Trump Calls Off Airstrikes Against Houthis in Yemen
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump said Tuesday that he called off further airstrikes in Yemen after Houthi militants said they would no longer attack cargo ships in the Red Sea.
“They don’t want to fight anymore,” Trump said of the Houthis during a visit to the White House by newly elected Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney.
“We will honor that and we will stop the bombings,” Trump said. “They have capitulated.”
Trump ordered a series of airstrikes in March, promising to use “overwhelming lethal force” until the Iran-backed rebels ceased their attacks on commercial and military shipping along a critical maritime corridor along Africa’s east coast.
The airstrikes gained an even higher profile in the public consciousness after The Atlantic revealed that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth had texted sensitive plans for the military strike on a group chat that mistakenly included the magazine’s editor-in-chief.
On Tuesday, Trump announced, “We will take their word that they will not be blowing up ships anymore, and that’s the purpose of what we were doing.”
In a separate statement, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the issue in the region has always centered on safe navigation through the area.
“You had a band of individuals with advanced weaponry that were threatening global shipping, and the job was to get that to stop, and if it’s going to stop, then we can stop,” he said.
Dan can be reached at [email protected] and @DanMcCue
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