Israel-Iran war spotlights MAGA divide
President Trump's handling of escalating tensions in the Middle East is casting a spotlight on divisions among the president's supporters about whether the U.S. should have any involvement in a brewing conflict.
Trump has had voices in his ear advocating for differing approaches to Iran as his administration sought to broker an agreement limiting Tehran's nuclear program.
Figures like Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) and former Fox News host Tucker Carlson have argued voters backed Trump because he would not involve the nation in foreign conflicts.
Carlson, in his morning newsletter Friday, said Trump is 'complicit' in Israel's attack on Iran and warned the escalating conflict between the two nations could lead the U.S. into war.
'What happens next will define Donald Trump's presidency,' Carlson wrote.
Other MAGA figures, such as Fox News host Mark Levin, have advocated for a strong response to Iran, which hawkish figures in the MAGA movement see as a grave threat to the security of the U.S. and its key ally, Israel.
All of this puts Trump at a potential crossroads about how to proceed.
'Our focus must not be on seeking regime change or any further escalation of America's involvement. The last thing America needs right now is a new war. Our number one desire must be peace, as quickly as possible,' Charlie Kirk, an influential voice in the MAGA movement, posted Friday on social platform X.
'Israel believed their existence was at stake, and they acted accordingly and impressively,' Kirk added. 'This is Israel's fight to finish as they see fit, not America's.'
Some Trump allies suggested to The Hill that Israel's strikes gave Trump an opening to split the difference among his supporters.
His more hawkish backers who favored action against Iran have celebrated the strikes and credited, in part, Trump's support for Israel.
'Thanks to our great leader, President Trump, whose support for Israel and world peace has never wavered,' Levin posted on X. 'He's a truly historic and iconic figure.'
Trump allies also suggested those who have warned against getting entangled in a foreign conflict could find reason to breathe a sigh of relief. They pointed to the fact that the U.S. was not involved in the strikes and to Trump's continued openness to brokering a deal with Tehran.
'Two months ago I gave Iran a 60 day ultimatum to 'make a deal.' They should have done it! Today is day 61,' Trump posted Friday on Truth Social. 'I told them what to do, but they just couldn't get there. Now they have, perhaps, a second chance!'
Trump has built a durable and loyal political following on a foreign policy that favors steering clear of foreign conflicts and emphasizing an 'America First' approach. The president campaigned in 2024 on a pledge to end conflicts around the world, specifically in Ukraine and in the Middle East, where Israel and Hamas were at war.
Trump's Cabinet in his first term featured more hawkish figures like John Bolton, who served for roughly a year as national security adviser, and Mike Pompeo, who had separate stints as CIA director and secretary of State.
Bolton said Friday it was time for regime change in Iran, while Pompeo called Israel's strikes 'righteous and necessary.'
Trump's top aides during his second term have focused more on outreach and avoiding conflicts. One of his closest confidantes is Steve Witkoff, a businessman and special envoy for Middle East affairs who has been at the center of peace negotiations in both Ukraine and the Middle East.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio has long been seen as a foreign policy hawk who has been particularly tough on China and Iran. But during his time as Trump's top diplomat, Rubio has aligned himself closely with Trump's 'America First' agenda.
The president had last month extended an olive branch to Iran during a visit to the Middle East, insisting he wanted to see Tehran thrive economically. He even suggested the two sides had 'sort of' agreed to a nuclear deal.
But that optimism gave way to tougher rhetoric in the days leading up to Israel's strikes. Trump described Iran as 'more aggressive' in negotiations and was adamant that Tehran could not enrich uranium as part of any agreement.
As reports swirled about looming strikes against Iran, accentuated by news that the U.S. was evacuating some personnel from the Middle East, prominent MAGA voices appeared on edge about the potential for conflict.
Kirk wrote Thursday morning, before Israel had carried out its attack on Iran, that a U.S. strike against Tehran would 'cause a massive schism in MAGA and potentially disrupt our momentum and our insanely successful Presidency.'
Days earlier, Carlson had accused Levin, his former Fox News colleague, of 'lobbying for war with Iran.' Levin hit back by accusing Carlson of 'planting stories.'
Levin has taken a victory lap in the wake of Israel's strikes against Iran, mocking Carlson as 'Chatsworth Qatarlson.'
'This battle is not over. It just began,' Levin said Friday. 'Please continue your prayers and support for the good guys, the Israelis, and our magnificent armed forces in the region.'
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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Iran vows revenge for Israeli strikes, saying it will write ‘end of this story'
Iran has vowed to avenge the attack on its nuclear sites and the assassination in Tehran of its senior military leadership, saying it would respond forcefully and that the 'end of this story will be written by Iran's hand'. In the first signs of a counterstrike, Israel said Iran had launched 100 drones towards Israel and that its air defences were intercepting them outside Israeli territory. Iraq said more than 100 Iranian drones had crossed its airspace and, soon after, neighbouring Jordan said its air force and defence systems intercepted several missiles and drones that had entered its airspace, for fear they would fall in its territory. Iran, in serious military disarray, denied it had launched any drones and claimed its counterstrike had not been launched. Responding to what amounted to the most serious and largest ever attack by Israel, the country's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, threatened 'severe punishment' and claimed residential areas had been targeted. The Iranian leadership vowed a military and diplomatic response, saying women and children had been killed in the strikes across Iran. The Fars news agency claimed 78 people had been killed and more than 300 injured in Tehran province alone. A vast swathe of Iran's military and air force leadership has been wiped out, and as many as six scientists working on Iran's nuclear programme. It remains to be seen if Iran will decide to attack US military sites in the Middle East, but its leaders will have heard Donald Trump praising Israel's actions and claiming the US had known about the attacks in advance, even if it did not take part. Iran also faces a decision on whether to accept Trump's offer to continue with the bilateral talks on a diplomatic solution to its nuclear programme. The sixth round of Oman-brokered talks involving the US special envoy Steve Witkoff were due to be held in Muscat on Sunday. Iran's foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, did not announce that the talks had been ended by the Israeli strike. Instead he said Israel had crossed every red line, accused Israel of a declaration of war, and called for an emergency meeting of the UN security council in New York. The head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Rafael Grossi, told the council that the above-ground pilot enrichment plant at Iran's main nuclear facility in Natanz had been been destroyed, although he said the level of radioactivity outside the plant remained unchanged. Iranian officials dismissed Trump's suggestion that Tehran should have expected an attack since a 60-day deadline the US president claimed he had set for the talks had expired. In a furious statement, the Iranian government accused Israel of terrorism and insisted the attack demonstrated it 'does not adhere to any international rules or laws and, like a drunkard, openly and brazenly engages in terror and ignites the flames of war before the eyes of the world, including westerners who claim to uphold human rights and international law'. 'Starting a war with Iran is playing with the lion's tail,' the statement added. In a telling warning that the Iranian regime, if it survives, may now indeed feel the need to try to assemble a nuclear bomb in the face of Israel's attacks, the statement further said: 'The world now better understands Iran's insistence on the right to enrichment, nuclear technology and missile power, and the enemy has made it possible to prove our injustice and righteousness, who is the aggressor and which regime is threatening the security of the region.' Hardline MPs called on the supreme leader to lift the fatwa that is supposed to prevent Iran pursuing a nuclear programme. With its axis of resistance weakened over the past year by Israel's actions, there has been a growing lobby arguing that Iran needs a nuclear bomb to defend itself. Among those killed by Israeli strikes were Gen Hossein Salami, the commander-in-chief of the Revolutionary Guards; Gen Gholamali Rashid, a senior Revolutionary Guards commander; the nuclear scientist Mohammad Mehdi Tehranchi; and Fereydoun Abbasi, the former head of Iran's Atomic Energy Organization. Replacements for two of the top roles were announced within hours of the attack. Maj Gen Abdolrahim Mousavi was appointed as chief of staff of the armed forces, replacing Maj Gen Mohammad Bagheri, who was killed in the Israeli attack. Khamenei chose Mohammad Pakpour to lead the paramilitary Revolutionary Guards, replacing Salami, state television reported. Residential buildings across Tehran were hit. Pictures showed that specific floors on high-rise apartments were struck, but the damage had spread to many different floors. Army barracks across the country appear to have been hit, with reports of deaths and damage. But Isfahan regional governors said there had been no leakage of uranium from the Natanz nuclear facility. No electricity or oil installations were struck, but Israel may well return to hit economic targets in the coming days, depending on any Iranian response. It has also not sought to assassinate any of Iran's political or diplomatic leadership. Iran, aware that the savage blow to its prestige may lead to some form of uprising, urged its citizens to listen only to official channels, and ignore rumours. The planned sixth round of talks, the first in which both sides had put forward proposals in writing, were to focus on whether Iran would be allowed to continue domestic uranium enrichment with monitoring by the UN nuclear watchdog the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). Iran says it does not have a covert plan to build a nuclear bomb, but all signatories to the nuclear non-proliferation treaty including Iran have a sovereign right to enrich uranium for civilian purposes. It says the comprehensive report put to the IAEA board this week showed no evidence that Iran was close to building a nuclear weapon. The report did say it could not be certain that the nuclear programme was entirely civilian in purpose. Tehran has consistently argued that its increased stockpiles of highly enriched uranium is a calculated and legitimate response to Donald Trump unilaterally withdrawing in 2018 from the nuclear deal agreed with Barack Obama three years earlier and imposing economic sanctions. The highly experienced Iranian negotiating team were aware that Israel was increasingly worried that Trump, facing an open war for his ear on Iran in Washington, might strike an unsatisfactory deal with Iran. But the consensus among Arab diplomats was that Trump was sincere in saying he did not want Israel to strike. The belief among Iranian negotiators that they had further time before Trump implicitly or explicitly sanctioned military action looks, in retrospect, to have been a severe error. But the right to enrich has been an Iranian red line for decades, and they will reject the accusation they overplayed a weak hand. Moreover, Iranian diplomats had been led to believe initially that the US would permit Iran to continue some form of uranium enrichment, but had been struggling to convert that belief into a specific American offer in the talks held in Oman and Rome. 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Manhunt continues for suspect in shootings of Minnesota lawmakers
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What has Israel hit in Iran and how has Iran responded?
More than 200 Israeli jets were involved in initial air raids on Friday on at least 100 targets in Iran in five waves of strikes, including at the key Natanz nuclear site as well as at ballistic missile sites. Israel also killed at least nine senior Iranian nuclear scientists and a number of officials, including Iran's most senior military officer and the head of the Revolutionary Guards. Scores of sites appear to have been attacked in the widening campaign, including in Tehran, Shiraz and Tabriz, and reportedly in Isfahan and Kermanshah. Strikes at the Natanz nuclear site, Iran's most significant nuclear enrichment facility, about 135 miles (220km) south-east of Tehran, began at just after 4am local time (0130 BST) on Friday. Video footage posted online appeared to show the aftermath of explosions. Protected by heavy concrete walls, Natanz's centrifuge facilities are underground and the site has been targeted with sabotage operations at multiple locations. Construction work had been under way to expand the site. Natanz is where Iran has produced much of its nuclear fuel – including a stockpile of highly enriched uranium that the west has suggested could be used in a future nuclear weapon. Satellite imagery showed significant damage to two areas of the site: the electrical substation that powers it, and the above-ground pilot fuel enrichment plant, which hosts hundreds of centrifuges. The fuel enrichment plant, which is equipped with about 15,000 centrifuges, appeared to be undamaged. The IAEA said there had been no reported nuclear contamination. As the Israeli offensive entered its second day, reports suggested that Israel had hit the area of the nuclear fuel enrichment facility at Fordow, which is deep underneath a mountain, causing limited damage. Israel is not believed to have the type of earth-penetrating bombs required to blow up the mountain and crack open the nuclear facility inside. A nuclear research centre in Isfahan was also hit. Reports suggested Bid Kaneh, which houses several missile development and production sites, was hit on Friday morning as well as the air defence systems in western Iran. Iran has confirmed a number of senior military figures and scientists were assassinated, some in strikes on private residences. Iran has also accused Israel of hitting civilian areas during its assassination attempts, including a claim that 60 people were killed in a strike on a residential building in the Farahzad area of Tehran. Israel's military said on Saturday it had targeted surface-to-surface missile launchers used to strike Israel and surface-to-air missile infrastructure used to defend Tehran. Among those killed were the chief of staff of Iran's armed forces, Maj Gen Mohammad Bagheri, and the commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), Gen Hossein Salami, suggesting a broader 'decapitation' strike aimed at weakening the Iranian regime. On Saturday morning, strikes were reported at Parchin military base and a jet fighter hangar at Mehrabad airport. On Sunday, Israel's military said it had hit 'more than 80' targets in Tehran, including Iran's defence ministry headquarters, 'nuclear weapons project' infrastructure sites, and other targets, including fuel tankers. The Iranian oil ministry said Israel had targeted two fuel depots in the Tehran area, including a depot at Shahran, in the capital's north-west, where large fireballs erupted. Later on Sunday, Israel's military said its air force had hit Mashhad airport in north-east Iran, in the longest-range strike of the conflict. Israel's strikes have killed at least 406 people in Iran and wounded another 654, according to Human Rights Activists News Agency, a Washington-based rights group that has long tracked Iran. The government in Tehran has not offered overall casualty figures. Both officers were closely associated with the centres of power in Iran's security hierarchy, having risen through the ranks after the Iranian revolution in 1979. Salami began his career in the IRGC in 1980 during the Iran-Iraq war, becoming deputy commander in 2009, then, a decade later, commander of the 125,000-strong force that has played a key role in Iran's forward foreign policy in the region. Salami had been subject to sanctions by the UN and US for his involvement in Iran's nuclear and military programmes. Bagheri, who was in his early 60s, had also risen through the IRGC, fighting in the Iran-Iraq war like Salami, with a background in military intelligence before being appointed chief of staff of the Armed Forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran – the country's highest military position – in 2016. His position made him, formally at least, the second most powerful figure in Iran after the supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Gholamali Rashid, the deputy commander in chief of the armed forces, was also reported to have been killed. It was reported that Ali Shamkhani, a key adviser to and confidant of Khamenei, was killed in a strike on an apartment block in Tehran, as well as the head of the IRGC's air force and a number of his senior aides. Israel has a history of targeting Iranian nuclear scientists, and this attack was no exception, with at least six scientists killed on Friday and three more on Saturday. The Tasnim news agency named the six scientists killed on Friday, including Mohammad Mehdi Tehranchi, a theoretical physicist who was the president of the Islamic Azad University of Iran. Also killed was Fereydoun Abbasi, a former head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran. Tasnim additionally named Abdolhamid Minouchehr, Ahmadreza Zolfaghari, Amirhossein Feqhi, Motalleblizadeh, as other scientists killed. Iranian state television named the three killed on Saturday as Ali Bakaei Karimi, Mansour Asgari, and Saeed Borji. Iran has launched a barrage of missiles at Israel, setting off air-raid sirens in Jerusalem and elsewhere. Israeli authorities said on Sunday that 14 people had been killed there since Friday and 390 injured. These maps show the locations of strikes in both countries since Saturday night. In northern Israel, rescuers and medics said a strike late on Saturday destroyed a three-storey building in the town of Tamra, killing four women. Israeli police said six people were killed and at least 180 injured at the site of a missile strike in Bat Yam, near Tel Aviv on Israel's Mediterranean coast, in the early hours of Sunday morning. A strike on the central city of Rehovot injured 42 people.
