MNI POLITICAL RISK ANALYSIS – US Daily Brief 28-03-22

Executive Summary:

• USPresident Joe Biden delivered a thirty-minute speech in Warsaw on Saturday. The speech was well received but Biden received immediately criticism after remarks which appeared to suggest at a US ambition for regime change in Russia.
• Senator James Risch (R-ID) said: ‘He gave a good speech... but, as you pointed out already, there was a horrendous gaffe right at the end of it. I just — I wish he would stay on script. Whoever wrote that speech did a good job for him. But, my gosh, I wish they would keep him on script.’
• Secretary of State Antony Blinken clarified that the US is not seeking to depose Putin. Blinken: ‘We do not have a strategy of regime change in Russia or anywhere else. In this case, as in any case, it’s up to the people of the country in question. It’s up to the Russian people.’
• Blinken is in Israel on the first stop of a tour of the Middle East and North Africa which will see him meet with representatives of Israel, Egypt, Morocco, Bahrain, Palestine, and the UAE.
• US security experts believe that banks, power companies, food manufacturers, drugmakers, fuel suppliers, and defence contractors are all vulnerable to Russia cyber-attacks.
• Biden’s budget for FY23 will be released today. The budget is expected to propose a new 20 percent tax on households worth more than USD$100 million. The White House says the tax will reduce federal deficits by USD$1 trillion over a decade and is the first time Biden has called for a wealth tax.

MNI POLITICAL RISK ANALYSIS – US Daily Brief 28-03-22 .pdf