EDITOR’S NOTE (Nick Stamatakis). I was scratching my head yesterday as I was listening to Trump announcing the “victory” against the Houthis… What had happened? We had learned that so far the Houthis had shot down about 16 MQ-Reaper drones (cost 30 million each) plus three fighter jets – one fell off “Harry Truman” aircraft carrier… These facts alone do not sound like a victory… But if it helps Trump to make peace in the Middle East we will take it anytime. Meanwhile, the Israelis are fuming… Hopefully, Trump and Witkoff will pull Bibi’s ear one more time… Here is Trump making the announcement – you can judge for yourselves if this sounds like “victory”
BELOW THE ALWAYS SUPERB ANALYST LARRY JOHNSON EXPLAINS THE STORY.
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Trump Blinked in the Face of Houthi Resistance, But Called it Victory… Pakistan and India Ramp Up for War
During Donald Trump’s press gaggle in the Oval Office, he mentioned in passing that the Houthis had called begging the US to stop bombing, and Trump, gracious man that he is, agreed. The Houthis have surrendered… at least that is the spin from the White House. NOT SO FAST. Trump, true to his style, was doing a major gaslighting job.
Here is what really happened:
The cease-fire agreement with the Iran-backed Houthis announced today by President Trump was reached over the past several days with the mediation of Oman and negotiations led by U.S. Special Envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff, officials said.
A Pentagon official confirms that both the Navy and Air Force have already been ordered to cease any further hostile action against the Houthis.
It was not the Houthis who cried, Uncle Sam… it was the United States. It was easy for the Houthis to promise to stop shooting missiles at US vessels because there will no longer be any US vessels in the Red Sea. This reminds me of the US declaring victory in Vietnam on April 30, while the North Vietnamese army took control of Saigon. Score this as a victory for the Houthis. Since March 15, the US lost seven drones, three F/A-18 Hornets and expended an estimated $3 billion while flying more than 1,000 sorties. While scores of Yemeni citizens were killed by US bombs, and Yemen suffered significant damage to infrastructure, the US failed to break the Houthis’ will to fight. (NOTE — CNN reported today that another F/A-18 Hornet was lost at sea, which is why I list “three” instead of “two” in the preceding sentence.)
Mohammad Ali Al-Houthi, Head of the Revolutionary Committee in Yemen, made the following announcement:
By the will of Allah,
The support for Gaza continues, and the response is coming.
Netanyahu must prepare his resignation, for his crimes are failed terrorism.
The Yemeni people will not be intimidated by American and “Israeli” terrorism, and the crimes they have committed in Yemen are the same genocidal crimes they commit in Gaza. What we refused to continue in Palestine, we will not accept being passed on in Yemen.
And the circles will turn against the aggressor, by the will of Allah.
According to the Middle East Spectator, Israel was not informed of the decision in advance and is not happy:
Trump has thrown Israel under the bus in a way that’s very rare for him, not only this, but he did not consult with Israel.
My friend, the intrepid Pepe Escobar, who departed Iran today as this news broke, sent me the following pithy message:
It’s all over Iranian media. CENTCOM totally humiliated.
Trump also stated that there was going to be some big news coming out of the Middle East. Given Witkoff’s negotiations with Oman, which is mediating between the US and Iran, could it be that Trump will announce that the US has convinced (i.e., sarcasm alert) the Iranians to give up their program to build a nuclear weapon? That is my guess. If true, this will drive Netanyahu and the neocons crazy, but Trump will have a diplomatic victory under his belt. If this deal comes to pass, Trump will be validating the JCPOA agreement he walked away from in 2018. The big difference… Trump will have a permanent agreement in place, as opposed to the ten-year deal under JCPOA.
Trump’s hope for a moment of glory and celebration could be overshadowed by events unfolding along the border of India and Pakistan. India claims it attacked terrorist camps in Pakistan, reportedly launching missiles at three sites (see map below):
- Muzaffarabad, Pakistani-administered Azad Kashmir.
- Kotli, Pakistani-administered Azad Kashmir.
- Bahawalpur, Pakistan proper.
Pakistan wasted no time in retaliating, and claims it has shot down five Indian combat aircraft. The five downed fighter jets, according to preliminary Pakistani reports, are the following: 3 Dassault Rafales, 1 Su-30, and 1 MiG-29. As i write this, the fighting appears to have subsided. Hopefully, Pakistan and India will each claim victory and then agree to negotiate an end to the conflict. Otherwise, this tit-for-tat could spiral out of control and we will have two nuclear powers deciding to go to war.
Trump will declare victory no matter what the outcome is. We’ve seen that during the 2020 elections, we’ve seen it during Covid, when he had said that “number of cases are going down”, when the virus was actually beginning its ascent.
What will happen with the Houthis is that they “agreed” to stop attacking American ships, because American ships are very rare at the area. They will continue to be attacking all others, as long as Iran is supplying them and Israel continuous to devastate Gaza. Iran is the big “if”. They have been spanked by Israel and are hoping to conclude a deal with Trump. Iran is on the verge of big change. No more “death to America”. I read they even took away the American flag that you had to step over to enter the former America embassy. Khameini is too old and growing soft. Iran is exhausted.
Iranians, if they weren’t defeated by the Arabs, would have been a Christian nation. The people are much like us, the Greeks. They want their children to be educated and want peace. They’ve had enough of revolution
As wikipedia shows no attacks by Houthis on international shipping South of Yemen since May the 8 2025 we can say Trump forced the Houthis to withdraw yhe Arabian sea.
Yet somehow the Houthis hit Tel Aviv and know they threaten Haifa. The reality is they are not defeated and just earlier this week they threatened all ships going to Israel or owned by the Israelis.