Trump Supporters Can No Longer Say Trump Never Started A War

I’d like to point out that the tired MAGA talking point about how Trump “never started any new wars” has officially been invalidated because of Yemen.

The focus on “new wars” was always a dopey arbitrary distinction meant to shelter Trump from criticism of his extensive warmongering throughout his first term, but his restarting the US bombing campaign in Yemen in order to protect Israel’s right to commit genocide means even this feeble excuse has gone up in smoke.

The US launched dozens of airstrikes in Yemen on Friday morning in its new offensive against Ansar Allah, who are essentially Yemen’s ruling government since the territory they control contains some 80 percent of the nation’s population. The US has bombed Yemen every day since restarting the war earlier this month, and Trump told the press on Wednesday that he intends to keep the attacks going “for a long time”.

And when I say war, I mean war. When you are bombing a country every single day and announcing that you intend to keep bombing it for a long time, that’s the thing that war is. You might not call it that, but that is in fact what you are doing. You are waging war on that country.

And make no mistake: this is a new war that Trump started. Yemen was at war between 2015 and 2022 against a US-backed coalition spearheaded by Saudi Arabia, but that conflict has been over for three years. Biden had been launching airstrikes against Houthi forces in 2024 in response to their Red Sea shipping blockade which was aimed at forcing Israel to halt its genocide in Gaza, but Ansar Allah suspended that blockade when a ceasefire was reached between Israel and Hamas, and the Red Sea had been peaceful.

That all ended when Trump began sabotaging the ceasefire and failed to use the White House’s immense leverage to force Israel to abide by its agreement with Hamas. Israel announced a genocidal starvation siege on Gaza in full coordination with the Trump administration, and Ansar Allah responded by saying it would resume the Red Sea blockade to pressure Israel to halt its genocidal atrocities. Trump then began bombing Yemen before the Houthis had even launched any kind of attack, all to make sure Israel could commit genocide without consequences. The Trump administration reportedly even asked Israel not to respond to Yemeni attacks against it, saying the US would take care of the whole thing.

So there you have it. Trump started a new war, in every way that matters. There was peace, and then Trump actively sabotaged it, committing instead to a long-term war so needlessly that his own cabinet was seen in a leaked group chat questioning the decision and trying to come up with reasons why it was even necessary.

Face it Trumpers: you’ve been had. You voted for a president who told you he was going to end the wars, and he started a new war and was backing an active genocide within a few weeks of taking office. You voted for a president who said he’d protect free speech, and he’s stomping out free speech throughout the United States to silence criticism of Israel. You voted for a president who said he’d put America first, and he’s putting Israel first.

Mark Twain said “It’s easier to fool people than to convince them that they have been fooled,” so maybe I am wasting my breath here. But you have been fooled, my red-hatted lovelies. You have been fooled very badly.

If you can’t accept it just yet, don’t worry. He’ll show you more proof before long.

Listen to a reading of this article (reading by Tim Foley):

https://www.caitlinjohnst.one/p/trump-supporters-can-no-longer-say