WASHINGTON — President Trump issued an executive order Wednesday re-designating the Houthis as a foreign terror organization after the Biden administration scrapped the label in February 2021.
The Houthis, an Iran-backed militia in Yemen, had been designated a foreign terror organization at the end of Trump’s first term — but former Secretary of State Antony Blinken quickly removed the group’s dual designations as both a “Foreign Terrorist Organizations” (FTO) and “Specially Designated Global Terrorists” (SDGT).
Retired President Joe Biden had re-designated the group with the SDGT label in January 2024, partially reversing Blinken’s decision after the group targeted merchant vessels in the Red Sea.
“Under President Trump, it is now the policy of the United States to cooperate with its regional partners to eliminate the Houthis’ capabilities and operations, deprive them of resources, and thereby end their attacks on US personnel and civilians, U.S. partners, and maritime shipping in the Red Sea,” the White House said in a statement.
The order directs Secretary of State Marco Rubio to submit a report to the president within 30 days recommending the designation of the Houthis, also known as Ansar Allah, and to formally designate the group an FTO within 15 days of the document being submitted.
The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) is also instructed to conduct a review of United Nations partners, nongovernmental organizations, and contractors that may be working with the Houthis in Yemen.
“The Administrator of USAID shall take all appropriate action to terminate the projects, grants, or contracts identified,” the order stated.
“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,” the White House said.
The Houthis, who control much of western Yemen, including the capital city of Sana’a, have been waging war against Yemen’s internationally recognized government and a Saudi-led coalition since 2014.
The Biden administration argued that it removed the group’s FTO designation over the implications the label was having on what it called “the world’s worst humanitarian catastrophe.”
Former National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said last year that Biden decided to slap the SDGT designation on the Houthis because the group appeared to be “more concerned about getting weapons and capabilities and attacking ships in the Red Sea than they are about the humanitarian situation.”
