Judging Freedom - Pepe Escobar : Why Trump Fears the Houthis

Episode Date: October 14, 2026

Pepe Escobar : Why Trump Fears the HouthisSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Undeclared wars are commonplace. Pragically, our government engages in preemptive war, otherwise known as aggression, with no complaints from the American people. Sadly, we have become accustomed to living with the illegitimate use of force by government. To develop a truly free society, the issue of initiating force must be understood and rejected. What if sometimes to love your country you had to alter or abolish the government? the government? What if Jefferson was right? What if that government is best, which governs least? What if it is dangerous to be right when the government is wrong? What if it is better to perish

fighting for freedom than to live as a slave? What if freedom's greatest hour of danger is now? Hi everyone, Judge Andrew Napolitano here for judging freedom. Today is Wednesday, October 14th, 2006, Pepe Escobar will be with us in just a moment. Why does President Trump fear the hooties? And why should he? But first this. Throughout history, governments have rarely surrendered power voluntarily. They seek more control over our money, our movements, and ultimately our freedoms. That's why it's smart to understand your legal options before you need them. I'd like to recommend a free special report from McKell Thorpe, founder of of expat money. For more than 26 years,

McKell has lived as an expat, helping families, entrepreneurs, and investors build a legal plan B through overseas residency and second citizenship. Mackell's free report, Plan B Residencies and Instant Citizenships explains some of the best plans available. If preserving your freedoms and expanding

your options are important to you, get your free report at expatmoney.com slash judge. Be sure to use my link in the description so that Mikhail knows you're a judging freedom fan. That's expatimony.com slash judge. Pippa Escobar, welcome here, my dear friend. My pleasure, thank you. How badly have the Houthis destroyed the infrastructure, the finances, and the image of Saudi Arabia? Wow. To an extent that none of us could ever imagine only a few days ago for that matter. They paralyzed the ports.

All the major ports of Saudi Airports, I'm sorry. All the major airports of Saudi Arabia are paralyzed. They attacked three Arunco facilities earlier this week, including the headquarters in the Mammat. And of course, they are saying that, look, the bill for peace now is slightly more complicated. It's not only that we want you out of the Yemen and we want the end of the blockade. Now you're going to have to pay reparations for everything that you destroyed here in Yemen since 2015. What did the Saudis do and what have they been doing to Yemen since 2015?

Well, Judge, last year in Yemen, I saw it for myself. not only around Sana, but when we went on the road to Sada, in the mountains in the northwest, where Ansalar was born, everywhere we go, there are remnants of bombing sprees by, first by the coalition, Saudi Arabia, Emirates, the US leading from behind, starting 2015, and later by the South. Until there was a sort of ceasefire in 2022. And of course, the number of the numbers, about people killed, including women, the elderly children. They start around 60,000, which is, I would say, a very conservative estimate, to probably hundreds of thousands.

And in terms of famine, that was horrible. There was a time many of you, our audience, may remember, that the UN was saying that the worst famine on the planet was in Yemen. and it was caused by the Saudi Arabian attacks. So the House of South can only conceive Yemen as, you know, basically ruled by a puppet government, easily pliable, and they can do anything they want. One of their fifth columnists like this so-called international recognized government in the Aden.

That's it. Because Yemen is the real deal, a judge. Yemen is pure Islam. Yemen is the Arabia felix of the ancient Roman Empire. And Yemen is the seat of the purest Islam, according to Prophet Muhammad himself. Is it true that the de facto government of Yemen is the Houthis because of the enormous popular support that they command? Yes. The world recognizes a government in exile, which is actually in the Ritz Carlton, Hothi,

hotel in Riyadh in South Africa. You can't make the South. You're absolutely right, Judge. This is the internationally recognized government. And obviously, it's because of American and Zionist and Saudi propaganda, of course. The real government, the de facto government, the people who are running things and managing things, they sit in Sana.

Last year, we had the opportunity to talk to one of the former prime ministers, for instance, extremely... By the way, he was from Adam. And he told us that he left Adam because all the intellectual and managerial classes in Adam, they left the city, essentially, when they started to be ruled by this so-called ghost government from a Red Scaltern suite.

And it's quite impressive that they managed to... organize a nation that has been relentlessly bombed, harassed, starved nearly to death literally for years. Sanaa works very, very well. And Sada as well. And when you go to the Sucs, the Sucs are among the most extraordinary sips

in the whole Arab world and Islamic world. And they're doing business with everything. I even found a guy who was that. doing for an exchange in the middle of the souk and accepting everything, all these American payment systems. Wow. Because they are traders by nature, Judge. Right, right. Our friend and colleague, Alster Crook, has maintained that Muhammad, brilliant and wonderful guy.

Muhammad bin Salman's greater threat to the loss of power and of loss of life, for him comes from his cousins, not from the Houthis. Can you explain this? Well, Alistair is absolutely correct. It's the infighting that is already going on in the palace and in the other palaces, and involving the cousins, of course, and some of the more distant princes. Thousands of them, which we actually counted, including those judges, They were personally humiliated in that famous Ritz-Calton prison heist,

where they were basically stripped of their money, their wealth, their influence, ritually humiliated and marginalized from any decision power centers. So the revenge by these cousins and distant cousins, this is going to be very messy. Not to mention, even worse, all the threats, all the tribes, they are completely marginalized. There are over 100 tribes that are totally marginalized. So one of the possible scenarios with this internal disaggregation of the House of South is tribal infighting in a way you cannot even imagine.

And it could be just around the corner. It's October, which means it's cybersecurity awareness month. And cybersecurity isn't just for big tech companies, with over 3.5 billion laws to scams in the, last year, protecting yourself matters too. As someone with an active online presence, my privacy is really important to me. That's why our sponsor, Delete Me, is celebrating this month by giving you a few quick tips to help you up your security game. Tip number one, when you get an unexpected email that looks legitimate, check the sender's domain before

clicking links or opening attachments. Scammers will often use fake domains that trick you into clicking a malicious link. Tip number two, getting lots of spam calls don't answer them. Answering can provide a signal that your number is active, which then gets your number on even more lists, making the problem worse. Tip number three, search the internet regularly to see what personal information is publicly available. Delete me can help by monitoring data broker sites, removing your information, and make sure it stays removed throughout the year. Take control of your data and keep your private life private by signing up for Delete Me. Now at a special discount for our listeners.

Get 20% off your DeleteMe plan when you go to join DeleteMe.com slash freedom and use promo code freedom at the checkout. The only way to get 20% off is to go to join deleteme.com slash freedom and enter code freedom at checkout. That's join delete me.com slash freedom. Code freedom. Wow. Why is it that Trump, I don't know how you could possibly know why Trump is doing anything, but why do you think Trump is refusing Muhammad bin Salman's needs

to come to Saudi Arabia's aid against the Houthis? Well, the threat of another humiliation, Judge. I think many, I think you and many around, our honest, you will remember that the hooties basically expelled two U.S. aircraft carrier groups in 2004 and 2025, they were expelled from the Red Sea. For the U.S. Navy, this was a massive humiliation. So at least somebody in, I assume, in Sant-com, managed to, you know, five-second attention spent to tell Trump, look, If we do anything against the hootis directly, we are going to be humiliating.

Whatever that is. In the Red Sea or an attempt of some sort of land invasion or strikes because the strikes are going to be back against Saudi Arabia and also against Israel. So there's no way out. The only possible way out, the only possible off-ramp would be a diplomatic off-ramp. And MBS is to... Once again, that's when MBS. and Trump collide. Their egos, their outsized egos simply cannot conceive of diplomatic solutions.

Wow. So is the Saudi government about to collapse? Is MBS about to lose its wealth and power and maybe life? Could be. All sorts of scenarios now apply, Judge. Pallas intrigue, a palace school, an outsized, an outsider. of palace coup, a tribal coup, a united tribal coup, anything goes. And even the possibility of the Prince Naif faction, which is completely sidelined, he was supposed to be the heir to the throne. They mount their own coup, and then we have the CIA man, Prince Nayef himself, installed as the new ruler. Anything is possible.

Or we could have a civil war, a monarchic civil war. I think this is the most possible scenario. There are too many interests there were sideline. And MBS, basically, he went against everybody. The family and the extended family. That's even worse. What is the Israeli interest in and involvement with Saudi's woes today? They want Saudi to be part of the Abraham Accords.

That's it. That's the short version. And in fact, this is the murky, extremely murky part of the Mecca Defense Alliance, which, by the way, talk about buyer's remorse, both by Turkey and Pakistan. They are caught in a trap. And it's fascinating to watch every day. Like everybody, who's everybody in both governments in Ankara and Islamabad saying, look, we're here.

It's just defensive. There are no troops. We're not going to attack anybody and all that. And, of course, popular opinion, both in Turkey and in Pakistan, is mega overwhelmingly against involvement in a war that has, obviously, in terms of their national interests, less than zero for both. but they are caught in a trap. They sign that thing.

And of course, the craziest, the absolutely craziest thing, which is something that we managed to confirm early this week, Larry and I in our channel, Transition Protocol. Pakistani advisors are in the same war cell room in Riyadh with Israeli advisors to the South. This is completely nuts. Well, you talk about buyer's remorse for the Mecca Defense Pact, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and Pakistan. Are Turkey, formerly called Turkey, and Pakistan going to do anything to save Mohammed bin Salman's government and fortune?

Well, we cannot say with absolute certainty. what we are watching is a careful positioning, both by the Turks and the Pakistanis, to do the absolute minimum. For instance, we asked our sources, our Pakistani military sources. I asked them for direct answers. Do you have troops near the Saudi Yemeni border?

Two different sources said absolutely not. We are here to protect. protect Mecca and Medina. Okay, that's theoretically makes sense. And obviously the Houthis will never attack Mecca and Medina. This is absolutely sacred for them in terms of faith, in terms of respect, etc. But there could be a false flag against Mecca or Medina. So this is what the Turks and the Pakistani advisors are paying very close attention. What, in terms of shifting from a defensive position to an offensive position is out of the cards. And both military know it.

And they know that public opinion in both countries also know it. And it will be a major disaster. And obviously, they are starting to understand that for NBS, the key advisory body is basically sent com plus Israel. It's not Turkey plus Pakistan. So there is a, you know, inside the so-called, we could call this a coalition of the willing and also the unwilling. There are major differences. And now that everybody is watching the absolute debacle and by the Saudi proxy forces in southern Yemen

and the fact that they are now paralyzed in terms of exporting oil. and airports as well, not to mention foreign investment. Who wants to consider investing in Saudi Arabia after what happened this past few days? What is the state of Saudi Arabia's air defenses? It must be minimal or degraded. Yes, Patriots, Pac, Todd, and all the, nothing. Well, you can see how easy it was for Ansarala to bomb the terminals of Riyadh's airport. One day, in sequence, day after day.

And they already said, if you don't stop attacking us, it's going to be day. It's going to be all your airports, your ports, the east-west pipeline, the Abkhike in the east and Yambu in the west, including the port of Yambu. So everything now is a legitimate target for Ansarala. What is the... Yes, go ahead. Go ahead. What is the relationship today between Ansarala and the government of Iran?

Exactly. This is important. In my latest column, which is not published yet, I could go on for, you know, 10 paragraphs, but I try to keep it to a minute. The decision process is completely independent between Iran and Sana. Of course, unsarra-exam. And Sarala, they receive weapons which they developed and then they start manufacturing their own weapons from the IRGC. And they talk to IRGC all the time.

This is access of resistance dialectics. This is how it works. They talk to each other all the time. But the decision-making process is in SANA and involves the political council. Once again, to our audience, it's very important to know how it works. At the top, you have the Supreme Leader, Abdul Malik Al-Hu. Then you have the political council. It's 11 members.

Last year, we have the chance to talk to at least five or six of them. And then there's the Majlis, their parliament. The decisions that the political council suggests, they go to the Majlis, it's discussed in the parliament, goes back to the political council, and then goes up to Abdul Malik Al-Huqi. He is the supreme leader, after all. So it's a very democratic process.

Very democratic. Wow. Well, how much longer will the Saudi government last, in your view? Crystal ball is hard, isn't it, Judge? All right. Seriously, Judge. It could be a matter of weeks. Well, what if they exist?

What does the axis of resistance? distance now control. In terms of the choke points, both they control the straight of or moves. We are watching the new how Iran is enforcing passage now forcefully. Anybody who tries to wiggle out, you know, with their transponders off, taking the Omani channel and all that, not respecting the PGSA, the Persian Gulf Authority, the new body that Iran created three months ago or so.

And the IRGC Navy, they are getting hit, period. That's it. No exceptions whatsoever. And on the Bab al-Mandab, it's more complicated. It's not located. It's located against Israeli ships and Saudi petrotainees. for everybody else is more or less open. And of course, for hostile nations from NATO, it depends.

Depends who's the owner and all that. But basically for Israel and Saudi, it's totally blocked. If Ansarala decides to block the bubble on that completely, then both choke points will be totally blocked. And if that's the case, then Saudi they cannot export, I would say, you know, a drug. drop of oil. Nothing. Well.

All right, my friend. We may have to come back to you rather than waiting a week as developments warrant, but thank you very much for your economic analysis of all this, Pepe. Very, very helpful and enlightening. Any time. Thank you. Thank you. Sure. All the best, my friend. Thank you.

All the best. Thanks very much, Judge. Thank you. Cheers. Coming up later today at 2 o'clock this afternoon on all of this and on what is the united states navy doing in the south china sea colonel douglas mcgregor and at three o'clock more accesses from donald trump who else phil geraldty judge napal tennel for judging freedom