Trump says Houthis ‘will never sink our ships again’

Washington has linked its air strikes against the Houthis to a broader pressure campaign against Iran

A ship fires missiles at an undisclosed location, after US President Donald Trump launched military strikes against Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthis. Reuters

US President Donald Trump said that Yemen’s Houthis “will never sink our ships again” after posting a video purporting to show deadly strikes on the militant group.

The video, published on Friday, showed dozens of Houthi fighters killed in an American strike that targeted the group in Yemen. Mr Trump wrote in an accompanying text: “These Houthis gathered for instructions on an attack. Oops, there will be no attack by these Houthis.”

The black and white footage was posted on the president's Truth Social network. It was most likely shot from a military drone that showed the fighters from a vertical angle.

The Iran-backed rebels have launched attacks on Israeli and US-linked ships in the Red Sea since the outbreak of the Gaza war in late 2023. The shipping lane serves a key trade route between Asia, the Middle East and Europe.

More than 100 merchant ships have been hit with drones and missiles, in what they described as an act of outward solidarity with Gazans in the enclave.

The video footage shows a bright flash followed by billowing smoke. It cuts to a wider shot showing a column of smoke over the apparent impact site and several vehicles parked further up the road.

The camera then cuts closer again to show a broad crater at the point of impact. No bodies are readily identifiable.

"They will never sink our ships again!" Mr Trump wrote.

The rebel group reported that dozens of people had been killed in multiple strikes this week that they held Washington responsible for.

The Houthis stopped attacks on Red Sea during a temporary truce between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas, which started on January 19, but resumed after the ceasefire collapsed on March 18.

The Trump administration has linked its air strikes against the Houthis to a broader pressure campaign against Iran, suggesting that the rebels' missile and drone attacks in the Red Sea serve as a proxy battleground in Washington’s confrontation with Tehran.

In a significant military build-up, the Pentagon said earlier this week it would send a second aircraft carrier, the USS Carl Vinson, to join the USS Harry S. Truman in the Middle East “to continue promoting regional stability, deter aggression and protect the free flow of commerce in the region”.

On Thursday, the US struck a car in Saada governorate's Majz district, Al Masirah TV reported, indicating a shift towards targeted assassinations.