Trump Warns Houthis Against Red Sea Blockade as Conflict With Saudi Arabia Escalates

Key Facts

Published: July 22, 2026 Location: Washington D.C. Source: The Washington Times, Reuters, The Associated Press, The Wall Street Journal

• President Trump warned that the United States would respond militarily if the Houthis attempt to enforce their declared blockade of Saudi shipping.
• Three tankers carrying Saudi crude reversed course after Houthi threats against vessels using Saudi Red Sea ports.
• Renewed Saudi and Houthi attacks threaten to collapse the fragile truce that has restrained their war since 2022.

Tankers carrying Saudi crude have already reversed course as renewed fighting threatens a fragile truce and one of the world’s most important shipping routes

by Emmitt Barry, Worthy News Washington D.C. Bureau Chief

WASHINGTON, D.C. (Worthy News) – President Donald Trump warned Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels that the United States is prepared to take military action if the terrorist group follows through on its threat to blockade Saudi shipping in the Red Sea.

Speaking Tuesday from the Oval Office, Trump said Washington had confronted Houthi attacks before and would do so again if the group attempts to disrupt commercial traffic.

“So far, it hasn’t happened. Might happen. But we take care of things,” Trump said. “If something like that happens, we take care of it. You know, we’ve done that with the Houthis before, and we haven’t heard from them in a while.”

Reuters reported that the Houthis declared a naval blockade against Saudi Arabia and warned shipping companies that vessels operating through Saudi ports could be attacked. The Saudi-led coalition responded by saying it would use force and had begun implementing measures to protect ships passing through the Bab al-Mandeb Strait.

Tankers Turn Back After Houthi Threat

The warning is already disrupting oil traffic.

Three tankers carrying Saudi crude to customers in China and India reversed course in the Red Sea after approaching the Bab al-Mandeb Strait, according to Reuters. The ships instead headed north toward the Suez Canal, raising the prospect of significantly longer voyages around Africa.

The Bab al-Mandeb connects the Red Sea with the Gulf of Aden and serves as the southern gateway to the Suez Canal. A successful blockade could halt Saudi oil exports to Asia through the route and potentially remove as much as 7% of global oil supplies from the market, according to maritime analysts.

The threat is particularly serious because Saudi Arabia has increasingly relied on its Red Sea terminals as an alternative to the Strait of Hormuz, where the broader war with Iran has severely disrupted shipping.

Saudi-Houthi War Threatens to Reignite

The blockade declaration follows the sharpest escalation between Saudi Arabia and the Houthis since a fragile truce began in 2022.

Saudi warplanes recently struck Sanaa International Airport, according to reports, while the Houthis retaliated by launching missiles and drones toward Saudi Arabia’s Abha International Airport. No casualties were reported, but both airports suffered damage.

The Houthis said their maritime embargo was retaliation for what they described as a Saudi blockade of Yemen and the strike on Sanaa’s airport. The group characterized the measure as an “eye for an eye” response.

The latest confrontation threatens to unravel years of efforts to contain Yemen’s civil war. The Houthis seized Yemen’s capital in 2014, prompting Saudi Arabia to lead a military coalition against the Iranian-backed movement the following year.

Although large-scale cross-border fighting had largely subsided under the truce, the recent exchange of attacks and the blockade threat suggest the conflict may again be moving toward open warfare.

Another Front in a Widening Regional War

The Houthis control much of northern Yemen and maintain missile, drone and naval capabilities capable of threatening vessels near the Bab al-Mandeb.

The group previously attacked commercial shipping during the war between Israel and Hamas, claiming its campaign was intended to pressure Israel. Those attacks forced major shipping companies to avoid the Red Sea and redirect vessels around the Cape of Good Hope.

The Wall Street Journal reported that growing Saudi-Houthi hostilities now threaten the kingdom’s principal Red Sea oil route at a time when access through the Persian Gulf remains dangerously constrained.

Any renewed American bombing campaign against Houthi positions would open another front in an already expanding Middle East war and place additional pressure on U.S. naval, intelligence and air-defense resources.

Trump, however, signaled that the United States would not allow the Houthis or their Iranian sponsors to hold a critical international waterway hostage.

“If something like that happens,” the president said, “we take care of it.”

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