High-ranking Republicans in Congress quickly rallied behind the president shortly after news of the strikes broke. At the same time, senior Democrats criticised the action as unconstitutional and warned that it risked dragging the US back into an open-ended war in the Middle East.

Mike Johnson, the Republican speaker of the House, and Senator John Thune — the Senate majority leader — both praised the military operation as a crucial check on Iran’s nuclear ambitions.

Republican Senator Mitch McConnell described it as “decisive”.

“Seizing this opportunity is not an escalation toward war — it is a prudent response to the warmongers in Tehran. Iran would be foolish to misunderstand American resolve,” he said in a statement on X.

In contrast, top Democrat Mark Warner, who is vice chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, said that while “there is no question Iran poses a serious threat to regional stability,” Trump had come into office “promising to ‘end the endless foreign wars.'”

“Tonight, he took steps that could drag the United States into another one, without consulting Congress, without a clear strategy, without regard to the consistent conclusions of the intelligence community, and without explaining to the American people what’s at stake,” he added in his statement.

— Hannah Ritchie