Latest / The President's Daily Brief / PDB Afternoon Bulletin | October 14th, 2026: Can Saudi Arabia Finally Defeat the Houthis? & Ukraine’s Starshield Restrictions

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PDB Afternoon Bulletin | October 14th, 2026: Can Saudi Arabia Finally Defeat the Houthis? & Ukraine’s Starshield Restrictions · The President's Daily Brief

0:12
It's Wednesday,
0:12
the 14th of October.
0:14
Welcome to the PDB afternoon bulletin.
0:16
I'm Mike Baker,
0:17
your eyes and ears on the world stage.
0:20
Alright,
0:21
let's get briefed.
0:22
First up,
0:23
the Iran-backed Yemen Houthis have struck the headquarters
0:27
of Saudi Arabia's state-owned oil giant,
0:30
that would be Aramco,
0:31
as Riyadh presses ahead with a major offensive in Yemen.
0:35
After more than a decade of fighting,
0:37
can the Saudis finally defeat the Iran-backed Houthis?
0:41
Later in the show,
0:42
Ukraine says new restrictions on SpaceX's military satellite network
0:47
are disrupting battlefield operations,
0:49
raising questions about American support
0:52
as Vladimir Putin continues hammering the country's power grid.
0:56
But first,
0:57
today's afternoon spotlight.
0:59
The Houthis have delivered another blow to Saudi Arabia on the home front,
1:03
this time striking the headquarters of Saudi Aramco,
1:06
the kingdom's state-owned oil giant.
1:09
Overnight,
1:09
a Houthi ballistic missile hit the company's
1:11
headquarters in the eastern city of Dahran.
1:14
Damaging the upper floors of a building used by senior executives,
1:18
including
1:18
the office of Aramco's chief executive.
1:21
No casualties were reported.
1:23
The attack comes as Saudi Arabia presses
1:25
ahead with a major military offensive in Yemen
1:28
aimed at driving the Houthis out of territory that they've controlled for years.
1:32
And it raises a question that's been hanging
1:34
over this conflict for more than a decade.
1:37
Can Saudi Arabia
1:38
actually
1:39
defeat the Houthis?
1:40
Now,
1:40
on paper,
1:41
this shouldn't even be a contest.
1:43
Saudi Arabia has one of the largest and
1:45
most expensive militaries in the Middle East,
1:47
equipped with advanced American-made fighter jets,
1:50
sophisticated air defense systems,
1:51
and billions of dollars' worth of military hardware.
1:55
Yet despite all those advantages,
1:57
the kingdom has spent more than a decade
1:59
struggling to defeat a rebel movement in one of the poorest countries on earth.
2:05
To understand why,
2:06
well,
2:06
we have to go back to 2004,
2:09
when the Iran-backed Houthis launched an insurgency against Yemen's government.
2:13
Over the following decade,
2:14
the movement expanded its territorial control,
2:17
eventually capturing the capital Sana'a in 2014.
2:22
That prompted Saudi Arabia to intervene the following year,
2:25
leading a coalition intended to
2:27
restore Yemen's internationally recognized government.
2:30
Riyadh expected its overwhelming military superiority
2:33
to produce a relatively quick victory.
2:35
Instead,
2:36
the war dragged on for years.
2:38
Saudi aircraft bombed Houthi positions.
2:40
Coalition-backed troops launched repeated ground offensives,
2:44
and the rebels responded with missiles and drones targeting Saudi territory.
2:48
A United Nations brokered truce in 2022 dramatically reduced the fighting,
2:53
but it never produced a permanent settlement.
2:56
And now,
2:57
11 years after the Saudi intervention began,
2:59
the kingdom finds itself launching yet another major offensive.
3:04
So one asks themselves,
3:06
why are the Houthis so difficult to defeat?
3:09
Well,
3:10
first there's geography.
3:11
The Houthis' historical stronghold is in northern Yemen,
3:15
particularly the mountainous province of Sa'a
3:18
along the southern Saudi border.
3:20
This is where the movement originated,
3:22
and its terrain the Houthis know well.
3:25
Saudi fighter jets can destroy buildings and vehicles and weapons depots,
3:29
but air power alone cannot occupy territory
3:33
that requires infantry moving through rugged mountains and narrow valleys
3:37
where the defenders have an enormous advantage.
3:40
Second,
3:40
the Houthis don't have to defeat Saudi Arabia's military in a conventional battle.
3:45
They can disperse their fighters,
3:47
conceal missile launchers,
3:48
and
3:48
rely on relatively inexpensive drones
3:51
that threaten targets inside Saudi Arabia worth billions of dollars.
3:55
Even when Saudi defenses intercept
3:57
most incoming weapons,
3:58
a single successful strike can inflict serious damage.
4:02
And third,
4:03
Well,
4:04
there's Iran.
4:05
The Iranian regime has provided the Houthis with weapons technology,
4:09
training,
4:09
intelligence,
4:10
munitions,
4:10
and other assistance
4:12
that helped transform a local insurgency into
4:14
a force capable of threatening international shipping
4:17
and Saudi infrastructure.
4:19
Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps commanders and personnel
4:22
have been on the ground with the Houthis,
4:24
providing guidance and targeting support,
4:26
but the Houthis aren't simply an Iranian military unit.
4:30
They do have their own leadership and
4:31
local support networks and political ambitions.
4:34
Cutting off Tehran's assistance would definitely weaken them,
4:38
but it wouldn't necessarily make them disappear.
4:41
And there's another problem.
4:42
The Houthis' opponents
4:44
have never been particularly unified.
4:46
Yemen's internationally recognized government,
4:49
southern separatists,
4:50
tribal forces,
4:51
and other factions
4:52
all have different objectives.
4:54
Fighting a common enemy
4:56
doesn't mean they agree on what Yemen should look like
4:59
after the fight.
5:00
Now,
5:00
none of these problems are unique to Yemen.
5:03
They're the same challenges that have frustrated powerful militaries
5:06
fighting insurgencies around the world,
5:08
including,
5:08
of course,
5:09
the US and Afghanistan.
5:11
You can overwhelm an enemy with superior firepower
5:13
and capture territory and kill its commanders,
5:16
but if the insurgents can retreat,
5:18
regroup,
5:18
and
5:19
continue fighting,
5:20
winning battles doesn't necessarily bring you any closer to winning the war.
5:25
However,
5:26
there are reasons to believe that Riyadh may
5:28
be better positioned to defeat the Houthis today
5:31
than they were during the previous campaign.
5:34
Earlier this month,
5:35
tens of thousands of Yemeni government aligned troops
5:38
launched a counteroffensive backed by Saudi airpower.
5:41
Their objectives include recapturing territory near
5:44
the strategically vital Babel Mandeb Strait
5:47
and eventually retaking Sana'a.
5:49
And Riyadh now has additional military partners,
5:52
as we've covered here on the PDB.
5:54
Saudi Arabia signed a mutual defense agreement
5:56
with Pakistan and Turkey back in August.
5:59
Both countries possess substantial military capabilities,
6:03
and their assistance could change the equation.
6:06
Pakistan has a large experienced army and
6:08
long-standing military ties with Saudi Arabia.
6:11
Its personnel and equipment
6:12
could help strengthen Saudi defenses,
6:15
provide technical expertise,
6:16
and ease the burden on Saudi forces.
6:19
Turkey brings sophisticated drone technology,
6:22
electronic warfare capabilities,
6:23
and
6:24
considerable experience fighting irregular forces.
6:27
Ankara has already begun providing technical and defensive assistance.
6:31
However,
6:32
Turkish officials have ruled out participating
6:34
in offensive operations inside Yemen.
6:37
Pakistan's direct combat role
6:39
also remains uncertain.
6:41
The Saudis are reportedly exploring still more reinforcements.
6:45
We reported last week that Syria
6:47
is considering sending between 10,000 and 20,000 troops
6:50
to support the campaign,
6:52
although
6:52
Damascus has not made a final decision.
6:55
Washington is involved as well.
6:58
American officials say the US is
6:59
providing intelligence and targeting assistance,
7:02
but President Trump has so far declined Saudi requests
7:05
to commit American forces directly to the fighting.
7:08
Taken together,
7:09
those relationships could give Riyadh
7:11
capabilities and options that it lacked during
7:14
earlier stages of the conflict years ago.
7:17
But of course there is the larger question
7:19
What exactly constitutes victory?
7:22
Recapturing the Red Sea coastline is one objective.
7:25
Retaking Sana'a is considerably more difficult.
7:28
Completely destroying the Houthi movement,
7:30
well,
7:31
that's another proposition altogether.
7:33
And even if the Saudis capture major cities,
7:35
surviving Houthi units could retreat into the mountains
7:39
and continue launching attacks for years.
7:42
That is the dilemma facing Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
7:46
Saudi Arabia wants stability.
7:48
It wants international investment,
7:49
tourism,
7:50
economic growth.
7:52
It cannot easily achieve those ambitions
7:54
while missiles are periodically striking its airports
7:57
and oil facilities and other infrastructure.
8:00
After 11 years of fighting,
8:02
Riyadh
8:03
is once again
8:04
trying to win a war that it never managed to finish.
8:08
All right.
8:09
Coming up next,
8:10
Ukrainian troops are reporting major
8:11
disruptions to critical battlefield communications
8:14
after unexpected restrictions on SpaceX's satellite network.
8:19
I'll be right back.
8:20
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Welcome back to the PDB afternoon bulletin.
10:31
Kiev says unexpected restrictions on SpaceX's satellite network
10:35
are disrupting Ukrainian military missions.
10:38
It's another complication for Ukraine
10:40
as Russia continues targeting its energy infrastructure
10:43
with near daily drone and missile barrages.
10:46
The service in question is called StarShield.
10:49
It's the military-grade version
10:50
of Elon Musk's Starlink satellite network.
10:54
Ukrainian officials
10:55
say their forces began running into connection problems in the field,
10:59
and only after contacting SpaceX customer support
11:02
did they learn new restrictions had been imposed.
11:06
Seriously,
11:07
they're battling Putin's invading army
11:09
and daily air assaults.
11:11
And they had to call the customer support line
11:14
to find out about a disruption in service.
11:17
Uh,
11:17
press 1 if you're currently under attack.
11:20
Press 2 if you need to communicate with frontline commanders.
11:24
Press 3 if you need bill paying assistance.
11:28
Or something like that.
11:29
In other words,
11:30
for the first indication that something had changed
11:32
came when military operations were already being affected.
11:36
An advisor to President Zelensky said,
11:37
quote,
11:38
Our defense forces received no warning of this restriction,
11:41
and this has led to the disruption
11:43
of a number of missions.
11:45
So,
11:45
what are these restrictions actually doing?
11:48
According to a Ukrainian military source who spoke to CNN,
11:51
terminals aboard vehicles and other military equipment lose
11:54
their connection once they reach speeds of 100
11:57
MPH.
11:58
Now for a vehicle traveling on the ground,
12:00
that might sound like a fairly high threshold,
12:03
but fast moving drones
12:04
can readily exceed that speed,
12:06
meaning
12:07
those carrying affected terminals could lose
12:09
their satellite connection during a mission.
12:12
The effects also extend to frontline logistics,
12:14
communications,
12:15
and reconnaissance.
12:17
One Ukrainian military source described the
12:18
complications to CNN as quote substantial.
12:22
Ukraine's defense ministry is now working with the US,
12:25
with SpaceX and NATO allies,
12:27
to test and implement backup communication channels.
12:31
But that does not answer the question
12:33
of why these restrictions were introduced now.
12:36
The timing is especially notable because as we've been tracking here on the PDB
12:41
relations between President Trump and Zelensky have grown more strained.
12:45
Over Ukraine's attacks on Russian refineries and Trump's desire to
12:49
reduce fuel prices at the gas pump for US voters
12:52
heading into the midterm elections.
12:55
Zelensky's advisor believes the two are connected.
12:57
He said,
12:58
quote,
12:58
It's clear that this action cannot be a coincidence.
13:01
And is linked to the current political situation,
13:04
end quote.
13:05
Now,
13:06
that is his assessment.
13:08
Reporting so far does not establish that Washington ordered these restrictions
13:12
or that SpaceX imposed them in response to Ukraine's refinery campaign.
13:17
However,
13:18
Elon Musk has made his own position on those attacks clear.
13:21
He wrote on X that quote,
13:23
Zelensky has gone too far,
13:24
referring to Ukraine's strikes
13:27
against Russian fuel facilities.
13:29
Really?
13:30
Remember,
13:30
Ukraine spent months hitting Russian refineries,
13:32
contributing to fuel shortages inside Russia.
13:35
But the Trump administration
13:37
reportedly warned that continuing Those strikes could jeopardize intelligence
13:41
sharing and European purchases of American weapons for Ukraine.
13:45
Somewhere off in the distance,
13:47
Putin continues to chuckle.
13:49
Zelensky has since agreed to halt the campaign,
13:51
and Ukraine's last reported refinery strike was on Friday,
13:55
but
13:56
that has not put the questions about American support to rest.
13:59
On today's PDB,
14:00
I discussed Zelensky's statement.
14:02
That Ukraine received no early warning from its
14:05
partners before 5 Russian ballistic missiles struck Kiev.
14:09
That attack hit a major power plant
14:11
and damaged residential buildings.
14:14
Zelensky did not identify the partners involved
14:16
or accuse Washington of cutting off intelligence,
14:19
but coming after the administration's warning,
14:21
the missing alert raised an obvious question.
14:24
Was Ukraine still receiving the support that it depends on?
14:28
The reality is that the US can detect
14:31
Russian ballistic missile launches in essentially real time.
14:34
That intelligence then can of course be shared with Ukraine
14:37
to provide early warning for relevant cities and populations.
14:42
The question is,
14:43
was there a decision on this occasion not to share that intelligence,
14:47
if in fact the US was aware of the launches.
14:50
Well,
14:50
Trump says they are sharing intel.
14:52
Asked Tuesday,
14:53
he told reporters,
14:54
quote,
14:55
We are helping them,
14:56
we're sharing intel,
14:57
we want the war to end,
14:58
end quote.
14:59
A Ukrainian official also suggested that the missing warning could have resulted
15:03
from an operational failure rather than
15:05
a deliberate decision to withhold information.
15:08
But with satellite restrictions now disrupting military missions as well,
15:13
Ukrainian officials are facing fresh uncertainty about capabilities
15:17
that their forces rely heavily on.
15:20
And all of this is unfolding more than 4 years into Russia's full scale invasion.
15:25
As we reported on Monday,
15:26
the president over the weekend
15:28
said both sides had agreed to stop attacking energy infrastructure.
15:32
Well,
15:32
Moscow never confirmed its acceptance,
15:35
and the Kremlin says the details of any discussions are still being negotiated.
15:40
And in fact,
15:41
Russia attacked Ukrainian energy infrastructure within hours of
15:45
Trump's Truth social posting about that supposed ceasefire.
15:49
Zelensky said that he learned about the ceasefire after reading about it
15:53
on Truth Social.
15:55
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters Wednesday,
15:58
quote,
15:58
The work in that direction
16:00
is continuing.
16:00
Well,
16:01
that's a nice vague statement,
16:02
isn't it?
16:03
But while that work continues,
16:05
so do the Russian attacks.
16:07
The latest barrage came overnight into Wednesday,
16:09
targeting Ukraine's power grid as well as oil and gas facilities.
16:13
Ukraine's prime minister says all three of Kiev's
16:15
combined heat and power plants were hit.
16:18
Zelensky says at least 600,000 people
16:20
were left without electricity.
16:23
Now,
16:23
Ukraine remains willing to abide by an energy truce if Russia does the same,
16:27
Zelensky says.
16:29
But Putin is showing no signs of slowing down Russia's attacks
16:33
on Ukraine's energy infrastructure as the winter approaches.
16:36
Meanwhile,
16:37
the White House
16:38
has cut a deal with Putin to ease sanctions on fuel exports,
16:42
while continuing to act
16:43
as if Zelensky is to blame for gas prices
16:46
and for not making a deal with Putin.
16:49
If Trump's irritation with Zelensky
16:51
does in fact lead to reduced intelligence sharing by the US,
16:55
It's going to be a very long,
16:57
cold winter
16:59
for Ukraine.
17:00
And that my friends,
17:02
is the PDB afternoon bulletin for Wednesday,
17:04
the 14th of October.
17:06
If you have any questions or comments,
17:07
please reach out to me at PDB@thfirsttv.com
17:11
and to listen to the show ad-free,
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Just become a premium member of the President's Daily Brief
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I'm Mike Baker and I'll be back tomorrow.
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Until then,
17:23
stay informed,
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stay safe,
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