President Donald Trump has rejected criticism that the war with Iran contradicts his long-standing campaign message of “no new wars”, saying he never guaranteed the United States would avoid future conflicts.
In an interview aired on NBC’s Meet the Press on Sunday, Trump said he had not promised there would be no wars if he returned to the White House.
“First of all, I didn’t guarantee no war. Why would I have built the strongest military in the world?” he said.
Trump also defended a now-abandoned $1.8 billion fund that was intended to compensate allies of his administration. He further repeated his claims of widespread fraud in California’s prolonged vote count following Tuesday’s primary election. The interview ended abruptly after Trump became frustrated during an exchange with NBC journalist Kristen Welker.
During his 2024 presidential campaign, Trump frequently portrayed his Democratic rivals as supporters of military intervention. He often described himself as a president who started “no new wars” and promised to usher in a period of peace.
However, in the interview, which was recorded in Wisconsin on Friday, Trump said he had made no such guarantee as a candidate.
“I don’t like these endless wars. This is not an endless war. We’ve been doing this for three months,” he said, referring to the conflict with Iran that began on 28 February.
Trump argued that his administration was acting in the interests of both the United States and the wider international community by preventing Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon.
He also repeated his claim that US strikes last year had “obliterated” Iranian nuclear facilities, despite presenting that argument alongside calls to prevent Iran from developing nuclear capabilities.
The president further defended his decision during his first term to withdraw from the nuclear agreement negotiated under former president Barack Obama. Trump has long criticised the deal and pledged to secure what he describes as a better agreement with Tehran.
“It takes years to do these things,” Trump said.
