Escalation with Escalation: Trump’s Airstrikes on the Houthis

March 17th, 2025

Harry Xu

This Saturday, President Trump ordered the use of airstrikes on Houthi areas in Yemen, until they stop maritime attacks on Israeli vessels near the country’s coast. Trump national security advisor Michael Waltz said the attacks targeted and took out “multiple Houthi leaders.”

As of Sunday, the strikes have led to 53 deaths and 98 injuries. Five children and two women were part of the death toll, according to the Houthi health ministry. These strikes come as a result of a Houthi warning earlier this week that they would attack Israeli vessels sailing off Yemen due to aid blockages to Gaza. The militant group, who supports Palestine, has attacked many vessels, including 174 U.S. warships in the past. These attacks ranged from November of 2023 to January of 2025, coinciding with the start of the war and the start of the temporary ceasefire. Although there haven’t been any attacks since, their warning last week prompted the airstrikes.

As a response to the attacks, Deputy Head of the Houthi Media Office Nasruddin Amer said that the Houthis are undeterred and will retaliate against the U.S. In fact, on Sunday, the Houthis launched 18 missiles and drones at the American aircraft carrier USS Harry Truman. However, according to U.S. officials, there wasn’t any damage done. President Trump also ordered these strikes to put pressure on Iran. The country, a big supporter of the Houthis, has recently been suspected of developing a nuclear arsenal. Additionally, in the past week, the U.S. imposed more sanctions on Iran. If the country threatened the U.S., Trump warned that “America will hold you fully accountable and we won’t be nice about it!”

However, Iran Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi vehemently responded to Trump’s statement on Saturday, saying that the U.S. has no right to dictate Iranian foreign policy, and that the country should “End support for Israeli genocide and terrorism”.

These airstrikes mark the first attack on the Houthis during Trump’s second term. These strikes occurred numerous times during Biden’s term, however. In January of 2024, former President Biden conducted strikes on the Houthis after they disrupted global shipping. He conceded that the attacks weren’t as effective as hoped, saying that they weren’t stopping the Houthis.

President Trump said that Biden’s response was “pathetically weak,” and that his new approach would instead use “overwhelming lethal force until we have achieved our objective.” In fact, these airstrikes are currently the biggest U.S. military operation done in the Middle East since he took office this year.

An anonymous source told CNN that these strikes will be the beginning of a series of strategic attacks that will last up to weeks. Tellingly, new strikes were authorized by Trump on Monday. On the other side, Houthi leader Abdul-Malik al-Houthi said in a speech that “We will confront escalation with escalation.” President Trump’s approach towards achieving his goals will use much more force than the scattered airstrikes during the Biden administration. However, since the Houthis have retaliated, it’s clear that it will not be easy for them to listen to Trump’s commands.

This will not be the last conflict we see between Trump and the Houthis. Using “escalation with escalation” is an approach that could potentially lead to more deaths in the Middle East, but could also lead to a faster agreement. Millions of lives lie on the line, and the airstrikes will only be the beginning. Ultimately, it is up to both sides to decide how to achieve their goals. One thing is clear, however: the path forward will not be easy.