Trump says Houthi attacks aim to raise oil prices 'probably at the behest of Iran,' he says

President Donald Trump publicly accused Houthi forces in Yemen of mounting a recent campaign of strikes on Saudi energy facilities with the apparent aim of pushing up oil prices, saying he believes the attacks were "probably at the behest of Iran." The Washington Examiner reported that Trump spoke to reporters before leaving the White House and also posted a lengthier message on Truth Social while travelling to Joint Base Andrews, naming refineries, pipelines and Riyadh’s main airport as among the sites hit "over the past week."

Trump told reporters the Houthis were "behaving very badly," and on Truth Social he asserted the group was acting in a way designed to influence oil markets "probably prior to the U.S. Elections." In the post he also attacked Iran’s economy by calling it a "Failing Nation, with No Navy, No Airforce, the World’s Worst Economy, and 301% Inflation," and he explicitly linked Tehran to the Houthi operations by saying the attacks were "probably at the behest of Iran."

The Washington Examiner article says the Houthi attacks in the previous week struck Saudi refineries, pipelines and the capital’s main airport and describes Trump as blaming the group for those strikes right before the U.S. midterm elections. The report notes Trump warned that additional military action would follow after the midterms, and frames his remarks as delivered in the days immediately before his travel to Joint Base Andrews. The account in the Examiner provides Trump’s framing and attribution of responsibility but does not provide independent confirmation of Iranian direction of the Houthis or specific operational evidence linking Iran to the attacks. It also does not report casualty figures or military responses by any other government. Trump’s statement links the timing of the Houthi strikes to U.S. political calendars, saying the attacks appeared aimed at influencing oil prices "probably prior to the U.S. Elections," and the Examiner records his pledge of possible further military action after the midterm vote. The article quotes Trump’s language and records his public assertion that Iran is behind the Houthi actions, while stopping short of presenting corroborating detail beyond Trump’s own remarks. No casualty numbers, independent confirmation of Iranian involvement, or descriptions of any specific follow-on military plans appear in the Examiner’s text beyond Trump’s declaration that more action could come after the elections.