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Hegseth: 'We didn't start this war, but under president Trump, we're finishing it'
Pete Hegseth has kicked off his Pentagon press conference, by saying that for “47 long years”, the Iranian regime has waged a “savage, one sided war against America”.
He noted that they did this through “the blood of our people, car bombs in Beirut, rocket attacks on our ships, murders at our embassies, roadside bombs in Iraq and Afghanistan”.
The defense secretary added: “We didn’t start this war, but under president Trump, we are finishing it.”
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New poll shows that only one in four Americans support military operation in Iran
A new poll by Reuters/Ipsos found that only one in four Americans support military action in Iran. What’s more, more than half of Americans – including one in four Republicans – think that Trump’s use of military force is excessive. The survey was conducted before the US military announced that four service members were the first casualties of Iran’s counterattack.
Additionally, 45% of respondents said they would be less likely to support the campaign against Iran if gas or oil prices increased in the United States. On Sunday, Brent Crude was trading at more than $80 per barrel, up by 13%, according to oil traders.
A reminder that my colleague, Tom Ambrose, is covering the latest developments out of the region today, at our dedicated live blog.
He reports that Israel announced simultaneous attacks on Tehran and Beirut earlier. The IDF also issued an “urgent” evacuation warning for buildings in the south of the Lebanese capital.
Ahead of wrapping up his press conference today, Pete Hegseth sparred with another reporter who asked if there is a concern that this operation spirals into a longer war.
“We’re ensuring the mission gets accomplished,” Hegeth said. “But we are very clear eyed, as the President has been, unlike other presidents, about the foolish policies of the past that recklessly pulled us in the things that were not tethered to actual, clear objectives. We know, we have plans … but we would never in front of a press pool lay out how long that may take.”
General Caine said that he didn’t want to “talk specifics” about the additional troops that would be sent into the region because “that would tip the enemy off”.
However, he noted that there would be “more tactical aviation” flowing into the theater of operation. “I think we’re just about where we want to be in terms of total combat capacity and total combat power,” he added.
When asked about whether there would be American boots on the ground in Iran, Pete Hegseth was quick to say “no”, but then appeared murky on whether this would remain the case for the duration of the war.
“We’re not going to go into the exercise of what we will or will not do,” he said, calling previous decisions by the Pentagon to disclose operational information to “American people and our enemies” as “foolishness”.
Hegseth says that destroying Iranian capabilities 'won't happen overnight'
Throughout his press conference at the Pentagon today, defense secretary Pete Hegseth insisted on various occasions that Operation Epic Fury would not be completed “overnight”.
“This is a big battle space with a lot of capabilities. That’s part of the reason why it’s such a threat to us,” he added.
When probed about the operation’s length, Hegseth proved adversarial with reporters. “President Trump has all the latitude in the world to talk about how long it may or may not take: four weeks, two weeks, six weeks, it could move up. It could move back,” he said. “We’re going to execute, at his command, the objectives we’ve set out to achieve, and what he has shown an ability to do what other presidents don’t quite seem to have the aptitude to do as well.”
Caine repeated the concerted and targeted nature of Operation Epic Fury. “I wish that every American could hear the voice communications like I have,” he said. “These joint operation centers remain calm, focused and cool, while executing under fire over and over again.”
Earlier he noted the US had gained “air superiority”, which, he said, will “not only enhance the protection of our forces, but also allow them to continue the work over Iran”.
Caine also said that, in addition to the four US service members killed, the US military expects to take “additional losses”.
Caine noted that Adm Brad Cooper, commander of US Central Command, will receive additional forces today.
“This rapid buildup of forces demonstrated the joint forces ability to adapt and project power at the time and place of our nation’s choosing,” he said.
He also noted that Operation Epic Fury was operation was “highly classified”, to ensure the enemy would see “speed, surprise and violence of action”.
Dan Caine, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, is now speaking.
Earlier, he provided a timeline as the US began Operation Epic Fury, noting that on 27 February Donald Trump gave the go ahead.
“The president directed, and I quote, ‘Operation Epic Fury is approved. No aborts. Good luck’,” Caine said.
Hegseth acknowledges fourth US service member killed in action
While speaking today, Pete Hegseth acknowledged the fourth US service member killed in Iran’s counterattacks.
“War is hell and always will be,” he said. “Our grateful nation honors the four Americans we have lost thus far and those injured – the absolute best of America.”
Hegseth chides media: 'This is not Iraq, this is not endless'
During his opening remarks, Pete Hegseth insisted that the US “set the terms of this war from start to finish”, and noted that the military’s ambitions “are not utopian”.
He went on to chide the media, as many have challenged Donald Trump’s claims that he “ended eight wars” and campaigned on keeping the US out of foreign conflicts.”
“This is not Iraq. This is not endless. I was there for both. Our generation knows better, and so does this president,” Hegseth said.
When it comes to the targets of Operation Epic Fury, Hegseth said the intelligence was “laser focused”:
Destroy Iranian offensive missiles, destroy Iranian missile production, destroy their navy and other security infrastructure, and they will never have nuclear weapons. We’re hitting them surgically, overwhelmingly and unapologetically.
Hegseth said today that Iran was “building powerful missiles and drones to create a conventional shield for their nuclear blackmail ambitions” and “had a conventional gun to our head as they tried to lie their way to a nuclear bomb”.
The defense secretary said that after the 12-day Israel-Iran war in June, the US threatened Iran with “far worse” consequences if they rebuilt their nuclear program. “They arrogantly refused,” Hegseth said, noting that Trump, top officials and special envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner “bent over backwards for real diplomacy”.
“The former regime had every chance to make a peaceful and sensible deal, but Tehran was not negotiating,” Hegseth said.
Hegseth: 'We didn't start this war, but under president Trump, we're finishing it'
Pete Hegseth has kicked off his Pentagon press conference, by saying that for “47 long years”, the Iranian regime has waged a “savage, one sided war against America”.
He noted that they did this through “the blood of our people, car bombs in Beirut, rocket attacks on our ships, murders at our embassies, roadside bombs in Iraq and Afghanistan”.
The defense secretary added: “We didn’t start this war, but under president Trump, we are finishing it.”
Donald Trump is in Washington on Monday. Just two days after the US and Israel launched a war on the country to trigger regime change. Iran’s supreme leader Ali Khamenei was killed by Israeli forces using US intelligence on Saturday.
Three US service members have been killed in action as part of US military operations against Iran, the US Central Command said in a statement on Sunday. These are the first confirmed deaths since the US first launched strikes, and Trump said in a video on Sunday that more can be expected as Operation Epic Fury continues.
We’ll hear from the president at 11am ET, when it takes part in a Medal of Honor ceremony at the White House for three soldiers – two of whom will be honored posthumously.
Trump will spend the rest of the day in closed door policy meetings, with signing time scheduled for 1:30pm. If anything else opens up we’ll let you know.
Pentagon to brief media this morning on Trump's Iran strikes
US defense secretary Pete Hegseth and general Dan Caine, chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, are planning to hold a press conference on Monday morning about the military operation against Iran.
The Pentagon announced the 8am EST media briefing on social media Sunday night.
On Tuesday, Hegseth and Caine will join US secretary of state Marco Rubio and CIA director John Ratcliffe in briefing the full membership of Congress on the strikes, the White House said.
Rubio also was slated to brief Hill leadership on Monday.
Congress is about to launch a war powers debate over president Donald Trump’s authority to bomb Iran under largely unusual circumstances - he has already done it, and the country is essentially already at war, reports AP.
The moment is a defining one for Congress, which alone has the authority under the US Constitution to declare war, and for the Republican president , who has consistently seized power during his second term with an apparent limitless view of his own executive reach.
“The Constitution is intended to prevent the accumulation of power in any one branch of government - and in any one person in government,” said David Janovsky, acting director of the Constitution Project at the Project on Government Oversight, a watchdog organization.
“Congress is the people’s representatives in a way that the president isn’t, even though we tend to focus on the president,” he said.
“We need the people’s representatives to weigh in on whether we, the people, are going to war right now.”
David Smith
As Republicans celebrated the death of Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, with praise for Donald Trump’s decisive action, Democrats faced their own divisions and a reckoning over how to present a united front.
Most were quick to condemn the US president for sidelining Congress to launch an illegal and unconstitutional war and demanded a swift vote on a war powers resolution that would restrain his military onslaught.
But some in the party also felt obliged to acknowledge the authoritarian Khamenei’s death as a positive development and demonstrate their support for US troops. A small band of centrist Democrats have even threatened to scupper a war powers resolution if it comes to the floor.
“President Trump has been willing to do what’s right and necessary to produce real peace in the region,” tweeted John Fetterman, a Democratic senator for Pennsylvania and staunch supporter of Israel, declaring himself a “hard no” on a war powers vote and posting an image of the ayatollah with the provocative statement: “Let’s see who grieves for that garbage.”
Democratic leaders were outspoken during the massive US military buildup in the Middle East, decrying his unwillingness to engage with Congress and lack of long-term strategy for Iran. They noted that it was Trump, during his first term, who shredded Barack Obama’s nuclear agreement with Iran.
Democrats demand immediate vote in Congress to limit Trump's war on Iran
Hello and welcome to the US politics live blog.
Top Democrats demanded over the weekend for an immediate vote in Congress on whether to restrain president Donald Trump’s military action against Iran.
The House and Senate were already expected to hold votes this week but Trump’s decision to launch attacks on Iran has increased the urgency of lawmakers to try to reassert their powers.
It comes as Israel and the US launched fresh waves of intensive attacks across Iran as part of their joint campaign to overthrow the country’s government, which has plunged the Middle East into a new regional conflict with no certain timeline or outcome.
The heated rhetoric from both Washington and Tehran suggests a further escalation in the coming hours and days.
New York representative Gregory W Meeks, the top Democrat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said he would “get on the next plane flying” to vote against the war.
Meanwhile, Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer and House minority leader Hakeem Jeffries both called for urgent action to restrain Trump’s attacks on Iran.
The Democrats’ strategy of forcing votes on war power resolutions have been portrayed as a way for Congress to reclaim its constitutional powers to declare war but have, so far, all failed.
In other developments:
Donald Trump appeared to link the massive attack he ordered against Iran to his persistent claims about his 2020 election loss in a social media post about allegations that Tehran’s government interfered in the US elections. This is the second military operation of the Trump administration where the president alluded to allegations concerning the 2020 result.
Donald Trump said on Sunday he was prepared to talk to what was left of the Iranian leadership after the killing of the country’s supreme leader by US-Israeli airstrikes aimed at overthrowing the regime. Trump was speaking as a second day of intense bombing of Iranian cities and Tehran’s missile counterattacks sent tremors across the region and through the global economy.
Three US service members have been killed in action as part of US military operations against Iran, the US Central Command said in a statement on Sunday. These are the first confirmed deaths since the US began launching strikes against Iran on Saturday.
The Iranian community in Los Angeles has spoken out about the attack by Israel and the US, with some saying ‘it’s not an invasion, it’s a liberation’.
The US military reportedly used Claude, Anthropic’s AI model, to inform its attack on Iran despite Trump’s decision, announced hours earlier, to sever all ties with the company and its artificial intelligence tools.
Democrats are watching the Texas Senate primary closely to see which style and message resonates – anti-Maga rage or a populist crusade against a “corrupt” political system.
All unaccompanied immigrant children who are pregnant, many by rape, are being moved to a single facility in Texas in order to avoid providing abortion services in a significant human rights violation, critics say.
