It's Wednesday, the 9th of September. Welcome to the President's Daily Brief. I'm Mike Baker, your eyes and ears, on the world stage. Hi, let's get briefed. First up, the Civil War Yemen is heating up. Iran-backed hoodies have struck four Saudi cities, while Saudi-backed forces launch a major offensive and vow to retake the Yemeni capital of Sanaa. Because, apparently, 2026 just didn't have sufficient conflict. Later in the show, we'll take a look at a new report that says the US military is considering a smaller footprint in the Middle East once the war with Iran ends. Plus, an Iranian airline accused of moving weapons and cash personnel for the Revolutionary Guard Corps, the IRGC, is growing despite years of US sanctions. "Ah, they're adding routes. I wonder if they're adding any direct flights to Toronto or Lando." And in today's back of the brief, the US military says suspicious drone activity along the US Southern border has decreased dramatically after troops began using a high-energy laser weapon to target drones. But first, today's PDB spotlight. A war that had been quiet for years may now be roaring back to life in Yemen. Iran-backed hoodies forces have launched one of their largest attacks on Saudi Arabia in years, striking four cities in Saudi Arabia, hitting energy facilities and wounding 73 people. At the same time, Saudi-backed forces inside Yemen are mounting a broad new offensive against the hoodies, with commanders openly saying their goal is to retake the capital of Sana'a. Although a 2022 truce dramatically reduced the fighting, Yemen's civil war never truly ended, but direct attacks between the hoodies in Saudi Arabia became far less frequent. Now that uneasy quiet is breaking down, the latest escalation began early Tuesday when the hoodies launched what they described as a large-scale missile and drone attack against targets across Southern Saudi Arabia. Four cities were hit, and Saudi authorities say 73 people were wounded, including women and children. Several energy facilities were also struck, forcing some operations to temporarily shut down, as emergency crews battled fires and assessed the damage. The Iran-backed hoodies say they used dozens of ballistic missiles and drones in the operation, and targeted several major sites, including aramco facilities and King Khalid airbase. Saudi officials are calling the overall attack a dangerous escalation, and warning that Riyadh will take whatever measures it considers necessary to defend the kingdom. And there are already signs that the response may be underway. Houthi-controlled media reported Saudi air strikes inside Yemen on Tuesday, including several attacks east of Sana'a. Forces aligned with Yemen's internationally-recognized government have launched new attacks against Houthi positions across several provinces, including Daiz, Al-Baidal, Jalf, Marie-Ben-Hodayda, and government commanders are claiming advances in some of those areas. The Houthis dispute parts of that account, and say they have repelled major assaults. And as is typical in these conflicts, independent confirmation from the battlefield remains limited. But one thing is clear, the government side is talking about objectives that we haven't heard in years. Yemen's deputy defense minister, Major General Samir Al-Salbi, says the goal is to retake Sana'a. Now that would be an enormous undertaking. The Houthis seized the capital in 2014, setting off the civil war that eventually drew in Saudi Arabia, Iran, and a long list of regional powers. Since then, Sana'a has remained the political center of Houthi-controlled Yemen. So when government commanders say they intend to recapture it, they're not talking about a small tactical adjustment to the front line. They're talking about reversing the central outcome of a war that's lasted more than a decade. Some of the fighting now underway is taking place in areas that could matter to any future pushed toward the capital. Al-Jalf sits northeast of Sana'a and connects toward Sana'a, the Houthis historic stronghold. Al-Baidal sits near the center of the country and links several northern and southern provinces. If government forces can make sustained gains in those areas, they could put new pressure on the Houthi heartland. But that is a very big if. Yemen's terrain is difficult. The Houthis are deeply entrenched and they've spent years building military capabilities with significant Iranian support. They've also demonstrated repeatedly that they can strike far beyond Yemen's borders. And that is what Saudi Arabia is confronting now. Jazan, one of the areas at Tuesday, is especially important because it sits on the Red Sea coast and contains major Saudi energy infrastructure. The kingdom has relied increasingly on western export routes, as fighting, of course, with Iran, has disrupted traffic through the strait of Hormuz. And the Houthis sit beside another critical maritime choke point that would be the Babalman-Deb Strait, the narrow passage, connecting the Red Sea to the Gulf of Aden. So even though the core of this story is about the renewed fighting itself, the consequences could extend well beyond Yemen. The Houthis are striking Saudi territory while also threatening shipping in the Red Sea. Saudi-backed forces are opening new fronts inside Yemen, and Riyadh, which spent years trying to reduce its involvement in this conflict, may now find itself pulled back toward a much larger war. Hundreds of people have reportedly been killed or wounded in the renewed fighting over the past several weeks, while tens of thousands have already been displaced. Alright, coming up next, the U.S. military considers a smaller post-war footprint in the Middle East, and a sanctioned Iranian airline tied to the Revolutionary Guard Corps continues to expand. I'll be right back. Hey, Mike Baker here with a pro tip for everybody out there who loves delicious food. Have you heard of Gold Belly? Gold Belly ships America's most iconic foods from legendary restaurants straight to your door, anywhere in the U.S. Seriously, it's that simple. 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The 25th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks is just days away and a quarter century after those attacks transformed America's military presence across the Middle East, officials in Washington are once again looking at whether that presence should shrink. CNN reports that officials inside the US military and intelligence communities have been discussing possible cuts to the number of American personnel and facilities permanently stationed across the region once the war with Iran comes to an end whenever that is. While there's been no formal order from President Trump to conduct a broader review of America's military posture in the Middle East, officials are reportedly talking through what a smaller presence could look like. And the war with Iran has given them plenty to think about. For years, the US has maintained a large network of bases and intelligence facilities and military personnel across the Middle East. Before the September 11 attacks, roughly 27,000 active duty American troops were stationed across the region. After 9/11, of course, that number surged. The US expanded its military and intelligence presence to support the war in Afghanistan, followed by the invasion of Iraq and then counterterrorism operations in places including Syria, Yemen and Libya. By 2003, during the invasion of Iraq, an estimated 250,000 American troops were stationed across the Middle East. Between 2007 and 2011, troop levels never fell below roughly 100,000. Even after the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan began winding down, the US presence remained substantial, generally ranging between 30,000 and 60,000 troops. Today, roughly 50,000 American troops remain in the region, along with two aircraft carriers add more than 8 dozen guided missile destroyers. The war with Iran has exposed just how vulnerable some of that infrastructure is. Iranian drones and missiles have struck American installations in Bahrain, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and Kuwait. 18 American service members have been killed during the conflict, and CNN reports that some facilities have suffered serious damage. One US official and a former intelligence officer told the network that a CIA outpost in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, was effectively destroyed by an Iranian attack. Now, officials are deciding whether some of those damaged facilities are worth rebuilding at all. The Pentagon acknowledged that possibility back in April of this year. Pentagon comptroller, Jules Hearst, told reporters that officials still didn't know how much it would cost to repair bases damaged in the war, in part because the Pentagon had not decided what it actually wanted to rebuild. Some of the changes under discussion could go much further than just closing individuals.
facilities. CNN reports that officials inside the CIA and US Special Operations Command have discussed whether certain sensitive missions could be carried out without keeping personnel and equipment permanently stationed in the Middle East. Those forces could instead remain in the US, deploy into the region for specific missions and then come home. The Pentagon is also looking at how to better protect the forces that do remain. Military officials are evaluating whether some installations should be moved underground to make them harder to target. Now, the vulnerabilities of the US bases and facilities were apparently known before the war with Iran. One US official told CNN that the problem was that Washington over the years never acted on them with much urgency. But the conflict with Iran, specifically the regime's attacks on the US facilities, has created a sense of urgency. Senior Pentagon officials are also looking at reducing troop levels in several Gulf countries while pushing regional partners to take on more of the defense burden. Some of the larger American bases are expected to remain, but rebuilding them could depend on whether host governments are willing to help pay a bill that could run into the billions of dollars. Of course, none of this is happening tomorrow. The war with Iran is still underway. Tehran continues targeting American forces, and there is no clear timeline for a resolution. CIA officers who were evacuated during some of the heaviest fighting earlier this year are now being sent back into the region. The US military is still escorting ships through the Strait of Hormuz and tens of thousands of American personnel remain deployed across the Middle East. Now, the previous US administrations have looked at this issue before. Barack Obama tried to shift more American attention and resources toward Asia. During his first term, President Trump identified China as America's primary strategic competitor, but the Middle East keeps pulling the US back in, ISIS, Iran, and its proxies, and now a war with the Iranian regime. Almost 25 years after 9/11 fueled a massive expansion of America's military and intelligence presence in the Middle East, officials are once again asking how much of that presence is still necessary. All right, staying with the Middle East, I want to turn to Iran, where the Trump administration is making a new push to ground an airline that Washington has spent 15 years trying to isolate. But instead of disappearing under sanctions, Mahan Air is instead expanding its international network. Now, for those of you who are not frequent flyers on Mahan Air, it's a commercial airline based in Tehran, where folks buy tickets and board flights to destinations across Asia, the Middle East, and Russia. So, on paper, Mahan is a private civilian carrier. But the consensus across several US administrations has been that the airline has a more clandestine purpose. The U.S. Treasury Department first sanctioned Mahan in 2011, accusing it of using their aircraft, transport weapons and personnel for the Quds force. It's the overseas operations arm of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, the IRGC. Washington says the regime has been able to use a civilian airline to help move the people and weapons supporting its terror operations abroad. Washington says Mahan carried Quds force personnel into Syria and Iraq, sometimes bypassing normal security procedures, and also transported weapons on behalf of Hezbollah. There's also a pretty remarkable admission from one of Mahan's own former executives about how willing the airline was to cooperate with the IRGC. In the 2022 interview with the Wall Street Journal, he acknowledged that Mahan would transport weapons and IRGC officers when asked. He said, "If the Army or IRGC ask Iranian companies, they should help them. We will transport if they pay money. It's a patriotic obligation." The European Union blacklisted Mahan in 2024 for allegedly helping send Iranian drones to Russia, while the U.S. Treasury Department later accused the airline of expanding weapons deliveries to Venezuela. So, according to Washington, Mahan has repeatedly given the IRGC something enormously useful. A civilian aviation network, capable of moving personnel and weapons beyond Iran's borders. And now Mahan is adding destinations. In July, the airline began flying from Tehran to the Thai resort island of Pukat. That's lovely. Then on the 30th of August, just six days after Treasury Secretary Scott Besant launched Operation Economic Outcast, Mahan opened a new service to Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam. The airline now advertises regular service to 20 destinations, including Moscow, Istanbul, Oman, and Guangzhou in southern China. At the same time, the airline continues turning up around some of Tehran's most important regional proxies. This summer, Yemen's Saudi-backed government struck the runway at Senai International Airport to stop a Mahan air flight, carrying Houthi officials from landing after they attended the funeral of Iran's former supreme leader. Of course, keeping that network in the air requires aircraft. Oh, and for that, I award myself today's PDB statement of the obvious award. This summer, the Treasury Department says Mahan managed to get its hands on at least three Boeing 777s, despite the sanctions designed to prevent exactly that. According to the Treasury Department, the retired aircraft were "diverted" through the UAE and Oman before ultimately reaching Mahan air, with foreign intermediaries helping facilitate the purchases. And that's the network that the Trump administration is now trying to break apart. On Tuesday, Treasury announced 36 new Iran-related sanctions targeting the country's aviation sector. It sanctioned all of Iran's remaining active airlines, along with foreign companies accused of helping Mahan acquire aircraft, move cargo, and maintain its international operations. Among the targets were a Turkish logistics company accused of coordinating shipments that included drone components and a Malaysian company accused of helping ship American-made parts to Iran on Mahan's behalf. So rather than simply sanctioning Mahan air again, the Trump administration is going a step further, targeting the foreign companies and intermediaries that it depends on to keep flying. Bessent is warning those companies that they could pay a much larger price. He said, Tuesday, quote, "Let this be a warning to anyone doing business with Iran's remaining airlines. You are at risk of being cut off from the global financial system," end quote. Okay, coming up in the back of the brief, the Army's new anti-drone lasers are already changing the fight along the U.S. Southern border, with cartel drone activity dropping sharply in the real grand valley. More on that when we come back. Hey, Mike Baker here. Now, we've all heard those radio ads about the IRS. You know what I'm talking about? They tell you to be afraid, be very afraid, and then they try to frighten you into calling. Well, tax relief advocates, TRA, is different. If you owe money to the IRS, whether it's $5,000 or $50,000 or $500,000, hopefully it's not that, TRA has a solution to your tax problem. Don't lose hope. TRA could reduce or even eliminate what you owe to the IRS. Their passion is taxes and helping individuals and businesses fix their IRS problems. They've got over 1,000 five-star Google reviews and an A+ with a better business bureau. Look, here's the thing. You do not need to be afraid of the IRS any longer. 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Now, as I've previously discussed here on the PDB, the army began using the weapon operationally along the border light last month, taking down its first three suspected cartel drones on the 25th and 26th of August. Over the following 10 days, the lasers destroyed 11 drones. Since the beginning of this year, U.S. forces have stopped more than 300 drones, and officials say we're linked to illicit activity, including more than one
hundred in August alone. Cartels have been using drones in many cases for surveillance, watching where American troops and law enforcement are positioned to help smugglers avoid authorities. The military can already jam those drones and force them to retreat, but that leaves the cartel free to recover the aircraft and try again, and officials say they've sometimes seen the same drones repeatedly return. The laser gives American troops a different option, as Army Colonel Robert Felicio explained to CBS News, quote, "The game changer is ensuring that the drone can't be used again against you," end quote. Now officials can't say that the lasers deserve all the credit for that 75 percent decline in activity. It's possible that the cartels are changing their routes or adjusting their tactics. Still, the army is also expanding its investment in the technology. U.S. military officials say multiple systems are already being deployed along the border, while the service just awarded a $465 million contract for dozens more. And the economics help explain why. Some conventional air defense interceptors can cost millions of dollars, while the manufacturer says firing the laser costs roughly $3 per shot that is a bargain. The system still has limitations, though, including weather that can weaken the beam and the safety concerns around civilian aircraft that we've previously discussed. Military officials say they're now regularly coordinating, though, with the FAA, when the lasers are used. Well, that's a good thing, and there's another reason that reducing cartel drone activity is considered critically important. Most of the drones, appearing around American forces so far, are currently being used for surveillance. The concern is what happens if that changes? Mexican cartels have already demonstrated inside Mexico that they can turn drones into weapons. A recent U.S. funded study identified 221 incidents involving armed cartel drones between 2021 and 2025. Those attacks resulted in a reported 77 deaths. And just across the border, there are now more than 8,000 American service members deployed across roughly 1900 miles. So military officials have to consider the possibility that a technology currently being used to watch American troops could eventually be used to attack them. And that, my friends, is the president's daily brief for Wednesday, the 9th of September. Now, if you have any questions or comments and I hope you do, just reach out to me at
[email protected]. I'm Mike Baker, and I'll be back later today with the PDB afternoon bulletin. Until then, stay informed, stay safe, stay cool. [MUSIC]
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