The President's Daily Brief
PDB Afternoon Bulletin | May 23rd, 2025: Will Iran Walk Away From Nuclear Negotiations? & Russia, Ukraine To Swap 2,000 Prisoners In Largest Exchange Of The War
Fri, 23 May 2025
In this episode of The PDB Afternoon Bulletin: First, another round of nuclear talks between the U.S. and Iran took place today in Rome, but increasingly intransigent leaders in Tehran are growing skeptical that they will be able to reach a new deal with the Trump administration. We’ll have the details. Later in the show—despite the diplomatic deadlock over the war in Ukraine, leaders in Kyiv and Moscow are carrying out the largest prisoner swap of the more than three year old conflict that will see 2,000 soldiers freed. 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 Jacked Up Fitness: Go to https://GetJackedUp.com and use code BAKER at checkout to save 10% off your entire purchase TriTails Premium Beef: Visit https://TryBeef.com/PDB for 2 free Flat Iron steaks with your first box over $250 Birch Gold: Text PDB to 989898 and get your free info kit on gold Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Chapter 1: What is the PDB Afternoon Bulletin?
It's Friday, the 23rd of May. Welcome to the PDB Afternoon Bulletin. I'm Mike Baker, your eyes and ears on the world stage. All right, let's get briefed.
Chapter 2: What are the latest developments in US-Iran nuclear talks?
First up, another round of nuclear talks between the US and Iran took place today in Rome, but the Iranian regime is signaling that they may walk away from the negotiating table over the Trump administration's demands to end all uranium enrichment. We'll have those details.
Later in the show, despite the diplomatic deadlock over the war in Ukraine, leaders in Kiev and Moscow are conducting the largest prisoner swap of the more than three-year-old conflict. Some 2,000 soldiers are involved in this exchange. But first, today's afternoon spotlight.
We begin today with the latest on the US-Iran nuclear talks, as leaders in Tehran reportedly grow skeptical that they'll be able to reach a new deal with the Trump administration. Well, actually, to be honest, maybe if they quit pursuing nuclear weapons and also stopped funding and training and otherwise supporting their various terrorist proxies, they could probably reach a new deal.
Chapter 3: Why is Iran skeptical about reaching a nuclear deal?
The fifth round of negotiations played out earlier today in Rome, led by Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi and U.S. Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff. They spoke indirectly through Omani mediators. The talks ended without any major breakthroughs, but Oman's foreign minister said progress was made towards at least establishing a framework for a potential future deal.
That's diplomatic speak for we didn't really get a lot done. Instead, he hopes to, quote, clarify the remaining issues in the coming days. While the White House remains hopeful that they can find a diplomatic off-ramp to the Islamic regime's nuclear ambitions, two Iranian sources exclusively told CNN on Friday that the mullahs may decide to walk away from negotiations entirely.
The impasse is reportedly over whether or not Iran will be allowed to continue their domestic enrichment of uranium at a lower level for what they dubiously claim are civilian purposes. Now, President Trump has repeatedly insisted that any deal must include Iran's full abandonment of enrichment activities. That's an outcome that Iran's leadership continues to reject.
Witkoff reiterated that message in a recent interview with ABC News, stating, quote, we cannot allow even 1% of an enrichment capability, calling that red line non-negotiable. As we've previously discussed, Iran has been rapidly expanding their nuclear program in recent years with the enrichment of uranium to 60% purity.
Now, that's far above civilian energy needs and dangerously close, frankly, to the 90% weapons-grade levels. They now have enough material, reportedly, to produce six nuclear weapons and reportedly hold nearly all the components needed to assemble a bomb. In a joint message, the Iranian sources told CNN, "...that media statements and negotiating behavior of the U.S.
has widely disappointed policymaking circles in Tehran when the U.S. knows that accepting zero enrichment in Iran is impossible and yet insists on it. It is a sign that the U.S. is fundamentally not seeking an agreement and is using the negotiations as a tool to intensify pressure."
Iran claims that they are willing to commit to never developing a nuclear weapon, getting rid of their stockpiles of highly enriched uranium, and allowing international inspectors to supervise the process in exchange for the U.S. lifting all sanctions on the regime and allowing low-level domestic enrichment to continue.
The Iranian sources told CNN that their participation in the Rome talks was not aimed at pursuing a potential diplomatic breakthrough, but solely to gauge whether there is any wiggle room with the Trump administration on the question of enrichment.
The Iranian foreign minister made his demands plain in a statement ahead of Friday's talks, saying, "...figuring out the path to a deal is not rocket science. Zero nuclear weapons equals we do have a deal. Zero enrichment equals we do not have a deal." Time to decide, end quote.
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Chapter 4: What is the significance of the largest prisoner swap in the Ukraine conflict?
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While diplomatic efforts to end Russia's war on Ukraine appear to be deadlocked, Moscow and Kyiv are moving forward with the largest prisoner exchange of the more than three-year-old conflict. Russia and Ukraine both confirmed that they had completed the first phase of the prisoner swap on Friday, with each side returning 390 soldiers and civilians.
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