April 4th, 2025: Kremlin Envoy Makes Rare Trip To US & Trump Purges White House National Security Council
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It's Friday, the 4th of April. Welcome to the President's Daily Brief. Look at that. We've made it to the end of another week. I'm Mike Baker. Your eyes and ears on the world stage. All right. Let's get briefed. First up, Vladimir Putin, remember him, sends an envoy to the U.S. for a rare visit to ostensibly try to patch up relations with the Trump administration.

Later in the show, there's a major shakeup occurring at the White House as President Trump purges several senior staffers from his National Security Council, with more firings expected imminently. Well, that didn't take long. Plus, Hungary withdraws from the International Criminal Court, the ICC, while hosting Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu, who faces a controversial arrest warrant from the ICC over the war in Gaza. And in today's Back of the Brief...

Chaos returns to Haiti. Actually, I don't think chaos has left Haiti as thousands take to the streets in protest of surging gang violence. But first, today's PDB Spotlight.

Russian President Putin dispatched a top advisor to the U.S. to try to mend fences with the Trump administration after diplomatic talks between U.S. and Russia began to deteriorate earlier this week. The Russian envoy, Kirill Dmitriev, reportedly met on Wednesday with Trump's senior advisor on Russia negotiations, Steve Witkoff. While details of their discussion have not been disclosed,

The conversation reportedly lasted for hours, extending deep into the evening, according to a report from the New York Times. Additional meetings with senior members of the Trump team reportedly took place on Thursday. But again, the White House is being tight lipped about the visit.

It marks the first time that a senior Russian official has traveled to the U.S. on state business since Putin's invasion of Ukraine back in February of 2022. And, of course, it comes at a time when fragile negotiations between the U.S. and Russia on ending the war are hanging by a thread.

Notably, Dmitriev is currently under U.S. sanctions imposed by the Biden administration for his close ties to Putin. The Treasury Department temporarily suspended the sanctions on Dmitriev for a period of seven days in order to facilitate his visit, with the State Department granting him a travel waiver and temporary visa.

Dmitriev, who serves as the head of Russia's sovereign wealth fund and Putin's special representative for investment in economic cooperation, is potentially in a unique position to bridge the current divide between the White House and Kremlin.

He's one of the most U.S. savvy members of Putin's inner circle, having studied at Stanford, and he worked as an investment banker for Goldman Sachs. He also played a key role in diplomatic efforts during Trump's first term, helping to broker talks with the U.S. and Saudi Arabia on an oil price agreement. That's according to a report from Reuters.

Recently, Dmitriev worked directly with Witkow to broker the prisoner exchange that led to the February release of American teacher Mark Fogel, who'd been imprisoned in Russia since August of 2021.

For his part, Dmitriev claimed that the visit was about restoring the U.S.-Russia dialogue, which he said was destroyed by the Biden administration. Well, that comment is going to play well over at the Trump White House. He added in a social media post that, quote, a real understanding of the Russian position opens up new opportunities for constructive interaction, including in the investment and economic spheres.

Sending Dmitriev appears to be a calculated play by Putin to appeal to Trump's broader economic goals. The message is a simple one. The U.S. stands to profit in a big way from rapprochement with Russia. Boy, the way that I say rapprochement, I almost sound like I'm a native French speaker. In recent weeks, after the Trump administration began engaging diplomatically with the Putin regime, Dmitriev has proposed a range of potential economic initiatives that the U.S. and Russia could cooperate on, including...

joint investment deals on rare earth minerals in the Arctic and space-related ventures with Elon Musk.

Talks between the U.S. and Russia currently stand at a crossroads. As we've been tracking on the PDB, Russia's deputy foreign minister pushed back on President Trump's peace proposals regarding the war in Ukraine on Tuesday, saying that Moscow can't accept the current terms as they fail to address Russia's long-term strategic concerns. The comments came just two days after Trump said he's getting increasingly, quote, pissed off by the Kremlin's attempts to stall negotiations.

and will consider imposing new sanctions on Russia's oil trade within the next month if he feels that Moscow is actively seeking to undermine his efforts. But Trump does not appear ready to up the pressure on Putin just yet, notably leaving Russia out of his major tariff announcement on Wednesday.

On the Ukrainian side, President Zelensky is urging Trump to immediately move forward with new sanctions to pressure Putin into taking the negotiations on the war more seriously. Zelensky said Thursday that he believes a ceasefire can be achieved within the coming weeks or months, but only if the Trump administration puts sufficient economic pressure on Russia.

All right. Coming up next, President Trump purges several senior staffers from his National Security Council and Hungary withdraws from the International Criminal Court. I'll be right back.

Like a bull in a china shop, Donald Trump came in to drain the swamp in Washington, D.C. But with his bold reform and rejuvenation agenda comes so many legal questions. Nationwide injunctions. Are they constitutional? What's the deal with birthright citizenship? What about the administrative state? Can he actually clean the deep state and end the politicization of the federal bureaucracy?

I'm Josh Hammer, host of America on Trial with Josh Hammer. Subscribe to America on Trial with Josh Hammer for your daily updates on all of these questions and more. Welcome back to the PDB. President Trump has initiated a sweeping purge of his National Security Council, the NSC, firing top officials after he met with hardline conservative activist Laura Loomer, who accused them of betraying the administration's, quote, make America great again agenda.

Now, whether Loomer had any say in the firings is still a matter of speculation. But according to individuals familiar with the matter, Loomer, a social media firebrand and frequent fixture on Trump's 2024 campaign trail, presented the president with what she characterized as a detailed vetting report urging the removal of top NSC personnel.

She reportedly delivered her case during a Wednesday session attended by Vice President J.D. Vance, National Security Advisor Mike Waltz, Chief of Staff Susie Wiles, and Sergio Gore, the president's director of personnel. Loomer confirmed her presentation at the White House later in the day on X, posting, quote, It was an honor to meet with President Trump and present him with my research findings. We must continue strong vetting to protect our president and our national security, end quote.

Within 24 hours, well, the axe had begun to fall. At least three senior NSC officials were dismissed Thursday, along with multiple lower-level aides. Among those removed, according to Reuters, David Fyfe, a senior director who oversaw tech and national security, Brian Walsh, a senior director of intelligence matters, and Thomas Boudry, who managed legislative affairs.

NSC spokesman Brian Hughes declined to confirm the firings, citing a White House policy against commenting on personnel matters. While no official rationale for the dismissals has been provided, sources suggest several were informed that they had failed background vetting, likely based on Loomer's research. Others, they said, were suspected of leaking information to the media or of harboring foreign policy views out of step with Trump's platform.

But the Thursday firings may only be the beginning. Loomer has since intensified her campaign online, now singling out Alex Wong, Deputy DeWalt's. She questioned Wong's loyalty, as well as that of his wife, a Justice Department employee, suggesting they could not be trusted to implement Trump's, quote, America First agenda, which

Well, she sounds like a real peach. This week's dismissals follow an earlier move by Waltz in the administration's opening days when roughly 160 nonpolitical NSC detailees were sent back to their home agencies. The message at the time, according to administration insiders, was unambiguous. Only those committed to the president's worldview would be permitted to remain.

Now, with the internal vetting process effectively, apparently, outsourced to Loomer, tensions inside the West Wing appear to be escalating. According to one source, Loomer privately complained to aides that she had been excluded from NSC staffing processes, accusing Waltz of filling key roles with, quote, not MAGA enough officials and neoconservatives.

No word on who may be tapped to fill the various vacant positions, although apparently they now have to pass the Lumer purity test.

All right, shifting to Hungary. Prime Minister Viktor Orban declared Thursday that his country will withdraw from the International Criminal Court after welcoming Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu, who faces an active ICC arrest warrant. The move marks a historic first. No other EU nation has initiated an exit from the global court. It also sets Hungary squarely at odds with Brussels, further isolating Orban within the bloc.

Under the Rome Statute, Hungary is legally required to detain Netanyahu. Instead, they greeted him in Budapest with a military honor band. The visit was Netanyahu's first to an ICC member state since the Hague-based court issued arrest warrants in November, accusing him and then-Defense Minister Jov Galant of war crimes and crimes against humanity stemming from the conflict against Hamas in Gaza.

The Global Court is tasked with prosecuting cases of genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity when national courts are unable or unwilling. Orbán's government, however, made it clear that he had no intention of enforcing that order. Hours after the ceremonial welcome, Orbán's chief of staff took to Facebook to declare that Hungary would begin the withdrawal process, quote, in accordance with constitutional and international law frameworks.

Now, it's worth pointing out that the process will take a minimum of a year, meaning Hungary, as a founding signatory of the court, remains legally obligated to arrest Netanyahu. An ICC spokesman reiterated that point in no uncertain terms, stating that Hungary, quote, "...remains under a duty to cooperate with the ICC," end quote. Well, that's very officious. Israel, which is not an ICC member, rejects the court's jurisdiction and has denounced the charges.

In 2021, the ICC ruled it had jurisdiction over Gaza, the West Bank, and East Jerusalem. They just ruled that, which the UN recognizes as Palestinian territories. Netanyahu has slammed the charges as politically motivated and is currently appealing the decision. At a joint press conference, Netanyahu praised Hungary's decision as a, quote, bold and principled stand against what he called a, quote, corrupt organization, predicting that other countries would follow suit.

Orban, echoing that sentiment, described the warrant as, quote, brazen and reiterated that his country would not honor it. Behind the scenes, coordination was already underway with President Trump. According to a readout from Netanyahu's office, the Israeli leader and Orban held a phone call with Trump during the visit to discuss the, quote, next steps in combating what they described as ICC legal overreach.

Trump, who imposed sanctions on ICC investigators back in February through executive order, vowed to inflict, quote, tangible and significant consequences on those who target the U.S. or Israel. Notably, the U.S., like Israel, is not a member of the ICC. While Orban breaks ranks with the EU, the rest of the bloc remains split on whether to enforce the ICC's warrant against Netanyahu.

France has suggested that the Israeli prime minister could be immune. Meanwhile, Germany's next chancellor has floated the idea of facilitating a visit without arrest. But Belgium, Ireland, Spain, and the Netherlands have signaled that they would comply with the court's mandate. Netanyahu, increasingly embattled domestically and abroad, has denounced the court's warrant against him as anti-Semitic and, quote, a dark day in the history of humanity.

Now, despite legal risks, Israeli officials indicate the prime minister has no intention of curbing his foreign travel. All right. Coming up next in the back of the brief, chaos in Haiti. Well, that's unfortunately not new news, as thousands take to the streets in protest of surging gang violence. We'll have those details next.

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In today's Back of the Brief, Haiti descended back into chaos. To be fair, I don't think it was ever not in chaos recently. On Wednesday, as thousands of protesters took to the streets of the country's volatile capital, expressing anger at ongoing gang violence and the government's failure to restore order. For some background, the situation in Haiti has grown increasingly violent and chaotic since the assassination of its president back in 2021.

an event that left a political vacuum and allowed gang violence to flourish unchecked. While the government stabilized briefly in the years that followed, a violent gang uprising in March of 2024 forced the prime minister into exile, and armed groups have since run wild across the country, launching brazen attacks on critical infrastructure, including prisons, police stations, and even the capital's main international airport. A coalition of gangs,

control a staggering 85% of the capital, Port-au-Prince, and have overseen a reign of terror that's forced more than a million people from their homes and put the population at the risk of famine. Over the past year, human rights observers and international journalists have reported mass rapes and killings throughout the country and the widespread extortion of civilians by gang leaders.

Meanwhile, a toothless transitional government, a rotating body of presidential council members that assumed control of the broken nation about a year ago, has had little success in reining in the gangs. A UN-backed security mission that was deployed to Haiti last June has also struggled to contain the rampant violence.

The civilian population has lost all patience with the transitional government, particularly after another barbaric gang attack on Monday in a town near Haiti's border with the Dominican Republic. During the attack, a police station was torched, 500 prisoners were sprung from a local jail, and two Catholic nuns were shot dead. According to our report from Reuters, on Wednesday, protesters began pouring into the streets of Port-au-Prince to demand action. Protesters could be seen carrying banners and palm branches,

though some armed themselves with machetes and firearms. One protester told Reuters, quote, Haitian people today will fight to be free. Protesters burned tires and blocked roads as they marched on the offices of the transitional government. Along the way, they graffitied buildings. That's always helpful with statements like, quote, down with the prime minister's office, according to a report from the Miami Herald.

The protests started out peacefully, but later took a somewhat dark turn as demonstrators clashed with riot police who fired on them with tear gas. Some protesters ran while others began hurling rocks. Gunfire later erupted, causing panic crowds to flee.

On Thursday, the Transitional Presidential Council finally responded, acknowledging that the country has become, quote, hell for everyone and saying they would take new measures to quell the violence, though they did not provide any details. For now, well, it doesn't appear that there's any relief in sight for the people of Haiti.

And that, my friends, is the President's Daily Brief for Friday, the 4th of April. If you have any questions or comments, please reach out to me at pdbathefirsttv.com. Now, no doubt you woke up this morning and thought to yourself, well, how about that? It's Friday. I'm guessing your next thought was, I wonder who the guests are on this weekend's PDB Situation Report.

All right, well, let me end this suspense. Our most excellent guests this week include Steve Yates of the Heritage Foundation and also Ken Raposa from the Coalition for a Prosperous America. We cover a lot of ground in this episode, so please tune in. As always, the episode launches at 10 p.m. on the first TV and is available on our YouTube channel at President's Daily Brief and, of course, podcast platforms everywhere.

I'm Mike Baker, and I'll be back later today with the PDB Afternoon Bulletin. Until then, stay informed, stay safe, stay cool.