Trump Considered Striking Houthis in Yemen Last Weekend
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What happened
President Donald Trump considered U.S. airstrikes against Iran-backed Houthi forces in Yemen over the weekend after Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman asked for American military help. The request followed a Houthi advance along Yemen’s Red Sea coast toward the Bab al-Mandab shipping strait and toward Marib province, home to Yemen’s largest oil and gas fields, as well as Houthi attacks on Saudi infrastructure and a claimed shoot-down of a Saudi F-15. U.S. officials said U.S. Central Command prepared strike options and that Trump reviewed them with senior advisers; one account says he ordered strikes and then canceled the order. He has so far declined to authorize attacks and has not taken future action off the table, while the United States continues intelligence sharing and other support to Saudi Arabia. The White House and the Saudi embassy in Washington declined to comment.
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ONE-SIDED THIS WEEK.
Only left-leaning outlets have covered this story in the last two days;
Washington Examiner reported it on 2026-09-20.
Omitted — what each side leaves out
Unpacked
Right-leaning outlets had not covered this as of publication, so their readers never learn that Trump came within hours of striking the Houthis and then held off. Left-leaning coverage reports the pause after urgent Saudi appeals for strikes, and NBC News adds that a Sunday evening strike order was canceled the same afternoon. Neither that account nor the Guardian mentions U.S. diplomats already taking Houthi assurances that the Bab-al-Mandeb Strait would stay open.
Left-leaning coverage also splits on language for the same Iran fight, a "war of aggression" in the Guardian versus a war Trump began and has struggled to end in NBC News.
Why was the Sunday strike order pulled in the hours before it was due to start?
Bottom line
NBC News says Trump set Houthi strikes for 5 p.m. Sunday and scrapped them after 2 p.m., a near-launch you would not encounter in right-leaning coverage at all.
The receipts — 3 facts one side's coverage lacks
- Some U.S. military leaders argued against opening another front because of dwindling supplies of defensive and long-range weaponry
- The United States has already been sharing intelligence, helping with planning, sending military advisers, and providing some logistical support to the Saudis
- The renewed fighting has displaced more than 100,000 people inside Yemen
The Left View
Left-leaning outlets treat the episode as both a battlefield development and a critique of Trump’s broader Middle East policy. The Guardian’s Mohamad Bazzi frames the Houthi offensive as spillover from a U.S.-Israeli war on Iran, reporting that the group seized a Red Sea port city and islands, gained leverage over Bab al-Mandab, reopened fighting with Saudi-backed Yemeni forces, and displaced more than 100,000 people. It says bin Salman called Trump twice on September 10 urging strikes, that Trump has ruled out direct U.S. attacks for now, and that this restraint is one of his better choices even as it calls the Iran war catastrophic. NBC News reports a split among U.S. military leaders: some warn that a new front would strain munitions and risk forces tied to the Iran mission, while others argue inaction would abandon a key ally. NBC, citing two U.S. officials, says Trump ordered strikes to begin around 5 p.m. Eastern on Sunday, then canceled the order after 2 p.m., and that Joint Chiefs Chairman Dan Caine convened an emergency Pentagon meeting after a Thursday call with the crown prince. NBC also reports Houthi claims of downing an F-15, a push on Marib, and weekend missile and drone attacks toward Riyadh and an Aramco facility in Yanbu.
Our Take (balanced)
The story is substantively reported, not a single-source rumor: multiple outlets cite unnamed U.S. officials, name specific actors (Trump, bin Salman, Adm. Brad Cooper, Defense Secretary Hegseth, Gen. Dan Caine), and describe a concrete decision process (CENTCOM options, adviser consultations, a Pentagon “Tank” meeting). What is established across accounts is that Saudi Arabia asked for U.S. strikes, Trump weighed options, and he did not proceed. What remains alleged or internally inconsistent is the exact sequence—Axios places the hold-off late Saturday; NBC describes a Sunday order that was rescinded—and unverified battlefield claims such as the F-15 shoot-down. The White House, Pentagon, and Saudi embassy have not confirmed any of it on the record. No right-leaning outlet has reported this. Watch for on-the-record confirmation or denial, shipping and satellite evidence around Bab al-Mandab, the status of the delayed Saudi-Yemeni counteroffensive, and whether strike options are revived if Houthi advances continue.
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