(Photo by Felton Davis via Flickr/CC BY 2.0)
On May 6, 2025, Donald Trump announced that the United States and the Houthis in Yemen reached a ceasefire deal. In exchange for the U.S. ending its relentless bombing campaign, the Houthis would no longer attack any American ships. Trump campaigned on ending hostilities in Yemen, and many of his supporters will see this ceasefire as vindication of his anti-war principles.
Yet, he escalated the attacks on Yemen and the Houthis in the first place, committing horrific war crimes. Even though the media covered the bombings, they shone a much brighter light on the flashy and embarrassing stories, like Signal Gate and the rapidly ballooning cost of the failing offensive. The media does this because they have normalized these crimes because the U.S. has been bombing Yemen since 2002, when George W. Bush was President.
Bush and the War on Terror
The United States’ first use of a drone in a targeted killing was in Yemen in 2002. The attack was in the midst of the War on Terror, in response to al-Qaeda bombing the USS Cole bombing in 2000. That 2002 operation also killed a U.S. citizen, a violation of his right to due process.
Alongside the drone strike in Yemen, President Bush sent 100 troops to Yemen with the stated aim of stabilizing the Yemeni government and helping it combat terrorism. That operation clearly failed, as Yemen eventually descended into civil war, the central government collapsed, and al-Qaeda gained prominence.
Bush’s strategy in Yemen failed. He justified his actions through the Authorization(s) of Use of Military Force (AUMF) that Congress passed in 2001 and 2002 in the wake of 9/11. Every subsequent U.S. President would use the AUMFs to continue the War on Terror.
You're already part of the story.
For 6 years, readers like you have kept Spheres independent and youth-led. If this piece mattered to you, join our Sphere of Influence — from $5/month.
Join the Sphere →Obama Expands the Drone War
After Bush’s initial 2002 strike on Yemen, the U.S. backed out of the country as it focused on its wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. Obama came to power on the promise to end the Iraq War, and as he wound down that war, he set his sights on Yemen.
Obama’s first drone strike on Yemen killed 55 people, including 12 pregnant people,31 children, 10 of whom were under the age of 5 years. In 2011 alone, Obama killed three U.S. citizens in Yemen via drone strike. The US government deemed two to be innocent bystanders while one, Anwar Al Aulaqi, was on a kill list.
Obama justified his interventions in Yemen through the War on Terror as well. His administration clarified that the criteria for a strike were an individual who “presents a threat to U.S. interests or personnel.” This justification is inherently weak, especially in Yemen, where there was never a large enough American military presence to justify the 185 drone strikes.
In 2010, Obama stated that he would not send troops to Yemen. Yet, by the end of his first term, he stated, “A small number of U.S. military personnel are deployed in Yemen to support operations against [al-Qaeda].” Even this small presence cannot justify the 185 drone strikes he rained down on Yemen during his two terms.
These strikes are estimated to have killed 1,400 people, with approximately 7% identified as civilians. It is impossible to take that civilian number at face value because the criteria for a drone strike are too broad. Anyone can be deemed “a threat to U.S. interests or personnel” for a variety of reasons, even without presenting a true danger.
Trump Doubles Down on Obama’s Drones
Trump’s first military actions in Yemen used plans the Obama administration deemed too risky for civilians. The raid killed many Yemeni civilians, 4 U.S. personnel, and, most importantly, an eight-year-old American girl: Al Aulaqi’s daughter.
Not only did Trump execute attacks that were previously deemed too risky, but he also intensified U.S. bombing of Yemen. In just his first term, he struck Yemen an estimated 188 times, three more than Obama in half the time.
Although he struck Yemen more than Obama, the casualty numbers reported are lower because in 2019, he revoked Obama’s policy of publishing drone strike deaths. Yet, the reported civilian casualty percentage is higher than Obama’s, standing at about 13%.
Trump’s continued reliance on the AUMFs was also rooted in his belief in the War on Terror. However, that was not the only way he involved the U.S. in Yemen. As Yemen’s Civil War intensified and Saudi Arabia assembled a coalition to fight in the war, he expanded the U.S. presence within the Civil War by selling Saudi Arabia record amounts of weapons.
Trump Goes All in With Saudi Arabia
In his first foreign trip, Trump inked a deal with Saudi Arabia, committing them to buying 350 billion USD worth of U.S. weapons over a decade. At the time of signing in May 2017, Saudi Arabia was already two years into its Yemeni offensive and had already killed thousands of civilians.
The Saudi atrocities in Yemen did not faze Trump, as he vetoed three separate resolutions to block arms sales to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. He also continued to strike Yemen, although the number of strikes diminished as the Yemeni Civil War reached a stalemate in 2018. He continued striking until his departure from office on January 20th, 2021.
Biden Starts With De-escalation
Biden’s term started off promising as he removed the Houthis’ (a Yemeni Shia militant group) terrorist designation, easing the flow of international aid into Yemen. Biden also stated that he would end “offensive” aid to Saudi Arabia’s war in Yemen. He also committed his administration to ending the war outright and using diplomacy rather than military action to achieve that objective.
Biden’s peaceful stance towards Yemen did not last. While Biden ended “offensive” support for the war, he still gave Saudi Arabia “defensive” support. He did not push for the end of the Saudi blockade of Yemen, he did not halt all arms sales to Saudi Arabia, and he did not end the Civil War.
While he did not end Saudi Arabia’s attacks on Yemen, Biden substantially reduced U.S. strikes. He only struck Yemen four times in the first two and a half years of his term, a dramatic reduction compared to his predecessors. However imperfect Biden’s policies were regarding Yemen, it was an improvement of epic proportions compared to what the U.S. subjected Yemen to previously. Sadly, Joe Biden would inevitably continue the trend of American presidents unleashing destruction on Yemen.
Biden Attacks the Houthis for Israel
The Houthis took a stand against Israel’s genocidal retaliation against Hamas’s October 7 attacks. They have blockaded the Red Sea to stop international shipping to Israel’s southern port of Eilat. The blockade proved successful as Eilat Port declared bankruptcy in January 2024.
The Houthis have not only attacked ships from countries that directly support Israel, but also have given safe passage to ships of countries that have spoken in defence of Palestine, or against the Israeli genocide. This blockade has forced international shipping to reroute: going around Africa and the Cape of Good Hope, rather than through the Suez Canal and the Red Sea.
This forced change in shipping lanes has greatly increased the cost of global commerce. The Biden administration used that as a justification to begin bombing the Houthis in Yemen. While this may be partly true, it ignores the core reason behind Biden’s new bombing campaign.
The Houthis blockaded the Red Sea to stop the genocide, and Biden, as a self-proclaimed Zionist, could not let their resistance go unpunished. Biden’s bombing campaign consisted of at least 32 strikes, killing an estimated 105 people.
Trump Goes All in for Israel
When Trump returned to power on January 20th, 2025, he once again broke his anti-war campaign promises. He campaigned on ending the war in Yemen, stating, “It’s crazy. You can solve problems over the telephone. Instead, they start dropping bombs.”
A phone call would also allow the U.S. to understand the Houthis’ true motivations and operations. The Houthis have always been principled in their justification and implementation of their blockade. They paused it when the ceasefires were in effect, and restarted it when the genocide resumed.
Despite his dovish rhetoric and helping secure a Gaza ceasefire in January 2025, Trump resumed American bombing of Yemen. He continued this decades-long policy as the Houthis reimplemented their blockade in response to Israel accelerating the genocide in March. He did this because he is an imperialist and politically linked to Israel. The Israel lobby has donated a minimum of $230 million to Trump throughout his political career.
Trump Leaves the Door Open for Full-Scale War in Yemen
Trump has only escalated tensions with Yemen, even after his attacks have proven to be ineffective. The Houthis have remained steadfast in their blockade and have shot down 6 MQ-9 Reaper drones since Trump resumed bombing them on March 15, costing the U.S. an estimated $180 million in damages.
The U.S. attacked Yemen over 800 times from March 15 to May 6 at a cost of over $1 billion. These strikes are estimated to have killed more than 250 people. The Houthis’ strong resistance led Trump to consider sending in U.S. ground troops to initiate a full-scale war. Trump even praised them, saying, “They showed bravery.”
Trump’s praise also comes as a recognition that the mission was a failure. The brutality and extent of the mission depleted stocks of critical advanced munitions. The Houthis remain committed to retaliating against Israel and its genocide, which the ceasefire does not mention. The ceasefire also omits any reference to the Houthis attacking non-American vessels. Trump failed to extract any meaningful concessions from the Houthis.
This omission is also Trump admitting failure because he paralleled Biden’s justification by claiming that the Houthis were a “band of pirates” attacking “commercial vessels.” They both targeted Yemen to allow Israel to continue its genocide. Israel even bombed Yemen after Trump’s ceasefire went into effect.
The ceasefire also has many other flaws. It doesn’t include a timeline or have any assurances, other than Trump saying he “will take [the Houthis’] word.” This ceasefire is likely a continuation of the pattern of past presidents using ceasefires as pauses to rearm and find a reason to restart hostilities. Trump also kept the Houthis on the terror list. Trump is keeping the door wide open to re-escalating with the Houthis and Yemen, and potentially sending young Americans to their deaths for Israel to achieve its final solution.
Edited by Khushi Mehta
