The Pentagon denied any connection with the international pop sensation.
White House National Security spokesman John Kirby said the US is taking away the Houthis' capability with "each and every strike."
Even members of the White House's National Security Council were not informed, and Congress was apparently notified only 15 minutes before the press.
The sale comes as Israel intensifies its offensive in the Gaza Strip. The US has pressed Israel to minimize civilian casualties in Gaza and has called to scale down the war in the coming weeks.
US CENTCOM said that four attacks had been conducted against three separate commercial vessels in the southern Red Sea.
On Tuesday North Korean state media said leader Kim Jong Un had reviewed spy satellite photos of the White House, Pentagon and US aircraft carriers at the naval base of Norfolk.
The official told Politico that the explanation was requested from Israel in the context for the country to avoid more Gazan civilian casualties.
The Pentagon policy followed the US Supreme Court's decision last year to overturn a 1973 ruling that had legalized abortion nationwide.
British media made light of the incident, with the BBC running the headline "You've Got Mali," a deliberately inaccurate reference to a 1998 Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan romcom.
The audio included statements from former US president Donald Trump actively referring to "the papers [which are] highly confidential."
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