Donald Trump slammed as ‘morally wrong’ for vetoing bill to end US support for Saudi-led Yemen war

The US president argued that support for the bloody war was necessary ‘first and foremost’ to ‘protect the safety of the more than 80,000 Americans who live in certain coalition countries’

Some 10,000 people have been killed in Yemen over the past four years, according to the World Health Organisation, although rights groups say the toll could be five times higher

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The site of an airstrike by Saudi-led coalition in Sanaa, Yemen. President Donald Trump on Tuesday vetoed a bill passed by Congress to end US military assistance in Saudi Arabia's war in Yemen. Photo: AP

Published: 11:22am, 17 Apr 2019Updated: 8:06pm, 17 Apr 2019

President Donald Trump on Tuesday vetoed a resolution from Congress directing him to end US support for the Saudi-led war in Yemen, the second such move of his presidency.

The resolution was a harsh bipartisan rebuke to Trump that took the historic step of curtailing a president’s war-making powers – a step the president condemned in a statement announcing his veto.

“This resolution is an unnecessary, dangerous attempt to weaken my constitutional authorities, endangering the lives of American citizens and brave service members, both today and in the future,” Trump said.

Vetoing the measure is an “effective green light for the war strategy that has created the world’s worst humanitarian crisis to continue”, said International Rescue Committee president and CEO David Miliband.

US President Donald Trump vetoed a 13 March 2019 Senate resolution to end us assistance to Saudi Arabia for their war in Yemen. Photo: EPA

“This veto by President Trump is morally wrong and strategically wrong-headed. It sets back the hopes for respite for the Yemeni people, and leaves the US upholding a failed strategy.