"No. I might have forced their hand. We were having negotiations with these lunatics, and it was my opinion that they were going to attack first. They were going to attack. If we didn't do it, they were going to attack first. I felt strongly about that."
"We knew that there was going to be an Israeli action, he told reporters on Monday. We knew that that would precipitate an attack against American forces, and we knew that if we didn't pre-emptively go after them before they launched those attacks, we would suffer higher casualties."
Trump rejected claims that Israel pressured him into military action against Iran, asserting instead that he initiated strikes to prevent Iranian attacks on US forces. Secretary of State Marco Rubio's explanation that the strikes were necessary to preempt Iranian retaliation following Israeli attacks fueled suspicion that US policy prioritized Israeli interests over American ones. Rubio stated the administration knew Israel would attack, anticipated Iranian retaliation against US forces, and acted preemptively to avoid higher casualties. This rationale provoked anger among Democrats and segments of Trump's base who view the attack as contradicting his America First foreign policy agenda.
#us-iran-military-conflict #israel-us-relations #trump-foreign-policy #war-powers-debate #congressional-criticism
Read at www.theguardian.com
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