I think your comment is more prescient than even you realize.
Taking at face value that this isn’t a US military launch, the chances are that this is a SLBM from an unfriendly power. What a demonstration! Get within 35 miles of the enemy coast and launch, undetected. No warning. Red October, anyone?
If we can assume that the news helicopter was shoreward of the launch site, the trajectory of the missile appears to be away from the mainland. They seem to have taken the precaution that the projected trajectory would be away from the US mainland. They were pretty confident they could get away too, that we wouldn’t (or couldn’t) prosecute an attack on the launching sub.
And I while I agree that this was, at best, reckless, it seems to have worked. Our entire national defense apparatus is standing there with their mouths agape, having NO CLUE. They didn’t detect the LAUNCH, let alone the sub. We are reduced to looking at some traffic chopper footage to figure out what happened. It couldn’t be any worse than if they set fire to a bag of dog poop on the front porch of the White House, rang the bell, and took off.
Our coup have been counted, so to speak.
Oh, I can just imagine it now...
A letter arrives at the White House, opening with, “Greetings in the name of Allah, the Most Merciful, the Most Wise...”. It then goes on to name several specific demands, probably including the release of Islamic terrorists from several nations, the complete withdrawal of all US forces from any Islamic nation, probably a demand for a beggaring amount of cash, and ending with a threat that an American city will disappear in 48 hours unless their demands are met.
You think the PTB would let US know about that?