Saudi Crown Prince FaceTimes Trump Twice, Requests Virtual Bombing ASAP
KEY POINTS
- •On Thursday, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman called President Trump twice urging U.S. strikes on Houthi rebels closing in on Yemen’s Red Sea chokepoint.
- •Trump declined direct intervention but committed about 200 U.S. forces to non-kinetic support and shared intelligence with Saudi Arabia.
- •Admiral Brad Cooper visited Saudi Arabia for urgent coordination, while the White House withheld public comment amid rising tensions near Bab al-Mandab Strait.
On Thursday, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, aka MBS, tried twice to get President Trump to hit the Houthis who closed in on the Red Sea’s most crucial choke-point, Bab al-Mandab. Despite MBS’s frantic double call—think ‘please pwn these rebels’—Trump said ‘nah.’ Oil prices surged amid this diplomatic group chat while roughly 200 U.S. forces played non-kinetic squad in Saudi Arabia. Earlier in July, MBS confidently assured Trump Riyadh could handle Houthis solo, but now they’re subtly sliding into DMs for more muscular help. Meanwhile, Adm. Brad Cooper jet-setted to Saudi Arabia for some high-level coordination, all while the White House perfected its ‘no comment’ poker face. The U.S. stance: protect Red Sea freedom, but don’t fight because exhausting multiple fronts is so 2022.
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(1 of 3)When the Saudi Crown Prince has to call not once, but twice to ask for US airstrikes, you know things got awkward faster than a Zoom meeting with bad WiFi.
MBS calling Trump twice for strikes feels like begging your WiFi router to stop buffering during Game of Thrones rematch.
US says it’s focused on keeping the Red Sea stripes free but won’t step in—like refereeing chaos from the sidelines with popcorn.
Source: Axios | Published: 9/11/2026 | Author: Barak Ravid
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