Hours before the vice presidential debate, former President Donald Trump addressed a crowd at a campaign rally in Wisconsin and criticized the Biden administration over Iran's historic attack on Israel.
“A while ago, Iran fired 181 ballistic missiles at Israel…I've been talking about World War III for a long time, but I don't like to make predictions, because predictions always come true. Not. I'm going to make it. [predictions]… But they are very close to a global catastrophe,” Trump said, adding, “We have a non-existent president and a non-existent vice president who should be in charge, but what's going on? No one knows.”
President Trump's comments came after Israel announced that Iran had launched 181 ballistic missiles toward the country, making it the largest ballistic missile attack in history.
According to Fox News' Foreign Director, Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said the attack was due to an Israeli airstrike late last week that killed Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah in Beirut, Lebanon, and Hamas leader Hassan Nasrallah in Tehran in July. He said it was in retaliation for the killing of Ismail Haniyeh. Correspondent Trey Yingst.
Iran's attack on Israel 'ineffective' but 'significant escalation': White House
Former Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump listens to a speech during a town hall campaign event at Macomb Community College on Friday, September 27, 2024 in Warren, Michigan. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
Iran's Revolutionary Guards warned in a statement published by Iranian state media that Israel “will face a devastating attack” if it responds to the missile attack.
President Trump accused President Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris of weak leadership on the world stage.
“That's why Israel was under attack not too long ago, because they no longer respect our country. Our so-called enemies no longer respect our country,” Trump said.
Iran launches multiple missile attacks across Israel
President Trump criticized President Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris after Iran launched a major ballistic missile attack on Israel. (Al Drago/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Trump claimed that Biden and Harris made Iran rich in a very short period of time.
“They have $300 billion now. They're rich. So every time someone gets kidnapped, they pay $6 billion. It's always $6 billion,” President Trump said.
”Iran was on the verge of bankruptcy. They had no money left. They had no money to spend on Hamas. They didn't have the money for Hezbollah. The people they are fighting now would have been willing to make any deal. Any deal would have been possible. But Kamala poured American cash and everything into them. So they're flooding them with cash. It's honestly unbelievable,” Trump continued.
Pentagon sends 'thousands' of personnel to Middle East, a day after Biden said he would not add combat troops
Firearm tracers are seen fired into the air in celebration of Iran's missile barrage against Israel over Beirut, Lebanon, October 1, 2024. (Reuters/Luisa Gouriamaki)
Jake Sullivan, National Security Advisor to the President, said: Iranian missile attack on Israel The US military was “defeated and ineffective” and said it worked with the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) to repel the attack.
“A U.S. Navy destroyer joined Israeli air defenses and launched interceptors to shoot down incoming missiles. President Biden and Vice President Harris monitored the attack and response from the White House Situation Room, and they also I participated in it. national security It’s a team,” Sullivan said.
Sullivan characterized the attack as a “serious escalation” at a White House briefing on Tuesday.
Sullivan said there were no deaths reported on the Israeli side, but the White House was monitoring the deaths of Palestinian civilians reported in Jericho in the West Bank.
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
“We have no knowledge of any damage to Israeli aircraft or strategic military assets. In short, based on what we currently know, this attack appears to have been defeated and ineffective. The term fog of war… , was created to refer to a situation where: “This is a fluid situation,'' he said.
Many missiles were intercepted by Israeli missile defense systems, while others crashed into the ground.
The Pentagon announced that the United States fired about a dozen interceptors at Iranian missiles.
Fox News' Michael Dorgan, Stephen Sorace, Liz Friden, Nicolas Rojas and Greg Norman and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
