Trump considers joining Saudi Arabia’s fight against Iran-backed Houthis after airport strike

WASHINGTON, DC: President Donald Trump has confirmed that he is considering joining Saudi Arabia in its retaliation against Tehran-backed Houthis in Yemen following a deadly attack on an international airport in the Saudi capital, Riyadh.

The attack on King Khalid International Airport took place on Saturday, October 10, amid a series of attacks on civil aviation facilities in Saudi Arabia.

The strike left 12 people dead and 309 injured, some of them critically, according to Saudi Arabia’s General Authority of Civil Aviation (GACA), which shared the update on X.

Authorities said the fatalities included four Saudi citizens, one American, two Bangladeshi nationals, and one person each from Egypt, Jordan, Syria, Palestine and Sudan.

Following Saturday’s attack, the Houthis renewed their warning against using Saudi airports, saying, “We renew our warning to all airlines, experts, employees, workers and travellers against using ⁠Saudi ‌airports and airspace, as they are vulnerable to attack and have become ⁠a theatre of operations for our forces, with the exception of the airports in (the holy cities of) Mecca and Medina.”

Trump considers joining Saudi Arabia against Houthis

Until now, the president had appeared reluctant to strike the Yemen-based group, seemingly encouraged by the Houthis’ adherence to a May ceasefire pledge not to target vessels in the Red Sea. 

He has also expressed a broader desire to avoid being drawn into a messy conflict that began before the Iran war.

However, the strike on Riyadh’s main airport may have proved to be a tipping point, potentially pushing Trump toward military action.

“We may. We’re going to look at it,” Trump told reporters on Saturday when asked about joining the attacks against the Houthis.

“We just found out about the recent attack. So, we’ll make a decision. We move very quickly,” he continued.

Trump’s comments came as two Saudi government officials, according to MS Now, revealed that the kingdom was requesting “urgent defense support” from the US following the attacks.

They added that the US needed to intervene “as soon as possible” to help the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen fight the Houthis.

Marco Rubio condemns Houthi attack on Saudi airport

The attack on the Saudi airport has sparked widespread international condemnation of the Houthis.

“The United States strongly condemns the recent attacks on the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia by the terrorist Houthis,” Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Saturday.

“These reprehensible attacks demonstrate a blatant disregard for innocent civilian life. They must stop now,” Rubio added. “We stand with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and its people and extend our condolences to the victims and their families.”

Tensions between Saudi Arabia, home to around 35 million people, and the Houthis first escalated after the key US ally in the Middle East intervened in Yemen’s civil war.

The conflict involves the group and Yemen’s internationally recognized government, following the Houthis’ seizure of the Yemeni capital, Sanaa, in 2014.

Tensions have intensified in recent weeks, with Riyadh reportedly intercepting a drone launched by the Yemen-based group near Mecca last month, sparking outrage across the Muslim world.

The Houthis claimed that Saudi Arabia had already launched two airstrikes on Yemen’s capital, Sanaa, in retaliation.

The Houthi-run Health Ministry has also claimed that around 91 Yemenis have been killed and 168 injured in attacks carried out by the Saudi-led coalition against the group over the past five weeks or so.