Trump leaves the door open to sending ground forces to Iran

Amna Nawaz:

Well, to learn more now about how the White House and Congress are responding to the strikes, I’m joined now by our White House correspondent, Liz Landers, and our congressional correspondent, Lisa Desjardins.

So, Liz, get us out of here. We saw President Trump making his first public appearance today since the war began over the weekend. What did he say?

Liz Landers:

right.

This was the first public event held by the President since the beginning. The Medal of Honor ceremony was held in the East Room of the White House. And as Nick noted in his report there, we heard for the first time the goals that the administration is setting, that the president is setting here for these attacks on Iran.

However, the way the president explained this to the public was unorthodox. He and his allies like to say he is an unconventional president. We’ve been watching the TRUTH Social videos he has recorded and posted over the past few days. He also made a number of phone calls to journalists.

He spoke with CNN, “The Atlantic.” And earlier today, he spoke with the New York Post and said that something that would affect a lot of people, of course, is that he was asked whether he would send American troops on the ground there to the region. He said: If it is necessary, this is not excluded.

Journalists in the room try to ask him questions as he leaves. I tried to ask the president a question. He did not speak to reporters today at the White House.

Amna Nawaz:

You know, Liz, this is a president who ran on a platform of America first, no new foreign wars. How does all this resonate with his base?

Liz Landers:

This was a big part of why people liked him. And when I reported on the 2016, 2020 and 2024 campaigns, a lot of the MAGA base said they really supported that part of the president’s agenda.

Today, we’re seeing some backlash from some conservative MAGA voices and commentators. People like Tucker Carlson called the attack — quote — “absolutely disgusting and evil” in an interview over the weekend. And we also heard from former Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene, a former very close ally of the president, who is no longer there.

“We voted for America First and Zero War,” she said on X.

However, he is getting some defense from far-right activists like Laura Loomer, who we know speaks with the president from time to time. She defends these actions. But when you also look more broadly at how the American public is responding to this, we’re starting to get some polling.

Reuters and Ipsos conducted a poll after these attacks. It showed that only 27% of Americans approved of the US strikes that killed the Iranian leader. 43% rejected strikes on Iran; 29% said they were not sure. More than half, 56% of Americans, said they believe the president is very willing to use military force.

So, Amna, the President certainly still has some things he can promote to the American people.

Amna Nawaz:

So, Lisa, this is where the American public is. What about Congress, the branch responsible for the war? Where are they from the American attacks in Iran?

Lisa Desjardins:

As Nick reported, Secretary of State Rubio was up on the hill speaking with the top eight leaders today.

I want to point out something he said to the press before he entered. He makes the argument that not only does the president need authority from Congress, he doesn’t even need to notify the entire Congress. He listens.

Marco Rubio, US Secretary of State: There is no law requiring the president to do anything regarding this matter. First of all, no president or presidential administration has ever accepted the War Powers Act as constitutional presidents, not Republican presidents, not Democratic presidents.

However, we followed up on the notification within 48 hours, and here we are today.

Lisa Desjardins:

Now, the War Powers Act is important not only because of the notification requirement, but because it limits presidents’ ability to have this type of conflict authority to only 60 to 90 days.

What Rubio is saying here is what other presidents have said before. They ignore that he will continue this as long as they want. Now, for Congress itself, it was remarkable that he said this just days before we expected a vote in the House of Representatives on whether Congress should block action in Iran without Congress’ approval.

It’s a tough vote, especially for some Democrats. There are some staunchly pro-Israel Democrats who are nervous about the situation. They want to support Israel. There are others of the first type who are constitutional democrats who are not sure what to do when they are on the front line.

Right now, I don’t think this will get the votes needed to pass the House, but it will be a vote worth watching.

Amna Nawaz:

Well, we know that DHS funding is now in question. There is a government – partial government shutdown. Will Iranian action affect this at all?

Lisa Desjardins:

The short answer is no. That doesn’t seem to be the case. Democrats are still digging in. They say we may have something out there that we need to pay very close attention to, which is important, but that doesn’t change the issues that we have.

Now, what could change is when more people start losing their paychecks. That’s still a week and a half away.

Amna Nawaz:

Lisa Desjardins, Liz Landers, thank you so much.