⚡️🇺🇸🇾🇪🇸🇦 — President Trump decided Sunday not to join Saudi Arabia in strikes against Yemen's Iran-backed Houthis for now, after previously directing the Pentagon to prepare for airstrikes, according to the New York Times, citing administration officials.

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman had urged Trump to intervene against the Houthis, prompting the president to reverse an earlier reluctance and order preparations for strikes. By midday Sunday, Trump had changed course again and held off on the operation.

Commanders had approved target lists and troops were loading bombs onto U.S. warplanes when the planned attack was halted. Much of Trump's inner circle was skeptical or opposed to opening another front while the U.S. military was already strained by the war with Iran.

The Houthi advance has complicated Trump's decision after Saudi Arabia sought U.S. military help, with the group's fighters pushing down the Red Sea coast, defeating Saudi-backed Yemeni government forces, and seizing islands near Bab el-Mandeb.

U.S. officials met Houthi representatives in Oman last weekend, where the group said it was targeting Saudi shipping but did not intend to attack American vessels. Trump told Fox News he was in a "deciding mode" over Iran and said the U.S. is in constant communication with the Houthis: "We're talking to the Houthis also, and they would like to see if we can make a deal. It'll all work out."

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