'It's blowing up': Iran sparks a MAGA civil war as Trump allies feud
Trump has been weighing his administration's next steps on Iran as Israel bombs the country, attacking it's nuclear sites and other targets.
More: Israel-Iran timeline: How Israeli attack and Iranian retaliation unfolded
"I may do it. I may not do it. Nobody knows what I'm going to do," Trump said June 18 about whether he could order a U.S. attack on Iran.
Some conservatives have urged Trump to support Israel more forcefully and use the American military to help destroy Iran's nuclear facilities, drawing pushback from leading MAGA figures like Rep. Marjorie Taylor Green of Georgia, Tucker Carlson and former White House chief strategist Steve Bannon.
The conservative rift highlights how Iran marks a major decision point in Trump's presidency, with his base closely watching to see if he'll engage in the type of foreign conflict launched during the George W. Bush administration and that he long criticized after first running for president in 2016 as an ardent critic of the war in Iraq.
Lindsey Graham, Mitch McConnell Mark Levin, Hugh Hewitt: Help Israel
More: The risks for Trump of 'regime change' in Iran: Just ask George W. Bush
Israel's assault on Iran began June 13, creating a new conflict in the Middle East involving one of America's closest allies.
The United States has long worked to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon. The Trump administration has been negotiating with Iranian leaders to reach a nuclear deal, but now faces a new reality as bombs fall on the country.
More traditional GOP foreign policy hawks such as former Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky are now advocating that the U.S. turn from diplomatic discussions to attacking Iranian nuclear sites.
"Be all in, President Trump, in helping Israel eliminate the nuclear threat," Sen. Lindsey Graham said on Fox News June 16. "If we need to provide bombs to Israel, provide bombs. If we need to fly planes with Israel, do joint operations."
Conservative media figures such as Mark Levin and Hugh Hewitt also have encouraged Trump to take a forceful approach.
"We need to stand behind our commander in chief, we need to stand behind the Israelis, we need to put this evil to rest once and for all... it's time to get rid of them," Levin said on Fox News, where he hosts a show.
Hewitt, a conservative radio host and Fox News contributor, encouraged Trump to bomb an Iranian nuclear site buried beneath a mountain with bunker-busting munitions that Israel doesn't have.
"I hope he does, I think it will secure his place in history as a peacemaker," Hewitt said on Fox News.
Tucker Carlson, Steve Bannon lead MAGA backlash on Iran
More: Iran's nuclear sites before and after Israeli attacks: See updated maps, satellite images
The idea of U.S. military action in Iran is being met with a wave of MAGA opposition.
Prominent conservative media figures like Carlson and Bannon are among the leading voices against Trump unleashing the U.S. military on Tehran.
Stopping "forever wars" is one of the three "planks" of the MAGA movement, Bannon said in a recent discussion with Carlson, who said the coalition is fracturing over the Iran issue.
More: How Steve Bannon thinks MAGA will respond if Trump strikes Iran
"I'm really afraid that my country's going to be further weakened by this," Carlson said in an appearance on Bannon's podcast. "I think we're going to see the end of American empire. Obviously, other nations would like to see that, and this is a perfect way to scuttle the USS America on the shoals of Iran."
Bannon, Trump's former 2016 campaign CEO, criticized the idea that "America's got to go on offense," saying Trump should be focused on deporting undocumented immigrants.
Carlson's agitation against American involvement in Iran has irked Trump, who lashed out at him on social media.
"Somebody please explain to kooky Tucker Carlson that, 'Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon,'" Trump wrote about the former Fox News host, who now has an online show.
Speaking to reporters on June 18, Bannon said Trump could still win over his MAGA critics should the president decide there's no diplomatic solution with Iran. Trump can do that by walking his most fervent supporters, as well as the American public, through his thinking.
"There will be some, but the vast majority of the MAGA movement will go, 'Look, we trust your judgement, you've walked us through this, we don't like it, in fact maybe we hate it, but we'll get on board,'" Bannon said.
Marjorie Taylor Greene comes to Tucker Carlson's defense
More: MTG, Tucker Carlson urge Trump to stay out of Iran, exposing a MAGA rift
Trump's criticism of "kooky" Carlson prompted three-term Georgia GOP Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, a staunch ally of the president who sat with him in the VIP section at his military parade over the weekend, to come to Carlson's defense.
Greene said in a June 16 social media post 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. That's what millions of Americans voted for. It's what we believe is America First," Greene added.
It's highly unusual for Trump to face pushback on his comments from someone such as Greene, a MAGA stalwart, highlighting how the president is facing a difficult moment with his base in trying to negotiate the Iran issue.
Carlson said Trump's MAGA movement is the "defining fact of American politics and it kind of feels like it's blowing up over this war in Iran."
Tucker Carlson spars with Ted Cruz
More: Tucker Carlson grills Ted Cruz on Iran, highlighting conservative rift
Trump's broadside against Carlson hasn't stopped MAGA figures from pressing on the Iran issue, including a contentious exchange recently between Carlson and U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas.
"How many people live in Iran by the way?" Carlson asked Cruz in an excerpt released June 17 from an interview for Carlson's online show.
Cruz, who recently said on Fox News it's "very much in the interest of America to see regime change" in Iran, told Carlson he didn't know the country's population.
"You don't know the population of the country you seek to topple?" Carlson continued, before another exchange that resulted in Carlson declaring "You don't know anything about Iran!"
"I am not the Tucker Carlson expert on Iran," Cruz responded.
"You're a senator whose calling for the overthrow of the government," Carlson retorted.
Donald Trump downplays MAGA rift on Iran
Trump brushed off MAGA divisions over potential U.S. involvement in strikes on Iran, telling reporters during an impromptu question and answer session while installing a 100-foot-tall flagpole at the White House on June 18 that his supporters are "more in love" with him now than they were during the 2024 election.
"I only want one thing: Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon," Trump said. "It's not a question of anything else."
Justifying his own position, Trump said that if Iran were to develop nuclear capabilities, it would unleash them on the United States and other countries. "And they'd be a terror all over the world," he said.
"So I may have some people that are a little bit unhappy now, and I have some people that are very happy," Trump said. "And I have people outside of the base that can't believe this is happening, they're so happy."
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