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The President's Daily Brief
PDB Afternoon Bulletin | December 16th, 2025: US Commandos Raid Chinese Ship Carrying Cargo to Iran & Navy Carries Out More Strikes On Narco Boats
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But first, Today's afternoon spotlight. U.S. commandos carried out a rare and highly sensitive operation at sea, boarding a commercial cargo ship in the Indian Ocean and and seizing a shipment bound for Iran from China. According to U.S. officials, American intelligence had been tracking the vessel for weeks as it made its way from a Chinese port toward Iran. The ship was sailing several hundred miles off the coast of Sri Lanka when US Special operations forces moved in. The boarding team seized the cargo, then allowed the ship itself to continue on its journey. Officials say the shipment consisted of so called dual use components, Items that can be used for legitimate civilian purposes, but can also be repurposed to manufacture conventional weapons, including missiles and drones. While the exact contents have not been publicly detailed, US Intelligence assessed that the cargo was headed to Iranian intermediaries tied to the country's weapons development programs. Compared to recent military operations in the Caribbean, this was a stealth mission conducted off the radar. There was no dramatic video of operators fast roping onto the deck of the ship. And no press conferences, no victory laps. Kind of how clandestine or covert operations are supposed to be done. Now, as we know, during the Iran Israel war earlier this year, Iran launched large numbers of missiles and drones in an effort to overwhelm Israeli air defenses. And while the US strikes significantly damaged Iran's nuclear infrastructure, Tehran's conventional weapons stockpiles also took a severe hit. So since then, Iranian factories have reportedly been running around the clock trying to replenish missile and drone inventories ahead of what many analysts believe could be another round of conflict. That's where Shipments like this come into play. The US has increasingly focused on cutting off the flow of microelectronics and software and precision components that modern weapons systems rely on. The difficulty is in their dual use classification. We're talking about chips and sensors and parts that have perfectly plausible civilian uses and that that makes them much harder to stop through traditional embargoes. What makes this operation particularly notable is that it represents a step beyond sanctions and interdictions. On paper. Over the course of the war in Ukraine, the US and its allies have tried to choke off similar shipments moving from China to Russia. But until now, that effort had not crossed the line into direct military action against commercial shipping. This boarding and seizure happened last month and we're only now learning about it. China has little interest in being publicly linked to Iran's illicit arms supply chain, especially at a moment when Beijing is trying to project itself as a stabilizing force in the Middle East. The White House, for its part, may not want to increase tensions while economic negotiations with China remain delicate. And Iran certainly doesn't want to advertise how urgently its strategic scrambling to rebuild its missile program after the damage it sustained this year. In other words. Well, everyone involved had a reason to keep this quiet. The Pentagon has declined to comment and Indo Pacific Command, which oversees operations in the region, has offered no public details. Alright, coming up next, another round of US strikes targeting suspected narco terror vessels in the Eastern Pacific. More on that when we come back. Hey, Mike Baker here with a great holiday opportunity from our friends at Birch Gold Group. Now, I'm talking about gold, of course, but also silver. 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Limu Emu And Doug, here we have the Limu Emu in its natural habitat, helping people customize their car insurance and save hundreds with Liberty Mutual. Fascinating. It's accompanied by his natural ally, Doug. Limu is that guy with the binoculars watching us. Cut the camera. They see us. Only pay for what you need@liberty mutual.com Liberty Liberty Liberty. Liberty Savings. Very unwritten by Liberty Mutual insurance company affiliates. Excludes Massachusetts. Welcome back to the afternoon bulletin. A now familiar refrain. The US Military says it carried out three strikes against drug smuggling boats in the Eastern Pacific, killing eight narco terrorists under the Trump administration's sustained campaign. According to U.S. southern Command, this week's engagement was authorized by Secretary of War Pete Hegseth and part of an operation that, as you know, has been building steadily since early September, now totaling over two dozen missions aimed at what the White House classifies as designated terrorist organizations. In these latest strikes, three people were killed aboard the first vessel, two on the second and and three on the third. Now, much like past lethal strikes, Pentagon did not release independent evidence tying the boats directly to drug trafficking. However, it did publish video similar to other missions, showing one of the vessels speeding across an established narco smuggling corridor before bursting into flames. It's those corridors long used to move drugs to American shores that the White House argues have become legitimate military targets under Trump's expanded approach against cartels. Now, tensions with Venezuela continue to escalate. That, of course, is a fine statement of the obvious. While lawmakers in the US Continue to debate the legality or constitutionality of this narco terror campaign, they're currently examining the 2nd of September, so called double tap strike that killed survivors from an initial attack on an alleged drug smuggling vessel. That episode, of course, sharpened scrutiny of the campaign. Still, the White House has been clear about its rationale. President Trump framed his maritime offensive as a necessary escalation. In what he openly describes as a, quote, armed conflict with drug cartels. The administration says that lethal strikes are essential to disrupting the flow of fentanyl, often synthesized using Chinese precursor chemicals and trafficked through Mexican cartel networks, where it arrives in the US and continues to be a leading cause of overdose deaths. Yesterday, Trump signed an executive order designating fentanyl and its precursor chemicals as weapons of mass destruction, elevating the drug crisis to a core national security threat. But still on Capitol Hill, questions persist, as do the briefings. Lawmakers say the boat strike campaign has killed at least 95 drug runners across 25 known strikes since September of this year. Today, members of Congress received classified briefings from Hegseth, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and and other senior national security officials as they work to understand the legal footing and operational scope of a campaign that shows no signs of slowing. As we've previously discussed, the Defense Secretary or Secretary of War has been unapologetic in defending the mission. Writing on X, he said the mission is simple. Quote, the declared intent is to stop lethal drugs, destroy narco boats and kill the narco terrorists who are poisoning the American people. Every trafficker we kill is affiliated with the designated terrorist organization. End quote. And so as the strike totals climb, so does the military footprint in the region. As we've been monitoring here on the pdb, the US has built its largest presence in decades, pairing lethal boat strikes with expanded maritime surveillance and increased naval deployments across the Caribbean Sea and the Eastern Pacific. Not to mention, although I'm about to, that President Trump has hinted that land operations could soon follow. And that, my friends, is the PDB afternoon bulletin for Tuesday 16th December. Now, if you have any questions or comments, please reach out to me at pdb@the first tv.com and of course to listen to the show ad free. You can do that and it is remarkably simple. Just become a premium member of the President's Daily brief by visiting PDB premium.com I'm Mike Baker and I'll be back tomorrow. Until then, stay informed, stay safe, stay cool.