PDB Situation Report | February 14th, 2026: The Iran–China Axis Exposed & Immigration Sweep Concludes

The President's Daily Brief

The First TV

News, Politics

4.7 • 3.2K Ratings

🗓️ 14 February 2026

⏱️ 64 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

In this episode of The PDB Situation Report: First up — The United States continues ramping up pressure on Iran, but some analysts argue the real strategic target may be China. We speak with Joshua Philipp about how Tehran fits into Beijing’s broader geopolitical ambitions, and why moves in the Middle East could be part of a much larger contest with the Chinese Communist Party. Later in the show — The Trump administration announces it is ending Operation Metro Surge in Minnesota after more than four thousand immigration arrests. Art Arthur of the Center for Immigration Studies joins us to break down what the operation accomplished, why it is winding down now, and what it means for immigration enforcement moving forward. 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 Acre Gold: Start building physical gold with simple monthly payments and enter to win two Ancient Collection gold bars at https://GetAcreGold.com/PDB. Trust & Will: Estate planning doesn’t have to be complicated—create your will or trust online in minutes with Trust & Will and get 20% off at https://trustandwill.com/PDB BRUNT Workwear: Get $10 Off at BRUNT with code PDB at https://www.bruntworkwear.com/PDB#Bruntpod Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Welcome to the PDB situation report.
0:03.0	I'm Mike Baker, your eyes and ears on the world stage.
0:18.0	And yes, my shirt does say Boise lacrosse. How about that? All right, let's get
0:23.9	briefed. First up, the U.S. continues to intensify its pressure on Iran, but is the real target, China.
0:30.6	We'll speak with Josh Phillip about how Tehran fits into Beijing's broader strategic ambitions.
0:37.3	Later on the show, the Trump administration
0:39.3	says its ending Operation Metro surge in Minnesota after more than 4,000 immigration arrests. We'll be
0:47.1	joined by Art Arthur of the Center for Immigration Studies for more on that. But first, today's
0:52.6	situation report spotlight. The U.S. continues its pressure
0:56.6	campaign on Iran, confronting Tehran's nuclear ambitions, and raising the stakes diplomatically and
1:02.4	militarily. But this may be about more than just Iran. The Iranian regime sits at the center of a
1:09.6	broader China-Russia alignment, providing Beijing
1:12.6	with energy security, regional leverage, and a key pillar in an emerging authoritarian block.
1:18.9	Pressuring Iran could disrupt China's access to discounted oil and fracture that partnership
1:24.3	without directly confronting Beijing. So, is this Middle East containment
1:29.7	or geopolitical chests aimed at squarely at the CCP? Here to help us break it down is Josh
1:36.3	Philip, senior investigative reporter for the Epoch Times and host of Crossroads, which you confide
1:41.0	on YouTube, at Crossroads with Joshua Phillip. He's also got a brand new show on YouTube called The Josh Phillips Show.
1:48.2	Josh, thank you very much for joining us here on The Situation Report.
1:51.3	Real pleasure being here.
1:52.4	And no shortage in news these days, if anything else, right?
1:55.7	Yeah, I just don't know what we're going to find to talk about.
	...

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