INTERNACIONAL
Trump orders strikes on Iran — experts say he can bypass Congress (for now)
Israel releases video of airstrikes in Iran
Israel Defense Forces released video it says shows its strikes against Iranian soldiers who were arming missile launchers in Western Iran to fire at the Jewish State. (Credit: IDF)
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President Donald Trump’s announcement Saturday that the U.S. military began a major combat operation in Iran was met with immediate questions about whether the president improperly bypassed Congress, which has the sole authority to declare war under the Constitution.
Trump characterized the joint operation with Israel to take out Iranian leaders and eliminate its weapons supply as an act of «war,» bringing into focus the 1973 War Powers Resolution and the 2001 Authorization for Use of Military Force. Experts say those laws and court precedent have given Trump the authority to sidestep the legislative branch and attack Iran, for now.
«The courts have allowed presidents to order such attacks unilaterally. … There has historically been deference to presidents exercising such judgments under the [War Powers Resolution’s] vague standard,» George Washington University law professor Jonathan Turley wrote in an op-ed. «That was certainly the case with the attacks in Bosnia and Libya under Democratic presidents.»
A screen grab from a video the White House released showing President Donald Trump making statements regarding combat operations on Iran on Feb. 28, 2026, in Palm Beach, Florida. (US President Trump Via Truth Social/Anadolu via Getty Images)
The War Powers Resolution requires the president to consult Congress within 48 hours of a military offensive and cease actions within 60 days if Congress has not voted in support of them. Turley noted that Congress could still assert control over what the Pentagon is calling «Operation Epic Fury» sooner if it wanted to.
«Congress can seek to bar or limit operations in the coming days,» Turley wrote. «Given the fluid events, many members are likely to wait to watch the initial results and, frankly, the polling on the attacks. … The longer the operation continues, the calls for congressional action will likely increase.»
Former State Department official Gabriel Noronha, who advised on Iran, said in a lengthy X post that Congress has already authorized Trump’s actions under the AUMF because Iran is «the headquarters of al Qaeda.» Noronha said that, unlike other iterations of the AUMF, the 2001 version of the law was never repealed and «expressly authorizes force against any nation, organization, or person that planned the 9/11 attacks ‘or harbored such organizations or persons.’»
«Congress has had 25 years to limit the scope of the 2001 AUMF,» Noronha wrote. «Instead, it has consciously decided to preserve the President’s rights under the law to pursue international terrorists to the end of the earth.»
Congressional leadership pictured alongside each other; Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., and John Thune, R-S.D., on the left and Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., on the right (Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images; Evan Vucci/AP Photo )
Trump said in a statement early Saturday morning that Operation Epic Fury was a «noble mission» and that service members could be killed, explicitly using the term «war.»
«The lives of courageous American heroes may be lost, and we may have casualties. That often happens in war,» Trump said.
Some have suggested that in planning the operation, Israel and the United States deliberately delegated responsibilities to avoid legal landmines.
A U.S. official told Fox News that the Israeli military is targeting Iranian leadership, while the United States is targeting missile sites that pose an «imminent threat,» rather than Iran’s leadership. Amos Yadlin, a retired Israeli Air Force general, also told Fox News that Israel carried out a strike on Iran’s leadership because of decades-old U.S. laws restricting the targeting of heads of state.
AMERICA STRIKES IRAN AGAIN — HAS WASHINGTON PLANNED FOR WHAT COMES NEXT?
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during his conversation with U.S. President Donald Trump. (Avi Ohayon / GPO)
The White House, meanwhile, has made clear that it factored Congress into the planning. Secretary of State Marco Rubio briefed the «Gang of 8,» which comprises the Democratic and Republican leaders of Congress and the top lawmakers on the intelligence committees, ahead of the action. Press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Rubio called the Gang of 8 members and gave them a heads-up on timing and connected with all but one of them. Once the strikes began Saturday morning, the Pentagon also briefed the Armed Services committees.
Republican lawmakers have largely reacted with support for Trump, while Democrats have been critical. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., said in a statement that short of «exigent circumstances,» Trump needs Congress to authorize an «act of war.»
«The Trump administration must explain itself to the American people and Congress immediately, provide an ironclad justification for this act of war, clearly define the national security objective and articulate a plan to avoid another costly, prolonged military quagmire in the Middle East,» Jeffries said.
Sen. John Thune, R-S.D., commended the president, citing Iran’s «relentless nuclear ambitions» and refusal to engage in diplomacy.
Some non-interventionist GOP lawmakers spoke out against the actions. Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., said the Constitution gave Congress the power to authorize war «for a reason, to make war less likely.»
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Paul quoted President James Madison: «The Executive Branch is the branch most prone to war, therefore, the Constitution, with studied care, delegated the war power to the legislature.»
A bipartisan group of lawmakers, including Jeffries, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., said they are planning a forthcoming vote on a war powers resolution that would block U.S. action in Iran without congressional approval. Previous attempts to pass the same bill failed this Congress after Trump launched targeted strikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities and captured Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro.
Fox News’ Jen Griffin and Efrat Lachter contributed to this report.
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war with iran,donald trump,judiciary,congress,israel
INTERNACIONAL
Trump administration urges judge to dissolve injunction blocking Abrego Garcia’s deportation to Liberia
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The Department of Justice (DOJ) on Friday urged a judge to dissolve the injunction that keeps the Trump administration from detaining Kilmar Abrego Garcia again so he can quickly be deported to Liberia.
«Dissolution is also warranted because the Court’s Memorandum Order failed to acknowledge that the Court’s own prior injunction against removal is the sole impediment to Petitioner’s prompt removal,» the DOJ wrote in a court filing obtained by Fox News Digital. «The Court cannot both impose the impediment that delays removal and consequently prolongs detention and, at the same time, hold that the resulting detention is impermissibly prolonged.»
It added, «Any attempt by this Court to permanently enjoin the government from exercising its authority to remove the Petitioner from this country is in direct contradiction to established judicial norms, and a clear error of law.»
The administration deported Abrego Garcia, who they claim is a member of MS-13, a year ago to a prison in his native El Salvador, but he was returned to the U.S. in June to face human smuggling charges in Tennessee related to a 2022 traffic stop despite at first saying the administration had no power to bring him back.
His Lawyers deny he is a member of MS-13.
US JUDGE VOWS TO RULE ‘SOON’ ON ABREGO GARCIA’S FATE AFTER MARATHON HEARING
Kilmar Abrego Garcia arrives at U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland in December. (Alex Wong / Getty Images)
He was released from detention in December on the grounds that the Trump administration had not obtained the final notice of removal order that is needed to deport him to a third country.
Abrego Garcia, 31, has become a flash point in the national immigration debate since last March, when he was deported to El Salvador in violation of a 2019 court order in what Trump administration officials acknowledged was an «administrative error.»
The Supreme Court later ruled that the administration had to work to bring him back to the U.S.
JUDGE ORDERS MIGRANT DEPORTED IN ‘ERROR’ FREE FROM ICE CUSTODY WITH CRIMINAL CASE LOOMING
He has pleaded not guilty on the human smuggling charges and is seeking dismissal of the charges on the grounds of vindictive and selective prosecution.
The 2019 court order prevents Abrego Garcia from being deported to El Salvador after an immigration judge determined he faced danger from a gang that had threatened his family. He immigrated to the U.S. illegally as a teenager and has been under the supervision of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
A protester holds a poster of Kilmar Abrego Garcia in front of the U.S. District Court in Nashville, Tenn. (Getty Images )
Last month, U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis agreed to convert her previous emergency order blocking ICE from immediately re-detaining Abrego Garcia into a longer-term form of injunctive relief sought by his lawyers.
She said that the Trump administration failed to provide the court with any «good reason to believe» that they plan to remove Abrego Garcia to a third country in the «reasonably foreseeable future.» Instead, she said, they «made one empty threat after another to remove him to countries in Africa with no real chance of success.»
Abrego Garcia has said he’s willing to be sent to Costa Rica, but Acting Immigrations and Customs Enforcement Director Todd Lyons said he will instead be removed to Liberia.
Abrego Garcia’s attorney said in December Abrego was willing to leave for Costa Rica immediately, and that the country had given him asylum status months ago.
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Kilmar Abrego Garcia enters a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) field office in Baltimore, Md. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
The government’s «persistent refusal to acknowledge Costa Rica as a viable removal option, their threats to send Abrego Garcia to African countries that never agreed to take him, and their misrepresentation to the Court that Liberia is now the only country available to Abrego Garcia, all reflect that whatever purpose was behind his detention, it was not for the ‘basic purpose’ of timely third-country removal,» Xinis said in December.
The administration asked the judge to rule on its request to have the injunction dissolved by April 17.
Fox News Michael Sinkewicz, Louis Casiano, Breanne Deppisch, and Jake Gibson contributed to this report.
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Un ataque misilístico de Irán sobre Dimona, una ciudad en la que funciona un centro nuclear clave para Israel, dejó este sábado por la tarde un saldo de más de 50 personas heridas. La televisión estatal iraní aseguró que se trató de un contraataque por la avanzada israelí-estadounidense sobre las instalaciones nucleares de Natanz, en el centro de Irán, más temprano este sábado.
Aunque en los últimos años el centro nuclear de Dimona ya había sido alcanzado por misiles enemigos, las autoridades israelíes todavía guardan parte de su armamento bélico allí, por lo que se trata de un objetivo de alta importancia. La máxima autoridad nuclear mundial aseguró que aún no se reportaron daños en el centro nuclear, pero volvió a lanzar un fuerte pedido a Irán, Israel y Estados Unidos.
Los reportes en los medios israelíes consignan más de 50 heridos tras el ataque a Dimona, una ciudad del centro de Israel, donde viven alrededor de 40 mil personas y que dista a menos de 14 kilómetros de un área que es mayor que su propia geografía: el Centro de Investigación Nuclear del Néguev Shimon Peres. Ese objetivo estratégico fue el blanco del ataque misilístico iraní y el contexto en que se reportaron los heridos.
La construcción de las instalaciones de Dimona comenzaron en 1958, en el marco del despegue del Programa Nuclear de Israel. Por esos años, los líderes David ben Gurion (el primero de los primeros ministros israelí) y Shimon Peres (quien luego también sería premier) habían recolectado U$S 40 millones, aproximadamente la mitad de lo que costaba un reactor nuclear construido en algún país amigo de Israel. Ese fue el envión del proyecto que configuraría el inicio de ese programa nuclear.
Para Israel se trataba de un objetivo estratégico, por lo que la elección del lugar para emplazar el centro nuclear debía ser concienzudamente elegido. Dimona fue una «ciudad desarrollo» de las que creó Ben Gurion en la década de 1950, aunque su nombre ya figuraba en los pueblos bíblicos compendiados en el Libro de Josué, del Antiguo Testamento. Pero lo de Dimona era más terrenal: está en medio del desierto del Néguev, relativamente aislada.
Podría decirse que Dimona desanduvo los años posteriores como una ciudad industrial de mediano tamaño, mientras la importancia de la zona escalaba a casi 14 kilómetros al sudeste de la ciudad, en el centro nuclear. Desde 1958, entonces, se construyó en secreto y en estricto aislamiento del Organismo Internacional de Energía Atómica (OEIA). Paradoja del tiempo: este sábado fue la OEIA la que confirmó públicamente que, a pesar del ataque iraní, el centro no sufrió daños físicos.
«Debe observarse la máxima moderación militar, en particular en las proximidades de las instalaciones nucleares», pidió Rafael Grossi, director general de la OEIA.
Entre 1962 y 1965, el reactor nuclear de Dimona ya no sólo estaba activo, sino también produciendo plutonio para las primeras armas nucleares con que iban contando las Fuerzas de Defensa de Israel (FDI) de cara a la Guerra de los Seis Días. Se estima que actualmente podría albergar entre 80 y 90 ojivas nucleares, según el Instituto de Investigación para la Paz de Estocolmo.
Sin embargo, ese centro nuclear de Israel ya no era secreto para los enemigos, al menos en los últimos años. En enero de 2012, las autoridades israelíes debieron suspender temporalmente la operatividad del reactor por considerar que ya se había convertido en un sitio vulnerable a un ataque de Irán.
Ese mismo año, en octubre y noviembre, las instalaciones fueron atacadas por Hamas, con misiles. El centro, no obstante, no resultó dañado, al igual que este sábado. En abril de 2021, un misil tierra-aire proveniente desde territorio sirio detonó cerca del centro nuclear de Dimona.
En la actualidad, la ciudad tiene una población de casi 40 mil habitantes, por fuera de las 25 más populosas del país. Sin embargo, este sábado quedó en el centro de las miradas.
Este sábado, la televisión estatal iraní no sólo adjudicó a ese país el ataque a Dimona, sino que explicó el porqué: «Una respuesta a un ataque anterior contra su sitio nuclear de Natanz», en el centro de Irán.
INTERNACIONAL
Trump proven right on Iran’s long-range missile capability as regime targets US-UK base, experts say
Iran fires missiles toward US-UK military base
Fox News senior correspondent Mike Tobin reports on Iran launching missiles toward a joint U.S.-U.K. military base, while Netanyahu advisor Caroline Glick provides analysis on ‘Fox News Live.’
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The Islamic Republic of Iran significantly escalated its war effort against the U.S. with its launch of two intermediate-range ballistic missiles on Friday toward Diego Garcia, a key U.S.-U.K. military base in the Indian Ocean.
The targeting of Diego Garcia, roughly 2,500 miles from Iran, means Tehran’s missile capabilities appear to have exceeded previously acknowledged limits.
In the period leading up to Operation Epic Fury on Feb. 28, Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi claimed that «We intentionally kept the range of our missiles below 2,000 km so we don’t have that capability. And we don’t want to do that because we do not have hostility against the United States people and all Europeans.»
TRUMP VOWS TO HIT IRAN ‘VERY HARD’ AFTER OBLITERATING NEARLY ’90 PERCENT’ OF REGIME MISSILES
Map from the Foundation for Defense of Democracies showing Iran’s missile ranges. (The Foundation for Defense of Democracies)
On Saturday, Israel Defense Forces IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir said «Just yesterday, Iran launched a two-stage intercontinental ballistic missile with a range of 4,000 kilometers [2,500 miles] toward an American target on the island of Diego Garcia. These missiles were not intended to hit Israel. Their range reaches the capitals of Europe — Berlin, Paris and Rome are all within direct threat range.»
IDF spokesman Nadav Shoshani blasted the alleged Iranian deception on X: «Just 3 days before the war, the Iranian regime said they don’t obtain long-range missiles. Today, their lies were exposed once again, when missiles were fired 4000km away from Iran. They hoped to lie their way into becoming a force that can terrorize the world. We didn’t buy it.»
Jason Brodsky, the policy director of United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI), told Fox News Digital, «The Trump administration, in citing Iran’s missile threat as a rationale for Operation Epic Fury, was therefore justified in its decision to undertake military action as Iran has consistently refused to negotiate over its missile program. It also shows how dangerous it is to solely rely on Iranian nuclear weapons fatwas and the supreme leader’s public rhetoric in formulating U.S. policy. As long as Iran retains the technical capability beyond public pronouncements, it is a threat.»
BEFORE-AND-AFTER SATELLITE IMAGERY OFFERS A RARE LOOK AT DAMAGE INSIDE IRAN
A big banner depicting Iran’s former Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei is placed next to a ballistic missile in Baharestan Square in Tehran, Iran, on September 26, 2024, on the sideline of an exhibition which marks the 44th anniversary of the start of Iran-Iraq war. (Photo by Hossein Beris /Middle East Images/AFP via Getty Images)
According to Brodsky, «I think it’s a message that the IRGC is in charge in Iran after Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei’s death. When Khamenei was alive, he limited the range of Iran’s missile program to 2000 km. Khamenei recounted in 2018 how he had rejected overtures from IRGC commanders seeking to increase the range to as much as 5000 km.»
He continued, «But now that he has died, those voices in the IRGC seeking to increase the range are likely driving the agenda. The launch of the missiles was likely meant as a signal of the IRGC’s capabilities to threaten U.S. allies beyond the Middle East. For example, this threatens Europe.»
The two long-range Iranian missiles did not hit the base, but the attempted attack marked a significant expansion of Iran’s reach beyond the Middle East and toward a major U.S. strategic hub. One missile reportedly failed in flight, while a U.S. warship launched an SM-3 interceptor at the other, officials said. It was not immediately clear whether the interception was successful. The remote base is a critical launch point for U.S. bombers, nuclear submarines and other strategic assets.
Ilan Berman, Vice President of the American Foreign Policy Council in Washington, D.C., told Fox News Digital, «The launch hammers home the president’s point about Iran being an imminent threat. It’s easy for casual observers to ignore, but the increasing maturity of Iran’s strategic programs, plural, has been exponentially expanding the threat that the Islamic Republic poses beyond the Middle East. That is what «Epic Fury» is seeking to address. The administration believes, absolutely correctly in my view, that these types of capabilities cannot be left in the hands of a radical, predatory regime.»
HEZBOLLAH, IRAN UNLEASH COORDINATED CLUSTER BOMB STRIKES ON ISRAEL IN MAJOR ESCALATION
Israeli air defense systems are activated to intercept Iranian missiles over the Israeli city of Tel Aviv amid a fresh barrage of Iranian rockets on June 16, 2025. (Menahem Kahanna/AFP via Getty Images)
He continued that «Despite its public denials, it’s been clear that the Iranian regime has been working on expanding the range of its ballistic missile capabilities for years. The launch toward Diego Garcia confirms that it has made real progress toward that goal, and is already able to put targets in the same range as Central and Eastern Europe at risk. Moreover, it’s clear that the regime is seeking still greater capabilities – and that, if left intact, Iran’s ballistic missiles would attain intercontinental range soon.»
Berman, the author of «Iran’s Deadly Ambition: The Islamic Republic’s Quest for Global Power,» added, «The parallel development Iran has been carrying out on its space program is significant. The booster used to put payloads into orbit can be married onto a medium-range missile to create intercontinental range capabilities. Before the war, we were seeing a clear convergence of the regime’s strategic programs: its ballistic missile work, its space capabilities and its nuclear program.»
A U.S. B-2 Spirit bomber, part of the 509th Bomb Wing at Whiteman Air Force Base in Missouri, stops for refueling at the U.S. military base on Diego Garcia in October 2001, following an airstrike mission over Afghanistan in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. (U.S. Department of Defense/Senior Airman Rebeca M. Luquin)
He warned about the serious Iranian threat to continental Europe. «Europe is absolutely at risk, as the recent launch makes clear. I wouldn’t say that a failure to recognize this to date has been due to a grand deception by Tehran, though. It is more attributable to willful blindness on the part of European elites about the extent of the threat that the Iranian regime poses, as well as undue faith in diplomacy and arms control in containing it,» he said.
On Saturday, the United Kingdom condemned the attack. «Iran’s reckless attacks, lashing out across the region and holding hostage the Strait of Hormuz, are a threat to British interests and British allies,» the U.K. Ministry of Defense said in a statement. «RAF jets and other U.K. military assets are continuing to defend our people and personnel in the region.»
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«This government has given permission to the U.S. to use British bases for specific and limited defensive operations,» it added.
Fox News Digital’s Greg Norman and Jasmine Baehr contributed to this report.
war with iran,israel,donald trump,conflicts,terrorism,united kingdom
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