March 28th, 2025: Top MS-13 Leader Arrested As Trump Moves To Militarize US Border & Zelensky Claims 'Ailing' Putin Will 'Die Soon'
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It's Friday, the 28th of March. Welcome to the President's Daily Brief. I'm Mike Baker, your eyes and ears on the world stage. All right, let's get briefed. First up, one of the top three U.S. leaders of the violent Salvadoran MS-13 gang has been arrested in a major federal immigration operation in Virginia.

The news comes as the Trump administration orders the Pentagon to train their spy satellites on the U.S.-Mexico border to help crack down on cartel operations. Later in the show, new reports are emerging regarding the recent slaughter of members of the Alawite community in Syria as the country grapples with the worst sectarian violence since the fall of Bashar al-Assad.

Plus, North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un is back to his usual shenanigans on the Korean peninsula, recently overseeing the testing of newly developed AI-powered suicide drones. And no, I'm not sure if there's a word for shenanigans in the Korean language.

And in today's back of the brief, Ukrainian President Zelensky raises eyebrows with a sensational prediction, claiming that Vladimir Putin's health is ailing and the Russian strongman will soon die. But first, today's PDB Spotlight. We begin in the U.S., where authorities have arrested one of the top U.S.-based leaders of the violent Salvadoran MS-13 gang as part of a sweeping immigration operation that has helped nick nearly 400 criminals over the past month.

The suspect, 24-year-old Henry Villatoro Santos, was taken into custody early Thursday morning in Prince William County in northern Virginia. That's a hotspot, believe it or not, of MS-13 activity on charges of being in the country illegally. He was described by U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi as among, quote, the worst of the worst, and reportedly was the head of the notorious gang's East Coast operations. That's according to a report from the New York Post.

Investigators also believe he was one of the top three leaders of MS-13 nationwide, serving as part of what is called La Mesa, the group's top U.S. hierarchy, which reports directly back to leaders in El Salvador. He was reportedly initiated into the gang at a young age and quickly rose through its ranks. Officials said they'll seek to deport Víctoro Santos directly back to El Salvador to be housed in the country's notorious mega-prison.

Bondi declared at a press conference Thursday, quote, America is safer today because one of the top domestic terrorists in MS-13 is off the streets, end quote. FBI Director Kash Patel added that the arrest marks a critical victory for law enforcement against the gang, which President Trump has designated as a foreign terrorist organization and sends a, quote, strong message to violent gangs, your days of terrorizing our communities are numbered, end quote.

Details of the bust are being withheld at this time to protect ongoing criminal investigations, but officials said the operation that led to his arrest began in earnest at the beginning of March and has already led to the arrest of 340 other criminal suspects across the state of Virginia.

Now, MS-13 is a transnational gang that was founded by Salvadoran immigrants in Los Angeles back in the 1980s. In the years that followed, after many of the gang's members were deported from the U.S., the group rapidly grew across Central America and gained a reputation for their exceedingly violent tactics. The gang has flourished over the past decade inside the U.S.,

and is linked to high-profile killings, kidnappings, and drug-related crimes across the country, most notably in California, Long Island, New York, and the greater Washington, D.C. area, including Virginia.

It's hard to overstate the violent nature of this group. Five members were sentenced to life in prison back in 2022 for brutally murdering two teenagers with knives, machetes, and a pickaxe after luring them into the woods in Northern Virginia. The members reportedly filmed the murders in hopes of securing promotions within the gang. Other members were convicted in 2024 of going on a random killing spree in Northern Virginia in 2019.

President Trump has made targeting transnational gangs a top priority of his administration, blaming the increase in violent migrant crime in recent years on the Biden administration's lax border policies. On his first day in office, President Trump declared a national emergency at the U.S. southern border and deployed thousands of troops to assist border agents in curbing the flow of migrants and drugs.

Migrant encounters have since dropped to a record low. The administration has also turned up the heat directly against transnational gangs and drug cartels, using spy planes and drones equipped with advanced radar and infrared sensors in partnership with the Mexican government to track their operations.

On Thursday, we learned that the administration has now directed two intelligence agencies to train their surveillance satellites on the U.S.-Mexico border in order to help supplement these efforts. And that's according to an exclusive report from Reuters. The National Geospatial Intelligence Agency, known as NGA, and the National Reconnaissance Office, or NRO, because of course it has to have an acronym,

oversee a vast array of spy satellites on behalf of the Pentagon and other intelligence agencies, typically reserved for military operations overseas. Officials said their use of the border will help create a, quote, "...digital wall of sorts to augment physical barriers and provide valuable information for the operations of the U.S. military and Border Patrol agents."

As we covered earlier this week, the Trump administration also recently deployed two Navy-guided missile destroyers to the region to support interdiction efforts aimed at curbing illegal migration and drug smuggling, as smugglers increasingly turn to sea-based routes.

By militarizing the border, the White House hopes to send a powerful message to transnational gangs and cartels that the U.S. is significantly stepping up security and interdiction efforts. All right, coming up next. New reports are emerging regarding the recent slaughter of members of the Alawite community in Syria. And North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un unveils his latest fixation, newly developed AI-powered suicide drones.

I'll be right back. Hi, Mike Baker here. Well, take a look around. What do you see? Tariff wars, recession fears, stubborn inflation, inflation.

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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. The situation inside Syria has taken a grim turn as the targeted killing of Alawite civilians is extended now into Damascus. That's the latest flashpoint in spiraling sectarian bloodshed. This feels, frankly, very reminiscent of Iraq shortly after the fall of Saddam Hussein.

New reports from the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights suggest a civilian death toll consisting mostly of members of the Alawite sect has now climbed over 1,600 individuals in a wave of the worst retaliatory violence since Bashar al-Assad's ousting The death toll surged amid reports of field executions, forced displacement and homes being set ablaze

Earlier this month on the PDB, we noted that most of the bloodshed had been confined to Alawite enclaves along the coast that was once considered Assad's stronghold, but that's no longer the case. The recent killings in the Al-Qaddam district of Damascus suggest something, well, far more dangerous. The violence is now encroaching on the heart of the capital, raising concerns that the interim government may be losing control of its most vital territory.

Eyewitnesses speaking to Reuters say the violence began on the 6th of March. Masked men stormed into Al-Qadam, abducting at least two dozen men. Most were later confirmed dead. It was, by all appearances, a sectarian purge.

Now, this wasn't the first such incident. The survivors from earlier attacks in Latakia and Tartus had warned that this was coming. But the bloodshed spread into Damascus has shocked many, especially as interim president and former al-Qaeda member Ahmed al-Shara continues to struggle with fragmented command structures and growing unrest.

Shiraz forces had recently been dispatched to the coast to suppress a pro-Assad uprising. That operation left hundreds dead, and according to multiple reports, some units acted without defense ministry orders, a sign of just how fractured the chain of command is becoming.

Now, attention is shifted back to the capital. Witnesses say the al-Qadam attackers identified themselves as members of the General Security Service, the GSS. That's a newly minted paramilitary force made up of former rebels. A spokesman for the Interior Ministry, which oversees the GSS, denied any campaign targeting Alawites, insisting the operation was focused on seizing illegal weapons.

But, frankly, that explanation hasn't held up. Locals say the targeting was deliberate. One resident, speaking to Reuters, said of a missing relative, quote, they took him purely because he's Alawite. At least four of the victims reportedly came from a single family. Others were found in orchards outside the neighborhood, shot execution style, though Reuters couldn't independently verify that detail. Many of the abducted remain unaccounted for.

As we mentioned in the past here on the PDB, Shiraz Islamist Administration has formed a fact-finding committee to investigate the coastal massacres. But so far, it has not extended its mandate to include the Damascus killings. When pressed by local media, a committee spokesman said, quote, there may be deliberations within the committee at a later time to expand our work. Well, that sounds like a committee statement, if ever there was one, meaning an investigation isn't on the agenda as of now.

The UN Refugee Agency had already expressed concern over the violence earlier this month, but on Tuesday noted that more than 21,000 Syrians have now fled to Lebanon in recent weeks, most crossed on foot using rivers and informal checkpoints, fleeing the bloodshed.

For the families of those taken from al-Qadam, there's no real clear path to justice. And for Syria's interim government, well, the clock may be running out on their stated intention to establish unity and safety for all Syrians. Okay, turning to the Korean Peninsula. Pyongyang's unveiling of AI-powered suicide drones marks a new chilling milestone in dictator Kim Jong-un's expanding arsenal and his deepening relationship with Moscow.

North Korean state media on Thursday published images of Kim inspecting what it called upgraded reconnaissance and kamikaze drones, including one that appears to be a near-carbon copy of the American RQ-4 Global Hawk, and that's a high-altitude surveillance aircraft used by the Air Force.

In one dramatic display, a fixed-wing drone slammed into a tank-shaped target before erupting in flames. Well, that must have delighted Kim. Another unmanned aircraft reportedly tracked multiple targets across land and sea. That's a demonstration that analysts say suggests a significant leap in battlefield intelligence and target acquisition.

While the specifics of the AI enhancements remain unclear, Kim claimed, quote, artificial intelligence should be top prioritized and would play a central role in their future operations. Also visible in the newly released imagery was a large four-engine aircraft fitted with a massive radar dome, believed to be a modified Russian cargo plane.

London's Institute for Strategic Studies says the aircraft is likely being adapted for airborne early warning operations to mitigate the limitations of the regime's ground-based radar network, which struggles to provide comprehensive coverage across the peninsula's mountainous terrain.

This latest tech showcase arrives against the backdrop of intensifying military cooperation between Pyongyang and Moscow. In recent months, as we've reported here on the PDB, U.S. and South Korean officials say North Korea has funneled large quantities of short-range ballistic missiles, artillery systems, and multiple rocket launchers to Russia, supporting its ongoing war effort in Ukraine.

It's not doing it out of the goodness of its heart. In return, analysts believe Kim is getting access to cutting-edge Russian military technology with drone development topping his wish list.

Meanwhile, on the front lines in Ukraine, South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff said Thursday that roughly 3,000 additional North Korean troops were deployed to the region in January and February, on top of the estimated 11,000 that arrived last year. Some 4,000 of the Kim regime's troops have reportedly been killed or wounded.

Now, South Korean intelligence agencies attribute this staggering casualty count to a variety of factors, including North Korean troops' lack of experience with modern battlefield technologies like drones. But Ukrainian officials have warned that this is changing, and quickly. The North Koreans, they say, are gaining valuable real-time combat experience that could one day be exported back to the Korean peninsula.

Kim's ties to Moscow were further reinforced last week when he hosted Russian Security Council Secretary Sergei Shoigu in Pyongyang. The two reaffirmed their mutual defense pact from 2024, with Russia's deputy foreign minister confirming that discussions are underway for a future visit by Kim to the Russian capital, though no date was specified.

Okay, coming up in the back of the brief. Ukrainian President Zelensky raises eyebrows after claiming that Russian President Vladimir Putin's health is deteriorating and he'll die soon. 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.

That's what we do on the podcast, Politics by Faith. And you can subscribe to Politics by Faith wherever you're listening to the show right now.

In today's back of the brief, well, it looks like a death watch for Russian President Vladimir Putin has begun in Ukraine. Ukrainian President Zelensky claimed on Wednesday that Putin's health is ailing and that the Russian strongman is not long for this world. Zelensky made the prediction during a wide-ranging interview on Wednesday, where he also urged the U.S. not to help Russia escape its current political and economic isolation. That's according to a report from the New York Post.

Zelensky suggested it would be better to wait for the inevitable passing of Putin, which he said would free Ukraine and the rest of Europe from the threat of Russian expansion. Zelensky said, quote, he'll die soon. And that's a fact. And everything will be over, end quote.

The Ukrainian president didn't expand on why he thinks the 72-year-old Russian leader will soon expire, but it does follow years-long rumors about his alleged health woes, including reports of multiple strokes, bouts of cancer, and a diagnosis of Parkinson's disease. The latest speculations came last October, after Putin was seen with what appeared to be track marks on his hands from an IV, prompting rumors that he was undergoing cancer treatment.

But despite the persistent rumors, there's no concrete evidence to back up these claims. The Kremlin, of course, has from time to time issued vociferous denials of these reports, decrying them as Western propaganda. In his interview, Zelensky also asked that the U.S., quote, stay strong and resist Russia's current diplomatic efforts at rapprochement. Hmm. How fancy am I? I gave it that French spin, rapprochement.

which many analysts say is a play to get the Trump administration to lift sanctions and re-engage with Moscow economically. Zelensky maintains that Putin, who he said will remain in power until his death, is still seeking a, quote, direct confrontation with the West.

Zelensky said, quote, End quote.

Their remarks come as the Trump administration attempts to negotiate a peace deal between Russia and Ukraine to end the bloody conflict, which, of course, kicked off when Putin invaded Ukraine back in February of 2022.

On Tuesday, there was a minor breakthrough after Russia and Ukraine agreed, well, sort of, to a limited U.S.-brokered ceasefire, halting attacks on energy sites and ensuring the safety of shipping in the Black Sea. Now, Russia made its cooperation contingent on the lifting of certain financial sanctions. And that, my friends, is the President's Daily Brief for Friday, the 28th of March.

Now, of course, it is Friday, and Fridays mean new episodes of our weekend show, the PDB Situation Report. So tune in this evening at 10 p.m. on the first TV for the latest episode.

We're featuring retired colonel and cyber expert John Mills and Ali Reza Jafrizadeh from the Iranian Resistance Council. We're digging into the signal group chat brouhaha, which is a technical term for goat rope, as well as the weakening of the Iranian regime and the possible collapse of the mullahs' hold on power. Tune in and learn stuff.

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