Tuesday during an appearance on Fox News Channel’s “The Ingraham Angle,” Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) argued the flare-up of hostilities between the United States and Iran could be traced to Barack Obama’s presidency and the failed Iran nuclear deal.

Gaetz said what he believed we were witnessing with regards to the United States’ handling of Iran was the Trump doctrine.

“If the president wanted war with Iran, he’s had plenty of opportunities,” Gaetz said. “He’s chosen to exercise restraint, and I think we’re seeing the Trump doctrine. It’s one where we strike and then move. We don’t invade and then try to persuade people that we’re liberators.”

The Florida Republican said the violence underway could be tied to the Iran deal brokered by the Obama administration and said he hoped President Donald Trump’s handling of the situation would not be a continuation of the previous administration’s policy.

“It’s obvious the violence that Iran has undertaken has been animated by the Iran deal. It has been funded by the Iran deal,” he continued. “And thus, we are in this circumstance because of the failures of the Obama-Biden policy. But let’s make sure the Trump doctrine is not a continuation of the Obama-Bush doctrine. Let’s make sure we are able to match our military might with the right strategic decisions to get out of the Middle East.”

“Think about what China is thinking right now, Gaetz added. “They’re probably laughing and hoping that we get into another two-decade-long war, and they have not spent trillions of dollars, and they have not spilled the blood of their bravest patriots the way we have.”

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