The U.S. war on Iran began this weekend without a congressional vote, without a public ultimatum to Tehran, and without a sustained campaign to win American support. Negotiations between Washington and Tehran were still underway when bombs started falling. Richard Fontaine, CEO of the Center for a New American Security, argues in Foreign Affairs that this was no accident - it is the core of Trump's approach to war.

As reported by "Hvylya", Fontaine's analysis in Foreign Affairs notes that previous administrations treated public debate and legislative approval as prerequisites for war. George H. W. Bush gave Saddam Hussein a deadline. George W. Bush spent months making the case for invading Iraq and sought congressional authorization for both Afghanistan and Iraq.

Trump operates differently. His approach "has been to use ambiguity as a source of advantage, to catch his opponents off guard." The 2025 and 2026 U.S. attacks on Iran took place while diplomacy was ongoing. No public ultimatums were issued to Soleimani before his assassination or to Maduro before the Venezuela invasion. The Caribbean military buildup was framed as an anti-drug operation, not preparation for regime change.

The Iran case is the most striking example yet. In last week's nearly two-hour State of the Union address, Trump devoted only a few sentences to the conflict. Fontaine calls this "remarkable" given the scale and stakes involved. Two days into the war, administration officials had yet to articulate a specific vision for how it would end.

The pattern holds across every Trump military operation. Congress was sidelined on Yemen, on Venezuela, and now on Iran. "Not a single conflict during Trump's presidencies has been preceded by a campaign to win public support, and Congress has not voted to authorize any of them," Fontaine writes. Each conflict instead "began suddenly and followed an unpredictable course."

This stands in direct opposition to the Powell Doctrine's core lesson from Vietnam: if a cause is worth fighting for, the American people must support it. For Trump, public debate is not a prerequisite - it is an obstacle to the surprise and speed he prizes above all.

Also read: Trump's Early Threats May Have Backfired: How the Ultimatum Provoked a Deadly Reaction From Tehran