DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin told NewsNation on Wednesday that strikes on Iran were required after Tehran neared a nuclear device under Biden-era policies.

Mullin said the president confronted the Iran matter directly while noting present fuel-cost increases and posing whether that country should possess such a weapon. He described the situation as an eventual confrontation because Iran had sought the capability for 49 years and had reached a weeks-long remaining timeline due to those earlier policies.

Mullin called the choice difficult rather than casual, with White House discussions on whether to proceed. As commander in chief the president selected what Mullin termed the correct long-term course for the nation a decade ahead, not the politically convenient one, to prevent Iran from ever obtaining a nuclear weapon, and spoke on the matter that evening.