Trump denies that Israel forced US’s hand in launching strikes against Iran
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<p>US president attempts to counter simmering anti-Israeli backlash in Congress and among Maga supporters</p><p><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/donaldtrump">Donald Trump</a> attempted to counter a simmering anti-Israel backlash in Congress and among his own Maga supporters on Tuesday by denying suggestions that he had been bounced into attacking Iran because Israel had already decided to do so.</p><p>Amid growing criticism among opponents an
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Trump denies that Israel forced US’s hand in launching strikes against Iran US president attempts to counter simmering anti-Israeli backlash in Congress and among Maga supporters Donald Trump attempted to counter a simmering anti-Israel backlash in Congress and among his own Maga supporters on Tuesday by denying suggestions that he had been bounced into attacking Iran because Israel had already decided to do so. Amid growing criticism among opponents and allies alike, Trump rebuffed claims that he had struck Iran only because Israel had forced his hand, a suspicion fueled by comments made by the secretary of state, Marco Rubio . Asked whether Israel had pushed him into launching military action, Trump told reporters: “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.” Senate Democrats reacted furiously after Rubio suggested on a visit to Capitol Hill that Saturday’s strikes were driven by the need to pre-empt Iranian retaliation against US interests in response to Israeli attacks that Washington knew was coming. Rubio’s comments – made after a briefing conducted with the CIA director, John Ratcliffe, and Gen Dan Caine, chair of the US armed forces’ joint chiefs of staff – fueled suspicions from some on both the left and right of the political spectrum that Israel’s interests, rather than those of the US, dictated the decision to resort to open warfare. “We knew that there was going to be an Israeli action,” he told reporters on Monday. “We knew that that would precipitate an attack against American forces, and we knew that if we didn’t pre-emptively go after them before they launched those attacks, we would suffer higher casualties.” That rationale has provoked anger among Democrats, as well as segments of Donald Trump’s base, who see the attack on Iran – and specif...
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