US President Donald Trump said Friday that Washington is holding talks with the Iran-backed Houthi movement in Yemen, claiming the group is interested in reaching an agreement with the United States.
"We're talking to the Houthis also and they would like to see if we can make a deal," Trump told NewsNation in an interview.
His comments came as tensions continue to rise between Saudi Arabia and the Houthis. Last week, the group seized Yemen's entire Red Sea coastline along with three strategic islands, significantly extending its control over the Bab al-Mandab Strait, a major maritime route between Europe and Asia. The Houthis have also been targeting Saudi vessels since July.
Reuters reported Wednesday that US officials met with Houthi representatives in Oman over the weekend. The previously undisclosed discussions reportedly took place at the US Embassy in Muscat. Three sources said the meeting was held at the embassy, while two said Oman helped facilitate the talks.
The Trump administration designated the Houthis as a foreign terrorist organization in March 2025. Despite the designation, Washington subsequently negotiated with the group and reached a ceasefire in May 2025, following two months of US strikes aimed at stopping Houthi attacks on shipping in the Red Sea.
Trump also discussed the ongoing hostilities with Iran during his NewsNation interview. Asked about his remarks from Thursday that he was considering whether to “annihilate" Iran, he replied, “We’ll see what happens."
Asked what Iran would need to do before he makes such a decision, Trump said Tehran is seeking an agreement with Washington. “Right now, they want to make a deal," he said, arguing that Iran is “losing in every way" both financially and militarily.
“If the deal’s not a correct deal, then I wouldn’t even think about it," he said. “But right now, they want to make a deal because they’re losing in every way."
Trump made a similar assessment Thursday in an interview with Fox News. “Iran wants to make a deal. They’re not ready, in my opinion. They’re going to either make a deal that’s good, or we’re not going to make a deal at all."
The President also said US airstrikes carried out by B-2 bombers had prevented Iran from advancing toward the development of a nuclear weapon. Without the American operation, he claimed, Iran would now possess such a weapon “and they would use it. They would use it very easily."
He continued, "You look anywhere in the world, they're considered the most evil country right now in the world, and they've been that for a long time. They've been that for many, many years."
(Arutz Sheva-Israel National News' North American desk is keeping you updated until the start of Shabbat in New York. The time posted automatically on all Israel National News articles, however, is Israeli time.)