President Trump said Tuesday the U.S. military will “stop the bombing of the Houthis effective immediately,” announcing the Yemen-based militant group had promised to end its campaign of strikes against American commercial and military vessels in the Red Sea.
Details on the arrangement remain sparse. He said the Houthis “capitulated” and “announced to us … that they don’t want to fight anymore,” and the United States will “take their word.”
The Houthis have not commented publicly on the apparent agreement.
“They’ve said, ‘please don’t bomb us anymore and we’re not going to attack your ships,'” Mr. Trump told reporters Tuesday during an Oval Office meeting with newly elected Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney.
Oman’s foreign ministry posted on X the two sides had reached a “ceasefire” brokered by Oman, which borders Yemen. “In the future, neither side will target the other, including American vessels, in the Red Sea and Bab al-Mandab Strait, ensuring freedom of navigation and the smooth flow of international commercial shipping,” Foreign Minister Badr Albusaidi said.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt confirmed the agreement, sharing Albusaidi’s post on X and calling it a “Massive WIN.”
The Houthis, an Iran-backed rebel group, have targeted ships in the Gulf of Aden and Red Sea since 2023, disrupting crucial shipping lanes that lead to the Suez Canal. The group frames the strikes as a response to Israeli military action in the Gaza Strip.
The U.S. military has responded in recent weeks with a barrage of airstrikes on Houthi targets in Yemen, a strategy the Pentagon says has killed hundreds of Houthi militants.
Israel has also carried out its own airstrikes on the Houthis, including a set of strikes earlier Tuesday, following a Houthi missile attack on Israel’s largest airport. The U.S. was not involved in Tuesday’s strikes by Israel, officials said.
The Houthis’ response to those strikes did not indicate a planned truce with the U.S.
“The Israeli and American aggression will not pass without a response and will not deter Yemen from continuing its position in support of Gaza,” the group’s political bureau said prior to Mr. Trump’s comments Tuesday, in a statement carried on its TV channel al-Masirah.
contributed to this report.
