>Donald Trump’s reluctance to join Saudi Arabia’s conflict with Houthi rebels in Yemen has added new strain to Washington’s relationship with Riyadh, one already shaken by the US’s conduct of its war with Iran.
>Under pressure due to high petrol prices and the unpopularity of the conflict with Tehran, the US president has so far resisted new military action to help [Saudi Arabia](https://www.ft.com/saudi-arabia)’s effort to quash the Houthi offensive and its attacks on the kingdom’s infrastructure.
>But Trump’s hesitation risks tensions with Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, amplifying doubts about Washington’s reliability as Riyadh’s prime defence partner.
>“The US is wavering, and ultimately its decision, at least for now, not to join the Saudis is simply injecting more tension into the bilateral relationship,” said Mona Yacoubian, director of the Middle East Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington. “It’s raising further concerns for the Saudis about what role they can rely on the US to play.”
>“MBS will not forget this,” said retired Lieutenant General Karen Gibson, former director of intelligence at US Central Command, adding that the administration’s hesitation demonstrates that the “United States will not necessarily fight when Saudi Arabia believes its vital interests are threatened”.
>In recent discussions, Saudi Arabia asked the US to launch air strikes against the Iran-backed Houthis that were not just a one-off, according to a person familiar with the matter, but Washington responded that it would not participate. The White House did not respond to a request for comment.
>The friction between the US and Saudi Arabia over joint action against the Houthis marks a new chapter in the sometimes volatile relationship between Trump and MBS, which has veered from moments of effusive mutual praise to friction.
>Trump singled out Prince Mohammed during a speech at a Saudi-hosted investment conference in Miami in March. Initially, he praised the Saudi royal, describing him as a “great friend”, “winner” and “warrior”.
>But 20 minutes later, Trump said Prince Mohammed “didn’t think he would be kissing my ass”, in an example of crude and unpredictable behaviour by the US president.
>During the war with [Iran](https://www.ft.com/iran), Saudi Arabia has suffered multiple attacks on infrastructure from Iranian retaliatory strikes, as well as the economic fallout from the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, the strategic waterway in and out of the Gulf.
>In May, Trump abruptly halted a US military plan to guide commercial ships through the strait after Saudi Arabia told Washington it would not allow American warplanes to use its bases or airspace in the operation. Riyadh was worried the operation was poorly planned and would lead to bigger attacks on the Gulf.
>The Houthis then drew Riyadh back into a conflict it had long sought to extract itself from after declaring a blockade on Saudi Arabia’s ports in July, attacking tankers and firing missiles and drones at the kingdom.
>Over the past two weeks, the rebels have escalated their attacks, targeting Saudi oil facilities in the kingdom’s south and launching a lightning offensive along Yemen’s Red Sea coast, pushing back Saudi-supported factions aligned to the Yemeni government and strengthening their control over the Bab al-Mandeb Strait, a vital waterway for international shipping.
>Over the weekend, the Houthis fired a ballistic missile at Riyadh, the Saudi capital, for the first time since resuming the conflict. Prince Mohammed, who, like other Gulf leaders, had cautioned Trump against going to war with Iran, is now battling to contain a crisis that threatens to undermine his ambitious plans to develop his nation into a regional finance, trade and tourism hub.
>While the US launched military campaigns against the Houthis under both Trump and Joe Biden in response to the militants’ attacks on commercial vessels in the Red Sea, the Trump administration is now grappling with stretched resources and depleted munitions stockpiles, in addition to the political fallout from the turmoil in the Middle East.
>Liz Dent, a senior fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, said: “It would be really difficult for [Trump] to get involved in yet another front of this war” ahead of the US midterm elections in November.
>But she said it was “very possible that [MBS] is slowly reducing the ask and that Trump will at some point see something that is politically feasible for him”.
>“There’s a lot more going on behind the scenes that’s keeping that relationship intact,” said Dent, who previously served as director for the Gulf and Arabian Peninsula in the Office of the Secretary of Defense.
>While the US is not directly intervening militarily to support Saudi Arabia’s operations against the Houthis, it is still providing it with weapons and intelligence, limiting the fallout for the relationship. Saudi Arabia also has US air-defence systems. Just last week, the Trump administration approved a potential $24.3bn sale of F-35 fighter jets to Saudi Arabia, though delivery will take years.
>“There is a certain amount of frustration, but there’s also a recognition that’s the way [Trump] is,” said one Saudi analyst who declined to be named. “Saudi Arabia has all the capacity to bomb everything, and the US is giving us targeting information we need.”
>The participation of US planes nonetheless “could have been symbolic in the early days [of the war] and a boost to the morale of the Yemeni fighters”, the analyst said.
>Asaad al-Shamlan, at the Prince Saud al-Faisal Institute for Diplomatic Studies, said ties between Riyadh and Washington were still “in a very good state”. But whereas in the US and Europe the Houthis are seen “primarily” as a Saudi problem, in Riyadh they are viewed more as an “international challenge”.
>“The tensions between these two framings can explain many things about the Saudis wanting others to step up and the reluctance of others to get involved,” he said.
>After the Houthis shattered their four-year truce with Saudi Arabia, the Trump administration has held talks with the rebel group that were facilitated by Oman. A rebel official told the Associated Press that the group was targeting only Saudi vessels and would not attack US or other international ships. Trump also insisted that the Houthis agreed not to hit US targets.
>But Yacoubian said that it “does not instil a lot of confidence in the partnership” if Saudi Arabia “is going to be left out on their own because US assets are not currently threatened by this Houthi onslaught”.
>Firas Maksad, managing director of Middle East and North Africa at Eurasia Group, said that “tension is inevitable” as Washington steps back from its historic role as the Gulf’s lead security partner.
>“The space it leaves behind will create opportunities for strategic competitors,” he said. “Riyadh has been diversifying its security partners while attempting an uneasy accommodation with Tehran. The tension in its relationship with Washington could accelerate that process.”
StayOffPoliticalSubs on
Fucked situation, but I’m hard pressed to feel any scrap of sympathy for the House of Saud.
Lux_Stella on
>”the guy who screws over all his friends screwed me over???”
4 Comments
>Donald Trump’s reluctance to join Saudi Arabia’s conflict with Houthi rebels in Yemen has added new strain to Washington’s relationship with Riyadh, one already shaken by the US’s conduct of its war with Iran.
>Under pressure due to high petrol prices and the unpopularity of the conflict with Tehran, the US president has so far resisted new military action to help [Saudi Arabia](https://www.ft.com/saudi-arabia)’s effort to quash the Houthi offensive and its attacks on the kingdom’s infrastructure.
>But Trump’s hesitation risks tensions with Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, amplifying doubts about Washington’s reliability as Riyadh’s prime defence partner.
>“The US is wavering, and ultimately its decision, at least for now, not to join the Saudis is simply injecting more tension into the bilateral relationship,” said Mona Yacoubian, director of the Middle East Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington. “It’s raising further concerns for the Saudis about what role they can rely on the US to play.”
>“MBS will not forget this,” said retired Lieutenant General Karen Gibson, former director of intelligence at US Central Command, adding that the administration’s hesitation demonstrates that the “United States will not necessarily fight when Saudi Arabia believes its vital interests are threatened”.
>In recent discussions, Saudi Arabia asked the US to launch air strikes against the Iran-backed Houthis that were not just a one-off, according to a person familiar with the matter, but Washington responded that it would not participate. The White House did not respond to a request for comment.
>The friction between the US and Saudi Arabia over joint action against the Houthis marks a new chapter in the sometimes volatile relationship between Trump and MBS, which has veered from moments of effusive mutual praise to friction.
>Trump singled out Prince Mohammed during a speech at a Saudi-hosted investment conference in Miami in March. Initially, he praised the Saudi royal, describing him as a “great friend”, “winner” and “warrior”.
>But 20 minutes later, Trump said Prince Mohammed “didn’t think he would be kissing my ass”, in an example of crude and unpredictable behaviour by the US president.
>During the war with [Iran](https://www.ft.com/iran), Saudi Arabia has suffered multiple attacks on infrastructure from Iranian retaliatory strikes, as well as the economic fallout from the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, the strategic waterway in and out of the Gulf.
>In May, Trump abruptly halted a US military plan to guide commercial ships through the strait after Saudi Arabia told Washington it would not allow American warplanes to use its bases or airspace in the operation. Riyadh was worried the operation was poorly planned and would lead to bigger attacks on the Gulf.
>The Houthis then drew Riyadh back into a conflict it had long sought to extract itself from after declaring a blockade on Saudi Arabia’s ports in July, attacking tankers and firing missiles and drones at the kingdom.
>Over the past two weeks, the rebels have escalated their attacks, targeting Saudi oil facilities in the kingdom’s south and launching a lightning offensive along Yemen’s Red Sea coast, pushing back Saudi-supported factions aligned to the Yemeni government and strengthening their control over the Bab al-Mandeb Strait, a vital waterway for international shipping.
>Over the weekend, the Houthis fired a ballistic missile at Riyadh, the Saudi capital, for the first time since resuming the conflict. Prince Mohammed, who, like other Gulf leaders, had cautioned Trump against going to war with Iran, is now battling to contain a crisis that threatens to undermine his ambitious plans to develop his nation into a regional finance, trade and tourism hub.
>While the US launched military campaigns against the Houthis under both Trump and Joe Biden in response to the militants’ attacks on commercial vessels in the Red Sea, the Trump administration is now grappling with stretched resources and depleted munitions stockpiles, in addition to the political fallout from the turmoil in the Middle East.
>Liz Dent, a senior fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, said: “It would be really difficult for [Trump] to get involved in yet another front of this war” ahead of the US midterm elections in November.
>But she said it was “very possible that [MBS] is slowly reducing the ask and that Trump will at some point see something that is politically feasible for him”.
>“There’s a lot more going on behind the scenes that’s keeping that relationship intact,” said Dent, who previously served as director for the Gulf and Arabian Peninsula in the Office of the Secretary of Defense.
>While the US is not directly intervening militarily to support Saudi Arabia’s operations against the Houthis, it is still providing it with weapons and intelligence, limiting the fallout for the relationship. Saudi Arabia also has US air-defence systems. Just last week, the Trump administration approved a potential $24.3bn sale of F-35 fighter jets to Saudi Arabia, though delivery will take years.
>“There is a certain amount of frustration, but there’s also a recognition that’s the way [Trump] is,” said one Saudi analyst who declined to be named. “Saudi Arabia has all the capacity to bomb everything, and the US is giving us targeting information we need.”
>The participation of US planes nonetheless “could have been symbolic in the early days [of the war] and a boost to the morale of the Yemeni fighters”, the analyst said.
>Asaad al-Shamlan, at the Prince Saud al-Faisal Institute for Diplomatic Studies, said ties between Riyadh and Washington were still “in a very good state”. But whereas in the US and Europe the Houthis are seen “primarily” as a Saudi problem, in Riyadh they are viewed more as an “international challenge”.
>“The tensions between these two framings can explain many things about the Saudis wanting others to step up and the reluctance of others to get involved,” he said.
>After the Houthis shattered their four-year truce with Saudi Arabia, the Trump administration has held talks with the rebel group that were facilitated by Oman. A rebel official told the Associated Press that the group was targeting only Saudi vessels and would not attack US or other international ships. Trump also insisted that the Houthis agreed not to hit US targets.
>But Yacoubian said that it “does not instil a lot of confidence in the partnership” if Saudi Arabia “is going to be left out on their own because US assets are not currently threatened by this Houthi onslaught”.
>Firas Maksad, managing director of Middle East and North Africa at Eurasia Group, said that “tension is inevitable” as Washington steps back from its historic role as the Gulf’s lead security partner.
>“The space it leaves behind will create opportunities for strategic competitors,” he said. “Riyadh has been diversifying its security partners while attempting an uneasy accommodation with Tehran. The tension in its relationship with Washington could accelerate that process.”
Fucked situation, but I’m hard pressed to feel any scrap of sympathy for the House of Saud.
>”the guy who screws over all his friends screwed me over???”
Oh no.
Anyway