ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — Jessie Holmes, a former reality television star, won the longest-ever Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race on Friday, celebrating with fist pumps to a cheering crowd and posing for photos with his two floral wreath-adorned head teammates, Hercules and Polar.
Holmes was first to the finish line in the Gold Rush town of Nome, on the Bering Sea coast. The race began March 3 in Fairbanks after a lack of snow forced changes to the route and starting point.
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A former reality TV star and his team won the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race Friday. (AP Graphic)
Jessie Holmes celebrates after winning the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race early Friday morning, March 14, 2025 in Nome. (Loren Holme/Anchorage Daily News via AP)
Jessie Holmes mushes down Front Street on his way to winning the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race early Friday morning, March 14, 2025 in Nome. (Loren Holme/Anchorage Daily News via AP)
Jessie Holmes hugs his lead dogs Polar, left, and Hercules after winning the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race early Friday morning, March 14, 2025 in Nome. (Loren Holme/Anchorage Daily News via AP)
FILE - Matt Hall (4), of Two Rivers, Alaska, mushes down Fourth Street during the Ceremonial Start of the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race in Anchorage, Alaska., Saturday, March 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Amanda Loman, File)
FILE - Jessie Holmes (15), of Alabama, mushes down Fourth Street during the Ceremonial Start of the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race in Anchorage, Alaska., Saturday, March 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Amanda Loman, File)
That made the normally 1,000-mile (1,609-kilometer) race a staggering 1,128 miles (1,815 kilometers) across the Alaska wilderness. Holmes finished in 10 days, 14 hours, 55 minutes and 41 seconds.
“It’s hard to put into words, but it’s a magical feeling," Holmes said shortly after crossing the finish line. “It’s not about this moment now. It’s about all those moments along the trail.”
He will take home $57,200 for winning the race, along with awards including $4,500 worth of gold nuggets and 25 pounds of fresh salmon for finishing first in earlier stages.
Holmes, who was competing for the eighth time, previously finished in the top 10 five times, including third last year and in 2022. In his first Iditarod, in 2018, his seventh-place finish earned him Rookie of the Year honors.
Matt Hall, who was born in Eagle, a tiny community on the Yukon River in eastern Alaska and began mushing at age 2, crossed the finish line three hours after Holmes to take second place. His parents owned an expedition company, and he grew up with sled dogs and guiding weeklong trips for clients.
With ice-encrusted eyelashes, Hall laughed as he described this year's grueling longer distance as “too long.”
Paige Drobny finished third, becoming the first woman on the podium since Jessie Royer placed third in 2020. It was Drobny's 10th attempt in the race.
Drobny lives in Cantwell, Alaska, with her husband and fellow long-distance musher Cody Strathe where they raise sled dogs at Squid Acres Kennel. The name comes from her master’s thesis on squid in the Bering Sea.
Holmes, who was born and raised in Alabama, left at age 18 and worked as a carpenter in Montana for three years. He arrived in Alaska in 2004 and found adventure running dogs on a remote location of the Yukon River.
“It’s been a truly amazing 10 days and I soaked in every part of it — the lows, the highs, the in-betweens. ... I’m really proud of these dogs and I love them. And they did it. They deserve all the credit," Holmes said.
He gave a special salute to his two lead canines, Hercules, his half-sprint dog, and Polar, saying, “He's the brains behind the operation.”
Holmes now lives in Nenana, where he works as a carpenter and lives a subsistence lifestyle. From 2015 through 2023, he was a cast member of “Life Below Zero,” a National Geographic program that documents the struggles of Alaskans living in remote parts of the state.
Besides the lack of snow north of the Alaska Range that forced the change of starting point to Fairbanks, race organizers also had to make changes to the ceremonial start in Anchorage.
With snow trucked in to cover streets in the state’s largest city, the usual parade route there was shortened from 11 miles to under 2 miles (from about 18 kilometers to under 3.2 kilometers), and the number of dogs was reduced.
It was the fourth time in this century that the race was forced north from the Anchorage area because of a lack of snow.
Only 33 mushers started in Fairbanks, tied with 2023 for the smallest field ever. The drop in participants has raised concerns about the viability of the race, which has had to contend with inflation, climate change and pressure from animal rights groups.
One dog died in this year’s Iditarod: a pregnant female on the team of musher Daniel Klein, who under race rules scratched due to the death.
Nearly a third of the mushers quit early, including eight who scratched and two who were withdrawn for not being competitive.
This year’s Iditarod run paid tribute to another famous mushing event, the 1925 Serum Run, in which sled dog teams saved Nome from a deadly diphtheria outbreak.
Bohrer reported from Juneau, Alaska.
This story has been corrected to show the race distance this year was 1,128 miles (1,815 kilometers), not 1,129 (1,817 kilometers).
A former reality TV star and his team won the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race Friday. (AP Graphic)
Jessie Holmes celebrates after winning the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race early Friday morning, March 14, 2025 in Nome. (Loren Holme/Anchorage Daily News via AP)
Jessie Holmes mushes down Front Street on his way to winning the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race early Friday morning, March 14, 2025 in Nome. (Loren Holme/Anchorage Daily News via AP)
Jessie Holmes hugs his lead dogs Polar, left, and Hercules after winning the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race early Friday morning, March 14, 2025 in Nome. (Loren Holme/Anchorage Daily News via AP)
FILE - Matt Hall (4), of Two Rivers, Alaska, mushes down Fourth Street during the Ceremonial Start of the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race in Anchorage, Alaska., Saturday, March 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Amanda Loman, File)
FILE - Jessie Holmes (15), of Alabama, mushes down Fourth Street during the Ceremonial Start of the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race in Anchorage, Alaska., Saturday, March 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Amanda Loman, File)
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — U.S. President Donald Trump on Monday explicitly linked the actions of Yemen's Houthi rebels to the group's main benefactor, Iran, warning Tehran it would “suffer the consequences” for further attacks by the group.
The comments by Trump on his Truth Social website escalate his administration’s new campaign of airstrikes targeting the rebels, which killed at least 53 people this weekend alone. U.S. officials said the strikes were carried out against more than 40 targets and more airstrikes were planned in the coming days. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss details of military operations.
Meanwhile, the Iranians continue to weigh how to respond to a letter Trump sent them last week trying to jump-start negotiations over Tehran’s rapidly advancing nuclear program.
Houthi supporters rallied in several cities Monday after the strikes, vowing revenge against America and Israel over blocking aid to the Gaza Strip after its war on Hamas there. The Houthis' al-Masirah satellite news channel put young boys on air live, who chanted the group's slogan: “God is the greatest; death to America; death to Israel; curse the Jews; victory to Islam.”
“The Yemeni position is an irreversible position (regarding Gaza), so do whatever you (Americans) want, for we are men who fear no one but God," said Mohammed Ali al-Houthi, a Houthi leader who spoke to the demonstration in Yemen's rebel-held capital, Sanaa.
The United Nations called for a halt to all military activities in Yemen and the Red Sea, urging “utmost restraint” and warning that “any additional escalation could exacerbate regional tensions,” U.N. deputy spokesman Farhan Haq said Monday.
Describing the Houthis as “sinister mobsters and thugs,” Trump warned any attack by the group would be met with “great force, and there is no guarantee that that force will stop there.”
“Iran has played ‘the innocent victim’ of rogue terrorists from which they’ve lost control, but they haven’t lost control,” Trump alleged in his post. “They’re dictating every move, giving them the weapons, supplying them with money and highly sophisticated Military equipment, and even, so-called, 'Intelligence.'”
And in a marked departure from the previous administration, Trump has given U.S. Central Command the authority to launch offensive strikes against the Houthis when it deems it appropriate.
The Biden administration had required White House approval to conduct offensive strikes like the ones over the weekend. It did allow U.S. forces to launch defensive attacks, including to take out weapons that appeared to be ready to fire.
Delegating the authority to the regional commander, said Lt. Gen. Alex Grynkewich, director of operations for the Joint Chiefs of Staff, “allows us to achieve a tempo of operations where we can react to opportunities that we see on the battlefield in order to continue to put pressure on the Houthis.” He added that it also allows the U.S. to hit a broader array of targets.
The U.S. officials said Trump made the decision last week.
The weekend strikes targeted headquarters positions and drone sites where what the Pentagon identified as “key leaders” for the Houthis’ drone program were located at the time, said Grynkewich.
The Pentagon said there was no evidence that any civilians were killed in the attacks.
Iran’s ambassador to the United Nations delivered a strong rebuke Monday to Trump’s recent rhetoric about the Islamic Republic, saying Trump and U.S. officials are making “reckless and provocative statements” and threatened to retaliate if those words turn to actions.
In a letter to the U.N. Security Council, Ambassador Amir Saeid Iravani said his country would “defend its sovereignty, territorial integrity, and national interests under international law against any hostile action.”
It's unclear what sparked Trump's post. However, the head of Iran's paramilitary Revolutionary Guard sought to separate the Houthis' actions from those of Tehran this weekend. The Houthis also launched drones and missiles targeting the USS Harry S. Truman aircraft carrier in the Red Sea, though none reached the ship as it continues flight operations in the region.
“Every shot fired by the Houthis will be looked upon, from this point forward, as being a shot fired from the weapons and leadership of IRAN, and IRAN will be held responsible, and suffer the consequences, and those consequences will be dire!” Trump added.
The Houthi rebels attacked over 100 merchant vessels with missiles and drones, sinking two vessels and killing four sailors, from November 2023 until January this year when a ceasefire began in Gaza. The campaign also greatly raised the Houthis’ profile in the wider Arab world and tamped down on public criticism against their human rights abuses and crackdowns on dissent and aid workers.
The Houthis claimed there had been additional U.S. airstrikes overnight, though American officials did not immediately acknowledge them.
In Saada province, the Houthis' stronghold, the rebels raided a warehouse run by the World Food Program. A member of Yemen's exiled government first reported the Houthis had been taking supplies from the facility without the WFP's permission in the aftermath of the U.S. airstrikes. The United Nations agency later acknowledged the Houthis' actions to The Associated Press.
“WFP regrets the de facto authorities' decision to seize some of the commodities,” it said. “These commodities were intended for the most vulnerable food-insecure families. Only WFP and its partners have the authority to distribute them and ensure they reach the intended recipients.”
Yemen, at war since the Houthis seized Sanaa back in 2014, has been on the precipice of famine for years. But the U.N. in February suspended its operations in Saada over security concerns following the detentions of dozens of U.N. workers and others in recent months. A day later, the WFP announced one of its staffers died while imprisoned by the Houthis.
Associated Press writers Lolita C. Baldor and Tara Copp in Washington, and Edith M. Lederer and Farnoush Amiri at the United Nations contributed to this report.
A Houthi military wears a vest showing a drawing of the leader of the Houthi movement Abdul Malik al-Houthi as he directs traffic during an anti-U.S. and anti-Israel rally in Sanaa, Yemen, Monday, March 17, 2025. (AP Photo/Osamah Abdulrahman)
Houthi supporters chant slogans and hold pictures of Abdul Malik al-Houthi, the leader of the Houthi movement, during an anti-U.S. and anti-Israel rally in Sanaa, Yemen, Monday, March 17, 2025. (AP Photo/Osamah Abdulrahman)
Houthi supporters chant slogans during an anti-U.S. and anti-Israel rally in Sanaa, Yemen, Monday, March 17, 2025. (AP Photo/Osamah Abdulrahman)
Houthi supporters chant slogans and hold pictures of Abdul Malik al-Houthi, the leader of the Houthi movement, during an anti-U.S. and anti-Israel rally in Sanaa, Yemen, Monday, March 17, 2025. (AP Photo/Osamah Abdulrahman)
Houthi supporters chant slogans and hold pictures of Abdul Malik al-Houthi, the leader of the Houthi movement, during an anti-U.S. and anti-Israel rally in Sanaa, Yemen, Monday, March 17, 2025. (AP Photo/Osamah Abdulrahman)
Houthi supporters chant slogans and hold pictures of Abdul Malik al-Houthi, the leader of the Houthi movement, during an anti-U.S. and anti-Israel rally in Sanaa, Yemen, Monday, March 17, 2025. (AP Photo/Osamah Abdulrahman)
Houthi security officers stand next to a street billboard displaying a picture of Abdul Malik al-Houthi, the leader of the Houthi movement, in Sanaa, Yemen, Monday, March 17, 2025. (AP Photo/Osamah Abdulrahman)
Palestinian wait get donated food at a distribution center in Beit Lahiya, northern Gaza Strip, Sunday, March 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)
A Palestinian girl struggles as she and others try to get donated food at a distribution center in Beit Lahiya, northern Gaza Strip, Sunday, March 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)
Houthi supporters chant slogans and hold pictures of Abdul Malik al-Houthi, the leader of the Houthi movement, during an anti-U.S. and anti-Israel rally in Sanaa, Yemen, Monday, March 17, 2025. (AP Photo/Osamah Abdulrahman)
Houthi supporters chant slogans during an anti-U.S. and anti-Israel rally in Sanaa, Yemen, Monday, March 17, 2025. (AP Photo/Osamah Abdulrahman)
President Donald Trump walks down the stairs of Air Force One upon his arrival at Joint Base Andrews, Md., Monday, March 17, 2025. (AP Photo/Luis M. Alvarez)
