Mike Waltz, the United States ambassador to the United Nations, pushed back against questions from Kristen Welker during an appearance on Meet the Press about whether the United States is officially at war with Iran.

Welker asked Waltz whether the military strikes ordered by Donald Trump against Iran’s regime should be described as a war. Trump had earlier announced that U.S. forces, together with the Israel Defense Forces, carried out attacks targeting Iranian sites.

Waltz responded by arguing that Iran had effectively been waging war against the United States for years through attacks and proxy groups.

“President Trump is ending it,” Waltz said, adding that the legal definition of a war under the War Powers Act is something typically debated by lawyers and Congress.

He also noted that Marco Rubio, the U.S. secretary of state, had been regularly briefing congressional leaders about the situation.

Efforts by Democratic lawmakers to stop U.S. military operations against Iran were defeated in both chambers of the United States Congress.

During the interview, Waltz pointed to decades of attacks linked to Iran and its proxy forces, including groups such as Hezbollah, Hamas, and the Houthis. He referenced past incidents including the 1983 bombing in Beirut and attacks against U.S. troops in Iraq.

Waltz said more than 600 American service members had been killed over the years due to attacks tied to Iran or its proxies.

The exchange comes amid escalating conflict following recent Iranian strikes across the Middle East. On March 1, six U.S. service members were killed when an Iranian strike hit a technical operations center in Kuwait.

Waltz also referenced the 2020 U.S. strike ordered by Trump that killed Qasem Soleimani, a top commander in the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, who had been accused by the U.S. of orchestrating attacks against American troops in the region.