Washington (AFP) – US President Donald Trump on Wednesday vetoed what he called a “very insulting” congressional resolution seeking to limit his war powers in Iran.
In a statement, Trump said he had used his veto because the resolution — a rare bipartisan rebuke to the president approved in March — was based on “misunderstandings of facts and law.”
The measure stemmed from fears among both Trump’s Republicans and Democrats that the White House was stumbling into war with the Islamic republic.
In the statement, Trump says Congress misinterpreted his constitutional authority as being limited to “defense of the United States and its forces against imminent attack.”
“That is incorrect,” he said.
“We live in a hostile world of evolving threats, and the Constitution recognizes that the President must be able to anticipate our adversaries’ next moves and take swift and decisive action in response. That’s what I did!”
Supporters of the resolution said they wanted to ensure that Congress has the unique power to declare war, as outlined in the US Constitution.
Trump has preached the need for a drawdown of American military entanglements abroad, but has ramped up a hostile relationship with Iran.
His administration has imposed crippling economic sanctions on Iran. In January, Trump ordered a drone strike that killed Iran’s most powerful general, Qassem Soleimani, at the Baghdad airport.