Trump designates Houthis again as terrorists: 'Threatens the safety of American civilians'
The president signed a new executive order where he named the Iranian-backed group's attacks against the U.S. military, civilian infrastructure, Middle Eastern countries and commercial vessels.

Brigadier Yahya Saree Qasim, spokesman for the Houthis, in a file image
President Donald Trump designated again the Iranian regime-backed organization "Ansar Allah," mostly known as the Houthis, as a terrorist group, recalling their troubled history in the Middle East, the Mandeb Strait and the Red Sea in a new executive order signed just after the 48-hour mark since he returned to power.
"Supported by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Quds Force (IRGC-QF), which arms and trains terrorist organizations worldwide, the Houthis have fired at U.S. Navy warships dozens of times since 2023, endangering American men and women in uniform," Trump wrote in the executive order.
"Since seizing most Yemeni population centers by force from the legitimate Yemeni government in 2014-2015، the Houthis have launched numerous attacks on civilian infrastructure, including multiple attacks on civilian airports in Saudi Arabia, the deadly January 2022 attacks on the United Arab Emirates, and more than 300 projectiles fired at Israel since October 2023," the president continued. "The Houthis have also attacked commercial vessels transiting Bab al-Mandeb more than 100 times, killing at least four civilian sailors and forcing some Red Sea maritime commercial traffic to reroute, which has contributed to global inflation."
Finally, Trump stated that "The Houthis’ activities threaten the security of American civilians and personnel in the Middle East, the safety of our closest regional partners, and the stability of global maritime trade."
In the executive order, Trump directed the Secretary of State Marco Rubio, in consultation with the director of National Intelligence and the secretary of the treasury, to submit to the White House a report on the possible designation of the Houthis as a foreign terrorist organization within 30 days of the issuance of the executive order.
According to the order, following the designation of the Houthis as a foreign terrorist organization, the secretary of state and the administrator of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) will evaluate USAID partners and contractors in Yemen to identify any links to the Houthis, whether through payments or unsubstantiated criticism of international efforts against the group.
Following this step, USAID will cancel projects, grants or contracts related to these entities.