President Donald Trump denied Israel “forced” the United States into a joint attack that killed Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei on Tuesday — and said if anything, it was the other way around.
Trump was asked about the strikes by ABC’s Rachel Scott while taking questions at the White House on Tuesday.
“Did Israel force your hand to launch these strikes against Iran? Did Netanyahu pull the United States into this war?” Scott asked.
“No, I might’ve forced their hand,” Trump responded. “You see, we were having negotiations with these lunatics and it was my opinion that they were going to attack first, 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.”
Trump continued, “If anything, I might’ve forced Israel’s hand.”
The president added both Israel and the U.S. were “ready” to strike Iran in the days leading up to the start of Operation Epic Fury. He said “virtually everything they have has been knocked out now, their missile count is going way down.”
Trump’s answer comes a day after critics on X said comments made by Secretary of State Marco Rubio indicated Israel pressured the U.S. into launching Operation Epic Fury.
“The president made the very wise decision—we knew that there was going to be an Israeli action, we knew that that would precipitate an attack against American forces, and we knew that if we didn’t preemptively go after them before they launched those attacks, we would suffer higher casualties,” Rubio said on Monday.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt pushed back on the claims Rubio’s remarks showed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was leading the charge, with Leavitt sharing a National Review story on Tuesday titled “No, Marco Rubio Didn’t Claim That Israel Dragged Trump Into War With Iran.”
Some prominent pundits like Tucker Carlson argued on Monday that the this war was being “waged” strictly on behalf of Israel; Carlson dubbed the strikes “absolutely disgusting and evil.” Trump ripped Carlson and Megyn Kelly a few hours later and said Carlson’s comments had “no impact” on what he does.
Watch above via ABC News.
The post Trump Denies Israel Forced US’s Hand On Iran Strike — Adds ‘I Might’ve Forced Their Hand’ first appeared on Mediaite.