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Source: https://www.nytimes.com/2026/03/03/world/middleeast/israel-iran-strikes-rubio.html
Rubio Walks Back Suggestion that Israel Forced U.S. Hand in Iran Strikes
(New York Times) Robert Jimison - On Tuesday, Secretary of State Marco Rubio sought to walk back his earlier assertion that the decision to take military action against Iran was precipitated by Israel's plans to strike Iran. Rubio said Monday that Israel had been prepared to act with or without the U.S. Rubio told members of the Senate and House in classified briefings on Tuesday: "The bottom line is this: The president determined we were not going to get hit first. It's that simple, guys. We are not going put American troops in harm's way. If you tell the president of the United States that if we don't go first, we're going to have more people killed and more people injured, the president's going to go first. That's what he did." Rubio argued that what ultimately influenced Mr. Trump to decide to take military action was the threat of Iran's increasing military capability and growing arsenal of weapons. "The president of the United States made a decision: This is intolerable. Iran cannot have these missiles, cannot have these drones, cannot threaten the world. The president said this is the weakest they've ever been. If we don't hit them now, a year from now, a year and a half from now, no one will be able to touch them and they'll be able to do whatever they want - and he made a decision to go." President Trump also rejected the notion that Israel had forced the Americans' hand. He said during a meeting with Chancellor Friedrich Merz of Germany in the Oval Office, "No, I might have forced their hand. We were having negotiations with these lunatics, and it was my opinion that...they were going to attack if we didn't do it. They were going to attack first. I felt strongly about that."