Pentagon policy chief grilled as Dem claims Trump broke promise about going to war with Iran

Pentagon policy chief Elbridge Colby faced tough questions Thursday about PresidentDonald Trump‘s previous statements about war with Iran. 

While Colby was testifying before the House Armed Services Committee, the Democratic ranking member said that the president broke his campaign promise.

Colby appeared before the House Armed Services Committee on Thursday to testify about the recently-released 2026 National Defense Strategy (NDS).Several lawmakers focused on the U.S.’sOperation Epic Fury, as U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iran continue.

Read More → Scientists discover 5,000-year-old bacterium resistant to modern antibiotics

“When President Trump was running for office, he said over and over and over again, ‘I’m not going to do wars.’ In fact, he very specifically said, ‘If I’m president, we will not go to war with Iran.’ And here we are.So I’m genuinely curious what changed?What changed from when he was a candidate to when he was in office?” Ranking Member Rep.Adam Smith, D-Wash., said.

Under Secretary of War for Policy Elbridge Colby during a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday, March 3, 2026. (Graeme Sloan/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Smith later asked Colby the question, saying that Trump had routinely implied that “his mere presence and his policies” could prevent wars as part of his “America First agenda.” The lawmaker then wondered how that agenda allegedly failed in Iran.

“I think the president sincerely meant that.He sincerely meant, ‘you put me in office, I’m going to do things to make sure that we don’t go to war with Iran.’ He failed.We’re at war with Iran,” Smith said.

Read More → Woman’s painful reaction to wine leads to life-changing cancer discovery

Democratic Rep.Adam Smith, ranking member of the House Committee on Armed Services, speaks to journalists.(Johannes Neudecker/picture alliance via Getty Images)

PENTAGON OFFICIAL FLAGS RETURN OF ‘COLD WAR MENTALITY,’ AS TRUMP ADMIN RESHAPES NATO ALLIANCE

Read More → JOHN YOO: Supreme Court tariff ruling should end complaints that justices favor Trump

Colby pushed back, saying he did not think that the agenda had failed in Iran, noting Trump’s consistency in opposing Iran’s development of nuclear weapons.However, the ranking member would not accept that answer and retorted, once again bringing up the president’s statements about not going to war.

Read More → Doctor warns many Americans eat ‘food-like substances,’not real food

The Pentagon policy chief later brought up the president’s commitment to “peace through strength,” citing the peace deals Trump has struck, such as the one in Gaza, as examples of “peace” and saying that what was happening in Iran was the “strength” part.

President Donald Trump confirmed the U.S.launched strikes on Iran on Saturday, Feb.28, 2026. (The White House via X Account/Anadolu via Getty Images)

The lawmaker accepted Colby’s answer as “solid enough” before saying that there was “no question that he failed” in light of the launch of Operation Epic Fury.

Colby was not the only one to refute the argument that Trump broke promises by acting in Iran.Rep.Joe Wilson, R-S.C., said that under Trump’s leadership, “we’re preventing endless wars.” 

Another lawmaker, Rep.Richard McCormick, R-Ga., asked Colby whether he would consider what is happening in Iran to be “a forever war,” to which the Pentagon official said, “No, sir.”

Related Article