Trump changes course twice on Houthi airstrikes after Saudi pressure, says NYT

US President Donald Trump had told his advisers the day before that he opposed strikes but changed his mind after the call and ‘told the Pentagon to prepare for airstrikes against the Houthis,’ the newspaper reported, citing anonymous administration officials. — Getty Images pic via AFP

First Published: Monday, 21 Sep 2026 7:06 PM MYT

WASHINGTON, Sept 21 — US President Donald Trump has changed his strategy on Yemen several times, The New York Times reported on Sunday, torn between Saudi pressure to strike the Iran-backed Houthis and the risk of opening another front in the Middle East war.

Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi movement has staged a lightning offensive in recent weeks to take over the country’s entire Red Sea coast, leaving the Saudi-backed government scrambling to respond.

The New York Times said Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman called Trump on Sunday “to implore him, again, to step in to help blunt the rapidly advancing group.”

Trump had told his advisers the day before that he opposed strikes but changed his mind after the call and “told the Pentagon to prepare for airstrikes against the Houthis,” the newspaper reported, citing anonymous administration officials.

However, he appeared to have reversed his decision again by midday Sunday, it said.

Trump’s decision to pull back from striking the Houthis came as “commanders had approved target lists, troops were loading bombs onto US warplanes selected for the missions and the wave of attacks was just about to begin,” the Times said, citing two people briefed on the operation.

US news platform Axios said Trump had already refused a Saudi request to strike the Houthis last week.

Fox News reported on Sunday that Trump had said the Houthis have agreed not to hit US targets.

The war in the Middle East began on February 28 with US-Israeli strikes on Iran, after which the Islamic republic responded with attacks around the region.

Iran-backed groups including the Houthis in Yemen and Hezbollah in Lebanon also later became involved.

The war in impoverished Yemen, which began in 2014 with the Houthi capture of the capital Sanaa, had been largely frozen since 2022 but resumed in July.

Saudi Arabia has led a coalition backing the internationally recognised government since 2015. Its intervention escalated the war, which has triggered one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises. — AFP