The President's Daily Brief
PDB Afternoon Bulletin | February 3rd, 2025: Mexico & Panama Capitulate To US Demands & Trump Moves To Gut Major US Aid Agency
03 Feb 2025
In this episode of The PDB Afternoon Bulletin: First, President Donald Trump’s unique foreign policy strategy is starting to yield results, as Mexico partially caves over Trump’s tariff threats, and Panama makes a big concession aimed at curbing China’s influence over their vital canal. Then, we’ll discuss this weekend’s drama over the U.S. Agency for International Development, or USAID, after Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency seized control of USAID’s headquarters and locked out their employees, vowing to dismantle what officials say is an agency beyond reform. 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 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Full Episode
It's Monday, 3 February. Welcome to the PDB Afternoon Bulletin. I'm Mike Baker, your eyes and ears on the world stage. Let's get briefed.
First up, President Trump's unconventional foreign policy strategy appears to be starting to yield results, as Mexico appears to somewhat capitulate to Trump's tariff threats, and Panama makes a significant concession aimed at curbing China's influence over the vital Panama Canal. Then, we'll discuss this weekend's drama over at the U.S.
Agency for International Development, or USAID, after Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency seized control of USAID's headquarters and locked out their employees, vowing to dismantle what administration officials say is an agency beyond reform. But first, our afternoon spotlight. It appears that President Trump's approach to foreign policy, well, may be paying dividends.
As PDB listeners know, Trump imposed 25% tariffs on goods from Mexico and Canada on Saturday, largely over concerns about illegal immigration and fentanyl trafficking, as well as current imbalances in the North American Free Trade Pact. But the tariffs immediately stoked fears that Trump's approach could ignite a trade war with two of America's top economic partners.
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum had recently promised to retaliate with tariffs of her own if Trump moved forward, but on Monday morning, well, she appeared to take a different approach.
President Trump announced Monday that he's pausing the 25% tariff on Mexico for one month after Sheinbaum agreed to immediately deploy 10,000 Mexican soldiers to the US border to stem the flow of fentanyl and illegal migrants.
Trump said that Secretary of State Marco Rubio and others in his administration would spearhead further negotiations with Mexico during the tariff pause, adding, "...I look forward to participating in those negotiations as we attempt to achieve a deal between our two countries." Now, Canadian leaders, on the other hand, well, they're digging in their heels.
Over the weekend, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau condemned the move and announced he would impose 25% retaliatory tariffs on more than $100 billion in U.S. goods. It's important to note, however, that Trump briefly spoke with Trudeau on Monday morning and said he has another call scheduled for Monday afternoon, although he didn't elaborate on the nature of the discussions.
Turning further south, Trump's return to the Oval Office has also come with threats of territorial expansion, with much of his attention focused on combating China's expanding influence over the Panama Canal. The canal handles roughly 40% of U.S. container traffic.
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