President Trump has told Congress he ordered the United States military to carry out sweeping airstrikes on Iran, killing its top leaders and triggering counterattacks across the region, to advance American national interests and eliminate Iran as a global threat, contradicting his administration’s claim that the attack was necessary to respond to an imminent threat.
In a legally mandated, unclassified letter submitted on Monday, Mr. Trump declared that the military operation was designed to “neutralize Iran’s malign activities.” It was sent amid shifting explanations from senior administration officials about the justification for the strikes, calling into question their legality as the House and Senate prepare for votes this week on whether the president needs congressional authorization to use force in Iran.
The letter said the mission targeted Iran’s missile stockpile, nuclear program and navy, aligning with the objectives outlined by Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Capitol Hill on Monday. And it laid out a sweeping range of strategic goals. The president wrote that the strikes were undertaken to protect the U.S. homeland and forces in the region, and “advance vital United States national interests, including ensuring the free flow of maritime commerce through the Strait of Hormuz.”
The letter made no mention of plans to overthrow the current leadership in Tehran, even though the president called on Iranians to “take over your government” as the United States launched its opening salvo on Saturday morning.
It did echo the rationale put forward by Mr. Rubio on Monday that the United States acted over the weekend because Israel was prepared to strike with or without the Trump administration, and that Iranian counterattacks would target American troops.
The letter said the American-Israeli bombing campaign on Tehran, which killed the supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, was carried out “in collective self-defense of our regional allies, including Israel.”
But the president on Tuesday rejected the idea that Israel forced his hand in the lead up to the strikes.
“No, I might have forced their hand,” Mr. Trump told reporters in the Oval Office.
Mr. Rubio also sought on Tuesday to walk back his own suggestion a day earlier that the strikes had been made to confront the “imminent threat” that an attack by Israel would prompt Iran to target U.S. forces.
Officials with access to U.S. intelligence have said Mr. Trump has exaggerated the immediacy of any threat Iran posed to the United States.
The letter also affirmed that no ground forces were used in the strikes, but suggested that the United States could be engaged in a prolonged military operation against Iran, an outcome that top Trump officials including Mr. Rubio have not ruled out.
“Although the United States desires a quick and enduring peace, it is not possible at this time to know the full scope and duration of military operations that may be necessary,” the letter stated.
The letter specified that the administration sent it to Congress in an effort to keep lawmakers “fully informed” about the operation, in compliance with the war powers law. The Senate and House are gearing up to vote in the coming days on resolutions that seek to block Mr. Trump from continuing to attack Iran without approval from Congress under that law, but Republicans are expected to block the bills.
Megan Mineiro is a Times congressional reporter and a member of the 2025-26 Times Fellowship class, a program for early-career journalists.
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