During his remarks on the Senate floor Monday, Minority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) called out President Donald Trump for breaking a central campaign promise by launching military operations in Iran, stating that the conflict risks repeating the mistakes of past U.S. wars in the Middle East.
Durbin said Trump had pledged repeatedly during the 2024 campaign that there would be “no new wars” if he returned to office. But in the early morning hours of February 28, the president announced that the United States had begun major combat operations against Iran.
The Illinois Democrat said the decision was made without consultation with Congress, U.S. allies, or the American public, despite the Constitution giving Congress the authority to declare war.
“This president tried to position himself as a peace president,” Durbin said. “But his actions tell a very different story.”
Durbin cited a recent article in The New York Times describing Trump’s growing willingness to project American military power abroad despite his “America First” campaign rhetoric.
According to Durbin, the administration has struggled to articulate a consistent justification for the war. In the first six days of the conflict, he said, the White House offered multiple explanations for the operation, including preventing Iran from developing nuclear weapons, stopping ballistic missile development, pursuing regime change, and supporting Israeli military action.
“When you listen to these rationales, they change by the day,” Durbin pointed out.
Durbin also criticized the administration for failing to prepare an evacuation plan for Americans in the region and for what he described as dismissive rhetoric from the president about the possibility of retaliatory attacks against the United States.
History Repeats Itself, From Iraq To Iran
The senator said the arguments being offered by the administration echo those made ahead of the 2003 invasion of Iraq, when the U.S. went to war based on claims that the country possessed weapons of mass destruction.
Durbin was one of 23 senators who voted against authorizing that invasion.
“I remember the rationale that was offered for Iraq,” he said. “It sounds like an echo of what we’re hearing today.”
Drawing on his experiences during the Iraq War, Durbin described visits to wounded soldiers at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, where he said he saw the long-term human costs of combat. Among those injured during that war was his colleague, Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), who lost both legs while serving as a helicopter pilot in Iraq.
Durbin said many veterans continue to struggle with traumatic brain injuries and post-traumatic stress disorder years after returning home.
“That is the real cost of war,” he stated.
Durbin: ‘It’s Easier To Get Into A War Than It Is To Get Out Of One’
He also warned that the conflict with Iran is already having economic consequences at home, including rising gasoline and energy prices. Durbin said the United States is spending more than $1 billion a day on the war effort while many Americans are struggling with the cost of living.
Durbin acknowledged that Iran’s government has long been a destabilizing force in the region and said preventing the country from developing nuclear weapons remains an important objective. But he argued that launching military strikes without a clear strategy or international support carries serious risks.
“It’s easier to get into a war than it is to get out of one,” Durbin warned.
