The President's Daily Brief - PDB Afternoon Bulletin | September 5th, 2025: A Top Secret SEAL Team 6 Mission in North Korea Ends in Chaos & Israel Thwarts An Assassination

Episode Date: September 5, 2025

In this episode of The PDB Afternoon Bulletin:   First—a bombshell report from The New York Times reveals the details of a top-secret Navy SEAL mission into North Korea in 2019 that ultimately unraveled and resulted in the deaths of several unarmed North Koreans.    Later in the show—Israeli intelligence services thwart a plot by Hamas to assassinate National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir with explosive drones. The foiled attack has renewed scrutiny on Hamas officials living in Turkey, who reportedly funded the plot.   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   CBDistillery: Visit https://CBDistillery.com and use promo code PDB for 25% off your entire order!   Jacked Up Fitness: Get the all-new Shake Weight by Jacked Up Fitness at https://JackedUpShakeWeight.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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of three unarmed North Koreans. Later in the show, Israeli intelligence services thwart a plot by Hamas to assassinate National Security Minister Idemar Ben-Gvir with explosive drones. The foiled attack has renewed scrutiny on Hamas officials living in Turkey, who reportedly funded the plot. We'll have those details. But first, today's afternoon spotlight. The New York Times, in what the paper no doubt views as a demonstration of journalistic bravery and integrity, oh well done, and what others might view as a reckless partisan display of irresponsibility, has gone public with a report on a failed top secret seal team six mission targeting North Korea. It's a disclosure that could have grave implications for already fraught U.S. relations with the nuclear-armed Kim regime.

According to their exclusive expose published today, the U.S. Navy's special forces infiltrated North Korea's shores as part of a clandestine mission in 2019 authorized by President Trump during his first term in office. The goal? Well, the goal was to plant an electronic device that would let the U.S. intercept the communications of Kim Jong-un, just as Trump was engaged in nuclear talks with the reclusive dictator. Members of SEAL Team 6's Red Squadron, the same team that killed Osama bin Laden back in 2011, were chosen to carry out the complex mission, which involved placing commandos directly on North Korean soil. The stakes, obviously, couldn't have been higher. If detected or captured,

the operation risked not only derailing the rare diplomatic engagement with the Hermit Kingdom, but of course could have triggered on postage crisis or even a retaliation by the nuclear-armed rogue nation. It's worth remembering that North Korea has roughly 8,000 artillery pieces and rocket launchers aimed at the roughly 28,000 American troops stationed in South Korea, as well as an arsenal of 50 nuclear weapons and missiles capable of reaching America's west coast. But at the time, members of U.S. Joint Special Operations Command reportedly saw a rare opportunity to plug a strategic blind spot in U.S. intelligence gathering capabilities related to North Korea. Due to the insular nature of the authoritarian state, the U.S. had for years struggled to tap into

the country's communications or recruit human sources. But due to the unpredictable nature of Kim's interactions with Trump during his first term, which vacillated from nuclear threats to direct diplomacy, gaining insight into the dictator's thinking became a top priority for the U.S. intelligence community. A risky solution was presented to Trump in 2018. The intelligence community had recently developed a new electronic device that could intercept the communications of North Korea's top leaders, including Kim. But it had to be manually planted. Military sources said the president and his military advisors eventually settled on dispatching SEAL Team 6, as they had past experience carrying out a similar mission. The New York Times report revealed for the first time that back in 2005,

oh, they're revealing even more, during the Bush administration, the SEALs had used a mini-sub to infiltrate North Korea's shores and escape undetected for an unspecified mission. So by the fall of 2018, the seals began preparing for the assignment and the details of the operation are something straight out of a James Bond movie. According to the report, a nuclear-powered submarine, roughly the length of two football fields, ferried the seal team into North Korean waters. Two mini-subs carrying the seals were then deployed to get the team to the shoreline. We should note that the mini-subs are what are known as wet subs, meaning the seal, and had to journey for nearly two hours, immersed in frigid waters using scuba gear and heated

wetsuits. Once they neared the coast, eight seals swam ashore in order to install the device, but the mission ultimately went sideways. According to the sources, a North Korean boat emerged nearby and began searching the area with flashlights. Thinking they'd been spotted by the adversary, the seal team reportedly opened fire on the vessel, killing all aboard. The team then aborted the mission and retreated back to the sub without completing the mission. Evidence later showed that the North Korean boat was actually a fishing vessel carrying two or three unarmed civilians. Despite the incident, the operation has never been publicly acknowledged by either the U.S. or

North Korea. The details remain highly classified, well, do they anymore? And according to the Times, not even key members of Congress overseeing intelligence operations were read in, a move that analysts say may have violated the law. It's unclear how much the North Korean regime ever discovered about the clandestine mission or its purpose, though U.S. satellites did detect large-scale movements of North Korean troops in the immediate aftermath of the operation. But due to this revelation from the Times, the Kim regime will now have a pretty full picture of the events and learn invaluable insights likely regarding America's covert operations.

The Times report was based on interviews with two dozen sources, including civilian government, government officials, members of the first Trump administration, and current and former military personnel, who all spoke anonymously. Well, that's because they clearly weren't supposed to be opening their yaps and discussing classified information, but they just couldn't help themselves. It's not clear what motivated this very public disclosure of America's most guarded clandestine secrets, and the White House has not commented on the situation. But given that this is the New York Times we're talking about, it's not exactly wild speculation. to suggest that politics played a role in the paper's decision to reveal information that could have

severe ramifications for U.S. national security and foreign policy. I mean, during Democrat administrations, the paper managed to keep their pie holes shut when it came to revealing this sort of information. The Times self-righteously indicated that they've released this information now in an effort to help the public better understand how clandestine operations work or don't work. How brave of the New York Times. All right, up next, Israeli intelligence services thwart a plot by Hamas to assassinate Jerusalem's National Security Minister with explosive drones. I'll be right back.

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way to jumpstart or supercharge your fitness routine, get the all-new shakeweight by jacked-up fitness. Just go to jacked-up shakeweight.com. Again, that's jacked-up shakeweight.com. Welcome back to the afternoon bulletin. I want to turn now to Israel, where the security agency Shinbet recently thwarted a plot by Hamas to assassinate National Security Minister Idemar Ben-Gvir with explosive drones. Earlier this week, officials with Shinbet and Israeli police announced the arrest of three members of a Hamas-linked cell operating out of the city of Hebron in the southern West Bank. According to a report from the Jerusalem Post, the group came shockingly close to pulling off the assassination with Shin-Bet officials describing it as one of the

most serious attempts against a senior Israeli minister in recent years. The cell received support for the planned attack from Hamas officials based out of Turkey, who funneled funds to the group for the procurement of two drones equipped with explosives, as well as a laptop which they used to track Ben Gavur's movements on social media. They planned a strike during the upcoming Jewish holiday season, after learning through social media that Ben Gvr would be visiting a holy site in Hebron known as the Tomb of the Patriarchs. According to interrogations of the suspects, they plotted to fly the drones over the site while

the minister was praying, but later abandoned those plans after encountering technical difficulties. The group reportedly conducted a live test successfully dropping and detonating an explosive device from one of the drones, but a second trial run ended in an accidental explosion while they were assembling the drone, prompting them to shift tactics. One of the members of the cell proposed selling the drones to buy firearms for shooting attacks at multiple Israeli government institutions, though they also ultimately abandoned that idea, fearing Israel's vast array of surveillance cameras would expose them before they could attack. One of the cell members was subsequently arrested by the Palestinian Authority in Hebron

further complicating their plans. Shenbet eventually learned of the plot and was able to apprehend all involved before they could take their planning any further. While we're still learning the finer details of this Hamas-backed operation, one of the suspects told interrogators that he moved to Turkey three years ago, where he established ties with Hamas operatives, according to our report from J-Feed. Taking inspiration from the war in Gaza, he came up with the idea of assassinating Ben Giver, a hardline member of Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu's governing coalition. He then used Hamas's regional network to travel to Hebron and recruit others for the planned attack. As a reminder, following a prisoner exchange between Israel and Hamas back in 2011, senior Hamas operatives were granted

safe haven in Turkey. While Turkey claims they closely monitor these operatives and limit their ability to conduct military operations from their soil, they have also granted citizenship to several of these terrorists, raising questions about how much latitude Turkey actually grants Chas leadership behind the scenes. The answer would be, of course, a lot of latitude. It's also worth remembering that Turkey maintains open diplomatic ties with Hamas, serving as a safe hub for international outreach and coordination. Since the war in Gaza began following Hamas's 7 October attacks, Turkish President Erdogan has taken a public stance in support of Palestinians and Hamas, cutting all ties with Israel. He also met face-to-face in April 2024 with Khaled Mashal,

a senior Hamas figure who previously served as the chairman of the Hamas Political Bureau. According to our report from the Israeli outlet Wynet, Turkey also allows Hamas to maintain clandestine operations in Istanbul, including a cyber and intelligence unit. Officials with Shinbet emphasized the incident is a stark reminder that Hamas' overseas command, particularly leadership residing in Turkey, remain a key driver of terror plots against the Jewish state. And that, my friends, is the PDB afternoon bulletin for Friday the 5th of September. Now, if you have any questions or comments, please reach out to me at PDB at thefirsttv.com. And just a quick reminder, as if it's not already marked on your calendar in Sharpie,

today is Friday. And just like every Friday, this evening we launch a brand new episode of America's favorite weekend news show, the PDB Situation Report. You can catch it at 10 p.m. on the first TV. And as always, on our YouTube channel, please check that out and subscribe. You can find that on YouTube at President's Daily Brief, as well as podcast platforms everywhere. This weekend, we'll be doing a review of Xi Jinping's big festive military parade in Beijing

this past week. It was quite the gathering of the Evil League of Evil with B-list celebrities, including Vladimir Putin, Kim Jong-un, and Iranian President Massoud Boschian. And we'll be digging into the Russian economy and the current state of the war in Ukraine. Tune in for excellent guests, solid insight, and the occasional witty banter. I'm Mike Baker, and I'll be back over the weekend with the PDB Situation Report. Until then, stay informed. Stay safe.

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