During my six years serving on the Foreign Affairs Committee, I watched prominent Republicans accuse Democrats like Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, Joe Biden, and Kamala Harris of dragging the world to the brink of World War III. In fact, Donald Trump himself campaigned on a clear promise: “I will tell you you’re not going to have a war with me and you’re not going to have a third world war with me, that I can tell you.” Fifteen months into Donald Trump’s second term, we are not in World War III yet. But this is what it would look like if we were. All the warning signs are there: a rogue superpower deploying military force across multiple continents, a cascading energy crisis threatening billions of people, proxy forces and great powers being drawn in from every direction, and a nuclear proliferation spiral that may prove the most dangerous long-term consequence of all. And at the center of it is the one man — acting largely alone, with contempt for international law and no authorization from Congress. The same man who got elected promising exactly the opposite. The U.S. as a rogue stateUnder Donald Trump, the United States is now a rogue superpower, using military force with a frequency unseen in our history. No modern president has ordered more military strikes against as many countries as Trump. He has attacked seven different nations and ordered more individual air strikes in 2025 alone than President Biden did in four years. We have launched strikes against Nigeria. We are in our second war with Iran. And have turned the Western Hemisphere into a warzone. In the Americas alone: a decapitation raid against Venezuela, a naval blockade of Cuba paired with threats to “take” the island, threats to the president of Colombia with a Venezuela-style operation, and open discussion of forcing Canada to become our 51st state. These are not the actions of the leader of the Free World. These are the actions of a rogue state. And the world has seen before what happens when the nation with the most powerful military in the world goes rogue. An Energy Crisis on Top of an Affordability CrisisThese actions are not without consequences at home. It’s no secret that we are in the middle of an ongoing affordability crisis, and $4 gas is not helping. Ordinary folks have to get to work every day. They can’t go remote, and they can’t wait this out. All around the world, Trump’s war of choice with Iran is being felt at the gas pump — and soon in the stomachs of people from Africa to South Asia to the Persian Gulf. Brent crude surpassed $100 per barrel on March 8 for the first time in four years, peaking at $126 per barrel. Analysts are now gaming out scenarios where prices reach $200. The closure of the Strait of Hormuz — through which roughly 20 percent of the world’s crude oil and natural gas and 30 percent of liquified gas flows — has been described as the largest disruption to the energy supply since the 1970s. Seven exporting nations have been directly affected: Saudi Arabia, Iran, Iraq, UAE, Kuwait, Qatar, and Bahrain. Europe faces surging prices and diesel shortages within weeks. If the strait remains closed, the world will have no choice but to dramatically cut its consumption, a choice many working Americans don’t have. A widening war of choice with IranThis is a war with real American casualties, launched without any vote in Congress. It is not a limited operation, and despite Trump’s claims, we do not control exactly when and how it will end. More than 50,000 American service members are now in the region, including hundreds of U.S. Special Operations Forces. Over 300 American service members have been wounded in this war, some severely, and over a dozen have been killed. In addition, Iran’s retaliatory strikes on U.S. military installations have caused an estimated $800 million in damage, and we have burned through difficult-to-replace munitions like Tomahawk missiles and Patriot interceptors, leaving other theaters like Europe and Asia short. The President can say we are wrapping up operations, but when you start a fire, you can’t always control when it goes out. Widening wars that implicate global energy supplies are guaranteed to draw other great powers into a conflict. Ukrainian intelligence has confirmed that Russia is providing Iran with targeting data and assistance that has allowed them to conduct precise strikes on American assets deep within allied airspace. Despite having American blood on their hands, the Trump Administration has lifted sanctions on Russian oil and gas to try to offset the loss of millions of barrels of oil a day not passing through the Strait of Hormuz. Ukraine, as one of the world’s leading producers of battle-tested drone interceptors and knowledge, has been drawn in as well. Ukraine has signed air defense deals with the UAE, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia, and deployed over 200 anti-drone experts to the region. China, who purchases the vast majority of Iranian oil, is also watching this conflict closely and is taking advantage of our shift in focus to increase pressure on Taiwan. During this war China has resumed large-scale air force incursions into Taiwanese airspace. Chinese state media is highlighting the supposed failures of American weapons systems — the same systems defending Taiwan. This is what a world war would look like. The Nuclear Proliferation Time BombPerhaps the single most dangerous long-term consequence of what is unfolding is the lesson the world is learning — and it is the wrong one. Iraq pursued no nuclear weapons program and was invaded. Libya followed a similar path and its leader was killed. Iran negotiated a landmark agreement with the United States and its allies, accepted monitoring and verification of its civilian nuclear program — then watched the U.S. withdraw from that agreement before being attacked before it could produce military-grade enriched uranium. Meanwhile, North Korea developed nuclear weapons, has largely been left alone, and has even seen relations restored under Trump. Kim Jong Un is already using the war in Iran to justify expanding his nuclear arsenal, calling it the party’s “firm will” to increase both the number of weapons and the means to deploy them. For governments in capitals around the world, the calculus is clear: the only reliable protection is to get your own bomb. Proliferation, once it cascades, is nearly impossible to reverse. This is the enduring legacy of attacking non-nuclear states while leaving North Korea untouched. The message to every government on earth is stark: negotiate at your peril. Congress Must Act — NowThe Constitution vests the power to declare war in Congress. The War Powers Resolution of 1973 was designed to prevent exactly this: presidents launching wars at will, without debate, without authorization and without accountability. That safeguard has now been exposed as utterly inadequate. Trump administration officials have offered shifting and incompatible justifications for the strikes on Iran — preempting retaliation, destroying missile capabilities, preventing a nuclear weapon, securing natural resources, achieving regime change. None of these rationales was reviewed or authorized by Congress. And unlike the Iraq War, there has been no attempt to secure an authorization for the use of military force, making this an unauthorized and illegal war. We are watching the United States attack allies that will not join its wars of choice, destabilize global energy markets, get American soldiers killed, accelerate nuclear proliferation, and draw Russia and China deeper into a conflict — all without a single vote of Congress. The War Powers Act’s 50-year experiment has failed. Congress must reassert its constitutional authority over the decision to go to war. Not next year, not after more nations acquire nuclear weapons, but now, before this President forces us into the next world war.
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