Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth vowed over the weekend that the U.S. military would continue to pound Iranian-backed Houthi terrorists in Yemen until they declare that they will cease all attacks on commercial shipping and military assets in the region.
Hegseth made the remarks during a Sunday interview with Maria Bartiromo on Fox News’ “Sunday Morning Futures,” while discussing the strikes in Yemen on Saturday night, in which dozens of terrorists were killed.
He said that the strikes were a return to Trump’s “peace through strength” policy and that they were being forced to clean up the mess they inherited from President Joe Biden.
“We’re sitting on four years of deferred maintenance from Joe Biden, where in particular, when you talk about the Houthis, they were allowed for over 100 times to shoot at U.S. ships, to shoot at commercial shipping,” he said. “Four months ago, when we sent a ship through, it was shot at 17 times.”
“Ships haven’t been able to go through for over a year without being shot at. Freedom of navigation is basic,” he continued. “It’s a core national interest, and President Trump has said, we will restore that and we will be unrelenting.”
He said that the moment that the Houthis end their attacks on ships and drones that the U.S. will cease its military campaign against them.
“But until then, it will be unrelenting,” he said. “We got the reports last night, Maria, the Houthi capital, felt like an earthquake, dozens and dozens of precision, heavy munitions dropping precisely on the targets that we wanted to hit, sending a very clear message. And the message is clear to Iran as well, and the President said it in his truth, your support of the Houthis needs to end immediately.”
Hegseth also repeatedly stated during the interview that Iran had better not get involved in the U.S.’s campaign against the Houthis.
WATCH:
.@SecDef: “An era of PEACE THROUGH STRENGTH is back — The minute the Houthis say ‘we’ll stop shooting at your ships, we’ll stop shooting at your drones,’ this campaign will end. But until then, it will be un-relenting.” 🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/4nJP0kqhhJ
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) March 16, 2025
