The president had pulled the rug out from underneath his top team. Even his closest confidants could not understand why.

"So f—–g embarrassing," a source close to the president said shortly after the announcement.

The reason for Trump's retreat, claim NBC sources, were a revolt by Arab Gulf states:

President Donald Trump's abrupt reversal on his plan to help ships go through the Strait of Hormuz came after a key Gulf ally suspended the U.S. military's ability to use its bases and airspace to carry out the operation, according to two U.S. officials.

Trump surprised Gulf allies by announcing "Project Freedom" on social media Sunday afternoon, the officials said, angering leadership in Saudi Arabia. In response, the Kingdom informed the U.S. it would not allow the U.S. military to fly aircraft from Prince Sultan Airbase southeast of Riyadh or fly through Saudi airspace to support the effort, the officials said.

A call between Trump and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman did not resolve the issue, the two U.S. officials said, forcing the president to pause Project Freedom in order to restore U.S. military access to the critical airspace.

Other close Gulf allies were also caught off guard; the president spoke with leaders in Qatar after the effort had already begun.

Saudi Arabia was not the only one to pull the brake:

Ryan Grim @ryangrim – 0:22 UTC · May 7, 2026

Per an admin official to me, Kuwait also cut off access, basing and overflight (ABO).

It is obviously not in Saudi and Kuwaiti interest to re-escalate the war. They would be the first to experience the deadly Iranian retaliation for any further USraeli bombing of Iran.

The Saudi protest also explains why, yesterday, U.S. military air traffic in the region had come to a sudden halt:

Following Trump's Truth post, the US Air Force just went strangely quiet over Europe and West Asia. In the last 24 hours, American military aircraft airborne across the region have collapsed — from over 27 yesterday to just 7 right now. All logistics and tankers: C-17 Globemasters, a C-5M Super Galaxy, and KC-135 Stratotankers shuttling between Ramstein, Spangdahlem, Tel Aviv, Abu Dhabi, and Al Udeid. No combat birds. No surge.

The Saudi/Kuwaiti rejection of Trump's escapades came after weeks of Israeli propaganda which had claimed that the Gulf Arabs were pushing for more war on Iran.