Trump Says Houthi Red Sea Blockade ‘Might Happen’ But ‘We’ll Take Care of It’

President Donald Trump said the U.S. would “take care of it” if Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels follow through on threats to blockade shipping in the Red Sea, as tensions across the Middle East continue to intensify.

Speaking alongside Lebanese President Joseph Aoun during an Oval Office press conference on Tuesday, Trump was asked by Gray Television White House correspondent Jon Decker about the Houthi rebels’ maritime blockade of the waterway, aiming to disrupt one of the world’s most strategically important shipping lanes.

“We’ll see what happens. So far it hasn’t happened. Might happen. But we take care of things. If something like that happens we take care of it,” Trump said.

The president pointed to his administration’s previous military campaign against the Houthis, adding: “We’ve done that with the Houthis before. And we haven’t heard from them in a while, since we did what we did originally. That was about 45 days of very powerful action we took against the Houthis.”

He continued: “And we’ve had no problem with the Houthis; they have had no problem with us for a long period of time, including during this conflict. I think that if there is something like that we’ll just have to take care of business.”

His remarks came a day after the Iran-backed Houthi militia announced an immediate blockade against Saudi Arabia, saying it would stop Saudi shipping in the Red Sea. The move raises the prospect of renewed disruption at the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, the narrow waterway linking the Red Sea with the Gulf of Aden and a vital route for global trade and energy exports.

The Houthis said the embargo was in response to what they described as an “aggressive siege” by Saudi Arabia, following claims that Riyadh had carried out strikes on Sanaa International Airport.

The threat, however, comes as the broader confrontation between the U.S. and Iran continues after the collapse of an interim agreement aimed at keeping the Strait of Hormuz open. Iran has continued attacks on commercial shipping in the Gulf, while the U.S. has responded with sustained military operations and naval deployments intended to protect maritime traffic.

Saudi Arabia has increasingly relied on Red Sea export infrastructure to move crude oil as attacks in Hormuz have disrupted tanker traffic, making any disruption at Bab el-Mandeb another potential flashpoint for global energy markets.

Watch above via Fox News.

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