Trump tweets that Congress should check Twitter for updates on Iran
The president also tweets that the US will "strike back" if Iran retaliates.
- Carrie has lived on both coasts and can definitively say that Chesapeake Bay blue crabs are the best.
Iranians march in the streets to pay homage to General Qasem Soleimani after he was killed in a US strike in Baghdad.
President Donald Trump tweeted on Sunday that his Twitter posts will serve as notification to Congress if the US takes action against Iran, a statement that followed a series of tweets in which he threatened to "strike back" at Iran should it try to retaliate for a drone strike that killed an Iranian military commander.
Trump's tweets come after Iranian and Iraqi officials expressed outrage over the Thursday airstrike, which killed Qassem Soleimani, the head of Iran's elite Quds military force. Iran's defense minister reportedly said the country would take "crushing revenge."
The White House gave the House and Senate formal notification of the strike under the War Powers Act on Saturday, according to CBS News. The strike has reportedly sparked debate among some lawmakers as to whether Trump needed legal authority from Congress to use lethal force.
"These Media Posts will serve as notification to the United States Congress that should Iran strike any U.S. person or target, the United States will quickly & fully strike back, & perhaps in a disproportionate manner," Trump tweeted Sunday. "Such legal notice is not required, but is given nevertheless!"
These Media Posts will serve as notification to the United States Congress that should Iran strike any U.S. person or target, the United States will quickly & fully strike back, & perhaps in a disproportionate manner. Such legal notice is not required, but is given nevertheless!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 5, 2020
The House Foreign Affairs Committee responded to Trump's tweet Sunday saying that "war powers reside in the Congress under the United States Constitution" and that the president should "read the War Powers Act."
This Media Post will serve as a reminder that war powers reside in the Congress under the United States Constitution. And that you should read the War Powers Act. And that you’re not a dictator. https://t.co/VTroMegWv0
— House Foreign Affairs Committee (@HouseForeign) January 5, 2020
Trump has stirred controversy and concern before on Twitter . In 2017, Twitter defended leaving up tweets from the US president that appeared to threaten North Korea. At the time, Twitter said the tweets were newsworthy and in the public interest. Twitter has since further defined its rules on tweets from world leaders, saying in October that "comments on political issues of the day, or foreign policy saber-rattling on economic or military issues are generally not in violation of the Twitter Rules."
A spokesperson for Twitter on Monday said Trump's tweets on Iran aren't in violation of the site's rules.
The White House didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.
CNET's Queenie Wong contributed to this report.
