Vice President JD Vance, in his first public comments since President Donald Trump authorized strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities, stressed that the United States is "not at war" with Iran, while explaining the president's decision-making process.
"We are not at war with Iran. We are at war with Iran's nuclear program," Vance said in an interview on NBC's "Meet the Press with Kristen Welker," calling the attacks a "testament to the power of the American military."
Asked what intelligence led to this decision, Vance said: "We had a small window of opportunity. We might not have been able to carry out this attack in six months... We had a short window of opportunity in which we could have set back that program a lot. It would have been irresponsible, in my opinion, for the president not to take this action," he said.
Vance added: "Of course we trust our intelligence community, but we also trust our instincts... The Iranians were not negotiating in good faith, that was the real catalyst."
The vice president also suggested that Trump reached the conclusion to authorize the attacks after giving Iran several "ultimatums," which he declined to detail.
CNN had previously reported that Trump had given Iran a 60-day deadline in April to negotiate, asking Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to delay an attack on the country to allow time for talks.