The President's Daily Brief
PDB Afternoon Bulletin | May 26th, 2025: Trump Blasts ‘Crazy’ Putin In Rare Rebuke & U.S.-Iran Talks Inch Forward
Mon, 26 May 2025
In this episode of The PDB Afternoon Bulletin: We’ll start things off with a surprising shift from Donald Trump—he’s calling Vladimir Putin “crazy” following a weekend of intense Russian strikes on Ukraine. Later in the show—modest progress is being reported in the fifth round of talks between the U.S. and Iran. We’ll lay out what we know. 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
Chapter 1: What surprising statement did Trump make about Putin?
Later in the show, modest progress is being reported in the fifth round of talks between the US and Iran. We'll have those details. But first, today's afternoon spotlight. We'll begin with President Trump issuing a rare rebuke of Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin on Sunday, calling him, quote, absolutely crazy after Moscow unleashed its largest aerial barrage of the war on Ukrainian cities.
Chapter 2: What progress is being reported in U.S.-Iran talks?
In a post on Truth Social, Trump wrote, quote, I've always had a very good relationship with Vladimir Putin of Russia, but something has happened to him. He has gone absolutely crazy, end quote. Now, the president continued by saying, I've always said that he wants all of Ukraine, not just a piece of it, but if he does, it will lead to the downfall of Russia.
Chapter 3: How did Trump describe his relationship with Putin?
Speaking to reporters, Trump doubled down, saying, quote, I've known him a long time, but he's sending rockets into cities and killing people, and I don't like it at all, end quote. Trump's remarks came just hours after Ukrainian officials confirmed what they described as the largest aerial onslaught of the three-year war.
Chapter 4: What was the impact of the recent Russian attacks on Ukraine?
As we noted in this morning's PDB, Russian forces launched 367 so-called, quote, air attack vehicles from Saturday into Sunday, including ballistic and cruise missiles, guided bombs, and waves of Iranian-made Shahed drones that left at least 18 civilians dead.
Chapter 5: What are the implications of Trump's rhetoric for U.S.-Russia relations?
The unusually sharp tone from Trump toward Putin comes as he faces renewed pressure from European leaders and members of his own party to adopt a more aggressive posture toward the Kremlin. Until now, Trump has resisted laying down explicit red lines, opting instead to keep diplomatic channels open.
But on Sunday, he appeared to shift gears, telling reporters he's now, quote, absolutely weighing new sanctions in response to those attacks. That stance, however, does appear to be at odds with his own Secretary of State. Last week, Marco Rubio warned that threatening sanctions now could torpedo fragile negotiations. What negotiations?
Telling lawmakers that premature pressure might push Russia to walk away from the table altogether. Now, honestly, I'm not sure what table Secretary Rubio is talking about. As we've long tracked here on the PDB, peace talks remain frozen, and really, the talks aren't so much frozen as just non-existent.
Chapter 6: What response did Ukraine's leader give regarding Russian aggression?
Moscow continues to dangle vague proposals, one recently labeled a potential quote memorandum, while Kiev insists that a full 30-day ceasefire must come first before any serious dialogue can begin. Meanwhile, the war effort shows no signs of slowing. By early Monday, Ukraine's defense ministry confirmed that Russian forces had launched yet another overnight wave of drones.
In a coordinated response, Kyiv struck deep inside Russian territory, most notably targeting a Shahed drone factory in the Tatarstan region, some 500 miles east of Moscow, as well as a chemical facility northeast of the capital. In a telegram post Monday, Zelensky warned that Russian strikes were fueled by impunity.
Chapter 7: What did Russia's spokesperson say about Trump's comments?
He wrote, quote, Only a sense of complete impunity can allow Russia to carry out such strikes and constantly increase their scale. Zelensky went on to argue that force remains the only language that Moscow understands. He stated, quote, Like any criminal, Russia can only be brought to justice by force, the force of the U.S., the force of Europe, the force of all nations that respect life.
The Ukrainian leader closed his message with a direct call for punitive action, urging Washington and Brussels to enact a, quote, blockade of Russian finances and trade in Russian oil. As for the Kremlin's response to Trump labeling Putin as crazy, mouthpiece Dmitry Peskov said, Honestly, Trump may be right. Putin does seem full-on crazy at this point. Okay, I just made that up.
Peskov did not say that. Although, you know, I'll bet he's thinking it. Peskov actually chalked up Trump's comments to, quote, emotional overload, but stopped short of a full-throated rebuttal, opting instead to praise Trump's ongoing efforts to reach a ceasefire.
But as drone warfare intensifies and diplomacy remains for the most part a non-starter, Trump's evolving tone toward Putin, well, it may mark a recalibration of how the White House looks to influence the war's outcome. All right, coming up next, there's a flicker, I guess a flicker is a decent enough way to put it, of progress in the latest U.S.-Iran talks.
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Welcome back to the Afternoon Bulletin. The fifth round of negotiations between the U.S. and the Iranian regime wrapped up on Sunday in Rome. And while a breakthrough remains elusive, meaning nowhere in sight, officials from both sides and the Omani mediator are cautiously optimistic that progress is within reach.
Omani Foreign Minister Badr al-Bursaidi, who's been facilitating the talks, posted on X following the Rome meetings, quote, "...the fifth round of Iran-U.S. talks have concluded today in Rome with some but not conclusive progress."
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