WASHINGTON, Tuesday, October 13, 2026 — President Donald Trump on Monday declared that the United States’ war with Iran will end “very soon,” predicting a plunge in oil prices once the fighting stops — even as he issued one of his sharpest public rebukes of Yemen’s Houthi rebels and said November’s midterm elections would have “no impact” on his decisions about Iran.
Speaking with reporters, Trump said he had spoken with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman about the deadly Houthi missile strikes on Saudi territory, including Saturday’s attack on Riyadh’s King Khalid International Airport, which Reuters reported killed 13 people and wounded hundreds — the deadliest assault on Saudi soil in more than a decade.
“The Houthis are misbehaving very badly. They’re misbehaving very badly,” Trump said. “No good.”
No election delay
Asked whether the November 3 midterm elections — for key Senate, House and governor races — could change his thinking on Iran, Trump was blunt: “No, it has no impact.” The statement appeared to walk back his own remarks last week, when he indicated the United States would refrain from further strikes until after the vote.
Trump also reiterated his forecast that energy markets would collapse the moment the war ends. “As soon as the war ends with Iran, which will be very soon, oil will drop like a rock,” he said. Brent crude has hovered near $105 a barrel with the Strait of Hormuz still closed to most commercial shipping.
Houthis warn of ‘swift and painful’ response
The president’s comments landed hours after the Houthis warned that any American entry into the Saudi-led campaign in Yemen would bring a direct response. Houthi political bureau member Mohammed al-Bukhaiti told AFP on Monday that if the US joined “the aggression against Yemen,” the group would launch a “swift and painful response targeting the US and all its interests in the region.”
Bukhaiti’s warning followed reports that Washington was weighing whether to join Saudi strikes against the Houthis, after Trump called Saturday’s Riyadh airport attack “not acceptable.” Al-Bukhaiti also warned workers at Saudi oil facilities and airports to stay away from the sites, describing them as legitimate targets, Sky News Arabia reported, citing AFP.
Tehran digs in
Iran’s leadership, meanwhile, showed no sign of softening. The commander-in-chief of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said no extra-regional power had the right to maintain a “hegemonic presence” in the Strait of Hormuz or the Persian Gulf. The Wall Street Journal reported that Tehran is fortifying its defences, rallying loyalists and threatening a wider, harsher retaliation if US attacks resume after the midterms.
Trump also dismissed claims circulating among critics that Russia and China are quietly helping Iran. Writing on Truth Social, he said: “If they are, it’s at a very low level, but I don’t believe they are at all.”
The remarks add fresh fuel to a conflict now in its seventh month. Trump told the UN General Assembly last month that the choice before Washington was a deal with Iran or to “annihilate the Islamic Republic” — rhetoric that has kept oil markets, Gulf capitals and airlines on edge as the region waits to see whether his “very soon” prediction holds.
