Rep. Mike Waltz: Middle East was better off under Donald Trump
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Florida Republican Rep. Mike Waltz said the Middle East was “better off” under former President Donald Trump, pointing to Trump’s foreign policy actions during his first term.
Waltz endorsed Trump for president earlier this year.
Responding to one of at least 74 attacks on the U.S. in the region since Oct. 17, Waltz pointed to Trump’s Abraham Accords and severely weakening or taking out ISIS.
“No matter what you think of them politically, it is a fact that the Middle East was better off after President Trump,” Waltz said. “ISIS was defeated. Iran was broke. And we had the Abraham Accords because he understood deterrence, and he understood that peace would only be restored once Iran met American steel.”
“Iran is continuing its attacks,” he said. “And I think the simplest explanation is: they know they can get away with it.”
The congressman said the U.S. hasn’t been responding to Iran in areas where they “truly care.”
“And [America’s response] doesn’t have to be military. That can be cyber,” he said. “That could be actually enforcing the sanctions that are on the book that could be stopping the massive increase in the outflow of oil.”
Over the weekend, an American ship – the U.S.S. Carney – fired on drones after commercial vessels became under attack in the Red Sea. U.S. Central Command reported that the attacks came from Yemeni Houthis, backed by Iran, per the New York Times.
“15% of global shipping flows through the Red Sea and through the Suez Canal,” Waltz said. “My understanding is commercial ships have been struck that our ships are responding to to protect that international trade, and then they have been targeted […] I don’t know what it’s going to take, is it going to take a catastrophic attack on one of our ships?”
Trump recently noted that his foreign policy would return to that of 2017-2021: “Our enemies knew that if you try to kill our citizens, we will kill you […] We do it because we want to make sure that we’re not starting wars.”
