Just two months ago, said Ben Farmer in The Daily Telegraph (London), Donald Trump was "emphatic" in claiming the Houthi threat was dead. "They say they will not be blowing up ships any more," the US president said of the Yemeni militants, claiming to have bombed them into submission. Well, the Houthis are back - and apparently stronger than ever.

The fact that so many countries in the region did not assist the ships quickly in order to deter the Houthis shows that it is not a priority. The Iranian-backed Houthis are emboldened after sinking two ships last week in the Red Sea.

It was the MH-60S Seahawk helicopters—deployed from the USS Eisenhower and USS Gravely—that stopped a brazen Houthi attack on the Maersk Hangzhou in the Red Sea. As the four small boats closed in, ignoring hails and firing on the aircraft,