President Donald Trump, who joined Israel in joint military strikes on Iran in the early morning hours of February 28, had some strong opinions against going to war with Tehran – before he was sitting in the Oval Office.
In 2012 and 2013, Trump repeatedly insinuated that then-President Barack Obama would start a war with Iran to shore up his re-election effort and to distract from his supposed faults as a leader.
Obama never did attack Iran. That cannot be said for Trump, who has now attacked the Middle Eastern republic three times during across his two terms in office.
On January 17, 2012, Trump wrote on social media that he believed Obama would "attack Iran in order to get re-elected."
He repeated his prediction in August of that year, insisting that Obama would, "in some form" attack Iran before the election.
He did it again on October 9, 2012.
"Now that Obama's poll numbers are in tailspin - watch for him to launch a strike in Libya or Iran. He is desperate," Trump wrote.
Later that same month, Trump warned the GOP not to "let Obama play the Iran card in order to start a war in oder too get elected--be careful Republicans!"
On at least three other occasions, Trump predicted that Obama would attack Iran, claiming he would do so to "save face," or "because of his inability to negotiate properly" or to "show how tough he is."
Now, eight months before what is predicted to be a brutal midterm election cycle for Republicans, Trump has launched a military strike on Iran with the purpose of driving regime change in the nation.
Trump isn't the only one in his administration giving mixed messages about Iran.
In 2023, just before becoming the vice president, JD Vance wrote on social media that he hoped the U.S. had learned its lesson after the Iraq war, in which he had served.
"Twenty years ago we invaded Iraq. The war killed many innocent Iraqis and Americans. It destroyed the oldest Christian populations in the world. It cost over $1 trillion, and turned Iraq into a satellite of Iran," he wrote. "It was an unforced disaster, and I pray that we learn its lessons."
He continued, saying that "even though I was just a kid, I still feel guilty for supporting the war."
Vance then said that Trump's opposition to the Iraq war was the "most significant" contributor to what changed his mind about the president, whom he had once fiercely opposed and suggested could become “America’s Hitler.”
"I hope we do better in the future. And I know that we won't until the people who led us into Iraq are scorned and ignored across the spectrum," he wrote at the time. "Iraq was a disaster, yes, but the best way to do justice to the honored dead is to learn the lessons purchased by their blood."
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Trump's Deputy Chief of Staff, Stephen Miller, insisted in 2024 that a vote for then-Vice President Kamala Harris would be a vote for "WWIII."
"To anyone still gullible enough to fall for scummy media hoaxes: Trump said warmongering neocons love sending your kids to die for wars they would never fight themselves. Liz Cheney is Kamala's top advisor. Liz wants to invade the whole Middle East," he wrote at the time. "Kamala = WWIII. Trump = Peace."
Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard — after unsuccessfully running for the presidency as a Democrat — joined with Trump and the Republicans and assured the American people that "a vote for Trump is a vote to end wars."
"A vote for Kamala Harris is a vote for Dick Cheney and vote for war, war, and more war. A vote for Donald Trump is a vote to end wars, not start them. We are at a historic crossroads," she said in 2024. "Our God-given rights are under attack. Now is the time for us to stand together, for love of country, and for Donald Trump to get us back on the path to peace, freedom, and prosperity."
In 2020, when she was running for president, Gabbard even sold "No War with Iran" t-shirts. The ad copy on the t-shirt's sale page read “Say no to war with Iran!” according to the New York Post.
“How many more American lives, how many more trillions of dollars will be wasted before we exit," the ad said. “It could be now, or it could be 10 or 20 years from now, but there is no American victory. Let’s bring our troops home from Iraq and Syria now!”
Gabbard criticized Trump’s foreign policy in 2019, specifically warning against war with Iran.
“Trump's shortsighted foreign policy is bringing us to the brink of war with Iran and allowing Iran to accelerate nuclear program—just to please Saudis and Netanyahu,” she wrote at the time. “This is not America first.”
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