President Donald Trump made a shock announcement on Tuesday that the US would cease bombing the Houthis in Yemen, insisting that the insurgent group had agreed to cease attacking U.S. ships within the Purple Sea.
“They’ve introduced to us a minimum of that they do not need to combat anymore,” Trump stated throughout an Oval Workplace photo-op with Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney. “They simply do not need to combat, and we are going to honor that.”
“And, they’ve capitulated,” he added. “However extra importantly, they — we are going to take their phrase. They are saying they won’t be blowing up ships anymore.”
This picture taken from video offered by the U.S. Navy reveals an plane launching from the usHarry S. Truman within the Purple Sea earlier than airstrikes in Sanaa, Yemen, on March 15, 2025.
AP
The transfer caps off weeks of expensive assaults and threats delivered by the Trump administration, which led to a significant shakeup of the president’s nationwide safety workforce.
A spokesman for the Overseas Ministry of Oman confirmed the announcement in an X publish on Tuesday.
“Following latest discussions and contacts carried out by the Sultanate of Oman with the US and the related authorities in Sana’a, within the Republic of Yemen, with the intention of de-escalation, efforts have resulted in a ceasefire settlement between the 2 sides,” the Overseas Ministry of Oman stated within the assertion.
“Sooner or later, neither facet will goal the opposite, together with American vessels, within the Purple Sea and Bab al-Mandab Strait, guaranteeing freedom of navigation and the sleek movement of worldwide industrial transport,” it added.
Nevertheless, Mohammed Ali al Houthi, a member of the Houthi Supreme Political Council, stated the Houthis usually are not instantly agreeing to the U.S.-proposed ceasefire.
The Houthis will “consider” the U.S. ceasefire proposal “on the bottom first,” he posted on X Tuesday afternoon.
When requested by ABC Information for extra particulars on the announcement, U.S. Central Command deferred to the White Home.
Trump was pressed by reporters for extra particulars about how the take care of the Houthis got here collectively, however he rapidly stated the announcement is not a deal.
President Donald Trump speaks as he meets with Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney within the Oval Workplace of the White Home in Washington, Could 6, 2025.
Jim Watson/AFP through Getty Pictures
“They’ve stated, ‘Please do not bomb us anymore, and we’re not going to assault your ships,'” he stated.
When requested who informed the U.S. that the Houthi assaults on U.S. ships would cease, Trump demurred, saying it “would not matter” after which including that it was from a “very, excellent supply.”
Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Vice President J.D. Vance laughed and stated they agreed with him.
“They do not need to be bombed anymore,” Trump repeated.
Rubio added that “this was all the time a freedom of navigation mission.”
“These guys, these are, you understand, a band of people with superior weaponry that have been threatening international transport,” he stated. “And the job was to get that to cease.”
The U.S. started airstrikes in Yemen in opposition to Houthi targets beginning March 15 and has carried out over 800 strikes, in response to the U.S. navy.
On April 18, an American strike on the Ras Isa gas port killed a minimum of 74 individuals and wounded 171 others within the deadliest identified assault of the American marketing campaign.
Nevertheless, the U.S. navy has taken some hits as properly.
The U.S. navy has misplaced seven Reaper drones since March 15, every drone costing $30 million, and an F/A-18E fighter jet rolled off the facet of the usHarry S. Truman plane provider and sank to the underside of the Purple Sea two weeks in the past. Nobody was killed in that incident.
The usHarry S. Truman presumably made a sudden motion on account of Houthi fireplace, in the end inflicting the fighter jet to roll off it, in response to a U.S. official, who cited preliminary area reviews. The incident remains to be underneath investigation, however the plane provider has beforehand been focused by the Houthis.
On this March 16, 2025, file picture, Yemeni individuals sweep shattered glass from their homes and retailers following the US aerial assaults launched over the Houthi-held capital Sana’a and different provinces, in Sana’a, Yemen.
Mohammed Hamoud/Getty Pictures, FILE
Israeli forces have additionally carried out strikes on Yemen for the previous two days, hanging its predominant port on the Purple Sea, two cement factories and the Sanaa airport.
The Israeli authorities stated these strikes have been in response to Houthi strikes on Israel on Sunday, and the Israel Protection Forces stated it focused Houthi infrastructure in Yemen within the strikes.
Whereas Trump claimed the U.S. mission in opposition to the Houthis has been a “freedom of navigation” mission from the start, the battle within the Purple Sea between the Houthis and U.S.- and British-flagged vessels has been occurring since Oct. 8, 2023.
The Houthis stated they might assault vessels related to Israel’s allies in assist of the Palestinian individuals in Gaza after Israel launched a navy operation in opposition to Gaza following the Hamas terrorist assault on Oct. 7, 2023.
Since then, the Houthis have been concentrating on vessels they are saying are related to Israel’s allies within the Purple Sea to numerous levels of severity over the previous 19 months. The U.S. ratcheted up the battle three days earlier than Israel ended the non permanent ceasefire with Hamas, resuming navy operations in Gaza on March 18. The U.S. launched its first strike in opposition to the Houthis on March 5.
The Trump administration has spent weeks attempting to save lots of face over its personal planning of assaults in Yemen after it was revealed that high nationwide safety members, together with then-national safety adviser Mike Waltz and Protection Secretary Pete Hegseth, communicated plans concerning the impending assaults on Sign.
The Atlantic Editor-in-Chief Jeffrey Goldberg was by accident invited to one of many Sign group chats and noticed particulars concerning the planning.
Final week, Trump announced Waltz could be leaving his Cupboard place and could be nominated because the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations.
ABC Information’ Ahmed Baider contributed to this report.
