Trump Says Iran War Could Last Weeks, or Longer if Necessary

President Trump today said his war with Iran could last weeks
Reuters
By Yuval Rosenberg and Michael Rainey

Good evening. President Trump today said his war with Iran could last weeks. Here's your Monday update.

Trump Says Iran War Could Last Four to Five Weeks, 'Far Longer' if Necessary

The war in the Middle East expanded on Monday as the United States and Israel continued to hit targets across Iran. Tehran, under the leadership of an interim council after earlier U.S. and Israeli strikes killed Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, fired back at targets across the region. Iranian attacks were reported in Israel and eight other countries: Bahrain, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.

President Trump, who campaigned on an "America First" agenda and promised to stop wars rather than start them, defended his decision to strike Iran now, arguing that the Khamenei regime continued to pursue nuclear weapons, was growing its ballistic missile program and would "soon" have had missiles capable of reaching America.

Experts said such a threat to the U.S. homeland was far from imminent.

"This was our last best chance to strike, what we're doing right now, and eliminate the intolerable threats imposed by this sick and sinister regime," Trump said in remarks before a White House Medal of Honor ceremony.

Trump laid out several objectives for the war, saying it aims to destroy Iran's missile capabilities and navy, ensure that Tehran cannot have a nuclear weapon and prevent the Iranian government from continuing to fund, arm and direct terrorists. Trump did not specify regime change as a goal, though in remarks this weekend he encouraged Iranians to rise up and overthrow the theocratic government that took power in a 1979 revolution.

Trump also said that the military had projected that the operation could take four to five weeks, but that it was already "substantially ahead" of those projections. He added that "we have capability to go far longer" if needed. "Whatever the time is, it's OK," Trump said. "Whatever it takes."

Trump earlier told the New York Post that he's not ruling out sending U.S. ground troops "if they were necessary." He told CNN's Jake Tapper on Monday morning that the U.S. military is "knocking the crap" out of Iran but that the "big wave" of attacks is still to come. "The big one is coming soon," he reportedly said.

In a separate morning news briefing, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth insisted that objectives are clear: to destroy Iran's missile threat and its navy and ensure it does not get nuclear weapons. "This is not a so-called regime change war, but the regime sure did change and the world is better off for it," Hegseth said.

He insisted that, while the war would continue as long as Trump deems it necessary, the United States was not about to get mired in another protracted conflict or nation-building exercise. "This is not Iraq. This is not endless," he said.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio, on Capitol Hill to brief lawmakers, told reporters that the U.S. attack was meant to prevent Iran from developing weapons that would safeguard its nuclear program.

"What they are trying to do, and have been trying to do for a very long time, is build a conventional weapons capability as a shield where they can hide behind," Rubio said. "Meaning there will come a point where they have so many conventional missiles, so many drones and can inflict so much damage that no one can do anything about their nuclear program."

Most Americans disapprove of attack: A new CNN poll conducted on Saturday and Sunday after the initial strikes against Iran finds that 59% of Americans disapprove of Trump's decision to attack, 60% say the president does not have a clear plan for handling the situation and 56% believe that a long-term military conflict between the U.S. and Iran is at least somewhat likely.

U.S. death toll rises: Six U.S. servicemembers have been killed so far and 18 have been wounded, according to the Pentagon. Both Trump and military leaders warned that additional casualties are likely. Three U.S. F-15E Strike Eagle fighter jets were mistakenly shot down by Kuwaiti air defenses, but all six crew members ejected safely, the Defense Department said Monday.

DHS Shutdown Comes Into Play as Lawmakers Respond to Attack on Iran

Congress is divided largely along partisan lines as it prepares to debate and vote this week on a war powers resolution on U.S. military action in Iran. At the same time, with the shutdown of the Department of Homeland Security entering its third week, some Republican lawmakers are using the turmoil surrounding President Trump's attack on Iran to pressure Democrats to fund the agency and drop their demands for major reforms at the nation's immigration services.

Reacting to Iran: Republican lawmakers expressed strong support for Trump's decision to attack Iran. Speaker Mike Johnson said that "Iran is facing the severe consequences of its evil actions," while claiming that the president had "made every effort to pursue peaceful and diplomatic solutions."

Senate Majority Leader John Thune condemned Iran's "relentless nuclear ambitions" and its support for "terror groups," while crediting the Trump administration for its "dogged efforts" to negotiate a deal. "I commend President Trump for taking action to thwart these threats," Thune said.

Democrats were more critical, with some questioning the legality and process surrounding the decision to go to war. "Donald Trump failed to seek congressional authorization prior to striking Iran," said House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer questioned the need to go to war and the way Trump is carrying it out. "The administration has not provided Congress and the American people with critical details about the scope and immediacy of the threat," he said. "Confronting Iran's malign regional activities, nuclear ambitions, and harsh oppression of the Iranian people demands American strength, resolve, regional coordination, and strategic clarity. Unfortunately, President Trump's fitful cycles of lashing out and risking wider conflict are not a viable strategy."

Other Democrats were more aggressive in their criticism. "The American people are once again dragged into a war they did not want by a president who does not care about the long-term consequences of his actions," said Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. "This war is unlawful. It is unnecessary. And it will be catastrophic. Just this week, Iran and the United States were negotiating key measures that could have staved off war. The president walked away from these discussions and chose war instead."

Sen. Bernie Sanders, the Vermont independent who caucuses with Democrats, called for Congress to act. "This Trump-Netanyahu war is unconstitutional and violates international law," he said on social media. "We've lived through the lies of Vietnam and Iraq. No more endless wars. Congress must pass a War Powers Resolution immediately."

Republicans ramp up pressure to end DHS shutdown: Sen. James Lankford, the Oklahoma Republican who sits on the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, said Sunday that the war in the Middle East raises the stakes in the DHS shutdown, since the department includes not just ICE, the focus of Democrats' concerns, but also other key agencies such as TSA, the Coast Guard and the Secret Service.

"Let's get DHS funded," Lankford said, per Politico. "We need to make sure we're defending the homeland by also funding what's here at home."

Rep. Mike Lawler, a Republican who sits on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, delivered the same message. "Given the situation in the Middle East and the potential for Iran and its terrorist proxies to attempt some type of attack, it is imperative that @SenSchumer and @RepJeffries immediately drop all opposition to funding the Department of Homeland Security and pass the funding bill," he wrote on social media.

A short-term fix? Some Republican lawmakers, including Thune, are discussing a plan to shift some of the tens of billions of dollars provided for border security and immigration in the "One Big Beautiful Bill" last summer to other areas managed by DHS, including TSA.

Sen. Dick Durbin, the Democratic whip, said he would consider that option. "I'm open to the idea, but I want to see a good-faith effort by the Republicans in the Senate and the administration to deal with the ICE problem," he said, per The Hill.

Democratic Sen. Jacky Rosen has proposed funding some elements of DHS, including TSA, while leaving ICE and border patrol unfunded as lawmakers debate reforms. "What would probably be the best is to find some way to separate everything else out of Homeland. You have Coast Guard, you have TSA, you have FEMA," she said. "TSA is not part of this."

Still, not all Democrats are accepting that the attack on Iran means they have to ease their demands for reforms at ICE. Chris Murphy, the senior Democrat on the Homeland Security Appropriations Subcommittee, said Sunday that he is focused on getting ICE to stop "terrorizing" American communities. "I don't have any obligation to fund the Department of Homeland Security that is violating the law every day, just like I don't have any obligation to support this war that is illegal, as well," Murphy said.

What's next: Congress is expected to debate a war powers resolution later this week, but it's not likely to have enough votes to pass. Speaker Johnson said Monday that he expects the resolution to fail, and that the president doesn't need one, since he ordered an "operation that was limited in scope, limited in its objective, and absolutely necessary for our defense."

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