National Security Adviser Mike Waltz shared details over the weekend about some of the targets that the United States military has hit during its campaign to establish deterrence and to eliminate the Houthis’ ability to launch attacks from Yemen on international shipping lanes in the Red Sea.
Waltz made the remarks during a Sunday interview on CBS News’ “Face The Nation” with Margaret Brennan when asked what the United States has achieved.
“We have taken out key Houthi leadership, including their head missileer,” Waltz said. “We have hit their headquarters. We have hit communications nodes, weapons factories, and even some of their over-the-water drone production facilities just in the last couple of days.”
“President Trump has decided to hit the Houthis and hit them hard, as opposed to, in the last administration, where literally weeks or months would go by with these kind of one-off pinprick attacks,” he continued. “And, as a result, we have had one of the world’s most critical sea lanes get shut down.”
Waltz said that the Iranian-backed Houthis were like “al Qaeda or ISIS with advanced cruise missiles, ballistic missiles, and some of the most sophisticated air defenses, all provided by Iran.”
He said that United States merchant and naval ships have repeatedly been attacked in the Red Sea over the last year and a half and that Trump is determined to end it.
“Keeping the sea lanes open, keeping trade and commerce open is a fundamental aspect of our national security. The last administration was not effective,” he said. “The Trump administration and President Trump have decided to do something much harder, much tougher, and much more effective.”
WATCH:
.@MikeWaltz47 on strikes against Houthi terrorists in the Red Sea: “75% of our U.S.-flagged shipping now has to go around the southern coast of Africa rather than going through the Suez Canal. Keeping the sea lanes open, keeping trade and commerce open, is a fundamental aspect of… pic.twitter.com/p3Ou1FbF1j
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) March 23, 2025
