Trump rejected Saudi plea for help in attacking Houthi rebels despite personal call from Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, report claims

Donald Trump rejected a personal plea from Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to bomb the Houthis, a report has claimed.According to the New York Times, Trump had spent weeks undecided over Saudi Arabia's calls for help against the Houthis, who increased their offensive against the kingdom this summer.But on Thursday, Saudi's leader Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, a key US ally in the war with Iran, urged Trump to intervene against the rapidly advancing group, according to administration officials.Trump had met with advisers the previous day and told them he did not favour launching strikes. However, after speaking with the Saudi crown prince, he reportedly ordered the military to prepare airstrikes against the Houthis.By midday Sunday, however, Trump appeared to have changed his position once again. Administration officials said there would be no US airstrikes against the Houthis. His decision to pull back once again reportedly came as target lists had already been approved and bombs were being loaded onto warplanes.One senior official said that most of Trump's inner circle was vehemently opposed to joining the Saudis in their fight against the militant group. US President Donald Trump (L) greets Crown Prince and Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia Mohammed bin Salman Houthi troopers stand guard during a protest against Saudi Arabia A tanker ship sailing through the Gulf of Suez toward the Red SeaMeanwhile, Trump said Sunday that the Houthis agreed not to attack the US, despite the Iran-allied group stepping up its war against Saudi Arabia, Fox News reported.The network's reporter Trey Yingst cited the president saying that Washington is 'in constant communication with the Houthis and that they've agreed not to fight the United States'.Trump has made the claim before that the Houthis are holding back from attacking US forces in the region.'The Houthis called us and they don't want to fight with us,' Trump said during a visit to Ireland on September 12. 'They don't want us to go after them.'But the latest comments to Fox News came as Saudi Arabia is under growing pressure, with a missile targeting the capital Riyadh on Saturday.The Houthis have also staged a rapid offensive inside Yemen, seizing swaths of territory from the internationally recognised government, which is backed by Saudi Arabia.Fox News reported that Trump is in 'deciding mode' on Iran, where US and Israeli forces launched a massive aerial bombing campaign on February 28 before settling into a now almost-seven-month standoff.Yingst said Trump told him that 'big things will be happening in the not so distant future' and that 'Iranians better behave, and he is making this decision as to whether or not to blow up their nation.'The Houthis said Sunday that Saudi Arabia launched 28 strikes in several areas of Yemen in the past 24 hours, as the pro-Iran group and the country's Riyadh-backed government clash in the revived civil war.'The Saudi air force carried out 28 strikes targeting the governorates of Taiz, Al-Jawf, and Marib, using F-15 and Typhoon aircraft that took off from the Khamis Mushait and Taif airbases,' Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree said, in a statement.This month, the Houthis, who already held most of Yemen's populated areas, launched a lightning offensive to take over the country's entire Red Sea coast, giving them control over the vital Bab al-Mandab strait.The Houthis insist that navigation of the strait is open and free except for Saudi vessels.The Saudi-led coalition fighting Yemen's Houthis said Saturday the Iran-backed group fired a ballistic missile at Riyadh at dawn, after a fire broke out near the Saudi capital's international airport.The war, which began in 2014 with the Houthi capture of the capital Sanaa, had been largely frozen since 2022 but erupted back into life in July. Supporters of Yemen's Houthi rebels shout slogans during a rally in support of the groupSaudi Arabia has, since 2015, led a coalition backing the internationally recognised government. Its intervention escalated the war, which has triggered one of the world's worst humanitarian crises in the impoverished country.In 2025, the UN warned that 17 million people in Yemen were struggling to eat and a further million faced extreme hunger. Officials have said that if the US did join the Saudi fight, it could be together with a new planned ground offensive by Yemeni government troops.Those who have served in the Middle East have expressed scepticism that a limited US bombing campaign would compel the Houthis to negotiate, citing how the militant group withstood eight weeks of US bombs last year. In spring of 2025, the US bombed the militant group for over 50 days to restore freedom of navigation in the Red Sea and to stop their attacks on commercial and naval shipping vessels.And although CENTCOM struck over 1,000 targets, the Houthis continued to fight back, shooting down several American drones and firing at naval ships in the Red Sea.Two months in, Trump announced a ceasefire, claiming the Houthis promised 'they wouldn’t be shooting at ships anymore, and we honor that'.