Bill Clinton says Trump’s Iran war lacked an exit strategy and warns ‘you don’t start killing people unless you know how you’re going to stop’

Former U.S. President Bill Clinton criticized Donald Trump’s decision to go to war with Iran, saying he shared the goal of preventing Tehran from obtaining nuclear weapons but believed military action without a clear endgame was the wrong approach.

“Nobody would like it more than me if the Iranians never became a nuclear power and eventually gave over to a genuine democracy,” Clinton said while campaigning for Democratic Senate candidate Scott Colom in Mississippi on Friday.

“We did quite a lot to sabotage their efforts to build nuclear weapons when I was president. But I never thought we should go to war and see a lot of people die because we weren’t about to occupy the country.”

Clinton added: “You don’t start killing people unless you know how you’re going to stop.”

The former president also blamed the Iran war for higher U.S. gasoline prices, describing the conflict as the result of a “not very well thought out” attack.

His criticism comes as Trump considers whether to launch another major round of strikes against Iran after Tuesday’s midterm elections while Qatar continues mediating between Washington and Tehran. Trump said Friday that he believes the war will end soon but insisted the United States needs a guarantee that Iran will never obtain a nuclear weapon.

Clinton broadened his criticism to Trump’s approach toward authoritarian leaders, saying Trump “really admires” Russian President Vladimir Putin and also expressing concern about his praise for Chinese and North Korean leaders.

He also recalled discussing tariffs with Trump when the two had a friendly relationship and played golf more than two decades ago.

According to Clinton, Trump argued even then that the United States could impose tariffs broadly on other countries and reduce domestic taxes. Clinton said he told him foreign producers would not simply absorb the cost.

“They just charge the people who buy the stuff, whatever it is. So we pay the tariffs,” Clinton recalled telling Trump.

“He, just like now, didn’t hear what he didn’t want to hear.”