U.S. President Donald Trump said on Tuesday that he ordered American forces to join Israel’s attack on Iran because he believed Tehran was preparing to strike first. His statement contradicts the explanation offered a day earlier by his Secretary of State, Marco Rubio.
Rubio told reporters on Monday that the U.S. intervention was prompted by concerns that Iran would retaliate against American forces after Israel’s planned action against Tehran. “We knew that there was going to be an Israeli action; 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 said.
Trump rejected claims that Israel dictated U.S. involvement, telling reporters in the Oval Office during a meeting with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz: “I might have forced their (Israel’s) hand. We were having negotiations with these lunatics, and it was my opinion that they were going to attack first. If we didn’t do it, they were going to attack first. I felt strongly about that.”
Iran has described the U.S. assault as unprovoked.
Several conservative commentators criticized the attacks, suggesting that Israel, rather than the U.S., was driving the conflict. Podcaster Matt Walsh wrote on X that Rubio’s remarks imply the U.S. entered war with Iran because Israel “forced our hand,” calling it “the worst possible thing he could have said.”
Another conservative commentator, Megyn Kelly, expressed doubts about Trump’s decision, stating, “Our government’s job is not to look out for Iran or for Israel. This feels very much to me like it is clearly Israel’s war.”
The criticism comes as the Republican Party works to retain control of the U.S. Congress in the upcoming November midterm elections, with some observers warning that the Iran conflict could affect voter sentiment.
