May 30th, 2025: Did Ukraine Try to Assassinate Putin? & New Nuclear Warnings About Iran
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It's Friday, the 30th of May. 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. We'll start things off with a dramatic claim out of Moscow. A top Russian military official says that President Putin was nearly assassinated by a Ukrainian drone strike during a recent visit to the front lines. Later in the show, a new ceasefire proposal for Gaza is on the table from U.S. Envoy Steve Witkoff. Is

Israel says yes, but Hamas is demanding changes. Plus, a new intelligence report out of Austria is challenging U.S. assessments on Iran. The findings claim that the Iranian regime's nuclear weapons program is not only alive, but advancing rapidly.

And in today's Back of the Brief: For the first time since 2012, the U.S. has raised the American flag at the ambassador's residence in Damascus, Syria. It's a symbolic move that marks the latest sign of thawing relations between Washington and Syria's new government.

But first, today's PDB Spotlight. We begin today with a story that sounds like it's ripped straight from the pages of a Tom Clancy novel. A senior Russian military official is claiming that Ukrainian forces attempted to assassinate President Putin earlier this month during his visit to the Kursk region. It's a territory that Moscow recently recaptured from Ukrainian control.

According to air defense commander Yuri Dashkin, Putin's helicopter was flying through what he described as a massive drone attack launched by Ukraine on the 20th of May. Dashkin told Russian state media that 45 drones were shot down that day alone and that one of them was on a direct path toward Putin's aircraft before being neutralized by Russian air defenses. Over the course of three days, Dashkin says Russian forces intercepted over 1,100 drones,

calling the scale of the assault, quote, unprecedented. He emphasized that the intensity of the drone attacks spiked during the exact time frame of the president's flight, framing it as a deliberate and coordinated assassination attempt. Dashkin said in an interview broadcast by the Rossiya24 TV channel, quote, we were simultaneously engaged in an air battle and ensured the safety of the president's helicopter in the airspace.

The helicopter was effectively at the epicenter of the response to the massive drone attack." End quote. Well, how wordy is Dashkin? The story has gained considerable traction in Russian media as well as on social media. However, to date, Russia has provided zero evidence to support this dramatic claim. No drone wreckage, no satellite imagery, no video, no injuries or damage to the helicopter were reported and Putin's schedule proceeded without interruption.

All we have is the testimony of one Russian commander amplified by state-run media. And as they say, if it walks like a duck and talks like a duck, then it's probably a Russian disinformation-spreading duck.

And from the other side, well, silence. Ukrainian officials haven't confirmed it, haven't denied it, and haven't gloated about it either. But while we can't say definitively whether this was a genuine attempt or a carefully orchestrated Russian PR or disinformation campaign, we do know one thing. Putin, well, has been targeted before.

Just last year, Ukraine's intelligence chief, Kirill Budanov, admitted publicly that there have been assassination attempts on Putin's life since the start of the war, though he added the obvious disclaimer, they have been unsuccessful so far. Well, thanks for clearing that up. And it's not as though this kind of tactic would be unprecedented. President Zelensky, on the Ukrainian side, has reportedly survived more than a dozen assassination attempts,

since Russia's full-scale invasion began back in February of 2022. Those plots, often linked to Russian operatives or mercenaries from the Wagner Group, included sniper teams and infiltration units. Each attempt was reportedly foiled with help from Western intelligence. Those failed operations have only strengthened Zelensky's image, portraying him as a defiant wartime leader who repeatedly has stared down death and lived to rally his country.

And now with this alleged drone attack in Kursk, well, maybe Putin is looking to level up his own aura. A near-miss narrative to cast himself as a commander-in-chief under fire. All right, coming up next, Hamas pushes back on a new U.S.-backed Gaza ceasefire proposal. And Fresh Intel out of Austria says Iran's nuclear weapons program is not only active, but accelerating. I'll be right back.

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Welcome back to the PDB. The latest U.S.-backed ceasefire and hostage deal proposal has been rejected by Hamas. The terror group is accusing President Trump's Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff, of pushing a framework heavily tilted toward Israel. According to sources who spoke with the Jerusalem Post and the Israeli news site Vala, Hamas leaders on Thursday believe they were, quote, screwed over by a deal that accepts nearly all of Israel's demands,

while stripping the terror group of meaningful leverage. If for background, the new proposal delivered by Witkoff calls for the release of 10 living Israeli hostages and the return of 18 deceased in two stages, all within a week. Hamas claims that the tight timeline effectively burns through its remaining leverage, meaning their hostages. On paper, the framework also calls for a 60-day truce, extendable only by mutual consent,

and proposes a limited IDF withdrawal from parts of Gaza, allowing the UN to oversee humanitarian aid distribution. What's missing, and what Hamas has zeroed in on, is any binding American commitment that temporary peace will evolve into permanent calm. That omission is a non-starter for the terror group, which still views the March ceasefire breakdown, over advancing into phase two of that deal, as a cautionary tale that reignited hostilities.

A Hamas-linked source told Vala that the proposal was tainted by Witkopf's willingness to incorporate demands from Israeli Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer during talks this week. The source said, "This version of the deal is more biased in favor of Israel than previous proposals," adding that it closely resembled the conditions that unraveled earlier U.S.-mediated efforts.

In Jerusalem, Prime Minister Netanyahu struck a more optimistic tone, telling families of the hostages that Israel had accepted Witkoff's proposal. But, well, not everyone in the Israeli government is on the same page. A senior official told Axios that some media reports mischaracterized the plan, stressing, quote, contrary to reports, the Witkoff agreement proposed in recent days did not determine the new deployment line of the IDF, nor

nor the manner in which aid would be distributed within the framework of a ceasefire.

Meanwhile, at the White House, the tone was cautiously upbeat. A senior U.S. official told Axios, quote, "If each side moves just a bit, we could have a deal within days," suggesting the administration believes the gap remains bridgeable, if only barely. Still, that optimism is a stretch, particularly after a Palestinian official falsely claimed that Hamas had declared it accepted a ceasefire proposal from Witkoff earlier this week.

That phantom deal, which supposedly included a 70-day truce and phased hostage releases, well, never actually existed. As we discussed here on the PDB, what briefly looked like a breakthrough turned out to be a mirage. And while the principles of the new official deal are now largely understood, any final agreement will still require consensus on the names of hostages

the scope of Israeli military withdrawal, and enforcement mechanisms to extend the ceasefire beyond the initial 60-day period.

Okay, turning to a new report from Austria's top intelligence agency, one that directly contradicts long-standing U.S. intelligence and sounds the alarm on Tehran's active nuclear weapons ambitions. The 211-page report, released by Austria's Directorate of State Protection and Intelligence Service, let's see, country's equivalent to the FBI, asserts that Iran is actively pursuing, quote, comprehensive rearmament,

including nuclear weapons, to solidify its dominance in the Middle East and shield the regime from foreign attack. The Austrian intelligence community warns that Iran's nuclear weapons development program is "well advanced" and supported by a "growing arsenal" of ballistic missiles capable of delivering nuclear warheads over long distances.

The assessment marks a sharp departure from the U.S. office of the Director of National Intelligence, that's the ODNI, because, of course, there's an acronym, which maintains that Iran suspended its nuclear weapons program back in 2003 and has not resumed it. It was quite the rosy picture. At a Senate Intelligence Committee hearing in March, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard

testified that, quote, the American intelligence community continues to assess that Iran is not building a nuclear weapon and Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has not authorized the nuclear weapons program that he suspended in 2003, end quote.

But David Albright, president of the Institute for Science and International Security and a former UN weapons inspector, sharply criticized the ODNI's position, telling Fox News, quote, the ODNI report is stuck in the past. It's a remnant of the fallacious unclassified 2007 national intelligence estimate. He added that Austria's conclusions echo warnings long voiced by European allies, stating, quote, both the German and British governments may

made clear to the U.S. intelligence community in 2007 that they believed the U.S. was wrong about the program ending."

Austria's findings are part of a larger pattern European intelligence agencies have documented persistent Iranian efforts to secure weapons-related technology both before and after the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action A 2023 report cited by Fox News revealed that Iran had worked to bypass U.S. and EU sanctions to acquire components with the intent to eventually test a nuclear device

Beyond nuclear development, the Austrian report brands the Islamic regime as a systemic threat to democracy. It references Tehran as a state sponsor of terrorism 99 times and highlights its embassy in Vienna, one of Iran's largest in Europe, as a major hub for intelligence operations conducted under diplomatic cover.

The report also accuses Iranian intelligence of "implementing circumvention strategies for the procurement of military equipment, proliferation-sensitive technologies, and materials for weapons of mass destruction." Now, these include not only nuclear components, but also chemical and biological materials in violation of international protocols.

The report also flags growing cooperation between Iran and Russia. According to the findings, Iran's sanctions evasion network has begun benefiting Moscow, creating the prospect of a geopolitical axis stretching from Tehran to the Kremlin. A troubling development, obviously, particularly as both countries face mounting pressure from the West.

Alright, coming up next in the back of the brief, the U.S. raises its flag in Damascus for the first time since 2012, signaling a new chapter in relations with Syria's government. More on that when we come back.

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In today's Back of the Brief, America's top diplomat in Syria raised the stars and stripes over the U.S. ambassador's residence in Damascus for the first time in more than a decade as President Trump moves to normalize relations with Syria's new Islamist-led government. Newly appointed envoy to Syria, Thomas Barak,

presided over the reopening of diplomatic facilities shuttered since 2012 on Thursday, marking the return of an official U.S. presence in the Syrian capital for the first time since the Assad regime's brutal crackdown on dissent. The reopening of facilities follows Trump's high-stakes meeting with interim Syrian president and

former Al-Qaeda commander Ahmed al-Sharah, that was in Riyadh earlier this month, where the president urged Syria's new leadership to pursue normalization with Israel. According to sources familiar with the talks, Trump pledged U.S. backing if the negotiations show momentum.

Speaking to reporters in the Syrian capital, Barak said peace between Syria and Israel is now within reach, emphasizing a step-by-step approach rather than sweeping demands. He stated, quote, Syria and Israel is a solvable problem. But it starts with a dialogue, he said, adding, quote, I'd say we need to start with just a non-aggression agreement, talk about boundaries and borders.

Barak confirmed that the Trump administration is preparing to delist Syria as a state sponsor of terrorism, asserting that the designation became obsolete with the fall of the Assad regime. He added that Congress has a six-month window to repeal the sweeping sanctions. The Syrian envoy stated, quote, "America's intent and the president's vision is that we have to give this young government a chance by not interfering, not demanding, not giving conditions,

not imposing our culture on its culture. As we've long tracked here on the PDB, Syria's foreign policy posture is undergoing a dramatic reorientation. After decades aligned with Iran and Russia under the Assad family, Sharaa has moved swiftly to distance the country from those alliances and to reengage with regional adversaries.

One of the most significant shifts is Syria's quiet outreach to Israel. As we reported earlier this week, Israeli and Syrian officials have already held multiple rounds of direct contact aimed at easing tensions along the Golan Heights, territory that Israel seized in 1967 and expanded after Assad's fall, citing concerns over jihadists' influence in Shiraz's government.

The symbolic return of the U.S. in Damascus not only revives a physical diplomatic footprint, but underscores a broader recalibration of American policy in the Middle East, one that hinges on transactional diplomacy and a willingness to engage unconventional partners, even those with jihadist and terrorist backgrounds, in pursuit of regional stability.

And that, my friends, is the President's Daily Brief for Friday, the 30th of May. Now, if you have any questions or comments, please reach out to me at pdbatthefirsttv.com. To listen to the show ad-free, well, you can do that, and it's very simple. Just become a premium member of the President's Daily Brief by visiting pdbpremium.com.

And remember, tonight, as with every Friday evening at 10 p.m., we launch a brand new episode of our much-loved, you could even call it beloved, extended weekend show. That's the PDB Situation Report. You can catch it, as always, on the First TV and on our very spiffy YouTube channel. You can find that at President's Daily Brief and, of course, all podcast platforms everywhere. I'm Mike Baker, and I'll be back later today with

with the PDB Afternoon Bulletin. Until then, stay informed, stay safe, stay cool.