March 17th, 2025: Trump Unleashes Hell On The Houthis & ISIS Commander Eliminated In Iraq
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What airstrikes did the U.S. launch against the Houthis?
It's Monday, the 17th of March. Welcome to the President's Daily Brief. I'm Mike Baker, your eyes and ears on the world stage. All right, let's get briefed. First up, the U.S. launched airstrikes against the Houthis in Yemen this weekend, just days after the group vowed to resume attacks on commercial ships in the Red Sea.
What was the impact of the U.S. strikes on the Houthis?
We'll break down the results of those strikes and how the Houthis are responding. Later in the show, the Trump administration clearly had a busy weekend on the national security front. A joint U.S.-Iraqi operation took out a senior Islamic State leader, one responsible for funding and planning global terror operations. Plus, after seven months, it looks like Ukraine's invasion of Russia's Kursk region is coming to an end. And in today's back of the brief, negotiations to secure American hostages in Gaza have stalled. Hamas is refusing to release one captive and the bodies of four others unless Israel implements its ceasefire agreement. But first, today's PDB Spotlight.
How has President Trump responded to the Houthi attacks?
President Trump has unleashed the largest U.S. military operation in the Middle East since taking office, hitting the Houthi militants of Yemen and sending a blunt warning to their financial and military backers in Iran. On Saturday, just days after the Houthis vowed to resume attacks on Israeli vessels, President Trump ordered a series of decisive airstrikes targeting the group and promised more to follow until they permanently cease their attacks on commercial and military ships in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden. That's according to a report from Reuters. The strikes hit a Houthi stronghold in the capital city of Sana'a, several Houthi military sites in the southwest city of Taiz, and a power station critical to the group's operations in Yemen's northwest. The bombardment left at least 31 dead and more than 100 injured, according to local reports, even though those figures can't yet be independently verified.
White House National Security Advisor Mike Waltz said Sunday that the operation took out multiple leaders of the Iranian-backed terror group, calling it a, quote, overwhelming response, as opposed to what he described as the feckless reaction of the Biden administration to the Houthis' provocations over the past 16 months. Trump announced the action in a post on Truth Social, where else would you announce the action, where he criticized his predecessor's, quote, pathetically weak response to the Houthi attacks, noting that it's been more than a year since a U.S. flagged commercial ship was able to safely traverse Mideast waters. Trump said, quote, the Houthi attacks on American vessels will not be tolerated.
We will use overwhelming lethal force until we have achieved our objective, end quote. He added a direct warning to the Houthi militants, saying, "...your time is up and your attacks must stop starting today. If they don't, hell will rain down upon you like nothing you have ever seen before." Now, despite the threat, Houthi leadership issued a typically defiant response. A spokesman with the group's political bureau called the U.S. strikes a, quote, war crime, claiming they mostly killed women and children and vowed to continue attacks on commercial and military vessels until the blockade on aid coming into Gaza is lifted. In a statement, the Houthis said, quote, our Yemeni armed forces are fully prepared to respond to escalation with escalation, end quote.
As a reminder, since Hamas launched its terror attacks on Israel back on 7 October 2023, the Houthis have carried out at least 145 attacks on commercial vessels and 174 attacks on U.S. military ships in the Red Sea and Suez Canal area, one of the world's most vital maritime corridors, of course. Their attacks have rattled global trade, driving up shipping costs and disrupting critical supply chains across the world. Some 70% of global trade traffic is now diverting around South Africa to avoid Houthi attacks near the Suez Canal. The Houthis are the last Iranian proxy group of any real capability left in the Islamic regime's axis of resistance, after Israel laid waste, of course, to the leadership of Hezbollah in Lebanon and Hamas in Gaza last year.
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Chapters
5 chapters
1
What airstrikes did the U.S. launch against the Houthis?
0:12–0:33
2
What was the impact of the U.S. strikes on the Houthis?
0:33–1:19
3
How has President Trump responded to the Houthi attacks?
1:19–8:04
4
What is the significance of the ISIS leader eliminated in Iraq?
8:04–8:59
5
What challenges does Ukraine face in the Kursk region?
8:59–18:41
Speakers
1 identifiedMore from The President's Daily Brief
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