American newspaper: Trump prepares to intensify activity against the Houthis immediately after his inauguration

The Jerusalem Post reported that US President-elect Donald Trump is preparing to increase activity against the Houthis once he takes office on January 20.

The newspaper quoted informed sources as saying that Trump and other officials in the next administration are interested in intensifying operations against the Houthis, including air strikes.

“President Trump is likely to return the Houthis to the State Department’s list of foreign terrorist organizations, following President Joe Biden’s misguided decision to remove them as one of his first acts of 2021,” said Mark Dubowitz, CEO of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies.

“Trump will not accept that U.S. naval ships are being attacked daily by the Houthis using Iranian missiles,” said Elliott Abrams, who served as the U.S. special representative for Iran from 2020 to 2021. “He will hit the Houthis harder and threaten Iran that if an Iranian-made missile kills an American, Iran will be hit directly.”

Over the past month, the Biden administration has shifted its strategy in Yemen, increasing the number of airstrikes on Houthi targets. This came after it failed to stop Houthi attacks on Israel and ships in the Red Sea, which have forced commercial ships to avoid vital shipping lanes, threatening global trade.

stricter policy

The Trump administration is expected to seek to woo the Gulf states as part of its efforts to bolster the regional coalition against the Houthis. Last year, the Biden administration tried to pressure these countries to join the regional coalition, but most of them refused, with the exception of Bahrain.

“These countries refused because the US government does not provide them with the protection and means to intercept missiles and drones if they are attacked by the Houthis,” said Jonathan Schanzer, executive director of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies.

“The Houthis have been attacking US warships for months, not to mention launching ballistic missiles at Israel, and we should expect Trump to reverse Biden’s policy of tolerating the terrorist group’s activities. I expect a tougher policy after January 20,” Schanzer added.

Source: Jerusalem Post