Rubio: Iran Wrong to Bet Midterms Will Curb Trump's Power
Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York, Rubio said Iranian officials appear to be banking on a political shift in Washington that would blunt US pressure campaigns against them.
"I think the Iranians are under this illusion that Democrats are going to win in November, and the president will no longer be able to do things against them," Rubio said.
According to Rubio, that assumption reflects a fundamental misunderstanding of how power is distributed within the American government. While acknowledging Congress holds significant influence, he stressed that the presidency commands sweeping independent authority when national security is at stake.
"When it comes to the national security of our country, when it comes to the imposition of both sanctions and the use of military force, the president has extraordinary powers," Rubio said, citing Trump's constitutional authority as commander-in-chief.
The comments followed remarks Trump made a day earlier, in which he predicted a breakthrough with Iran once the Nov. 3 midterms concluded.
"I believe we'll make a deal right after the election because it doesn't make sense for them not to," Trump told the UN General Assembly on Tuesday, suggesting Iran's leadership was holding out to gauge how Republicans fare at the ballot box.
Rubio pushed back on any notion that electoral politics would sway Trump's strategy toward Tehran, framing Iran's nuclear ambitions strictly as a security threat rather than a partisan battleground.
"For him, the Iranian issue is not a political issue," Rubio said.
He went further, noting that for nearly 50 years, American presidents and the broader international community have largely agreed that Iran must be barred from obtaining a nuclear weapon — yet have consistently stopped short of decisive action to enforce that line. Rubio said Trump remains willing to shoulder the costs of confronting Iran now, warning that the price of inaction would prove "substantially higher" down the road, especially for generations to come.
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