Trump says he might have ‘forced Israel’s hand’ in Iran strike decision as critics question war powers

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PresidentDonald Trumpon Tuesday insisted Israel did not pressure him to conduct joint military strikes on Iran, claiming that he believed Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei “was going to attack first.”

Days after the regime leaders were killed and war erupted in Iran, Trump addressed the decision to conduct a joint U.S.-Israel attack on the country, explaining he “might have forced Israel’s hand.”

“I might have forced their hand,” Trump said from the White House Oval Office on Tuesday.“You see, 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.… So, if anything, I might have forced Israel’s hand.”

com/category/politics/defense/wars/war-with-iran" target="_blank" rel="noopener">regime leadersin downtown Tehran, Trump said both the U.S.and Israel were ready.

President Donald Trump points finger during White House meeting

President Donald Trump takes questions from the media during a bilateral meeting with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz in the Oval Office of the White House, Tuesday, in Washington, D.C. (Win McNamee/Getty Images)

“We’ve had a very, very powerful impact because virtually everything they have has been knocked out,” the president said.“Now, their missile count is going way down.Amazingly, they’re hitting countries that were, let’s call them neutral … I think they were surprised.I was surprised, I think.Now those countries are all fighting against them and fighting strongly against them.”

Trump’s comments came afterDemocrats criticized his decisionto launch strikes with Israel in Iran without congressional approval.

Administration officials said they providedcongressional notificationto the “Gang of Eight,” a bipartisan group of top congressional intelligence leaders, ahead of the strikes, but Congress did not hold a vote to approve them.

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A map showing the targets of Iran’s retaliatory strikes.

The Trump administration has argued the U.S.was facing an “imminent threat,” prompting military action.

Secretary of StateMarco Rubiosaid the U.S.was not going to “sit there and absorb a blow” from Iran, while War Secretary Pete Hegseth said the operation was not a “so-called regime change war” or an open-ended conflict like that in Iraq.

Trump said he believes regardless of whether the U.S.took part in the strikes on Iran,Democrats would have been unhappywith his decision.

IRAN NUCLEAR TALKS ‘DIDN’T PASS THE SMELL TEST’ BEFORE TRUMP LAUNCHED STRIKES, SAYS VANCE

Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was killed in an Israeli airstrike on Saturday.(Getty Images)

“If I didn’t do this, guys like [Senate Minority Leader Chuck] Schumer who — losers, the Democrats [are] losers — … would say, ‘well, you should have done this.’ In other words, if I did it, it’s no good.If I didn’t do it, they would have said the opposite, ‘that you should have done this.’”

He added he has “never had more compliments” on presidential action he has taken, noting “people felt that something had to be done.”

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“We [might] have a little highoil pricesfor a little while, but as soon as this ends, those prices are going to drop, I believe lower than even before,” Trump said.

�s Emma Colton contributed to this report.

She has covered major national crises, including the L.A.wildfires, Potomac and Hudson River aviation disasters, Boulder terror attack, and Texas Hill Country floods.