Saudi Arabia's MBS pressed Trump to strike Houthis in Yemen, sources say

Washington — Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has personally pressed President Trump to take military action against the Iran-backed Houthis as Houthi forces have advanced rapidly along Yemen's Red Sea coast, two sources familiar with the matter told CBS News, adding that Mr. Trump and the crown prince have spoken multiple times in recent days about the escalating situation.

Despite bin Salman's urging, Mr. Trump has so far declined to involve the U.S. military directly, offering instead to assist with intelligence and targeting support, according to the sources, who were granted anonymity to discuss the sensitive talks.

Adm. Bradley Cooper, the commander of U.S. Central Command, was in Saudi Arabia for coordination talks on Friday, one source said. A CENTCOM spokesperson declined to comment on his whereabouts. 

The Saudi push is part of an effort to build a coalition against the Houthis and protect the kingdom against potential Iranian retaliation, one of the people familiar with the situation said, noting that the concern is that if the Houthis are attacked, Iran could retaliate against Saudi Arabia.

"Iran is under intense pressure from these subgroups because people think they gave up on Hezbollah and Hamas. If the Houthis are attacked, how will Iran respond? Do they hit Saudi Arabia? That's why they're building this coalition to protect them if Iran attacks," one of the people said. "And if the Saudis come in, would the U.S. follow them in? That's what they're hoping." 

The U.S.-Saudi talks remain fluid, sources said.

Axios first reported the crown prince's calls to Mr. Trump and the Saudi push for U.S. military action.

The Houthis seized the strategic port of Mokha in recent days, strengthening their position around the strategic Bab al-Mandeb Strait. The Yemeni government said Friday that the Houthis have also taken control of the final two islands in the strait that they did not control, giving them additional leverage over the chokepoint. Oil prices have hovered around $100 a barrel over the past week, their highest level since July, with some analysts warning that prices could reach $120 a barrel with continued fighting in the Persian Gulf and Red Sea.

On Wednesday, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the U.S. was monitoring the situation in Yemen "very closely." The State Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment. 

A senior administration official said the U.S. is "focused on protecting our core national security interests — such as ensuring freedom of navigation in the Red Sea — while empowering our regional partners to take the lead in managing and resolving regional security challenges." The official said the U.S. is in "continuous dialogue with Saudi Arabia and the Republic of Yemen Government regarding regional stability."

Mr. Trump has expressed some reluctance to further engage the U.S. military unless necessary, according to sources familiar with the discussions.

At his speech at the Republican midterm convention on Thursday night, Mr. Trump said, "We built the strongest military in the world. We use it a little more than I thought. But we cannot let Iran have a nuclear weapon, and they will never have a nuclear weapon." 

The U.S.-Iran war escalated sharply this week, with U.S. forces destroying five Iranian oil tankers after Iranian forces targeted a U.S. Navy vessel with ballistic missiles. Tehran also fired missiles at a U.S. military base in Jordan overnight Tuesday into Wednesday, damaging multiple American military aircraft, CBS News previously reported. U.S. forces in Jordan launched more than 30 Patriot missiles defending against the Iranian strikes.

Charlie D'Agata contributed to this report.