Trump says Houthis asked the US not to intervene as he declines Saudi request for strikes
Yemen Herald News 
WASHINGTON, United States — President Donald Trump said Yemen’s Houthis had asked Washington not to intervene in their fight with Saudi-backed forces, and that he had declined a Saudi request for strikes.
“The Houthis called us, and they don’t want to fight us,” Trump said Saturday. “They don’t want me to attack them and said they would much prefer that we don’t intervene.”
He said the group was letting merchant traffic through the Red Sea. “They are allowing most ships to pass through,” Trump said. “There is only one country they don’t feel comfortable with, and we will settle that matter.”
Trump did not name the country. The Houthis have said they regard Saudi-linked shipping as a target.
Trump’s account of the Houthi approach rests on his own remarks. The Houthis have not publicly confirmed making it, and no independent confirmation of the contact has been published.
The remarks followed a week in which the group took the last stretch of Yemen’s Red Sea coast.
The Houthis seized the port of Mocha on Sept. 10, then pushed south to the Bab al-Mandab strait and took Perim Island, also known as Mayyun, in the middle of the waterway.
Houthi units later deployed on the Hanish islands, about 160 kilometres north of the strait, after government-allied forces withdrew from the archipelago.
Axios reported that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman telephoned Trump twice on Thursday to press for American strikes on the Houthis, and that Trump turned the request down.
Washington has told Riyadh it does not intend to take direct military action for now, according to that reporting, but will share intelligence and help identify targets.
A senior administration official said the United States was focused on “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 Houthis have also fired on Saudi territory. The group said this month that it launched missiles and drones at King Khalid Air Base and at a Saudi base at Sharurah.
The Saudi-led coalition said it shot down a drone near Mecca on Sept. 15. The Houthis denied targeting the city.
Reuters reported on Tuesday that American officials met Houthi representatives at the US embassy in Muscat on Sunday. The agency cited unnamed sources and said Oman helped arrange the meeting.
According to that account, the Houthi side included Mohammed Abdulsalam, the movement’s Muscat-based spokesman, who is under US sanctions, and another senior official, Abdelmalik al-Ajiri.
The report said the Houthis told the Americans they remained committed to the ceasefire reached with Washington in 2025 and would not attack American or Israeli vessels, with Saudi-linked ships the exception.
A State Department spokesperson said: “We have no comment on this specific reported meeting.” Oman’s embassy in Washington and Abdulsalam did not respond to requests for comment.
The account of the Muscat meeting rests on a single agency report citing unnamed sources. Neither government has confirmed it, and Yemen Herald found no independent corroboration of it.
Trump’s administration designated the Houthis a foreign terrorist organisation in March 2025.
Washington bombed Houthi positions for about two months that year before agreeing a ceasefire in May 2025 that ended the group’s campaign against Red Sea shipping.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said this month that the Houthis were acting as agents and proxies of Iran. The group says it takes its decisions independently.
Hans Grundberg, the UN special envoy for Yemen, condemned the strikes on Saudi Arabia as the Security Council held an emergency session.
Human Rights Watch said recent Houthi attacks on commercial ships likely amount to war crimes.
The European Union and the United Kingdom have both condemned the attacks. The UK told the Security Council that the Houthis bear full responsibility for the escalation.
Greece, Spain and the Netherlands have each condemned the attacks.
Yemen’s internationally recognised government has pressed for a firmer international response. Its foreign ministry asked the Security Council this month to take what it called a firm position on the escalation.
Rashad al-Alimi, chairman of Yemen’s Presidential Leadership Council, said the Houthis would bear the full consequences of what he called a military adventure.
Yemen’s cabinet has approved relief measures for families displaced by the advance. The government has also asked UN agencies to expand their operations from Aden.
The Security Council met on Houthi control of Bab al-Mandab at France’s request.
The Houthis deny attacking civilian shipping indiscriminately. They say their operations are aimed at vessels linked to states they accuse of blockading Yemen.
The United Nations estimates more than 80,000 people have been displaced in the past two weeks. More than 2,000 of them reached Djibouti by boat.
The International Organization for Migration put the displacement figure at 85,818 and said arrivals in Djibouti were continuing.
Bab al-Mandab carries a large share of the traffic moving between the Suez Canal and the Indian Ocean. Shipping lines diverted much of that trade around southern Africa during the 2024 attacks.
Brent crude traded above $108 last week as a Saudi oil pipeline stayed shut.
Oman has mediated between Washington and the Houthis before. It hosted the contacts that preceded the 2025 ceasefire.
The demining programme Masam said it cleared 2,166 mines and other munitions in Yemen in the first 11 days of September.
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