The President's Daily Brief
May 14th, 2025: Secret Chinese Delegation Spotted At U.S. Treasury & And Trump’s Deal With The Saudis
Wed, 14 May 2025
In this episode of The President's Daily Brief: We’ll start with some cloak and dagger diplomacy that flew under the radar last month—a secret visit by a Chinese delegation to the U.S. Treasury Department reveals just how far the Chinese Communist Party will go to control the narrative. President Trump kicks off his Middle East swing with two major announcements: a $600 billion Saudi investment pledge and a $142 billion arms deal. Plus, the latest from Israel, where Prime Minister Netanyahu says the fight against Hamas is entering its final phase. And in today’s Back of the Brief—a new era of U.S.-Syrian relations may be on the horizon, as President Trump moves to lift decades-old sanctions on Syria. To listen to the show ad-free, become a premium member of The President’s Daily Brief by visiting PDBPremium.com. Please remember to subscribe if you enjoyed this episode of The President's Daily Brief. YouTube: youtube.com/@presidentsdailybrief Birch Gold: Text PDB to 989898 and get your free info kit on gold TriTails Premium Beef: Visit https://TryBeef.com/PDB for 2 free Flat Iron steaks with your first box over $250 DeleteMe: Get 20% off your DeleteMe plan when you text PDB to 64000. Message and data rates apply Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Chapter 1: Who is hosting The President's Daily Brief on May 14th, 2025?
It's Wednesday, the 14th 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 some cloak-and-dagger diplomacy that flew under the radar. It was a secret visit by a Chinese delegation to the U.S.
Treasury Department, and it shows just how far the Chinese Communist Party will go to manage perception and try to control the narrative. We'll have those details. Later in the show, President Trump kicks off his Middle East swing with a pair of announcements, a $600 billion Saudi investment pledge, including a $142 billion arms deal. Now that is a lot of fat Saudi stacks.
Plus, the latest from the conflict between Israel and Hamas, Prime Minister Netanyahu says the fight is entering its final phase, vowing to unleash, quote, full force to finish off Hamas once and for all. And in today's back of the brief, a new era of U.S.-Syrian relations may be taking shape as President Trump announces plans to lift decades-old sanctions. But first, today's PDB Spotlight.
Chapter 2: What was the secret Chinese delegation visit to the U.S. Treasury about?
I want to start today's show with a story that flew under the radar late last month, but it says a lot about how the Chinese Communist Party, the CCP, operates and how it tries to control the optics. You may recall, ahead of the formal US-China trade negotiations that took place this past weekend in Geneva, President Trump said that trade talks between the U.S.
and China were already underway, and that was a claim that the CCP quickly and aggressively denied. But now, well, it looks like Trump was correct, and the CCP was lying. I know, it's hard to believe that the Chinese Communist Party would stray from the truth. According to a report from one of South Korea's largest newspapers, U.S.
Chapter 3: How did the U.S.-China tariff negotiations unfold behind the scenes?
and Chinese officials began behind-the-scenes discussions regarding the tariff war nearly three weeks ago. The paper confirmed that around 7 a.m. on the 24th of April, a high-ranking official from the Chinese Ministry of Finance was seen entering the Treasury Building in Washington, D.C., along with nearly a dozen staffers.
While the paper was unable to confirm the identity of the senior Chinese official, he was reportedly seen wearing an identification required for all G20 finance ministers and central bank governors participating in trade talks that were going on that week in Washington.
Adding to the intrigue, the South Korean paper said the Chinese delegation, quote, strongly blocked the press from taking photos of high-ranking officials entering the U.S. Treasury building.
The senior official, who refused to reveal his identity, reportedly went so far as to demand that the press delete all photos taken of them from their smartphones, saying, quote, we have no authority to block the freedom of the press, but we have the right to refuse to allow our personnel to be photographed, end quote.
Their secretive meeting at the Treasury was reportedly held just an hour before U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Besant and Trade Representative Jamison Greer met with a delegation from South Korea for tariff negotiations, though those negotiations were publicly confirmed.
At the time, a diplomatic source told the South Korean paper that, "...the fact that the Treasury communication channels of both the U.S. and China are actually operating means that both countries have reached a critical point under domestic and international pressure due to the current retaliatory tariffs."
Adding, "...the results of the backroom negotiations between the two sides could be a major turning point in the tariff war." Now, given the trade breakthrough reached between the US and China this past weekend, it appears the diplomatic source was right. So why all the cloak and dagger diplomacy?
Well, the same source told the paper, quote, since this tariff war is unfolding as a battle of pride, it may not be easy to create some kind of win-win structure. The source stressed that, quote, the fact that China visited the US Treasury Department in person could be an extremely sensitive issue for China. In short, it appears the CCP wanted to keep the activity quiet to save face.
They likely feared that confirmation of such talks would make it look like they were caving to U.S. tariff pressure, weakening their negotiating position with other countries who they had warned not to engage with the U.S. in a way that would undermine China's economic interests.
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Chapter 4: What recent developments occurred in the U.S.-China trade war?
Additionally, the U.S. announced Tuesday that they will cut the de minimis tariff for low-value items imported from China from 120% to 54%. Now, while the progress is encouraging, it's fair to say that there's still a lot left to negotiate between the globe's two largest economies.
All right, coming up after the break, President Trump announces major deals with Saudi Arabia as he begins his Middle East tour. And Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu vows to bring the fight against Hamas to a decisive end. I'll be right back. Hey, Mike Baker here.
Now, this July, and this is an important piece of news, there's going to be a global summit of BRICS nations being held in Rio de Janeiro. The bloc of emerging superpowers, it includes China and Russia, India and Iran, are meeting with the goal of displacing the U.S. dollar as the global currency. And they're calling it the Rio Reset. Isn't that a catchy name?
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President Trump announced a $600 billion investment pledge from Saudi Arabia in what the White House is touting as the dawn of a golden era in U.S.-Saudi relations anchored in economic cooperation.
At the core of the package is a $142 billion arms agreement involving more than a dozen American defense contractors, which the administration is touting as the largest defense cooperation deal in American history.
According to a White House fact sheet, the package includes advanced systems for air, missile, and ground defense and is being positioned as a strategic bulwark against the Iranian influence in the region. In addition to defense, the broader agreement touches on energy, mining, and internal security, among them a newly inked partnership between Saudi Arabia's Ministry of Interior and the FBI.
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Chapter 5: What is the significance of the upcoming BRICS summit and 'Rio Reset'?
But if talks failed, he warned, the Islamic regime would continue to face maximum pressure, echoing his ongoing sanctions campaign. Trump is now scheduled to arrive in Qatar today and the UAE tomorrow, with meetings planned in Abu Dhabi.
While Washington's decades-old alliance with Saudi Arabia has traditionally centered on oil for security guarantees, Trump's trip signaled a shift toward one built on mutual investment in a broader effort to redefine America's role in the Gulf through economic engagement rather than military dominance.
Okay, turning to Israel, Prime Minister Netanyahu is vowing to launch a full-scale military operation in Gaza this week to defeat Hamas and break the terror group's grip on the enclave. Speaking to IDF reservists, Netanyahu pledged, quote, in the coming days, we are going in with full force to complete the operation.
He left little ambiguity about the objective, adding, quote, completing the operation means defeating Hamas. It means destroying Hamas, end quote. Netanyahu emphasized that full dismantling of Hamas and the return of hostages taken during the Iran-backed terror group's 7 October 2023 attacks are objectives that, quote, go hand in hand.
His remarks came just hours before the release of Eden Alexander, an Israeli-American hostage, on Monday. As we reported here on the PDB with his release, 58 hostages are now believed to remain in Hamas captivity, although Israeli intelligence estimates suggest that fewer than half remain alive.
While expressing a willingness to receive additional hostage releases, Netanyahu made clear that such gestures would not stall the looming military operation. He stated, quote, It's possible that Hamas will say, time out, we want to release 10 more hostages.
Fine, bring them, we'll take them, and then we'll go in, making it clear that there's no situation in which IDF forces will halt their advance. While allowing that a temporary ceasefire could be struck, he doubled down with, quote, We're going all the way. Despite Netanyahu's hard line, U.S. envoys appear cautiously optimistic.
Special Envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff and Special Envoy Adam Boehler met with hostage families in Tel Aviv on Tuesday before flying to Doha, where negotiations continue. According to Bowler, Alexander's release earlier in the week created momentum for a broader agreement, perhaps.
The envoys reportedly told families that they would not be heading to Qatar if there weren't a credible chance to advance the talks.
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Chapter 6: What major investment and arms deals did President Trump announce with Saudi Arabia?
sanctions on Syria, telling a crowd in Riyadh it's time to, quote, give them a chance at greatness. I'll have those details next. Hey, Mike Baker here. Let's take just a few seconds to talk about eating smart, right? About eating healthy. It's very important. And a big part of that effort, right, is knowing where your food comes from. That just makes sense, how it was raised and handled.
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In today's Back of the Brief, President Trump said Tuesday that the U.S. will remove all sanctions on Syria in a major U.S. policy shift. Trump made the surprise announcement during his visit to Saudi Arabia, where, as we just discussed, he secured a $600 billion investment pledge from Riyadh.
The president said he made the decision to lift sanctions on Syria following a request from Saudi Crown Prince MBS, jesting in public remarks, quote, Oh, what I do for the crown prince, end quote, according to Reuters. Turkish President Erdogan also reportedly lobbied the President hard for the removal of the long-standing sanctions.
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Chapter 7: How is the U.S.-Saudi relationship evolving amid geopolitical tensions?
Israeli leaders in particular remain deeply mistrustful of the new Sunni Islamist government and have carved out a demilitarized zone in southern Syria near the Golan Heights to protect their border from Islamist extremist groups. But it appears President Trump wants to give Shiraz's administration a chance.
Trump said that while the sanctions had served an important purpose in the past, it was time to move forward and work to restore U.S. relations with Syria now that Assad is gone. The move suggests he sees an opportunity to secure a long-term U.S. victory by stabilizing the region and opening Syria up to investment opportunities for U.S. businesses, undercutting adversaries like Russia and China.
That's according to an analysis by the Atlantic Council think tank. White House officials told Reuters that President Trump will briefly greet Shara in the Saudi Arabian capital on Wednesday. Trump said, quote, I will be ordering the cessation of sanctions against Syria in order to give them a chance at greatness in Syria, which has seen so much misery and death.
There is a new government that will hopefully succeed in stabilizing the country and keeping peace. That's what we want to see. The president added, quote, it's their time to shine. So I say, good luck, Syria. Show us something very special, end quote. Whether Shira can deliver on his promise to reform the fractured nation, however, well, that remains to be seen.
The ongoing sectarian bloodshed suggests that peace and stability in Syria, well, may continue to prove elusive. And that, my friends, is the President's Daily Brief for Wednesday, the 14th of May. Now, if you have any questions or comments, and I hope you do, please reach out to me. at pdbatthefirsttv.com.
And of course, to listen to the show ad-free, yes, that's possible, just become a premium member of the President's Daily Brief by visiting pdbpremium.com. It really is very, very simple. And when you have a spare moment, do please check out our YouTube channel. You can find that at President's Daily Brief. I'm Mike Baker, and I'll be back later today with the PDB Afternoon Bulletin.
Until then, stay informed, stay safe, stay cool.
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