I - On Defense Podcast

For review:
1. The Syrian government and the Kurdish SDF announced a new four-day truce after a previous ceasefire between government forces broke down. The two sides have been clashing for two weeks, amid a breakdown in negotiations over the implementation of a deal to merge their forces together.
2. US President Donald Trump said Tuesday that “we think we know” where the body of the final hostage, slain Israel Police Master Sgt. Ran Gvili, is being held in the Gaza Strip
MSG Gvili, a member of the Yasam police unit, was killed battling terrorists at Kibbutz Alumim on October 7, 2023, and his body was abducted to Gaza, where it is still being held.
3. Several European countries are considering whether to stop sending personnel to a US military-led coordination center for Gaza, saying it has failed to increase aid flows to the war-shattered enclave or achieve political change, diplomats said.
The Civil-Military Coordination Center was established in southern Israel in October under US President Donald Trump’s plan to end the war in Gaza. It was tasked with monitoring the Israel-Hamas ceasefire, facilitating the entry of aid, and developing postwar policies for the Palestinian territory.
4. US Plans Signing Ceremony for Board of Peace in Davos.
5. Israel on Tuesday began demolishing the East Jerusalem headquarters of UNRWA, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees and their descendants, with Israeli forces entering the compound with bulldozers and other demolition equipment in the early morning and destroying buildings in what UNRWA called an “unprecedented attack.”
6. Iran’s foreign minister hit out at the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos late Monday for canceling his appearance over a brutal crackdown on recent protests and said the decision was based on “lies and political pressure from Israel.” 
7. Wall Street Journal Report: US President Donald Trump is continuing to push his aides to devise what he calls “decisive” military options against Iran, days after he called off strikes against the Islamic Republic.

For review:
1. A U.S. military strike in northwest Syria resulted in the death of a leader affiliated with Al-Qaeda who was linked to the ISIS attack that resulted in the death of two U.S. Army soldiers and a U.S. civilian interpreter, the U.S. Central Command announced Saturday.
2. President Trump's Board of Peace Invitations Sent: 60 Countries Invited; France Says No.
3. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pledged Monday that Turkish and Qatari forces would not set foot in Gaza, days after the White House announced that officials from the countries would sit on a key committee set to oversee the Strip’s postwar management.
4. U.S. President Donald Trump is also attending in person for the first time since he addressed the forum during his first term in 2020. Alongside President Trump, French President Emmanuel Macron, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz are set to attend in person.
5. Ukraine's top negotiator Rustem Umerov said on Sunday that talks with U.S. officials would continue at the World Economic Forum opening this week in the Swiss resort of Davos.
6. - U.S. President Donald Trump has linked his drive to control Greenland to his failure to win the Nobel Peace Prize, saying he no longer thought "purely of Peace" as the row over the island threatened to reignite a trade war with Europe.
The President declined to tell NBC News in an interview whether he would use force to seize Greenland. He did reiterate his threat to hit European nations with tariffs if a deal is not reached.
7. A pair of U.S. naval vessels carried out Washington’s first reported Taiwan Strait transit of 2026, according to Chinese and U.S. officials.
The People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Eastern Theater Command claimed that Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS John Finn (DDG 113 ) and Pathfinder-class oceanographic survey ship USNS Mary Sears (T-AGS 65) transited the strategic strait between Friday and Saturday.
8. The U.S. and Japan have pledged to further expand joint training across Japan’s southwest region, including the first island chain, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Defense Minister Shinjiro Koizumi said Thursday.
In a 50-minute meeting held this week in Washington D.C., the two defense leaders agreed to prioritize several initiatives meant to strengthen the response capabilities of the U.S.-Japan Alliance.

For review:
1. US Announces (Gaza) Board of Peace Executive Committee; Includes Turkey & Qatar.
2. Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Saturday said authorities “must break the back of the seditionists” and blamed US President Donald Trump for “casualties” after the Islamic Republic’s bloody crackdown on a protest wave against the country’s clerical authorities.
3. US President Donald Trump, for the first time, appeared to call on Saturday for the end of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei’s rule in Iran.
“It’s time to look for new leadership in Iran,” the President told Politico.
4. Mossad director David Barnea was reported to arrive Friday in the US for consultations on Iran’s deadly crackdown on protests and a potential American military response.
5. Ukraine Delegation Arrives in US to Discuss Peace Agreement. 
Ukrainian negotiators will meet with U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff, President Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner and U.S. Army Secretary Dan Driscoll.
6. Troops from several European countries continued to arrive in Greenland on Thursday in a show of support for Denmark as talks among representatives of Denmark, Greenland and the U.S. highlighted “fundamental disagreement” over the future of the Arctic island.
7. French President Emmanuel Macron on Saturday reaffirmed that "no intimidation or threat" could influence them following US President Donald Trump's announcement to impose new tariffs on eight European countries over the Greenland dispute.
8. US Navy Chief of Naval Operations Admiral Daryl Caudle: US defense spending needs to be rebaselined to at least 4 percent of the nation’s gross domestic product to enable the Navy to meet current readiness demands and to expand its fleet of warships to contend with future threats.
9. The first Trump-class Battleship could cost up to about $21 billion if ordered today, with the price inching toward $22 billion if ordered in 2030, according to an estimate put forward by the Congressional Budget Office.

For review:
1. US Forces seize 6th sanctioned tanker in Caribbean Sea.
2. Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado said she presented her Nobel Peace Prize medal to President Donald Trump at the White House on Thursday.
3. US President Donald Trump reportedly informed Iran that he won’t be ordering a strike on the country over its deadly crackdown on protesters after the leaders of four Arab countries convinced him to hold off.
4. US special envoy Steve Witkoff on Wednesday announced the launch of phase two of President Donald Trump’s plan for ending the war in Gaza, including the establishment of a new technocratic Palestinian administration for the Strip.
5. Ukrainian President Zelenskyy responded Thursday to President Trump that Ukraine was stalling a peace deal in the country’s ongoing war with Russia, saying his country will “never be a stumbling block for peace.”
The President told Reuters this week that he believes Russian President Putin is “ready to make a deal,” but “Ukraine is less ready.” The President specifically named Zelensky as the person holding up the negotiations. 
6. Moscow agrees with U.S. President Donald Trump’s view that Ukraine is holding up a peace deal to end the almost four years of fighting, a Kremlin official said Thursday.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said, “Yes, we can agree with it, it’s indeed so.”
7. Ukrainian military resistance, with France alone providing two-thirds of Ukraine's intelligence capabilities in the war against Russia.
This was stated by French President Emmanuel Macron on Thursday, January 15, in his New Year's address to the army at the Istres airbase near Marseille, according to a Ukrinform correspondent.
8. The White House meeting to discuss Greenland lasted about an hour. Participating in the meeting were: U.S. Vice President JD Vance, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Danish Foreign Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen and Greenland’s Vivian Motzfeldt.
Denmark’s Rasmussen described the conversation as “frank but constructive,” 
The U.S., Denmark and Greenland agreed to establish a high-level working group to try to determine a way forward for the self-governing Danish territory.
9. Armor Not Dead: US Army Shows M1E3 Tank Prototype at Detroit Auto Show; A Working Platform to Test Ideas.

For review:
1. Latest on Iran Protests.
- Iranian Officials: More Than 2000 Killed in Protests: Iran Blames US and Israel.
- Appearing to depart from the notion of negotiating with the Iranian government, US President Donald Trump told protesters in Iran on Tuesday that “help is on its way” and urged them to keep protesting and take control of the country’s institutions.
- Israeli and Arab officials have suggested the Trump administration hold off on striking Iran for now, believing that the Islamic Republic may not be sufficiently weakened in order for an American attack to topple it.
 - The Israel Defense Forces said Monday that it remained on alert for possible “surprise scenarios” as anti-government unrest in Iran has prompted the United States to threaten intervention over the killing of protesters.
- Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s ruling party warned on Monday that foreign intervention in Iran could spark wider turmoil in the region.
2. The United States accused Russia on Monday of a "dangerous and inexplicable escalation" of the war in Ukraine after Moscow launched new attacks on energy and civilian infrastructure in Kyiv, despite ongoing U.S.-led negotiations aimed at ending the conflict.
3. Russia and China are increasingly working together in the Arctic, and their presence there will be a growing threat to NATO allies, said Gen. Alexus Grynkewich, the Supreme Allied Commander Europe.
4. Vice President Vance & Secretary of State Rubio to Meet with Foreign Ministers from Greenland & Denmark in Washington D.C..