Trump declines Saudi request for U.S. strikes on Houthis; offers intelligence support
NEW · Fri. 3:13 p.m. EDT
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman called President Trump twice on Thursday urging U.S. military strikes as Iran-backed Houthis advanced on Yemen’s Red Sea coast and the Bab el-Mandeb approaches near Mocha and Perim. Trump declined direct kinetic strikes for now and instead offered intelligence and targeting support, with CENTCOM’s Adm. Brad Cooper coordinating with Saudi counterparts, according to Axios, Fox News Digital, CBS News, and Anadolu. U.S. officials said there are no current plans for American forces to intervene directly against the Houthis.
A U.S. Navy sailor aboard USS Jason Dunham in the Bab al-Mandeb Strait, Oct. 2018. File photograph; not from this week’s Trump–MBS calls.
U.S. Navy / Jonathan Clay (public domain)
Center-left view
CBS News, Axios, and Anadolu Agency cast the decision as restraint: Trump rejected MBS’s two Thursday appeals for U.S. strikes and, for now, is keeping America out of a second combat theater while offering intelligence and targeting help so partners can lead, with officials stressing no plan for direct U.S. intervention against the Houthis as navigation risks rise at Bab el-Mandeb.
Sources: CBS News · Axios · Anadolu Agency
Center-right view
Fox News, Axios, and OilPrice.com frame Iran-backed Houthis seizing leverage over Bab el-Mandeb after Mocha/Perim gains while Riyadh presses for U.S. kinetic action and receives intelligence-only support — leaving the Red Sea energy bypass and Saudi oil routes exposed as Brent holds near multi-month highs and Hormuz remains constrained.
Sources: Fox News · Axios · OilPrice.com