Trump ‘might’ ask Erdogan to intervene on Saudi Arabia’s behalf against Houthis

U.S. President Donald Trump told reporters Tuesday that he might ask Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to intervene in support of Saudi Arabia as hostilities between Riyadh and the Houthis in Yemen resume amid the U.S.-Iran war, Reuters reported.

“President Erdogan, I think, would do what I ask of him,” Trump said.

Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and Turkey signed a defense pact in August, against a backdrop of attacks on the kingdom and the wider Middle East conflict. On Friday, Pakistan said it had a “substantial number” of troops deployed in Saudi Arabia for defensive purposes.

Trump also accused the Houthis of deliberately seeking to drive up oil prices ahead of the U.S. midterm elections, warning that he would “never forget” their attacks on Saudi Arabia.

“The Houthis are behaving very badly,” Trump wrote on Truth Social, accusing the group of resuming attacks at Iran’s behest after a period of relative calm following U.S. airstrikes in Yemen last year.

Trump said his warning would extend beyond the Nov. 3 midterm elections. “I’ll be here after the election, and I’ll never forget!” he wrote.

The warning follows a series of Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabia, including strikes targeting Riyadh’s King Khalid International Airport that reportedly killed at least 13 people, injured more than 300 and led to the airport’s closure.

The Houthis, who control large swathes of Yemen, have been fighting the Saudi-backed Yemeni government in a civil war since 2014. The conflict has intensified over the past eight months amid the U.S.-Iran war, with the group stepping up attacks on commercial shipping in the Red Sea and the strategic Bab el-Mandeb Strait.

The renewed attacks have raised concerns over potential disruptions to global oil supplies and shipping routes, threatening to push energy prices higher.