Trump Advises Saudi Arabia to Accept Israel’s Offer of Help Against Houthis
US President Donald Trump has said Saudi Arabia should accept Israel’s offer to help it fight Yemen’s Houthis.
Asked by reporters at the White House whether Riyadh should take up the offer, Trump replied, “Yes, absolutely, I think it should.” He added that Israel has been very helpful to Saudi Arabia.
Earlier this week, a diplomatic source told an Israeli newspaper that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had offered, through US mediation, to help Saudi Arabia against the Houthis. One aim of the offer was to strengthen ties with Riyadh.
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, however, opposed the move, fearing a backlash from the Saudi public.
Separately, Trump said the US may have to target an underground site linked to Iran’s nuclear program, known as Pickaxe Mountain, as part of its commitment to stop Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons.
In an interview on Thursday night, he made clear that he would not use nuclear weapons in the ongoing war against Iran. He said Washington wants to ensure Iran never gets a nuclear weapon, because if it did, “they will definitely use it.”
Referring to Iran’s underground facilities, Trump said the country’s nuclear capability is buried under a mountain weighing millions of tons. “Now we are looking at Pickaxe Mountain,” he said. “We may have to go there, we will hit it and destroy it quickly.”