Trump’s New Middle East Dilemma, and How DraftKings Uses A.I. to Target Gamblers

Over the weekend, President Trump was on the verge of launching new airstrikes against the Houthi militia in Yemen—U.S. troops were loading bombs onto war planes and commanders had approved target lists—before he decided not to move forward, at least for now, according to administration officials who spoke to The New York Times. This near-strike is one of several developments in a Monday episode of The Headlines that also covers a major escalation in Trump’s battle with the press, a new White House effort to control university research funding, reports of violence against deportees sent to Equatorial Guinea, and a deep-dive investigation into how DraftKings uses artificial intelligence to target gamblers.

Trump’s Houthi Dilemma

The decision to hold off on strikes came after two weeks of competing pressures on the president. On one side, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman—a major U.S. ally—has been calling Trump directly, imploring him to step into the fight against the Houthis. At the same time, most of Trump’s inner circle has been either deeply skeptical or outright opposed to joining the conflict, especially given existing strains on the U.S. military from the ongoing war with Iran.