Trump dispatches second aircraft carrier to Middle East as tensions with Houthis intensify

The Trump administration is dispatching a second aircraft carrier to the Middle East as tensions over the Houthi’s attacks on vessels in the Red Sea intensify.

Military officials are directing the USS Carl Vinson to head toward the Red Sea and have extended the USS Harry S. Truman carrier strike group’s stay there by at least a month.

That’s the second instance during the past six months that the US has deployed two carrier strike groups to the Middle East at the same time.

It’s also the first time President Trump has had two carrier strike groups in the region since getting sworn back into office in January.

The show of force comes as tensions have flared with the Houthis, a Yemen-based terror group, who have carried out sporadic attacks on ships traversing the Red Sea.

Last weekend, Trump ordered military strikes against Houthi outposts that the group later claimed killed 53 and injured 98.

In response, the Houthis vowed to continue their attacks on Red Sea shipping until Israel pulls out of the Gaza Strip. The group had escalated its attacks on shipping after the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas massacre against Israel.

Houthi forces, who overthrew Yemen’s Western-backed government in 2015 following the outbreak of civil war the previous September, currently hold most of the territory in the country’s west and along the Red Sea coast.

Following the strikes against the Houthis, Trump issued multiple public threats against Iran, a key backer of the US-designated terror organization.

“Every shot fired by the Houthis will be looked upon, from this point forward, as being a shot fired from the weapons and leadership of IRAN, and IRAN will be held responsible, and suffer the consequences, and those consequences will be dire,” Trump ominously warned on Truth Social Monday.

In a follow-up threat, Trump vowed Wednesday that the Houthis will be “completely annihilated.”

The USS Carl Vinson is currently partaking in training exercises in the East China Sea exercises alongside the Japanese and South Koreans.

The Post reached out to the Defense Department for comment.

The Houthis have long been part of Iran’s proxy network, which also included the former Bashar-al Assad regime in Syria, Hezbollah and Hamas.

Iran’s proxy network has taken a beating over the past year and a half. Assad’s regime imploded late last year and Israel has decimated top leadership in both Hezbollah and Hamas.

With Post Wire Services