May 6th, 2025: Tariffs Spark Worker Protests Across China & IDF Hits Back After Tel Aviv Strike
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It's Tuesday, the 6th 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 today in China, where street protests have erupted due to the ongoing trade war with the U.S., with angry workers taking to the streets to demand back pay and to complain about mass factory layoffs. We'll have those details and...

And here's a hint. The one thing that Xi Jinping and his Chinese Communist Party fear more than anything else is an unhappy and unruly population. Later in the show, Pakistan makes a show of force, tests launching a ballistic missile, has tensions with India flare after that deadly terror attack in Kashmir.

Plus, Israel strikes back, IDF warplanes hit Houthi targets in Yemen a day after a Houthi missile landed near Tel Aviv's main airport. And in today's Back of the Brief, the Trump administration has a new offer for illegal migrants. Take $1,000 and leave. But first, today's PDB Spotlight.

We'll begin with the ongoing fallout from the U.S.-China trade war as the communist regime's export-dependent economy buckles under the weight of the Trump administration's tariffs, prompting Chinese workers to take to the streets and revolt. As we've been tracking on the PDB, the financial impact of Trump's 145% tariffs and Beijing's 125% retaliatory tariffs

have been felt swiftly in China Numerous Chinese manufacturers have paused production entirely and shut down operations as they scramble to find new buyers with warehouses filling with unsent goods China's factory activity, meanwhile, has contracted at its fastest pace in 16 months Now, discontent is spreading among the millions of Chinese workers suffering the brunt of these harsh economic impacts

Over the past few weeks, thousands of disgruntled workers have poured into the streets from the Hunan province in central China to Inner Mongolia in the north and Sichuan in the south to demand back pay from unpaid wages and to challenge what they call unfair dismissals caused by the wave of factory closures. That's according to a report from the Daily Caller News Foundation.

Last week, outside an LED light manufacturing plant near Shanghai, thousands of furious workers chanted against company managers over unpaid wages, while in China's Dao County, hundreds of furious workers gathered outside a sporting goods factory after it abruptly closed its doors without paying employees

An example of just how desperate the situation is becoming, in the northeast city of Tongliau, construction workers recently climbed onto rooftops and threatened to jump unless they were paid

And in the southwest Sichuan province, workers of a company producing flexible circuit boards also say they haven't been paid in months and are having their social security benefits withheld. It's a similar story across the country. A garment exporter in southern China told the Wall Street Journal that they had already been forced to furlough 30% of their workforce after losing three major U.S. clients during the trade war. Another textile manufacturer told the Journal that in some Chinese factories,

are now engaged in unsustainable price wars just to keep their heads above water Analysts for the U.S.-based investment bank Goldman Sachs recently estimated that some 16 million jobs across Chinese industries are now at risk as China's export orders hit their lowest levels since the worst days of the COVID lockdowns They say China's communication equipment sector is set to be hit hardest, followed by apparel and chemical product manufacturers

As we touched on earlier on the PDB, major global banks have now cut China's full-year growth forecast to around 4%. That's well below Beijing's official target. The situation is clearly untenable for the CCP, the Chinese Communist Party, prompting them to begin quietly exempting a host of U.S.-made products from their 125% retaliatory tariffs.

While China has not publicly acknowledged the exemptions, they have reportedly compiled a list of some 131 products that will be granted tariff waivers amounting to roughly $40 billion in goods or nearly a quarter of all Chinese imports from the U.S. this year The exemptions cover a range of goods from pharmaceuticals and industrial chemicals to aviation components and critical inputs for electronics manufacturing Since early

Since early April, Beijing has also been privately surveying businesses about other potential sectors where tariff waivers might be appropriate. Analysts say that this quiet approach by the CCP allows China to maintain its hardline message demanding the U.S. back down while easing the economic damage of the trade war domestically.

But with protests spreading, the measures may not be enough to quell the public's outrage. Many human rights observers fear that the CCP could soon violently crack down on the spreading protests, much like they did in 2022 when demonstrations erupted over Chinese President Xi Jinping's lockdown orders.

An advisor to the Chinese government recently told the Wall Street Journal, quote, she today has the same mentality as Mao. His bottom line is that no major crisis will be allowed to endanger his hold on power, end quote. Meanwhile, last Thursday, the Chinese Communist Ministry publicly expressed a willingness to engage in direct trade negotiations with the U.S. They qualified that statement, however, by saying that the U.S. must first drop all unilateral tariffs. That's a

a demand that isn't likely to be received warmly by the White House. For now, it does not appear that a quick resolution with China is in the cards, even as their domestic economy slumps. All right, coming up after the break. Pakistan test launches a missile as tensions with India rise. And IDF warplanes strike Yemen after a Houthi missile lands near Tel Aviv's airport. I'll be right back.

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Welcome back to the PDB. Tensions between India and Pakistan continue to escalate, with Islamabad test-firing a surface-to-surface ballistic missile on Saturday, two weeks after the deadly massacre in the disputed Kashmir region reignited hostilities between the nuclear-armed neighbors. The missile, part of the Abdali weapon system, has a range of roughly 280 miles and was

was fired into a designated zone over the Arabian Sea or the deserts in the southwest in keeping with standard military protocol. According to the Pakistani military, the test was intended to validate operational readiness of, quote, key technical parameters, including the

missiles' advanced navigation system, and maneuverability Pakistan President Mzardari and Prime Minister Sharif both issued public congratulations following the launch The timing of the test was unmistakable, frankly The launch comes after the 22 April attack on Indian tourists in the Kashmir region That left 26 dead and triggered one of the sharpest escalations between the nuclear rivals in recent years

New Delhi blames Pakistan-based Islamist terrorists for the attack. That's a claim that Islamabad continues to eject as baseless. But the symbolism of the Abdel-E-Missal was not lost on regional observers. An Islamabad-based security analyst told the Associated Press that the weapon was named after a famed Muslim conqueror of India, adding that it was, quote, critical in the current geopolitical context. Well, not exactly subtle, is it?

The analysts suggested it was no coincidence The launch followed India's suspension of the Indus Waters Treaty An act that many in Pakistan view as economic warfare Given that about a quarter of Pakistan's economy is agriculture-based New Delhi, for its part, is signaling it's ready to strike back With force Last week, India's navy carried out anti-ship missile drills to "revalidate and demonstrate readiness for long-range precision strikes"

And according to a former advisor to India's Ministry of External Affairs, public fury over the Kashmir massacre has created space for a, quote, sharp, targeted and limited response. The message from Delhi is clear. Patience with Pakistan is wearing thin.

As we've been tracking here on the PDB, signs of a military buildup are already visible Skirmishes along the Line of Control, which is the de facto border in Kashmir, have flared nightly for over a week On Saturday, India's military accused Pakistani troops of once again opening fire, prompting what they described as a, quote, proportionate response Islamabad has yet to confirm the exchange

Meanwhile, the standoff continues to spill into the economic and diplomatic arenas Over the weekend, India banned all imports from Pakistan blocked Pakistani-flagged vessels from entering its ports and prohibited Indian ships from docking in Pakistani harbors Postal services between the two countries have also been halted, further fraying already brittle lines of communication With both sides digging in, the prospect of de-escalation is rapidly slipping from view

Okay, moving to the Middle East. The Israeli Air Force launched retaliatory strikes Monday evening on Houthi positions in the Yemeni port city of Hodeidah. That's just a day after a ballistic missile fired by the Iran-backed terror group slammed into the grounds of Tel Aviv's international airport.

According to the IDF, approximately 20 fighter jets pounded targets along Yemen's western coastline, including infrastructure at Hodeidah port and a concrete factory in the nearby city of Bajul Officials called the strikes "a direct response to the Houthis' escalating campaign of missile and drone attacks on Israel, most notably Sunday's rare and frankly alarming breach of Israeli airspace that sent a missile crashing within the perimeter of Ben Gurion airport"

As we noted in Monday's PDB, six people were wounded in that attack The missile tore into the airport complex just a few hundred yards from Terminal 3's control tower carving out a crater and grounding international flights for hours It was the first Houthi-fired projectile to reach Israeli soil since the terror group began targeting the country in March marking a serious failure of Israel's advanced air defense systems

The attack has added pressure on Israeli leadership to reassert deterrence not only against the Houthis but against their chief backer in Tehran Monday's air campaign marked Israel's sixth strike inside Yemen since the start of the war and the first since January when the IDF paused operations after the U.S. assumed a lead role in countering Houthi threats to Red Sea shipping lanes

Israeli officials said this latest mission was coordinated with Washington but was not conducted as a joint strike The Israeli military said its aircraft dropped 50 precision-guided munitions on preselected targets aided by aerial refueling tankers and intelligence-gathering planes

Photos released by the Israeli military showed Prime Minister Netanyahu, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz, and IDF Chief of Staff Lieutenant General Eyal Zamir in an underground command center overseeing the operation in real time IDF spokesmen accused the Houthis of using the Hodeidah port, the second largest on Yemen's Red Sea coast, as a gateway for Iranian weapons shipments and military equipment

The Bajor concrete facility, they added, has been repurposed by the Islamic regime-backed group to support tunnel construction and other components of the Houthi war machine Verified footage posted online showed plumes of smoke and sustained fires at the site in the aftermath of the strike Separately, U.S. forces reportedly carried out airstrikes near the Yemeni capital of Sana'a just hours before the Israeli jets launched

The Houthi-run Saba news agency claimed at least two American missiles struck a road near Sana'a's airport. The Iranian regime denied playing a direct role on Sunday's missile strike, insisting the decision was made independently by the Houthis in solidarity with Hamas.

But Iran's foreign ministry issued a thinly veiled threat warning that it would retaliate if Israel dared strike Iranian territory That's after Netanyahu vowed a forceful response not just against the Houthis but against those arming and enabling them And that would be, of course, the Iranian regime

All right, coming up next in the back of the brief. Skip the raid, take the cash. The Trump administration is offering $1,000 to migrants who voluntarily leave the U.S. I'll have those details next. Hey, Mike Baker here. Let's talk about security. Specifically, let's talk about your online security.

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Hey, Mike Baker here. Well, by now you know all about the tariffs, right, and the trade wars. And you also know that all that activity has thrown the global economy into some form of chaos. Look, potential widespread inflation tied to massive supply chain disruptions

It's weighing heavily on all of us, but I'm here to tell you that there is a silver and a gold lining that I think a lot of people may have missed. What I mean by that is President Trump specifically exempted gold and silver bullion from the sweeping tariffs. And while the new policies are admittedly causing financial chaos, the administration preserved your ability to diversify into precious metals.

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In today's Back of the Brief The Trump administration is reportedly turning to cash incentives in a bid to accelerate the removal of illegal migrants from the U.S. Officials with the Department of Homeland Security announced Monday that they will shoulder the cost of commercial flights and offer a $1,000 stipend to any illegal migrants willing to voluntarily self-deport from the U.S. and return to their country of origin

While it may sound like a costly endeavor, officials said it will actually save taxpayers up to $1 million per family. That's according to a report from the New York Post. The department says the current average cost of arresting, detaining, and deporting an illegal migrant is roughly $17,000. So a $1,000 stipend instead, well, is a small price to pay in the administration's view.

Stephen Millett, President Trump's top policy and homeland security advisor, said the additional savings are associated with the long-term costs of free welfare and public support that have been given to illegal migrants.

Migrants can avail themselves of the new option by using the DHS's CBP Home app, which contains a self-deportation reporting feature that lets migrants submit their intent to depart the U.S. to the DHS. Officials with the Trump administration have said that migrants who choose to self-deport have the opportunity to return legally in the future, unlike those who opt to remain illegally.

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said Monday, quote, If you are here illegally, self-deportation is the best, safest, and most cost-effective way to leave the U.S. to avoid arrest. This is the safest option for law enforcement and aliens and is a 70% savings for U.S. taxpayers, end quote.

The department added that migrants who use the CBP Home app will be deprioritized for detention and removal, provided they take meaningful steps towards preparing for their future departure. As we've previously discussed, the CBP Home app is a rebranded version of the Biden-era CBP One app,

that allowed at least 936,000 illegal immigrants to apply for asylum from within their home countries before flying to the U.S. That program was shut down through an executive order within minutes of President Trump being sworn into office, along with virtually every single other Biden-era program that facilitated the influx of some 8 million migrants into the U.S. over the last four years.

In a recent update on their progress regarding illegal immigration, DHS officials said roughly 152,000 migrants have been deported since Trump's second term began in January. Border Czar Tom Homan also recently touted the administration's success at turning the tide at the southern border, pointing to a historic 95% drop in illegal crossings. Under the Trump administration, illegal migrant encounters and apprehensions of the border are now

are now reportedly at their lowest levels in recorded history.

And that, my friends, is the President's Daily Brief for Tuesday, the 6th of May. If you have any questions or comments or perhaps some pithy insight, just reach out to me at pdb at thefirsttv.com. And to listen to the show ad-free, well, you know what to do. 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, stay safe.

Stay cool.