June 4th, 2025: Media Backpedals on Gaza & Iran Enrichment Back on the Table
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It's Wednesday, the 4th of June. Welcome to the President's Daily Brief. I'm Mike Baker, your eyes and ears on the world stage. And still somewhere out on the road. It's like a real-life version of Where's Waldo.

Let's get briefed. We'll start things off with a story we called out yesterday, and now the legacy media, or mainstream media, or whatever it's called, is playing catch-up. A major narrative out of Gaza is collapsing, but instead of owning up to it, the media is, well, repeating the same mistakes. Apparently, no matter what the evidence shows, many in the media are still willing to swallow whatever Hamas spoon-feeds them.

Later in the show, the U.S. has reportedly offered Iran a new nuclear deal, one that would allow for temporary uranium enrichment. Now, that's a sharp turn from what top officials have been publicly saying. So much for that red line. We'll break down what may be on the table. Plus, South Korea's left wing is back in power with a win for opposition candidate Lee Jae-myung, setting the stage for a sharp break from the country's conservative leadership.

Now, a very good friend of mine from that country once told me that South Korea has a grown-up economy with a juvenile political system And in today's Back of the Brief, a record-setting ICE operation in deep blue Massachusetts Nearly 1,500 arrests, including violent offenders and gang members We'll have those details But first, today's PDB Spotlight

I wanted to follow up on the story we brought you yesterday about that suspicious claim out of Gaza, the one that said Israeli forces opened fire on civilians trying to get food from the US and Israeli-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, or GHF. The report said scores of Palestinians were killed. Headlines, of course, spread like wildfire. The sounds of pearl clutching and backsides plopping onto the fainting couch reverberated around the globe.

Well, turns out that we were correct to be skeptical. That story, the one that splashed across front pages and news alerts worldwide, now appears to have been false, or at the very least, a gross distortion pushed by Hamas for propaganda purposes. The Washington Post has already deleted its original post. In a public correction, the paper wrote, quote,

because it and early versions of the article didn't meet post-fairness standards. Well, who knew they had them? They went on, "...the Post didn't give proper weight to Israel's denial and gave improper certitude about what was known about any Israeli role in the shootings. The early versions fell short of post-standards of fairness and should not have been published in that form."

The BBC has also walked back its initial reporting, while other outlets have opted for more quiet, stealth revisions of their reports. Here at the PDB, we hate to say we told you so, but, uh, oh, wait, actually, we...

We love to say we told you so. But even with these corrections, it doesn't look like the press has learned much. Because just yesterday, again, an almost identical story emerged. Dozens of Palestinians killed or wounded as they approached an aid distribution station. The source? Well, once again, the Hamas-run Ministry of Health. And once again,

like the swallows returning to Capistrano, or maybe it's lemmings diving off a cliff. Much of the media ran with it uncritically. The headlines were everywhere, across the US, Europe, and the Middle East. CNN even published an interview with a Palestinian father who claimed his son had been injured near the aid site. The father called it a, quote, trap, saying, quote, what are we supposed to do when a child like this goes and tries to get a bag of flour of two kilos? Is this right by any definition? End quote. Now,

Let's pause here First of all, if you're an intrepid journalist of objectivity Does it strike anyone as odd that a population would send young children out into an area that they claim is under live fire in order to collect flour? Or that the father's statement happens to sound like a perfectly written Hamas press release, tailor-made to maximize global outrage?

And once again, both the Israel Defense Forces, the IDF, and the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation denied the story, though, to be fair, the IDF did acknowledge firing at a group of Palestinians some distance away, saying they were approached under suspicious circumstances and it didn't involve an aid distribution center. Even that falls far short of the dramatic headlines being pushed.

And now, there's even more reason to be suspicious of the story. A British emergency medic named Mandy Blackman, speaking to the BBC World Service's NewsHour, described what she saw at the hospital following this latest supposed massacre by the IDF. Here's what she said, quote,

And it was during this journey that they sustained their injuries. We've seen gunshot wounds, we've seen stabbings, people beaten by what they say were bricks. We've had people who've been pepper sprayed as well. Let me repeat the list of wounds includes stabbings, blunt force trauma, and pepper spray. On the surface, it doesn't necessarily sound like the result of a military firing into a crowd.

Possibly it sounds like something else, something more chaotic and far less convenient for the official narrative. Because what it sounds like, and we admit this is speculation, no doubt, is people getting attacked by Hamas sympathizers or operatives, possibly as punishment for going to a non-Hamas controlled aid station. And Hamas has officially threatened Gaza residents if they do approach or take aid from the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation. So it is not...

He's stretch. This isn't just idle speculation. It's behavior that we've already seen, including the IDF, which released a video on Monday showing masked gunmen, believed to be Hamas operatives, firing on Palestinian civilians in broad daylight in Qan Yunis as they attempted to collect humanitarian aid. As we explained yesterday, the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation is more than a new aid channel. It's, well, an existential threat to Hamas.

The group's influence hinges on its control over aid flowing into Gaza and them being able to control it. The GHF bypasses that. If civilians begin to rely on it instead of Hamas' back-to-UN programs, Hamas loses one of the last tools that it has to maintain power. So no...

It's not sloppy reporting that we're seeing, it's the media being used, again, as an amplifier for propaganda And for the second time in as many days, the facts suggest that the real story isn't about Israeli attacks It's about Hamas trying to keep its own people in line It's information warfare, and once again, too many in the media seem eager to play along Or, at least, too lazy to fact-check

Alright, coming up next, a reported US offer to let Iran enrich uranium, and a major political shift in South Korea as the left retakes power. I'll be right back.

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Welcome back to the PDB. In a striking reversal of its long-standing position, the Trump administration proposed a revised nuclear deal to the Iranian regime that would permit limited uranium enrichment, undercutting months of hardline rhetoric. The offer, first reported by Axios and confirmed by multiple sources, was delivered Saturday by Trump's Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff.

The outline permits Iran to enrich uranium domestically for civilian use, but only for civilian purposes and only up to a cap of 3%. Now, that's, of course, well below the 90% threshold required for weapons-grade material. The deal would require Iran to temporarily deactivate its underground enrichment facilities for a mutually agreed-upon time period,

locations that have long been shielded, by the way, from international oversight and would limit all nuclear activity to reactor-grade levels, subject to monitoring. Now, this shift is hard to overstate. Since pulling out of the Obama-era Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action back in 2018, Trump has stuck to a maximum pressure sanctions strategy, threatening military action and repeatedly insisting on zero enrichment. With

Witkoff and Secretary of State Marco Rubio in particular have been adamant that no enrichment whatsoever would be tolerated. Back in April, Witkoff doubled down on that standard, stating bluntly that any final agreement must, quote, set a framework for peace, stability, and prosperity in the Middle East, meaning that Iran must stop and eliminate its nuclear enrichment and weaponization program, end quote. And that was then. But this is now.

Under the revised plan, which frankly sounds not unlike the past 2015 nuclear deal, Faye's sanctions relief would be on the table, but only after the mullahs show, quote, real commitment to the deal and submit to what officials are calling a stringent verification regime. Ah, verification. Reportedly, the proposal does not explain or detail how there would be a stringent verification regime.

Initially, the White House didn't even push back on the Axios report. Press Secretary Caroline Levitt issued a statement reiterating the president's red line, "President Trump has made it clear that Iran can never obtain a nuclear bomb. Special Envoy Witkoff has sent a detailed and acceptable proposal to the Iranian regime, and it's in their best interests to accept it." But she declined to provide further specifics, citing respect for ongoing diplomatic processes.

Hours later, Trump took to Truth Social and seemingly torched the revised proposal, posting, quote, the auto pen, meaning Biden, should have stopped Iran a long time ago from enriching. Under our potential agreement, we will not allow any enrichment of uranium. Now, the post, which appeared to take aim at former President Biden, directly contradicted the contours of Whitcough's proposal. Rubio, too, has voiced concerns. Speaking to Fox News last month, the

The Secretary of State warned that even low-level enrichment presents a slippery slope, saying, quote, "...if you have the ability to enrich at 3.67%, it only takes a few weeks to get to 20%, then 60%, and then the 80 and 90% that you need for a weapon."

But if the U.S. message is muddled, which apparently it is, Iran's response is not. A senior Iranian diplomat told Reuters that Tehran is, quote, drafting a negative response to the U.S. proposal, which could be interpreted as a rejection of the U.S. offer. That statement reinforces what officials in Tehran have said repeatedly, that Iran will not abandon enrichment under any circumstances.

For now, the administration's first serious overture, since back-channel talks resumed in April, hangs in limbo, caught between conflicting internal rhetoric in Washington and an Islamic regime that seems unwilling to budge. As it stands, the gap between what's being offered and what's being said seems to continue to widen, and with it, the odds of any real breakthrough.

Okay, shifting to South Korea. Liberal opposition leader Lee Jae-myung clinched the presidency in a snap election, but his looming legal troubles and foreign policy stance cast doubt on lasting political stability. Lee's win follows months of upheaval triggered by former President Yoon Suk-yeol's short-lived but seismic declaration of martial law back in December. As we've tracked around the PDB, the move triggered mass protests, upended financial markets, and

culminated in Yun's impeachment, and that was a ruling that was later upheld by the Constitutional Court in April That ruling paved the way for a hastily organized election, one that now ushers Li into office with no transition period and an electorate still deeply divided Speaking outside his home Wednesday, Li vowed to "unite the people" and uphold the great responsibility entrusted to him

But his conciliatory tone was at odds with the scorched-earth messaging that dominated his campaign's final stretch At his closing rally, Lee warned that electing conservative rival Kim Moon-soo would trigger democratic collapse and a return to authoritarianism, declaring, "...if conservatives somehow win, that would mean the return of the rebellion forces, the destruction of democracy, and our country's downfall into a backward third-world nation."

Kim, a former labor minister under Yoon, accused Lee of hijacking the national crisis to consolidate power, likening the Democratic Party leader to a, quote, Hitler-like dictator, and predicting that Lee would use his party's parliamentary supermajority to place himself beyond legal reach. Now, I don't know about you, but I think comparing people to Hitler is...

Well, it's really getting old. Lee is currently facing multiple criminal indictments, including bribery and corruption tied to a massive real estate scandal. Hearings were postponed during the campaign, effectively giving him legal breathing room. Lee insists that the charges are politically motivated, but his critics see a pattern of evasion. Internationally, it's Lee's foreign policy that's already raising eyebrows.

While he has nominally reaffirmed the U.S.-South Korea alliance, he's also signaled a more conciliatory posture toward Beijing and Pyongyang This approach, of course, risks alienating Washington and Tokyo at a time when trilateral security cooperation is being tested

He's pledged to re-engage North Korea diplomatically and roll back Yoon's more hawkish stance. Yet in the same breath, he concedes that rekindling summit diplomacy with Kim Jong-un will be, quote, very difficult. That hedging has only fueled concerns that pragmatism may be a euphemism for appeasement. Meanwhile, Trump's White House has made it clear that it expects more from Seoul. The administration is pushing for increased defense cost sharing and tougher trade terms.

That means Lee's early months could be consumed by balancing his campaign promises with the hardball demands of a skeptical ally. At home in South Korea, the mood remains divided. Some analysts praise Lee's election as proof of democratic resilience. Others argue that the wounds left by Yoon's ouster, coupled with the legal clouds hanging over Lee, could simply mean more chaos and uncertainty.

Alright, coming up next in the back of the brief: The biggest immigration enforcement sweep in ICE history just happened In one of the bluest states in the United States More on that when we come back

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In today's Back of the Brief, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, along with a group of federal law enforcement agencies, has carried out what it's calling the largest immigration enforcement operation in the agency's history. Dubbed Operation Patriot, the month-long effort resulted in the arrest of nearly 1,500 illegal aliens across the state of Massachusetts, including within several sanctuary jurisdictions.

The focus was on transnational organized crime, violent gangs, and repeat criminal offenders who were roaming free in cities across the state. Of the nearly 1,500 taken into custody, 790 had prior criminal convictions or pending charges. Another 277 had final orders of removal or deportation. Among those arrested were individuals wanted for murder, rape, drug trafficking, and crimes against children, including known members of MS-13,

Tren de Aragua, Trinitarios, and 18th Street Gangs.

The operation included ICE personnel from across the Northeast and support from the FBI, the ATF, U.S. Marshals, State Department's Diplomatic Security Service, and even the U.S. Coast Guard. ICE also conducted simultaneous sweeps on Nantucket and Martha's Vineyard, arresting roughly 40 individuals, including at least one child sex predator and a member of a violent transnational gang. The Coast Guard was deployed to assist in safely transporting the detainees off the islands.

ICE's Boston acting field office director Patricia H. Hyde said in a statement, Make no mistake, every person that we arrested was breaking our immigration laws, but most of these individuals had significant criminality. They are criminal offenders who victimized innocent people and traumatized entire communities.

Now, Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey responded with outrage. Hmm, there's outrage again. Calling the Trump administration's tactics divisive and dangerous. In a Sunday statement, she wrote, This administration continues to create fear in our communities, and it's making us all less safe. End quote. Yes, because removing criminals off the street does tend to make communities less safe. The governor's logic seems sound. And by that, I mean it doesn't.

But ICE officials pushed back, arguing that the people arrested weren't law-abiding immigrants. They were dangerous fugitives hiding in plain sight.

And that, my friends, is the President's Daily Brief for Wednesday, the 4th of June. Now, 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 can do that, and you can do it very simply. 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.