Trump to relist Yemen’s Houthis as ‘terrorist’ organisation

U.S. President Donald Trump has initiated a process to redesignate Yemen's Houthi rebels as a "foreign terrorist organization," a move confirmed by the White House. Trump's executive order, signed on Wednesday, directs Secretary of State Marco Rubio to submit a report within 30 days regarding this designation, following consultations with the Director of National Intelligence and the Secretary of the Treasury.

Rubio will then have 15 days to "take all appropriate action" regarding the designation of the rebel group, also known as Ansar Allah. Trump's order to review the Houthi's status is essentially a formality, as a subsequent White House statement confirmed that Rubio, during his time as a senator, had called for the redesignation and was instructed to put forward the listing proposal.

In the final days of his first term, Trump had designated the Yemeni group as both a "foreign terrorist organization" and a "specially designated global terrorist" (SDGT) entity. Former U.S. President Joe Biden's administration revoked Trump's designation just weeks after taking office, with then-Secretary of State Antony Blinken citing "recognition of the dire humanitarian situation in Yemen" as the reason.

The Biden administration reinstated the SDGT designation—the narrower of the two classifications—last January in response to the rebel group's repeated attacks on commercial shipping in the Red Sea. The White House stated that Biden's "weak policies" had led to the Houthis firing on U.S. Navy warships dozens of times, attacking commercial vessels over 100 times, and striking civilian infrastructure in partner countries.

The White House stated, "Under President Trump’s policy, it is now the policy of the United States to work with regional partners to eliminate the Houthis’ capabilities and operations, and deprive them of resources, thereby ending their attacks on American personnel and citizens, American partners, and shipping in the Red Sea." Trump's order also directs the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) to "terminate relationships with entities that pay the group or oppose action against it, while turning a blind eye to its 'terrorism and abuse.'"

Trump's order was issued hours after the Houthis announced the release of the crew of the Galaxy Leader cargo ship, which was seized by the Iran-aligned group shortly after the start of Israel's war in Gaza. The group's Supreme Political Council said they had released the 25 crew members as part of their support for the ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas that began on Sunday.