Former US vice president Kamala Harris charged at President Donald Trump saying that he was “pulled into” a military conflict with Iran by Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu. She termed Trump’s decision to launch war in the Middle East as a “feeble attempt” to distract from the “Epstein files.” Track updates on Iran US war
Harris characterised the hostilities as a war that “the American people do not want.”
“He entered a war, got pulled into it by Bibi Netanyahu, let us be clear about that, entered a war that the American people do not want, putting at risk American service members,” Harris said at an event hosted by the Michigan Democratic Women’s Caucus on Saturday.
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Harris further scrutinised the administration’s motives, accusing Trump of utilising “Operation Epic Fury” as a diversion from domestic controversies.
The former vice president also accused the Trump administration of being the “most corrupt, callous and incompetent” in the history of the United States as she argued that Trump administration’s disregard for global standards has severely damaged America’s standing.
What Kamala Harris said
In another sharp attack on Trump, Harris suggested that he seeks to “walk around as if he is strong and will use the force of America’s military against anyone whom he chooses.”
She argued that this approach represents a historic shift in foreign policy, claiming he is the “first president of the US of either party since World War II to abandon America’s responsibility to… nurture and protect our alliances, our friendships.”
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Trump is the first leader to not even pretend, and in fact, dismiss the importance of upholding international rules and norms such as sovereignty and territorial integrity, Harris said.
Pointing out the impact of Trump’s policies on America’s position as the super power, Harris said these actions have rendered the US “unreliable” to its partners and have “robbed whatever influence we had to be able to speak to certain issues.”
A deja vu of Joe Kent’s allegations
Trump starting the war at Israel’s behest was something that the former director of the United States’ National Counterterrorism Center, Joe Kent, had alleged last month as he announced his resignation owing to the ongoing war with Iran.
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He said that Iran posed “no imminent threat” to the United States and that the war was started due to the “pressure” from Israel. Kent said he took the decision after “much reflection”.
“I cannot in good conscience support the ongoing war in Iran. Iran posed no imminent threat to our nation, and it is clear that we started this war due to pressure from Israel and its powerful American lobby,” Kent wrote in a letter addressed to Trump.
Kent was once a staunch backer of Trump and championed for him and his foreign policies in US presidential races in 2016, 2020, and 2024. He said that until June 2025, Trump “understood that the wars in the Middle East were a trap that robbed America of the precious lives of our patriots and depleted the wealth and prosperity of our nation.”
“In your first administration, you understood better than any modern President how to decisively apply military power without getting us drawn into never-ending wars. You demonstrated this by killing Qasam Solamani and by defeating ISIS,” Kent wrote in the letter directly addressing the US President.
