Trump Reverses Course on Global Threats as Conflicts Escalate

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Why did Donald Trump back away from a promised strike against the Houthis?

Ben Meiselas 0:00
Donald Trump just caved to the Houthis and threw MBS, the crown prince of Saudi Arabia, under the bus. Donald Trump also did a hat trick of caving. Not only did he cave to the Houthis as they stared him down, Donald Trump caved to Iran, Donald Trump caved to China, And then Donald Trump tried to threaten President Zelensky of Ukraine and told him, do not strike any more refineries in Russia. And Zelensky said, as long as Putin keeps striking infrastructure in Ukraine, I'm going to strike inside Russia. And so Zelensky struck the main refinery in Moscow, completely disabling it. Donald Trump showing the entire world how weak he is. So according to exclusive New York Times reporting that dropped last night, Donald Trump promised MBS, the crown prince of Saudi Arabia, that the United States would join with Saudi Arabia and strike the Houthis in Sana'a and other Houthi, or Ansarallah as they're called in the region, strongholds,
Ben Meiselas 1:00
In Yemen, as you know, Ansarallah, the Houthis, have taken control of all of western Yemen. They took control of Mocha. They took control of the Bab al-Mandab Strait. They're now moving east towards Aden, moving east towards other areas where Saudi Arabia's PLC-backed proxies have limited control, but they're on the retreat. As you also know, Ansarallah, the Houthis, responded to Saudi strikes on the air base in Sana'a and other strikes inside Houthi areas. And the Houthis hit the Saudi Arabian east-west pipeline really hard. They hit refineries and storage facilities in Saudi Arabia really hard. And so apparently MBS once again was basically begging Trump, hey, we did all these quid pro quo deals. Look what we did for you.
Ben Meiselas 1:48
You got to join us. And so Trump gave MBS his word at the end of last week that the US would be joining Saudi Arabia and doing these strikes against the Houthis. And then the US military was preparing to do these strikes. And then at the last minute, Donald Trump said, nope, we are not doing the strikes. Donald Trump backed out. MBS was left all alone. The strikes did not take place. A lot of the military activity we saw in the region, some of those embassy evacuations that we saw were apparently tied to Donald Trump's promise to MBS. And then Donald Trump told MBS at the end, I'm not going to do it. Trump returned. from Camp David on Saturday, cutting his trip to Camp David short. Trump then went to his golf course in Virginia and started playing golf there and he had like a club tournament over there.
Ben Meiselas 2:40
Let's take a look at what the New York Times is reporting here. Then I want to talk about Iran. Then I want to talk about China. Then I want to talk about Ukraine. But let's talk about this New York Times reporting. So Donald Trump wavered for weeks over Saudi appeals to help in fighting the Houthis. Things came to a head on Thursday, end of last week, where... The crown prince, MBS, the kingdom's de facto leader, a major ally in the Iran war, right? He allowed Trump to use those bases in Saudi Arabia, which were subsequently hit very hard by Iran. Remember the E3 AWAC that was destroyed? The Trump regime tried to cover it up. Remember those photos? that recently came out and actually came out a few months back when the strikes took place.
Ben Meiselas 3:24
But in any event, MBS called Donald Trump up, implored him again, step up, we need your help. The Houthis are striking our oil facilities. They struck the east-west pipeline. The power stations are down. We need your help.

What caused Trump to reverse his stance on Saudi‑backed operations in Yemen?

Ben Meiselas 3:38
Donald Trump met with advisors just the day before and told them he did not favor strikes. But after speaking with MBS, he reversed himself. He told the Pentagon, prepare for strikes. We're going after the Houthis. But by midday Sunday, Donald Trump appeared to reverse himself again. It actually took place on Saturday from what I'm hearing from sources. But officially on Sunday, he reversed himself again. There would be no US airstrikes against the Houthis. at least not for the time being, according to administration officials. The White House press office declined to discuss Trump's deliberations for the record.

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