US President Donald Trump on Wednesday claimed Yemen’s Houthi rebels now “want peace” after more than a week of US airstrikes, which he said have “been very, very strong.”

“The Houthis are looking to do something. They want to know, ‘How do we stop? How do we stop? How can we have peace?’ The Houthis want peace because they’re getting the hell knocked out of them,” he told reporters in the Oval Office.

“The Houthis are dying for peace. They don’t want this… They were knocking ships out of the ocean…. In the Suez Canal, they only have about 20% of the ships going through. 

They have to go through a different way, which takes weeks of travel, and that really affects commerce.”

Smoke rises from a location reportedly struck by US airstrikes in Sanaa, Yemen, March 26, 2025. (AP Photo)
US President Donald Trump on Wednesday claimed Yemen’s Houthi rebels now “want peace” after more than a week of US airstrikes, which he said have “been very, very strong.”

“The Houthis are looking to do something. They want to know, ‘How do we stop? How do we stop? How can we have peace?’ The Houthis want peace because they’re getting the hell knocked out of them,” he told reporters in the Oval Office.

“The Houthis are dying for peace. They don’t want this… They were knocking ships out of the ocean…. In the Suez Canal, they only have about 20% of the ships going through. They have to go through a different way, which takes weeks of travel, and that really affects commerce.”

“But the Houthis have been hit hard, and they want to negotiate peace,” Trump continued. “The Houthis have been horrible to the world. They’ve killed a lot of people and knocked out a lot of ships and planes and anything else… They have been hit harder than they have ever been.”

Washington announced a military offensive against the Houthis on March 15, promising to use overwhelming force until the Iran-backed group stopped firing on vessels in the key shipping routes of the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden.

That day saw a wave of US airstrikes that officials said killed senior Houthi leaders, and which the rebels’ health ministry said killed 53 people.

Since then, Houthi-held parts of Yemen have witnessed near-daily attacks that the group has blamed on the United States, with the rebels announcing the targeting of US military ships and Israel.

The Houthis began targeting shipping vessels following the start of the Gaza war triggered by its ally Hamas’s attack on Israel, claiming solidarity with Palestinians, but paused their campaign when a ceasefire took effect in January.

Earlier this month, they threatened to renew attacks in the vital maritime trade route after Israel halted the flow of aid to the Gaza Srip, triggering the first US strikes on Yemen since Trump took office in January.

Last week, Trump threatened to annihilate the Houthis and warned Tehran against continuing to aid the rebel group.

In his remarks Wednesday, Trump suggested the US strikes on Houthi targets in Yemen may continue for some time.

“They want us to stop so badly… They’ve got to say, ‘No mas.’ But I can only say that the attacks every day, every night… have been very successful beyond our wildest expectations… We’re going to do it for a long time. We can keep it going for a long time,” Trump said.

His remarks came as Houthi media reported new US strikes hit the rebel-held capital Sanaa, after earlier reporting 19 American raids elsewhere in Yemen.

“A series of strikes by the US aggression have hit the south and north of the capital,” the Al-Masirah channel said, without providing further details.

The station had earlier reported 17 raids by the United States “on the Saada governorate,” on top of two more on Amran.

The Iran-backed rebels’ news agency, Saba, said “the American aggression targeted the Oncology Hospital building in Saada.”

The hospital, which Houthi media said was under construction, was also hit last week.

The rebel health ministry said two civilians were wounded in the latest hospital attack, which they described as “a full-fledged war crime.”

Early on Wednesday, a Houthi military spokesperson said the group targeted “enemy warships in the Red Sea, led by the US aircraft carrier (USS Harry S.) Truman” blamed for the Yemen strikes.

The rebels also claimed a drone attack on Tel Aviv, but did not specify when it occurred. Israel did not report such an attack.