President Donald Trump has decided, for now, not to order U.S. airstrikes against the Houthis in Yemen, despite repeated requests from Saudi Arabia to join its fight against the Iran-backed group.
According to a New York Times report citing administration officials, Trump had met advisers and told them he did not favour strikes, but after speaking with the Saudi crown prince, he reversed himself and told the Pentagon to prepare for air strikes against the Houthis. That call came Thursday, when Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the kingdom's de facto leader and a key ally in the Iran war, called the president to urge him again to help blunt the rapidly advancing group.
By Sunday, the plan was off. By midday, the president appeared to have reversed himself again, and there would be no U.S. air strikes against the Houthis, at least not for the time being, according to administration officials. The decision came at a late stage. Commanders had approved target lists, troops were loading bombs onto U.S. warplanes selected for the missions, and the wave of attacks was just about to begin, according to two people briefed on the operation.
Axios reported that Trump had already refused a Saudi request to strike the Houthis the previous week.
The White House press office declined to discuss Trump's deliberations on the record. A senior administration official said only that Washington has a defense agreement with Riyadh and that "we will always defend our allies". Most of the president's inner circle was either deeply skeptical or outright opposed to joining the Saudi fight, particularly given the existing strain on the U.S. military from the war with Iran, according to a senior official.
In a phone call with Fox News on Sunday morning, Trump told reporter Trey Yingst he was still deciding how to proceed in the larger war with Iran, and said the United States was in constant communication with the Houthis, who had so far agreed not to fight the United States.
That is the core of the dilemma. The Houthis have steered clear of attacking U.S. ships, but they have gone after Saudi Arabia. The group entered the widening regional war this summer by declaring a blockade on Saudi shipping in the Red Sea and attacking Saudi vessels, and captured critical areas near the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, raising fears for global energy markets already shaken by the U.S.-Israeli war against Iran.
Riyadh has shown it is willing to use its leverage. In May, Saudi Arabia effectively blocked a U.S. plan to escort commercial oil tankers through the Strait of Hormuz by refusing Washington use of its airspace and American bases in the kingdom.
If the United States does join the fight, officials said it could be in coordination with a planned ground offensive by Yemeni government forces, though those forces have proved ineffective against the Houthis. Current and former U.S. officials also doubted that a limited bombing campaign would force the Houthis, who withstood nearly eight weeks of U.S. strikes last year, to negotiate.
That 2025 campaign ended when Trump abruptly announced a ceasefire with the Houthis less than two months in, after U.S. Central Command struck more than 1,000 targets. Since then, the Houthis have rebuilt much of their capabilities and are reportedly using artificial intelligence to develop new types of missiles. One official warned that the group would likely resume firing on American ships if the United States restarted an air campaign.
The regional war began on February 28 with U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iran, after which Iran-backed groups including the Houthis and Hezbollah became involved.
