Donald Trump backs criticism of 1973 US War Powers Act

US President Donald Trump on May 18 shared on Truth Social a statement by conservative commentator Mark Levin defending broad presidential war powers and criticising the 1973 War Powers Act, thereby backing Levin’s position.

Levin, in a post on X on March 4, argued that no US president has ever recognised the constitutionality of the law, saying it has consistently been viewed as an infringement on the principle of separation of powers, Caliber.Az reports.

He also claimed that Congress uses the act as a political tool depending on which party controls the White House, and pointed to the constitutional distinction between Congress’s authority to “declare war” and the president’s role as commander-in-chief.

President Trump shares Mark Levin’s post on TruthSocial:

Mark Levin: THE TRUTH ABOUT WAR POWERS -- DECLARING WAR, MAKING WAR, THE CONSTITUTION, AND THE WAR POWERS ACT

FACT: No president, of either party, has accepted the constitutionality of the 1973 War Powers Act. Every… pic.twitter.com/3IBgu56J7Q

— Donald J Trump Posts TruthSocial (@TruthTrumpPost) May 19, 2026

“The only power Congress has to prevent a military operation is the power of the purse. That said, a president who, as commander-in-chief, has authorized military action will not sign such a bill for it is intended to prevent what he has already commanded. Therefore, Congress would need a two-thirds majority of both Houses to override his veto. In other words, a president has broad power to take military action,” he wrote.

According to him, except for the vice president, the president is the only federal official elected by the entire nation.

“In addition to the institutional impossibility of war powers and decisions in the hands of a multi-member body like Congress, the president is the only official who was elected to, among other things, serve as commander-in-chief,” Levin added.

The US Constitution grants Congress—not the president—the power to declare war.

Congress has previously attempted to limit Trump’s authority regarding potential military operations against Iran.

By Bakhtiyar Abbasov