Time and again when running for president in 2024, Donald Trump vowed to be a peacemaker who would end conflicts around the world.
“I’m not going to start a war, I’m going to stop wars,” he declared on election night during his victory speech.
In the early hours of Saturday, he had a very different message for the American people. “The lives of courageous American heroes may be lost and we may have casualties. That often happens in war,” he said, as he announced major combat operations against Iran.
The announcement of yet another US conflict in the Middle East has infuriated politicians, including some in Mr Trump's Republican Party, as well as many of his Make America Great Again base.
The Trump administration almost entirely cut Congress out of its decision making process before launching strikes. That stands in stark contrast to what happened in the months after the 9/11 attacks, when George W Bush's administration spent more than a year making a case for war.
Last week, a bipartisan group of politicians had been working to force a vote on a war powers resolution that would have sought to forestall any military action without congressional approval.
Republican representative Thomas Massie said on Saturday that he would work with Democrat Ro Khanna to make sure the vote goes ahead – but given military operations already started, the action itself would be largely symbolic.
Mr Massie said it was important for members of Congress to be on record as to whether they support the war.
Adam Smith, the senior Democrat on the House armed services committee, said the use of military force against Iran, without congressional authorisation, was contrary to domestic and international law. “Our system of checks and balances is crucial to ensuring that we adhere to the law and, hopefully, learn from the mistakes of our past," he added.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio had spoken to seven members of the so-called Gang of Eight, the bipartisan group of senior congressional leaders, to give them a “heads up” before strikes commenced, a US official said. One of the group was unreachable.
The Pentagon also provided notifications to the House and Senate armed services committees, but only after strikes had already started.
Maga reaction before midterms
The latest US foreign military intervention appears to have divided Mr Trump's supporters at a crucial time for the President, who already faces low approval ratings in a year of midterm elections that could end the Republican grip on Congress and disrupt his agenda.
While many appeared to back his decision to go to war, some high-profile voices such as Marjorie Taylor Greene, who resigned from Congress after a public spat with Mr Trump, were livid.
“America is going to be force-fed and gas-lighted all the 'noble' reasons the American 'peace' President and pro-peace administration had to go to war once again this year, after being in power for only a year,” she wrote on X, calling it all “head-spinning".
Many other Maga followers reposted old Republican messages describing Mr Trump as a peacemaker. One post being widely circulated was from top Trump adviser Stephen Miller, who said in November 2024 that Kamala Harris would start World War Three, while Mr Trump would bring peace.
Public opinion polls consistently show Americans' top concern is the rising cost of living. But for much of Mr Trump's first 13 months in office since returning to the White House, he has been focused on foreign policy issues.
Mr Trump was angered last year when he did not win the Nobel Peace Prize, pointing to his credentials for resolving what he said were eight “wars”.
Jack Posobiec, a right-wing commentator and influencer, spoke of a warning last year from the late conservative activist Charlie Kirk, before he was assassinated in September. “Charlie Kirk told us all that the younger generation of Americans are far more interested in domestic policy than pursuing international conflicts and we can’t forget that in a midterm year,” he posted on X.
While Mr Trump received increased support from young men in 2024, recent opinion polls show that to be waning. Some prominent Maga voices, however, backed the President on Iran.
Laura Loomer, a close Trump ally, posted on X: “Iran has been attacking the US for over 47 years. And now, the 47th President of the United States is ending their reign of terror."
