U.S. President Donald Trump prepared strikes on Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen at Saudi Arabia's request but held off just before launch, according to reports. The decision reflects concern that hitting the Houthis would widen the front in the Middle East and destabilize Red Sea shipping lanes, driving oil prices sharply higher, even as Washington faces pressure to support its ally Riyadh.
Trump considered U.S. military strikes on the Houthis but decided against military action for now, The New York Times and Axios reported on the 21st.
Trump had weighed for weeks a Saudi request for help in stopping the Houthis, who have resumed fighting with Saudi Arabia. On the 10th, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman called twice in a single day to press for direct strikes on the Houthis. Trump at the time opted to provide Saudi Arabia only with intelligence and targeting data rather than intervene directly.
The U.S. government's position was that it would not take military action as long as the Houthis did not interfere with the passage of ships from countries other than Saudi Arabia in the Red Sea. U.S. officials later met with Houthi representatives and received assurances that the group had no intention of closing the Bab el-Mandeb Strait.
But as Saudi forces struggled to halt the Houthi advance, the crown prince again asked Trump to intervene on the 17th. Trump, who had voiced opposition to strikes in a meeting with aides the previous day, changed course after the call with the crown prince and ordered the Defense Department to prepare strikes on the Houthis.
The operation went nearly to the point of execution. Commanders had approved a target list and troops were loading bombs onto fighter jets slated for the mission, according to people close to the matter. Trump then reversed course again around noon on the 20th and decided to postpone the strikes.
In a call the same day with Fox News reporter Trey Yingst, Trump said he was in "deciding mode" on how to respond in the war with Iran. He also said the United States remained in contact with the Houthis and that the group had agreed not to fight the United States so far. The White House declined to comment on Trump's deliberations, the Times reported.
Analysts said the episode illustrates Trump's dilemma. He is caught between the case for protecting an ally in Saudi Arabia and the reality that strikes on the Houthis could open another front in the Middle East. Within the administration, skepticism about deep involvement in the conflict between Saudi Arabia and the Houthis is said to be substantial, given the strain the war with Iran has already placed on U.S. forces.
Alex Plitsas, a researcher at the Atlantic Council, said the reversal came from a judgment that "U.S. strikes could instead provoke the Houthis into threatening the Bab el-Mandeb Strait and creating a second maritime chokepoint, opening a Pandora's box." He added that "if the United States intervenes wrongly in a matter Saudi Arabia should be leading, it could trigger a spike in global oil prices."
Practical limits on subduing the Houthis even with U.S. involvement also appear to have weighed on the decision. Current and former U.S. diplomats and commanders assessed that limited bombing alone would be unlikely to bring the group to the negotiating table or force it to drop its hard-line demands.
