“Consequences will be dire” for Iran if Houthis retaliate, Trump says

The White House said today officials are on the “10th yard line of peace” in talks to end Russia’s war in Ukraine.It comes as US President Donald Trump says he will have a phone call with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin tomorrow. Trump made that comment to reporters on board Air Force One during a flight back to the White House after his weekend at Mar-a-Lago.White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt declined to get “ahead of those negotiations” during the call between the two leaders, but said, “We’ve never been closer to a peace deal than we are in this moment.”Some more context: Trump said Sunday that negotiators had already pinpointed certain issues up for discussion, including “dividing up certain assets.”“We’ll be talking about land. A lot of land is a lot different than it was before the war, as you know. We’ll be talking about land, we’ll be talking about power plants, that’s a big question,” Trump said.Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told Russian media today that the call between Trump and Putin will focus on restoring dialogue between the two countries and issues related to the Ukraine conflict.CNN’s Anna Chernova, Katharina Krebs and Lauren Kent contributed reporting to this post.1 hr 13 min agoTrump’s border czar defends deportation flights and says it should be “a celebration”From CNN’s Alejandra JaramilloWhite House Border Czar Tom Homan talks with reporters on the driveway outside the West Wing on March 17 in Washington, DC.White House Border Czar Tom Homan talks with reporters on the driveway outside the West Wing on March 17 in Washington, DC. Chip Somodevilla/Getty ImagesWhite House border czar Tom Homan on Monday defended the administration’s deportation of hundreds of mostly Venezuelan alleged gang members to El Salvador, despite a federal judge’s order to turn around the flights this weekend.“By the time the other order came, the plane was already over international waters with a plane full of terrorists and significant public safety threats,” Homan told reporters outside the White House. “The president did exactly the right thing.”“We removed terrorists. That should be a celebration in this country,” he said.When asked by CNN to explain the timing of the judge’s order, Homan sidestepped, saying, “The president, through proclamation, took his authority under the Alien’s act and imposed it, which he has a right to do.”1 hr 22 min ago”Consequences will be dire” for Iran if Houthis retaliate, Trump saysFrom CNN’s Alejandra JaramilloSmoke rises from a location reportedly struck by US airstrikes in Sanaa, Yemen, on March 15.Smoke rises from a location reportedly struck by US airstrikes in Sanaa, Yemen, on March 15. Osamah Abdulrahman/APPresident Donald Trump said Monday he’d hold Iran responsible for any further Houthi attacks and that the “consequences will be dire.”“Every shot fired by the Houthis will be looked upon, from this point forward, as being a shot fired from the weapons and leadership of IRAN, and IRAN will be held responsible, and suffer the consequences, and those consequences will be dire!” Trump wrote on Truth Social.Over the weekend, Trump ordered “decisive” strikes action against Houthi rebels in Yemen, marking a new escalation against the Iran-backed group that has been targeting shipping lanes in the Red Sea. On Sunday, the Houthis claimed to have launched 18 missiles and drones at the American aircraft carrier USS Harry Truman in the northern Red Sea in response to American “aggression.”Some context: The Houthis, based in Yemen, started launching drone and missile strikes on vessels in the Red Sea in late 2023 in what they say is revenge for Israel’s war in Gaza. The sustained strikes significantly impacted global trade.“The hundreds of attacks being made by Houthi, the sinister mobsters and thugs based in Yemen, who are hated by the Yemeni people, all emanate from, and are created by, IRAN,” Trump wrote on Monday. “Any further attack or retaliation by the ‘Houthis’ will be met with great force, and there is no guarantee that that force will stop there.”