It wouldn’t have cost Trump anything to show a clear intent to deter in a strategically crucial moment; it wouldn’t even have undermined his efforts in Ukraine.
These costly U.S. attacks failed to achieve their goals, but were conducted in order to inflict a blow against Yemen, for daring to challenge the Israelis.
The White House decision to relist the rebels as a specially designated global terrorist group and call the move a “pliable form of economic pressure” looked frankly ridiculous.