October 5th, 2026: The Yemen War Is Exploding Back Open & Putin’s New Strike Doctrine

Mike Baker (0:13)

It's Monday, the 5th of October. Welcome to The President's Daily Brief. I'm Mike Baker. Your eyes and ears on the world stage. And look at that, I am officially off the road for now. Alright, let's get briefed. First up, a major new offensive is getting underway against the Iranian Bakhutis in Yemen. And there are questions about whether US forces could at some point participate.

Later in the show, President Zelensky says Ukrainian intelligence obtained documents showing that Vladimir Putin has ordered a new doctrine of attacks on a much broader range of civilian targets ahead of winter. Yeah, that sounds like something Putin just might do. Plus, we've got the latest on the attempted hijacking of a fly-du-bye flight to Tel Aviv, with reports that the accused co-pilot had previously been grounded over concerns about his radicalization.

And of course, that makes sense, right? You're grounded because you seem kind of radical to be flying plane loads of Israelis, but sure, you know, somehow you're going to get back in the cockpit. And in today's Back of the Brief, an update on that massive FBI data theft that we told you about as one of the suspected hackers has now been detained in Jordan. But first, today's PDB Spotlight.

The war in Yemen is picking up steam, and there is now a very real question about whether the US could eventually be pulled in to that fight. Yemen's internationally recognized government announced this weekend that major military operations are underway against the Iran-backed Houthis with the stated goal of retaking territory lost during the group's recent offensive and eventually restoring government control across the country. Now, that is something that the Saudi-backed government forces have been unable to accomplish in the past. Now, we've been tracking the Iranian-backed Houthi military advance closely. As we've reported over the past several weeks, Houthi forces pushed down Yemen's Red Sea coast, taking Moqa, Dubaab, the Hanish Islands and eventually reaching Param Island. All those gains put the group in an increasingly strong position around the Bab al-Mandeb Strait. That's the narrow passage connecting the Red Sea with the Gulf of Aden, and it is one of the most important shipping lanes in the world.

Iran has spent much of this year applying pressure around the Strait of Hormuz, and now the Houthis, Tehran's closest partner on the Arabian Peninsula, have expanded their position around the other major maritime gateway serving the region. It is almost like the Iranian regime is directing all of this. Reuters has reported that Iranian weapons and advisors help support the Houthi advance. Iran denies directing the group and rejects the characterization of the Houthis as an Iranian proxy. What? The Houthis barely know them. Well, if the Revolutionary Guard Corps says it so, I'm sure an organization willing to slaughter thousands of their own citizens wouldn't lie to us. Regardless, Saudi Arabia appears to have decided that those gains cannot be allowed to stand. According to Axios and Reuters, Riyadh has been preparing a potentially major counteroffensive alongside Yemeni government forces. The Saudis have reportedly considered everything from a more limited operation aimed at pushing the Houthis away from the Red Sea coast to a much larger multi-front campaign. They could eventually involve more than 100,000 Yemeni government troops backed by Saudi airpower.

And now, according to Yemen's government, military operations have begun. The Houthis, meanwhile, are showing no signs of backing down. Well, that could be because the Iranian regime does not want them to back down. Funny how that works. Over the weekend, the group claimed it launched ballistic missiles and drones at an Aramco facility in Riyadh. Saudi authorities haven't confirmed the Houthi account, but Reuters reported smoke and fire near an Aramco site in the capital. The Houthis have also claimed attacks on other Saudi energy targets, while Riyadh says it has intercepted a number of incoming missiles and drones.

So this fight has obviously moved beyond Yemen itself, and that brings us to Washington. Saudi Arabia has asked the US to take part directly in the campaign by launching strikes against Houthi targets. So far, President Trump has said no, but that does not mean the US is sitting this one out. According to Axios, CENTCOM has already been providing Saudi Arabia with intelligence and targeting information, including more than 200 Houthi targets over the past two weeks. So America is not currently pulling the trigger, but it is helping Saudi Arabia identify where to aim. And US officials have reportedly left open the possibility that American forces could become directly involved if the Saudi and Yemeni operation begins to go badly.

Which makes what happened Friday at Camp David especially interesting. Vice President JD Vance chaired a closed-door meeting of the President's top national security officials to discuss both Yemen and the broader war with Iran. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, CIA Director John Ratcliffe, Special Envoy Steve Witkoff, and Joint Chiefs Chairman General Dan Kane were all there, along with other senior members of the administration. Axios reports the meeting lasted for two hours, and one official said, decisions were made, or at the very least, some of these issues were discussed in considerable depth. Well, that could be interpreted as a fairly broad statement. Either decisions were made or, well, we certainly talked a lot about stuff. There's also one piece of history worth noting. The last comparable gathering of President Trump's National Security Team at Camp David came in June of 2025, and that was just days before Israel went to war with Iran.