Secretary of State Marco Rubio alarmed Democrats -- who say only Congress can declare war -- as well as many of Trump's MAGA supporters on Monday when he said: "We knew that there was going to be an Israeli action."

"We knew that that would precipitate an attack against American forces, and we knew that if we didn't pre-emptively go after them before they launched those attacks, we would suffer higher casualties," Rubio told reporters.

Administration officials quickly backpedalled, insisting Trump authorized the strikes because Tehran was not seriously negotiating an accord on limiting its nuclear ambitions, and the United States needed to destroy Iran's missile capabilities.

"No, Marco Rubio Didn't Claim That Israel Dragged Trump into War with Iran," White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt posted Tuesday on X.

At an Oval Office meeting later with Germany's chancellor, Trump went further, saying that "Based on the way the negotiation was going, I think they (Iran) were going to attack first. And I didn't want that to happen."

"So, if anything, I might have forced Israel's hand."

- Had to happen? -

Rubio himself doubled down on Tuesday after meeting with US House and Senate members, while insisting that "No, I told you this had to happen anyway."

"The president made a decision. The decision he made was that Iran was not going to be allowed to hide... behind this ability to conduct an attack."

Critics seized on the muddied messaging to accuse Trump of precipitating the country into a war without a clear rationale, without informing Congress -- and without a clear idea of how it might end.

They noted that just two weeks ago, Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pressed Trump again in Washington to take a hard line, in their seventh meeting since Trump's return to power last year.

Some Republican allies rallied behind the president, with Senator Tom Cotton, chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, insisting that "No one pushes or drags Donald Trump anywhere."

"He acts in the vital national security interest of the United States," Cotton told the "Fox & Friends" morning show.

But as crucial US midterm elections approach that could see Republicans lose their congressional majority, Trump risks shedding supporters who had welcomed his pledge to end foreign military interventions.

"We are now a nation divided between those who want to fight wars for Israel and those who just want peace and to be able to afford their bills and health insurance," Marjorie Taylor Greene, a top former Trump ally and a major figure in the populist and isolationist hard right, posted on X.