PDB Afternoon Bulletin | March 24th, 2025: Trump Rushes Additional Destroyers To The Border & Key Houthi Leaders Killed In U.S. Airstrikes
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What is the focus of the Trump administration's recent military deployment?
It's Monday, the 24th of March. Welcome to the PDB Afternoon Bulletin. I'm Mike Baker, your eyes and ears on the world stage. All right, let's get briefed. First, the Trump administration deploys a second US warship to patrol the waters around the US-Mexico border in a bid to further curb illegal migration and drug smuggling.
How are U.S. warships being utilized at the U.S.-Mexico border?
And later in the show, as the American bombing campaign against the Iranian-backed Houthi militants of Yemen continues into its second week, U.S. officials reveal that they have taken out Quixote leadership, including the terror group's head rocket man. But first, today's afternoon spotlight. The Trump administration is intensifying their efforts to tighten American military control of the U.S.-Mexico border, deploying a Navy warship to the region for the second time in less than a week.
What are the implications of the USS Spruance's deployment?
Now, officials with the Navy said that the USS Spruance, that's an Arleigh Burke class guided missile destroyer, departed Naval Base San Diego on Saturday with the task of supporting interdiction efforts aimed at curbing illegal migration and drug smuggling. Until recently, the vessel had been on a five month deployment in the Middle East defending against Houthi missile attacks, but will now patrol the waters off of America's western coast. That's according to a report from Fox News. Its deployment follows that of the USS Gravely missile destroyer, which was sent last week to the Gulf of America. Of course, that's the body of water formerly known as the Gulf of Mexico on a similar mission. According to a statement from the Navy, the ships will help the U.S. military establish, quote, all domain dominance in the region and restore territorial integrity at the U.S. southern border.
Specifically, the Pentagon said that the Sprouts will assist in coordinating a robust response to maritime-related terrorism, weapons proliferation, transnational crime, piracy, environmental destruction, and illegal seaborne migration. General Gregory Guillot, the commander of U.S. Northern Command, said the deployment comes as a response to President Trump's executive order declaring a national emergency at the U.S. southern border, which ordered the Department of Defense to provide resources and troops to support the activities of U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents. Guillaume said the move, quote, demonstrates our resolve to achieve operational control of the border. Now, as we discussed on last week's PDB, such deployments mark a significant tactical shift in how the U.S. combats criminal activity along the southern border, as historically, border-related maritime operations fall under the U.S. Coast Guard's jurisdiction. The presence of U.S.
What measures are being taken to combat drug smuggling and illegal immigration?
naval warships in these waters, since an unprecedented move, appears to be more about optics. The ship is bristling with 96 vertical launch system cells carrying surface-to-air and land-attack missiles, as well as advanced naval guns. It also features sophisticated electronic warfare capabilities, and it's intended as a powerful message, of course, to the cartels that the U.S. is no longer playing around when it comes to the integrity of the southern border. Like the USS Gravely, it will be accompanied by a U.S. Coast Guard law enforcement detachment that specializes in maritime military operations such as counterpiracy, drug interdictions, anti-immigration, and combat missions. It arrives as officials with the Coast Guard report hundreds of migrant boat encounters near the San Diego coast over the past 90 days, with smugglers increasingly turning to sea-based routes due to the Trump administration's tightened security measures along the U.S.-Mexico land border.
Following Trump's national emergency declaration on day one in office, the Pentagon deployed thousands of troops to assist border agents, and migrant encounters on land have since dropped to a record low.
What is the current status of U.S. airstrikes against the Houthi militants?
The administration is also turning up the heat directly against the cartels, using spy planes and drones equipped with advanced radar and infrared sensors in partnership with the Mexican government to track cartel operations. Whether the naval destroyers will function as a deterrence or play a more active and aggressive role in combating the Mexican drug lord's criminal enterprises,
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Chapters
6 chapters
1
What is the focus of the Trump administration's recent military deployment?
0:12–0:33
2
How are U.S. warships being utilized at the U.S.-Mexico border?
0:33–1:03
3
What are the implications of the USS Spruance's deployment?
1:03–2:57
4
What measures are being taken to combat drug smuggling and illegal immigration?
2:57–4:10
5
What is the current status of U.S. airstrikes against the Houthi militants?
4:10–4:34
6
How is the U.S. military adapting to border security challenges?
4:34–11:16
Speakers
1 identifiedMore from The President's Daily Brief
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