Reprinted from John’s Substack:
On the morning of 20 September 2026 — Chicago time — I was on “Switzerland” talking with Tom Switzer about what appeared to be an imminent US attack against the Houthis. President Trump was under tremendous pressure from Saudi Arabia to come to its aid in its war with the Houthis.
I laid out in considerable detail why the US has no viable military option against the Houthis, and thus launching military strikes against them would be a fool’s errand. Thankfully, President Trump’s advisers understood that we could not defeat the Houthis and they convinced him to call off the attack, which he did late that same day.
Of course, the Saudis, who are being battered by the Houthis, are beyond angry with President Trump, who cannot figure out how to end either the disastrous war against Iran he started on 28 February 2026 or the new war that broke out between the Houthis and the Saudis on 13 July 2026 and then seriously escalated on 8 September 2026.
