BILLINGS, Mont. – One of Layton Tallwhiteman’s earliest memories was watching the news at his uncle’s house in Montana in 2003 and seeing the U.S. bomb Baghdad to launch the war in Iraq.

Recollections of that war — waged in part to find weapons of mass destruction that did not exist – flooded back for Tallwhiteman after President Donald Trump ordered weekend bombing strikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities amid its escalating conflict with Israel.

The administration has indicated it wants to avoid getting pulled into all-out war. Tallwhiteman, who grew up on the Northern Cheyenne Reservation southeast of Billings, is skeptical.

“Their idea is to eliminate the threat. Like Bush said in Iraq, ‘We’re going to eliminate the threat. We’re going to find weapons of mass destruction and eliminate them.’ Did that work the way he planned? No, obviously it didn’t,” said Tallwhiteman. The 30-year-old driver for a food distribution company said he usually votes Libertarian, but backed Democrat Kamala Harris over Trump last year.

Across the U.S. on Sunday, Americans expressed a mixture of support, apprehension and anxiety over the bombings, which officials said caused severe damage to Iran’s nuclear sites. Administration officials said the strikes left room for Iran to return to negotiations over its nuclear program. Yet if the conflict spirals, it could test Trump’s foreign diplomacy skills and also his support at home.

‘It had to be done’

B-2 bombers that participated in the weekend strikes returned home to Whiteman Air Force Base in Missouri on Sunday. Nearby, retired Air Force veteran Ken Slabaugh said he was “100% supportive” of Trump’s decision and the military personnel who carried it out.

Slabaugh said Iran has showed resistance to negotiations over its nuclear program for decades, a problem that he said Trump inherited. Iran can’t be trusted, Slabaugh said, nor allowed to acquire nuclear weapons.

“It simply had to be done,” he said of the strikes, adding that he’s now concerned for members of the military around the world.

“I’m proud of the guys and the gals that are doing the work out there. Nobody in the world does this like we do, and we have the freedom and liberty we enjoy because of that,” Slabaugh said.

Hundreds of people gathered in New York’s Times Square on Sunday to protest the bombings, waving signs that said “STOP THE WAR ON IRAN” and “TRUMP IS A WAR CRIMINAL.” Among them was Dana Cote, who was in the city when the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks occurred. Cote worried that bombing Iran would “open a can of worms that we’re not going to be able to close” and prompt extremists to again attack the U.S.

A much smaller group of pro-Trump supporters gathered nearby. They held up flags for Israel and Trump, and used air horns to try to drown out the demonstrators.

“I think it’s the best thing that Trump could have done. It should have been done 40 years ago,” said Nancy Myer of New York.

In Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, Andrew Williams, 18, said he was surprised by the timing of the attack, given that many Republicans had expressed opposition to U.S. involvement in the Israel-Iran war. Still, he thought it was necessary if Iran was building nuclear weapons.

“If we are able to get rid of that, that is something we should do,” Williams said.

Robert Wallette of Billings said Trump had “good reason” to conduct the bombing as a demonstration of American support for Israel.

“Iran’s evil, evil people. They hate Americans,” he said.

Concern about conflict spinning out of control

Wallette, 69, a retired contract specialist at the federal Indian Health Service, said he hated Trump when the Republican was first elected because of his arrogant style.

His perspective started to shift after Trump moved the U.S. embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. In 2024, Wallette voted for Trump based on his promises to curb illegal immigration, putting him among the 60% of voters backing Trump last year in Yellowstone County, which includes Billings.

Notwithstanding his support, Wallette was unsure if Trump can avoid the U.S. getting drawn into a deeper conflict with Iran.

“Other countries are getting involved and this may be out of his control,” he said.

Kent Berame, 32, of Davie, Florida, said it was a little outrageous for Trump to go rogue and approve the attack without explicit support from Congress. He said he doesn’t agree with the United States supporting Israel’s recent attacks on Iran.

“There’s concern that we’re putting troops in danger,” said Berame, a Democrat who owns his own marketing company. “And obviously there’s a retaliatory response toward all of our bases over there.”

Berame said it’s frustrating that the U.S. might be increasing hostilities with Iran just a few years after finally ending the war in Afghanistan.

“I don’t want to see any U.S. soldiers in harm’s way or in danger,” he said.

Back in Billings, Trump voter Patty Ellman said she worries about the U.S. getting sucked into another extended conflict.

“We have enough going on in America to get into other countries’ wars. Let’s just take care of us right now,” she said.

Ellman, a 61-year-old who stepped in as caregiver for her ex-husband after he suffered a stroke, said the U.S. should retaliate if attacked, but otherwise stay out of Iran’s conflict with other countries.

“That’s their business,” she said. “We need to worry about Americans and how we’re going to survive and are we going to have Social Security.”

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With contributions from David Fischer in Davie, Florida; Nicholas Ingram in Knob Noster, Missouri; Mingson Lau in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware and Aron Ranen in New York.