After discussing the rebuilding of the Iranian nuclear program, their acceleration of ballistic missile production capable of reaching the US, the need for a regime change, sponsorship of terrorist groups, the regional threat of the Iranian Navy, and the mass production of drones or bombs endangering the lives of US soldiers worldwide, President Donald Trump offered a different version this Tuesday regarding the reasons for ordering a massive bombing on Iran last Saturday and Israel's role in it.
"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". Based on how the negotiations were going, I believe they were going to attack first, and I didn't want that to happen," Trump stated in a press conference alongside German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, denying claims that Benjamin Netanyahu had pressured him, overcome his resistance, and somehow dragged Washington into what the Israeli politician had been requesting for decades. "If anything, I may have pressured Israel, but they were ready, and so were we, and we had a very, very powerful impact because virtually everything they had was destroyed," Trump affirmed.
On Monday afternoon, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio caused a stir by trying to justify the US and Israeli attack on Iran. This came right after briefing the Gang of Eight in Congress, the leaders of both parties in the Senate and the House of Representatives, as well as the highest-ranking lawmakers on the Intelligence committees. One of the Administration's arguments over the weekend was that the operation was rushed due to security concerns, citing Iranian threats. However, none of the Intelligence or Defense committee members had received any information about these alleged threats to the US. There was no report, clue, or indication suggesting a planned attack or that Iran had the technology for it.
Nevertheless, Rubio, in a statement to the press, suggested that Israel seemed determined to attack Iran, and since their bombings would have triggered an Iranian response posing a danger to the US, the President ordered the attack.
"There was certainly an imminent threat. And that threat was that we knew that if Iran was attacked, and we believed it would be, they would immediately attack us, and we were not going to sit idly by waiting to be hit before responding. Because the Department of Defense assessed that if we did that, if we waited to be attacked first, after being attacked by someone else, after Israel attacked them, we would suffer more casualties and more deaths. We acted proactively defensively to prevent greater harm. If we hadn't done it, we would have ended up having hearings in Congress about how we knew this was going to happen and didn't act," he stated.
The Democrats, outraged, argued that this was not a valid justification. Mark Warner, the Senate Intelligence Committee's number two, expressed concern about the implications of this line of thinking. "There was no imminent threat to the United States from the Iranians. There was a threat to Israel. If we equate a threat to Israel with an imminent threat to the United States, then we are entering uncharted territory," warned Senator Warner. "I don't think that can be classified as an imminent threat," added Senator Jacky Rosen. "The question is, did anyone ask Israel and try to dissuade them from attacking first due to the potential impact?" said Senator Janette Shaheen.
Netanyahu being interviewed yesterday on Fox News, President Trump's favorite channel, to explain the reasons for the intervention and how he achieved with Trump what had failed with all his predecessors for a quarter of a century, also did not help calm the criticism.
"Everything happened very quickly, we thought, and I thought perhaps more than the rest, that we were going to have a situation where we would be attacked. They were preparing to attack Israel. They were preparing to attack others. You are seeing it right now because many of those missiles hitting those countries had been heading to those other countries for a long time," Trump said today, opening another of the most controversial aspects.
In recent newspaper reports, the decision to bomb Iran is linked to a visit by Netanyahu a few months ago. But also to calls from Saudi and Emirati leaders, urging Trump in recent weeks and days to take the step to eliminate a historical rival and a key player in the region. "I believe we were right to strike first," the President insisted, stating that they have more than enough ammunition and criticizing Joe Biden for providing military aid to Ukraine and Volodimir Zelenski, whom he once again disparaged by comparing him to the main character of The Greatest Showman, the movie about Hugh Jackman inspired by the life of circus showman and politician P.T. Barnum.