Donald Trump: We are on the brink of World War Three
Donald Trump said Joe Biden had left the globe on the “brink of World War Three” after a drone attack on a base in Jordan killed three US troops.
The former president rounded on his successor in a vociferous tirade following Sunday’s incident, which the White House blamed on “Iran-backed” militants operating in the Middle East.
“This brazen attack on the United States is yet another horrific and tragic consequence of Joe Biden’s weakness and surrender,” Mr Trump said in a statement.
“Three years ago, Iran was weak, broke, and totally under control. Thanks to my maximum pressure policy, the Iranian regime could barely scrape two dollars together to fund their terrorist proxies,” he added.
The Republican frontrunner accused Mr Biden of giving Iran “billions of dollars”, which he said had been used by Tehran to “spread bloodshed and carnage throughout the Middle East”.
“This attack would never have happened if I was president, not even a chance – just like the Iranian-backed Hamas attack on Israel would never have happened, the war in Ukraine would never have happened, and we would right now have peace throughout the world,” he said.
“Instead, we are on the brink of World War Three,” Mr Trump added.
‘This terrible day’
As president, Mr Trump scrapped the Iran nuclear deal that was negotiated by the Obama administration and reimposed sanctions on Tehran.
He accused the Iranian regime of negotiating in bad faith and failing to come clean about its nuclear weapons programme.
“This terrible day is yet more proof that we need an immediate return to peace through strength, so that there will be no more chaos, no more destruction, and no more loss of precious American lives,” Mr Trump said.
“Our country cannot survive with Joe Biden as commander in chief.”
Mr Biden’s administration has attempted to steadily defuse the tension with Iran that escalated during Mr Trump’s years in the White House.
Last year, the Democrat president agreed a $6 billion (£4.7 billion) prisoner swap deal with Iran, which saw five US citizens freed in return for the release of Iranians held in the US and $6 billion in humanitarian funding.
