, $400 billion. That's billion with a B. So as you can imagine, that astronomical price tag raised a new debate.

Republicans, of course, very much opposed to the plan. Democrats are still for it. But what about the borrowers themselves? Did the borrowers need this debt relief? Or do they just want it? because those are two very different things, need versus want. Now, we've talked about this before on the PDB, but let's refresh our memories. The Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia conducted a survey in May of this year,

taking a national sample of 13,423 borrowers. They asked them, quote, if you have to start making student loan payments again, will you be able to afford it? Well, 75% said, Yes, they could make payments just as they always have. Ah, but 86% said, well, even though I don't need that debt relief, I'd sure like to have it. In other words, I want it.

So, folks, keep that in mind as you discuss and debate this issue. According to data, borrowers don't need the debt forgiveness. They just want it. And that nuance is missing from this conversation. And that's really important as we think about spending $400 billion that we don't have. Finally this morning, last week Russia's President Vladimir Putin ordered his country's first public mobilization of troops since World War II, all the shore of his fight in Ukraine. Now, I've got two critical updates for you. First, a reminder of why you should care. Congressional sources revealed to Reuters news service yesterday that they have authorized another 12 billion.

dollars in aid, your tax dollars. So the money includes military equipment and money to run the entire Ukrainian government for at least three months. So as a reminder, that's not just 12 billion we have lying around. That money will be issued as new American debt, which as we all know currently sits at $30 trillion and is becoming more expensive to service as interest rates go up. Meanwhile, there is a second important update to this war of Trition, and it has to do with reports that Russian men are fleeing the country, all to avoid military service. Now, I told you about this last week, and in fact that I had heard these reports, but that I didn't have high confidence in them.

Well, this morning, I do. The government of Finland reported yesterday that almost 17,000 Russians crossed the border into their country over the weekend. that is an 80% rise from a week earlier, making it clear that a notable number of Russian men are, in fact, fleeing the country. The Finnish government, by the way, announced that they will stop all Russians, men and women, from entering their country on tourist visas to stop this flow, although exceptions may still apply for humanitarian bases. One important note here, what I can't tell you this morning is how significant these losses are. I'm digging for that data, and I will report that separately.

But regardless, this issue is serious enough that it's clearly caught the attention of the Russian government. A member of Russia's Upper House of Parliament, a man named Sergei Seikoff, he told Russian press that, quote, everyone who is of conscription age should be banned from traveling abroad in this current situation. And, for what it's worth, Kremlin spokesman, Dmitri Peskov, said, I don't know anything about this, you know, people leaving issue. at the moment, no decisions have been made. Well, as always, I'll keep you posted because a lack of Russian forces could have very big

implications in this war of attrition. And with that, one more thing before I let you go, a listener question, as always, we'll be right back. Welcome back to the PDB, ladies and gentlemen. One more thing before I let you go this morning. Blaine in Omaha, Nebraska wrote in with a pretty good question. We hear lots of talk about climate. change, he said. Well, but everyone that I know is worried about groceries and gas. Are we alone out

here, Nebraska? Well, Blaine, no, you are not. About three weeks ago, the Pew Research Center surveyed 19 nations to ask about their greatest concern of global threats. For Americans, climate change was dead last. Cyber threats came in at number one. Now, another poll from late August from the Ipsos organization found that the economy was the top domestic concern of all Americans. Second, by the way, was crime, and below that was environment, and then, of course, climate after that. So that is most especially true, by the way, for Republicans and independents. But for Democrats, well, it's true. Economy was still also the number one concerned, but then followed by abortion rights and then climate change.

So, Blaine, there you have it. You are not alone out there in Nebraska. Americans have a lot more on their minds than climate change. No matter what, the press might tell you. And that, ladies and gentlemen, concludes your morning brief. As always, we close out the show, reminding each other of why we are here,

talking about our country and our world. It's the creed of every good spy and every smart American. It's from John, Chapter 8, 1st 32. And you shall know the truth. And the truth? shall make you free. Good day.