US President Donald Trump on Tuesday firmly rejected claims that Israel maneuvered Washington into war with Iran, arguing instead that he believed Tehran was preparing to strike first and that the United States acted to stay ahead of the threat.
Speaking at a press conference in the Oval Office, Trump dismissed suggestions that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had boxed him into military action. The president’s remarks appeared to diverge from comments made by Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who indicated that Washington anticipated Israeli operations that could trigger retaliation against US interests.
Trump maintained that his administration’s assessment was that Iran was poised for an attack. “No, I might have forced their hands. You see, we were having negotiations with these lunatics, and it was my opinion that they [the Iranians] were going to attack first. If anything, I may have accelerated their timeline,” claimed Trump, contending that American intervention prevented a larger confrontation.
Pentagon officials, however, reportedly told lawmakers over the weekend that they had not seen intelligence showing an imminent Iranian strike on US targets.
The president described the joint US-Israeli campaign, now in its fourth day, as having severely degraded Iran’s military capacity. He asserted that key elements of the country’s naval forces, air power and air defenses had been disabled. Trump added that operations would intensify, saying the focus remained on neutralizing remaining military assets before considering broader political outcomes. He also claimed the US had ample supplies of advanced munitions to sustain the effort.
Questions about the path forward in Tehran loomed large. Trump acknowledged uncertainty about who might assume leadership after the reported killing of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in an Israeli strike. He suggested that the ideal successor would emerge from within Iran and prioritize the welfare of its citizens. Asked about Reza Pahlavi, son of the former shah, Trump described him as “pleasant” but implied that a domestic figure might be more viable.
Meanwhile, tensions spilled into Congress. Senate Democrats expressed anger after Rubio suggested the strikes were partly aimed at pre-empting retaliation tied to anticipated Israeli action. He suggested Israel’s interests, rather than those of the US, dictated the decision to resort to open warfare .
The US President has provided fluid reasoning for why he ordered attacks, in concert with Israeli strikes, one of which killed Iran’s most powerful figure, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. In his initial statement, he had said the goal was to “ defend the American people by eliminating imminent threats from the Iranian regime”.
Lawmakers from both parties are weighing war powers resolutions that would reaffirm Congress’s constitutional role in authorizing sustained military engagement.
Trump, who has long championed an “America First” approach, also predicted that any spike in oil prices would be temporary and that markets would stabilize once hostilities subside.
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