US Institute: If Trump Wants to Defeat Houthis and Protect Freedom of Navigation, He Must Show Washington’s Support for Saudi Arabia

If US President-elect Donald Trump wants to defeat the Houthis and protect international freedom of navigation, it is essential that he shows the Saudis that the United States supports the kingdom, the American Enterprise Institute said.

The American Institute published an article by Michael Rubin, an observer at the Middle East Forum, in which he pointed out that more than a decade has passed since the Iranian-backed Houthis took over the Yemeni capital, Sanaa. Initially, Saudi Arabia sought to confront the Houthi attack.

The article, translated by Yemen Youth Net, explained that many progressives have impulsively sided with the Houthis. Ideology has motivated some. Many in the West find the Houthis’ narrative of resistance convincing, even if it is false.

“Self-reflection” within American political discourse also played a role, he added. Because then-President Donald Trump had embraced Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Trump’s domestic critics sought to demonize Saudi Arabia and exonerate the Houthis.

Many human rights defenders have suffered from “Mohammed bin Salman syndrome,” focusing irrationally on his alleged responsibility for the death of Saudi activist Jamal Khashoggi. While bin Salman may have been responsible, the absolution of the Houthis for their gross human rights violations due to the anger of one man demonstrated the subjectivity and politicization of the human rights community.

Whether out of ignorance or dishonesty, political partisans and diplomats have blamed Saudi actions exclusively for the humanitarian tragedy. They cite UN reports that Saudi airstrikes have caused famine, for example, but ignore UN reports that have acknowledged that Houthi militias have blocked food deliveries to cities like Taiz because of their loyalty to the internationally recognized government.

Perhaps the greatest example of “cherry-picking” in favor of the Houthis was Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s decision to lift the Houthis’ terrorism designation less than three weeks after taking office.

Saudi Arabia was furious. The Biden administration essentially blamed the victim. Between 2015 and 2022, the Houthis fired nearly 1,000 missiles and rockets and more than 350 drones at Saudi Arabia, rarely distinguishing between military and civilian targets.

With the United States doing little to protect Saudi Arabia, the White House drawing a moral equivalence between Saudi Arabia and the Houthis, and many in Congress siding with the Houthis and threatening sanctions on Riyadh, the Saudis realized they could not trust Washington to support them.

Today, there is a dissonance between the public perception of Saudi Arabia’s position on Yemen and the reality. The kingdom does not like the Houthis, but it has long since stopped seeking to win the war against them. Instead, the Saudis seek calm, even if it comes at the expense of their Yemeni allies in the internationally recognized government.

In short, Riyadh is making deals and may appease the Houthis so that they will keep quiet on its southern border and stop Iranian-supplied Houthi drones and missiles from striking the north.

Today, Riyadh is turning a blind eye to the Houthis’ non-compliance with the Stockholm Agreement, which aims to prevent the diversion and profiteering of humanitarian aid shipped through Hodeidah. The Biden administration’s only concession has been to send some US ships to the Red Sea for a limited period.

If President-elect Trump wants to defeat the Houthis and protect international freedom of navigation, it is imperative that he show the Saudis that the United States supports the kingdom, and that the Biden (and Obama) years were an anomaly, not the new norm.

This means providing full support to the Saudi offensive as well as strengthening its own defenses. If the United States can boast of shooting down Iranian drones and missiles heading for Israel, it should do the same with the Houthi missiles fired at Saudi Arabia.

The United States must also enforce the real implementation of the Stockholm Agreement to ensure that the Houthis do not operate in the port of Hodeidah or receive salaries from port revenues.

The report notes that Riyadh’s soft approach to the Houthi threat may frustrate Yemenis who do not want to remain under the fire of Iran and its local proxy, but it is not solely responsible for this. Trump should not only demand that Saudi Arabia stop appeasing the Houthis, but he should show Saudi Arabia that defeating the Houthis is both feasible and a strategic goal for the United States.