US President-elect Donald Trump is preparing to increase activity against the Houthis once he is sworn in as president on January 20, two sources familiar with the details told The Jerusalem Post on Wednesday.
Trump and other officials in the incoming administration are interested in increasing the activity against the Houthis, including airstrikes.
“President Trump likely will add the Houthis back on the [State Department’s] Foreign Terrorists Organizations list, after President Joe Biden’s wrongheaded decision to remove them, as one of his first acts of president in 2021,” Mark Dubowitz, the CEO of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, said.
Elliott Abrams, who served as the US Special Representative for Iran from 2020 to 2021, said, “Trump will not stand for having US Navy ships attacked every day by the Houthis using Iranian missiles… He will hit the Houthis harder, and he will threaten Iran that if a missile [that] Iran supplied kills an American, Iran will get hit directly.”
Over the last month, the Biden administration has decided to change its strategy in Yemen, increasing the number of airstrikes against Houthi targets. This is because the administration has not managed to stop the Houthis from launching attacks against Israel and against ships in the Red Sea, which has caused trade ships to avoid vital shipping routes, threatening global trade.
"Tougher Policy after January 20"
Among other things, the Trump administration is expected to appeal to Gulf states in an effort to upgrade the regional coalition against the Houthis. Last year, the Biden administration tried to pressure these countries to join the regional coalition. However, except for Bahrain, the others refused.
They did this because “the US government refuses to give us protection and means to intercept missiles and UAVs if attacked by the Houthis,” said Jonathan Schanzer, executive director at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies.
“They have been attacking US warships for months on end, not to mention firing ballistic missiles at Israel. We should expect Trump to reverse the Biden policy, which has been to tolerate the group’s terror activities. I would expect a much tougher policy after January 20.”