Like clockwork, former President Donald Trump — now Republicans’ presumptive presidential nominee this year — claimed amid news of an attack on Israel by Iranian forces that the developments would have somehow been avoided if he was president. He’s made similar claims around attacks late last year on Israelis by the terror group Hamas and the ongoing war that Russian forces are waging against Ukraine.
Former GOP Congressman Adam Kinzinger of Illinois helped set the record straight, reminding his followers of real-world aggression traced to Iran that directly impacted U.S. personnel when Trump was, in fact, in office.
“This is insane. It did happen!” Kinzinger said, responding to Trump’s comments. “Iran struck and injured 100 Americans in Iraq and Trump responded with nothing but fear. He’s a small man.” The aggression to which Kinzinger is seemingly referring followed the U.S. military taking out Iranian military leader Qassem Soleimani in a strike inside Iraq during Trump’s administration.
Trump’s original comments on some of the latest Middle East developments were characteristically over-confident. “ISRAEL IS UNDER ATTACK! This should never have been allowed to happen – This would NEVER have happened if I were President!” he said to followers on Truth Social, his knock-off social media site. There’s no specific evidence of this.
Trump’s actual foreign policy record from his time as president is dismal. He participated in multiple high-profile meetings with North Korean leadership that produced next to no change in the actual conduct of that country’s government, which has continued with its most controversial military programs. Trump frustrated allies to the U.S. with antagonism towards the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and a shifting panoply of tariffs. And Trump’s continued with that NATO hatred after leaving office, suggesting he’d support Russia in certain circumstances of a military stand-off between the authoritarian-led country and NATO members.
