Trump Warns Houthis US Will 'Take Care Of' Group Over Threatened Saudi Ports Blockade

Donald Trump has warned the Houthis that the United States will 'take care of' the Iran-backed group if it follows through on its threat to blockade Saudi Arabia's Red Sea ports, a move that would strike at one of the world's most vital oil shipping routes.

The US president made the comments during a White House meeting with Lebanese President Joseph Aoun on Tuesday, as the militant group's blockade threat opened a fresh front in the wider Middle East crisis.

Trump Cites Past Strikes as Warning to Houthis

Asked about the blockade threat, Trump told reporters: 'If something like that happens, we take care of it.'

He pointed to the US military's previous confrontations with the group as evidence of what could follow. 'We've done that with the Houthis before, and we haven't heard from them in a while since we did what we did originally,' he said, according to a Guardian live blog covering the meeting.

What the Houthis Have Threatened

The Houthis said on Monday that they were imposing an immediate maritime embargo on Saudi Arabia, with military spokesman Yahya Saree announcing the move in a televised address.

The group said the blockade was a response to a Saudi 'siege' on Yemen, and warned it was ready to meet any retaliation with a 'total and harsh escalation.'

The immediate trigger was a dispute over a flight carrying Houthi officials home from the funeral of Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, which attempted to land at Sanaa International Airport on 13 July in defiance of a long-running Saudi air embargo.

Why the Blockade Threat Matters

The Bab al-Mandeb strait, which the Houthis are targeting, is one of the world's most important shipping routes. Roughly 4.1 billion barrels of crude oil and refined petroleum products passed through it in 2024, accounting for about five per cent of the global total.

With the Strait of Hormuz effectively closed since the US-Israeli war on Iran began in late February, a shutdown of Bab al-Mandeb as well could block roughly a quarter of the world's oil and gas supply.

The group is not new to disrupting Red Sea shipping. It attacked more than a hundred commercial vessels in the strait between 2023 and 2025, forcing many shippers to avoid the route entirely even when their ships were not the intended target,

Trump Warns Iran: 'We're Not Finished'

Trump's comments came as he doubled down on continuing US military action against Iran itself.

He told reporters that Iran would need decades to recover from the damage inflicted so far. 'If we left right now, it would take Iran 20, 25 years to rebuild. Okay, and we're not finished at all... we're not leaving right now,' he said,

The exchange took place during a broader meeting focused on Lebanon, where Aoun urged Trump to 'keep supporting' the Lebanese army, warning that his country could otherwise see a return to the instability of the 1970s.

A blockade at Bab al-Mandeb would strike at one of the last major oil corridors still functioning normally, at a time when the Strait of Hormuz is already disrupted by the US-Iran war. Any escalation involving Saudi Arabia, a longstanding US partner, raises the stakes of a conflict that has so far centred on Iran, and could draw Washington further into a second active front in the region.