Seth Meyers takes A Closer Look at Congress limiting Trump’s war powers

Seth Meyers argues that President Donald Trump’s lies about Iran led Congress to limit his war powers.

After bringing the country to the brink of war, President Donald Trump could find that attacking Iran is a little more difficult now. That was the sentiment from Seth Meyers in “A Closer Look” after the House voted to limit President Trump’s war powers.

The situation with Iran is shaping up to be yet another misstep for the Trump administration. The airstrike that killed Iranian military leader Qasem Soleimani was criticized both at home and abroad, discouraged Iran from negotiating a nuclear weapons agreement, and led to a retaliatory strike on U.S. bases in Iraq.

But if you ask President Donald Trump, it was another masterstroke of foreign policy and military strategy. That was the gist of President Trump’s speech that was subsequently deconstructed by Late Night with Seth Meyers on Wednesday night.

As proof of the lack of confidence in the White House strategy on Iran, the House of Representatives voted to limit the President’s war powers. The resolution requires Congressional approval for any further military action in Iran.

According to Seth Meyers, Congress was more than justified for limiting President Trump’s powers. And no matter what President Trump says, he has no one to blame but himself and his own administration.

Meyers recaps the ways in which President Trump made it necessary for Congress to limit his war powers. He threatened Iranian cultural sites multiple times which would amount to a war crime. That forced members of his administration to go on television and argue the opposite, therefore lying about President Trump’s intentions.

“A Closer Look” can make its argument with ease because of how many times President Trump has demonstrated a willingness to circumvent the law or order illegal behavior from his subordinates. For Meyers, looking at President Trump’s past is a clear indication of what his future behavior may entail. And it doesn’t exactly say “competent, ethical wartime leader” to the Late Show host.

Meyers also points to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo as another reason Congress acted to limit President Trump’s powers. Secretary Pompeo has had a number of opportunities to justify the strike that killed Soleimani. Yet nothing from Pompeo or the White House has convinced the public that there was a planned attack that warranted a preemptive attack.

And it’s not just Meyers who sees it this way. Late Night  cuts together footage of a number of lawmakers indicating that there was no specific threat against the U.S. and that the Trump administration is lying, in over its head, or both. But then again, President Trump said that “numerous” senators and congresspeople called him and said the military briefing was the greatest presentation they’d ever seen.

Chances are that comment was another one of President Trump’s alternate realities. “A Closer Look” has become late night’s version of a translator, trying to make sense of Trump’s world where he is the hero and has all the power. But as Seth Meyers showed, President Trump just got his reality check.