Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced that the Houthis have been redesignated as a Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO).
The announcement follows President Donald Trump’s executive order directing the Department of State to complete the redesignation. The Biden administration removed the group’s FTO designation in 2021.
Trump said in the executive order that the “Houthis’ activities threaten the security of American civilians and personnel in the Middle East, the safety of our closest regional partners, and the stability of global maritime trade.” It is therefore the policy of the U.S. to “cooperate with its regional partners to eliminate Ansar Allah’s capabilities and operations, deprive it of resources, and thereby end its attacks on U.S. personnel and civilians, U.S. partners, and maritime shipping in the Red Sea,” the order noted.
“Today, the State Department is fulfilling one of President Trump’s first promises upon taking office, and I’m pleased to announce the Department’s designation of Ansarallah, commonly referred to as the Houthis, as a Foreign Terrorist Organization,” Rubio announced. He explained that since 2023, the Houthis “have launched hundreds of attacks against commercial vessels in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden, as well as U.S. service members defending freedom of navigation and our regional partners. Most recently, the Houthis spared Chinese-flagged ships while targeting American and allied vessels.”
Rubio declared that the United States “will not tolerate any country engaging with terrorist organizations like the Houthis in the name of practicing legitimate international business,” adding that the move “demonstrates the Trump Administration’s commitment to protecting our national security interests, the safety of the American people, and the security of the United States.”
