DORAL, Fla. \u2014 House Speaker Mike Johnson and other top Republicans said Tuesday the U.S. should not be involved in nation-building in Iran, a day after President Donald Trump called the operation there \u201cthe beginning of building a new country.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI don\u2019t\u201d support nation-building, Johnson, R-La., said in a fireside chat with NBC News at House Republicans\u2019 annual policy conference in south Florida. \u201cI don\u2019t think it\u2019s our role,\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He added that \u201cAmerica has a very important role to play in the world\u201d and that it is “the defenders of freedom and liberty.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cDoes that mean that we should be intervening everywhere around the world and nation-building and doing all these other endeavors?\u201d Johnson continued. \u201cNo, because we don\u2019t have the resources or the appetite to do that. That\u2019s not our responsibility. Our responsibility, in my view, is to project peace through strength.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Johnson echoed Trump’s appeal to the Iranian people in a video message posted after the initial U.S. strikes began late last month. \u201cWhen we are finished, take over your government. It will be yours to take,” Trump said at the time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Iranian people \u201cneed to rise up, as the president has tried to encourage,” Johnson told reporters at the retreat at Trump\u2019s golf club here, Trump National Doral Miami. “And they need to take that opportunity, and they need to secure that for themselves. I\u2019m sure that there are friends and allies around the world who will help in some ways, but it is not America\u2019s responsibility to do that.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Johnson spoke after some mixed messaging from Trump, who addressed House Republicans at the club Monday. Trump called the war in Iran \u201ca little excursion … a short-term excursion,\u201d and said the mission was \u201cpretty well complete,\u201d but he also warned that Iran would face \u201cdeath, fire and fury\u201d if it blocked oil tankers in the Strait of Hormuz.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Rep. Mike McCaul, R-Texas, former chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee, said at the GOP gathering that putting U.S. boots on the ground in Iran \u201cwould be a mistake.\u201d Trump has not ruled out sending ground troops to Iran, and NBC News reported late last week that Trump had privately shown interest in deploying some ground troops, citing four people with knowledge of those conversations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Asked in an interview whether the U.S. should be involved in nation-building in Iran, McCaul replied: \u201cWell, we\u2019re not good at it. I mean, we\u2019re good at breaking things. We\u2019re not good at rebuilding them.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Johnson said he had not been briefed on reports that Russia has been providing intelligence to Iran about the locations of U.S. forces in the Middle East. But he said that development would be troubling and that tougher sanctions on Moscow could be needed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI\u2019ve been an advocate for strong sanctions on Russia for a long time. … Certainly, if there\u2019s a new and provocative action like this, that would probably be something that the Congress would be very interested in acting upon,\u201d he said. \u201cI think we have to make it so painful for Vladimir Putin that he finally puts down the weapons, and it may take some time yet for that to happen.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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, vowing he will not sign any other bills until that happens. The House has already passed a version, but Trump now wants additional provisions, including banning transgender people from women\u2019s sports and gender transition surgery for children.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Asked whether Trump\u2019s threat not to sign any other legislation means the end of legislating this Congress, Johnson said, \u201cIt\u2019s not.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI\u2019ll talk with him about that,\u201d he said. \u201cWe\u2019ll work with him.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., who is having his own challenges passing the legislation, suggested Johnson should take up the bill again with Trump\u2019s new demands.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Informed of Thune’s comments, Johnson responded: \u201cHe said that? All right. Be careful what you ask for.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
History shows that the party that controls the White House typically loses House seats in the midterm elections. With Johnson presiding over a measly one-vote margin, Democrats are in a good position to take back the House in November.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Johnson said Republicans will defy history and expectations in the upcoming elections, but he would not rule out running for minority leader if the GOP loses. That is what former Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., did after Democrats lost the House in the 2010 tea party wave.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThere\u2019s no riding off in the sunset; there\u2019s too much to do,” Johnson said. “And I don\u2019t think about alternatives. I am laser-focused on the goal. … They have written my epitaph 20 times. They said that I wouldn\u2019t last three weeks. Then I wouldn\u2019t last three months. As speaker, I think we\u2019re almost 2\u00bd years in now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThey said we couldn\u2019t do the ‘big, beautiful bill.’ They said we wouldn\u2019t win the midterms in 2024. I got headlines from some of your outlets the night before the election in 2024, saying we\u2019re going to lose the majority. I don\u2019t buy it. I don\u2019t believe it,” Johnson continued.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“I look straight ahead. I focus on the vision, on the goal, and we get it done every single time,” he said. “We\u2019re going to do it again. … History is going to be different this time. It\u2019s going to be defying the trend.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n