Rep. Adam Smith, D-Wash., the ranking member of the House Armed Services Committee, said Saturday on Newsmax that the U.S. strike on Iran was a "war of choice," arguing there was no imminent threat to the United States and that President Donald Trump failed to make a convincing public case for military action.
Smith's comments on "Saturday Agenda" put him at odds with the administration's stated rationale for the attack, which Trump has framed as an effort to cripple Iran's nuclear and missile capabilities rather than a response to a publicly disclosed, immediate Iranian planned attack.
Reuters has reported that Trump and other administration officials offered shifting explanations for U.S. involvement.
"There wasn't any imminent threat to the U.S.," Smith said. "I think it's accurate to say there was no imminent threat from Iran."
Smith said Iran remained dangerous in several ways, but argued it was at one of its weakest points in years because of prior Israeli action.
He also disputed Trump's public framing of Iran's nuclear progress, saying he had reviewed intelligence showing Tehran was further along in potentially building a nuclear weapon than many policymakers were comfortable with, but "they were not about to build one, much less about to use one."
War Secretary Pete Hegseth said March 2 that the U.S. operation was focused on Iran's offensive missiles, missile production, and Navy, part of the administration's public case for the current attack, Reuters reported.
Trump said March 3 that he ordered U.S. forces to join Israel's attack on Iran because he believed Tehran was about to strike first, even as Reuters reported that administration officials had offered variable public justifications for the U.S. attack.
Trump also said the war was meant to stop Iran from developing a nuclear weapon and to thwart its ballistic missile program, while White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said he had outlined "clear objectives" for the campaign, Reuters reported.
But Smith's argument on imminence aligned with other publicly reported assessments.
In March 2025, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard told Congress that the intelligence community "continues to assess that Iran is not building a nuclear weapon" and that Iran's supreme leader had not reauthorized the suspended weapons program, according to the Office of the Director of National Intelligence.
The Associated Press later reported that Trump administration officials told congressional staffers in private briefings that U.S. intelligence did not indicate Iran was preparing a preemptive strike against the United States.
Smith also said the administration had not yet shown evidence that the "Midnight Hammer" strike had substantially set back Iran's nuclear program, adding that the public still did not know the full extent of the damage.
Information from the Associated Press was used in this report.
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Jim Thomas ✉
Jim Thomas is a writer based in Indiana. He holds a bachelor's degree in Political Science, a law degree from U.I.C. Law School, and has practiced law for more than 20 years.
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