US Was Ready To Attack Houthis After MBS' Call For Help. Then Came Trump's U-Turn

Target lists were approved. Bombs were being loaded into warplanes. But moments before US troops could launch an attack on Houthi hideouts in Yemen, President Donald Trump decided to back out of the mission, despite ally Saudi Arabia's urgent call for help, according to a report by The New York Times. 

The US president had been wavering on Saudi's appeals for US military assistance in fighting the Yemeni militia's steadily expanding control over the strategically important territory near the Red Sea. The issue came to a head last week after Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Saudi's de facto leader and a major ally in the Iran war, called Trump to implore him, again, to step in to help blunt the rapidly advancing group, NYT reported, citing US officials. 

Just a day before, Trump had reportedly told his advisors that he was not in favour of getting involved in fighting between the Houthis and Saudis. However, after the Thursday call with the Crown Prince -- also known by his initials, MBS -- Trump went back on his words and told Pentagon officials to prepare for airstrikes against the Yemeni militia. 

Trump again reversed his decision by Sunday, with US officials saying there would be no US airstrikes against the Houthis -- at least not for the time being. 

According to the report, Trump changed his plans at the eleventh hour as commanders had "approved target lists, troops were loading bombs onto US warplanes selected for the missions and the wave of attacks was just about to begin."

So far, the White House has not issued any official statement on Trump changing stance, but a senior official maintained that "the US has a defence agreement with Saudi Arabia, and we will always defend our allies."

Another senior official told the publication that most of the president's inner circle is either "deeply skeptical or outright opposed to joining the Saudi fight against the Houthis, especially given the existing strains facing the US military in the war with Iran."

'Houthis To Not Fight US'

Trump, meanwhile, told Fox News that Houthis have agreed not to attack the United States, despite the Iran-allied group stepping up its war against US ally Saudi Arabia. The network's reporter Trey Yingst, who often talks to Trump, cited the president saying that Washington is "in constant communication with the Houthis and that they've agreed not to fight the United States."

Trump has made the claim before that the Houthis are holding back from attacking US forces in the region. 

"The Houthis called us and they don't want to fight with us," Trump said during a visit to Ireland on September 12. "They don't want us to go after them."

Mounting Pressure on Riyadh

But the latest comments to Fox News came as close US ally Saudi Arabia is under growing pressure, with a missile targeting the capital, Riyadh, over the weekend. 

The Houthis have also staged a rapid offensive inside Yemen, seizing swaths of territory from the internationally recognised government, which is backed by Saudi Arabia.

Fox News reported that Trump is in "deciding mode" on Iran, where US and Israeli forces launched a massive aerial bombing campaign on February 28 before settling into a now almost seven-month standoff. Yingst said Trump told him that "big things will be happening in the not-so-distant future" and that "Iranians better behave, and he is making this decision as to whether or not to blow up their nation."