PDB Afternoon Bulletin | March 31st, 2025: 'Pissed Off' Trump Threatens Putin With New Tariffs & China Attempts To Thwart US Deal On Panama Canal
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It's Monday, the 31st of March. Welcome to the PDB Afternoon Bulletin. I'm Mike Baker, your eyes and ears on the world stage. All right, let's get briefed.

First, as U.S.-brokered peace negotiations between Russia and Ukraine drag on, President Trump is expressing irritation or anger with Russian President Putin, threatening a new wave of economic tariffs. Apparently, there's concern at the White House that Putin may be dragging his feet on the subject of negotiations. Really? Maybe? Perhaps because he's not actually interested in wrapping up his war in Ukraine.

Later in the show, China is making apparent moves to slow down or block a deal that would see U.S. asset firm BlackRock take ownership of two critical ports in the Panama Canal from Hong Kong entity C.K. Hutchinson, jeopardizing President Trump's plan to wrestle away control of the strategic waterway from the Chinese Communist Party. But first...

In today's afternoon spotlight, President Trump appears to be losing patience with President Putin, issuing a rare rebuke of the Russian leader amid increasingly tenuous peace negotiations. In a phone interview with NBC News on Sunday, President Trump said he's, quote, pissed off at Putin, I don't know if there's a Russian translation for the term pissed off, and threatened to impose secondary tariffs of 25% to 50%,

on all buyers of Russian oil if he feels that Moscow is blocking his efforts to broker a peaceful settlement to the war in Ukraine.

The rare criticism came after Putin questioned the legitimacy of Ukrainian President Zelensky's leadership in remarks last week and suggested that an interim government in Ukraine would be needed to finalize any potential peace deal. This, of course, would be one of Putin's long-standing objectives to get Zelensky moved out of the way and a new pro-Russian government installed.

Trump told NBC, quote, I was very angry, pissed off, when Putin started getting into Zelensky's credibility, because that's not going in the right direction. Trump continued, quote, he's supposed to be making a deal with him, whether you like him or you don't like him, end quote.

As a reminder, Ukrainian elections were scrapped last year due to the war and Zelenskyy has been leading under an extended period of martial law since the invasion back in February of 2022. Putin has used this to try and undermine Zelenskyy's position, regularly criticizing the suspended elections and implying that the emergency martial law declaration makes Zelenskyy an illegitimate leader.

Putin said Friday that arrangements would have to be made with the U.S. and European allies to install, quote, temporary governance in Ukraine before any negotiations on a full peace treaty can move forward. It was widely seen as yet another attempt by the Russian leader to stall negotiations and drag out the process while his military continues to make incremental progress against Ukraine on the battlefield.

Trump added to NBC, quote, If Russia and I are unable to make a deal on stopping the bloodshed in Ukraine, and if I think it was Russia's fault, I'm going to put secondary tariffs on oil, on all oil coming out of Russia. That would be that if you buy oil from Russia, you can't do business in the United States, end quote.

Tariffs and potential sanctions on Russia's banking sector may frankly be the last diplomatic tool at Trump's disposal to try to bring Russia in line, but there's reason to hope that perhaps such economic pressure could force Putin to recalculate his approach to negotiations.

As we've been tracking here on the PDB, the Russian strongman is reportedly increasingly concerned over the fragile state of Russia's wartime economy. Moscow is currently grappling with persistently high inflation, labor shortages, and interest rates that are sitting at a historic high of 21%.

Existing sanctions from Europe and the US have further strained Moscow's finances, isolating them from critical foreign markets and, of course, the swift banking system. Russian exports to the US, for example, dropped from $29.6 billion in 2021 to just $2.9 billion in 2024.

Moscow is now reportedly hemorrhaging cash to keep their war going, spending a record 16.3 trillion rubles, or around $148 billion, give or take a few million, on the war effort in 2024. It's a staggering figure, representing more than 8% of Russia's GDP and 41% of its total budget.

A growing band of Russian elites have reportedly been pressuring Putin to seek a negotiated settlement to the war in an effort to alleviate their mounting economic troubles.

As we discussed last week, there was a minor diplomatic breakthrough after Russia and Ukraine agreed to a limited U.S.-brokered ceasefire, halting attacks on energy sites and ensuring the safety of shipping in the Black Sea. Although, even while talking about the limited agreement, Putin was noting that he would expect sanctions relief before signing off.

Essentially, everything that Putin may agree to comes with significant conditions. Both sides have already accused each other of violating the limited agreement's terms, and the Kremlin has said that their continued possible adherence to the ceasefire is contingent on that sanction's relief.

But if Putin continues to delay progress on a deal, well, President Trump appears ready to ditch his deferential posture and take a tougher approach with the Kremlin. Trump suggested that new tariffs could be leveled within the next month, though he said he plans to speak to Putin directly sometime later this week to convey his frustrations. Coming up next, China. A

appears to be preparing to scuttle a deal that would see U.S. asset firm BlackRock take ownership of two critical ports in the Panama Canal. I'll have those details when we come back.

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Welcome back to the Afternoon Bulletin. In an escalation of ongoing U.S.-China economic hostilities, Beijing has opened an antitrust investigation that could torpedo an American-backed bid for control of Panama Canal ports just days before the deal was set to close.

The probe, launched by China's State Administration for Market Regulation, is targeting BlackRock, the world's largest asset manager, which had been leading a consortium to acquire Hong Kong-based C.K. Hutchinson's portfolio of port infrastructure that would be including terminals anchoring both ends of the Panama Canal.

C.K. Hutchinson has since slammed the brakes on finalizing the transaction, citing the Chinese probe, and that's according to the South China Morning Post. The deal would have shifted control of 43 ports in 23 different countries, which encompasses nearly 200 berths, into the hands of a U.S.-led consortium. On paper, it had the makings of a rare diplomatic pressure-release valve at a time of steadily worsening relations between Washington and Beijing.

But Beijing's move now threatens to recast control of the Panama Canal as yet another battleground in the broader economic war between the two powers. Chinese regulators claim the probe is focused on preserving, quote, fair competition. Oh, it's all about fair competition with the Chinese Communist Party. And safeguarding public interest. That's a line amplified through state-affiliated channels, including the Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office.

That justification has done little to quell speculation in Washington, where officials increasingly view China's grip on canal infrastructure as a strategic threat. About 4% of global maritime commerce flows through the 51-mile corridor. For the U.S., over 40% of its container traffic depends on the canal's smooth functioning.

While the canal itself remains under Panamanian control, China has maintained port infrastructure on both the Atlantic and Pacific sides. As we've discussed here on the PDB, that arrangement, until recently, drew relatively little public concern.

But President Trump has seized on the issue, suggesting the U.S. should consider reclaiming operational authority over the canal. That position evokes the decades of American stewardship prior to the handover of the canal to Panama, which remains a deeply contested legacy of the then-Carter administration. Trump's National Security Advisor, Mike Waltz, confirmed that talks are underway with Panama's leadership.

saying they're now engaged in, quote, negotiations about addressing the ports on either side of the canal. During his first trip abroad as Secretary of State, which began with a stop in Panama, Marco Rubio argued that U.S. vessels should no longer be subject to tolls, claiming that since the U.S. defends the canal, it shouldn't have to pay to use it.

Rubio stated, quote, "It's absurd that we would have to pay fees to transit a zone that we're obligated to protect in a time of conflict," end quote. Meanwhile, the economic confrontation continues to intensify. The Trump administration has imposed tariffs on Chinese imports, blanketing all categories of goods with a sweeping 20% rate, with additional tariffs reportedly in the pipeline this week.

For Beijing, the antitrust maneuver appears to be more than a routine regulatory move. It's a move designed to frustrate and delay American ambitions at a critical logistical node.

And that, my friends, is the PDB Afternoon Bulletin for Monday, the 31st of March. We've made it to the end of another month. If you have any questions or comments, please reach out to me at pdbatthefirsttv.com. And to listen to the show ad-free, well, it's simple. Become a Premium member of the President's Daily Brief by visiting pdbpremium.com.

I'm Mike Baker, and I'll be back tomorrow. Until then, stay informed, stay safe, stay cool. Welcome to It Takes Energy, presented by Energy Transfer, where we talk all things oil and natural gas. Oil and gas drive our economy, ensure our country's security, and open pathways to brighter futures.

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