Saudi Crown Prince Asked Trump to Strike Houthis, Was Refused, Report Says

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman asked US President Donald Trump to carry out airstrikes on the Houthis and was refused, according to finansavisen.no. The Norwegian outlet reported the exchange on Friday, 11 September 2026.

The report lands as the Houthi militia has pushed into the port town of Dhubab on the Bab al-Mandeb strait, a development attributed to Reuters by ABC Nyheter. Dhubab sits on the Red Sea approach to the strait, a chokepoint for shipping moving between the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden.

The militia's advance has drawn attention to the economic stakes. Aftenposten reported that the Houthis had taken an important port town and that petrol prices could climb as a result. Bergens Tidende reported a sharp rise in oil prices after the Houthis captured Mokha. Mokha lies on Yemen's Red Sea coast, north of Dhubab.

Taken together, the reports point to a widening Houthi presence along a corridor that carries a large share of seaborne trade and energy shipments. The refusal attributed to Trump, if confirmed, would leave Riyadh without the direct US air support it sought at a moment when the militia is gaining ground on the coast.

mohammed bin salman

Details of the request — when it was made, how it was conveyed, or why it was declined — were not included in the material available.

What to watch next: whether Washington explains its position on strikes in Yemen, and whether the Houthi advance toward the Bab al-Mandeb affects shipping traffic and fuel prices in the coming days.