Members of the Congressional Black Caucus are responding with alarm at President Donald Trump’s military strikes on Iran’s nuclear sites over the weekend as Tehran retaliated Monday with missile strikes on a U.S. Air Force base in Qatar.
U.S. defense officials confirmed Iran fired short- and medium-range ballistic missiles at the base near Doha.
“At this time, there are no reports of US casualties,” the official said, according to CNN. “We are monitoring this situation closely and will provide more information as it becomes available.”
A Trump administration official also said the president is willing to escalate U.S. military involvement if necessary.
The Associated Press also reported that Iran said the number of missiles it fired matched the number of bombs the U.S. dropped on its nuclear operations Saturday. Qatari officials condemned the attack and said they intercepted the missiles.
“Donald Trump promised to bring peace to the Middle East. He has failed to deliver on that promise. The risk of war has now dramatically increased,” House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries said in a statement Saturday, adding that U.S. troops have now been put in harm’s way.
Jeffries’ condemnation follows Trump’s surprise order Saturday to drop bunker-busting bombs on three nuclear sites inside Iran. U.S. officials have said the attack on Iran was intended to prevent the regime from developing a nuclear weapon.
“President Trump misled the country about his intentions, failed to seek congressional authorization for the use of military force and risks American entanglement in a potentially disastrous war in the Middle East,” the New York Democrat continued in his statement.
Last week, Trump had promised to make a decision within two weeks on whether the U.S. would help Israel in its war against Iran, then, in a surprise move, he ordered the attack over the weekend.
Congresswoman Maxine Waters called Trump “out of control.” “This action by the President is typical of a president out of control,” Waters said in a post on social media.
She also referenced the nuclear agreement the Obama administration signed with Iran before Trump’s first term in office. Trump trashed the deal in 2018, saying at the time it “was one of the worst and most one-sided transactions the United States has ever entered into.”
“Trump is out of control and does not contribute to an establishment of peace … This president must be stopped,” the California Democrat added.
Sen. Raphael Warnock strongly reproached Trump for deciding to bomb Iran without congressional approval.
“President Trump, who has said he ‘might or might not’ bomb Iran and has indicated this week (last week) that he disagrees with the assessment of his own national intelligence advisers, has now entered another Middle East conflict.”
“With thousands of American troops at risk for potential retaliation, this is not ‘the art of the deal,” Warnock said.
“This is war. And this is not the first time the American people have been told that it will end quickly,” he added.
South Carolina Democrat Rep. James Clyburn also had harsh words for Trump entering th U.S. into another conflict in the Middle East.
“President Trump’s unilateral decision to attack Iran without Congressional approval is unconstitutional and unwise. This move, a rash sequel to his withdrawal from the nuclear deal, puts our nation, our troops, and innocents at grave risk,” Clyburn posted on X.
“Trump promised to be a peacemaker and vowed to avoid plunging the U.S. into more wars in the Middle East. This attack is inconsistent with his promise to the American people,” he added.
Israel launched an unprecedented attack on Iran’s nuclear sites, air defense systems, and military leaders earlier this month, killing its top generals and nuclear scientists, and destroying a large swath of military infrastructure. The attack, which follows years of threats, involved some 200 planes and around 100 targets in the first round of strikes on Iran’s authoritarian regime.
