PDB Afternoon Bulletin | May 28th, 2025: Kremlin Sends WWIII Warning To Trump & Americans Told to Flee Venezuela
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It's Wednesday, the 28th of May. Welcome to the PDB Afternoon Bulletin. I'm Mike Baker, your eyes and ears on the world stage. Let's get briefed. We'll start today with a chilling new message from Moscow. Russia's former president just invoked World War III in a direct warning to President Trump, raising, of course, the stakes in an already volatile standoff.

Later in the show, the U.S. is warning Americans don't travel to Venezuela. Citing risks of torture, kidnapping, and wrongful detention, the State Department says all U.S. citizens should leave immediately. But first, today's afternoon spotlight.

Well, Russia's number one saber-rattler is at it again. Former President Dmitry Medvedev is now invoking the specter of World War III. Medvedev was responding to a recent comment by President Trump who said on Tuesday, quote, What Vladimir Putin doesn't realize is that if it weren't for me, lots of really bad things would have already happened to Russia. And I mean, and then all capitals, really bad. You know it's really bad when you put it all in capitals. Trump added, quote,

He's playing with fire, end quote. Well, within hours, Medvedev responded on social media platform X, formerly Twitter. He wrote, quote, I only know of one really bad, also in capitals, thing, World War III. I hope Trump understands this, end quote.

Ooh, well, this is diplomacy at its finest. To be fair, Medvedev's signature move is really to regularly imply the use of Russia's nuclear arsenal isn't off the table. He's like the braggadocious schoolyard bully, but with nukes. And you have to assume that given Medvedev is essentially Putin's puppet, nothing he says or writes is really at odds with Putin's own mindset.

Now, retired Lieutenant General Keith Kellogg, Trump's special envoy to Ukraine, wasted no time firing back. He called the statement, quote, reckless and accused the Kremlin of, quote, stoking fears of global war. Kellogg added that the comment was unfitting of a world power. So, while the war of words escalates, we are learning some of the details of Vladimir Putin's conditions,

for ending the war in Ukraine. According to three Russian sources who spoke to Reuters, Putin is looking for a written pledge from the West not to expand NATO further east, particularly into Ukraine, Georgia, or Moldova. In other words, he wants the alliance to rule out membership for any former Soviet republic.

In addition to NATO restrictions, Russia reportedly wants a guarantee that Ukraine will remain neutral. He's also asking for some sanctions to be lifted and for the issue of frozen Russian assets to be resolved. Finally, he's asking for protection of Russian-speaking populations inside Ukraine.

Now, one of the Russian sources told Reuters, "Putin is ready to make peace, but not at any price." After speaking to Trump for more than two hours last week, Putin said that he had agreed to work on a memorandum that would establish the contours of a peace accord, including the timing of a ceasefire. So far, that draft memorandum has not yet been delivered and no date has been set.

Now, one could argue, if one were cynical, that Putin is simply playing the waiting game here, dangling the possibility of peace talks at some point while he waits to see how the current battlefield realities play out and while he prepares for further offensives in Ukraine.

Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Zelensky is throwing his own proposal on the table. In a press conference today, Zelensky proposed a trilateral summit between himself, Putin, and Trump to hash out terms directly. Zelensky said, quote, "We are ready for the Trump, Putin, and me format. We are ready for Trump-Putin, Trump-Zelensky, and then the three of us."

As for where such a meeting might take place, Zelensky mentioned three possible venues that have been previously suggested. Istanbul, Switzerland, or the Vatican. So far, neither Trump nor the Kremlin has publicly responded to that invitation. All right, coming up next, the State Department issues a stark new warning. Americans in Venezuela are at risk of torture and kidnapping, and they need to get out now. I'll be right back.

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Welcome back to the Afternoon Bulletin. The State Department is warning that Venezuela's descent into lawlessness under socialist dictator, Nicolas Maduro, has made it one of the most dangerous countries for US nationals, with more Americans wrongfully detained there than in any other country. In a renewed and sharply worded advisory Tuesday, the Department urged Americans already in the country to leave immediately and warned those considering travel to prepare a will.

But who exactly, at this point, is considering travel to Venezuela? The country has been assigned a level 4 "Do Not Travel" designation, that is, the highest possible, with the alert stating bluntly, "There is no safe way for Americans to travel to Venezuela. Every American is at risk of being detained by Maduro's regime."

The advisory cited severe risks of wrongful detention, kidnapping, and even torture in custody. U.S. citizens are considered at "extreme risk of detention" upon entry into Venezuela and could be unjustly accused of terrorism or espionage, even if crossing into the country inadvertently. In several cases, individuals have been seized after accidentally crossing poorly marked borders from neighboring countries.

and the threat extends well beyond tourists. Dual nationals, travelers with prior Venezuelan visas, and even those with family ties in the country are not exempt. According to the advisory, legal connections to Venezuela offer no protection. Compounding the danger is the total absence of U.S. diplomatic presence in Venezuela. Since the suspending of embassy operations in Caracas back in 2019, the U.S. has been unable to provide consular support of any kind.

Venezuelan authorities routinely withhold arrest notifications, meaning that Americans can vanish into the country's legal system, such as it is, without access to legal counsel, contact with their families, or even confirmation of their whereabouts.

This latest advisory follows a series of high-profile detentions. In January, two Americans were arrested and branded as, quote, mercenaries by Maduro's regime ahead of his disputed inauguration. And when I say disputed, well, I mean stolen. Then in September, Caracas claimed to have foiled a U.S.-backed assassination plot and arrested three additional Americans, a claim that Washington swiftly dismissed as entirely fabricated.

U.S. embassies in neighboring Colombia, Brazil, and other countries echoed the warning on Tuesday with coordinated security alerts, underscoring the widespread concern among American diplomats in the region.

While diplomatic efforts have secured the release of some detainees, including six Americans freed earlier this year following talks between Maduro and U.S. Special Envoy Richard Grinnell, others remain imprisoned under opaque and harsh conditions. As we reported on last week's PDB, a U.S. Air Force veteran was released this month following lengthy negotiations.

The renewed advisory comes as the Trump administration intensifies pressure on Maduro's regime. Last week, the Supreme Court cleared the way for the administration to revoke temporary protected status from more than 300,000 Venezuelans residing in the U.S. It's part of a broader push to crack down on illegal immigration.

Behind closed doors, administration officials are reportedly exploring ways to formally designate Maduro's regime as a transnational criminal organization. Now, that's a step that could unlock sweeping wartime authorities and potentially pave a way for more mass deportations with limited judicial oversight.

And that, my friends, is the PDB Afternoon Bulletin for Wednesday, the 28th of May. If you have any questions or comments, please reach out to me at pdbatthefirsttv.com. And, of course, to listen to the show ad-free, well, you know, it could be quite simple. Just 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.