President Donald Trump announced Tuesday that the United States will immediately stop airstrikes on Yemen's Houthi forces, following what he described as a verbal agreement from the Iran-backed group to cease attacks on maritime traffic in the Red Sea. The announcement marks an abrupt shift in the administration's military posture after nearly two months of intensified bombing under Operation Rough Rider.
"They said, 'Please don't bomb us anymore and we're not going to attack your ships,'" Trump said during an Oval Office meeting with Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney. "And I will accept their word." Trump emphasized that the deal was not formalized on paper but constituted an understanding to pause hostilities.
The move follows sustained U.S. military action that began in mid-March, which U.S. Central Command said included over 1,000 targets hit and hundreds of Houthi casualties. The campaign was launched in response to Houthi missile and drone attacks on commercial vessels transiting the Red Sea and on Israeli targets following the October 7, 2023, Hamas attacks on Israel.
The Houthis have not publicly confirmed the arrangement. A senior Houthi official had previously told DropSiteNews that the group would consider halting strikes if U.S. bombardments stopped. The White House said the Houthis approached the administration Monday night to express interest in ending the conflict.
Tensions remain elevated. On Monday, the Israeli military launched airstrikes against Houthi targets in Yemen, including the port city of Hodeidah and Sanaa International Airport, following a missile strike near Israel's Ben Gurion Airport. U.S. officials declined to comment on whether Israeli operations would continue independent of the American halt.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio backed the decision, stating: "These are a band of individuals with advanced weaponry that were threatening global shipping. And the job was to get that to stop."
The announcement precedes Trump's scheduled trip to Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates next week. The president teased a "very, very big" announcement related to the Middle East, though he did not provide specifics.
U.S. intelligence reports suggest that Houthi strikes on commercial shipping have significantly decreased. The International Crisis Group noted the group has not attacked commercial vessels since late December. According to the Pentagon, Operation Rough Rider has reduced ballistic missile attacks by 69% and one-way drone launches by 55%.
Still, the military campaign has come at a high cost. The Pentagon extended the deployment of the USS Harry S. Truman carrier strike group and sent a second carrier, the USS Carl Vinson, to the region. Six B-2 bombers were also deployed to Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean.
