Senator Cory Booker is demanding an end to what he calls Trump’s “reckless war” with Iran, citing a pattern of contradictory public statements, reversed positions, and shifting narratives that he says have defined the conflict since its first days — while “lives are on the line, American troops, innocent civilians, and billions in taxpayer dollars are being spent.”
“Throughout this reckless war Trump has refused to lead with transparency and candor, instead issuing contradictory statements, shifting stories, and utter incoherence,” Booker posted on social media Saturday. “We deserve better than this. America deserves better than this. We must end this reckless war now.”
Booker’s Record on This War
Saturday’s post is Booker’s latest salvo in a sustained, months-long campaign against the Iran war and its management. On February 28, the day the war began, Booker issued a formal statement calling the strikes unconstitutional and demanding the administration brief Congress on “the intelligence, objectives, legal basis, and long-term strategy underlying today’s action,” according to his official Senate website. He noted at the time that even Secretary of State Marco Rubio had cautioned before the strikes that “no one can predict what would follow the fall of Iran’s leadership” — warnings he said were not heeded.
On March 18, Booker led a group of Democratic senators — including Tim Kaine, Chris Murphy, Adam Schiff, Tammy Baldwin, and Tammy Duckworth — in forcing a War Powers Resolution vote on the Senate floor to withdraw U.S. forces from Iran absent an act of Congress. Senate Republicans blocked further consideration. “Despite the war being unconstitutional and vastly unpopular, Senate Republicans blocked further consideration of the resolution,” his official Senate office stated. Most recently, his Senate office published a video titled “Hegseth and Trump’s lies and obfuscation about the war in Iran are unacceptable,” according to his official Senate website.
The Timeline That Prompted Saturday’s Post
Booker’s Saturday post responded directly to a segment by MSNBC host Chris Hayes, who walked through Trump’s Truth Social proclamations about the war in chronological order — presenting them as a self-documented record of contradiction. What follows is that timeline, drawn from Trump’s own public statements.
Phase One: Unconditional Surrender (Early March)
The war began February 28. By March 6, Trump set the terms: “There will be no deal with Iran except unconditional surrender,” adding that his goal was “MIGA” — Make Iran Great Again. The following day, March 7, Trump declared: “Iran, which is being beat to hell, has apologized and surrendered to its Middle East neighbors” — language suggesting the conflict was effectively over after just nine days. It was not. By March 9, Trump was back to maximum pressure: “If Iran does anything that stops the flow of oil within the Strait of Hormuz, they will be hit by the United States of America 20 times harder than they have been hit thus far. Death, fire, and fury will rain upon them.”
Phase Two: The 13-Minute Contradiction (March 10)
The most precise contradiction in the entire timeline arrived on the afternoon of March 10. At 4:07 PM, Trump posted: “If Iran has put out any mines in the Hormuz Strait, and we have no reports of them doing so, we want them removed immediately.” Thirteen minutes later, at 4:20 PM, Trump posted: “I am pleased to report that within the last few hours we have hit and completely destroyed 10 inactive mine-laying boats and/or ships, with more to follow.” The U.S. military had, by the White House’s own account, already destroyed Iranian mine-laying vessels in the same hours Trump was telling the public there were no reports of mines.
Phase Three: NATO In, Then Out, in Three Days (Mid-March)
On March 14, Trump announced that NATO allies would join the mission: “Many countries, especially those who are affected by Iran’s attempted closure of the Hormuz Strait, will be sending warships in conjunction with the United States of America to keep the strait open and safe. This should have always been a team effort, and now it will be.” Three days later, the position reversed entirely: “The United States has been informed by most of our NATO allies that they don’t wanna get involved with our military operation against the terrorist regime of Iran. We will no longer need or desire the NATO country’s assistance. We never did.” NATO went from invited partner to unwanted outsider — and then, per Trump, was never needed to begin with — in 72 hours.
Phase Four: Out, Then Talking, Then Frustrated (March 20-26)
On March 20, Trump suggested the U.S. was stepping back from the Hormuz mission entirely: “The Hormuz Strait will have to be guarded and policed, as necessary, by other nations who use it.” Three days later, on March 23, he announced a diplomatic breakthrough: “I am pleased to report the United States of America and the country of Iran have had, over the last two days, very good and productive conversations.” Three days after that, on March 26, the mood shifted: “The Iranian negotiators are very different and strange.” The talks, briefly described as productive, had apparently soured within the same week they were announced.
Phase Five: Ceasefire Day — Two Posts, Twelve Hours Apart (April 7)
April 7 produced the war’s sharpest single-day whiplash. In the morning, Trump posted: “A whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again.” That evening, he announced: “I agree to suspend the bombing and attack of Iran for a period of two weeks. This will be a double-sided ceasefire. We received a 10-point proposal from Iran and believe it is a workable basis on which to negotiate.” Just after midnight, he declared: “It was a big day for world peace.” The civilization that was going to die that night had, within hours, become the basis for a negotiated settlement.
The ceasefire lasted less than 24 hours in tone if not in fact. The following day, April 8, Trump posted: “There are reports Iran is charging fees to tankers going through the Hormuz Strait. They better not be.” On April 10: “The Iranians don’t seem to realize they have no cards.” On April 17, Trump announced: “Iran has just announced the Strait of Iran is fully open and ready for full passage. Thank you. A great and brilliant day for the world” — notably referring to the Strait of Hormuz as the “Strait of Iran.” Two days later, on April 19: “Iran recently announced that they were closing the strait.” The strait that was fully open on April 17 was closed again by April 19.
Phase Six: Project Freedom — 48 Hours (May 3-5)
The final chapter in the Hayes timeline arrived in early May, when Trump announced a new initiative to open the strait. On May 3: “Project Freedom will begin Monday morning.” On May 4, Monday: “Project Freedom is expanding its ranks. Perhaps it’s time for South Korea to come and join the mission.” On Tuesday May 5, within 48 hours of the launch: “Project Freedom will be paused for a short period of time.” An initiative that had been announced, expanded, and paused — all within two days.
What Booker Says This Adds Up To
For Booker, the through-line of the timeline is not strategic ambiguity or tough negotiating — it is the absence of any coherent strategy at all, communicated in real time to the American public and the world through a social media platform. His February 28 statement established the standard he has returned to repeatedly: “The American people deserve honesty, not bluster; clarity and sober judgment, not reckless adventurism in matters of national security,” according to his official Senate website. His Saturday post — “We must end this reckless war now” — is the same argument, delivered after more than two months of the contradictions he said began on day one.
The war has now lasted more than ten weeks, claimed six American service members’ lives, disrupted global energy markets to a degree the International Energy Agency has called the largest supply disruption in the history of the oil market, and cost an estimated $25 billion in its first two months. A fragile ceasefire remains in place. Peace talks continue in Islamabad. And Trump’s Truth Social account continues to post — with Hayes’s conclusion standing as the final word on the record so far: “There are hundreds of posts, and you can trust exactly none of them.”