September 22nd, 2026: Trump Calls Off Major Attack Against The Houthis & Chinese Ships Near Alaska

It's Tuesday, the 22nd of September. Welcome to the president's daily brief. I'm Mike Baker, your eyes and ears on the world stage. Alright, let's get briefed. First up, President Trump reportedly came within minutes of ordering U.S. strikes on Yemen's khutis before calling the operation off as they're offensive toward the bobbleman debum continues. Later in the show, Chinese research vessels are operating near Alaska, and the Coast Guard says that it's watching closely over concerns about what Beijing may be up to. Plus, well, the suspense is over. Wait, no, sorry, there was no suspense. To the surprise of absolutely no one, Putin's ruling party has tightened its grip on Russia's parliament, securing another commanding majority after three days of voting, which isn't hard to do when there's no opposition to speak of. And then today's back of the brief, Washington wants a new hotline of sorts with Beijing, this time for national security incidents involving artificial intelligence. But first, today's PDP spotlight. President Trump reportedly came within minutes of opening another front of the Middle East this weekend. Targets had been selected by the Pentagon. American aircraft were being prepared for a wave of strikes against Yemen's khutis. And according to a New York Times report cited by Reuters, bombs were already being loaded onto some of those aircraft, when then suddenly President Trump called the operation off. The strikes never happened. But the fact that they came that close tells you just how quickly the situation in Yemen is changing. And how concerned Saudi Arabia has become about a khutti offensive now threatening one of the world's most important shipping routes. Does that sound familiar? Hmm, Saudi Arabia had been pressing Washington for help as khutti forces made a rapid advance along Yemen's Red Sea coast and toward the Babelman-Deb strait. That's the narrow waterway connecting the Red Sea with the Gulf of Aden. Axios reports a Saudi crown prince Mohammed bin Salman at first asked Trump for American military intervention roughly 10 days ago. Trump initially declined as we've reported here on the PDB, although Washington agreed to continue providing intelligence and targeting assistance. The Saudi's own efforts to halt the offensive have been struggling and a counterattack by Saudi-backed Yemen forces had reportedly been delayed several times. Setcom commander Admiral Brad Cooper then prepared strike options that were presented to the Defense Secretary over the weekend. President Trump considered them and ultimately then decided not to proceed. Yemen's internationally recognized president to Rashad al-Alimi, also spoke with Trump on Sunday and sought American support against the khutis. Reuters reports that Trump discussed the situation with him but made no pledge to send U.S. forces into the fight. A lightning offensive this month has brought the Iranian-backed khutis forces into key areas around the Babelman-Deb strait and now they're working to seize the strategic high ground behind those coastal gains. Fighting today was focused around the Kabub mountains in Yemen's Tais and Lahish provinces. The geography here is important and the basic military logic is relatively simple. The khutis took key positions along the coast. Now they want the mountains behind them. If they secure that high ground well it becomes much harder for Saudi-backed forces to push them back and much easier for the khutis to protect their new positions around the Red Sea. And as an aside much easier to target and disrupt commercial shipping. As we've discussed here on the PDB the Babelman-Deb is one of the world's critical maritime waterways. Saudi Arabia relies on its western Red Sea infrastructure as an alternative route for oil exports when the Strait of Khormuz is threatened. And as you may have heard the Strait of Khormuz is indeed threatened. It's under pressure because of the war of course with Iran. Now an Iranian-backed force is at the same time as the Strait of Khormuz is under pressure gaining leverage around the other major shipping route on the opposite side of the Arabian Peninsula. According to Axios one concert in Washington was that U.S. strikes could provoke the khutis into expanding their campaign against shipping through the Babelman-Deb. A senior khuti official now has told the Associated Press that the group has assured the Trump administration that it does not intend to attack American vessels in the Red Sea and still considers its previous ceasefire with Washington to be an effect. Which of course is what the Iranian regime wants their proxy group the khutis to tell the U.S. At the same time the khuti official warned other countries against joining Saudi Arabia in the war saying the khutis were prepared to fight what he described as quote an international conflict if necessary. The simplistic message crafted by the Iranian regime and their proxy the khutis to Washington is essentially stay out and this does not have to become America's war. Which is moronic because it already is America's war. The khutis are Iran's proxy as I've already mentioned a few times. They're acting at the behest of the Iranian regime. There's no separation between the U.S. Iran conflict and the current actions and situation involving the khutis. The khuti offensive is still underway as they try to consolidate control around a waterway critical to global trade and this is part of the Iranian regime's continued aggressive response to the conflict with the U.S. Putting the Babelman-Deb strait under increasing pressure and gaining further territory in Yemen puts the Iranian regime in a stronger position. If Saudi-backed forces cannot halt the khuti advance which they seem incapable of doing on their own, President Trump inevitably will have to revisit the decision on whether to get involved against the khutis. Staying out of the situation may sound attractive to those who worry about broadening the conflict, but the reality is, staying out of the situation will very likely result in the Iranians expanding their leverage in the region. Through control of not only the straight of Hormuz, but the Babelman-Deb strait as well. And there is no way for the White House to then spin that as a win. The question is not really whether Washington is willing to broaden the conflict. Tehran is already broadened the conflict by utilizing the khutis to do their bidding in Yemen and the Babelman-Deb by targeting the Saudis. That's why they've spent years building their proxy network. The question is whether Washington will play into the Iranian regime's strategy by staying out of the fray. Alright, coming up next, Chinese research ships operating near Alaska draw scrutiny from the Coast Guard, while Putin's ruling party tightens its hold on Russia's parliament. I'll be right back. Hey Mike Baker here, with a word about personal health and weight loss. Now everybody's been talking about weight loss injections, right, because the results have been so dramatic. They work by lowering blood sugar and reducing appetite. But what if you're looking to lose weight and you're not interested in painful weekly injections, especially when you hear about some of those side effects? 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The latest warning comes from Rear Admiral Bob Little, commander of the US Coast Guard's Arctic District, who told Reuters that "Washington is watching Beijing's growing presence in the region" very closely. Now this isn't the first time that we've discussed encroachment in the Arctic from Beijing. Already this year alone, four Chinese research vessels have conducted work across the region, nearly matching the five recorded during all of 2025. Those ships have traveled around the Aleutian islands, through the Bearing Strait and as far north as the North Pole. For Admiral Little, the concern begins when they approach areas where the US holds sovereign rights. He said, "Where I have responsibility, interest, and concern" is when they're operating in and around US sovereign space. That includes America's exclusive economic zone and extended continental shelf. Now the vessels in question did remain this time in international waters. But Admiral Little says the Chinese ships failed to notify Washington other presence through diplomatic channels beforehand, something he described as the "usual practice". The Chinese routinely describe their ships as "research vessels" engaged in peaceful pursuit of scientific research. For American military analysts and officials to concern, is what that research could actually produce. The first possibility involves valuable resources beneath the water. Admiral Little says China may be studying mineral deposits on portions of the sea bed where the US holds sovereign rights. The second concern it would appear to be more serious. Little warns that those vessels could be conducting work that might quote "provide them with a military advantage" or pose a security threat to the US. Beijing make all these scientific missions, but Washington, as to consider how the information collected just off Alaska's coast could eventually be used by the Chinese military. And none of this is happening in isolation either. China has spent years trying to establish itself as a major art power, even though it's territory, since well south of the Arctic Circle. Beijing calls itself a "near Arctic state" and wants to establish what it described as a polar silk road across a region becoming increasingly important for shipping, natural resources, and military competition. Sometimes China appears alone. Other times, it conducts joint operations in the area with Russia. That cooperation places two of America's most powerful strategic rivals in a region right on America's doorstep. Admiral Little, compared notes with international partners, dealing with similar activity by Russian research vessels in the Barren Sea and Baltic seas. He said it's easy to find examples of hybrid threats and other suspicious activity in both regions. Now, and this will surprise you, Moscow, like Beijing, denies that its research vessels are operating illegally or threatening American interests. It's just one big community of nations. Everybody just out there doing peaceful scientific research. Nothing to see here. Speaking of Russia, President Putin's ruling party, United Russia, is celebrating what it calls a "record victory" in the first parliamentary election since Putin's 2022 full-scale invasion of Ukraine. With more than 95% of polling stations reporting, and the final results do Friday, how do they do their elections so quickly? The outcome is clear and clearly unsurprising. Russia's Central Election Commission says United Russia won just under 58% of the party list vote. That translates into a projected 355 of the state Duma's 450 seats. Now, for those of you not experts in Russian politics, the state Duma is the lower chamber of Russia's national parliament. The closest comparison in the U.S. would be the House of Representatives, but with less insider trading. But that's only a structural comparison. The U.S. Constitution gives Congress powers separate from the presidency, while Russia's Duma has spent years reliably approving all the Kremlin initiatives. Putin's party will therefore control nearly 80% of the chamber, from the 324 seats that United Russia won back in 2021. More importantly, that leaves the party above the two-thirds threshold required for a constitutional majority. It can pass legislation and initiate constitutional amendments without support from anyone else. So, you might well ask, how does just under 58% of the party vote become nearly 80% of parliament? Well, the answer is Russia fills the Duma through two different systems. Half of its 450 seats are distributed through nation-wide party voting, while the other half are decided through individual constituency races. United Russia dominated those contests as well, although that's shocking, with its candidates leading in 208 of the 225 races. But the parliamentary math only tells part of the landscape. To understand why this was never much of a contest, you have to look at who Russian voters were actually allowed to choose from. Long before the polls opened, the Kremlin had narrowed that field. Most openly anti-war candidates were excluded, opposition politicians were imprisoned or forced abroad, and a massive state media campaign ensured that the Kremlin's message dominated the political environment. By the time the three-day vote began, Russia's only registered party openly opposing the war that would be a local had already been removed from the nation-wide ballot. Russia's Supreme Court barred that party last month. A limited number of its candidates could still compete individually, but none want to seat in the national parliament. A senior fellow at the Carnegie Russia Eurasia Center summarized the result bluntly. She said the government conducted the campaign and vote "the way it wanted with the most optimal output." So, what about the other parties besides Putin's United Russia that did actually win seats? Do any of them represent a serious challenge to Putin's agenda? Well, that would be a fairly resounding "yet." The Communist Party is projected to receive 40 seats. It occasionally criticizes domestic government policy, but it is carefully avoided challenging Putin and they support the war in Ukraine. The ultra-nationalist liberal Democratic Party is projected to take 25 seats. Now, despite its name, it is not a liberal counterweight to the Kremlin. They also strongly support the war. The new people party is projected to receive 20 seats. The party presents itself as a younger, more technocratic and somewhat more moderate party, but it has joined United Russia on major parliamentary votes and stopped well short of becoming a genuine anti-war opposition force. A handful of additional seats are projected to go to unaffiliated candidates running in individual constituency races. So Russians will not see an organized parliamentary block willing or able to challenge Putin over the war. Even if one existed, United Russia's constitutional majority means that the ruling party would not need its votes. Then there are the questions swirling in western capital surrounding how the election itself was conducted. Electronic voting was encouraged. Some of you may have seen the clips on social media of Putin casting his ballot online. But despite the theatrix of showing how easy voting supposedly is there, the system makes the process less transparent and easier, of course, for the Kremlin to control. Alright, coming up in the back of the brief, the US and China discuss a new mechanism for warning each other when an AI incident threatens national security. You have to wonder if the mechanism will involve a human. Alright, more on that when we come back. Hey, Mike Baker here, with a tip on maintaining good health. Now, have you ever noticed how lately, anyway, everyone seems obsessed with lymphatic drainage, right? From expensive massages and dry brushing to ice rollers and trending routines, designed to fight puffiness and sluggishness. Ugh, seriously, nobody wants puffiness and sluggishness. And that's where the life pro waiver vibration plate comes in as a true game changer. Since the human lymphatic system does not have a natural pump, it depends entirely on physical movement. Clinical studies show that vibration therapy effectively supports lymphatic flow and encourages healthy drainage. And now, the life pro waiver vibration plate makes it easier than ever. 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Basically, it's got a mango citrusy taste, no capsules, no powders. And it gets delivered right to your door, making it super simple. New customers can save 35% on your first month of subscription by going to dose daily.co/PDB or entering PDB a checkout. Once again, that's dose DOSC dose daily.co/PDB for 35% off your first month subscription. In today's back of the brief, if you think back to the Cold War, one of the enduring images is that red phone sitting on the president's desk, connecting Washington and Moscow, the emergency line that American and Soviet leaders could use to keep a crisis from spiraling into nuclear war. That was the image that Hollywood made famous. The real hotline worked differently, but the idea behind it was simple. When two nuclear superpowers were staring each other down, there needed to be some way to quickly say, "Here's what's happening. Here's what we intended. Don't misread this." More than 60 years later, Washington and Beijing are now talking about building some something similar for a very different threat, and that would be artificial intelligence. Treasury Secretary Scott Besan says the US and China have agreed to establish a formal dialogue on AI safety that would include what he calls "incident line." The idea is to give the two governments a direct way to communicate if an AI incident threatens national security, and you can imagine why that might become necessary. Communication and Chinese security experts have been studying scenarios involving autonomous AI systems interfering with military networks, launching cyber operations, or behaving in ways their operators did not expect or intend. Imagine a major cyber attack suddenly hits an American military network or critical infrastructure. Perhaps Washington believes it came from China, but Beijing says it never ordered the attack. Maybe an autonomous system exceeded its instructions. Maybe somebody lost control of it, maybe a third party compromised the system, and tried to make the attack look Chinese. In that situation, both governments could make decisions very quickly without knowing exactly what's happened. Thus, the AI hotline concept. One side may someday need to tell the other, look we see the attack we didn't authorize it we're trying to stop it, please don't retaliate. Besan says officials are already discussing risks involving uncontrollable AI agents, cyber threats, and rogue actors, with another round of talks expected in China in roughly two months. Of course, having a hotline and actually using it are two very different things. Washington, Beijing already have military communications channels, and those have not always worked particularly well during moments of tension. But still, the logic, the concept, is familiar. During the Cold War, it was missiles and bombers and nuclear armed submarines. Now, it's the threat of rogue AI agents. Now, the threat may have changed, but the need for a fail-save system hasn't, a mechanism to allow for immediate communication. Just don't let the AI systems know about it. And that, my friends, is the president's daily brief for Tuesday, the 22nd of September. If you have any questions or comments, please reach out to me at PDB at thefirsttv.com. And just in case your Jones and Furron add free PDB, well, no worries. Become a premium member of the president's daily brief by visiting PDB premium.com. I'm Mike Baker and I'll be back later today with the PDB afternoon bulletin. Until then, stay informed, stay safe, stay cool.