Trump Orders Pentagon to Prepare Direct Strikes on Houthis After MBS Call, Then Cancels at Last Minute

After resisting advisers' calls for military action earlier in the week, President Trump ordered the Pentagon to prepare airstrikes on Houthi targets following a phone call with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman renewing Saudi Arabia's appeal for direct US intervention. US commanders approved target lists and personnel began loading munitions onto aircraft before Trump reversed course at the last minute — before combat sorties launched — and administration officials said there would be no US strikes for now. Trump said Washington maintains direct channels with the Houthis and that the group had agreed not to engage US forces. Houthi political bureau member Mohamed al-Bukhaiti confirmed indirect contacts brokered through longtime mediator Oman, saying "we confirmed that we are not targeting the United States, or any other nation, in the strait, with the sole exception of the Saudi enemy." The episode shows Riyadh again seeking direct bilateral US intervention rather than activating the Mecca pact's own trilateral machinery — Pakistan and Turkey were not party to the strike deliberations and neither has offered combat forces.