Face the threat honestly

During his first week in office, President Donald Trump issued an executive order to begin the process of designating the Houthis, a Shiite Muslim group in Yemen, as a terrorist organization. This is a wise decision and a crucial step forward for world peace, especially as this Iran-backed group has repeatedly launched attacks against ships in the Red Sea, particularly in the past year, and going as far as assaulting cities inside Israel.

Who are the Houthis and what does this designation reveal about President Trump’s disposition toward Muslim terrorists?

The Houthis are a tribal family in northern Yemen who snatched power in that country in 2014 after fighting the Yemeni army and seizing the capital city of Sanaa. Religiously, the Houthis adopted the name “Ansar Allah” as a title for themselves—an Arabic term that means “The Factions of Allah.” Their political power is built on their religious claim to be descendants of the prophet of Islam, particularly through Muhammad’s son-in-law, Ali. They are anti-Sunni and thus strong opponents of Saudi Arabia and its allies. Consequently, they are strongly backed by Iran.

The Houthis’ goals and aspirations are revealed in their stated slogan: “Death to America, death to Israel, curse the Jews, victory to Islam.” If the Islamic Republic of Iran views the United States as the great Satan, Iran’s protégé, the Houthis, serves Iran and its agenda by vowing to attack the United States and its allies until death in pursuit of what they see as Islam’s victory.

This is why President Trump’s executive order is crucial.

By designating the Houthis as a terrorist organization, there will be significant economic and political consequences that will eventually cripple these terrorists. Financially, the Houthis will likely suffer from banking limitations, trade restrictions, and frozen assets, preventing them from accessing funds and drying out sources of possible financial venues. Politically, they will be constrained from broad international relations, as any country sympathetic to them will likely face international diplomatic repercussions. While the Houthis will likely frame the designation as an attack against their religion and cause, the decision itself will practically cripple the group, making it harder for them to gain economic support or any significant political recognition.

Here, President Trump is rectifying a mistake of the previous administration.

The Biden administration played with fire in its careless treatment of the Houthis. In his first term, President Trump designated the Houthis as a foreign terrorist organization. Less than a month after he took office, President Joe Biden removed them from the list, only to later change his mind. In response to their escalating attacks, President Biden classified them as a “specially designated global terrorist” in 2024, allowing him to impose sanctions against them without the broader implications of an FTO label. This is bizarre. President Biden’s mistake arguably gave way for the Houthis to execute terror for more than a year, and that decision cost the world greatly.

You cannot play nice with terrorists who openly and explicitly state they want to destroy you. They should be completely crippled, their connections destroyed, and their sources dried up.

President Trump’s decision against the Houthis reflects his unwavering position against political Islam—a clear, unquestionable, and praiseworthy disposition against Islamism and its proponents.

President Trump’s disposition is evident in various ways, including how he—even before he took office—pledged to arrest and deport Hamas sympathizers. Consequently, in his first week back in office, he issued an executive order that appears to target people participating in anti-Israel protests, demanding the United States be vigilant and selective in issuing visas, ensuring recipients “do not advocate for, aid, or support designated foreign terrorists.”

President Trump doesn’t shy away from explicitly talking against terrorists and their sympathizers, even with major Muslim leaders. Last week, in his first call to a foreign leader, the president spoke with Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. “The two leaders,” according to the White House, “discussed efforts to bring stability to the Middle East, bolster regional security, and combat terrorism.” This is remarkable and demonstrates how President Trump is a skillful negotiator who can navigate the most delicate and sensitive topics with one major goal in mind: to advance the interests of the United States.

Let us hope that the new administration will continue to take similar actions against other Islamist groups, including the Muslim Brotherhood and its proponents and sympathizers in the United States.

But what about the Islamists in our midst?

The sympathizers of radical Islam shouldn’t be embraced, nurtured, tolerated, or rehabilitated. Our nation should never allow Islamist sympathizers to flourish unchecked, as they use their given freedoms to harm our societal foundations.

With President Trump’s disposition against radical Islamic groups, there could be hope for our nation to finally combat the growing roots of harmful Islamism.

President Trump, what you did with the Houthis should be done with Islamist preachers and mosques that advance hate and anti-Western sympathies in our midst. Just as you demanded the United States to be vigilant abroad, we must be so at home, as well.