President Donald Trump and his team scrambled Tuesday to reclaim the narrative on why he decided to attack Iran after his top diplomat suggested the US struck only after learning of an imminent Israeli strike.
On Monday, Secretary of State Marco Rubio remarked, “We knew that there was going to be an Israeli action,” which frightened many of Trump’s MAGA followers and Democrats who believe that only Congress has the authority to declare war.
“We knew that that would precipitate an attack against American forces, and we knew that if we didn’t preemptively go after them before they launched those attacks, we would suffer higher casualties,” Rubio told reporters.
Administration officials swiftly changed their minds, claiming that Trump approved the strikes because the United States wanted to eliminate Iran’s missile capability and Tehran was not really negotiating an agreement on curbing its nuclear goals.
“No, Marco Rubio Didn’t Claim That Israel Dragged Trump into War with Iran,” White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt posted Tuesday on X.
Trump went on to declare, “Based on the way the negotiation was going, I think they (Iran) were going to attack first,” during a meeting with Germany’s chancellor in the Oval Office. I also didn’t want that to occur.
“So, if anything, I might have forced Israel’s hand.”
After meeting with members of the US House and Senate on Tuesday, Rubio himself reiterated his position, saying, “No, I told you this had to happen anyway.”
“The president made a decision. The decision he made was that Iran was not going to be allowed to hide… behind this ability to conduct an attack.”
Trump was accused by his detractors of launching the nation into a war without a clear justification, without notifying Congress, and without a clear notion of how it would end.
They pointed out that just two weeks ago, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pressed Trump to take a hard line in Washington during their seventh meeting since Trump’s return to power last year.
Some Republican supporters rallied in support of the president, with Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Tom Cotton saying that “No one pushes or drags Donald Trump anywhere.”
“He acts in the vital national security interest of the United States,” Cotton told the “Fox & Friends” morning show.
However, as the US midterm elections approach, which could result in Republicans losing their congressional majority, Trump risks losing supporters who had embraced his commitment to cease overseas military interventions.
“We are now a nation divided between those who want to fight wars for Israel and those who just want peace and to be able to afford their bills and health insurance,” Marjorie Taylor Greene, a top former Trump ally and a major figure in the populist and isolationist hard right, posted on X.
