NYT questions Trump’s justification for threatening war on Iran
A new analysis has highlighted the Trump administration’s failure to provide a public justification for a new act of aggression against Iran, as Americans remain broadly opposed to war with the country.
The analysis published by The New York Times on Thursday said that the Trump administration made no case at all to explain why it needs to attack Iran after claiming to have “obliterated” the country’s nuclear program, in last year’s illegal assault launched by Israel against the Islamic Republic.
The US president, it added, has also failed to explain why he has chosen this moment to confront Iran instead of, for example, nuke-armed North Korea.
“Rarely in modern times has the United States prepared to conduct a major act of war with so little explanation and so little public debate,” it said.
The US began its war rhetoric against Iran after recent foreign-linked riots which immediately failed to take off, and during which Trump talked about coming to the aid of the armed mercenaries.
Since then, the US president has kept threatening military action, deploying two carrier groups and dozens of fighter jets, bombers and refueling aircraft to regional waters near Iran.
“Trump has never consistently described his goals, and when he talks about them it is usually in a haze of brief, offhand comments. The president has given no speeches preparing the American public for a strike on a country of about 90 million people, and sought no approval from Congress,” the analysis said.
I strongly oppose Trump’s dangerous escalations against Iran.
— Congressman Dwight Evans (@RepDwightEvans) February 19, 2026
The Constitution is clear - Congress, not the president, has the authority to declare war. I will support Rep. Khanna’s discharge petition to bring a bipartisan War Powers Resolution to the House floor and rein Trump…
It further noted that the US war posture against Iran comes at a time when none of Washington’s allies appear to be joining it in military planning, except for the Israeli regime.
The analysis referred to a decision by the British government not to give permission for the US to use UK military bases to support a potential US aggression against Iran.
Meanwhile, recent polls suggest that American public opinion is largely against a new military confrontation with Iran.
According to a SSRS/University of Maryland survey earlier this month, only 21 percent of participants favored a US war on Iran under the current circumstances, while 49 percent opposed.
The American people voted for lower prices, not another war in the Middle East.
— Elizabeth Warren (@SenWarren) February 19, 2026
But Trump is itching to go to war with Iran.
The Constitution is clear: the president doesn't have the authority to start a war without Congress' approval.
I won't support another endless war. pic.twitter.com/gAhqTjXwhZ
US Democratic Representative Ro Khanna is working with his Republican colleague Thomas Massie, to force the House to vote on a war powers resolution next week, after Congress returns from recess.
“A war with Iran would be catastrophic,” Khanna said in an X post. “Iran is a complex society of 90 million people with significant air defenses and military capabilities. We also have 30,000 to 40,000 US troops in the region who could be at risk of retaliation. Congress must do its job and stop this march to war.”
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