A moderate House Democrat is offering rare praise for President Donald Trump after his precision strikes on Iran over the weekend.

‘Iran is governed by a regime that is hostile to the United States and allied with others that seek the destruction of America. They sponsor terrorist organizations that have killed American troops and citizens and are a source of chaos and bloodshed in the region,’ Rep. Jared Golden, D-Maine, said in a statement Monday.

‘Based on what I know so far, I believe the president was right to launch limited strikes to deter that outcome.’

He cited the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) assessing that Iran was close to a nuclear weapon.

‘It is important now that the country learns what information helped inform the president’s decision and the timing of these strikes, and that we learn more about whether we were successful in destroying Iran’s nuclear program,’ Golden said.

‘But what matters most now is what happens next: Just today, Iran launched missiles at American bases in Iraq and Qatar. The top priority for the president and his administration, as well as for Congress, must be to use every tool at our disposal to defend Americans and deter further escalation by Tehran.’

Golden said he also looked forward to the House of Representatives’ expected briefing on the situation in Iran. 

The House-wide briefing is expected to occur at 3 p.m. Tuesday, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., said Monday.

The Democratic response in Washington to Trump’s strikes has been largely negative, save for a handful of pro-Israel lawmakers, including Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa.

Golden has been known to break from his own party on issues like trade, border security and national security, among other issues.

Golden won his seat in Maine’s 2nd Congressional District by less than 1% in 2024, while Trump carried the district by 10%.

When reached for comment on his statement, the White House pointed Fox News Digital to Trump’s recent Truth Social post on Iran’s attack on Al-Udeid Air Base in Qatar, which houses U.S. troops.

‘Iran has officially responded to our Obliteration of their Nuclear Facilities with a very weak response, which we expected, and have very effectively countered. There have been 14 missiles fired — 13 were knocked down, and 1 was ‘set free,’ because it was headed in a nonthreatening direction. I am pleased to report that NO Americans were harmed, and hardly any damage was done,’ Trump said.

‘Most importantly, they’ve gotten it all out of their ‘system,’ and there will, hopefully, be no further HATE. I want to thank Iran for giving us early notice, which made it possible for no lives to be lost, and nobody to be injured. Perhaps Iran can now proceed to Peace and Harmony in the Region, and I will enthusiastically encourage Israel to do the same.’

Iran launched a retaliatory attack on Al-Udeid, the American airbase in Qatar on Monday, which President Donald Trump characterized as a ‘very weak response.’ 

‘Iran has officially responded to our Obliteration of their Nuclear Facilities with a very weak response, which we expected, and have very effectively countered. There have been 14 missiles fired — 13 were knocked down, and 1 was ‘set free,’ because it was headed in a nonthreatening direction,’ Trump wrote on Truth Social. 

A U.S. defense official told Fox News Digital Iran had used short-range and medium-range ballistic missiles to attack Al-Udeid base, but no casualties had been reported. 

Iran has ‘gotten it all out of their ‘system,’ and there will, hopefully, be no further HATE,’ Trump predicted, thanking Iran for giving the U.S. ‘early warning’ of the attack to minimize casualties. 

‘Perhaps Iran can now proceed to Peace and Harmony in the Region, and I will enthusiastically encourage Israel to do the same. Thank you for your attention to this matter!’

Qatar’s foreign ministry called the attack ‘brazen aggression,’ but said it had successfully intercepted Iranian missiles. 

‘The State of Qatar strongly condemns the attack that targeted Al-Udeid Air Base by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard. We consider this a flagrant violation of the sovereignty of the State of Qatar,’ spokesperson Majed Al Ansari posted on X. 

‘We reassure that Qatar’s air defenses successfully thwarted the attack and intercepted the Iranian missiles.’ 

After the strike, the U.S. embassy in Kuwait issued a security alert limiting base access to only essential personnel and the embassy in Bahrain shifted some of its employees to telework. 

Just before the attack, Iran’s President Mahmoud Pezeshkian issued a warning promising not to let Saturday’s strikes on its nuclear facilities go ‘unanswered.’ 

‘We neither initiated the war nor wanted it; but we will not leave the aggression against #GreaterIran unanswered. We will stand by the security of this #belovednation with all our being and respond to every wound on Iran’s body with faith, wisdom, and determination,’ he wrote on X. 

But Iran reportedly gave both U.S. and Qatari officials advanced notice of the attacks. It would be a strategy similar to the response to the killing of Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani, where Iran needed to symbolically respond without escalating the conflict beyond what it could handle. 

A spokesperson for Iran’s armed forces said its Revolutionary Guard Corps carried out the attack: ‘We warn our enemies that the era of hit and run is over.’

Kuwait, Iraq, Bahrain and the UAE all closed their airspaces amidst the attack. 

The base is home to 10,000 American forces and is the U.S.’s largest military installation in the Middle East. Located southwest of Doha, it serves as a hub for logistical operations for the U.S. mission to fight ISIS in Iraq and Syria. It also hosts Central Command’s (CENTCOM) Forward Headquarters, as well as its air forces and special operations in the region. It also has been used as a headquarters for British involvement in airstrikes against ISIS in Iraq.

President Donald Trump visited Al Udeid last month on May 15, where he inked a $1 billion military sales agreement with Doha. 

Qatar has walked a tight line between friendly relations with the U.S., through efforts to expand the base, and with Iran. Prior to the attack, Qatar suspended all flights and promised to ‘take all necessary preventive measures.’ 

The attack was not entirely unexpected – satellite images showed the U.S. moved most of its unhangered aircraft out of Al Udeid last week. 

Iran vowed to retaliate against the U.S. after American B-2 bombers dropped 14 bunker buster bombs on three Iranian nuclear sites. 

‘The criminal US must know that in addition to punishing its illegitimate and aggressive offspring, the hands of Islam’s fighters within the armed forces have been freed to take any action against its interests and military, and we will never back down in this regard,’ Abdolrahim Mousavi, the new chief of staff of the Iranian armed forces, warned in a statement. 

But Trump warned Iran after Saturday’s strikes on its nuclear hubs: ‘Any retaliation by Iran against the United States of America will be met with force far greater than what was witnessed tonight.’

The air base also hosts an array of military assets: B-52 strategic bombers, C-17 Globemaster transports and RC-135 Rivet Joint reconnaissance aircraft, in addition to 379th Air Expeditionary Wing’s airlift, aerial refueling, and intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance capabilities. 

Fox News’ Thomas Ferraro and Liz Friden contributed to this report. 

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries is demanding President Donald Trump and his senior officials ‘justify’ the U.S. military’s recent strikes in Iran.

‘We’ve seen no evidence to date that an offensive strike of this nature was justified under the War Powers Act or the Constitution,’ Jeffries said. 

‘But the whole reason for the Trump administration to undertake that process is to come up to Capitol Hill and convince the American people and their elected representatives in the House and in the Senate. That hasn’t happened.’

Trump officials have maintained that the strike was in compliance with the War Powers Act, which requires the White House to notify Congress within 48 hours of a military action and blocks that operation from continuing for more than 60 days without approval from lawmakers.

Jeffries claimed he had not seen ‘a scintilla of evidence to date’ that shows ‘there was an imminent threat to the United States of America.’

‘If the administration has evidence to the contrary, come up to present it. We’re not hard to find. I’m not hiding,’ he said.

The House Democratic leader said he requested a briefing Tuesday for the Gang of Eight, the informal name for the top party and intelligence leaders in Congress.

Trump green-lit airstrikes on three of Tehran’s major nuclear sites over the weekend. The president said on Truth Social Monday that the areas hit were ‘completely destroyed.’

The move has sharply divided Democrats, with some pro-Israel moderates backing Trump’s move — while several progressives like Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., have called for the president’s impeachment over the operation.

Dozens of left-wing lawmakers have gotten behind a bipartisan war powers resolution by Reps. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., and Ro Khanna, D-Calif., to limit Trump’s ability to strike Iran.

Meanwhile, Jeffries side-stepped multiple questions on those calls for impeachment during his press conference, instead reasserting his demand that Trump officials come before Congress.

‘A tool that’s on the table right now is to continue to demand that the administration present itself before the United States Congress and make the case to the American people as to why this extraordinary step has been taken. That’s step one,’ Jeffries said.

‘Step two is for the War Powers Resolution, whether that’s the one that has already been introduced or others that may subsequently be introduced, for those resolutions to be debated on the House floor, as should have occurred already. And then we’ll see where we’re at thereafter.’

Pressed again on whether he was taking calls for Trump’s impeachment seriously, Jeffries said, ‘This is a dangerous moment that we’re in, and we’ve got to get through what’s in front of us. And what’s in front of us right now is the Trump administration has a responsibility to come to Congress, justify actions for which we’ve seen no evidence to justify its offensive strength in Iran.’

When reached for comment on Jeffries’ demands for justification, the White House referred Fox News Digital to press secretary Karoline Leavitt’s comments on Fox News Monday morning.

‘The White House made calls to congressional leadership. They were bipartisan calls. In fact, Hakeem Jeffries couldn’t be reached. We tried him before the strike, and he didn’t pick up the phone, but he was briefed after, as well as [Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y.], who was briefed prior to the strike,’ Leavitt said. 

‘We gave these calls as a courtesy, and the Democrats are lying about this, because they can’t talk about the truth of the success of that operation and the success of our United States military and the success of this president and this administration in doing something that past administrations — Democrats too — have only dreamed about.’

A former Clinton-era National Security Council staffer broke with his party and heaped praise on President Donald Trump’s successful strikes on Iran over the weekend, while remarking former Vice President Kamala Harris would have likely lacked the ‘courage’ to execute such a mission if she were commander-in-chief. 

‘I am not a fan of many of Donald Trump‘s actions, but I will speak openly and honestly when he takes bold steps defending America’s interests, as he did tonight,’ Jamie Metzl, founder of the international social group One Shared World, posted to X on Saturday evening. 

Metzl served on former President Bill Clinton’s National Security Counci and was former President Joe Biden’s deputy staff director of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and he heaped praise on Trump repeatedly on X over the weekend, while also taking a shot at Harris’ lack of ‘courage and fortitude.’ 

‘But I’m not a blind tribalist and am perfectly comfortable praising President Trump for bold and courageous actions in support of America’s core national interests, as he took last night,’ Metzl posted to X on Sunday morning. 

‘Although I believe electing Kamala Harris would have been better for our democracy, society, and economy, as well as for helping the most vulnerable people in the United States and around the world, I also believe VP Harris would not have had the courage or fortitude to take such an essential step as the president took last night,’ he added. 

Metzl continued in his X messages that ‘Iran has been at war with the United States for 46 years,’ and was aiming to build a nuclear weapon with the intention of wielding it over the U.S and its allies. 

‘Iran has been at war with the United States for 46 years. Its regime has murdered thousands of American citizens. Its slogan ‘death to America’ was not window dressing but core ideology. It was racing toward a nuclear weapon with every intention of using it to threaten America, our allies, and the Middle East region as a whole. No actions like this come without risks, and I imagine the story will get more complicated over time, but that’s why these types of decisions are complicated,’ he wrote. 

Fox News Digital reached out to Harris’ office regarding Metzl’s post, but did not immediately receive a reply.

Metzl’s comments are among a cacophony of Democratic elected officials and traditional anti-MAGA voices who have come out to praise Trump since the successful attack on Iran, dubbed ‘Operation Midnight Hammer.’ 

‘The destruction of Iran’s nuclear program is essential to ultimate peace in the Middle East. This is not a Democratic or Republican issue — dealing with the Iranian threat is central to America’s national security. The world is safer because of the actions of our brave service members. I’m praying for the safety of our service members in the region,’ New Jersey Democratic Rep. Josh Gottheimer said in a statement over the weekend, for example.

‘As I’ve long maintained, this was the correct move by @POTUS,’ Democratic Pennsylvania Sen. John Fetterman wrote on X on Saturday. ‘Iran is the world’s leading sponsor of terrorism and cannot have nuclear capabilities. I’m grateful for and salute the finest military in the world.’ 

While New York Times columnist Bret Stephens, a frequent Trump critic, wrote in an opinion piece that Trump made a ‘courageous and correct decision that deserves respect, no matter how one feels about this president,’ while fellow Times columnist David French also said it was the ‘right decision’ on social media. 

Other Democrats and frequent Trump critics, such as New York Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Republican Kentucky Rep. Thomas Massie, have slammed Trump over the strikes, arguing they bypassed Congress.

Trump announced the Saturday evening strikes on Iran in a Truth Social post that was not preceded by media leaks or speculation that strikes were imminent. The unexpected social media post was followed just hours later by a brief Trump address to the nation while flanked by Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Vice President JD Vance. 

‘A short time ago, the U.S. military carried out massive precision strikes on the three key nuclear facilities in the Iranian regime: Fordow, Natanz and Isfahan,’ Trump said from the White House late on Saturday in an address to the nation regarding the strikes. ‘Everybody heard those names for years as they built this horribly destructive enterprise. Our objective was the destruction of Iran’s nuclear enrichment capacity, and a stop to the nuclear threat posed by the world’s No. 1 state sponsor of terror. Tonight, I can report to the world that the strikes were a spectacular military success.’

The strikes ‘obliterated’ Iranian nuclear facilities and backed the nation into a corner to make a peace deal, Trump said. This mission was also celebrated by Hegseth and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Dan Caine as one that was cloaked in secrecy and intentionally deceptive to confuse the enemy. 

‘It involved misdirection and the highest of operational security. Our B-2s went in and out of… these nuclear sites, in and out and back, without the world knowing at all,’ Hegseth said. ‘In that way, it was historic.’

The operation included the longest B-2 spirit bomber mission since 2001, the second-longest B-2 mission ever flown and the largest B-2 operational strike in U.S. history, Hegseth and Caine said during the Sunday press conference. 

Operation Midnight Hammer followed Israel launching preemptive strikes on Iran on June 12 after months of attempted and stalled nuclear negotiations and subsequent heightened concern that Iran was advancing its nuclear program. Netanyahu declared soon afterward that the strikes were necessary to ‘roll back the Iranian threat to Israel’s very survival.’

Fox News Digital’s Hannah Panreck contributed to this report.

The War on Terror led to regime change in Iraq and a briefly democratic Afghanistan — at least until former President Joe Biden’s disastrous withdrawal. More recently, a separate conflict between Israel and Iran saw the U.S. step in to help destroy nuclear facilities — but observers should pause before making any apples-to-apples comparisons between the two eras.

The image of then-White House chief of staff Andrew Card whispering in President George W. Bush’s ear during an elementary school reading event that the Twin Towers had been hit by terrorists began a continuing three decades of U.S. involvement in the Middle East.

The Middle East and the world writ-large was a different place back then, Heritage Foundation senior China and National Security Policy studies fellow Steve Yates told Fox News Digital.

Yates previously served in the Bush administration as a top national security affairs adviser to then-Vice President Dick Cheney. More recently, he co-chaired the 2016 RNC’s platform subcommittee on national security.

‘The world has changed an awful lot in 20 years,’ Yates said, when asked to compare the two administrations.

‘And I think that my perceptions of things have changed a great deal, in no small part, because I’ve had as a primary focus, among all other things in the world, what’s happening with China.’

During the Bush years, the Chinese Communist Party was led by Hu Jintao, who Yates quipped was the ‘definition of boredom’ compared to the feistier Xi Jinping.

The differences there and in the Mideast have presented challenges to the U.S., Yates said.

President Donald Trump leads essentially the first ‘post-globalist’ presidency as the world ‘awaken[ed] from’ its ‘globalist moment’ since the 1990s.

‘None of those things were factors in the early 2000s. And I think that context is vital to try to see how things are handled now,’ he said.

‘Frankly, I am a supporter of President Trump and what he’s been trying to do. I think he’s very clear that he’s willing to use decisive force when he judges it to be necessary.’

In the Middle East, American intervention during the War on Terror led to dictator Saddam Hussein being deposed, and a decades-long ground war ensued.

Iran, at the time, was led by Mahmoud Ahmadinejad — a more prominent president. Ayatollah Ali Hosseini Khamenei has become the more prominent global figure as of late, over current President Masoud Pezeshkian.

And, while the War on Terror led to boots on the ground, Yates noted Trump has been clear that he wants Mideast allies and their Western-friendly neighbors to carry their ‘fair share’ of risk and responsibility for what happens in the region — which has been marked by conflicts since the time of Jesus Christ.

‘In that, Israel has been very clear. They haven’t asked for American boots on the ground. To my knowledge to this point they haven’t asked for much of anything other than rhetorical support,’ he said, prior to the U.S. dropping MOP bombs from B-2s on Saturday night.

Yates foreshadowed that Trump has made clear he is ready to use ‘decisive American force’ if necessary to prevent Iranian nuclear proliferation.

‘That is a definable objective… That is not a war of occupation or trying to ‘remake Iran in our image’ as some [have] characterized Iraq, whether fairly or unfairly.’

‘So I think that the president has navigated this with deeper logic than most people give credit.’

The question at this time in history is more whether ‘the Old World’ will act on their shared interest in supporting a non-nuclear Iran or similar outcome in a meaningful way.

He referenced the ‘EU-3’ — Germany, Great Britain and France, the three largest European economic powers — and said they had previously been a ‘moderating force’ in negotiations that allowed Tehran to ‘mitigate sanctions’ and go back on promises made.

But the EU-3’s model failed to solve the problem, revealing that the early 21st century style of diplomacy — which often pulled the U.S. into conflicts — may no longer be effective. Israel’s decisive response to October 7 only underscored that point.

‘I still have a lot of gratitude and respect for my colleagues back in the Bush administration. I just see us as a world in a fundamentally different place,’ he said.

‘And I would give President Trump pretty high marks on how he’s balanced equities — keeping true to his definition of what America First means, but also true to standing by allies in times of need.’

Iran launched a retaliatory attack on Al-Udeid, the American airbase in Qatar, a U.S. defense official confirmed on Monday. 

‘I can confirm that al Udeid Air Base was attacked by short-range and medium-range ballistic missiles originating from Iran today,’ the official told Fox News. ‘At this time, there are no reports of U.S. casualties. We are monitoring this situation closely and will provide more information as it becomes available.’

Qatar’s foreign ministry called the attack ‘brazen aggression,’ but said it had successfully intercepted Iranian missiles. 

‘The State of Qatar strongly condemns the attack that targeted Al-Udeid Air Base by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard. We consider this a flagrant violation of the sovereignty of the State of Qatar,’ spokesperson Majed Al Ansari posted on X. 

‘We reassure that Qatar’s air defenses successfully thwarted the attack and intercepted the Iranian missiles.’ 

Explosions were heard in Doha, a source told Fox News. Iranian state media reported that ‘Operation Fatah’s Blessing against the American Al-Udeid base in Qatar has begun.’ After the strike, the U.S. embassy in Kuwait issued a security alert limiting base access to only essential personnel and the embassy in Bahrain shifted some of its employees to telework. 

Just before the attack, Iran’s President Mahmoud Pezeshkian issued a warning promising not to let Saturday’s strikes on its nuclear facilities go ‘unanswered.’ 

‘We neither initiated the war nor wanted it; but we will not leave the aggression against #GreaterIran unanswered. We will stand by the security of this #belovednation with all our being and respond to every wound on Iran’s body with faith, wisdom, and determination,’ he wrote on X. 

But Iran gave Qatari officials advanced notice of the attacks, Iranian sources told the New York Times. It would be a strategy similar to the response to the killing of Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani, where Iran needed to symbolically respond without escalating the conflict beyond what it could handle. 

A spokesperson for Iran’s armed forces said its Revolutionary Guard Corps carried out the attack: ‘We warn our enemies that the era of hit and run is over.’

Kuwait, Iraq, Bahrain and the UAE all closed their airspaces amidst the attack. 

The base is home to 10,000 American forces and is the U.S.’s largest military installation in the Middle East. Located southwest of Doha, it serves as a hub for logistical operations for the U.S. mission to fight ISIS in Iraq and Syria. It also hosts Central Command’s (CENTCOM) Forward Headquarters, as well as its air forces and special operations in the region. It also has been used as a headquarters for British involvement in airstrikes against ISIS in Iraq.

President Donald Trump visited Al Udeid last month on May 15, where he inked a $1 billion military sales agreement with Doha. 

Qatar has walked a tight line between friendly relations with the U.S., through efforts to expand the base, and with Iran. Prior to the attack, Qatar suspended all flights and promised to ‘take all necessary preventive measures.’ 

The attack was not entirely unexpected – satellite images showed the U.S. moved most of its unhangered aircraft out of Al Udeid last week. 

Iran vowed to retaliate against the U.S. after American B-2 bombers dropped 14 bunker buster bombs on three Iranian nuclear sites. 

‘The criminal US must know that in addition to punishing its illegitimate and aggressive offspring, the hands of Islam’s fighters within the armed forces have been freed to take any action against its interests and military, and we will never back down in this regard,’ Abdolrahim Mousavi, the new chief of staff of the Iranian armed forces, warned in a statement. 

But Trump warned Iran after Saturday’s strikes on its nuclear hubs: ‘Any retaliation by Iran against the United States of America will be met with force far greater than what was witnessed tonight.’

The air base also hosts an array of military assets: B-52 strategic bombers, C-17 Globemaster transports and RC-135 Rivet Joint reconnaissance aircraft, in addition to 379th Air Expeditionary Wing’s airlift, aerial refueling, and intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance capabilities. 

Fox News’ Thomas Ferraro and Liz Friden contributed to this report.