Financial Drain: Will the U.S. Keep Striking the Houthis?

Less than a month after President Donald Trump declared war on Yemen’s Houthi movement and launched a wave of intensive strikes, “the military campaign” has already cost the United States nearly $1 billion—with what many experts describe as only “limited” impact. The staggering cost has sparked urgent questions about how long Washington can continue this war of attrition.

On March 15, 2025, Trump—who began his new term by designating the Houthis as a terrorist group—ordered “a military response” to their attacks on Red Sea shipping, which the group started in support of Palestinians. “To all Houthi terrorists, your time is up, and your attacks must stop, starting today. If they don’t, hell will rain down upon you like nothing you have ever seen before!” Trump posted on his Truth Social platform.

A Costly Campaign

Citing unnamed U.S. officials, CNN reported on April 5, 2025, that the cost of the operation has already approached $1 billion in under three weeks. The high price tag is attributed to the use of advanced munitions, costing hundreds of millions of dollars. Yet despite the intensity of the strikes, the Houthis’ military infrastructure remains largely intact. As a result, the Pentagon is expected to request additional funding from Congress to sustain “the operation.”

That request may face resistance. The “military campaign” has drawn criticism from both sides of the aisle. Vice President J.D. Vance, in a leaked Signal conversation reported by The Atlantic in late March, reportedly described the operation as a “mistake.”

The Pentagon has not publicly detailed the exact impact of the daily U.S. strikes on Houthi forces. However, in closed-door briefings to Congress, officials from the Joint Chiefs of Staff, U.S. Central Command, the Indo-Pacific Command, the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Policy, and the State Department have admitted the results are mixed. While a number of Houthi commanders have been killed and some military sites destroyed, the group’s core capabilities remain undiminished.

The Houthis continue to fortify underground storage and command centers—just as they did during more than a year of strikes ordered by former President Joe Biden. It has been difficult to determine precisely how much the Houthis still have stockpiled, a defense official acknowledged.

“They’ve taken out some sites, but that hasn’t affected the Houthis’ ability to continue shooting at ships in the Red Sea or shooting down U.S. drones,” said one of the sources briefed on the operation. “Meanwhile, we are burning through readiness—munitions, fuel, deployment time.”

Despite the limited progress, U.S. Central Command continues to describe the mission as a “24/7 operation.” Yet the long-term strategy remains unclear—even within the Pentagon.

The New York Times said top Pentagon officials are increasingly worried about the rapid depletion of costly munitions in exchange for what they see as minimal gains in dismantling the Houthi arsenal, which is closely tied to Iran.

While President Trump publicly claimed the Houthis had been “wiped out” by the continued airstrikes launched since March 15, behind closed doors, military officials have conveyed a more sobering message to Congress and allied governments. According to the Times, congressional aides and officials from allied nations were recently briefed that the U.S. campaign has made only limited progress in neutralizing the Houthis’ extensive stockpile of ballistic missiles, drones, and rocket launchers—most of which remain hidden underground.

Blind Strikes

As the U.S. military campaign against Yemen's Houthis stretches into its third week, doubts are mounting over its effectiveness and strategic clarity. Yemeni political analyst Kamil Fahad described the ongoing U.S. strikes as “blind,” lacking in intelligence and meaningful results.

Speaking to the local outlet Almahriyah Net on April 5, Fahad said the U.S. air campaign under President Donald Trump does not appear to be guided by reliable intelligence or a clear operational vision. Instead, he argued, Trump is betting on psychological pressure and the sheer frequency of daily airstrikes to push the Houthis to back down—especially from their direct attacks on “Israel.”

“If these airstrikes were based on a coherent strategy, we would have seen tangible results by now,” he said. 

“But hundreds of strikes since March 15 haven’t stopped the Houthis from firing missiles at U.S. warships in the Red Sea or from launching rockets deep into Israeli territory.”

According to Fahad, the contrast with the Israeli Occupation’s campaign against Hezbollah in Lebanon is striking. “Unlike in Lebanon, U.S. strikes in Yemen haven’t grounded Houthi drones or prevented attacks on American vessels. Drones are still being downed, and alarm sirens still echo in Tel Aviv.”

He described the situation as a reflection of an “unprecedented failure in U.S. intelligence gathering,” despite Washington’s technological superiority. “The strikes seem to stem from an information vacuum,” he added.

On April 4, Houthi leader Abdul-Malik al-Houthi echoed similar sentiments, calling continued Houthi attacks in the Red Sea and on Israeli targets “proof of America’s failure” to weaken their capabilities. In a televised speech, he said that U.S. airstrikes had not achieved their objectives despite their intensity.

He also emphasized that the U.S. campaign had failed to halt the Houthis' military actions in support of Palestinians, nor had it succeeded in safeguarding Israeli shipping routes in the Red Sea, Gulf of Aden, or Arabian Sea.

In response, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio defended the strikes, citing the Houthis' possession of sophisticated weapons capable of threatening international shipping lanes. Speaking to reporters on April 4, Rubio claimed that the Houthis have launched 174 attacks on U.S. naval forces, and insisted that the strikes were critical to ensuring maritime security.

He added that several countries had “expressed appreciation” for the U.S. strikes targeting Houthi positions in Yemen, arguing that continued military action was essential to prevent the group from jeopardizing global trade through the Red Sea and Bab el-Mandeb—one of the world’s most strategic maritime chokepoints.

Strengthening the Position

In a report published on March 19, France 24 concluded that “previous foreign interventions” in Yemen had failed to weaken the Houthis—and may in fact have “contributed to strengthening their position.”

The French outlet noted that the Houthis, who have controlled large parts of Yemen since 2014, “continue to receive sustained support from Iran, bolstering both their military and political capabilities.”

It also pointed to the “complex geographic and tribal landscape of Yemen,” which makes a decisive victory against the group exceedingly difficult. “Any new attempt to weaken the Houthis may face major challenges and would require more comprehensive and adaptive strategies, especially after repeated failures to neutralize them.”

This French assessment aligns with the view of Yemeni military and strategic expert Mohammed al-Kumaim, who stated that the Houthis have endured U.S. airstrikes since 2024, but these attacks have lacked strategic focus and had little value—they didn’t target the group’s leadership.”

In an earlier interview with Al-Estiklal last month, al-Kumaim said the latest strikes ordered by Trump are more focused, and although their results are yet to be seen, the target list this time has changed. Still, this won’t significantly undermine Houthi capabilities.

According to the military expert, the group has greatly benefited from Yemen’s rugged geography and terrain, where it has stored many of its weapons and missiles. “They’re also skilled at hiding; they have historically used the mountains as shelters and hideouts for their leaders,” he said.

Al-Kumaim noted that the Houthis operate like a guerrilla force rather than a conventional army, embedding themselves among civilians and storing weapons in residential areas. 

“These strikes may hit hard, but they won’t break the Houthis or wipe them out.”