Iran launched a missile attack on Israel Tuesday, plunging the war-torn region into another layer of conflict. But one American politician was quick to make the violence about himself.
Moments after the strike, Donald Trump took to Truth Social to soak up any social credit available from the Middle Eastern provocation.
“Look at the World today—Look at the missiles flying right now in the Middle East, look at what’s happening with Russia/Ukraine, look at Inflation destroying the World,” Trump wrote in one post. “NONE OF THIS HAPPENED WHILE I WAS PRESIDENT!”
In another post, Trump decried the conflict as “TOTALLY PREVENTABLE.”
“IT SHOULD HAVE NEVER HAPPENED,” Trump said. “IF I WERE PRESIDENT, IT WOULD NOT HAVE HAPPENED!”
While it’s impossible to say exactly how a Trump presidency would have handled the rolling, devastating fallout from the October 7 attack in Israel, Trump has not exactly been on the side of peace. Instead, he has claimed that Israel will face “total annihilation” if he isn’t elected in November, has openly questioned the faith of Jewish Americans if they don’t support him over Vice President Kamala Harris, and has encouraged the Jewish state to “finish what they started.”
Meanwhile, some members of Trump’s inner circle, including his son-in-law Jared Kushner, have been extremely vocal about the multipronged conflict, urging Israel to continue escalating violence against its neighbors.
“Anyone who has been calling for a ceasefire in the north is wrong. There is no going back for Israel. They cannot afford now to not finish the job and completely dismantle the arsenal that has been aimed at them. They will never get another chance,” Kushner posted on X Saturday.
The Republican presidential nominee also caught flack from some of his supporters last month when he hosted Qatari leaders at his Palm Beach resort, with some potential MAGA voters decrying the Middle Eastern leaders as antisemitic for their country’s role in moderating cease-fire negotiations between Israel and Hamas.
To date, the Health Ministry in Gaza has recorded more than 41,500 deaths from the cataclysmic conflict in which Israel has weaponized mass starvation as well as blocked or destroyed access to critical resources such as water, food, fuel, electricity, and medical aid.
