U.S. warships have shot down roughly a dozen Houthi drones since President Donald Trump launched airstrikes against the terrorist organization on Saturday, Fox News has learned.
A senior defense official told Fox News of the developments on Sunday. The drones were aimed at the U.S. Navy’s Truman Carrier Strike Group, and were shot down ‘well before’ they posed a serious threat, the official added.
The latest military action came after nearly a year and a half of attacks from Houthis, both on commercial merchant vessels and U.S. military ships. In a Truth Social post on Saturday, Trump wrote that he had ‘ordered the United States Military to launch decisive and powerful Military action against the Houthi terrorists in Yemen.’
‘It has been over a year since a U.S.-flagged commercial ship safely sailed through the Suez Canal, the Red Sea, or the Gulf of Aden,’ Trump continued. ‘The last American Warship to go through the Red Sea, four months ago, was attacked by the Houthis over a dozen times.’
Trump wrote that the ‘relentless assaults have cost the U.S. and World Economy many BILLIONS of Dollars while, at the same time, putting innocent lives at risk.’
‘To all Houthi terrorists, YOUR TIME IS UP, AND YOUR ATTACKS MUST STOP, STARTING TODAY. IF THEY DON’T, HELL WILL RAIN DOWN UPON YOU LIKE NOTHING YOU HAVE EVER SEEN BEFORE!’ his post concluded.
Trump re-designated the Houthis as a foreign terrorist organization (FTO) in January. His first administration had named the Houthis as an FTO, but the Biden administration later reversed the move.
On Sunday, the White House released photos of Trump, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and National Security Adviser Mike Waltz monitoring the strikes.
‘President Trump is taking action against the Houthis to defend US shipping assets and deter terrorist threats,’ the White House wrote on X. ‘For too long American economic & national threats have been under assault by the Houthis. Not under this presidency.’
Fox News Digital’s Danielle Wallace contributed to this report.