PDB Situation Report | February 14th, 2026: The Iran–China Axis Exposed & Immigration Sweep Concludes
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What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
Welcome to the PDB Situation Report. I'm Mike Baker, your eyes and ears on the world stage. And yes, Mike, my shirt does say Boise Lacrosse. How about that? All right, let's get briefed. First up, the U.S. continues to intensify its pressure on Iran, but is the real target China? We'll speak with Josh Phillip about how Tehran fits into Beijing's broader strategic ambitions. Later in the show, the Trump administration says it's ending Operation Metro's surge in Minnesota after more than 4,000 immigration arrests. We'll be joined by Art Arthur of the Center for Immigration Studies for more on that. But first, today's Situation Report Spotlight. The U.S. continues its pressure campaign on Iran, confronting Tehran's nuclear ambitions and raising the stakes diplomatically and militarily.
But this may be about more than just Iran. The Iranian regime sits at the center of a broader China-Russia alignment, providing Beijing with energy security, regional leverage, and a key pillar in an emerging authoritarian bloc. Pressuring Iran could disrupt China's access to discounted oil and fracture that partnership without directly confronting Beijing. So, is this Middle East containment or geopolitical chests aimed at squarely at the CCP? Here to help us break it down is Josh Phillip, senior investigative reporter for the Epoch Times and host of Crossroads, which you can find on YouTube at Crossroads with Joshua Phillip. He's also got a brand new show on YouTube called The Josh Phillip Show.
Josh, thank you very much for joining us here on The Situation Report.
Real pleasure being here. And no shortage of news these days, if anything else, right?
Yeah, I just don't know what we're going to find to talk about. When all else fails, we can talk about the Drake-Kendrick-Lamar beef, if that's still going. Ah, there we go.
What pressure is the U.S. applying on Iran and why might China be the real target?
There we go. Good idea. Yeah. Yeah. Oh, yeah. People always turn to me for cultural touchstones. Let's start at sort of the big picture.
Yeah.
When we're talking about Iran, I think sometimes people tend to think about things in bite-sized chunks, right? And so they look at this focus on Iran right now and they imagine it's the US versus Iran, right? That's all it is. And it's happening in a bubble.
What were the results of Operation Metro Surge in Minnesota?
But- On a larger geopolitical stage, if you could talk to us about, and I know this is kind of a broad, wide-ranging playing field here, but if you could talk to us initially about the relationship between China and Iran.
If you were to look at it through my eyes, I would say that Iran and the story with Iran and the possible overthrow of the regime there, it's just as much related to Cuba, where Trump is talking about regime change in Cuba. It's just as much related to Venezuela, where Trump just took out Maduro, the leader of Venezuela. Right. Just as much related to, I think, what we may see happening in other countries, because basically Iran is one of the three main pillars of the Chinese Communist Party's system of power globally. You could say that Russia, China, and Iran are the three core ones on the periphery. You actually have Brazil, Venezuela, you have, for example, North Korea, and of course, a few other proxy states, but those are kind of the main ones.
This also ties into the Chinese Communist Party's war plans.
Why is the Trump administration ending Operation Metro Surge now?
And if you were to ask me about what's really going on with, hey, why did Trump capture Maduro? Why is Trump talking about regime change possibly in Cuba or Iran? I would actually say this was about a possible war that was going to take place and maybe still may try to take place. But I think Trump might have actually checkmated them already. So this goes back to one of Xi Jinping's main advisors, a guy named Qin Canrong, and his plan for war for the Chinese Communist Party.
What does the conclusion of Operation Metro Surge signal for future immigration enforcement?
This was public. This was before Russia invaded Ukraine. This was before the October 7th attack on Israel. Xi Jinping's main advisor said that if China were to invade Taiwan and possibly start a war with the United States, they would effectively have to get America involved in multiple other wars.
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Chapters
8 chapters
1
What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
0:12–2:05
2
What pressure is the U.S. applying on Iran and why might China be the real target?
2:05–2:31
3
What were the results of Operation Metro Surge in Minnesota?
2:31–3:43
4
Why is the Trump administration ending Operation Metro Surge now?
3:43–4:13
5
What does the conclusion of Operation Metro Surge signal for future immigration enforcement?
4:13–5:24
6
How does Iran's relationship with China affect global geopolitics?
5:24–6:40
7
What are the implications of the U.S. pressure on Iran for China's energy security?
6:40–17:10
8
How do sanctuary policies impact ICE operations?
17:10–1:02:43
Speakers
4 identifiedMore from The President's Daily Brief
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PDB Afternoon Bulletin | September 22nd, 2026: Tehran Offers To Reopen Hormuz & North Korea’s New Weapon
September 22nd, 2026: Trump Calls Off Major Attack Against The Houthis & Chinese Ships Near Alaska
PDB Afternoon Bulletin | September 21st, 2026: Xi Jinping Purges China’s Military & Pakistan Strikes Afghanistan