After campaigning as a peacemaker, President Donald Trump is publicly teasing military action in Iran — and splitting his base in the process.
“I’m not looking to fight,” Trump said Wednesday in the Oval Office. “But if it’s a choice between them fighting or having a nuclear weapon, you have to do what you have to do.”
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Trump has been issuing threats in hopes of getting Iran to agree to an “unconditional surrender” and to give up its nuclear ambitions without further military conflict. In a Truth Social post he wrote that the U.S. knows where Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei is hiding, but remains safe for now.
“We are not going to take him out (kill!), at least not for now,” Trump wrote. “But we don’t want missiles shot at civilians, or American soldiers. Our patience is wearing thin. Thank you for your attention to this matter!”
That language has some of Trump’s opponents and even some of his supporters crying foul, charging that he’s pushing regime change the same way former President George W. Bush did in Iraq two decades ago.
Trump has been a vocal critic of the Iraq war and campaigned heavily on being a president who would end wars rather than start them. His vice president, J.D. Vance, was deployed to Iraq in 2005 and is arguably even stronger in his anti-war views
Vance is publicly backing Trump, but some other allies, most notably former Fox News host Tucker Carlson, have accused the president of being complicit in Israel’s strikes against Iran. Carlson urged the Trump administration to “drop Israel. Let them fight their own wars. … What happens next will define Donald Trump’s presidency.”
Trump was not amused at the comments. Asked about Carlson on Monday, he said, “I don’t know what Tucker Carlson is saying. Let him get a television network and say it so people listen.”
In another series of social media posts, Trump said, “Somebody please explain to kooky Tucker Carlson that,” IRAN CAN NOT HAVE A NUCLEAR WEAPON!” and argued that preventing the country from having nuclear bombs is perfectly consistent with his “America First” agenda.
Still, Trump’s base shows signs of splitting over the issue. Firebrand Rep. Marjorie Taylor-Greene (R-GA) wrote that “Anyone slobbering for the U.S. to become fully involved in the Israel/Iran war is not America First/MAGA.”
On the other hand, former White House strategist and media personality Steve Bannon outlined a pathway for the United States to enter into Israel‘s war against Iran without kicking up a full-scale MAGA revolt, arguing that Trump has earned the trust of his base.
“The vast majority of the MAGA movement will go, ‘Look, we trust your judgment,’” Bannon told reporters at a Christian Science Monitor breakfast in Washington, D.C. “You’ve walked us through this. We don’t like it. In fact, maybe we hate it, but, you know, we’ll get on board.”
Vance made a similar argument in a lengthy X post, writing that “the president has earned some trust on this issue.”
Even Carlson has appeared to soften, according to Trump.
Carlson hosted a two-hour debate with Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) over the matter. Asked about the interview, and apparently having not seen it yet, Trump said, “Tucker is a nice guy. He called and apologized the other day because he thought he said things that were a bit too strong… Ted Cruz is a nice guy. I mean, he’s been with me for a long time.”
Sen. Lindsay Graham (R-SC) backed Trump’s position that an Iran with nuclear arms is too big a danger to ignore and must be prevented one way or the other.
“Either you want them to have a nuclear weapon or you don’t,” he said. “And if you don’t, if diplomacy fails, you use force. So if you don’t understand that Iran with a nuclear weapon is the biggest danger in the world, you’re missing a lot.”
Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) remains skeptical.
“I think Trump’s message to them is if you don’t [give up nukes], you’re on your own with Israel. I think all that’s fine,” Hawley said. “It’s a very different thing though for us to then say, but we are going to offensively go strike Iran or insert ourselves into the conflict.”
Hawley said U.S. offensive action is something “I’d be real concerned about.”
“Trump’s offering [Iran] an off ramp. Take the off ramp,” he said. “If not, you’re going to be on your own with Israel, but I don’t think there’s a need for the United States to affirmatively insert ourselves.”
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Ultimately, the outcome of the conflict may determine where people’s loyalty lies, argues GOP strategist Jason Roe.
“It really does depend on the outcome,” Roe said. “If we’re successful, and we feel like we’ve accomplished something, I think everybody will fall in line.”
Samatha-Jo Roth contributed to this story