Donald Trump believes if he were president that Iran would have never unleashed missile attacks on Israel and that the globe would not be ‘brink of World War III.’
The ex-president took to his Truth Social app Tuesday to decry the attack on Israel as it was being hit with a hellfire of roughly 180 Iranian missiles.
The Jewish Nation’s conflict with the Lebanon-based Iranian-backed terrorist group Hezbollah has become increasingly dangerous over the past weeks as the two have exchanged attacks.
Escalating the fight, Iranian rockets ignited the night sky and slammed into buildings as air sirens blared across the country just hours after the White House warned an attack was ‘imminent’.
‘Look at the missiles flying right now in the Middle East, look at what’s happening with Russia/Ukraine, look at Inflation destroying the World,’ Trump’s post began.
‘None of this happened while I was president!’
‘When I was President, Iran was in total check,’ Trump elaborated further in an official campaign statement. ‘They were starved for cash, fully contained, and desperate to make a deal. Kamala flooded them with American cash and, ever since, they’ve been exporting terror all over, and unraveling the Middle East.’
It continued: ‘Under ‘President Trump,’ we had no war in the Middle East, no war in Europe, and harmony in Asia, no inflation, no Afghanistan catastrophe.’
‘Now, war or the threat of war, is raging everywhere, and the two incompetents running this country are leading us to the brink of World War III.’
Footage shows Israel’s Iron Dome defense system, and other anti-missile defensive capabilities, shooting down some of the incoming missiles and sending burning fragments to the ground as Americans were urged to take cover in bomb shelters.
The missiles rained down on Tel Aviv in two major salvos about 15 minutes apart.
Biden released a statement to deter Iran from further action.
‘The United States is prepared to help Israel defend against these attacks, and protect American personnel in the region,’ the president said.
A White House spokesman said Biden ‘directed the U.S. military to aid Israel’s defense against Iranian attacks and shoot down missiles targeting Israel.’
National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said during a press briefing that Iran’s attack was ‘defeated’ and unsuccessful, and that Israel along with U.S. forces were able to dampen the results of the strike.
Sullivan called it a ‘significant escalation’ by Iran and that the White House will look at what ‘the appropriate next steps are.’
He also revealed that U.S. ships helped quash the Iranian barrage.
‘Iran launched nearly 200 ballistic missiles towards targets in Israel you know, the united States military coordinated closely with the Israeli defense forces to help defend Israel against this attack.’
‘U.S. naval destroyers joined Israeli the air defense units in firing interceptors to shoot down inbound missiles,’ he added.
Maj. General Pat Ryder later confirmed to reporters it was the USS Cole and USS Bulkeley, both Arleigh-Burke class destroyers, which shot a dozen anti-missile interceptors.
Other nations in the Middle East went on alert. Officials in Baghdad said Iraq is closing its airspace for safety reasons. Jordan also closed its airspace.
It remains unclear exactly what was hit in Israel and what the impact on the ground will be. Tehran was targeting Mossad headquarters and military bases, CNN reported. The headquarters of Israeli’s spy agency is just outside Tel Aviv.
Iran’s decision to attack was reportedly made by the country’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was said to be in a secure location.
Videos posted online show frantic scenes as residents rush to bomb shelters and salvos of explosives can be hear imploding off in the distance.
Trump’s campaign statement comes just after Iran unleashed a barrage of dozens of missiles into Israel – an act so awful that it requires the U.S. to strike back, as GOP lawmakers have said.
South Carolina Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham has called on President Joe Biden to ‘hit and hit hard’ Iran’s oil refining capabilities in response to its ballistic missile attack on Israel Tuesday.
‘This is a moment of choosing for the free world regarding Iran. The Ayatollah and Iranian regime are religious Nazis who want to destroy the state of Israel – their words, not mine,’ his statement began.
‘This missile attack against Israel should be the breaking point and I would urge the Biden Administration to coordinate an overwhelming response with Israel, starting with Iran’s ability to refine oil.’
‘These oil refineries need to be hit and hit hard because that is the source of cash for the regime to perpetrate their terror,’ Graham continued.
The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said the attack was in response to Israeli attacks in Lebanon that killed several Hezbollah leaders.
Iran’s state TV claimed that 80% of their missiles launched at Israel hit their target. It’s unclear exactly what the targets were.
The top Republican on the Senate Armed Services Committee Sen. Roger Wicker of Alabama said the Supreme Leader of Iran must be ‘eliminated’ in response to the attack on Israel.
‘Iran and its terrorist proxies – Hezbollah, Hamas and the Houthis – will never stop their campaign to eliminate Israel from the map,’ Wicker wrote. ‘The Ayatollah’s regime must be eliminated.’
Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., said he is in favor of a decisive, ‘disproportionate’ response from Israel to teach Iran a lesson.
‘I urge the reimposition of a maximum pressure campaign against Iran and fully support Israel’s right to respond disproportionately to stop this threat,’ he wrote in a statement.
Rubio’s fellow Florida senator, Rick Scott, wrote Tuesday ‘The U.S. must stand strongly with Israel, give it everything it needs to respond, and be clear that Iran will pay dearly for these attacks.’
And the Sunshine State Gov. Ron DeSantis said the U.S. should not hinder the Jewish Nation’s response.
‘Israel should not be hampered from mounting a robust response by the U.S. Government,’ DeSantis said.
A Democrat has also said that escalating action against Iran is on the table.
‘Iran has made a mistake, it has put its nuclear facilities on the board as fair game,’ Florida Democrat Rep. Jared Moskowitz posted.