ICYMI: Murphy On Trump's War With Iran: This Administration Is Incompetent And Lying To The American People
Press (Murphy)
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 11, 2026
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Deni Kamper
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
MURPHY ON TRUMP’S WAR WITH IRAN: THIS ADMINISTRATION IS INCOMPETENT AND LYING TO THE AMERICAN PEOPLE
Watch His Full Remarks Here
WASHINGTON - U.S. Senator Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) on Wednesday spoke on the floor of the U.S. Senate to demand transparency and accountability from a Trump administration that refuses to provide Americans with clear answers about the war in Iran, or the ongoing economic crisis resulting from the closure of the Strait of Hormuz. Following his efforts alongside his Democratic colleagues to force a public debate on the war earlier this week, Murphy detailed the shocking incompetence and lack of strategic planning that was on display during the Trump administration’s closed-door briefings with lawmakers and called for public hearings with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
Murphy slammed the Trump administration for plunging the U.S. into another costly war in the Middle East with no clear objections or plan: “This war is costing us at least $2 billion a day. There are no achievable war aims. The goals shift from day to day. There is no plan to manage the consequences and the fallout for American citizens or citizens of the Gulf…There will be increased deaths in the region very soon because we did not have the adequate supplies ready for our allies in the region to protect themselves against an onslaught of Iranian area aerial attacks. It's just incompetence - incompetence made worse by mistruths, made worse by the president lying to the American people about what is happening and what the goals are of the war.”
Murphy slammed Trump’s shifting, implausible explanations for pursuing war with Iran: “The President has also said over and over and over again that a goal of the war is to permanently deny Iran the ability to have nuclear weapons...In our closed door briefings, we learned that that is, in fact, not a goal of our war plan… Which is, of course, not surprising, because you cannot destroy Iran's nuclear program from the air…What [Trump] has said is that he wants unconditional surrender, and that he wants to be involved in the appointment of the next Supreme Leader. That is regime change: unconditional surrender, the president of the United States choosing the next leader of Iran. But as we have learned in closed door briefings, that is not actually the Department of Defense's plan. That is not a goal of the war. We are, in fact, apparently very satisfied to leave in charge of Iran hard-line leadership. The new Supreme Leader is, by most estimates, more radical, likely going to be more provocative, more anti-American than the Supreme Leader that we killed.”
Murphy laid out the likely long-term consequences of Trump’s horrific bombing of a girls’ school in Iran: “Trump has apparently learned nothing from our nightmares in Iraq and Afghanistan. You cannot bomb a nation into submission. You cannot impose regime change from the air. What will happen now that an entire nation is looking at images of America murdering little girls at an elementary school… bombing campaigns almost never, ever achieve their objectives, because all these bombing campaigns do in the thousands of civilians that in the end they kill is to harden the nation that you are bombing and invading, causing them to take a harder line, to choose harder line leaders, more militant leadership in order to protect the nation against the enemy, invaders who bomb elementary schools.”
He called out Trump’s egregious lies to the American people about the war in Iran: “What makes this incident even more [un]forgivable is that the President is lying to us… when he was asked about the bombing of the girls’ school, he said, ‘Well, I haven't seen it.’ … The idea that he is pretending to not know about the bombing of this school … is absurd and offensive.”
Murphy warned the worst of global economic disruption is yet to come, stressing the Trump administration did not - and does not - have a plan for resolving the Strait of Hormuz crisis: “And as we learn more in our closed door briefings, we learn how unbelievably unprepared they were for the fallout. It's bad enough they are not telling the truth about why we are at war. It is incomprehensible that they did not do the basic planning to manage the fallout. They have no plan to open up the Strait of Hormuz, a totally foreseeable result of a military action against Iran, a completely foreseeable result of murdering the Shia's top religious leader in the middle of the holy month… There is no plan to reopen it. It's getting worse, not better, as news broke today that Iran is now, for the first time, mining the strait. … We all know that once that mining begins, it is very hard, if not impossible, in the short run, to counteract. If the Strait is closed for weeks more, or months more: that is a global economic catastrophe.”
Murphy concluded by pleading with his Republican colleagues to unite with Democrats and demand the Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth and Secretary of State Marco Rubio come to Congress and testify about why they have dragged us into another costly, deadly war in the Middle East: “I can't believe that my Republican colleagues don't feel like it's a giant middle finger from the administration that there hasn't been a single hearing on the most significant military action that this country has undertaken in a generation. What is the point of being a United States Senator? Why are we here? Why have we worked so hard to get this job, if we're not prepared to ask the administration to come and present to us, why they are putting our constituents' lives at risk? Why they are driving up the costs at home for our constituents? As this war continues to exacerbate rising prices, we are abdicating our responsibility as senators.”
A full transcript of Murphy’s remarks is available below.
Mr. President, I am on the floor today to talk about the growing, alarming incoherence of the President’s war in Iran. An illegal war. A war that he has not sought consent for. A war with an ever-changing rationale and war plan. A war that is costing taxpayers billions of dollars, but also costing them at home, in their communities, as energy prices continue to soar.
Let me start with the bombing of this girls’ elementary school in Iran. I start here because it shows in this one horrible incident the insanity and the destined failure of the President's strategy in Iran and the extraordinary ways in which President Trump is lying to the American people about this war. Trump has apparently learned nothing from our nightmares in Iraq and Afghanistan. You cannot bomb a nation into submission. You cannot impose regime change from the air. What will happen now that an entire nation is looking at images of America murdering little girls at an elementary school. Yes, this was a mistake, no doubt about it. Mistakes happen in war, but these inevitable mistakes are the reason why these bombing campaigns almost never, ever achieve their objectives, because all these bombing campaigns do in the thousands of civilians that in the end they kill is to harden the nation that you are bombing and invading, causing them to take a harder line, to choose harder line leaders, more militant leadership in order to protect the nation against the enemy invaders who bomb elementary schools.
But what makes this incident even more [un]forgivable is that the President is lying to us. Earlier today, when asked about growing evidence that it was in fact a US Tomahawk missile that hit this school, he said, ‘I don't know about that.’ Earlier in the week when he was asked about the bombing of the girls school, he said, ‘Well, I haven't seen it.’ He went on to say that the tomahawk - one of the most powerful weapons around - ‘You know, it's sold and used by other countries, whether it's Iran, which has some tomahawks. Wish they had more, but whether it's Iran or somebody else, the tomahawk is very generic.’
The President of the United States knows that Iran doesn't have tomahawks. The President of the United States should know that we're the only nation using tomahawks. The idea that he is pretending to not know about the bombing of this school, the idea that he is trying to pretend that the Iranians somehow stole a tomahawk missile from the United States, figured out how to launch it and aimed it as a school is absurd and offensive.
Further, this administration refuses to be straight with us about the reasons that we are at war. What he has said is that he wants unconditional surrender, and that he wants to be involved in the appointment of the next Supreme Leader. That is regime change: unconditional surrender, the president of the United States choosing the next leader of Iran. But as we have learned in closed door briefings, that is not actually the Department of Defense's plan. That is not a goal of the war. We are, in fact, apparently very satisfied to leave in charge of Iran hard-line leadership. The new Supreme Leader is, by most estimates, more radical, likely going to be more provocative, more anti-American than the Supreme Leader that we killed.
The President told the Iranian people to rush out onto the street, take over your government. But he is prepared - his war plan is prepared - to leave in charge of Iran hard line leadership. And let's be clear, the President is not prepared to come to the defense of the Iranian people if they rise up in the streets. There's nothing in the war plan that suggests we will do that. The President has also said over and over and over again that a goal of the war is to permanently deny Iran the ability to have nuclear weapons. You have heard the President say this. That was in a Department of War press release just days ago. In our closed door briefings, we learned that that is, in fact, not a goal of our war plan. That it is not a goal of the war to destroy their nuclear program. Which is, of course, not surprising, because you cannot destroy Iran's nuclear program from the air. You cannot destroy knowledge. You cannot hunt down with missiles every single Iranian scientist that knows how to build a nuclear reactor. And the material is buried so far under the ground to be immune to an air campaign. So yes, it stands to reason that one of the goals of this war is not to destroy the nuclear program.
But then why is the President and the Department of Defense telling us that the point of the war is to destroy their nuclear program? They are not telling the truth about this girls’ school that was hit on the first day; they are not telling the truth about the aims of the war.
And as we learn more in our closed door briefings, we learn how unbelievably unprepared they were for the fallout. It's bad enough they are not telling the truth about why we are at war. It is incomprehensible that they did not do the basic planning to manage the fallout. They have no plan to open up the Strait of Hormuz, a totally foreseeable result of a military action against Iran, a completely foreseeable result of murdering the Shia's top religious leader in the middle of the holy month.
The Strait has now been closed for effectively 10 days. There is no plan to reopen it. It's getting worse, not better, as news broke today that Iran is now, for the first time, mining the strait, and we can't get into this conversation on the floor of the Senate, but we all know that once that mining begins, it is very hard, if not impossible, in the short run, to counteract if the Strait is closed for weeks more, or months more. That is a global economic catastrophe. Already, my constituents are paying through the nose for this war. It gets infinitely worse if that strait doesn't open up, and the administration has no plan to open it up. The incompetence and the lying should infuriate every member of the Senate, every citizen of this country.
This war is costing us at least $2 billion a day. There are no achievable war aims. The goals shift from day to day. There is no plan to manage the consequences and the fallout for American citizens or citizens of the Gulf. You saw stories today of additional new missiles raining down on our Gulf allies. You probably know that they, much faster than us, are running out of the interceptors that stop those missiles. There will be increased deaths in the region very soon because we did not have the adequate supplies ready for our allies in the region to protect themselves against an onslaught of Iranian area aerial attacks. It's just incompetence - incompetence made worse by mistruths, made worse by the president lying to the American people about what is happening and what the goals are of the war.
Mr. President, at the very least, we need to have Secretary Rubio and Secretary Hegseth in front of the Senate. I can't believe that my Republican colleagues don't feel like it's a giant middle finger from the administration that there hasn't been a single hearing on the most significant military action that this country has undertaken in a generation. What is the point of being a United States senator? Why are we here? Why have we worked so hard to get this job, if we're not prepared to ask the administration to come and present to us, why they are putting our constituents lives at risk? Why they are driving up the costs at home for our constituents? As this war continues to exacerbate rising prices, we are abdicating our responsibility as senators. No, let me put it more specifically, Republican leadership and senators are abdicating their responsibility as senators because they run the place by refusing to demand that the administration come and testify in public. All we have had is closed door briefings. There is a limited amount of what we learned behind those doors that we can talk about. But increasingly, it's pretty obvious why the administration will not talk publicly about the Iran war, why they will not come and answer questions before the United States Congress: because they have no plan that is achievable. They have a rationale for this war that is shifting by the hour, and they have no plan, no way to protect the American people from the consequences of their incoherence. I yield the floor.
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