Ten days before the invasion, National Security Advisor Henry Kissinger had hinted that the United States was considering a change in policy regarding Vietnam, saying, "We no longer live in a world in which we can afford to allow small nations to determine our policy or to cripple policies which could be the difference between war and peace."
On the same day as the Cambodian invasion, Nixon told the American public that he had ordered the invasion to clean out the North Vietnamese sanctuaries that were being used as bases to attack American and South Vietnamese forces, while at the same time attempting to minimize United States casualties and involvement.
The invasion was met with widespread opposition in the United States, and many people believed that it was an illegal act of war. The invasion was also a contributing factor to the widening of the Vietnam War to other countries, and to the growth of the anti-war movement within the United States.