The President's Daily Brief - PDB Afternoon Bulletin | December 5th, 2025: Trump Doubles Down on Narco Strikes & Iran Warns US Amid Massive Missile Drill

Episode Date: December 5, 2025

In this episode of The PDB Afternoon Bulletin:  First—The fallout over the Trump administration’s campaign against narco-terrorists intensifies, as lawmakers question the head of U.S. Special Operations Command over the legality of a controversial September strike. Meanwhile, the White House is pressing ahead, destroying another suspected narco-vessel on Thursday. Later in the show—Iran sends a clear signal in the Gulf, firing volleys of cruise and ballistic missiles during their first major naval drill since the 12-Day War with Israel. We’ll break down what this drill says about Iran’s strategy, and the warning the mullahs sent to US forces in the region. To listen to the show ad-free, become a premium member of The President’s Daily Brief by visiting PDBPremium.com. Please remember to subscribe if you enjoyed this episode of The President's Daily Brief. YouTube: youtube.com/@presidentsdailybrief StopBox: Not only do you get 10% Off your entire order when you use code PDB10 at https://stopboxusa.com/PDB10, but they are also giving you Buy One Get One Free for their StopBox Pro. #stopboxpod Birch Gold: Text PDB to 989898 and get your free info kit on gold Lean: Visit https://BrickhouseSale.com for 30% off Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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your eyes and ears on the world's stage. Let's get briefed. First up, the fallout over the Trump administration's campaign against narco-terrorists intensifies as lawmakers questioned the head of U.S. Special Operations Command over the legality of a controversial September strike. Meanwhile, the White House says, oh my beer. They press ahead and destroy another suspected narco vessel on Thursday. I'll have the details. Later in the show, Iran sends a clear signal in the Gulf, firing volleys of crews and ballistic missiles during their first major naval drill since the 12-day war with Israel. We'll break down what these drills say about Iran's strategy and the warning that the mullahs are attempting to send to U.S. forces in the region.

But first, today's afternoon spotlight. As Congress argues over whether an early September U.S. boat strike in the Caribbean cross the line into a war crime, the Trump administration is showing no signs of easing their pressure campaign against Latin America's deadly cartels. On Thursday, just as the head of U.S. Special Operations Command was briefing congressional leaders on the legality of the controversial September strikes, the U.S. military obliterated another suspected trafficking vessel. At Secretary of War Pete Hegseth's direction, Joint Task Force Southern Spear launched a precision strike on the vessel, which was traveling at speed along a known smuggling route in the eastern Pacific, killing all.

all four men on board. U.S. Southern Command said that intelligence confirmed the vessel was carrying illicit narcotics and was tied to a U.S. designated terrorist organization. It marks the 22nd strike in this ongoing maritime campaign, which has now killed 86 alleged narco-terrorists. But more significantly, it's the first strike in more than two weeks, coming right as lawmakers are demanding answers about whether the operation on the second of September broke U.S. and international law. Put simply, if Democrats and some Republicans were wondering whether congressional outrage and the current media firestorm would stop the White House from continuing these strikes, well, the Trump administration just gave them a clear answer. And speaking of the firestorm around the September 2nd strikes, we're beginning to learn more about details of that operation, and they appear to contradict the breathless claims of certain media reports. As a brief reminder, on September 2nd, U.S. forces hit a suspected drug smuggling boat in the Caribbean,

disabling the vessel, but leaving two drug runners alive in the water. American forces circled back and launched additional strikes. The second killed the survivors while the third and fourth strikes sank the boat. While that may sound straightforward, given the U.S. campaign against narco-terrorists, a recent account from the Washington Post tried to frame the operation in a darker light. They claimed Hegseth directly ordered the follow-up strikes that killed survivors in violation of the Pentagon's own rules for combat, triggering, of course, accusations that the Trump administration committed a war crime. But New York Times reporting from earlier this week

contradicted the Washington Post's account, citing multiple officials who said there's no evidence that Hegseth gave the order. Furthermore, ABC News reported that the two survivors were attempting to climb back onto the drug boat, potentially to coordinate with others and recover the narcotics. Critically, they also reported that a military judge advocate general or a JAG officer was present and providing legal advisement throughout the incident to Admiral Frank Bradley, the head of Special Operations Command, who oversaw the mission. Bradley himself further eroded the Post's narrative during a closed-door briefing on Thursday with leaders of the Intelligence and Armed Services Committees from both chambers of Congress. The briefing provided the first

opportunity for a group of bipartisan lawmakers to see the Pentagon's full footage of the September incident and to question Bradley on the operational details. Bradley reportedly began by knocking down the allegation that Heggseth gave a verbal order to, quote, kill everybody. According to both Republicans and Democrats in the briefing, the Admiral insisted no such no-quarter directive was ever issued, backing up the denials from Hexeth and White House officials. The rebuttal also suggests the White House's claim that Bradley had full authority over operational decisions during the mission is accurate. Next, Bradley reportedly confirmed the presence of a JAG officer providing legal oversight during the operation. Republican Senator Tom Cotton added that in addition to

the JAG officer, Bradley's briefing confirmed that hundreds of personnel across multiple bases were watching in real time, including dozens of military lawyers. According to Cotton, this proved the legal groundwork had been laid well before the first missile. flume. As for why the additional strikes were launched, Cotton said the video footage showed the two surviving drug runners trying to flip the boat back over, implying they were attempted to recover drugs and return to their mission. I should note that Democrat Senator Chris Coons agreed after the closed-door session that this was a fair interpretation of the video. But the briefing from Bradley did let it quell broader concerns from congressional Democrats. Representative Jim Hines, the top Democrat on the

House Intelligence Committee, called the footage, quote, deeply troubling and said it showed survivors who posed no threat to U.S. forces. Senator Coons, meanwhile, said that while he felt reassured about the process, namely the intelligence used and the presence of a JAG officer, he still questioned whether the mission itself carried any legitimate legal justification. So while the hearing may have put to rest some of the more extreme claims ignited by the Washington Post's initial reporting, significant controversy does remain among Democrats over the legal basis for these ongoing strikes. And looming behind it all is a question that lawmakers on both sides of the aisle still want answered, and that would be where was Heggseth?

The defense secretary said this week he watched the first strike live, then left for another meeting, leaving Bradley as the final authority for the subsequent strikes. But many lawmakers remain skeptical and want to hear that in the form of public testimony from both Hexeth and Bradley, not closed-door briefings. All right, coming up next. Iran staged a large naval exercise in the Strait of Hormuz and Gulf of Oman this week, firing crews and ballistic missiles at simulated targets, while warning U.S. ships not to approach.

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9-89-89-898. Welcome back to the afternoon bulletin. We turn our attention to the Gulf, where the mullahs of Iran are putting on a show of military force designed to demonstrate their defensive readiness and deterrent capabilities. Earlier this week, the Islamic regime staged one of its largest military exercises

since the 12-day war with Israel in June. During the two-day drill, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps' Navy fired a mix of ballistic and cruise missiles at simulated targets across the Gulf of Oman, according to a report from Reuters. Specifically, Iranian state media described a, quote, massive launch of Cotter 110, Cotter 380, and Cotter 360 cruise missiles, as well as some 303 ballistic missiles, with drones also striking mock enemy bases at the same time. The IRGC framed the drill as a demonstration of its, quote, unwavering spirit, and a reminder that any foreign miscalculation against Iran would draw a decisive response. The exercise began Thursday in the Gulf of Oman and stretched through the Strait of Hormuz,

one of the most strategic waterways on the planet. Nearly a scyth of global oil flows through that chokepoint, and Iran regularly treats it as a strategic pressure valve when tensions rise. Late last month, for example, Iran seized a petrochemical tanker bound for Singapore near the Strait of Hormuz, in what most observers said was a brazen attempt to project power despite their weakened regional position. While the Trump administration has not publicly commented on the Iranian drills, the display certainly caught their attention.

The U.S. and its allies view Iran's sanctioned ballistic missile program, which China, by the way, is helping rebuild as a major threat to regional stability. The two-day exercise also came with a sharp warning to the U.S. from the Islamic regime. According to Newsweek, Iranian naval commanders issued a public warning for U.S. warships to stay away from the drill zone, framing any American presence in the Gulf as a potential provocation. As I mentioned, that warning came against the backdrop of June's 12-day war, when the U.S. joined Israel, of course, in striking Iranian nuclear facilities. Tehran has spent the months since vowing to rebuild its capabilities, and this week's drills

appeared geared towards demonstrating that it can still threaten or defend the maritime corridors around its coast. But the missile barrage wasn't the only exercise this week. On land, hundreds of miles to the northwest, Iran hosted a separate anti-terrorism drill in its province of East Azerbaijan, with members of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, which of course includes China, Russia, India, Pakistan, and several Central Asian states. Iran cast the event, which also included the participation of Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Oman, and Azerbaijan, as a gesture of, quote, peace and friendship toward neighboring states, well, that's nice, while also serving as a warning to enemies that the country's security partnerships extend well beyond the Middle East.

Taken together, the drills tell a simple story. Iran is trying to re-assert itself regionally at sea and on land and through multilateral security organizations. And by pairing a large missile exercise with a clear warning to the U.S., Tehran is signaling that despite the damage dealt to their forces during the 12-day war, they remain undeterred. And that, my friends, is the PDB afternoon bulletin for Friday the 5th of December. Now, if you have any questions or comments, please reach out to me at PDB at thefirstTV.com. And to listen to the show ad-free, well, it's simple.

Just become a premium member of the president's daily brief by visiting pdb premium.com. See, I told you it was simple. Finally, as a reward for making it to the end of another week, that's right, it's a Friday, we've got a brand new episode of the PDB Situation Report sitting on the launch pad. Now, you know the drill every Friday at 10 p.m. on the first TV, a new season. sit-wrap graces the airwaves. This week's guests include investigative reporter Joshua Philip to talk all things Venezuela, and Ryan Thorpe. Now, he's one of the journalists who broke the story in Minnesota on the growing fraud scandal there, centered within the state's

Somali community. Admittedly, I'm subjective, but I think you should tune in. Both conversations are insightful and possibly even enlightening. As always, you can also catch this latest episode, as well as past episodes, on our YouTube channel. Just go to YouTube and look for at President's Daily Brief and of course on podcast platforms everywhere. I'm Mike Baker and I'll be back over the weekend with the PDB situation report. Until then, stay informed. Stay safe. Stay cool.

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