President Donald Trump had earlier raised the possibility of joining Saudi strikes against the Houthis, before Saudi authorities announced the casualty toll. “We may,” Trump said. “We just found out about the recent attack. We will make a decision. We move very quickly.” Representative Ro Khanna opposed US intervention, saying, “Congress never authorized Trump to wage war to defend the Saudi regime.” He said he and Representative Thomas Massie had introduced a resolution to keep the US out of war in Yemen.
The Saudi-led coalition vowed a decisive response, with spokesman Turki al-Maliki calling the airport strike a “full-fledged war crime.” On Friday, the coalition said it had destroyed 136 Houthi military targets and was working to dismantle the group’s ballistic missile network. Repeated airport attacks have prompted flight suspensions and corporate evacuation planning ahead of Riyadh’s Future Investment Initiative summit, the Wall Street Journal reported. Saudi leaders still plan to hold the event.