Trump considers joining Saudi fight against Iran-backed Houthis

President Donald Trump said he plans to join Saudi Arabia in its retaliation against the Tehran-backed Houthis in Yemen after a deadly attack on Riyadh’s main airport, a move that could drag the United States into a second front in Iran’s war.

“It’s possible. We’ll think about it,” Trump told reporters outside the White House on Saturday when asked whether the United States would support the Saudi strikes. “We have just learned of the recent attack. So we will make a decision. We are acting very quickly.”

Two Saudi government officials told MS NOW that the kingdom is requesting “urgent defense support” from the United States following the attacks.

The officials, including a senior Foreign Ministry official, did not wish to be identified due to the sensitivity of the matter. They added that the United States must intervene “as soon as possible” to help the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen fight the Houthis.

The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment from CNBC.

Saudi Arabia’s General Authority of Civil Aviation said the attack on Riyadh’s King Khalid International Airport killed 12 people and injured 309 others, state media Saudi Gazette reported.

Colonel Turki Al-Maliki, spokesman for the Saudi Coalition to Support Legitimacy in Yemen, which is leading the fight against the Houthis, called the attack a “war crime”.

“Therefore, the Coalition Joint Forces Command will respond decisively to this terrorist attack in accordance with customary international humanitarian law,” Al-Maliki said in a message on X.

This is the second deadly attack on Riyadh airport in less than a week.

Three Saudi nationals, including a pilot, were killed Thursday in attacks on the facility by Iran-backed Houthi militants.

After Saturday’s attack, the Houthis renewed their warning against using Saudi airports.

“We renew our warning to all airlines, experts, employees, workers and travelers against using Saudi airports and airspace, as they are vulnerable to attacks and have become a theater of operations for our forces, with the exception of the airports of (the holy cities of) Mecca and Medina,” the Houthis said in a message on X.

Saudi Arabia, a key U.S. ally in the Middle East, intervened in Yemen’s civil war between the Houthis and its internationally recognized government after the group seized the Yemeni capital Sanaa in 2014.

Last month, the Trump administration approved the potential sale of nearly 50 F-35 warplanes to Saudi Arabia for $24.3 billion, in what was seen as a major boost for the kingdom as it faces intensifying Houthi attacks. The sale is under congressional review.

The Saudi Energy Ministry said a long-planned international energy conference would still take place on Sunday in Riyadh, Reuters reported.

The five-day WPC Energy conference takes place at a convention center near King Khalid Airport. State television told Reuters that more than 70 ministers, 300 business leaders and representatives from more than 25 international energy organizations had confirmed their attendance, although it was unclear whether participants would attend in person or virtually.

Reuters said a ministerial meeting of the International Energy Forum is also expected to take place, with a plenary session to be held behind closed doors.

In addition to attacks on civil aviation, the Houthis have also attempted to prevent oil tanker traffic in the Bab el Mandeb Strait, a key entry point to the Red Sea, as Iran has effectively done in the Strait of Hormuz, in the north of the Arabian Peninsula.

Earlier this month, Yemeni government forces said they had recaptured the strategic port city of Mokha from the Houthis.

Energy prices have soared since the start of the war in Iran, which began with U.S. and Israeli airstrikes on Iranian targets on Feb. 28, putting pressure on consumers around the world.

Soaring domestic fuel prices are a major issue for voters ahead of the U.S. midterm elections next month.

But this support would be expensive on a military level.

“Potential U.S. involvement in the Saudi-Yemeni government’s air campaign to degrade the Houthis’ ballistic missile capabilities would mark the first direct U.S. military action against the group since the conclusion of Operation Rough Rider in May 2025,” according to the Critical Threats Project, part of the American Enterprise Institute think tank.

The offensive aimed to suppress the Houthis’ capabilities, but recent attacks show the group has regrouped.

“After seven months of war, questions arise about the United States’ ability to wage a sustained campaign against the Houthis, resume fighting against Iran if necessary, and prepare for contingencies in other parts of the world, notably East Asia,” Steven Cook, an expert on Arab and Turkish politics at the Council on Foreign Relations think tank, wrote last month.

Meanwhile, the UK Defense Secretary said his government was also exploring ways to support Saudi Arabia.

“I have spoken to my Saudi counterpart (Khalid bin Salman) several times in recent weeks to see what more we can do to support Saudi Arabia, and I fear that last night explained precisely why we are providing this support,” Wes Streeting said in an interview on BBC television on Sunday.

Streeting said the UK was not getting involved in offensive operations “at this stage”.

“We have always been clear that there is no military solution to this conflict,” Streeting added.