PDB Afternoon Bulletin | September 16th, 2026: Inside America’s Secret Meeting With the Houthis & Attacks on U.S.-Bound Tankers

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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 up, new details are emerging about a secret U.S. meeting with the Houthi rebels held just as fighting between the militants and Saudi Arabia has been escalating. I'll have the details. Later in the show, the U.S. is investigating cyber attacks on oil and LNG tankers headed for American ports, with officials looking at whether or not Iran is behind the attacks. But first, today's Afternoon Bulletin. We're learning today that U.S. officials quietly sat down with representatives of Yemen's Iran-backed Houthis over the weekend, holding a secret meeting at the American embassy in Oman just days after the group launched a major offensive, along Yemen's Red Sea coast. Reuters says the meeting took place in Muscat, with Omani representatives helping to arrange the talks. On the Houthi side were two senior officials, including Mohammed Abdel-Salam, the group's chief negotiator, who's currently under U.S. sanctions. The American delegation was reportedly made up of embassy personnel. The State Department has not confirmed that the meeting took place. And what the Houthis reportedly told Washington is, well, rather interesting. According to Reuters, the group said it has no intention of attacking American vessels and remains committed to the ceasefire that it reached with the U.S. last year. One source said the Houthis also pledged not to attack Israeli ships or other commercial vessels, with one important exception, and that would be vessels owned or linked or otherwise associated with Saudi Arabia. In other words, the Houthis appear to be telling Washington that they have no interest in reopening their fight with the U.S., even as they prepare for a much larger war. A larger confrontation with Saudi Arabia. Of course, not to point out the obvious, I think I'm about to, but the Houthis are essentially an Iranian regime proxy. The IRGC has supplied the Houthis over the years with weapons, training, munitions, guidance, and other support. What benefits the Houthis benefits the Iranian regime. Credible reporting has noted that IRGC commanders are based in Yemen, providing support to the Houthis. The Houthis meeting with the U.S. was, in all likelihood, directed by the IRGC. Keeping the U.S. out of any confrontation allows the Houthis to strengthen their position against the Saudi-backed Yemeni forces, which, as mentioned, by definition, strengthens the Iranian regime's position. Now, there had already been signs that some kind of contact was underway. President Trump said Saturday that the Iran-backed Houthis had reached out to his administration, asking the U.S. to stay out of the renewed fighting in Yemen. Vice President Trump said on Saturday that the Iran-backed Houthis then said Monday that Washington was in direct contact with the group without offering details. Over the past week, Houthi forces have swept through positions held by Saudi-backed forces along Yemen's western coast. They've taken effective control of nearly the entire Yemeni coastline along the Red Sea, including the historic port of Mocha and seized territory on Parim Island inside the Bab al-Mandeb Strait. That puts the Houthis in an even stronger position around one of the most important issues in Yemen's history. Saudi Arabia is now responding with force. Officials with the Saudi-backed Yemeni government say Saudi and Yemeni aircraft have stepped up strikes on Houthi positions. The Houthis claim Saudi Arabia has carried out hundreds of airstrikes this week, though that number has not been independently confirmed. Meanwhile, the Houthis have repeatedly launched missiles and drones into Saudi Arabia. On Monday, Saudi officials said 13 civilians were wounded in Houthi attacks. And on Tuesday, Saudi officials said 13 civilians were wounded in Houthi attacks. On Thursday, Riyadh said its air defenses intercepted a Houthi drone south of Mecca before it entered restricted airspace over Islam's holiest city. The Houthis denied that they were targeting Mecca and accused Saudi Arabia of using the incident for propaganda. Saudi officials say any threat to the holy city crosses a red line. And all of this leaves Washington in an unusual and difficult position. Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman called President Trump last week seeking American military assistance. He also met Monday with CENTCOM Commander Admiral Brad Cooper in Jeddah. But so far, U.S. support has reportedly been limited to intelligence assistance, and Washington has declined to directly join the Saudi military campaign. So, at nearly the same moment that Saudi Arabia is asking Washington for more help fighting the Houthis, American officials are quietly meeting with the Houthis and receiving assurances that they don't want to fight the U.S. Which, again, not surprising. But to beat a dead horse plays into the hands of the Iranian regime. And there's another reason Washington is watching all of this closely, and that would be oil. Saudi Arabia has been relying heavily on its east-west pipeline to move crude from its Gulf oil fields to the Red Sea, allowing tankers to bypass the disrupted and disputed Strait of Hormuz. But that pipeline was knocked offline last week, forcing Riyadh to suspend crude loadings at Yanbu and cancel some shipments to Europe. Now, at the other end of that route, the Houthis have strengthened their position around the Bab al-Mandeb. So, Saudi Arabia is facing pressure at both ends of the system that it needs to get oil to the global markets, Hormuz to the east, and the Red Sea route to the west. The White House appears to believe that staying out of the conflict between the Saudis and the Houthis will somehow keep the conflict contained, or somehow is not connected to the current U.S. war with Iran, or somehow won't negatively impact already shaky and destabilized global energy markets. The reality is, if the Houthis are able to continue their gains against the Yemeni government forces and cement their control over the critical Bab al-Mandeb Strait, while the Iranian regime maintains what is essentially pseudo-control over the Strait of Hormuz, the U.S. and regional allies will be facing a much larger problem in the near term. All right, coming up next, federal investigators. We're investigating cyberattacks on oil and LNG tankers bound for the U.S. I'll be right back. 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Tell them about it. on the PDB. sent you flip is your home to win this football season flip the spread flip the over flip your team however you flip ball there's a way to flip it flip for free every day or get bonus cash on every fliffin purchase new to fliff fliff yeah you can get up to 250 in free play so get off your fliffin butt and flip around and find out download fliff use promo code yard line must be 18 plus no purchase necessary void where prohibited restrictions applied play responsibly see getfliff.com for eligibility terms and promotion rules welcome back to the pdb afternoon bulletin we've spent much of the war with iran talking about dangers surrounding commercial vessels in and around the strait of hormuz and the red sea now washington is investigating a very different threat after two tankers headed for u.s ports were hit by cyber attacks near europe the attacks happened in early august as the two vessels were making their way through the strait of gibraltar the narrow passageway connecting the mediterranean sea with the atlantic ocean to be clear it's not understood yet at least as far as the authorities have revealed who was responsible for the attacks one of the vessels was loaded with crude oil the other was an lng tanker and following the cyber attacks once the vessels had reached the gulf of mexico or gulf of america depending on which map you look at specialized coast guard personnel boarded the tankers alongside fbi agents to make sure the cyber attacks had not left the ship for a long time ships compromised as they approached american ports and waterways we're now learning that these boardings happened late last month according to the coast guard and fbi investigators already had indications that the networks aboard both vessels had been compromised so the teams examined their operational and information technology systems in order to make sure that they were still secure these ships depend on integrated systems for navigation propulsion and other critical functions if you get far enough inside those systems you're going to have to go to the gulf of mexico to get back to the gulf of america you're going to have to go to the gulf of america you're going to have to go to the gulf of america you're going to have to go to the gulf of america or cause a crew to lose control of the vessel but the potential danger is only part of what's getting washington's attention there's also where these attacks happened roughly 300 vessels pass through the strait of gibraltar every day making it of course a another critical artery for global energy markets officials in washington told the wall street journal they are concerned that the cyber attacks could represent an attempt by iran or another american adversary to widen the conflict that already exists according to the journal the location of the attacks and the u.s destination for the vessels are raising concerns that the attacker may have been either trying to disrupt a critical choke point or target an american port as an aside the coast guard does have specialized teams trained for maritime cyber attacks including teams used earlier this year to inspect shadow fleet vessels that had been seized by the u.s and that my friends is the pdb afternoon for wednesday the 16th of september if you have any questions or comments and i hope you do just reach out to me at pdb at the first tv.com and to listen to the show ad free it's very simple just become a premium member of the president's daily brief by visiting pdb premium.com i'm mike baker and i'll be back tomorrow until then stay informed stay safe stay cool hey mike baker here let me take just a moment to talk to you about an incredibly important subject it's the absolute key to your health and i'm talking about sleep all right so let me ask you a question do you snore and as a result did somebody maybe your partner hand you a c-pop machine and then well did you just stop using it c-pop users no right the mask never quite seals the hose is tugging at you and you're not even wearing a mask and you're not even wearing a mask every time you roll over and eventually like that rower in the exercise bike the machine ends up sitting abandoned in a closet well here's your answer excite osa works a different way it treats a root cause instead of just managing the noise and you use it while you're awake it's an fda cleared prescription device for primary snoring and mild obstructive sleep apnea 20 minutes once a day that's it while the coffee brews maybe or while you watch an episode of something daily for six weeks and then a lighter routine to keep it you most people notice a change in four to six weeks in clinical studies 90 of patients saw a reduction in snoring and getting started is straightforward there's no sleep lab there's no appointments no sitting around the waiting room you answer a few questions online a licensed provider reviews them and it ships straight to your door see if it's right for you get excite osa at springsleep.com slash pdb and use code pdb for 20 off again that's excite osa at springsleep.com and of course i want to say thanks to springsleep for sponsoring this episode disclaimer excite osa is an fda cleared prescription only device for primary snoring and mild obstructive sleep apnea it's not for everyone individual results may vary