President Donald Trump and his team moved quickly on Tuesday (Mar 3) to manage fallout over the justification for recent strikes on Iran, after his top diplomat suggested the attacks were in response to an imminent Israeli operation.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio raised alarms among Democrats—who argue that only Congress can declare war—as well as among some of Trump’s MAGA supporters on Monday, stating: “We knew that there was going to be an Israeli action. We knew that would precipitate an attack against American forces, and we knew that if we didn’t pre-emptively strike, we would suffer higher casualties.”
Administration officials were quick to backtrack, insisting that Trump authorised the strikes because Iran was not seriously negotiating a nuclear deal and the US needed to neutralise Tehran’s missile capabilities.
“No, Marco Rubio didn’t claim that Israel dragged Trump into war with Iran,” White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt posted on X on Tuesday.
Later, during an Oval Office meeting with Germany’s chancellor, Trump said: “Based on the way the negotiations were going, I think they (Iran) were going to attack first. And I didn’t want that to happen. So, if anything, I might have forced Israel’s hand.”
Rubio doubled down after meeting with members of the House and Senate, asserting: “The president made a decision. Iran was not going to be allowed to hide behind this ability to conduct an attack. This had to happen anyway.”
Critics seized on the mixed messaging, accusing Trump of dragging the US into a conflict without a clear rationale, without consulting Congress, and without a defined exit strategy. They highlighted that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had pressed Trump just two weeks ago in Washington to adopt a hardline stance—marking their seventh meeting since Trump returned to power last year.
Some Republican allies defended the president. Senator Tom Cotton, chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, told “Fox & Friends”: “No one pushes or drags Donald Trump anywhere. He acts in the vital national security interest of the United States.”
However, with the crucial US midterm elections approaching—potentially threatening Republican control of Congress—Trump risks alienating supporters who welcomed his pledge to limit foreign 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 prominent former Trump ally, commented on X, reflecting the growing domestic unease over the administration’s foreign policy.
