Former Secretary of State Antony Blinken has shot down Donald Trump’s suggestion that he supported the president’s war in Iran.
In a series of posts on X, top Biden administration official Blinken shared comments from Trump’s speech on Wednesday and said the 79-year-old president had completely misinterpreted his remarks about the deeply unpopular war in the Middle East.
“I’ve heard that today Blinken made a statement that he should have done it,” Trump said at the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) annual fundraising dinner in Washington, D.C. “Thanks a lot, Blinken, I appreciate it. Blinken is Biden’s guy, I guess. Who the hell knows who he is. He’s his guy. But he came out with the statement that they should have done it, they made a mistake.”
Blinken wrote that Trump had cited him as supporting the attacks on Iran to stop the country from developing a nuclear weapon and as “expressing regret” that the Biden administration didn’t take similar action. “Except I didn’t,” Blinken added.
Blinken then shared clips of a speech he gave at the Harvard Kennedy School on Wednesday, in which he discussed the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) nuclear deal that Iran signed in 2015 during the Obama administration. Under this deal, Tehran dismantled much of its nuclear program. Trump withdrew from the deal in 2018.
“That’s what President Trump inherited when he came into office the first time, and unfortunately, he decided he didn’t like that agreement. He tore it up. He said he would replace it with something bigger and better. Fine. Except he didn’t,” Blinken said.
“What would have happened if President Trump had just left the JCPOA in place? When the JCPOA expired, it could be extended or renegotiated, as with most arms control agreements,” Blinken wrote on X while paraphrasing his speech.
“If Iran refused, the U.S. would still retain the military option, with a lot more information about Iran’s program because of the most intrusive inspections ever.”
The former secretary of state also said in his speech that people must hold “multiple ideas” about the war in Iran at the same time, including agreeing it is a good thing that Ayatollah Khomeini has been killed and that Iran’s nuclear program has been “re-obliterated since, apparently, it was obliterated in June,” while also considering the devastating consequences of the conflict.
Blinken added that the Trump administration’s failure to plan for Iran closing the Strait of Hormuz, which has resulted in a global oil crisis, means the president can now only end the war on Iran’s terms or intensify the fighting.
“Maybe a negotiation can fix that, but with what concessions to Iran? Or we can double down, at huge risk,” Blinken posted.
“Meanwhile, 13 American servicemembers have lost their lives and hundreds more have been wounded,” he added. “America is more isolated than ever from our closest allies and partners. And billions more U.S. taxpayer dollars are being spent on another war in the Middle East (with an additional $200 billion requested from the Pentagon to fund this war). Not to mention the failure to make the case to the American people for why this was necessary, in their interest, or worth risking American lives for.
“So no, I would not have done it. For the record.”
Trump had previously claimed that a former president secretly confided in him that they wanted to attack Iran while they were in office. This boast was soon denied by aides for all four still-living past presidents: Biden, Obama, George W. Bush, and Bill Clinton.
The Daily Beast has contacted the White House for comment.
