Trump orders strikes on Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen and issues new warning

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) — President Donald Trump said he ordered a series of airstrikes on the Houthi-held areas in Yemen on Saturday, promising to use “overwhelming lethal force” until the Iran-backed rebels cease their attacks on shipping along a vital maritime corridor. The Houthis said at least 31 people were killed, and Trump's national security adviser said Sunday that the strikes had successfully targeted “multiple” Houthi leaders.

“Our brave Warfighters are right now carrying out aerial attacks on the terrorists’ bases, leaders, and missile defenses to protect American shipping, air, and naval assets, and to restore Navigational Freedom,” Trump said in a social media post. “No terrorist force will stop American commercial and naval vessels from freely sailing the Waterways of the World.”

He also warned Iran to stop supporting the rebel group, promising to hold the country “fully accountable” for the actions of its proxy. It comes two weeks after the U.S. leader sent a letter to Iranian leaders offering a path to restarting bilateral talks between the countries on Iran’s advancing nuclear program. Trump has said he will not allow it to become operational.

“This was an overwhelming response that actually targeted multiple Houthi leaders and took them out,” Trump national security adviser Michael Waltz said on ABC's “This Week.” that aired Sunday.

The Houthis reported explosions in their territory Saturday evening, in the capital of Sanaa and the northern province of Saada, the rebels’ stronghold on the border with Saudi Arabia, with more airstrikes reported in those areas early Sunday. Images online showed plumes of black smoke over the area of the Sanaa airport complex, which includes a sprawling military facility. The Houthis also reported airstrikes early Sunday on the provinces of Hodeida, Bayda, and Marib.

The Houthi-run Health Ministry said early Sunday that the death toll had climbed to 31, including women and children. Anees al-Asbahi, a spokesperson for the ministry, said Sunday that another 101 people were wounded.

A U.S. official said this was the beginning of air strikes on Houthi targets that are expected to continue. The official spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to the press.

Nasruddin Amer, deputy head of the Houthi media office, said the airstrikes won’t deter them and they would retaliate against the U.S. “Sanaa will remain Gaza’s shield and support and will not abandon it no matter the challenges,” he added on social media.

Another spokesman, Mohamed Abdulsalam, on X, called Trump’s claims that the Houthis threaten international shipping routes “false and misleading.”

The airstrikes come a few days after the Houthis said they would resume attacks on Israeli vessels sailing off Yemen in response to Israel’s latest blockade on Gaza. They described the warning as affecting the Red Sea, the Gulf of Aden, the Bab el-Mandeb Strait and the Arabian Sea.

There have been no Houthi attacks reported since then.

Earlier this month, Israel halted all aid coming into Gaza and warned of “additional consequences” for Hamas if their fragile ceasefire in the war isn’t extended as negotiations continue over starting a second phase.

The Houthis had targeted over 100 merchant vessels with missiles and drones, sinking two vessels and killing four sailors, during their campaign targeting military and civilian ships between the start of the war between Israel and Hamas in late 2023 and January of this year, when this ceasefire in Gaza took effect.

The attacks raised the Houthis’ profile as they faced economic and other problems at home amid Yemen’s decade-long stalemated war that’s torn apart the Arab world’s poorest nation.

The Houthi media office said the U.S. strikes hit a residential neighborhood in Sanaa’s northern district of Shouab. Residents said at least four airstrikes rocked the Eastern Geraf neighborhood there, terrifying women and children.

“The explosions were very strong,” said Abdallah al-Alffi. “It was like an earthquake.”

The Eastern Geraf is home to Houthi-held military facilities and a headquarters for the rebels' political bureau, located in a densely populated area.

The Houthis reported fresh strikes on the southwestern Dhamar province late Saturday. They said the strikes hit the outskirts of the provincial capital, also named Dhamar, and the district of Abs.

The United States, Israel and Britain have previously hit Houthi-held areas in Yemen. Israel’s military declined to comment.

However, Saturday's operation was conducted solely by the U.S., according to a U.S. official. It was the first strike on the Yemen-based Houthis under the second Trump administration.

Such broad-based missile strikes against the Houthis were carried out multiple times by the Biden administration in response to frequent attacks by the Houthis against commercial and military vessels in the region.

The USS Harry S. Truman carrier strike group, which includes the carrier, three Navy destroyers and one cruiser, are in the Red Sea and were part of Saturday's mission. The USS Georgia cruise missile submarine has also been operating in the region.

Trump announced the strikes as he spent the day at his Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach, Florida.

“These relentless assaults have cost the U.S. and World Economy many BILLIONS of Dollars while, at the same time, putting innocent lives at risk,” Trump said.

Baldor reported from Washington and Magdy reported from Cairo. AP White House Correspondent Zeke Miller and AP writer Tara Copp in Washington contributed to this report.

Yemenis clean debris in front of their shops after a U.S. airstrikes in Sanaa, Yemen, Sunday, March 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Osamah Abdulrahman)

Yemenis clean debris in front of their shops after a U.S. airstrikes in Sanaa, Yemen, Sunday, March 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Osamah Abdulrahman)

Yemenis clean debris in front of their shops after a U.S. airstrikes in Sanaa, Yemen, Sunday, March 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Osamah Abdulrahman)

This image taken from video provided by the U.S. Navy shows an aircraft launching from a carrier in an undisclosed location before airstrikes in Sanaa, Yemen, Saturday, March 15, 2025. (U.S. Navy via AP)

This image taken from video provided by the U.S. Navy shows an aircraft launching from a carrier in an undisclosed location before airstrikes in Sanaa, Yemen, Saturday, March 15, 2025. (U.S. Navy via AP)

This image taken from video provided by the U.S. Navy shows an aircraft launching from a carrier in an undisclosed location before airstrikes in Sanaa, Yemen, Saturday, March 15, 2025. (U.S. Navy via AP)

This image taken from video provided by the U.S. Navy shows an aircraft launching from a carrier in an undisclosed location before airstrikes in Sanaa, Yemen, Saturday, March 15, 2025. (U.S. Navy via AP)

Smoke rises from a location reportedly struck by U.S. airstrikes in Sanaa, Yemen, Saturday, March 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Osamah Abdulrahman)

President Donald Trump addresses a joint session of Congress at the Capitol in Washington, Tuesday, March 4, 2025. (Win McNamee/Pool Photo via AP)

Smoke rises from a location reportedly struck by U.S. airstrikes in Sanaa, Yemen, Saturday, March 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Osamah Abdulrahman

President Donald Trump’s press secretary Karoline Leavitt hosts a news conference Monday.

Over the weekend, the Trump administration transferred more than 200 immigrants to El Salvador even as a federal judge issued an order to bar the deportations temporarily. On Monday, plaintiffs filed a lawsuit to halt the deportations and asked a federal judge to force officials to explain under oath whether they violated his court order.

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World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom said the U.S. has been “extremely generous” over the years and “of course, it’s within its rights to decide what it supports and to what extent.”

“But the U.S. also has a responsibility to ensure that if it withdraws direct funding for countries, it’s done in an orderly and humane way that allows them to find alternative sources of funding,” the U.N. health agency chief told reporters in Geneva.

In his first day back in the Oval Office in January, President Trump issued an executive order announcing a U.S. pullout from WHO — which takes a year to take effect — and called for a pause of U.S. funding for the agency. Sweeping cuts to funding through the U.S. Agency for International Development has hit many aid providers hard.

Hey, America: Give the Statue of Liberty back to France. So says a French politician who’s making headlines in his country for suggesting the U.S. is no longer worthy of the monument that was a gift from France nearly 140 years ago.

As a member of the European Parliament and co-president of a small left-wing party in France, Raphaël Glucksmann cannot claim to speak for all of his compatriots.

But his assertion in a speech this weekend that some Americans “have chosen to switch to the side of the tyrants” reflects the broad shockwaves President Trump’s seismic shifts in foreign and domestic policy are triggering in France and elsewhere in Europe.

▶ Read more about the call to return the Statue of Liberty

New Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney met with French President Emmanuel Macron on Monday during his first official overseas trip, seeking support from one of Ottawa’s oldest allies as Trump attacks Canada’s sovereignty and economy.

Macron did not address Trump’s attacks on Canada ahead of the talks but noted tariffs only bring inflation.

“In the current international context, we want to be able to develop our most strategic projects with our closest, more loyal partners,” Macron said, adding that “we are stronger together, better able to ensure the respect of our interests, the full exercise of our sovereignty.”

Carney was sworn in Friday. After Paris, his next stop was London, where he was due to hold talks with Prime Minister Keir Starmer and King Charles III, the head of state in Canada.

▶ Read more about Canada and its European allies

The federal lawsuit seeks to to block enforcement of executive orders Momodou Taal fears could lead to his deportation.

Taal, 31, is a Ph.D. student in Africana studies at Cornell University and is a citizen of the United Kingdom and Gambia.

He was temporarily suspended last fall after participating in a demonstration on the Cornell campus in upstate New York. He has limited access to campus for research, medical and religious reasons as he continues his studies remotely, according to the lawsuit.

The suit filed Saturday by Taal and two of his allies at the Ivy League school cite the arrest of Mahmoud Khalil, a Palestinian activist and Columbia University graduate student, as well as a statement by President Trump promising more arrests at universities across the country.

The measure, approved by Republican majorities in the House and Senate, eliminates a federal fee on companies that release high levels of methane, a planet-warming “super pollutant.”

The fee, which hadn’t gone into effect, was expected to bring in more than $7 billion over the next decade and lower U.S. methane emissions, averting thousands of early deaths and tens of thousands of asthma attacks and lost school days every year.

Methane is a much stronger global warming gas than carbon dioxide, especially in the short term. Oil and gas producers are among the biggest U.S. methane emitters.

Republicans said the fee would inflate energy prices, reduce domestic energy production and empower U.S. adversaries.

After Secretary of State Marco Rubio determined Ambassador Ebrahim Rasool was no longer welcome in the U.S. and posted his decision Friday on social media, South African embassy staff were summoned to the State Department and given a formal diplomatic note explaining the move, the department said.

“We made the embassy aware that Ambassador Rasool has been found unacceptable by the United States to be a representative of his country,” the department said.

It said Rasool’s diplomatic privileges and immunities expired Monday and he would be required to leave the United States by March 21. It isn’t clear if he’s in the U.S. now.

Rubio announced his decision in a post on X, accusing Rasool of being a “race-baiting politician” who hates President Trump.

Plaintiffs in a lawsuit filed to halt deportations under a rarely-used 18th century wartime law invoked by President Trump asked a federal judge Monday to force officials to explain under oath whether they violated his court order by removing more than 200 people from the country after it was issued and celebrating it on social media.

The motion marks another escalation in the battle over Trump’s aggressive opening moves in his second term, several of which have been temporarily halted by judges. Trump’s allies have raged over the holds and suggested he doesn’t have to obey them, and some plaintiffs have said it appears the administration is flouting court orders.

▶ Read more about the Trump administration’s deportations

McGregor appeared in the briefing room alongside press secretary Karoline Leavitt, where he criticized his country’s government as having “abandoned the voices of the people of Ireland.” He said there was “zero action with zero accountability,” and complained about the “illegal immigration racket.”

His comments come days after Irish Prime Minister Micheál Martin visited the White House to meet with President Trump.

McGregor has faced legal problems of his own. He was ordered to pay 250,000 Euros ($257,000) to a woman who sued him for sexual assault. McGregor denied the accusations.

Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer was planning to promote his new book, “Antisemitism in America: A Warning,” but is rescheduling after some liberal groups shared plans to stage protests.

A representative for Schumer’s book, Risa Heller, said that the tour would be rescheduled “due to security concerns.”

The cancellations of events in Baltimore, Washington, D.C. and other cities came amid widespread criticism from the party’s liberal base over Schumer’s vote to move forward with Republican spending legislation last week.

Schumer said the bill was “terrible” but that a shutdown would have been far worse, and difficult to get out of, as Trump has already slashed jobs and funding for agencies across the government.

U.S. shoppers stepped up their spending a just bit in February after a sharp pullback the previous month, signaling Americans are shopping more cautiously as concerns about the direction of the economy mount.

Retail sales rose just 0.2% in February, a small rebound after a sharp drop of 1.2% in January, the Commerce Department said Monday. Sales rose at grocery stores, home and garden stores, and online retailers. Sales fell at auto dealers, restaurants, and electronics stores.

The small increase suggests Americans may be growing more wary about spending as the stock market has plunged and Trump’s tariff threats and government spending cuts have led to widespread uncertainty among consumers and businesses.

▶ Read more about U.S. retail sales

The Sunday meeting came two days after Jeffries publicly criticized Schumer over a vote to move forward on Republican spending legislation.

The two New Yorkers met in Brooklyn, according to a person familiar with the meeting.

Schumer announced Thursday that he would join with Republicans on a key procedural vote to move the spending legislation to final passage. He said that the bill was “terrible” but that a shutdown would be far worse, and Democrats would not have an “off ramp” to get out of it.

Jeffries strongly disagreed and repeatedly declined to answer questions Friday about whether he has confidence in Schumer.

“We do not want to shut down the government. But we are not afraid of a government funding showdown,” Jeffries said.

The meeting was first reported by Punchbowl News.

— Mary Clare Jalonick

The Trump administration’s tariffs on imported goods from Canada, Mexico and China — some already in place, others set to take effect in a few weeks — are already driving up the cost of building materials used in new residential construction and home remodeling projects.

The tariffs are projected to raise the costs that go into building a single-family home in the U.S. by $7,500 to $10,000, according to the National Association of Home Builders. Such costs are typically passed along to the homebuyer in the form of higher prices, which could hurt demand at a time when the U.S. housing market remains in a slump and many builders are having to offer buyers costly incentives to drum up sales.

▶ Read more about how tariffs are raising building costs

But the calm may not last with a decision coming this week on interest rates from the Federal Reserve and worries continuing about President Trump’s trade war.

The S&P 500 was up 0.2% early Monday. The index is coming off its fourth straight losing week. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 97 points, and the Nasdaq composite was up 0.1%.

Stocks have been tumbling on worries that Trump’s rat-a-tat announcements on tariffs and other policies are creating so much uncertainty that they’ll push U.S. households and businesses to freeze their spending.

▶ Read more about the financial markets

The Houthi rebels started attacking military and commercial ships in one of the world’s busiest shipping corridors shortly after the war in Gaza began between Hamas and Israel in October 2023.

The Houthis said they were targeting vessels on the Red Sea with links to Israel or its allies — the United States and the U.K. — in solidarity with Palestinians, but some vessels had little or no link to the war.

The Houthis targeted more than 100 merchant vessels with missiles and drones, sinking two vessels and killing four sailors, until the current ceasefire in Gaza took effect in mid-January. Other missiles and drones were intercepted or failed to reach their targets, which included Western military ones.

▶ Read more about the Houthi rebels in Yemen

Trump on Saturday invoked the Alien Enemies Act for the first time since World War II, granting himself sweeping powers under a centuries-old law to deport people associated with a Venezuelan gang. Hours later, a federal judge halted deportations under Trump’s order.

The act is a sweeping wartime authority that allows non-citizens to be deported without being given the opportunity to go before an immigration or federal court judge.

Trump repeatedly hinted during his campaign that he would declare extraordinary powers to confront illegal immigration and laid additional groundwork in a slew of executive orders on Jan. 20.

His proclamation Saturday identified Venezuela’s Tren de Aragua gang as an invading force. U.S. District Judge James E. Boasberg, who was appointed by President Barack Obama, blocked anyone from being deported under Trump’s proclamation for two weeks and scheduled a Friday hearing to consider arguments.

▶ Read more about the Alien Enemies Act

The crown jewel of El Salvador’s aggressive anti-crime strategy — a mega-prison where visitation, recreation and education aren’t allowed — became the latest tool in Trump’s crackdown on immigration Sunday, when hundreds of immigrants facing deportation were transferred there.

The arrival of the immigrants, alleged by the U.S. to be members of the Venezuelan Tren de Aragua gang, took place under an agreement for which the Trump administration will pay the government of President Nayib Bukele $6 million for one year of services.

Bukele has made the Central American country’s stark, harsh prisons a trademark of his fight against crime. In 2023, he opened the Terrorism Confinement Center, or CECOT, where the immigrants were sent over the weekend even as a federal judge issued an order temporarily barring their deportations under an 18th century wartime declaration targeting Venezuelan gang members.

▶ Read more about El Salvador’s mega-prison

It’s a move that could represent a possible pivot point in the conflict and an opportunity for Trump to continue reorienting American foreign policy.

Trump disclosed the upcoming conversation to reporters while flying from Florida to Washington on Air Force One on Sunday evening, while the Kremlin confirmed Putin’s participation Monday morning.

“We will see if we have something to announce maybe by Tuesday. I will be speaking to President Putin on Tuesday,” Trump said. “A lot of work’s been done over the weekend. We want to see if we can bring that war to an end.”

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov on Monday morning confirmed the plans for the two leaders to speak Tuesday, but refused to give details, saying “we never get ahead of events” and “the content of conversations between two presidents are not subject to any prior discussion.”

▶ Read more about efforts to end the war in Ukraine

According to the White House press office, Trump will participate in a board meeting for the John F. Kennedy Performing Arts Center at 3:00 p.m. eastern.

Trump is currently the chair of the Kennedy Center’s board. He announced his election as chair in February, after he ousted the arts institution’s leadership and filled the board of trustees with his supporters. Some artists have responded by canceling appearances.

Also on Monday’s schedule is the daily White House press briefing, which is scheduled for 1:00 p.m.

The Trump administration has transferred hundreds of immigrants to El Salvador even as a federal judge issued an order temporarily barring the deportations under an 18th century wartime declaration targeting Venezuelan gang members, officials said Sunday. Flights were in the air at the time of the ruling.

U.S. District Judge James E. Boasberg issued an order Saturday temporarily blocking the deportations, but lawyers told him there were already two planes with immigrants in the air — one headed for El Salvador, the other for Honduras. Boasberg verbally ordered the planes be turned around, but they apparently were not and he did not include the directive in his written order.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt, in a statement Sunday, responded to speculation about whether the administration was flouting court orders: “The administration did not ‘refuse to comply’ with a court order. The order, which had no lawful basis, was issued after terrorist TdA aliens had already been removed from U.S. territory.”

The acronym refers to the Tren de Aragua gang, which Trump targeted in his unusual proclamation that was released Saturday

▶ Read more about the deportations

FILE - Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump speaks along the southern border with Mexico, on Aug. 22, 2024, in Sierra Vista, Ariz. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, File)

President Donald Trump waves from the stairs of Air Force One upon his arrival at Joint Base Andrews, Md., Monday, March 17, 2025 (AP Photo/Luis M. Alvarez)