Pentagon officials promise a resurging fight with the Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen won’t turn into an endless war. But it’s already getting more complicated.
The Trump administration is pledging to go after Houthi fighters until they end their attacks on commercial shipping in the Red Sea. And yet its days-old bombing campaign is running up against America’s political and industrial limits, including limited precision weapons stockpiles, a broader regional crisis and a terror group unlikely to back down — even in a fight against a military superpower.
“The Houthis can determine when this ends, and until then, the campaign will be unrelenting,” Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell told reporters. “All options are on the table.”
American warplanes and ships have hit more than 30 targets in Yemen since Saturday, targeting Houthi leaders and missile storage facilities in what President Donald Trump called an “overwhelming” effort that will last “until we have achieved our objective.”
He also warned that every “shot fired by the Houthis” would be considered an attack by Iran and met with “dire” consequences.
The Houthis already have survived dozens of air and missile strikes by the Biden administration. And while the White House insists this will change under Trump’s leadership, U.S. officials also must contend with worsening tensions in the Middle East, including the potential for renewed fighting between Israel and Hamas in Gaza. Israel carried out its biggest assault on the territory Tuesday since a January ceasefire, although Hamas has yet to retaliate.
“Leave it up to the Houthis, they’ll fight up until the very last member of their movement,” said Bilal Saab, a former defense official under the first Trump administration. “They don’t give a damn. They welcome that fight with the United States.”
Any sustained American campaign against the Houthis will look different from the Biden-era bombing campaign, in both the scale and the intensity.
The Biden administration, in strikes during 2023 and 2024, coordinated with the French and British as part of a wider coalition. The Trump administration doesn’t appear interested in putting a team back together.
“An important and missing element this time around is the multinational one,” said Dana Stroul, the Pentagon’s top Middle East official under the Biden administration.
An EU maritime security mission led by Italy is proceeding in the Red Sea, and a broader American-led mission dubbed Prosperity Guardian continues to escort commercial shipping. But the new bombing campaign is the U.S. acting alone.
The Defense Department on Tuesday highlighted its solo effort. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth spoke with Qatari Defense Minister Sheikh Saoud Al Thani, according to the Pentagon, “to discuss U.S. operations to eliminate the Houthi threat to American commerce and restore American freedom of navigation.”
A bombing campaign could also strain U.S. weapons supply, which is already struggling to keep up with three years worth of shipments to Ukraine, previous efforts against the Houthis, missiles for Israeli offensives in Gaza, and defenses against Iranian attacks.
“We know that the defense industry isn’t keeping up with the rate of expenditure either by the U.S. military or to support its allies and partners like Ukraine and Israel,” Stroul said.
The U.S. launched more than 800 missiles during its 2024 bombing campaign against the Houthis in Yemen, including 135 Tomahawk land attack missiles that cost as much as $2 million apiece, along with 155 standard missiles from U.S. warships, which cost between $2 million and $4 million per missile.
Parnell, the Pentagon spokesperson, insisted the latest effort “is not an endless offensive. This is not about regime change.”
But officials and former military officers also warned that strikes this time will do more damage.
“The last administration lived in thrall of escalation, and they self-limited everything they needed to do,” said Kenneth McKenzie, a retired Marine general who led the U.S. Central Command under Trump and President Joe Biden from 2019 until 2022. “These targets are broader and deeper than what the Biden administration chose to strike.”
While a long-term mission could overextend the Pentagon and turn its attention away from deterring China, McKenzie said it would also ensure navigation through one of the world’s most heavily-trafficked waterways.
“There’s a risk,” he said, “but I think there’s a greater risk of taking no action.”
A change in protocol could also prolong the fight. Trump, unlike under Biden, is allowing commanders in the region to determine when and where to launch strikes — rather than the president.
Vice Adm. Karl Thomas, the Navy’s intelligence chief, said Tuesday that the U.S. took a “pretty good offensive swipe” at the Yemen-based group. “We’ll see how far they want to go.”
Iran’s role — and the extent to which it’s controlling the Houthis — will also influence how long the fighting lasts.
“The audience is Iran,” said Saab, the former defense official. “It does beg the question whether Iranians have that kind of influence over the Houthis to tell them to calm down.”
Connor O’Brien contributed to this report.
