President Donald Trump is lashing out at critics and angrily denying that Israel’s government convinced him to launch the nearly two-month-old war against Iran that has roiled global markets and sent energy prices soaring amid an ongoing Iranian blockade of the Strait of Hormuz.
Writing on Truth Social on Monday, Trump claimed Israel “never talked me into war with Iran.”
“The results of Oct. 7th, added to my lifelong opinion that IRAN CAN NEVER HAVE A NUCLEAR WEAPON, did,” he said.
The president’s denial directly contradicts what Secretary of State Marco Rubio told reporters in early March during the opening days of the war.
During a brief press availability at the Capitol, Rubio — who also serves as Trump’s national security adviser — said Trump was forced into a preemptive response after learning of an imminent Israeli attack, as officials knew such an attack would trigger retaliation against US military personnel in the Middle East.
“It was abundantly clear that if Iran came under attack by anyone – the United States or Israel or anyone – they were going to respond, and respond against the United States,” he said.
Since then, a steady stream of Trump-aligned influencers, commentators and other prominent GOP figures have repeatedly argued that Trump was goaded into war by Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu. One such personality, ex-Fox News host Tucker Carlson, claimed that Trump has been rendered a “slave” to Israel during an appearance on Newsmax on April 10.
Two days later, Carlson doubled down in another interview with the BBC in which he said: “I don’t think it is as simple as ‘he is under the control of Netanyahu,’ but you could certainly summarize it that way and you wouldn’t be totally inaccurate.”
“The Israeli government, this is documented and I saw it personally, steered the United States into a war that hurts the United States and the world,” Carlson added.
With the war poised to enter its third month at the end of this week, Trump’s conduct of it — and of his presidency — are becoming more deeply unpopular with Americans than at any other point in his combined five and a half years in power.
A NBC News poll released on Sunday found just 37 percent of American adults approve of Trump’s job performance, while 63% disapprove — including 50% who said they disapprove strongly. A full two-thirds of respondents said they disapproved of his Iran policy as well.
But Trump isn’t giving public opinion much credence.
In the same Truth Social post, he claimed he “watch[es] and read[s] the FAKE NEWS Pundits and Polls in total disbelief” while arguing that “90 percent” of the press’ output is “lies and made up stories” and dismissing opinion polls as “rigged” while falsely claiming to have won the 2020 election, which he lost to Joe Biden.
“Just like the results in Venezuela, which the media doesn’t like talking about, the results in Iran will be amazing,” he said.
Trump’s Truth Social outburst comes as Iran has renewed the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, cutting off a fifth of the world’s oil supply from maritime trade routes.
Tehran had announced it would permit ships to pass through the key waterway on Friday after Israel began a ceasefire in its ongoing campaign against Hezbollah in Lebanon, but Iranian leaders reneged on the deal after Trump refused to lift a U.S. Navy blockade of Iranian ports.
Trump is reportedly weighing whether to lift the blockade in exchange for Tehran’s participation in a new round of talks in the Pakistani capital, Islamabad.
Tehran has not yet confirmed whether it will take part, but The Independent understands that Vice President JD Vance is preparing to depart for Islamabad aboard Air Force Two to lead negotiations should they take place.
🚨 BREAKING: Watch the full clip here ➤
