US President Donald Trump’s military campaign against Yemen’s Ansar Allah movement has cost the United States more than $1 billion since mid-March, according to two US officials familiar with internal briefings, as reported by NBC News.

Despite the massive expenditure, the operation failed to dismantle Ansar Allah’s ability to strike, a fact evident in the recent missile attack targeting "Israel’s" Ben Gurion Airport.

Launched on March 15 and dubbed Operation Rough Rider, the campaign was meant to escalate pressure on the Yemeni Resistance. But after weeks of air and naval strikes, Ansar Allah has retained its operational capabilities well beyond Yemen’s borders.

This week, Trump announced a drastic shift in strategy: the US will suspend military operations against Ansar Allah in exchange for a pause in attacks on American naval assets. The limited agreement, mediated in part by Oman, applies only to attacks targeting US ships and does not cover strikes against "Israel" or commercial vessels.

“The Ansar Allah movement will stop shooting at US ships for some period of time,” said Dana Stroul, a former Pentagon official under the Biden administration. “But they will not stop firing missiles at 'Israel', commercial shipping won’t resume, and the civil war in Yemen remains unchanged.”

Intelligence gaps, drone losses hinder the US campaign

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An unnamed US official admitted the administration had been seeking an exit through this agreement. “The administration was clearly looking for an off-ramp for this campaign against Ansar Allah,” the official said.

The Pentagon has fired roughly 2,000 munitions in the operation, including more than 75 Tomahawk missiles, hundreds of 2,000-pound bombs, and at least 20 AGM-158 air-launched cruise missiles, at a cost exceeding $775 million, as per the report. Transport and support costs for deploying two Patriot missile defense systems added millions more, with 73 C-17 flights required just to deliver one of the systems.

Despite this, officials say the effectiveness of the strikes has been difficult to verify. US drones sent to assess damage were often downed by Ansar Allah, and the lack of American boots on the ground has left intelligence severely limited.

Stroul, now with the Washington Institute, insinuated that the outcome was predictable, saying, “Washington has little patience and a short attention span, and was unlikely to commit the sustained resources or leadership attention needed for a meaningful result.”

White House divisions emerge over military strategy

Divisions within Trump’s administration have also emerged. Gen. Michael "Erik" Kurilla, now backed under Trump after being sidelined by Biden, was granted broad operational authority. Yet, disagreements surfaced over how far and how long the US should remain engaged, the report stressed.

The internal rift came to light after The Atlantic’s editor-in-chief, Jeffrey Goldberg, was mistakenly added to a Signal group chat with senior officials. Leaked logs revealed Vice President JD Vance warning that “Trump did not know what he was getting into” and questioning the logic behind escalating US involvement.

If the deal holds and Ansar Allah ceases attacks on American vessels, Trump may claim a narrow success, restoring, as one official put it, “freedom of navigation.” But critics argue that the cost, in dollars, munitions, and credibility, far outweighs the strategic gain.

“You can send a ship through the Red Sea and declare success, but nothing about the core conflict has changed," Stroul concluded.

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