Trump believes he doesn’t need congressional approval to strike Iran

The American President Donald Trump has said that he doesn’t believe that he needs congressional approval to make a military strike against Iran, however he likes “the idea of keeping Congress abreast.”

“But we’ve been keeping Congress abreast of what we’re doing … and I think it’s something they appreciate. I do like keeping them — they have ideas, they’re intelligent people, they’ll have some thoughts. I actually learned a couple of things the other day when we had our meeting with Congress, but I do like keeping them abreast, but I don’t have to do it legally,” the President said Monday in an exclusive interview with The Hill, a CNN affiliate.

When questioned if he believes that he has the authority to initiate military action against Iran without first going to Congress, Trump said, “I do.”

“We were pretty close to maybe making a decision to strike. Then I decided not to do it. Nobody went out, by the way. I was going to make that decision by a certain time, and I decided not to do it because it wasn’t really proportional,” Trump added.

“Let me be very clear, the Democrats in the meeting — House and Senate Democrats — were very clear that Congress must act,” House Speaker Nancy Pelosi told reporters Friday as she punched back on Trump’s assertion. “He must have the authority of Congress before we initiate military hostilities into Iran.”

“You got to keep in mind, Iran, they’re a bunch of terrorists and they hate us. And we’re at war with them,” Republican Sen. Jim Inhofe, the chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee said Monday. “And you know, this is serious stuff. And I don’t think that we, I think the President could find himself in a position where he would have to do something and do something right away in the best interest, and he has the power to do that.”