September 21st, 2026: Houthi Missiles Target Riyadh & Ukraine’s Biggest Moscow Drone Attack

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And incredible energy and excitement throughout that stadium. Great job to Coach Pete and the young men of Ole Miss. Hotty toddy. Alright, now let's get to the brief. First up, Houthi missiles and drones target Riyadh. And now, Turkey says it could step in to help Saudi Arabia under a new trilateral defense pact that was recently signed between the Saudis, Turkey, and Pakistan. The escalation is raising the risk that this conflict expands into a much bigger regional war. More conflict, that's just what 2026 needed. Later in the show, Ukraine launches its biggest drone attack yet on Moscow, hitting the Russian capital as voters participated in the nation's parliamentary elections. And I use the word elections loosely. Given that there was no opposition to Putin on the ballot. Plus, President Trump announces a deal to expand the U.S. military presence in Greenland while leaving the strategically vital Arctic island under Danish sovereignty. So, for the time being, no invasion of Greenland is on the calendar. And in today's back of the brief, Kim Jong-un launches his teddy out of the crib yet again. North Korea launches two ballistic missiles into the sea just days after threatening to strengthen their nuclear capabilities. But first, today's PDB Spotlight. The Middle East took a very dangerous turn toward a broader regional war this weekend. For the first time in the current Saudi-Houthi escalation, the fighting reached Riyadh. Saudi Arabia says the Iranian-backed Houthis launched a ballistic missile toward the capital early Saturday morning. Saudi air defenses intercepted it, but residents reported hearing explosions and, later, a huge column of black smoke could be seen, rising northward. near King Khalid International Airport. The Houthis claimed that they had attacked what they called sensitive sites in Riyadh using missiles and drones. The Wall Street Journal reports the assault apparently targeted jet fuel storage at the airport. The Houthis also claimed attacks elsewhere in the kingdom, including Yanbu on the Red Sea, where one of Saudi Arabia's most important oil pipelines terminates. Saudi officials say attacks were also attempted against Taif, Baish, and Farsan. This follows another serious incident just days earlier, when Saudi Arabia accused the Houthis of sending a drone toward Mecca. The Houthis denied targeting the holy city, but Riyadh called the security of Mecca a red line. So, the pressure is building quickly, which is the intention, of course, of the Iranian regime. It's fairly implausible that the Houthis are acting unilaterally here without the influence and guidance of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard. "The Houthis have been attacking Saudi territory since July, when they declared a naval blockade against the Saudi kingdom and opened another front in the broader regional war. They've also seized important positions along Yemen's Red Sea coast, including the port of Molka and islands near the Bab al-Mandeb, giving them a stronger position along one of the world's most important shipping routes." Saudi Arabia is beginning to attack Saudi Arabia. Saudi Arabia has been attacking Saudi Arabia since July, when it declared a naval blockade against the Saudi kingdom and opened another front in the broader regional war. They've also seized important positions along Yemen's Red Sea coast, including the port of Molka and islands near the Bab al-Mandeb, giving them a stronger position along one of the world's most important shipping routes. Saudi Arabia is beginning to feel the strain. Regional officials tell the Associated Press that the kingdom is running low on missile defense interceptors after weeks of Houthi attacks. Riyadh has reportedly asked France, Britain, Pakistan, and Egypt for additional air defense support, and they reportedly asked the White House for military assistance in dealing with the Houthis, a request that was apparently rebuffed. The United States continues to provide intelligence cooperation, but President Trump has so far resisted Saudi requests for direct American military help against the Houthis. And that brings us to what's arguably the most important part of this story. Saudi Arabia has another set of allies that it can call on. As we reported last month, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and Pakistan signed what they call the Mecca Joint Defense Agreement. Now, at the heart of that pact is a simple provision: an armed attack against one of the three countries will be regarded as an attack against all three. That's not dissimilar to the Article 5 clause in the NATO alliance. The Turkish foreign minister said on Saturday that Turkey sees what he called "very serious attacks on Saudi sovereignty and territorial integrity." He said Riyadh may now have military needs, particularly technical ones, and that Turkey is prepared to help meet them under the agreement. Pakistan has been more cautious. Islamabad says there have not yet been discussions about launching a military response under the pact, but Pakistani officials have repeatedly said the country intends to honor the agreement if the time comes. And that puts Pakistan in an especially difficult position. Islamabad has also tried to maintain relations with Iran and has played a diplomatic role between Tehran, Washington, and the Gulf states. Direct Pakistani military involvement against the Iran-backed Houthis would make that balancing act much harder. Saudi Arabia is facing missile and drone attacks on its cities, attacks on energy infrastructure, pressure along its Red Sea export route, and dwindling stocks of the interceptors that it needs to defend against all of that. Turkey is now publicly saying it's prepared to help. Pakistan is saying it's going to honor its obligations with the defense pact when necessary. And the fighting that began as another front between Saudi Arabia and the Iran-backed Houthis now has a mechanism that could pull two more major militaries into the country. All right. Coming up next, Ukraine hits Moscow with its biggest drone assault yet. And President Trump touts a new deal securing a larger U.S. military footprint in Greenland. I'll be right back. Hey, Mike Baker here with a pro tip for feeling your best. Now, let me ask you a question. Have you ever finished breakfast or lunch or dinner, but you then find yourself reaching for a snack maybe an hour later? That's right. 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Bye-bye. Bye-bye. Bye-bye. Welcome back to the PDB. As Russians cast their ballots over the weekend in the first parliamentary election since Putin's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the Kremlin clearly wanted to project control and stability. But that effort ran headfirst into reality when Ukraine launched its largest drone attack on the Russian capital yet. As we've discussed here on the PDB, Kiev has steadily expanded the reach and scale of their drone operations, hitting targets that once appeared safely beyond reach, at least from Moscow's perspective. As the elections carried on over the weekend, Russian officials said Ukraine launched more than 1,000 drones across the country, including roughly 450 targeting Moscow. Moscow's mayor claimed Russian air defenses stopped the attacks, writing on social media, quote, the biggest attack by enemy drones has been repelled. But I'm not sure. The word repelled means what the mayor thinks it means. Russian authorities say the strikes killed three people in the Moscow region and another two in Russian-occupied Kyrgyzstan, including an election official. The drones also damaged a facility at Moscow's oil refinery. a site that Ukraine has targeted before as part of its widening campaign against Russia's energy industry. That industry remains one of the few financial engines of Putin's war. Oil revenues, of course, fill the Kremlin's coffers, while refineries produce fuel for Russia's military and economy. Moscow's mayor also accused Ukraine of deliberately timing the attack to disrupt the election. Again, using the term election here is a bit of a misnomer, in that it implies that the voters had options. While there were several political parties on the ballot besides Putin's United Russia Party, none are actual opposition parties. The Kremlin has managed to sideline any actual opposition to Putin or his policies. Regardless, Russians were voting for members of the state Duma, the lower house of parliament there in Russia, in a process that ran from Friday through Sunday across the country's 11 time zones. The mayor insisted that Ukraine's alleged effort failed. Now, Ukraine has not said disrupting the vote was its objective. Still, a Putin-crony politician complaining about election interference is classically ironic. The Putin regime barred openly anti-war candidates, while Russian law threatened lengthy prison sentences for what authorities considered discrediting the military or spreading false information about Putin's war. That made the likely outcome obvious before counting even began. Yet another parliament, dominated by the pro-Russian party, is now at a standstill. There are, quote, "permitted" opposition political parties in Russia, but they are "permitted" because the Kremlin views them as "controllable" or "malleable", and they stay within opposition parameters that Putin considers acceptable. So Moscow was condemning alleged Ukrainian interference in a vote that had already been rigged in Putin's favor, while the drone attack punctured the image of wartime stability that the election was meant to project. Putin nevertheless portrayed the election as evidence that Russia remains stable and united behind his policies, even as the war enters its fifth year with no sign of ending. The Kremlin says national unity and some censorship are "necessary" during what it still calls its "special military operation." It portrays the conflict as an existential struggle against a hostile West and accuses Ukrainian intelligence and other adversaries of trying to stir unrest inside Russia. Still, the Berlin-based Nest think tank said permitted opposition parties could benefit from Russia's growing economic strain. That would not threaten Putin's grip on Parliament. But in an election this tightly managed, even modest gains by "permitted" opposition parties could offer some indication of the war fatigue the Kremlin has tried to contain. By Sunday, turnout had climbed to nearly 57 percent, according to Russia's Central Election Commission. Complete results are expected Monday. The Kremlin insisted everything had gone largely according to plan, but its own reports painted a messier picture. Russian officials said Moscow's online voting system came under cyber attack Saturday. Echoing the mayor's claim about the drone assault, the Central Election Commission said it had repelled those attacks as well. The country's digital ministry also reported an attempted act of sabotage against communication lines in the Far East. Officials said that attempt was thwarted. Russian authorities did not establish that Ukraine was responsible for either incident. Still, between the cyber attacks and the drones over Moscow, the final days of voting hardly projected the calm and control that the Kremlin wanted. So the ballots are in, and once again, United Russia is expected to retain its dominance of Parliament. Alright, turning to a country that wasn't really on anybody's radar until recently, that of course would be Greenland. President Trump announced Friday that the US, Denmark, and Greenland had reached a new agreement over the strategically important Arctic Island. Trump described it in sweeping terms, saying the deal would give Washington permanent control over Greenland's security and allow the US to do what it believes is necessary to defend the island. But the actual picture is a little more complicated. For starters, Greenland remains a self-governing territory within the Kingdom of Denmark, and the Danish Prime Minister says the agreement recognizes Denmark's sovereignty over the island. He said that the agreement would allow the U.S. to continue to defend the island. recognizes Denmark's sovereignty and territorial integrity, as well as the Greenlanders' right to self-determination. What it does appear to do is give the U.S. a significantly larger and potentially more important permanent military role on the island. According to reporting from Reuters, the agreement provides for expanded American military access, including basing and overflight rights. A U.S. official told Reuters those rights would remain in place even if Greenland eventually became independent from Denmark, and that could be one of the most important pieces of the agreement. The deal also reportedly bars non-NATO countries from establishing military bases in Greenland and places restrictions on certain sensitive investments by potential adversaries. In practical terms, that means China and Russia. Both countries have shown growing interest in the Arctic as melting ice opens new shipping routes and access to natural resources. Washington has become increasingly concerned about Chinese investment in Greenland's infrastructure and Russia's military buildup across the Arctic. So part of this deal appears designed not only to expand America's footprint there, but to make sure Beijing and Moscow can't establish one of their own. And there's an important caveat here, though, as we talk about this. The U.S. already has pretty broad military access to Greenland. Under a defense agreement signed with Denmark back in 1951, the U.S. has long had the ability to station its military bases in Greenland. The U.S. has long had the ability to operate military facilities and fly military aircraft over the island. The U.S. also already operates Patufik Space Base in northwest Greenland. That facility plays a major role in missile warning, missile defense, and space surveillance. Greenland's location puts it directly along some of the most important potential missile routes between Russia and North America. Aren't they lucky? So this is not a case of Denmark suddenly opening access to the U.S. and the Pentagon. The door was already open. The real question is how this increases the already available access. Right now, we don't have those specifics. The full text of the agreement has not been publicly released, and Denmark says the three governments expect to formally sign it during the upcoming United Nations General Assembly. After that, it still has to go through the required parliamentary procedures before taking effect. We don't know how many additional American troops could be sent to Greenland. We don't know whether the Pentagon plans to build a new base or expand existing facilities, and we still don't know exactly what kinds of Chinese or Russian investments would be blocked under the agreement. That makes Trump's description of permanent American control over Greenland's security broader than what Denmark itself is publicly saying. Copenhagen describes this as an agreement that strengthens security across the Arctic and North Atlantic, while leaving Danish sovereignty intact. Greenland's government has also publicly welcomed the agreement. The U.S. has also publicly welcomed the agreement. The U.S. has also publicly welcomed the agreement, saying it recognizes Greenland's interests and strengthens security for Greenland, Denmark, the U.S., and the broader Western alliance. All right, coming up in the back of the brief, North Korea is at it again, increasing tensions with Washington and regional allies by launching two ballistic missiles, and promising to upgrade their nuclear arsenal. More on that when we come back. Hey, Mike Baker here. Now, the President's got a long way to go. He's got a long way to go. We'll be right back. Then it's been used by soldiers, pilots, astronauts, anybody in high-stakes situations for concentration and alertness. Visit mod.com, that's mod, M-O-D, mod.com, for a free consultation and get 10% off your first order, plus free shipping, using promo code PDB. Once again, that's promo code PDB at mod.com. See their website for important safety information, and I want to thank MOD for sponsoring the PDB. With an important health tip. Now, look, summer is over, right? I guess that's the unfortunate truth of all. And daily schedules are getting crazier. You know what I'm talking about, right? 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Once again, that's drinkag1.com slash pdb. 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 get fliff.com for eligibility terms and promotion rules in today's back of the brief i want to take a closer look at north korea's latest show of force after pyongyang fired two short-range ballistic missiles into the sea on sunday the launches came just days after pyongyang vowed that it would not change course in expanding its nuclear arsenal south korea's military says both missiles were launched from the coastal city of wonsan the first flew approximately 280 miles across north korea and the second flew in the south korea and the third flew in the south korea eastern waters then about three hours later pyongyang launched another sending the second more than 370 miles before it plunged into the sea u.s indo-pacific command says neither launch posed an immediate threat to american personnel territory or allies still as we've discussed here on the pdb north korea is prohibited from launching ballistic missiles under un security council resolutions which would mean something if kim jong-un cared about un security council resolutions or if the u.n responded to violations with anything other than harshly worded memos south korea condemned the launches and said its military remains ready to repel any further provocations alongside the u.s now these launches are part of a much broader pattern that we've been following here on the pdb last month president trump ordered the pentagon to substantially reduce the annual old chief freedom shield exercise with south korea as his administration looked for a way to restart diplomacy with kim jong-un at that point rather than agreeing to lower the temperature or restore some form of diplomacy north korea dismissed trump's decision arguing that shortening the exercise did nothing to change what the regime called the u.s's quote provocative aggressive nature end quote earlier this month the u.s south korea and japan completed another five-day trilateral exercise one day later north korea staged a joint-rope exercise with the u.s military in the south korea during a joint live-fire drill involving ballistic and cruise missiles artillery and attack drones pyongyang launched those weapons together apparently practicing a coordinated attack designed to overwhelm american and south korean air defenses and here we are barely a week later north korea has now launched two additional ballistic missiles that latest round followed another warning from kim jong-un's sister kim yo-jong on friday she attacked the u.s pacific vanguard naval exercise involving south korea japan australia new zealand and canada she called it a quote frantic military move and blamed u.s-led quote war rehearsals for worsening regional tensions and that is the typical narrative from pyongyang north korea violates u.n resolutions and rehearses increasingly complex attacks then when the u.s and its allies conduct defensive drills the regime blames them for the instability that it created more importantly kim yo-jong vowed that pyongyang would never reverse course she promised quote clearer action and said there would quote never ever be a change in its effort to strengthen its nuclear deterrent that makes the diplomatic picture considerably more complicated of course trump has repeatedly signaled that he's interested in talking with north korea's leader again their previous round of diplomacy collapsed back in 2019 without an agreement eliminating the regime's nuclear weapons since then kim has expanded his arsenal and strengthened his relationships with russia and china military experts believe he now expects to enter any future negotiations with greater leverage earlier this year kim left the door open to eventually returning to talks but he of course attached major conditions kim jong-un said washington would have to abandon what pyongyang calls its hostile policy toward north korea he also demanded that the u.s accept what he describes as the north's status as a whole and that the u.s and its allies would be able to do whatever they want to do as a nuclear state washington and seoul continue to reject that demand and call for north korea's denuclearization and that my friends is the president's daily brief from monday the 21st of september now if you have any questions or comments i hope you do just reach out to me at pdb at the first tv.com and finally while i'm sure you were all very busy cheering on old miss's big time victory saturday over lsu and their evil villain of a coach i hope you also had time to catch our latest episode of the pdb situation report that of course is our much-loved extended weekend show this weekend's guests included open source intel analyst extraordinaire ryan mcbeth and exiled russian youtuber konstantin samoylov great conversations insightful analysis from our guests semi- insightful questions from the host and still no theme song or house band you can catch it and past episodes on our youtube channel just search up at president's daily brief it's also available of course on podcast and on our website and on our website and on our website and on our podcast platforms everywhere i'm mike baker and i'll be back later today with the pdb afternoon bulletin until then stay informed stay safe stay cool you