Trump says US may join Saudi strikes on Houthis after 12 killed at Riyadh airport

President Donald Trump has said Washington is weighing whether to join Saudi strikes on the Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen, after a missile attack on Riyadh's main airport killed 12 people last night. Speaking to reporters outside the White House, he said the administration had only just learned of the strike. "We may. We're going to look at it. We just found out about the recent attack, so we'll make a decision. We move very quickly," he said. Of the Saudi forces he added: "The Saudis are good fighters, but I think the attack was a terrible thing."

The missile struck King Khalid International Airport, hitting a complex that houses domestic terminals 3 and 4 around gate 401. Eyewitnesses described panic as an explosion shattered terminal glass and left travellers bleeding, while more than a dozen ambulances rushed to the site. Saudi Arabia's General Authority of Civil Aviation said 12 people were killed and 309 injured, with several in critical condition. The dead included four Saudis, two Bangladeshis and one national each from the United States, Egypt, Jordan, Syria, Palestine and Sudan. Secretary of State Marco Rubio confirmed the American death and condemned the attack. It was the deadliest strike on a Gulf Arab state since the broader regional war began.

It was also the third attack on the airport in a week. Days earlier, Houthi strikes killed three Saudis, among them a commercial pilot, and damaged three aircraft on the tarmac. Attacks on Abha airport in the south killed three foreign nationals and injured 36 others, and on Saturday a projectile landed near King Fahd International Airport in Dammam.

Saudi civil aviation authorities suspended all flight operations at King Khalid for a time, closing entry points and dimming lights across the complex. More than 291 flights were cancelled within 24 hours, and incoming services were diverted to other domestic and regional hubs. The United States, Britain, Canada, Ireland, Germany and Australia issued travel advisories urging citizens to avoid the airport and its surroundings. The European Union Aviation Safety Agency widened its airspace warnings, citing the hazard to civilian aircraft from deep missile strikes and active air defence interceptions.

The attack also disrupted Riyadh's calendar. Organisers of the WPC Energy Congress had to arrange alternative routes for energy executives arriving on Sunday, and doubt hangs over the Future Investment Initiative, the crown prince's flagship annual economic summit.

The violence is the result of the long war between the Houthis and Saudi-backed Yemeni government forces. Riyadh formed an Arab coalition in 2015 to fight the group after it captured Sanaa. A fragile truce in 2022 brought relative calm until it began to unravel in July over disputes about airport access and airspace controls. The situation worsened after the outbreak of the US-Israeli war with Iran in February. Hostilities escalated further when the Yemeni government launched a land offensive to reclaim Houthi-held territory, including the Bab al-Mandab Strait and shipping lanes along the Red Sea coast.

The Houthis claimed responsibility, presenting the strikes as retaliation for Saudi operations in Yemen. Houthi health ministry figures put the toll from Saudi air strikes at 91 dead, mostly women and children, in the weeks before the Riyadh attack. Senior Houthi official Mohammed al-Bukhaiti said the strikes enforced a policy of "blockade for blockade". The group has declared Saudi airspace and Red Sea shipping corridors active military zones. By hitting civilian aviation in the capital, it seeks to show that Saudi infrastructure is as exposed as Yemeni facilities have been.

Saudi Arabia's de facto ruler, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, now faces a dilemma. His economic vision rests on making Riyadh a premier hub for business, transport and tourism. Repeated strikes on its main airport erode investor confidence and threaten his diversification agenda. He will have to halt the attacks without letting the kingdom be drawn back into a prolonged war in Yemen that would drain national resources and deter foreign capital.

The Saudi-led coalition called the assault a "full-fledged war crime" and promised a decisive response. Yet the kingdom is reportedly short of surface-to-air interceptors after months of air defence engagements, and has sought urgent help from France, Britain, Pakistan and Egypt. American involvement could widen the conflict into a multinational campaign, with consequences for energy markets, maritime trade routes and a humanitarian crisis across the Arabian Peninsula.