Trump blames Biden, Harris for Iran's attack on Israel: 'Very close to global catastrophe'

Hours before the vice presidential debate, former President Donald Trump addressed a crowd at his campaign rally in Wisconsin and bashed the Biden administration over Iran's historic attack on Israel. 

"A short time ago, Iran launched 181 ballistic missiles at Israel... I've been talking about World War III for a long time, and I don't want to make predictions because the predictions always come true. We're not going to make [predictions]… but they are very close to global catastrophe," Trump said. "We have a non-existent president and a non-existent vice president who should be in charge, but nobody knows what's going on."

Trump's comments come after Israel said Iran launched 181 ballistic missiles at the country, marking the largest ballistic missile attack in history. 

Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said the attack was in retaliation for the killing of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah in Beirut, Lebanon, in an Israeli airstrike late last week and the killing of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran in July, according to Fox News Chief Foreign Correspondent Trey Yingst.

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Iran's Revolutionary Guard warned in a statement released by Iranian state media that if Israel responds to the missile barrage, "it will face crushing attacks."

Trump accused President Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris of weak leadership on the world stage.

"That's why Israel was under attack just a little while ago. Because they don't respect our country anymore. The so-called enemy doesn't respect our country any longer," Trump said.

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Trump claimed Biden and Harris made Iran rich in a very short period of time.

"They have $300 billion now. They're rich. I mean, they pay 6 billion every time they have somebody that was kidnaped, it's always $6 billion," Trump said.

"Iran was on the verge of bankruptcy. They had no money left. They had no money for Hamas. They had no money for Hezbollah. The people they're fighting now, they would have been willing to make any deal. You could have made any deal. But Kamala flooded them with American cash and everything. Now, I mean, they're flooding them with cash. It's honestly not even believable," Trump continued.

At a separate campaign event in Milwaukee later on Tuesday, Trump was asked by a reporter about remarks he made last week after the two assassination attempts on his life. He said he would blow the Islamic Republic to to smithereens if they tried to attack him.

"Last week you had suggested that if Iran tried to attack you, that you would blow the country to smithereens. How would you handle Iran right now without US forces? Would you use U.S. force?" Trump was asked.

"You know, I wouldn't be around if they did that. But let's assume I'm not around, the President of the United States should blow that country to smithereens, because you can't do that, Trump replied.

"And the president should make a statement to that effect," he added.

Trump added that Iran wasn't in a position to sponsor terrorism when he was in the White House. He cited the Biden administration's issuing of a sanctions waiver in September 2023, which allowed $6 billion in frozen Iranian funds to be transferred from South Korea to Qatar as part of a deal to free five detained Americans in Iran.

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National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said the Iranian missile attack on Israel was "defeated and ineffective" and that the U.S. military coordinated with the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) to repel the strikes. 

"U.S. naval destroyers joined Israeli Air Defense units in firing interceptors to shoot down inbound missiles. President Biden and Vice President Harris monitored the attack and the response from the White House Situation Room, joined in person and remotely by their national security team," Sullivan said. 

Sullivan characterized the attack as a "significant escalation" while speaking at a White House briefing on Tuesday.

Sullivan said no deaths were reported on the Israeli side, although the White House is monitoring the reported death of a Palestinian civilian in Jericho in the West Bank.

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"We do not know of any damage to aircraft or strategic military assets in Israel. In short, based on what we know at this point, this attack appears to have been defeated and ineffective. The word fog of war was invented for a situation like this. This is a fluid situation," he said.

Many missiles were intercepted by Israel's missile defense systems, while others did hit the ground. 

The Pentagon says the U.S. fired approximately 12 interceptors against Iranian missiles.

Fox News’ Louis Casiano, Michael Dorgan, Stephen Sorace, Liz Friden, Nicolas Rojas, Greg Norman and The Associated Press contributed to this report.