# MBS Urged Trump to Strike Houthis; U.S. Refusal Highlights Red Sea Dilemma

*Friday, September 11, 2026 at 6:14 AM UTC — Hamer Intelligence Services Desk*

**Published**: 2026-09-11T06:14:44.937Z (1h ago)
**Category**: geopolitics | **Region**: Middle East
**Importance**: 8/10
**Sources**: OSINT
**Permalink**: https://hamerintel.com/data/articles/17506.md
**Source**: https://hamerintel.com/summaries

---

**Deck**: Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman twice asked former U.S. President Donald Trump on Thursday to launch strikes on Houthi targets, but Trump refused, Axios reports, even as the head of U.S. Central Command flew to Riyadh the same day for emergency coordination on regional security.

A reported appeal from Riyadh to Washington for direct strikes on Houthi targets has laid bare different risk calculations over how hard to hit the Yemeni group.

Axios reports that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman called Donald Trump twice on Thursday, urging the former U.S. president to order attacks on Houthi positions. The calls came against the backdrop of threats from northern Yemen to Red Sea shipping and possibly Saudi infrastructure. Trump declined, according to the same report.

On the same day, the commander of U.S. Central Command, Admiral Brad Cooper, flew to Riyadh for what was described as emergency coordination. His visit underlined that, even without new U.S. strikes, American and Saudi militaries are closely aligned on monitoring and managing the threat.

For Saudi leaders, Houthi missiles and drones aimed at ships and, at times, at Saudi territory pose a direct challenge to their claims of stability and security. U.S. strikes on launch sites and support infrastructure would send a strong signal of deterrence.

U.S. leaders, however, have to weigh the danger that any new campaign in Yemen could escalate quickly and pull American forces deeper into a complex conflict that already touches Iran, the Gulf states, and Israel.

The Axios account surfaces at a moment when other regional moves are under way. Talks between Iran and Gulf states on a possible agreement covering the Strait of Hormuz are being prepared, according to separate reporting. How Washington responds to Houthi activity, and how far it goes in backing Saudi preferences for direct action, will feed into those wider calculations.

Signals to watch include any change in the size or posture of U.S. naval forces under Central Command in the Red Sea, shifts in Saudi public messaging on the Houthi threat, and whether future U.S. administrations revisit the question of direct strikes if attacks on high‑value targets increase.