Middle East priorities? Trump redesignates Houthis as terrorists, calls Saudi prince MBS in first talk with foreign leader

As the Trump administration begins its term with a whirlwind of activity, the Middle East occupies a central place in its new foreign policy.

After rescinding a series of sanctions imposed by former president Joe Biden on a group of Israeli settlers, President Donald Trump announced on Wednesday the Yemeni Houthis would be re-designated as terrorists.

Former President Joe Biden had decided to lift the designation from the group to facilitate the delivery of humanitarian aid to Yemeni civilians through UN organizations and other groups.

The move against the Houthis was welcomed not only by Israel, which has been enduring attacks from the Iranian terror proxy for over a year, but also by the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia.

Shortly before the announcement, Trump held his first phone call with a foreign leader since retaking office, calling Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS) in another signal of the importance of the Middle East for the new administration.

MBS told Trump his country would increase its U.S. investments by $600 million over the duration of the new administration’s term in office, according to the Saudi state news agency.

The two leaders most likely discussed the defense agreement between the U.S. and Saudi Arabia that has been in the works for several years, which could also include an expansion of the Abraham Accords through a peace agreement between Israel and the Saudi Kingdom.

In a rare Knesset appearance on Wednesday, Israel’s Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer said negotiations are continuing but denied Israel had promised to accept a Palestinian state in exchange for peace with the Saudis.

“About a Palestinian state – there is no such promise at all,” Dermer said.

Saudi Arabia has been fighting an on-and-off war against the Iran-backed Houthis since 2015.

When the group started attacking Israel in declared support of Hamas in Oct. 2023, it also began launching strikes on commercial shipping off its Red Sea coast, attacking ships purportedly connected to Israel, but also to Saudi Arabia and the UAE.

“As a result of the Biden administration’s weak policy, the Houthis have fired at US 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,” Trump’s designation order read.

The order also instructed the State Department and USAID to review all the aid flowing to Yemen with the goal of canceling any of it that could benefit the Houthi terrorists.

Working with its regional partners, the U.S. intends to “eliminate the Houthis capabilities and operations, deprive them of resources, and thereby end their attacks on US personnel and civilians, US partners, and maritime shipping in the Red Sea.”

After markedly ramping up their attacks on Israel in the weeks leading up to the ceasefire between Hamas and Israel, the Houthis have since stopped their attacks.

On Wednesday, the group released the crew of the ship Galaxy Leader after holding them for over year, and reiterated it would stop attacking Israel and commercial shipping as long as the agreement between Hamas and Israel holds.

“We are in constant readiness to intervene immediately at any time the Israeli enemy returns to escalation, genocidal crimes and siege of the Gaza Strip,” Houthi leader Abdul Malik al-Houthi said Monday.