U.S. President Donald Trump said on the 31st (local time) that "Houthi terrorists supported by Iran have been wiped out by relentless attacks over the past two weeks" in relation to Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthi rebels.
On the same day, President Trump stated on his social media platform Truth Social, "We have struck them harder every night and day, and many of their fighters and leaders are now gone."
He said, "Their ability to threaten shipping and the region has been rapidly destroyed," adding, "Our attacks will continue until they no longer pose a threat to freedom of navigation."
He continued, "The Houthi have a clear choice. They must stop firing on American vessels," warning, "Otherwise, we have only just begun, and the real pain for the Houthis and Iran, who support them, has yet to come."
Recently, the Trump administration has been embroiled in controversy over the so-called 'Signal Gate.' Senior foreign and security officials in the Trump administration discussed plans for an airstrike against the Houthis on March 15 in a private chat room on the civilian messenger app Signal. A confidentiality breach controversy arose when a journalist was accidentally invited to the chat room.
President Trump criticized the focus on the chat room while ignoring the success of the Houthi attacks, calling it a "witch hunt." The day before, he referenced NBC's current affairs program on social media, saying, "They don't want to talk about how well we are doing on the Houthi issue, real peace talks between Russia and Ukraine, or the Iran issue, but instead are conducting a boring Signal witch hunt."
On the same day, White House spokesperson Caroline Levitt said, "Measures have been taken to prevent such incidents from happening again, and President Trump, National Security Advisor Mike Waltz, and the entire security team are working very well together."
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