Seb Gorka says Trump admin's leadership is making it impossible for Houthis to attack US vessels

Sebastian Gorka, President Trump's senior director for counter-terrorism, says the administration's leadership is making it "impossible" for the Iran-backed Houthis rebels to attack U.S. vessels in the Red Sea. 

"Thanks to [Defense Secretary] Pete Hegseth and amazing American war fighters, we are making it impossible for the Houthis to attack U.S. vessels or the vessels of any decent nation, so that we can have freedom of navigation on the high seas," Gorka said on the Monday edition of the Just the News, No Noise TV show.

Houthis rebels began disrupting shipping in the sea after the start of the 2023 war between Israel and Hamas, which leads the Palestinians in Gaza and that Iran backs.

Earlier this week, U.S. Central Command said that since March 15 American military forces have "conducted an intense and sustained campaign targeting the Houthi terrorist organization in Yemen." 

USCENTCOM also said over 800 Houthis targets have been hit since the start of the operation. The group acknowledged the Houthis continue to attack U.S. vessels, but the operation has degraded the pace and effectiveness of their attacks – citing Houthi missile launches down 69% and attacks from one-way attack drones having decreased by 55%.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio said during an interview that the Houthis "struck or attacked 174 Naval vessels of the United States," over the past 18 months, according to CBS News.

"America is back in the business of counterterrorism," Gorka said. 

He said that Trump ordered these attacks because U.S. vessels being attacked by the Houthis were impacting the economy. 

"This is about ships having to travel around the horn of Africa to avoid being targeted by the Houthis," Gorka said. "So you know, freedom of navigation for all vessels of all nations is paramount to the global economy."