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Mr. Trump on Saturday announced on his Truth Social site ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥œdecisive and powerfulÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥� military action against the Houthis in Yemen. Its attacks ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥œon American vessels will not be tolerated. We will use overwhelming lethal force until we have achieved our objective,ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥� Mr. Trump wrote. To ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥œall Houthi terrorists, YOUR TIME IS UP, AND YOUR ATTACKS MUST STOP, STARTING TODAY.ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥�

The Houthis had paid little price for more than a year of piracy that forced the U.S. Navy into a combat pace not seen since World War II. The White House tallies 174 Houthi attacks on U.S. warships and 145 on commercial vessels since 2023. One think-tank analyst estimated recently that the U.S. Navy fired more air-defense missiles in those 15 months than it had in the previous 30 years. That means expensive missiles shooting down cheap drones.

The Houthis took a short vacation from lobbing missiles and drones at commercial vessels amid cease-fire talks over Gaza, but they have been threatening to renew their attacks. Press reports say the terrorists late last month fired a surface-to-air missile at a U.S. F-16, and a U.S drone disappeared around the time the Houthis took credit for taking down a drone two weeks ago.

Mr. Trump often talks tougher than he acts, so itÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s important to see if this is the start of a larger campaign to target Houthi leaders and eliminate the groupÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s weapons stores and Iranian supply lines. Among his other mistakes, President Biden settled for de minimis retaliatory strikes that let the Houthis conclude they had little to fear. Michael Waltz, White House national security adviser, said Sunday on ABC News that the U.S. strikes targeted ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥œmultiple Houthi leaders and took them out.ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥�

Notably, Mr. Trump also included Iran in his Truth Social warning to the Houthis. ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥œTo Iran: Support for the Houthi terrorists must end IMMEDIATELY! Do NOT threaten the American People . . . or Worldwide shipping lanes. If you do, BEWARE, because America will hold you fully accountable.ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥�

This is significant because the Houthis like to claim that they are independent from Iran. But Tehran is their main arms supplier. The Houthis wouldnÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™t be nearly as large a threat without that help.

Linking Iran with the Houthis is also significant in the context of Mr. TrumpÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s desire to open nuclear talks with Tehran. It shows the president understands the regional threat that Iran represents, especially if it obtains a nuclear weapon. Barack ObamaÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s 2015 nuclear deal handed Iran the money and oil sales to finance weapons transfers to the Houthis and other terror groups. Mr. TrumpÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s renewed maximum pressure campaign is intended to cut off IranÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s revenue for that financing.

Deterring the Houthi attacks is crucial to restoring the freedom of global commerce. They have all but shut down the Red Sea route between Europe and Asia for ships that arenÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™t Russian, Chinese or Iranian. The cost of shipping and insurance have soared. ItÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s encouraging that, at least in this case, Mr. Trump believes in American global leadership.