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President Trump says the US may join Saudi Arabia in striking back at Yemen’s Houthi rebels after a series of attacks on Riyadh’s main airport killed at least 14 people, the deadliest on a Gulf country since the Iran war began.
Getting into it: Asked outside the White House if the US would get involved against the Houthis, Trump said officials are looking at Saudi Arabia’s request for military help, as Saudi diplomats press Washington to help stop the drones and missiles. “We may. We’re going to look at it,” Trump said. “We just found out about the recent attack. So, we’ll make a decision. We move very quickly.”
Saturday’s Houthi attack on King Khalid International Airport killed at least 13 people and injured at least 300, many of them thought to be pilgrims on their way to Mecca, making it the deadliest attack inside Saudi Arabia in over 10 years. A second strike Sunday killed one more person and hurt close to a dozen, and the Saudi-led coalition said Monday more drones and cruise missiles were headed its way. 82% of flights at the airport have been canceled and cancellations across all Saudi airports are sitting at nearly half.
Coalition spokesperson Col. Turki Al-Maliki called the airport attack a “war crime” and vowed a “decisive” response, while Saudi Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman said “our response must be equally serious.” Egypt, Turkey and Pakistan joined Saudi Arabia in a joint statement calling the attack a “dangerous escalation” and demanding an immediate halt.
The attacks hit on the eve of a major Riyadh energy conference, prompting the CEOs of Exxon Mobil and BP to cancel their trips, and the Wall Street Journal reports Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman hasn’t been seen in public since last Tuesday and has been moving between palaces with bunkers. Iran’s foreign minister Abbas Araghchi offered to mediate, though Riyadh made no mention of the offer.
This all comes as Saudi-led forces hit back at the airport in the Houthi-controlled capital Sanaa, where the Houthi-run health ministry says a strike on a residential building killed a child. The fighting has escalated since a 2022 truce collapsed in July and the Houthis took Yemen’s Red Sea coastline last month, along the shipping lane Saudi Arabia relies on to export oil.
