WASHINGTON (AP) — Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, in a rare move, is beefing up the Navy warship presence in the Middle East, ordering two aircraft carriers to be there next month as the U.S. increases strikes on the Yemen-based Houthi rebels, according to a U.S. official.

It will be the second time in six months that the U.S. has kept two carrier strike groups in that region, with generally only one there. Prior to that it had been years since the U.S. had committed that much warship power to the Middle East.

According to the official, Hegseth signed orders on Thursday to keep the USS Harry S. Truman in the Middle East for at least an additional month. The official spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss ongoing military operations.

The ship has been conducting operations in the Red Sea against the Houthis and was scheduled to begin heading home to Norfolk, Virginia, at the end of March.

And Hegseth has ordered the USS Carl Vinson, which has been operating in the Pacific, to begin steaming toward the Middle East, which will extend its scheduled deployment by three months.

The Vinson is expected to arrive in the region early next month. It had been conducting exercises with Japanese and South Korean forces near the Yellow Sea and the Sea of Japan and was slated to head home to port in San Diego in three weeks.

The presence of so much U.S. naval power in the region not only gives commanders additional ships to patrol and launch strikes, but it also serves as a clear message of deterrence to Iran, the Houthis’ main benefactor.

The Houthis have been waging persistent attacks against commercial and military ships in the region. The Houthi rebels attacked more than 100 merchant vessels with missiles and drones, sinking two vessels and killing four sailors, from November 2023 until January this year. Their leadership described the attacks as aiming to end the Israeli war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

Hegseth’s move shifts the Vinson and its warships away from the Indo-Pacific region, which the Trump administration has touted as its main focus.

Instead, this bolsters the latest U.S. campaign against the Iran-backed Houthis. U.S. ships and aircraft launched a new intensive assault against the militant group, including a barrage of attacks over the weekend that continued into this week.

President Donald Trump, in a marked departure from the previous administration, lowered the authorities needed for launching offensive strikes against the Yemen-based Houthis. He recently gave U.S. Central Command the ability to take action when it deems appropriate.

President Joe Biden’s administration had required White House approval to conduct offensive strikes such as the ones over the weekend. It did allow U.S. forces to launch defensive attacks whenever necessary, including the authority to take out weapons that appeared to be ready to fire.

Biden went to two carriers in the region for several weeks last fall. Then-Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin had ordered the Roosevelt to extend its deployment for a short time and remain in the region as the USS Abraham Lincoln was pushed to get to the area more quickly. The Biden administration beefed up the U.S. military presence there to help defend Israel from possible attacks by Iran and its proxies and to safeguard U.S. troops.

Taliban hostage George Glezmann landed at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland on Friday after more than 800 days in captivity in Afghanistan, where he received a “champion’s welcome.”

“I feel born again,” Glezmann told a reporter. “I have no words. 

“President Trump is amazing,” he added before thanking Secretary of State Marcon Rubio, national security advisor Mike Waltz and hostage envoy Adam Boehler. 

TALIBAN FREES AMERICAN HOSTAGE GEORGE GLEZMANN FOLLOWING NEGOTIATIONS WITH US, QATAR

“A free American individual…abducted because of my U.S. passport.”

“I’ve got no words to express my gratitude for my liberty,” Glezmann added.

His wife, Aleksandra, was not in attendance at the time of his arrival, but Fox News was told she had landed in Washington, D.C. on her way to meet her husband after more than two years since his Dec. 5, 2022, capture in Kabul. 

Ryan Corbett, who was released in January after nearly 900 days in Taliban captivity greeted Glezmann upon arrival.

Both Glezmann and Corbett were held together in Afghanistan.

News of Glezmann’s release was first revealed to Fox News Digital on Thursday after he departed from the Kabul International Airport headed for Doha, Qatar.

His release was secured by U.S. hostage envoy Adam Boehler, Qatari officials, who engaged in direct communications with the Taliban in Afghanistan.  

Boehler met Glezmann in Kabul before flying with him to the Maryland base located just outside of Washington, 

Check back on this developing story. 

In 2024, the EU exported iron and steel and related articles worth €77.8 billion and imported €73.1 billion. 

This resulted in a trade surplus of €4.7 billion, according to the latest Eurostat data. 

Compared with 2019, exports rose by 15.2% and imports increased by 23.7%. 

Despite these monetary increases, the physical weight of exports declined by 17.3%, and imports decreased by 1.6%. 

This indicates “that the value rise was primarily driven by increasing prices”, according to Eurostat.

Turkey was one of the main partners both for exports and imports in 2024 of iron and steel. 

The country occupied the first place in exports with a total of €6.2 billion and third place in imports with €3.5 billion. 

The United States was the second biggest export partner with €5.4 billion worth of iron and steel, followed by the United Kingdom, Switzerland and Mexico.

Between 2019 and 2024, exports of iron and steel to Mexico increased by 54.1% and to the United States by 51.1%, whilst imports from India went up by 89.2% and from South Korea by 43.0%.

India was the main importer of iron and steel at €3.9 billion. South Korea followed up at €3.6 billion, China at €3.5 billion and the United Kingdom at €3.2 billion.

What are the EU plans for steel imports?

The European Commission has announced plans to tighten import quotas to reduce inflows by a further 15% from April.

This action is intended to prevent an influx of cheap steel into the European market following new tariffs imposed by the United States.

European steel producers — already struggling with high energy prices and competition from Asia and other regions — have warned that the EU could become a dumping ground for cheap steel redirected from the US market, potentially threatening European steel plants.

“In the space of a few years, global over-capacities — particularly in Asia — have hit our plants’ order books hard,” Commission Vice-President Stéphane Séjourné said while introducing an action plan for steel and metals industries.

“This is priority number one: We need to protect our steelworks from unfair foreign competition – wherever it may come from,” Séjourné added.

Video editor • Mert Can Yilmaz