Republican Speaker Mike Johnson says he doesn’t support nation-building in Iran

DORAL, Fla. — House Speaker Mike Johnson and other top Republicans said Tuesday that the United States should not be involved in nation-building in Iran, a day after President Donald Trump called the operation “the beginning of building a new country.”

“I don’t support” nation-building, Johnson, R-La., said during a fireside chat with NBC News at the House Republicans’ annual policy conference in South Florida. “I don’t think that’s our role.”

He added that “America has a very important role to play in the world” and is “the defender of freedom.”

“Does that mean we should be intervening all over the world, building a nation and doing all these other activities? » Johnson continued. “No, because we neither have the resources nor the inclination to do it. It is not our responsibility. Our responsibility, in my opinion, is to project peace through force.”

Johnson echoed Trump’s appeal to the Iranian people in a video message released after the first US strikes began late last month. “When we’re done, take back your government. It’s yours to take,” Trump said at the time.

The Iranian people “must rise up, as the president has tried to encourage,” Johnson told reporters during the retreat at Trump’s golf club, Trump National Doral Miami. “And they have to seize this opportunity, and they have to make it happen themselves. I’m sure there are friends and allies around the world who will help them in one way or another, but it’s not America’s responsibility to do that.”

Johnson spoke after mixed messages from Trump, who addressed House Republicans at the club on Monday. Trump called the war in Iran a “small excursion…a short-term excursion,” and said the mission was “pretty well over,” but he also warned that Iran would face “death, fire and fury” if it blocked the tankers in the Strait of Hormuz.

Rep. Mike McCaul, Republican of Texas, a former chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee, said at the GOP rally that putting U.S. troops on the ground in Iran “would be a mistake.” Trump has not ruled out sending ground troops to Iran, and NBC News reported last week that Trump had privately expressed interest in deploying ground troops, citing four people with knowledge of those conversations.

When asked in an interview whether the United States should be involved in nation-building in Iran, McCaul responded: “Well, we’re not good at that. I mean, we’re good at breaking things. We’re not good at rebuilding them.”

Johnson said he had not been briefed on reports that Russia had provided intelligence to Iran on the location of U.S. forces in the Middle East. But he said the development would be worrying and tougher sanctions against Moscow may be necessary.

“I have long been a proponent of strong sanctions against Russia. … Certainly, if there were another provocative action like this, Congress would probably be very interested in following through on it,” he said. “I think we need to make it so painful for Vladimir Putin that he finally lays down his arms, and it might take some time for that to happen.”

In recent days, Trump has insisted that Congress pass and send him the SAVE America Act, an election bill that would require proof of citizenship to register to vote, promising that he would not sign any other bills until that happens. The House has already passed one version, but Trump now wants additional provisions, including banning transgender people from women’s sports and gender transition surgery for children.

Asked if Trump’s threat not to sign any further legislation meant the end of passing laws in this Congress, Johnson said, “It doesn’t.”

“I’ll talk to him about it,” he said. “We will work with him.”

Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., who has his own difficulties passing the legislation, suggested Johnson should take up the bill with Trump’s new demands.

Told of Thune’s comments, Johnson responded: “He said that? Very good. Be careful what you ask.”

History shows that the party that controls the White House usually loses House seats in midterm elections. With Johnson presiding by a slim one-vote margin, Democrats are in a good position to take back the House in November.

Johnson said Republicans will defy history and expectations in the next election, but he wouldn’t rule out running for minority leader if the GOP loses. That’s what former Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Democrat of California, did after Democrats lost the House in the 2010 Tea Party wave.

“It’s not possible to ride off into the sunset; there are too many things to do,” Johnson said. “And I don’t think of any other alternatives. I’m 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 a speaker, I think we’re almost two and a half years in now.

“They said we couldn’t do the ‘big, beautiful bill.’ They said we wouldn’t win the midterm elections in 2024. I got headlines from some of your media outlets the day before the 2024 election saying 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, on the goal, and we achieve it every time,” he said. “We’re going to do it again. … The story will be different this time. It’s going to defy the trend.”