Trump Holds Back on Yemen Strikes as Houthis Advance Toward Bab al-Mandab
President Donald Trump decided on Sunday not to join Saudi Arabia in joint strikes against the Houthis in Yemen, at least for now. U.S. aircraft were being readied and bombs were being loaded when the order was reversed, according to reporting by The Guardian.
The reversal followed a call from Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who urged U.S. intervention to stop the Houthi advance. The appeal followed weeks of similar Saudi requests, as reported by The New York Times. After the call, Trump told the Pentagon to prepare airstrikes. He then changed course and stood the operation down.
On the ground, Houthi fighters are moving to take high ground that would cut the Red Sea coast off from areas held by Saudi-backed forces. They have taken control of much of Yemen's Red Sea coast from Saudi-backed Yemeni government forces and pushed to areas near the Bab al-Mandab strait. That strait is a narrow channel at the southern end of the Red Sea. Saudi Arabia has used it as an alternate route for oil exports while traffic through the Strait of Hormuz is disrupted.
Fighting has centered on the outskirts of Al-Wazi'iyah district in Taiz province and Ras al-Ara. Those positions sit between the Red Sea coast and Aden, where the government is based. Saudi Arabia launched hundreds of strikes in recent days on Houthi positions in the Kahboub mountains, according to the Houthis.
The Houthis claimed on Saturday they had fired on Riyadh, where columns of smoke were visible near the main airport. On Sunday, Yemeni President Rashad al-Alimi spoke with Trump to request support for his UN-recognized government against the Houthis. Trump made no direct pledge of military support during that call. He made no commitment to join the Saudi campaign.
The UN says hostilities have displaced at least 125,000 people since the start of September. Taiz city has taken in up to 86,000 displaced Yemenis since the escalation began, the largest number of any location.
The current offensive builds on earlier gains. Houthi militants seized two strategic islands in the Red Sea, strengthening their control over a key shipping route, in an operation reported on Sept. 15. A Houthi operation toward the strategic port city of Mocha was already underway earlier in September, as reported by CNN.
Washington has confronted the Houthis directly before. On March 15, 2025, Trump ordered the U.S. military to launch action against Houthi targets in Yemen. The United States bombed the Houthis for two months in early 2025 before Trump called off those strikes after reaching a ceasefire, a formal agreement to stop fighting, with the group, as reported by Reuters. Former diplomats and analysts describe Saudi Arabia as frustrated and disappointed by Trump's reluctance to confront the Houthis.
The broader context here is a split in how Riyadh and Washington judge the risk. For Saudi planners, loss of ground around Kahboub, Al-Wazi'iyah and Ras al-Ara would leave the Houthis in control of the western coast and the approaches to Bab al-Mandab. That would keep pressure on shipping and on the alternate export route Riyadh has used while Hormuz remains disrupted. For U.S. planners, a new air campaign would reopen a case closed by the early 2025 ceasefire and commit airpower to a divided front with unclear political leadership in Aden and Taiz.
Looking at what this means for diplomacy, the next sequence is already visible. Saudi Arabia continues its own air operations while pressing Washington for direct participation. Al-Alimi's government is seeking clear American backing to counter Houthi momentum. Trump has kept the option open without committing forces. The decision leaves deterrence, energy transit and displacement pressures focused on the Red Sea corridor while both Riyadh and the Houthis test how long Washington will hold back.
