The President's Daily Brief
PDB Situation Report | January 4th, 2025: Terrorism Hits Home & Beijing’s Strategy for 2025
04 Jan 2025
In this episode of The PDB Situation Report: We begin with a deadly New Year's Day, where two separate incidents over 1,700 miles apart have raised alarm about potential terrorism on U.S. soil. Retired FBI senior agent Kurt Pipel shares his expert analysis on these attacks and the investigations that are underway. Later, we delve into Xi Jinping's New Year's message, where he addressed China's economic hurdles and reinforced his aggressive stance on Taiwan. Author and China expert Gordon Chang joins us to unpack what this could mean for Beijing's strategy in 2025. 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
Welcome to the PDB Situation Report and welcome to a brand new year. It's 2025. I'm Mike Baker. Your eyes and ears on the world stage. All right, let's get briefed. We'll start today's show with a deadly New Year's Day, where two incidents over 1700 miles apart have shot the nation and sparked new concerns about terrorism on U.S. soil.
Retired FBI Senior Agent Kurt Peipel joins us to provide insight into these attacks and the ongoing investigations. Later in the show, we'll examine Xi Jinping's New Year's message. Did you catch that? Where he laid out China's economic challenges and renewed his hardline stance on Taiwan.
Author and China expert and friend of the show, Gordon Chang, will join us to break down what this means for Beijing's agenda in 2025. But first, our Situation Report Spotlight. Two major incidents shocked the nation on New Year's Day.
First, in New Orleans, where 42-year-old Shamsa Din-Jabbar drove a rented pickup truck into a crowd of revelers on Bourbon Street, killing at least 15 people and injuring over 30. Now, Jabbar, an Army veteran, was fatally shot by police at the scene. The FBI has revealed that the suspect had pledged allegiance to the Islamic State and is investigating the attack as an act of terrorism.
Just hours later, in Las Vegas, a Tesla Cybertruck exploded outside the Trump International Hotel, killing the driver, 37-year-old Matthew Livelsberger, and injuring seven bystanders. The vehicle was packed with fireworks and gas canisters, turning what initially appeared to be an accident into a deliberate act.
Investigators have since discovered that both vehicles were rented through the same peer-to-peer app, raising questions about whether these attacks were coordinated. What do these incidents tell us about the threats that we face in 2025 and how might authorities respond to those threats?
Well, here to share his insight is Kurt Peipel, a recently retired FBI senior agent with 20 years of experience and, full disclosure, now working for Portman Square Group, our company that's an intelligence and security and risk mitigation firm. Kurt, thanks very much for joining us here on The Situation Report.
Thanks, Mike. Thanks for having me.
Yeah, of course, man. Of course. And look, honestly, you didn't need to get dressed up for the Situation Report. But thank you. Thank you for making the effort. I appreciate it. So let's kind of start at the 30,000-foot level with New Orleans. We'll start with New Orleans first. Can you walk us through how does an investigation like this unfold?
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