Hegseth Comments On Strikes Against The Houthis

By
Rachel Stevenson
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It seems we’ve finally decided that letting terrorists run wild in the Middle East might be a bad idea. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth laid it all out over the weekend, making it clear that the U.S. military is done playing nice with the Iranian-backed Houthi terrorists in Yemen. After years of unchecked aggression, it looks like the gloves are finally coming off. And let’s be honest, this is what happens when you spend four years pretending that appeasement is a strategy.

Hegseth didn’t mince words in his Sunday sit-down with Maria Bartiromo on Fox News’ Sunday Morning Futures. He was refreshingly blunt about the fact that this whole mess is yet another Biden-era disaster in need of a major clean-up. Shocking, right? It turns out that letting radical militants fire on U.S. and commercial ships over 100 times without serious consequences isn’t a solid foreign policy. Imagine that.

Under Biden’s watch, these Houthis have been getting away with attacking ships left and right. According to Hegseth, just four months ago, a U.S. ship was targeted seventeen times in a single mission. Let that sink in. Seventeen times. And what did the Biden administration do? Issue another “strongly worded statement”? Maybe throw a few sanctions around that Iran and its proxies laugh off while they keep funneling weapons and cash? The incompetence is almost impressive.

But here’s the difference now: Hegseth is making it clear that the Trump-era “peace through strength” approach is back. No more handwringing, no more looking the other way. The message is simple—stop attacking ships, or we will keep pounding you into the dirt. And this time, it isn’t just empty talk. Hegseth confirmed that the strikes over the weekend weren’t some half-hearted attempt to “send a signal.” These were real, precise, devastating hits, and by the sounds of it, the Houthis got the memo—loud and clear.

He described the impact in Yemen’s capital as an “earthquake” of firepower, with dozens of heavy munitions hitting their intended targets. That’s how deterrence works. You don’t ask terrorists to behave—you make it painfully clear that bad behavior has severe consequences. And just in case Iran thought they could stay in the shadows and keep stirring the pot, Hegseth put them on notice as well. Supporting the Houthis comes with a price, and if Tehran doesn’t wise up fast, that price is only going to go up.

Of course, the real question is—how did we even get here? Well, it’s what happens when you spend four years pretending that climate summits and diversity quotas are somehow a substitute for actual leadership. It’s what happens when your foreign policy is dictated by a bunch of bureaucrats more concerned with pronouns in the military than with making sure our ships can travel international waters without being turned into target practice.

The contrast couldn’t be clearer. Under Trump, America was respected. Sure, the media had a meltdown over mean tweets, but the world knew better than to test our patience. Under Biden? It’s been one global humiliation after another. Afghanistan was a catastrophe, Ukraine turned into a war zone, and now, after over a year of unchecked Houthi aggression, the U.S. is finally forced to step in and clean up the mess.

But at least now, the adults are back in charge, and the message is loud and clear—America doesn’t tolerate terrorism, and if you poke the bear, you’re going to feel it. It’s a lesson the Houthis—and their Iranian backers—are long overdue to learn.

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