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The President's Daily Brief

PDB Afternoon Bulletin | February 18th, 2026: Inside Rubio’s Secret Talks Over Cuba’s Future & & Ukraine Negotiations Stall

The President's Daily Brief

The First TV

Politics, News

4.73.2K Ratings

🗓️ 18 February 2026

⏱️ 17 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

In this episode of The PDB Afternoon Bulletin: First up — we’re getting a revealing look at the White House’s quiet strategy for Cuba, as Secretary of State Marco Rubio reportedly opens backchannel discussions not with Havana’s president, Miguel Díaz-Canel, but with the grandson of Raul Castro. Later in the show — another round of trilateral peace talks between the United States, Russia, and Ukraine wraps up with little to show. Despite diplomatic efforts, the battlefield reality remains largely unchanged, raising fresh questions about whether negotiations can gain traction anytime soon. To listen to the show ad-free, become a premium member of The President’s Daily Brief by visiting https://PDBPremium.com. Please remember to subscribe if you enjoyed this episode of The President's Daily Brief. YouTube: youtube.com/@presidentsdailybrief Sundays for Dogs: Upgrade your dog’s food without the hassle—try Sundays for Dogs and get 50% off your first order at https://sundaysfordogs.com/PDB50 or use code PDB50 at checkout. American Financing: Call American Financing today to find out how customers are saving an avg of $800/mo. NMLS 182334, https://nmlsconsumeraccess.org APR for rates in the 5s start at 6.196% for well qualified borrowers. Call 866-885-1881 for details about credit costs and terms. Visit http://www.AmericanFinancing.net/PDB Cozy Earth: Visit https://www.CozyEarth.com/PDB & Use code PDB for up to 20% off Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0

This episode is brought to you by Vanta.

0:03.0

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0:08.0

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0:15.0

For enterprises, it's your AI-powered hub for compliance,

0:18.0

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0:20.0

From startups like Cursar to

0:21.8

enterprises like Snowflake, top companies choose Vantor. Do security and compliance right. Get

0:27.1

started today at Vantor.com. It's Wednesday, the 18th of February.

0:44.6

Welcome to the PDB afternoon bulletin.

0:47.1

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

0:50.6

All right.

0:51.6

Let's get briefed.

0:52.8

First up, we're getting a revealing look at the Trump administration's quiet strategy for Cuba,

0:58.8

as Secretary of State Marco Rubio reportedly opens back-channel discussions, not with Havana's

1:05.0

president, but with Raul Castro's grandson. I'll have the details.

1:10.1

Later in the show, another round of U.S.-Russia-Ukraine peace talks comes and goes with few

1:15.5

tangible results and no clear path forward.

1:19.6

But first, today's afternoon spotlight.

1:22.2

Today we're getting a new look into the Trump administration's plans, possibly, for the future

...

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