On April 4, 2025, President Donald J. Trump posted a message on his Truth Social platform and X, stating: “These Houthis gathered for instructions on an attack. Oops, there will be no attack by these Houthis! They will never sink our ships again!” Accompanying the post was a black-and-white video that appears to be drone or surveillance footage.
“These Houthis gathered for instructions on an attack. Oops, there will be no attack by these Houthis!
They will never sink our ships again!” –President Donald J. Trump 🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/1RU6XQPDXI
— The White House (@WhiteHouse) April 4, 2025
The video shows a group of people gathered in a circle on a road in Yemen. Suddenly, an explosion occurs, smoke rises, and a crater forms, suggesting it was a U.S. airstrike targeting Houthi fighters.
This event is part of a broader U.S. military campaign that began in mid-March 2025, aimed at stopping Houthi attacks on ships in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden. The Houthis, an Iran-backed rebel group in Yemen, have been targeting commercial and military vessels, claiming it’s in solidarity with Palestinians amid the Gaza crisis.
Between November 2023 and January 2025, they attacked over 100 merchant ships with missiles and drones, sinking at least two vessels and killing four sailors. In response, the U.S. has conducted more than 200 strikes since March 15, 2025, with Trump asserting that these actions have “decimated” the Houthis’ capabilities.