Trump hints at retaliation against Houthi rebels after U.S. midterms: “I won’t forget”

[Financial News] U.S. President Donald Trump, who had previously said he might intervene in the fighting between Saudi Arabia (hereafter, Saudi) and Houthi rebels, said he could retaliate against the Houthi rebels after the November midterm elections.
On the 13th (local time), Trump wrote on the social media platform Truth Social that Yemen’s “Houthi rebels are behaving very badly.” He said, “A year ago, we bombed them terribly, and when we stopped at their request, I thought they would have learned their lesson too. They were quiet for a long time, but now they have reappeared and are attacking Saudi in a very vicious way,” he claimed.
Trump went on to say, “It seems this is probably intended to deliberately drive up oil prices ahead of the U.S. election, at the direction of Iran, a failed country that probably has neither a navy nor an air force and has the world’s worst economy and 301% inflation.”
Referring to the U.S. midterm elections on November 3, Trump stressed, “Someone should explain to them that I’m not running in this election,” adding, “I’ll still be there after the election is over, and I will never forget.”
In a statement on the 8th, Trump had said he was having productive discussions with Iran and that “we will not attack Iran at any time before the midterm elections.” His post on the 13th is understood to mean that, for now, the U.S. will attack neither Iran nor the Iran-backed Houthi rebels before the midterms. The New York Times (NYT) reported on the 8th that Trump had rejected plans for a large-scale military operation against Iran or the Houthis five times in recent months.
Trump’s latest remarks are understood to mean that he will respond to the Houthi rebels but postpone doing so until after the midterm elections. On the 10th, after the Houthi rebels launched repeated attacks on the airport in Saudi’s capital, he spoke with reporters and was asked whether he planned to join Saudi’s attacks on the Houthi rebels. He replied, “We might.” Trump said, “We’ll look at that. We just learned about the latest attacks. So we’ll make a decision too. We’ll move very quickly.”
However, rather than intervening directly, Trump may ask allies to intervene on his behalf. Speaking with reporters on the 13th, he was asked, “Will you ask Turkey to join the attacks on the Houthis?” He replied, “I might,” adding, “He (Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan) is a very good friend of mine.” Trump continued, “I think he’ll do what I ask. I have great respect for him.” In this connection, the U.S. political news outlet Axios reported on the 7th that Syria’s new government, which has recently been pursuing a pro-U.S. course, is considering sending troops for an operation to defeat the Houthis, and that the Trump administration is not opposed to the deployment either.
 
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