Trump addressed the letters to the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Mike Johnson, and to Senator Chuck Grassley, the interim president of the Senate. Trump said he wrote to them to inform them “of changes in the status of the armed forces of the United States” and reiterated his administration’s position that the cease-fire he announced on April 7 had stopped the war, writes the American newspaper.
According to the 1973 War Powers Act, if the US president deploys US forces into combat without the consent of Congress, he must end the operation within 60 days, otherwise Congress must request authorization for further deployment of forces.
The law also allows the president one 30-day extension, which, however, applies only to the safe withdrawal of soldiers home, not for the purpose of prolonging the fighting.
However, Trump argued in his letters that “since April 7 there has been no exchange of fire between United States forces and Iran” and that hostilities launched by the United States and Israel on February 28 “have ended,” an apparent attempt to avoid the need to seek congressional approval, according to the NYT, but Trump failed to mention that American forces fired on an Iranian-flagged cargo ship on April 19.
In addition, the head of the White House only a few hours later undermined his own argument. “You know we are at war,” Trump said in a speech in Florida. “Because I think you’ll agree that we can’t allow lunatics to have nuclear weapons,” he added.
The American newspaper noted that Trump’s explanation may not satisfy key Republicans who have been pointing to the 60-day deadline for weeks. Senior Democrats immediately rejected Trump’s declaration that the truce had ended the war. Such a statement was also made by the head of the Pentagon, Pete Hegseth.
Speaking to reporters outside the White House on Friday, Trump also claimed that he did not need to ask Congress to extend the war “because no one has ever asked for it before,” saying the request was “unconstitutional.”
