March 27th, 2025: Why Are U.S. Bombers Building Up In The Indian Ocean? & NATO Chief Urges European Unity
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It's Thursday, the 27th of March. Welcome to the President's Daily Brief. I'm Mike Baker. Your eyes and ears on the world stage. And yes, I'm still on the road somewhere in, I believe it's Europe. I'm not sure. I'll have to check. Let's get briefed.

We begin with signs of a major U.S. military buildup at the Diego Garcia base in the Indian Ocean. Reports point to B-2 stealth bombers and C-17 transport aircraft either arriving or already on the ground, raising questions about whether Washington is preparing for more strikes against the Houthis or sending a signal to Iran.

Later in the show, NATO's Secretary General Mark Rutte is calling for European unity, urging nations to ramp up their defense spending and military production after a blunt warning from the United States. Europe needs to be ready to defend itself.

Plus, we'll break down the latest in Signalgate. Oh, there's a catchy name, right? Signalgate. It had to come up with a catchy name. And you have to usually add gate to it, whether it's Watergate or whatever it may be. As the Atlantic publishes leaked text messages from top intelligence and military officials revealing what was never meant to go public. Hmm.

And in today's Back of the Brief, a tragic story out of Lithuania, where four U.S. soldiers were reportedly killed during training exercises. But first, today's PDB Spotlight. Speculation is building that the Pentagon is preparing to make a major move in the Middle East, following reports of a mysterious buildup of stealth aircraft at a key military outpost.

According to the UK Defense Journal, the U.S. has recently been moving a significant number of military assets to the Diego Garcia air base in the Indian Ocean. Now, the surge in activity at the base comes amid the Trump administration's ongoing air campaign against the Houthi militants of Yemen. It's the largest U.S. military strikes in the Middle East since President Trump took office.

But the preparations at Diego Garcia suggest an even larger scale air operation, well, could be imminent. The activity also coincides with President Trump's increasingly stern warnings to the Iranian regime over their covert nuclear weapons program, igniting speculation, of course, that strikes on Iran's nuclear sites could be next on the Trump agenda.

For some background, the Diego Garcia Air Base sits strategically in the southern waters of the Indian Ocean and has long served as a launch platform for U.S. strategic bombers and long-range strike missions.

For example, the base, which we share with the British military, played a key role in U.S. operations during the Gulf War in the early 1990s, as well as, of course, for Afghanistan and Iraq during the early years of the Global War on Terror.

An open-source intelligence analysis of military flight tracking data reveals that over the past few days, at least five B-2 Spirit stealth bombers, seven C-17 Globemaster III cargo aircraft, and 11 KC-135 refueling tankers have arrived at the remote outpost. Analysts say it appears the base is once again being used as a staging ground.

We should note that B-2 stealth bombers are generally used for striking high-value targets and are capable of delivering both conventional and nuclear munitions inside heavily defended airspace. The activity was first flagged by the open-source intelligence specialist known as "Intel Frog." Now, despite the name, Intel Frog is a widely respected independent analyst who closely tracks military aircraft movements.

He initially reported that some 18 U.S. Air Force KC tankers were being staged at several military bases peppered across the Pacific, including the Travis Air Force Base in California, Honolulu International Airport in Hawaii, and Anderson Air Force Base in Guam.

Given the unusually large deployment of tankers in the region, analysts said it appeared the U.S. military was in the process of pre-positioning aerial refueling assets. That's a key step before strike aircraft can be deployed on a large scale.

In recent days, Intel Frog said a number of these tanker assets have been moved from Guam to the basic Diego Garcia, alongside several B-2 stealth bombers. They were soon followed by the arrival of the behemoth C-17 transport aircraft, suggesting the movement of personnel, supplies, and munitions is well underway.

IntelFrog and other analysts stressed that these movements are highly irregular, clearly signaling an impending military operation.

Now, the UK defense journal Man Newsweek reached out to the State Department and the U.S. Navy for comment on the developments, but did not receive a reply. That's hardly a surprise when it comes to active military planning, particularly in light of the recent leak of U.S. airstrike plans against the Houthis to a journalist from The Atlantic. That's a story that we'll have an update on later in the show.

Whether this buildup means the Trump administration is preparing to significantly expand their air campaign against the Houthis or turn their sights on Iran, well, right now, that's anyone's guess.

But as we recently covered here on the PDB, President Trump sent a personal letter to Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei just two weeks ago, offering him a choice between engaging in good faith negotiations for a new nuclear deal or facing the full wrath of the American military.

While Trump said he would prefer to strike a deal, he warned he may be left with no other choice than to handle the situation militarily, threatening, quote, terrible consequences should they refuse to back down. In the letter, Trump reportedly gave the regime a two-month deadline to reach a new nuclear agreement. But so far, leaders in the Iranian regime have publicly rejected Trump's overture for a diplomatic solution.

The ongoing military campaign against the Houthis, Iran's really last remaining proxy force with any real teeth, has been viewed by many as a clear message to the mullahs that the White House intends to follow through on their threats sooner rather than later.

All right. Coming up next, NATO's new chief urges Europe to prepare for its own defense. And we break down the latest with Signalgate has leaked a text from top U.S. officials. Go public. I'll be right back. Hey, Mike Baker here. Look, no matter how quickly time flies, it's really never too late to make progress. And that includes progress with your financial health.

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And individual results may vary. 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. In a message that was equal parts a warning and rallying cry, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte told European leaders that the continent must begin preparing to stand on its own militarily as doubts grow over continued U.S. support under President Trump.

Speaking in Warsaw on Wednesday, Ruta urged European nations to double down on NATO's founding pledge of collective defense, while also taking concrete steps to show up their own military readiness. His remarks come amid growing anxiety in European capitals that Washington's longstanding security guarantees are no longer a given, as U.S. officials increasingly point to shifting strategic priorities along its borders and in Asia.

Trump did little to ease those concerns earlier this month. While he claimed, quote, you have to keep NATO strong, you have to keep it relevant, the reassurance to European leaders, well, was thin, particularly given his previous comments suggesting that the U.S. might not defend members who fail to meet defense spending targets.

Ruta didn't name Trump directly, but left little doubt as to the thrust of his message. The NATO chief stated, quote, this is not the time to go it alone, not for Europe and not for North America, adding that there's no alternative to the alliance. He warned that the threats now facing NATO from Moscow to cyberspace are too vast and complex to be managed with wishful thinking or uneven commitments.

That said, Rutte also did mince words about Europe's own responsibilities, saying, quote, "...reassurance is a two-way street." He urged European allies to meet and ideally exceed the alliance's defense spending goals. Rutte was candid about Europe's limitations as well, admitting, quote, "...nothing can replace America's nuclear umbrella," calling it, quote, "...the ultimate guarantor of our security."

The NATO Secretary General also added that he's confident America will uphold NATO's Article 5 security guarantee that an attack on one is an attack on all. Rutte's speech followed a meeting with Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk, during which the two leaders sought to send a clear message to the Kremlin. NATO unity is holding and growing.

The NATO chief stated, quote, if anyone were to miscalculate and think they can get away with an attack on Poland or any other ally, they will be met with the full force of this fierce alliance, adding that the message needs to be crystal clear to Russian President Putin. Looking ahead to the NATO summit in the Netherlands this June, Ruta said the alliance is expected to raise the bar on military spending.

While 23 of NATO's 32 members are on track to hit the current benchmark of 2% of GDP, Ruta hinted that the new target could rise, quote, well beyond the 3%, to match what he described as a dangerous evolving landscape. That threat isn't hypothetical. Eastern flank members like Poland and the Baltic states have grown increasingly alarmed by talk of possible U.S.-Russian negotiations to end the war in Ukraine.

Leaders in those countries fear that any diplomatic outcome, even slightly favorable to Moscow, would give Putin the breathing room that he needs to regroup and come back for more. Even so, the Secretary General ended his speech on a cautiously optimistic note. He believes that the summer summit could mark a turning point, one that strengthens the transatlantic bond, one that modernizes NATO for the world as it is, not the world as it was.

Okay, turning stateside, we're learning more about the extraordinary leak of operational military details via the Signal messaging app. That's a story that we first reported here on the PDB on Tuesday. An almost full transcript of the messages, published by The Atlantic on Wednesday, reveals that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth disclosed precise timelines for U.S. airstrikes on Yemen hours before the operation began.

Oh, boy. The messages intended for senior Trump administration officials were mistakenly shared with Atlantic editor in chief Jeffrey Goldberg, who had been inadvertently added to the encrypted group chat by national security adviser Mike Waltz. Once again, I repeat. Oh, boy.

The result is an obvious and disconcerting breakdown in operational security. According to the unredacted texts, Hegseth relayed exact launch windows for F-18 strike packages, drone activity, and Tomahawk missile strikes, all prior to mission commencement. One message sent at 11.44 a.m. ET on 15 March reads, "...just confirmed with CENTCON we are a go for mission launch."

He followed that at 12.15 p.m., the initial wave of F-18s would take off with drones and a second strike package following throughout the afternoon. Hagseth then texted that by 3.36 p.m. Eastern, the second strike was underway, coinciding with the launch of sea-based Tomahawk missiles. According to The Atlantic, the first of these messages went out more than 30 minutes before any aircraft were airborne and roughly two hours before the bombing commenced.

The attack reportedly killed at least 53 people and was aimed at degrading Houthi terror capabilities that, according to U.S. officials, were threatening commercial shipping lanes and Israeli security interests. Among those in the signal thread were Vice President J.D. Vance, CIA Director John Ratcliffe, Special Middle East Envoy Steve Witkoff, who notably received the updates from Hexeth while in Moscow,

and a variety of others at the top of the command within the Trump administration. Waltz, who created the group, has acknowledged his role in adding Goldberg and said he's investigating, quote, Yes, how the heck indeed. I didn't know people still said heck. Oh boy. I didn't know people still said oh boy.

The fallout in Washington was swift and bipartisan. Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Roger Wicker, alongside ranking member Jack Reed, are demanding a classified briefing and a full Inspector General investigation. Well, that'll sort it out. As you've heard me say before, Washington, D.C. is where all investigations go to die. Now, their committee, though, does oversee virtually all military operations.

A central question now facing investigators is whether any of the information in the messages was classified. Hegseth insists that they were merely, quote, general updates, a claim echoed by the White House, which said there were, quote, no war plans included. But neither Hegseth nor the administration has offered a definitive answer.

At a Tuesday Senate hearing, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard and Director Ratcliffe from the CIA each suggested that Hegseth had the discretion to determine what was or wasn't classified in the texts. Well, that is certainly convenient, which essentially claims that the Secretary of Defense has the authority to determine what is considered classified.

Gabbard described the content as, quote, candid and sensitive, but not technically classified. Ratcliffe of the CIA said his own messages were, quote, permissible and lawful.

Still, what the Atlantic published reads more like a detailed strike playbook than a set of generic updates. At 1:48 p.m., for example, Waltz wrote that a building had collapsed and there had been multiple positive identifications on a Houthi target. Vance replied, "Excellent," and Ratcliffe followed with, "A good start," accompanied by a string of celebratory emojis. Emojis, really?

Let me just repeat that. Celebratory emojis. Sounds like a group of middle school kids talking about a sports win.

Skibbity Ohio. A Pentagon official speaking anonymously described the leak as, quote, jaw-dropping in its specificity, noting that such operational data is typically confined to a very small circle to safeguard mission security. That makes sense. That security, it seems, was not only compromised, but may have been vulnerable for days. Signal, while encrypted, is not approved for classified communications. According

According to a Pentagon memo issued just one day before the strike, the app was actively being targeted by Russian cyber operations capable of real-time surveillance.

The irony is, of course, that the leak may have landed in one of the safest possible hands. I'm trying to put a spin on this as positive as possible. Had Goldberg not been the accidental recipient, these messages could have easily ended up in more hostile possession. Well, frankly, they still could have ended up in more hostile possession because the whole chat group could have been monitored. It's a commercially available app.

Still, lawmakers from both parties say the episode raises serious questions about the Trump administration's protocols for managing sensitive information.

If you were up in arms about the Hillary Clinton server in the basement issue, we all remember that, right? When she was Secretary of State and you railed about the potential for leaks of classified information. Well, you have to be consistent and you have to admit that this signal goat rope is also a problem. You can't be upset about one and not the other because operational security isn't based on partisan politics.

OPSEC is the same whether you're Hillary Clinton or members of the Trump administration. The individuals on this group chat made a serious OPSEC mistake. That's just the reality of it.

A disconcerting amateurish mistake, and there does need to be accountability. Mike Waltz claiming that he's responsible, well, that's fine. That's good. But if a lower-level person was responsible, they'd be fired at a minimum. You can't maintain a command structure if the rules for the troops don't apply to the senior personnel. And trust me, if one of the troops had been responsible for this type of OPSEC breach, they wouldn't be spared. All right.

Coming up in the back of the brief, tragedy in Lithuania, where four U.S. soldiers have been killed during exercises near the Belarusian border. We'll have those details next.

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. In today's back of the brief, we have some tragic news out of Eastern Europe where NATO officials have confirmed that four American soldiers who went missing in Lithuania perished in a training accident.

The U.S. Army soldiers had been participating in a tactical training mission in the region when they were reported missing on Tuesday afternoon near Lithuania's border with Belarus. The U.S. Army, alongside the Lithuanian military, quickly mounted a major search and rescue operation, deploying several Air Force helicopters and other resources in an attempt to find the missing servicemen, according to a report from the New York Times.

While the bodies of the soldiers have not yet been recovered, on Wednesday, search teams did discover a heavy armored vehicle that had been carrying the soldiers submerged in a swamp. Authorities believe the four soldiers became trapped inside the vehicle when it sank, though U.S. officials have yet to formally confirm their deaths, saying Wednesday that search operations were still ongoing.

But NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte said Wednesday he'd been informed that the four soldiers had died in a training accident. Rutte did not elaborate, telling reporters, quote, this is still early news, so we don't know the details. This is really terrible news, he said, and our thoughts are with the families and the loved ones.

Early reports say the four soldiers were part of the Army's 1st Brigade, 3rd Infantry Division, based out of Fort Stewart in Georgia. They had been sent out in an M88 Hercules vehicle, that's a giant armored tow truck essentially, to recover another heavy vehicle in the area. A U.S. Army official based in Europe said the early indication is the vehicle had inadvertently driven off the road and into the swamp, though again, details are sparse at this time.

Officials with the Pentagon said they're in close contact with the families of the missing servicemen and are keeping them apprised on the tragic developments. We should note that U.S. and NATO forces stationed in Eastern Europe have significantly increased military drills in the years since Russian President Putin's 2022 invasion of Ukraine, particularly in the Baltic region due to its proximity to Belarus, which of course is a critical ally of Moscow.

The Baltic countries of Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia make up NATO's northeastern flank and hold vital strategic importance when it comes to deterring further Russian aggression against the European continent.

And that, my friends, is the President's Daily Brief for Thursday, the 27th of March. If you have any questions or comments, please reach out to me at pdbatthefirsttv.com. Finally, to listen to the show ad-free, well, you can do that. Just become a premium member of the President's Daily Brief by visiting pdbpremium.com. I'm Mike Baker, and I'll be back later today with the PDB Afternoon Bulletin. Until then, stay informed...

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