Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) on Tuesday condemned President Donald Trump over his “war of choice” in Iran, noting the precarious conflict has left the United States of America “worse off than before” — and can likely only be resolved through diplomacy.

Paul appeared on MS NOW to discuss the matter on “Morning Joe” with co-host Willie Geist two days after Trump claimed a deal to end the Iran war was “imminent.” The MAGA leader has stated as much before on numerous occasions since launching the war in February.

“This is a war of choice, and it wouldn’t have been my choice,” said Paul. “I think if you look at it objectively, one step forward — we decimated their military — but two steps backwards, in that they militarized the Strait [of Hormuz]. The strait has never been militarized.”

He argued negotiations won’t occur “until you get a demilitarization of the strait, and you will still have to negotiate to get any nuclear achievement, despite the military victory, so I think that really we, by any objective viewing, are worse off now than we were before the war.”

The conflict has cost at least 18 U.S. military service members and more than 3,000 Iranians their lives, and led Iran to close the Strait of Hormuz — through which a fifth of the world’s oil passes — driving up gas and food costs and sparking fears of a global energy crisis.

Trump signed a memorandum of understanding with Iran in June to create a temporary ceasefire in hopes of negotiating an end to the war, only to declare the pause “over” and renew U.S. bombing campaigns. The war is one of many gripes Paul has had with Trump.

Geist noted Paul has long called for the War Powers Resolution of 1973, a federal law designed to limit the executive branch from launching wanton conflicts without congressional approval, to be implemented and formally reintroduced to the public.

“The Constitution says that the declaration of war, the initiation of war, is a vote of Congress,” said Paul. “It was a big debate in the Constitutional Convention. All of our Founding Fathers, from Hamilton to Jefferson, agreed. They didn’t want this power in the hands of one person.”

He continued Tuesday, “Surely, there needs to be a vote.”

Paul endorsed Trump in the 2020 election, but held off during his 2024 campaign. The GOP senator later added his support, saying he was “wrong” to withhold his endorsement, but has since vocally opposed the MAGA administration regarding several foreign policy issues.

The libertarian conservative has repeatedly condemned Trump and his administration over their lethal military airstrikes on suspected drug smugglers in Caribbean and Pacific waters, describing these as “summary execution” — and continues to oppose the Iran war.

“The sooner the war ends, the better,” he told Geist. “And there are a lot of alternatives, if you still want to strive for your objective. And it’s hard for people who begin a massive war and have spent tens of billions of dollars on this bombing campaign.”

He continued, “It will be very hard for them to leave and not try to get their goal ... and it’s a noble goal, removal of the enriched uranium. If they could get that, they could really go a long way towards saying, ‘Well, gosh, it was justified, we got rid of their enriched uranium.’”

Paul argued that the only way to do so is to negotiate, however.

He noted U.S. bombing campaigns have failed to result in regime change or inspections of Iran’s nuclear facilities, and added that the only way to ensure as much is to trade a relief of sanctions with a deal to have their remaining supplies of enriched uranium removed.

“And you wouldn’t have to worry about whether they’re telling the truth or not, because it would be the removal of something that physically would happen,” he said. “So I think there is possibility for a peace, but there are some in my party that don’t want any peace.”

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