Senator John Kennedy is pushing back against growing criticism from Democrats over President Donald Trump’s recent military strikes against Iran.
During a new interview on Newsmax, Kennedy made the case that Trump’s actions were not the beginning of another endless Middle East conflict—but rather an effort to prevent a far larger and more dangerous war from erupting.
“President Trump did not start a war by entering Iran,” Kennedy said during the interview. “He is trying to stop a war.”
The Louisiana senator explained that intelligence briefings and basic strategic realities point to the same conclusion: Iran’s leadership had no intention of abandoning its nuclear ambitions.
According to Kennedy, Iran’s ruling regime—which he described as religious zealots—was actively rebuilding its military capabilities after previous strikes earlier this year.
“They were not going to ever stop trying to develop a nuclear warhead,” Kennedy said.
Kennedy noted that after the United States bombed Iranian targets in June, the regime quickly began rebuilding its missile arsenal and expanding weapons production.
“They were manufacturing hundreds of missiles a month,” he explained.
Even more concerning, Kennedy said, was Iran’s growing cooperation with global adversaries.
The regime’s strategy, according to the senator, involved working with China and Russia to produce such a massive stockpile of missiles that any attempt to strike Iran would risk triggering a regional catastrophe.
Hellbound and Down 