By Brendan Scanland
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Anticipation is building rapidly over the possibility of the U.S. getting directly involved in the Israel-Iran conflict.
President Trump reiterated that time is up for Iran to negotiate a new nuclear deal with the U.S., adding that the country is in big trouble.
Some lawmakers argue that Iran’s regime is extremely vulnerable right now, and that it could be the right time for the U.S. to strike. Others, however, say it is simply not America’s fight.
Tonight, the world is watching as President Trump weighs direct U.S. involvement against Iran.
“You know, now I may do it. I may not do it. I mean, nobody knows what I’m going to do. I can tell you this, that… Iran’s got a lot of trouble,” said President Trump.
The possibility of U.S. military action is angering some in the president’s base.
“I may have some people that are a little bit unhappy now, but I have some people that are very happy and that people outside of the base that can’t believe that this is happening, they’re so happy,” Trump said.
On Capitol Hill, Senate Republicans are rushing to advance the president’s domestic legislative agenda as Democrats push back. However, the possibility of direct military involvement in the Middle East is casting a shadow.
“I’ve been calling that for six weeks or more. I absolutely support us using our capabilities to bomb and destroy the nuclear facilities,” said Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.).
“I just hope that President Trump will continue to pursue negotiations and pursue diplomacy. I do not think getting into a world war is wise or appropriate, and I support Israel’s right to defend itself 1,000 percent,” said Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY.).
“I thought the Iran deal that we signed about a decade ago was valuable because it allowed us to have intel about location of military bases, location of centrifuges, location of production facilities,” she added. “And it allowed us to protect the United States should Iran decide to become nuclearized from a military perspective. And unfortunately, President Trump tore up that agreement. Iran started building centrifuges again, started refining uranium, stockpiled uranium.”
“I’m hoping the president will not get involved in the war,” said Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.).
“I yield to the president on strategic military decisions as our commander in chief,” said Rep. Nick Langworthy (R-NY.). “Obviously, we don’t want to see a full-scale war that, you know, encapsulates other nations. I don’t want to see American boots on the ground. But we have to stand by Israel’s right to defend itself and its right to exist, which is fundamentally rejected by Iran. I mean, Iran chants ‘Death to Israel,’ but right behind that, it says ‘Death to America.’ And that’s something that we can’t lose sight of.”
President Trump clarified to reporters this afternoon that he has not made a final decision on how to proceed. He said he’ll be in the Situation Room at some point Wednesday evening.
