President Donald Trump cast aside his anti-war persona by ordering U.S. military strikes on Iran and helping Israel decapitate the Islamic Republic’s government, leaving Republican lawmakers in a lurch to defend him with a number of contradictory statements.
The U.S. commander in chief on Monday, as the conflict spread across the Middle East, cited a need to take out Tehran’s nuclear ambitions, missile systems, navy and ability to support violent proxy groups.
But, speaking from the White House’s East Room at the start of a Medal of Honor ceremony, he also hailed the decapitation of a “terrorist regime” that he dubbed “sick and sinister.”
