Trump Shreds the Constitution By Bombing Iran
The attack on Iranian nuclear sites is a risky gamble. And it was completely by choice.
The world found out about another American war through social media. "We have completed our very successful attack on the three Nuclear sites in Iran, including Fordow, Natanz, and Esfahan," President Donald Trump wrote on Truth Social at 7:50 PM on Saturday night. "NOW IS THE TIME FOR PEACE!" he added.
Trump told Fox News' Sean Hannity that he had B-2 stealth bombers drop bunker-buster bombs on the underground Fordo nuclear facility, and submarines launch Tomahawk missiles at additional nuclear facilities in Natanz and Esfahan. He gave Iranian leaders a heads-up before the attack, reassuring them that the U.S. was aiming for a one-off strike rather than a regime change war, according to CNN and CBS. Iranian media downplayed the results, claiming that at Fordo only two entrances were damaged.
This campaign is a war of choice. And the administration did not try to sell it to Congress—let alone the American people—before embarking on it. Instead, Trump watched Israel launch a first strike on Iran, then threatened to get involved, talking himself into a corner. Now he seems to be hoping that Iran simply won't respond to being attacked.
"Iran, the bully of the Middle East, now must make peace. If not, future attacks will be far greater, and a lot easier," Trump said at the White House. "Remember, there are many targets left," he added, threatening to "go after those targets with precision, speed, and skill."
There was peace eight days ago. Iran had been negotiating with the United States over the future of its nuclear program, with another round of talks scheduled for last Sunday. But on June 13, the Israeli military began bombing Iran. (One of its first targets was chief Iranian negotiator Ali Shamkhani.) Trump was reportedly impressed by the triumphant coverage on Fox News and rushed to take credit.
In the race to war, he did not bother to ask Congress for permission, and he limited the administration's briefings of congressional leaders to just one party. No wonder: Polling at the beginning of the Israel-Iran war showed that only 16 percent of Americans and 23 percent of Republicans wanted to be involved. Instead, Trump bet that he could make the war a fait accompli. Once the crisis starts, after all, it will be much harder to stop.
While House Majority Leader Mike Johnson (R–La.) praised Trump for his "clear reminder to our adversaries and allies that President Trump means what he says," House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D–N.Y.) said that "President Trump misled the country about his intentions, failed to seek congressional authorization for the use of military force and risks American entanglement in a potentially disastrous war in the Middle East."
Asked what legal authorization Trump had to start the war, the White House told RealClearPolitics that he simply "used the legal authority afforded to him as Commander in Chief." Rep. Thomas Massie (R–Ky.) concurred that the war "is not Constitutional."
Jeffries added that Trump "shoulders complete and total responsibility for any adverse consequences that flow from his unilateral military action." What those consequences will be is a huge open question. The immediate danger is that Iran will attack American troops or oil shipping in the Persian Gulf, both of which Iranian officials had previously threatened to do in response to a U.S. attack.
Iran can also rebuild its nuclear program. Iranian authorities have claimed that they already scattered equipment and material from Fordo before the U.S. attack—a prudent thing to do when expecting air raids. Unlike the facilities at Fordo, Natanz, and Esfahan, which were well-known to international inspectors, any new Iranian nuclear work would likely be secretive. The U.S. could find itself in a long-term game of whack-a-mole to stop a dispersed Iranian nuclear program.
And Israel has a say in whether the current war ends. Iranian officials have said that there are no grounds for negotiation while their country is being bombed. Israeli leaders have been constantly shifting the goalposts of their war effort: denuclearization of Iran, dismantlement of its conventional missile forces, or even full regime change. Trump has tied the fate of American troops to another country's forever war.
This outcome was something the Constitution was designed to prevent. "The Framers of the Constitution were clear that only Congress is empowered to commence offensive military hostilities," former Rep. Justin Amash (L–Mich.) wrote on X. "But there are people on the left and right who reject divided powers and fundamentally hate America. They're working deliberately and methodically to destroy it."
