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President Trump Redesignates the Houthis as a Foreign Terrorist Organization
(White House) On Wednesday, President Trump signed an executive order redesignating Ansar Allah (also known as the Houthis) as a foreign terrorist organization. President Trump designated the Iranian-backed Houthis as a foreign terrorist organization in January 2021. Within one month of taking office, the Biden administration reversed the Houthis' designation. The Houthis have fired at U.S. Navy warships dozens of times, launched numerous attacks on civilian infrastructure in partner nations, and attacked commercial vessels transiting Bab al-Mandeb more than 100 times. It is now the policy of the United States to cooperate with its regional partners to eliminate the Houthis' capabilities and operations, deprive them of resources, and thereby end their attacks on U.S. personnel and civilians, U.S. partners, and maritime shipping in the Red Sea. Following the Houthis' re-designation, the executive order also directs USAID and the Secretary of State to review UN partners, NGOs, and contractors operating in Yemen in order to end USAID's relationship with entities that have made payments to the Houthis, or which have opposed international efforts to counter the Houthis.