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Visit ServiceNow.com slash UK slash AI for people. It's Monday, 17 February.

Welcome to the PDB afternoon bulletin.

I'm Mike Baker, your eyes and ears on the world stage.

All right, let's get briefed.

First, we'll discuss the fallout from Vice President J.D. Vance's speech at the Munich

Security Conference on Friday, where he chastised European leaders over their attempts

to stifle democratic norms, leaving some officials in tears.

Later in the show, the Trump administration takes aim at Pentagon spending

with Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency,

looking to trim some 8% from next year's defense budget,

which is a budget that exceeds currently over $800 billion.

But first, today's afternoon spotlight.

We'll begin in Europe, where Vice President J.D. Vance

delivered a surprising, to say the least, speech at the Munich Security Conference on Friday,

blasting the continent's drift towards political repression and leaving some European officials

in tears. Vance tore into policies increasingly seen in countries throughout Europe

that criminalize free speech and marginalize populist voters. He suggested that growing reliance

on censorship as well as crackdowns on political opposition are arguably a greater threat

to the stability of Europe than Russia or any other outside actor.

In his address, delivered in front of some of Europe's top political brass,

...