From USA TODAY.

President Donald Trump provided an update on the conflict with Iran on March 2, laying out his justification for the strikes. Trump said that Iran’s ballistic missile program was also growing "rapidly and dramatically" and it "posed a very clear, colossal threat" to the United States and its forces stationed at overseas bases.

The president insisted Tehran already had missiles capable of hitting Europe and "would soon have had missiles capable of reaching our beautiful America."

But experts interviewed by USA TODAY have also cast doubts on the administration’s claim that Iran was close to making ballistic missiles that could reach the United States as the nation’s own intelligence reports don’t back those assertions.

Read more: https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2026/02/28/trump-iran-attack-justification/88920586007/

Sign up for our newsletter for the day’s top stories, from sports to movies to politics to world events: https://profile.usatoday.com/newsletters/daily-briefing/