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After US and British forces attacked Houthi rebels in Yemen, Donald Trump attacked his likely opponent in the 2024 general election, President Joe Biden.
“So, let me get this straight,” the former president began in a post on Truth Social on Friday morning. “We're dropping bombs AGAIN across the Middle East (where I defeated ISIS!), and our defense minister, who just disappeared for five days, is waging the war from his laptop in a hospital room.”
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin was criticized after spending days in the hospital being treated for prostate cancer and being slow to inform the administration and the public.
“Remember, this is the same gang that 'surrendered' in Afghanistan, where no one was held accountable or fired,” Trump claimed. “It was the most embarrassing 'moment' in the history of the United States. Now we have wars in Ukraine, Israel and Yemen, but no “war” on our southern border. Oh, that makes a lot of sense. Crooked Joe Biden is the worst president in the history of the United States!”
Both Mr. Biden and Rishi Sunak, the British prime minister, have not ruled out further action against the Houthi rebels if deemed necessary. The rebels warned of retaliation and said the attacks, which they say killed five people and injured six, “will not go unanswered and unpunished.”
“It is clear that this type of behavior cannot be met without a response,” Mr Sunak said. “We must send a strong signal that this violation of international law is wrong. People cannot act like this with impunity and that is why we, together with our allies, have decided to take this action.”
The attacks came after the group launched its 26th attack on international shipping in the Red Sea since November 19.
The armed group is backed by Iran and controls large parts of Yemen after fighting a nearly decade-long war against a Western-backed, Saudi-led coalition.
The group takes its name from its founder, Hussein al-Houthi. The civil war began after he was killed by the Yemeni military in 2004. They claimed their attacks on international ships were an attempt to stop Israel's war against Hamas in Gaza, and said after Israel's response to the October 7 Hamas attack that they would target all ships heading to Israel .
Several shipping companies have switched to taking the much longer route around the African continent instead of taking the Red Sea route via the Gulf of Aden to reach the Suez Canal.