Donald Trump has spectacularly flip-flopped on whether to help a key ally in the Middle East suffering from the fallout of his war with Iran.
Saudi Arabia is under attack from Iranian-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen, who earlier this summer seized on the chaos caused by the 80-year-old president’s campaign against Tehran to reopen their own war with Riyadh, which had been subject to a fragile truce since 2022.
Saudi officials have, over the past several weeks, pleaded with the White House for help in defending themselves. The kingdom’s de facto ruler, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, 41, personally called Trump on Thursday and asked him to order U.S. forces to join in countering the rebels’ attacks, the New York Times reports.
Trump had told aides only the day before that he was not inclined to do so. He changed his mind after speaking with bin Salman, and ordered the Pentagon to prepare for a wave of strikes. U.S. commanders quickly approved a list of targets, selected warplanes for the attacks, and began loading munitions.
The president then told Fox News in a Sunday morning interview that he was still in “deciding mode” about the new campaign. By noon, he had reversed course again, telling officials he had called off the strikes for the time being. Many of those aides had been either “deeply skeptical or outright opposed” to the attacks anyway, sources in the administration told the Times.
It represents something of a dilemma for Trump. The president noted on his call with Fox that the Houthis have so far made good on a pledge not to attack U.S. ships in the Persian Gulf. But he also needs Saudi Arabia’s help in waging his war with Tehran, particularly by using U.S. airbases in the kingdom to pressure Iran into reopening the Strait of Hormuz.
Trump launched his campaign against the Islamist regime in February with a pledge the conflict would last a “few weeks.” It is now nearing its eighth month, with no ceasefire in sight. Tehran has meanwhile shuttered the strait, through which roughly a fifth of global oil supply passes each year, sending gas prices through the roof and shockwaves across the global economy.
The president is likely mindful of opening a new front in his campaign as Republicans head toward November’s midterm elections, overshadowed by both the war and cost-of-living concerns, ahead of which Democrats hold a seven-point lead on the generic congressional ballot.
The Daily Beast has contacted the White House for comment on this story.
