President Trump said Tuesday that the Houthis have informed his administration they want to stop fighting, announcing that strikes on the rebel group have been called off.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe had some very good news last night. The Houthis have announced \u2026 or they announced to us at least that they don\u2019t want to fight anymore. They just don\u2019t want to fight, and we will honor that. And will stop the bombings,\u201d Trump said, alongside Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney in the Oval Office.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey have capitulated, but more importantly we will take their word. They say they will not be blowing up ships anymore,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
\u201cI will accept their word, and we are going to stop the bombing of the Houthis, effective immediately.\u201d<\/p>\n
Secretary of State Marco Rubio, sitting to the side of the president, argued the campaign against the Houthis in Yemen was about a \u201cfreedom of navigation issue,\u201d reiterating that strikes will stop.<\/p>\n
\u201cA band of individuals with advanced weaponry that were threatening global shipping, and the job was to get that to stop. If it\u2019s going to stop, then we can stop. So, I think it’s an important development,\u201d Rubio added.<\/p>\n
Houthi rebels had been targeting shipping in the Red Sea, and the U.S. has engaged in ongoing strikes<\/a> against the group. The U.S. air campaign against the military group began in March.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" President Trump said Tuesday that the Houthis have informed his administration they want to stop fighting, announcing that strikes on the rebel group have been called off. \u201cWe had some<\/p>\n