February 16th, 2026: US Military Plans Weeks-Long Iran Ops & Arctic Carrier Deployment

The President's Daily Brief

The First TV

News, Politics

4.7 • 3.2K Ratings

🗓️ 16 February 2026

⏱️ 22 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

In this episode of The President’s Daily Brief: We break down a new report that the U.S. military is preparing for potentially weeks-long operations against Iran, even as another aircraft carrier deploys to the Middle East and nuclear negotiations resume in Geneva. Later in the show — Britain announces it is sending an aircraft carrier strike group to the Arctic, citing a rising Russian threat amid broader geopolitical tensions. We also explore how the Pentagon reportedly used advanced artificial intelligence during the raid that captured Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro — a sign AI’s battlefield role is expanding. (Source: The Wall Street Journal) And in today’s Back of the Brief — European officials allege Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny was killed with a rare poison dart frog toxin, intensifying accusations against the Kremlin. To listen to the show ad-free, become a premium member of The President’s Daily Brief by visiting https://PDBPremium.com. Please remember to subscribe if you enjoyed this episode of The President’s Daily Brief. YouTube: youtube.com/@presidentsdailybrief Cozy Earth: Visit https://www.CozyEarth.com/PDB & Use code PDB for up to 20% off Ultra Pouches: Don’t sleep on @ultrapouches. New customers get 15% Off with code PDB at https://takeultra.com! #UltraPouches #ad HomeServe: Protect your home systems from costly repairs with HomeServe—plans start at $4.99/month at https://HomeServe.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	It's Monday, the President's
0:02.0	Daily
0:02.9	Daily briefed on the world on the world stage.
0:04.0	All right.
0:05.0	All right.
0:06.0	All right. Let's get briefed.
0:22.8	First up, a new report says the U.S. military is preparing for a potentially weeks-long operation
0:29.4	against Iran, as President Trump deploys another aircraft carrier to the region. I'll have the
0:35.4	details. Later in the show, in what's likely a nod to President Trump,
0:40.7	Britain announces it's sending an aircraft carrier strike group to the Arctic, citing a growing
0:45.5	Russian threat. Plus, European officials, say Russian opposition leader, Alexi Navalny,
0:51.0	was killed with a rare toxin derived from South American poisoned dart frogs,
0:56.5	accusing the Kremlin of orchestrating his death. Well, because, well, because they did orchestrate
1:03.5	his death. And in today's back of the brief, in the latest sign of artificial intelligence's
1:08.7	growing role on the battlefield, the Pentagon reportedly
1:11.2	used AI during the raid that captured Venezuelan leader Nicholas Maduro. But first, today's
1:18.0	PDB spotlight. A new report from Reuters suggests that the U.S. military is preparing for something
1:23.0	far more prolonged against Iran than the limited strike against its nuclear sites that we saw last
1:29.2	year. According to two U.S. officials speaking anonymously, the Pentagon is drawing up plans for a
1:34.4	potentially weeks-long military operation against Iran, not a one-night strike, but a sustained
1:40.6	campaign should the White House give the order. Last year's so-called Midnight Hammer operation involved stealth bombers flying from the U.S.
1:49.9	to hit Iranian nuclear facilities.
	...

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