A schism has opened among President Donald Trump's most devout MAGA supporters and national security conservatives over the Israel-Iran conflict, as some longtime defenders of the president's America First mantra call him out for weighing a greater U.S. role in the region.
Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, commentator Tucker Carlson and conservative firebrand Charlie Kirk — with legions of their own devoted followers — are reminding audiences of Trump's 2024 promises to resist overseas military involvement after a week of deadly strikes and counterstrikes between Israel and Iran, and discussion of U.S. involvement.
On social media and their popular airwaves, questions about Trump’s stance from these central validating voices are exposing a crack in his forward guard. They are also warning that the schism could deter progress on other priorities.
“No issue currently divides the right as much as foreign policy,” Kirk wrote on X, adding he was “very concerned” that a massive split among MAGA could “disrupt our momentum and our insanely successful Presidency.”
The State Department and U.S. military last week directed a voluntary evacuation of nonessential personnel and their loved ones from some U.S. diplomatic outposts in the Middle East.
Trump on Monday abruptly departed this week's G7 Summit in Canada due to the intensifying conflict, returning to Washington for urgent talks with his national security team. He also posted an ominous social media warning that “Everyone should immediately evacuate Tehran!”
The moves sparked new speculation from his isolationist devotees that the U.S. might be deepening its involvement, perhaps by providing the Israelis with bunker-busting bombs to penetrate Iranian nuclear sites or offering other direct U.S. military support.
Other strong Trump backers, including Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., are making the case that this is Trump’s moment to deliver a decisive blow against Iran. Graham is calling for Trump to “go all-in” in backing Israel and destroying Iran’s nuclear program.
“If that means providing bombs, provide bombs,” he said Sunday on CBS’s “Face the Nation.” “If that means flying with Israel, fly with Israel.”
Should the U.S. wade into a war in the Middle East, Trump would begin unraveling his own political base, built on ending foreign entanglements, curbing illegal immigration and reducing the trade deficit, former Trump adviser Steve Bannon said Monday.
“It’s going to not just blow up the coalition,” Bannon said on Tucker Carlson’s show. “It's also going to thwart what we’re doing with the most important thing, which is the deportation” of immigrants in the U.S. illegally.
Any option comes with political risk for Trump, who, as he returned to Washington, expressed exasperation at Iranian leaders' failure to reach an agreement.
“They should have done the deal. I told them, ‘Do the deal,’” he told reporters on Air Force One. “So I don’t know. I’m not too much in the mood to negotiate.”
On Tuesday, Trump said on social media that the U.S. knows where Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei is hiding during the conflict but doesn’t want him killed “for now.” He also called for Iran’s “UNCONDITIONAL SURRENDER.”
A look at what some of Trump's top MAGA-world backers are saying:
Tucker Carlson
On Monday, Carlson's increasingly critical rhetoric toward Trump reached a new level, as the longtime supporter who headlined large rallies with Trump during the 2024 campaign suggested Trump's posture was breaking his pledge to keep the United States out of new foreign entanglements.
“You’re not going to convince me that the Iranian people are my enemy,” Carlson said as a guest on “War Room,” the podcast led by 2016 Trump campaign adviser Steve Bannon. “It’s Orwell, man. I’m a free man. You’re not telling me who I have to hate.”
Carlson posted to X that same day his call to challenge other Trump media supporters like Sean Hannity and Mark Levin to push the president to uphold his campaign pledge.
Trump has bristled at the criticism, posting on social media, “Somebody please explain to kooky Tucker Carlson that,’ IRAN CAN NOT HAVE A NUCLEAR WEAPON!’”
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Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene
The Georgia Republican — the epitome of MAGA, sporting the signature red cap for President Joe Biden's 2024 State of the Union address — has publicly sided with Carlson, directly calling out Trump for deriding “one of my favorite people.”
Saying the former Fox News commentator “unapologetically believes the same things I do,” Greene wrote on X Monday night that those beliefs include that “foreign wars/intervention/regime change put America last, kill innocent people, are making us broke, and will ultimately lead to our destruction.”
“That’s not kooky,” Greene added, using the same word Trump used to describe Carlson. “That’s what millions of Americans voted for. It’s what we believe is America First.”
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Charlie Kirk
The founder of Turning Point USA has been generally supportive of Trump, saying Monday in an interview with Fox News that “this is the moment that President Trump was elected for,” but he's also warned of a potential MAGA divide over Iran since last week.
Days later, Kirk said, “Trump voters, especially young people, supported President Trump because he was the first president in my lifetime to not start a new war.” He also wrote that “there is historically little support for America to be actively engaged in yet another offensive war in the Middle East. We must work for and pray for peace.”
That same day, Kirk noted, “The last thing America needs right now is a new war. Our number one desire must be peace, as quickly as possible.”
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There have been other divides
The evolving situation surrounding Iran isn’t the first time Trump and some of his base have diverged, and it's possible the current tension is more of a disagreement than a breakup between the president and the MAGA faithful.
In April, some thought leaders and influential podcasters who backed Trump’s campaign voiced doubts as global markets buckled under the pressure of impending tariffs.
Trump has been critical of U.S. support for Ukraine, in December calling Biden’s decision to allow Ukrainian forces to use American long-range weapons to strike deeper into Russian territory “a very stupid thing to do.” But Trump stopped short of cutting off all funding, something for which other allies, including Carlson, have advocated.
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Kinnard can be reached at http://x.com/MegKinnardAP
Meg Kinnard And Thomas Beaumont, The Associated Press
