By Palestine Chronicle Staff
Trump was forced to halt a high-cost military campaign against Ansarallah after the group’s unyielding resistance and sophisticated defenses led to significant setbacks for the US military.
US President Trump abruptly ended the military campaign against the Yemeni Ansarallah movement after it became clear that the group’s military capabilities had been significantly underestimated by his national security team, the New York Times revealed on Tuesday.
Despite intense airstrikes, Ansarallah remained operational, shooting down US drones, threatening naval assets, and withstanding strikes on their leadership and infrastructure, forcing a political recalibration and early exit.
“The sudden declaration of victory over the Houthis demonstrates how some members of the president’s national security team underestimated a group known for its resilience,” the report noted.
The operation, dubbed Operation Rough Rider by US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, involved more than 1,100 US airstrikes and the deployment of two aircraft carriers, advanced bombers, and missile defense systems to the region.
Despite the scale of the campaign, the Ansarallah remain operational, continuing to fire at commercial vessels, downing US drones, and reinforcing their bunkers.
According to the Times, General Michael E. Kurilla, the head of US Central Command, had pushed for a sustained eight- to ten-month assault on the groupìs military infrastructure, including targeted assassinations of senior leaders. Trump initially approved a pared-down version of the plan, but limited it to 30 days to deliver results.
That window reportedly proved insufficient.
“In those first 30 days, the Houthis (Ansarallah – PC) shot down seven American MQ-9 drones (around $30 million each), hampering Central Command’s ability to track and strike the militant group,” the report said.
The report noted that Trump’s national security team was divided internally.
Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Dan Caine and other key advisers, including Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and DNI Tulsi Gabbard, warned that an extended campaign would stretch US military readiness, especially in the Pacific amid rising tensions with China.
Indeed, according to the report, “the cost of the operation was staggering.”
“The Pentagon had deployed two aircraft carriers, additional B-2 bombers and fighter jets, as well as Patriot and THAAD air defenses, to the Middle East, officials acknowledged privately,” the Times said, adding that, according to officials, “by the end of the first 30 days of the campaign, the cost had exceeded $1 billion”.
Even more worrying, US officials were surprised by the unexpected downing of drones and close calls with fighter jets, which illustrated the strength of Houthi air defenses.
“Several American F-16s and an F-35 fighter jet were nearly struck by Houthi air defenses, making real the possibility of American casualties, multiple US officials said,” the report said, adding:
“That possibility became reality when two pilots and a flight deck crew member were injured in the two episodes involving the F/A-18 Super Hornets, which fell into the Red Sea from the aircraft carrier Harry S. Truman within 10 days of each other.”
By late April, momentum was stalling. A missile launched from Yemen narrowly missed Israel’s Ben-Gurion Airport, a US strike killed dozens at a migrant facility, and another fighter jet plunged into the Red Sea due to mishaps aboard the Truman.
The administration, lacking a clear path forward and faced with mounting political and logistical setbacks, opted to shift the narrative.
On May 5, Trump declared the campaign a success. “We honor their commitment and their word,” he said at a White House press conference.
His spokesperson called it “another good deal for America,” despite internal intelligence assessments suggesting that Ansarallah’s capabilities were only modestly degraded and easily reconstitutable.
For its part, the movement has declared its own victory, circulating a triumphant “Yemen defeats America” hashtag on social media.
Reprinted from The Palestine Chronicle
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