WASHINGTON — President Trump warned the Yemen-based, Iran-backed Houthi terror group against launching further deadly attacks against Saudi Arabia Tuesday — suggesting that he may ask Turkey for additional military help.
“I might do it,” Trump told a reporter when asked if he would request Turkey President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan to hit the Houthis.
“I have a lot of respect for the president of Turkey,” the president added. “President Erdogan, I think, would do as I ask.”
Over the weekend, Trump said the US was weighing retaliatory attacks after the Houthis fired on King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh, killing 12 including one American citizen.
More than 300 people were also injured.
A Houthi spokesperson celebrated the assault on civilians Sunday, announcing that airports have become “a theatre of operations for our forces,” while claiming the Saudis bore “responsibility for any failed interceptions.”
Following Saturday’s airport strike, the terrorists launched additional missile and drone attacks against Saudi Arabia.
Trump has held off on attacking the Houthis since a May 2025 cease-fire that halted strikes on US vessels in the Red Sea.
However, the president ripped the Riyadh attack as “terrible,” while Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Washington “strongly condemns” the “terrorist Houthis.”
“These reprehensible attacks demonstrate a blatant disregard for innocent civilian life. They must stop now,” Rubio added. “We stand with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and its people and extend our condolences to the victims and their families.
Saturday marked the deadliest civilian attack since the start of Operation Epic Fury Feb. 28, during which the Houthis have renewed attacks against the Saudis and reignited Yemen’s long-running civil war.
In that conflict, which dates to 2014, Iran has long backed the Shia Muslim Houthis. Saudi Arabia, the US, and much of the West has supported the internationally recognized Yemeni government, which is predominantly made up of Sunni Muslims.
The Houthis currently control Yemen’s capital city of Sana’a, along with much of the western part of the country.
The internationally recognized government controls the remainder of the country, including the port city of Aden.
