The escalating conflict between Israel and Iran is dramatically fracturing political forces that united to elect President Donald Trump in 2024.
Rival factions within the MAGA movement are currently engaged in an intense internal conflict, with doubts surfacing about whether the president will take the desired course of action.
President Trump himself broke ties with one of his trusted advisers last Tuesday, rejecting the Congressional testimony provided by Director of National Security Tulsi Gabbard.
In March, she stated that the intelligence community had assessed Iran was not building a nuclear weapon.
Gabbard’s recent remarks, reevaluated in the past few days, stated, ‘The IC remains firm in its assessment that Iran is not developing nuclear weapons, and Supreme Leader Khamenei has not given approval for the nuclear weapons program he put on hold in 2003.’
‘I don’t care what she said, I think they were very close to having one,’ Trump said flatly when asked him about Gabbard’s comments.
It came as Trump left the G7 Summit in Canada early, traveling back to Washington, DC to monitor the situation in the Middle East.
When reporters asked Gabbard for a reaction to the president’s comments on Monday, she replied, ‘what President Trump is saying is the same thing I said in my annual threat assessment in March to Congress.’
President Donald Trump speaks to reporters aboard Air Force One after departing early from the the G7 summit in Canada to return to Washington
Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard
The sudden Israeli military strikes on Iran last week stunned many of Trump’s supporters who believed the president would not engage in further conflicts in the Middle East.
Journalist Tucker Carlson and former Trump senior advisor Steve Bannon hosted two separate podcasts on each other’s shows on Monday, warning of the disastrous path to war in Iran.
They blamed the ‘deep state’ in the intelligence agencies and war hawk Republicans for swaying Trump to support Israel’s military strikes on Iran.
And they warned the president faced the ‘end of his presidency’ if he got America embroiled into another lengthy war in the Middle East.
The president bristled at Carlson’s criticism, dismissing his comments at the G7.
‘I don’t know what Tucker Carlson is saying, let him go get a television network and say it so the people listen,’ Trump said.
Shortly afterward, the president fired back at Carlson on social media.
‘Somebody please explain to kooky Tucker Carlson that IRAN CAN NEVER HAVE A NUCLEAR WEAPON,’ Trump wrote.
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia sided with Carlson after the president’s criticism, describing Carlson as ‘one of my favorite people.’
‘He fiercely loves his wife, children, and our country. Since being fired by the neocon network Fox News, he has more popularity and viewers than ever before,’ she wrote on X.
“Foreign wars/intervention/regime change put America last, kill innocent people, are making us broke, and will ultimately lead to our destruction,’ she wrote.
‘That’s not kooky. That’s what millions of Americans voted for. It’s what we believe is America First.’
Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., walks through the Senate subway in the Capitol
Former President Donald Trump, Tucker Carlson and Marjorie Taylor Greene during the 3rd round of the LIV Golf Invitational Series Bedminster on July 31, 2022
Carlson and Bannon criticized Fox News for ‘turning up the propaganda hose to full blast’ to try and sell another war in the Middle East to their viewers.
Trump’s support for Israel and the escalating conflict in Iran drew widespread praise from more hawkish Republicans and media personalities, including those of Fox News.
Conservative radio host Mark Levin has taken an elevated role on the Fox News channel, making multiple appearances in prime time to praise Trump’s decision to back the military strikes on Iran.
Former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has also appeared on the network to praise the president’s tough actions in support of Israel.
Sen. Tom Cotton appeared on Levin’s Sunday show and called out the ‘so-called influencers or podcasters’ who were opposed to actions against Iran.
Former US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has cheered on President Trump’s support of Israel
Mark Levin on the set of his Fox News show
‘No offense but they don’t have the authority and accountability under our constitutional system,’ he said.
Investigative political activist Laura Loomer joined attacks on Carlson after the president criticized him, berating ‘every single right winger who is s**t talking Trump right now,’ asking her followers to keep a list.
Many of the president’s top MAGA influencers remain cautiously optimistic that the president will do the right thing, despite a history of reservations about getting into another protracted war in the Middle East.
‘President Trump knows his base. Have some faith in his ability to handle this. His whole life has led to this moment,’ Charlie Kirk wrote on X, sharing an interview with Fox News host Jesse Watters.
‘President Trump knows his base does NOT want another Iraq or endless war,’ Kirk said in the interview, but noted the president was not ‘an isolationist.’
Turning Point USA co-founder Charlie Kirk in the Oval Office
US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee
On Monday morning, Trump posted on social media a long text sent to him from his Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee
‘You have many voices speaking to you sir, but there is only ONE voice that matters. HIS voice,’ Huckabee wrote. ‘I am your appointed servant in this land and am available for you but I do not try to get in your presence often because I trust your instincts.’
Huckabee wrote that God had ‘spared’ Trump in Butler, Pennsylvania for this moment in history.
‘I believe you will hear from heaven and that voice is far more important than mine oar ANYONE else’s,’ he added.
Trump indicated to reporters Monday he was open to any concessions or peace talk offerings from the Iranians, but that he was not personally contacting them.
Although he left open the option of using America’s most lethal ‘bunker-busting’ bombs to take out Iran’s nuclear facilities, he added: ‘I hope their program is going to wiped out long before that.’
‘Remember, Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon. Very simple,’ he concluded.
