Trump considering joining Saudi fight against Iran-backed Houthis

President Donald Trump said he is considering joining Saudi Arabia in its retaliation against Tehran-backed Houthis in Yemen after a deadly attack on Riyadh’s main airport, a move that could draw the U.S. further into a second front in the Iran war.

“We may. We’re going to look at it,” Trump told reporters outside the White House on Saturday when asked if the U.S. would back Saudi Arabian strikes. “We just found out about the recent attack. So, we’ll make a decision. We move very quickly.”

Two Saudi Arabian government officials told MS NOW that the kingdom is requesting “urgent defense support” from the U.S. following the attacks.

The officials, including a senior member of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, did not want to be identified because of the matter’s sensitivity. They added that the U.S. needs to intervene “as soon as possible” to help the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen fight the Houthis.

The White House did not immediately respond to a CNBC request for comment.

On Sunday, a projectile struck a passenger terminal at the Riyadh airport, one day after a missile struck the same terminal, the Associated Press reported. No immediate details were available about the latest strike on the King Khalid International Airport complex for terminals 3 and 4 for domestic flights, AP said. 

The Saudi General Authority of Civil Aviation said Saturday’s attack on King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh killed 12 people and injured 309 others, the country’s official Saudi Gazette media outlet reported.

Colonel Turki Al-Maliki, the spokesman for the Saudi-led Coalition to Support Legitimacy in Yemen, which has been leading the fight against the Houthis, described the attack as a “war crime.”

“Therefore, the Joint Forces Command of the Coalition will respond decisively to this terrorist attack in accordance with the Customary International Humanitarian Law,” Al-Maliki said in a post on X.

It was the second deadly assault on Riyadh’s airport in less than a week.

Three Saudi nationals, including a pilot, were killed in attacks on the facility by Iran-backed Houthi militants on Thursday.

Following Saturday’s attack, the Houthis renewed their warning against using Saudi airports.

“We renew our warning to all airlines, experts, employees, workers and travellers against using ⁠Saudi ‌airports and airspace, as they are vulnerable to attack and have become ⁠a theatre of operations for our forces, with the exception of the airports in (the holy cities of) Mecca and Medina,” the Houthis said in a post on X.

Saudi Arabia, a key U.S. ally in the Middle East, intervened in Yemen’s civil war between the Houthis and its internationally recognized government after the group seized the Yemeni capital Sanaa in 2014.

Last month, the Trump administration approved the potential $24.3 billion sale of nearly 50 F-35 warplanes to Saudi Arabia in what was seen as a major boost for the kingdom as it faces intensifying attacks from the Houthis. The sale is under congressional review.

The Saudi energy ministry said a long-planned international energy conference will still take place in Riyadh on Sunday, Reuters reported.

The five-day WPC Energy Congress ⁠is taking place at a convention center near King Khalid airport. State television told Reuters that more than 70 ministers, ⁠300 company executives and representatives of more than 25 international energy organizations have confirmed their attendance, though it was not clear ⁠whether the participants would attend in person or virtually.

Reuters said a ministerial meeting of the International Energy Forum is also set to take place, with its plenary session to be held behind closed doors.

In addition to attacks on civil aviation, the Houthis have also been trying to choke off oil tanker traffic through the Bab el Mandeb strait, a key entry point to the Red Sea, as Iran has effectively done in the Strait of Hormuz to the north of the Arabian Peninsula.

Earlier this month, Yemeni government forces said they reclaimed the strategic port city of Mokha from the Houthis.

Energy prices have soared since the start of the Iran war, which began with U.S. and Israeli airstrikes on Iranian targets on Feb. 28, putting pressure on consumers globally.

The surge in domestic fuel prices has been a key issue for voters ahead of next month’s U.S. midterm elections.

But that support would be expensive militarily.

“Potential U.S. involvement in the Saudi-Yemeni government air campaign to degrade Houthi ballistic missile capabilities would mark the first direct U.S. military action against the group since the conclusion of Operation Rough Rider in May 2025,” according to the Critical Threats Project, part of the American Enterprise Institute think tank.

The offensive aimed to suppress the Houthis’ capabilities, but recent attacks show the group has regrouped.

“After seven months of war, there are questions about the U.S. capacity to wage a sustained campaign against the Houthis, return to combat against Iran if necessary, and prepare for contingencies in other parts of the world, notably East Asia,” Steven Cook, an expert on Arab and Turkish politics at the Council on Foreign Relations think tank, wrote last month.

Meanwhile, the United Kingdom’s defense secretary said his government is also examining how to support Saudi Arabia.

“I’ve spoken to my Saudi counterpart [Khalid bin Salman] on a number of occasions in recent weeks to look at what more we can do to support Saudi Arabia, and I’m afraid last night explains precisely why we are providing that support,” Wes Streeting said in an interview on BBC television on Sunday.

Streeting said the U.K. is not getting involved in offensive operations “at this stage.”

“We’ve always been clear that there isn’t a military solution to this conflict,” Streeting added.