U.S. Rep. Jason Smith, R-Mo. 8th District, is defending President Donald Trump’s decision to attack Iran.
“Missourians elected him by nearly 20 points,” Smith said in an exclusive interview with Missourinet. “This is exactly what Missourians and Americans voted for, a president who leads from a position of strength and does not discount countries who chant ‘death to America.’”
Smith emphasized that the war is against the extremist Islamic dictatorship, not the Iranian people.
“You have Iranians who have been captive for 47 years by this dictatorship form of government that wants death to America,” he said. “It is those leaders, not the Iranian people, it is those leaders that want death to America.”
Smith also told Missourinet that the ongoing military campaign won’t turn into an endless war.
“This will not be Afghanistan. This will not be Iraq. This will be taken care of,” he said. “People thought that the situation in Venezuela was going to be an endless war. That was a day. Took one day.”
On the other side of the aisle, U.S. Rep. Emanuel Cleaver, D-Mo. 5th District, has been using social media to voice opposition to the joint U.S./Israeli military campaign.
The Constitution is clear: Congress has a role in decisions of war and peace.
Any escalation with Iran must come with strategy, transparency, and congressional authorization. I will be voting YES on the War Powers resolution today to rein in Trump’s illegal war. https://t.co/XXD3wVBSLZ
— Rep. Emanuel Cleaver (@repcleaver) March 5, 2026
In an earlier post, he said that it will be “working class Americans” in military uniforms who will bear the cost of President Trump’s “illegal regime-change war.”
In a statement by, U.S. Rep. Wesley Bell, D-Mo. 1st District, said, “launching a regime-change campaign without a clear strategy, defined end goal, or honest preparation for the costs is both dangerous and shortsighted.”
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