Houthi militants in Yemen are claiming responsibility for a new attack against U.S. warships in the Red Sea.
The terror group stated in a release published by the Jerusalem Post late Tuesday that they had targeted the USS Harry S. Truman aircraft carrier along with several U.S. warships in the Red Sea.
In the early hours of Wednesday local time, the Houthis claimed they had aimed drones at a U.S. vessel and Israeli military sites.
Fox News Digital has reached out to the Department of Defense for further comments.
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The Houthis have repeatedly claimed this month to have attacked the Truman and its accompanying warships in retaliation for U.S. actions in Yemen, although they provided no evidence to substantiate their claims.
The U.S. military successfully intercepted several Houthi drones shortly before the group’s announcement.
These recent claims follow discussions among Trump administration officials regarding a potential military strike against the Houthis. This conversation took place in a group chat on the encrypted messaging app Signal, where they mistakenly included Jeffrey Goldberg, editor-in-chief of The Atlantic, who reported that he received a request to join the chat on March 11 from what appeared to be National Security Advisor Michael Waltz.
The group, referred to as “Houthi PC Small Group,” included top Trump officials discussing what turned out to be an upcoming attack on the Houthis. Many have criticized this group chat as a significant breach of national security, noting that senior officials should not engage in detailed military discussions outside secure facilities or protected government communication channels.
Goldberg reported that the group consisted of 18 individuals, including Waltz, Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, CIA Director John Ratcliffe, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, and White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles.
The article highlighted that officials were discussing “war plans,” and Goldberg refrained from publishing certain sensitive information from the Signal chat, such as specific details about weapon packages, targets, and timing, due to potential threats to national security and military operations.
Goldberg also noted that Ratcliffe inadvertently shared the name of a CIA undercover agent within the chat.
The White House acknowledged that the group chat “appears to be authentic,” although administration officials, including Hegseth, have attempted to downplay concerns and discredit Goldberg as a journalist.
“I’ve heard how it was characterized. Nobody was texting war plans, and that’s all I have to say about that,” Hegseth stated on Monday.
Hegseth criticized Goldberg, describing him as “a deceitful and highly discredited, so-called journalist who’s made a profession of peddling hoaxes time and time again, including the, I don’t know, the hoaxes of Russia, Russia, Russia, or the fine people on both sides hoax or suckers and losers hoax. So this guy is garbage.”
President Donald Trump issued a warning to the Houthis via a Truth Social post on Tuesday, stating that “HELL WILL RAIN DOWN UPON YOU LIKE NOTHING YOU HAVE EVER SEEN BEFORE” if they do not cease their attacks.
By initiating these attacks, Trump’s administration was “standing up to terrorism and protecting international commerce,” according to a White House statement.
The statement indicated that out of the top 10 importers by trade value through the Red Sea, five belong to EU nations. However, it also noted that the Houthis have attacked U.S. warships 174 times and commercial vessels 145 times since 2023. The Houthis responded by saying they were prepared to “respond to escalation with escalation,” although no such response has yet been observed.