Slotkin: Trump hasn't justified U.S. strikes on Iran - Detroit Free Press

U.S. Sen. Elissa Slotkin, D-Holly, said President Donald Trump hasn't made his case to the American people to justify strikes on Iran, after Trump announced U.S. forces launched military strikes and "major combat operations" targeting the Middle Eastern country's missile capabilities Saturday, Feb. 28.

"Our objective is to defend the American people by eliminating imminent threats from the Iranian regime, a vicious group of very hard, terrible people," Trump said, calling the strikes "a massive and ongoing operation."

But Slotkin, a former CIA analyst who said the Iranian regime is a state sponsor of terrorism, criticized Trump for not seeking congressional approval before the strikes were launched. In a Feb. 28 statement, Slotkin said "issues of war and peace should be treated with the utmost consequence. And President Trump hasn’t made his case to the American people. He hasn’t laid out the goals or the imminent threat posed by Iran that justifies risking a wider regional war."

Slotkin said members of Congress should return to Washington to debate the use of military force in the operation.

The strikes were a joint operation between U.S. and Israeli forces. Iran launched retaliatory drone and missile strikes against American and Israeli targets after the attack, hitting a U.S. Navy base in Bahrain. Iran said its enemies would be "decisively defeated."

U.S. Rep. Rashida Tlaib, D-Dearborn, condemned the strikes, saying in a statement "Trump is acting on the violent fantasies of the American political elite and the Israeli apartheid government, ignoring the vast majority of Americans who say loud and clear: No More Wars." Tlaib, the first Palestinian-American woman elected to Congress, has been a fierce and vocal critic of Israel.

“Congress must stop the bloodshed by immediately reconvening to exert its war powers and stop this deranged president," she added. "But let’s be clear: warmongering politicians from both parties support this illegal war, and it will take a mass anti-war movement to stop it.”

U.S. Rep. Lisa McLain, R-Bruce Township, praised the Trump administration, however.

"President Trump has taken decisive action against the world’s number one state sponsor of terror - a regime that has targeted American troops and called for ‘death to America,'" McClain posted on X.

The response from some of Michigan's congressional delegation largely mirrors the whole of Congress, with opinion on the strikes divided on partisan lines. Republicans have mostly been supportive, while Democrats have argued the strikes should have required approval by lawmakers under the Constitution, USA TODAY reported.

House Speaker Mike Johnson said “Iran is facing the severe consequences of its evil actions.” Senate Majority Leader John Thune said Iran “posed a clear and unacceptable threat to U.S. servicemembers, citizens in the region, and many of our allies.”