The White House put out an unhinged statement announcing that Donald Trump had vetoed a resolution that would have limited war powers toward Iran.
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Trump said in a White House statement provided to PoliticusUSA:
Today, I vetoed S.J. Res. 68, which purported to direct me to terminate the use of United States Armed Forces in hostilities against Iran. This was a very insulting resolution, introduced by Democrats as part of a strategy to win an election on November 3 by dividing the Republican Party. The few Republicans who voted for it played right into their hands.
In addition, S.J. Res. 68 is based on misunderstandings of facts and law. Contrary to the resolution, the United States is not engaged in the use of force against Iran. Four months ago, I took decisive action to eliminate Qassem Soleimani while he was in Iraq. Iran responded by launching a series of missiles at our forces stationed in Iraq. No one was killed by these attacks. Further, the strike against Soleimani was fully authorized by law, including by the Authorization for Use of Military Force Against Iraq Resolution of 2002 and Article II of the Constitution.
Finally, S.J. Res. 68 would have greatly harmed the President’s ability to protect the United States, its allies, and its partners. The resolution implies that the President’s constitutional authority to use military force is limited to defense of the United States and its forces against imminent attack. That is incorrect. We live in a hostile world of evolving threats, and the Constitution recognizes that the President must be able to anticipate our adversaries’ next moves and take swift and decisive action in response. That’s what I did!
Congress should not have passed this resolution.
We know that Trump didn’t write the statement because the words are spelled correctly, but it is obvious that the President got to make edits and add his own ideas.
The resolution was co-written by Sen. Mike Lee who is a Republican from Utah. Eight Senate and six House Republicans supported the resolution, so it was not a Democratic plot to steal Trump’s powers. Near the end of the statement, Trump also claimed that the Constitution gives him unlimited powers in foreign affairs, which is not true, The Constitution gives Congress the power to declare war.
Trump is lashing out in every direction, as his presidency is crumbling, and there is nothing that he seems to be able to do to stop the decline.
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Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.
Awards and Professional Memberships
Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association
