{"id":8841,"date":"2026-03-03T13:58:05","date_gmt":"2026-03-03T19:58:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/westplexnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/03\/03\/trump-i-might-have-forced-israels-hand-in-launching-iran-war\/"},"modified":"2026-03-03T13:58:05","modified_gmt":"2026-03-03T19:58:05","slug":"trump-i-might-have-forced-israels-hand-in-launching-iran-war","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/westplexnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/03\/03\/trump-i-might-have-forced-israels-hand-in-launching-iran-war\/","title":{"rendered":"Trump: \u2018I might have forced Israel\u2019s hand\u2019 in launching Iran war"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" src=\"https:\/\/missouriindependent.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/iranmarch32026-1024x683.jpg\" class=\"attachment-large size-large wp-post-image\" alt=\"An Iranian flag is planted in the rubble of a police station, damaged in airstrikes, on March 3, 2026 in Tehran, Iran. (Photo by Majid Saeedi\/Getty Images)\" loading=\"lazy\" \/><figcaption>\n<p>An Iranian flag is planted in the rubble of a police station, damaged in airstrikes, on March 3, 2026 in Tehran, Iran. (Photo by Majid Saeedi\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">WASHINGTON \u2014 President Donald Trump said Tuesday he \u201cmight have forced Israel\u2019s hand\u201d in launching the war on Iran that has already cost the lives of six American troops.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">Trump\u2019s statement came less than a day after Secretary of State Marco Rubio told reporters the United States joined the campaign to protect American troops after Israel\u2019s planned strike.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">\u201cWe were having negotiations with these lunatics, and it was my opinion that they were going to attack first,\u201d Trump told reporters. \u201c\u2026 and I didn\u2019t want that to happen. So if anything, I might have forced Israel\u2019s hand, but Israel was ready, and we were ready, and we\u2019ve had a very, very powerful impact, because virtually everything they have has been knocked out.\u201d<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">Trump made the comments prior to a bilateral White House meeting with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz as lawmakers on Capitol Hill scrambled to understand the sudden war.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">Merz said Germany is \u201con the same page in terms of getting this terrible regime in Tehran away\u201d \u2014 though administration officials have maintained the conflict is not about regime change, but rather about destroying Iran\u2019s conventional missile stockpiles and production, and thwarting any nuclear ambitions.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">Iran has launched numerous missiles and drones since the killing Saturday of its Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. The strikes have caused damage across the Middle East, including to the U.S. embassy in Saudi Arabia Tuesday, The Associated Press\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/live\/iran-war-israel-trump-03-03-2026#0000019c-b468-db84-a7fd-f46ed3220000\" target=\"_blank\">reported<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">During a previously scheduled hearing Tuesday to question Undersecretary of Defense Policy Elbridge Colby on the administration\u2019s national defense strategy, Senate Democrats pressed for the justification for war with Iran.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">Sen. Angus King, an independent of Maine who caucuses with Democrats, homed in on Rubio\u2019s\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.newsfromthestates.com\/article\/death-toll-us-service-members-iran-war-rises-6-trump-projects-weeks-conflict\" target=\"_blank\">statements Monday<\/a> that the U.S. joined the war to preempt retaliatory attacks on American troops in the region, following Israel\u2019s planned strikes on Iran\u2019s leadership compound. Earlier, administration officials said U.S. intelligence was heavily involved in planning Israel\u2019s offensive.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">\u201cI find it very disturbing that we\u2019re committing this nation to war based upon a decision by \u2026 a staunch ally, and I\u2019m a supporter of Israel,\u201d King said. \u201cI don\u2019t think anybody should drive our decision to go to war, but the interest of the United States.\u201d<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">\u201cThe president made our decision,\u201d Colby replied.<\/p>\n<h4>GOP falls in line<\/h4>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">Congress, meanwhile, is poised to vote this week on a War Powers Act resolution that has drawn limited Republican support to stop Trump\u2019s unilateral military actions in Iran without congressional authorization.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">Lawmakers are largely split along party lines in their support for the military action, with Republicans falling in line behind Trump.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La.,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.newsfromthestates.com\/article\/death-toll-us-service-members-iran-war-rises-6-trump-projects-weeks-conflict\" target=\"_blank\">told<\/a> reporters Monday the measure will likely fail in the House. Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., is the lone Republican sponsor of the House version of the\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.congress.gov\/bill\/119th-congress\/house-concurrent-resolution\/38\/cosponsors\" target=\"_blank\">legislation<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">Sen. Markwayne Mullin, R-Okla., defended the administration\u2019s initiation of war in Iran and chastised \u201cgrandstanding\u201d allegations that Trump broke the law in not first seeking congressional authorization.<\/p>\n<figure role=\"group\" class=\"caption caption-drupal-media  view-mode--default\">\n<div class=\"drupal-media-wrapper media--view-mode-large\">\n<div class=\"blazy blazy--field blazy--view blazy--field-media-image blazy--field-media-image--large blazy--view--article-feeds-v2-feed-categorized-articles-v2 blazy--view--article-feeds-v2 blazy--view--article-feeds-v2--categorized-articles-v2 field field--name-field-media-image field--type-image field--label-hidden field__item\" data-blazy>\n<div data-b-token=\"b-dc2eb74173e\" class=\"media media--blazy media--image media--responsive is-b-loading\">  <img decoding=\"async\" class=\"media__element b-lazy b-responsive img-fluid\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/missouriindependent.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/markwaynemullinmarch32026.jpeg\" width=\"800\" height=\"601\" alt=\"Sen. Markwayne Mullin, R-Okla., speaks to reporters at the U.S. Capitol on March 3, 2026. (Photo by Ashley Murray\/States Newsroom)\" \/><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><figcaption class=\"figure-caption\">Sen. Markwayne Mullin, R-Okla., speaks to reporters at the U.S. Capitol on March 3, 2026. (Photo by Ashley Murray\/States Newsroom)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">\u201cThis is the first president in seven presidencies that actually did something about the thorn that constantly came after us. And now you criticize him, you say it\u2019s illegal. It\u2019s not,\u201d Mullin said Tuesday during the Senate Committee on Armed Services hearing.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">\u201cHow about we say, \u2018thank you, Mr. President, for finally getting rid of this nuisance, this murderer, this sponsor of terror,\u2019\u201d Mullin said.\u00a0<\/p>\n<h4>Virginia\u2019s Kaine says GOP \u2018nervous about voting for a war\u2019<\/h4>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., lead sponsor of the Senate\u2019s War Powers Act\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.congress.gov\/bill\/119th-congress\/senate-joint-resolution\/59\" target=\"_blank\">bill<\/a>, criticized Mullin for suggesting \u201cthat the angst on this side of the aisle is because we don\u2019t like President Trump.\u201d<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">\u201cHe has misstated that concern. I think I can speak for most of my colleagues who have concerns, and say our concern is this, have we learned nothing from 25 years of war in the Middle East?\u201d Kaine said.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">Kaine said during a brief interview that Republicans who support Trump\u2019s war in Iran should put an Authorization for the Use of Military Force, or AUMF, on the floor to formally give it Congress\u2019 stamp of approval.\u00a0<\/p>\n<figure role=\"group\" class=\"caption caption-drupal-media  view-mode--default\">\n<div class=\"drupal-media-wrapper media--view-mode-large\">\n<div class=\"blazy blazy--field blazy--view blazy--field-media-image blazy--field-media-image--large blazy--view--article-feed-categorized-articles blazy--view--article blazy--view--article--categorized-articles field field--name-field-media-image field--type-image field--label-hidden field__item\" data-blazy>\n<div data-b-token=\"b-30a564e1503\" class=\"media media--blazy media--image media--responsive is-b-loading\">  <img decoding=\"async\" class=\"media__element b-lazy b-responsive img-fluid\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/missouriindependent.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/chuckschumertimkaine.jpeg\" width=\"800\" height=\"600\" alt=\"Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., speaks to reporters on March 3, 2026 at the U.S. Capitol. Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., is at left. (Photo by Jennifer Shutt\/States Newsroom)\" \/><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><figcaption class=\"figure-caption\">Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., speaks to reporters on March 3, 2026 at the U.S. Capitol. Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., is at left. (Photo by Jennifer Shutt\/States Newsroom)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">\u201cAnd the fact that there has been a reluctance to put AUMFs on the table tells me that while Republicans don\u2019t want to be contrary to the president, they\u2019re also nervous about voting for a war,\u201d Kaine said. \u201cIf you\u2019re nervous about voting for the war, well then, think what that says to the troops who are risking their lives. That anxiety should lead you to question whether it\u2019s a good idea or not.\u201d<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">Kaine said the 2001 AUMF, which Congress wrote somewhat broadly following the 9\/11 terrorist attacks and is still in effect, doesn\u2019t cover Trump\u2019s military actions in Iran.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">\u201cThe president has not cited that,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd we all agree that Iran was not covered by the \u201801 AUMF. It was meant to cover non-state terrorist groups, not sovereign nations.\u201d<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">Lawmakers were set to receive closed-door briefings on the war from administration officials later Tuesday.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>An Iranian flag is planted in the rubble of a police station, damaged in airstrikes, on March 3, 2026 in Tehran, Iran. (Photo by Majid Saeedi\/Getty Images) WASHINGTON \u2014 President Donald Trump said Tuesday he \u201cmight have forced Israel\u2019s hand\u201d in launching the war on Iran that has already cost the lives of six American&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":8842,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_kadence_starter_templates_imported_post":false,"_kad_post_transparent":"","_kad_post_title":"","_kad_post_layout":"","_kad_post_sidebar_id":"","_kad_post_content_style":"","_kad_post_vertical_padding":"","_kad_post_feature":"","_kad_post_feature_position":"","_kad_post_header":false,"_kad_post_footer":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8841","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.7 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Trump: \u2018I might have forced Israel\u2019s hand\u2019 in launching Iran war - WestplexNews.com<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/westplexnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/03\/03\/trump-i-might-have-forced-israels-hand-in-launching-iran-war\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Trump: \u2018I might have forced Israel\u2019s hand\u2019 in launching Iran war - WestplexNews.com\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"An Iranian flag is planted in the rubble of a police station, damaged in airstrikes, on March 3, 2026 in Tehran, Iran. 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(Photo by Majid Saeedi\/Getty Images) WASHINGTON \u2014 President Donald Trump said Tuesday he \u201cmight have forced Israel\u2019s hand\u201d in launching the war on Iran that has already cost the lives of six American...","og_url":"https:\/\/westplexnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/03\/03\/trump-i-might-have-forced-israels-hand-in-launching-iran-war\/","og_site_name":"WestplexNews.com","article_published_time":"2026-03-03T19:58:05+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"https:\/\/missouriindependent.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/iranmarch32026-1024x683.jpg","type":"","width":"","height":""}],"author":"Brad Hildebrand","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Brad Hildebrand","Est. reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/westplexnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/03\/03\/trump-i-might-have-forced-israels-hand-in-launching-iran-war\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/westplexnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/03\/03\/trump-i-might-have-forced-israels-hand-in-launching-iran-war\/"},"author":{"name":"Brad Hildebrand","@id":"https:\/\/westplexnews.com\/#\/schema\/person\/86ac6e2a917ca881b22f6d55d1b955f0"},"headline":"Trump: \u2018I might have forced Israel\u2019s hand\u2019 in launching Iran war","datePublished":"2026-03-03T19:58:05+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/westplexnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/03\/03\/trump-i-might-have-forced-israels-hand-in-launching-iran-war\/"},"wordCount":933,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/westplexnews.com\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/westplexnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/03\/03\/trump-i-might-have-forced-israels-hand-in-launching-iran-war\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/westplexnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/iranmarch32026-1024x683-OtW7Zc.jpg","inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/westplexnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/03\/03\/trump-i-might-have-forced-israels-hand-in-launching-iran-war\/","url":"https:\/\/westplexnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/03\/03\/trump-i-might-have-forced-israels-hand-in-launching-iran-war\/","name":"Trump: \u2018I might have forced Israel\u2019s hand\u2019 in launching Iran war - 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