Doral, Fla. — House Speaker Mike Johnson and other top Republicans said Tuesday the U.S. should not be involved in nation-building in Iran, a day after President Donald Trump called the operation there “the beginning of building a new nation.”
“I” don’t support nation-building, Johnson, R-La., said in a fireside chat with NBC News at House Republicans’ annual policy conference in South Florida. “I don’t think that’s our role.”
He said that “America has a very important role in the world” and that it is “a defender of freedom and liberty.”
“Does that mean we have to intervene everywhere in the world and do nation-building and all these other efforts?” Johnson continued. “No, because we don’t have the resources or the appetite to do that. That’s not our responsibility. Our responsibility, in my view, is to demonstrate peace through strength.”
Johnson echoed Trump’s appeal to the Iranian people in a video message posted after the initial US strikes began late last month. “When we’re done, take over your government. It’ll be yours,” Trump said at the time.
The Iranian people “need to rise up as the president has tried to encourage,” Johnson told reporters here at a retreat at Trump’s golf club, Trump National Doral in Miami. “And they need to take that opportunity, and they need to secure it for themselves. I’m sure there are friends and allies around the world who will help in some way, but it’s not America’s responsibility to do that.”
Johnson spoke after some mixed messages from Trump when he addressed House Republicans at the club on Monday. Trump called the war in Iran “a little jaunt … a short jaunt” and said the mission was “pretty much accomplished” but warned Iran would face “death, fire and fury” if it blocked oil tankers in the Strait of Hormuz.
Rep. Mike McCaul, R-Texas, a former chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee, told the GOP gathering that putting U.S. boots on the ground in Iran “could be a mistake.” Trump has not ruled out sending ground troops to Iran, and NBC News reported late last week that Trump was privately interested in deploying some ground troops, citing four people with knowledge of those conversations.
Asked in an interview whether the US should be involved in nation-building in Iran, McCall replied: “Well, we’re not good at it. I mean, we’re good at breaking things down. We’re not good at rebuilding them.”
Johnson said he had not been briefed on reports that Russia was providing intelligence to Iran about US troop locations in the Middle East. But he said the development would be disruptive and might require tougher sanctions on Moscow.
“I’ve long been an advocate for stronger sanctions on Russia. … Obviously, if there’s a new and provocative action like this, it’s probably going to be very interesting for Congress to act,” he said. “I think we have to hurt Vladimir Putin so much that he will eventually lay down his arms and it may take some time for that to happen.”
In recent days, Trump has demanded that Congress pass and send him the Save America Act, an election bill that would require proof of citizenship to register to vote, vowing he won’t sign any other bills until that happens. The House has already passed a version, but Trump now wants additional provisions, including banning transgender people from women’s sports and gender reassignment surgery for children.
Asked if Trump’s threat not to sign any other legislation would end this Congress legislatively, Johnson said, “It doesn’t.”
“I’ll talk to him about it,” he said. “We will work with him.”
Senate Majority Leader John Thune, RS.D., who has his own challenges getting the legislation passed, suggested Johnson should take up the bill again with Trump’s new demands.
Johnson responded to Thune’s comments: “He said that? Right. Be careful what you listen to.”
History shows that the party that controls the White House usually loses House seats in midterm elections. With Johnson holding the presidency by one vote, Democrats are well positioned to take back the House in November.
Johnson said Republicans will defy history and expectations in the upcoming elections, but he wouldn’t rule out running for the minority leadership if the GOP loses. Former Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., after Democrats lost the House in the 2010 Tea Party wave.
“There’s no riding off into the sunset; there’s so much to do,” Johnson said. “And I don’t think about alternatives. I’m laser-focused on the goal. … They wrote my epitaph 20 times. They said I wouldn’t last three weeks. Then I wouldn’t last three months. As speaker, I think we’re about 2½ years now.
“He said we can’t do a ‘big, beautiful bill.’ He said we’re not going to win the midterms in 2024. I got headlines from some of your outlets the night before the 2024 election that we were going to lose the majority. I don’t buy it. I don’t believe it,” Johnson continued.
“I look straight ahead. I focus on the vision, the goal and we do it every time,” he said. “We’re going to do it again. … History is going to be different this time. It’s going to defy the trend.”
