Trump says US to stop strikes on Houthis in Yemen

By Natasha Bertrand and Kylie Atwood, CNN

(CNN) — President Donald Trump announced Tuesday that the US would “stop the bombings” against the Iran-backed Houthi rebel group in Yemen, after the Houthis told the US that “they don’t want to fight anymore.”

“We will honor that, and we will stop the bombings,” Trump said from the Oval Office, sitting next to Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney. He was referring to the military campaign the US has been carrying out against the Houthis since mid-March in response to the group’s attacks on shipping lanes in the Red Sea and on Israel.

“They have capitulated, but more importantly, we will take their word … they say they will not be blowing up ships anymore,” Trump said.

A defense official confirmed to CNN that the US military had been instructed on Monday night to stand down on the strikes against the Houthis.

Israel has been striking targets in Yemen this week, in response to the Houthis firing a ballistic missile on Sunday that hit Israel’s main airport.

Trump’s announcement on Tuesday came after a flurry of diplomatic activity in recent days between the US, Oman and the Houthis, according to people familiar with the matter. The understanding between the US and the Houthis not to attack each other is aimed at building momentum for nuclear deal talks with Iran, the people said.

Oman said later Tuesday that it had mediated a ceasefire between the US and the Houthis.

“Following recent discussions and contacts conducted by the Sultanate of Oman with the United States and the relevant authorities in Sana’a, in the Republic of Yemen, with the aim of de-escalation, efforts have resulted in a ceasefire agreement between the two sides,” Omani Foreign Minister Badr Albusaidi said on X.

In his remarks in the Oval Office, Trump instructed his secretary of state and interim national security adviser, Marco Rubio, to “let everybody know.” Rubio described the understanding as “an important development.”

“This was always a freedom of navigation issue. These are a band of individuals with advanced weaponry that were threatening global shipping, and the job was to get that to stop,” Rubio said.

Later Tuesday when asked what would happen if the Houthis continued attacking Israel, Trump replied, “I’ll discuss that if something happens … with Israel and the Houthis.”

Houthi leaders acknowledged Trump’s announcement of the truce, but warned of continuing aggression against Israel until its military offensive in Gaza stops.

Senior Houthi leader Mohammed Ali al-Houthi said in a late Tuesday statement that Trump’s “announcement of a halt to US aggression against Yemen will be evaluated on the ground first.”

“It is a victory that separates US support for the temporary entity [Israel] and a failure for Netanyahu, and he must resign,” al-Houthi said.

The US did not inform Israel about its de facto truce with the Houthis before Trump announced it in the Oval Office, an Israeli official said. The whiplash felt among Israeli officials was palpable given the timing, coming just hours after Israel carried out some of its most significant strikes in Yemen to date.

Momentum toward Iran deal

Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff has been leading on the Iran nuclear talks and worked to broker a ceasefire with the Houthis over the last week, the people familiar with the matter said. They added that the talks were facilitated by the Omanis, who in years past have routinely served as intermediaries between the US and the Houthis.

The stand-down is expected to serve as momentum toward the overall US-Iran talks over a nuclear deal, people familiar said. The US and Iran have held three rounds of nuclear talks, though the timing on a fourth remains unclear.

The talks with the Houthis were spurred most directly by a post on X by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, who wrote last week that Iran “will pay the CONSEQUENCE at the time and place of our choosing” if they continue their “lethal support to the Houthis.”

“We know exactly what you are doing,” Hegseth wrote. “You know very well what the U.S. Military is capable of.”

The pause in the US military operation against the Houthis comes as the campaign has struggled since its inception. In just seven weeks, the militants have successfully shot down at least seven multimillion-dollar American drones, hindering the US’ ability to move into “phase two” of the operation, multiple US officials familiar with the matter told CNN. The impact of the strikes on the Houthis’ operations was also limited, officials previously told CNN, as they proved surprisingly resilient.

What it means for Israel

It’s unclear what the ceasefire between the US and the Houthis means for Israel, which has engaged in days of escalating fighting with the Iran-backed rebel group. For months, the Houthis have launched ballistic missiles and drones at Israel, most of which are intercepted by Israel’s air defense systems. And Israel has carried out several strikes against the Houthis in Yemen.

But a missile on Sunday penetrated Israel’s missile shield and struck near Tel Aviv’s Ben Gurion International Airport, the first missile to land so close to a critical national asset.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to respond, saying it would not be “one and done.” On Monday, the Israel Defense Forces carried out a series of strikes against the port of Hodeidah in Yemen and a nearby cement factory.

Then on Tuesday, the IDF carried out an even larger campaign of strikes, with the military saying it has “fully” disabled Yemen’s international airport and targeted “several” power plants.

Mahdi al-Mashat, head of the Houthis’ Supreme Political Council, told the Houthi-run Saba news agency following Trump’s ceasefire announcement: “There is no turning back from supporting Gaza, no matter the cost. What happened proves that our strikes are painful and will continue.”

This story has been updated with additional developments.

CNN’s Oren Liebermann, Kareem El Damanhoury, Hira Humayun, Kara Fox and Jeremy Diamond contributed to this report.

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