During his campaign for re-election, Trump pledged to avoid US military involvement in the Middle East, advocating for an “America first” strategy should he secure a second term.

Democratic leaders criticized the President for authorizing the strikes without Congressional consent, arguing it violated Article I of the Constitution.

“President Trump came 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,” Democratic Virginia Senator Mark Warner said on X.

“The Constitution makes clear that the power to authorise war lies with Congress.”

New York Democrat Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez went further to claim that Trump’s strikes were “grounds for impeachment”.

But one of the top Republicans in Congress, House Speaker Mike Johnson, said Trump had evaluated that the “imminent danger outweighed the time it would take for Congress to act”.

“The President fully respects the Article I power of Congress, and tonight’s necessary, limited, and targeted strike follows the history and tradition of similar military actions under presidents of both parties,” he said on X.

— Reported with CNN