Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche sidestepped a question about whether President Donald Trump has deliberately avoided describing the conflict in Iran as a war in order to evade the requirement for congressional approval. Blanche offered a nuanced defense of Trump's contradictory statements regarding the Iran situation during an appearance on NBC's "Meet the Press" on Sunday.
NBC's Kristen Welker played a clip from a Friday press conference in which Trump stated that "you don't have legal problems" if the conflict is termed a "military operation" rather than a "war." Welker then asked Blanche directly: "Is the president effectively arguing that he can avoid congressional approval by avoiding using the word war?"
Blanche responded by asserting that Trump is "not effectively arguing anything except that he is trying to keep this country safe." He added, "We have kept Congress updated at every step of the way, consistent with what other presidents have done." Blanche went on to claim that Trump is "doing something that the past five presidents did not do," noting that previous administrations had promised to stop Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon but failed to follow through. "President Trump is doing what others have promised but failed to do," Blanche said. "And as far as what we're doing with Congress, keeping them updated, we are doing so."
Welker pressed further, asking whether there are "any legal limits on the president's powers to carry out the war with Iran." Blanche countered emphatically: "Suggesting that President Trump or this administration or the Department of War is violating the law is just completely wrong. It's not appropriate to say that. We are complying with the law. I can tell you that as the acting attorney general. We are doing exactly what we're supposed to do legally, and President Trump will continue to do that."
When Welker persisted, questioning whether the president has any limitations regarding the war, Blanche argued that Trump "never said there aren't limits." He elaborated: "Yes, of course there's limits to what President Trump can do ... He's acting within his duty to the American people to keep us safe. He's not engaged in a popularity contest when it comes to what we're doing in Iran. He's doing something that will save us for generations. And so he's doing something, again, that every president since Ronald Reagan has said that we should do, and he's the only one willing to do it."
Blanche's remarks came after Trump sent a letter to Congress on Friday declaring that the war had ended. This prompted strong backlash from lawmakers, including Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer of New York, who called the president's claims "bullshit." Schumer stated: "This is an illegal war, and every day Republicans remain complicit and allow it to continue is another day lives are endangered, chaos erupts and prices increase, all while Americans foot the bill."
