A former high-ranking national security official who served under both President Bill Clinton and then-Senator Joe Biden has publicly commended President Donald Trump for his recent military strikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities, according to Mediaite. The official, Jamie Metzl, also asserted that former Vice President and presidential candidate Kamala Harris would not have had the resolve to order such an operation.
Metzl, who previously worked on the National Security Council during the Clinton administration and as Deputy Staff Director for Joe Biden on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, shared his perspective on social media following the U.S. airstrikes. Metzl emphasized that, despite having voted for Harris and being a vocal critic of Trump’s policies, he was willing to acknowledge Trump’s “bold and courageous actions in support of America’s core national interests.”
Metzl wrote, “I served on the National Security Council under President Clinton. I was Joe Biden’s Deputy Staff Director of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. I voted for Kamala Harris and have been a vocal critic of many dangerous and undemocratic actions taken by President Trump. But I’m not a blind tribalist and am perfectly comfortable praising President Trump for bold and courageous actions in support of America’s core national interests, as he took last night.”
While Metzl expressed that he believed electing Kamala Harris would have benefited “democracy, society, and vulnerable populations,” he argued that Harris would not have had “the courage or fortitude to take such an essential step as the president took last night.”
Metzl also highlighted Iran’s long-standing hostility toward the United States, noting, “Iran has been at war with the United States for 46 years. Its regime has murdered thousands of American citizens. Its slogan ‘death to America’ was not window dressing but core ideology. It was racing toward a nuclear weapon with every intention of using it to threaten America, our allies, and the Middle East region as a whole.”
Metzl’s remarks have drawn attention, as they underscore a rare instance of bipartisan praise for a major Trump administration military action.
