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Associated Press
13 minutes ago
- Associated Press
Trump's move against Iran may draw more criticism from MAGA's anti-interventionists
President Donald Trump's decision to strike three nuclear sites in Iran will almost assuredly draw more criticism from some of the Republican's supporters, including high-profile backers who had said any such move would run counter to the anti-interventionism he promised to deliver. The lead-up to the strike announced Saturday exposed fissures within Trump's 'Make American Great Again' base as some of that movement's most vocal leaders, with large followings of their own, expressed deep concern about the prospect of U.S. involvement in the Israel-Iran war. With the president barred from seeking a third term, what remains unknown is how long-lasting the schism could be for Trump and his current priorities, as well as the overall future of his 'America First' movement. Among the surrogates who spoke out against American involvement were former senior adviser Steve Bannon, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., commentator Tucker Carlson and Charlie Kirk, the founder of the conservative youth organization Turning Point. Part of their consternation was rooted in Trump's own vocalized antipathy for what he and others have termed the 'forever wars' fomented in previous administrations. As the possibility of military action neared, some of those voices tamped down their rhetoric. According to Trump, Carlson even called to 'apologize.' Here's a look at what some of Trump's biggest advocates had said about U.S. military involvement in Iran: Steve Bannon On Wednesday, Bannon, one of top advisers in Trump's 2016 campaign, told an audience in Washington that bitter feelings over Iraq were a driving force for Trump's first presidential candidacy and the MAGA movement. 'One of the core tenets is no forever wars,' Bannon said. But the longtime Trump ally, who served a four-month sentence for defying a subpoena in the congressional investigation into the U.S. Capitol attack on Jan. 6, 2021, went on to suggest that Trump will maintain loyalty from his base no matter what. On Wednesday, Bannon acknowledged that while he and others will argue against military intervention until the end, 'the MAGA movement will back Trump.' Ultimately, Bannon said that Trump would have to make the case to the American people if he wanted to get involved in Iran. 'We don't like it. Maybe we hate it,' Bannon said, predicting what the MAGA response would be. 'But, you know, we'll get on board.' Tucker Carlson The commentator's rhetoric toward Trump was increasingly critical. Carlson, who headlined large rallies with the Republican during the 2024 campaign, earlier this month suggested that the president's posture was breaking his pledge to keep the U.S. out of new foreign entanglements. Trump clapped back at Carlson on social media, calling him 'kooky.' During an event at the White House on Wednesday, Trump said that Carlson had 'called and apologized' for calling him out. Trump said Carlson 'is a nice guy.' Carlson's conversation with Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, that day laid bare the divides among many Republicans. The two sparred for two hours over a variety of issues, primarily about possible U.S. involvement in Iran. Carlson accused Cruz of placing too much emphasis on protecting Israel in his foreign policy worldview. 'You don't know anything about Iran,' Carlson said to Cruz, after the senator said he didn't know Iran's population or its ethnic composition. 'You're a senator who's calling for the overthrow of a government, and you don't know anything about the country.' Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene The Georgia Republican, who wore the signature red MAGA cap for Democratic President Joe Biden's State of the Union address in 2024, publicly sided with Carlson, criticizing 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 this past week 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.' Alex Jones The far-right conspiracy theorist and Infowars host posted on social media earlier in the week a side-by-side of Trump's official presidential headshot and an artificial intelligence-generated composite of Trump and former Republican President George W. Bush. Trump and many of his allies have long disparaged Bush for involving the United States in the 'forever wars' in Iraq and Afghanistan. Writing 'What you voted for' above Trump's image and 'What you got' above the composite, Jones added: 'I hope this is not the case…' Charlie Kirk Kirk said in a Fox News interview at the start of the week that 'this is the moment that President Trump was elected for.' But he had warned of a potential MAGA divide over Iran. Days later, Kirk said that '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.' In Kirk's view, 'The last thing America needs right now is a new war. Our number one desire must be peace, as quickly as possible.' ___ Kinnard can be reached at
Yahoo
16 minutes ago
- Yahoo
US bombed 3 Iranian nuclear sites, Trump says
President Donald Trump said Saturday the United States bombed three Iranian nuclear sites, bringing the U.S. directly into Israel's war with Tehran. 'We have completed our very successful attack on the three Nuclear sites in Iran, including Fordow, Natanz, and Esfahan,' Trump said in a post on Truth Social on Saturday. It was not immediately clear what damage the strikes caused or how significant a blow was dealt to Tehran's program. It could take some time before the results are clear. Trump said the U.S. used 'a full payload of BOMBS … on the primary site, Fordow,' which is also known as Fordo. The strikes mark the most significant U.S. military attack on Iran in modern history and will have a defining impact on the legacy of Trump's second term in office. Trump said all planes are 'safely on their way home,' and out of Iranian airspace. Trump had said Thursday he would take two weeks to decide whether to bomb Iran's nuclear sites to give diplomacy a chance. 'NOW IS THE TIME FOR PEACE!,' he said in the statement. Trump's decision to directly involve the U.S. military was the culmination of weeks of mixed signals from the GOP president who campaigned on a promise of ending wars started by his predecessors and pledged to resist overseas military involvement. It is likely to exacerbate a fierce debate within the Republican Party about what his 'America First' doctrine means and risks alienating meaningful parts of Trump's base. The U.S has surged forces to the region over the past two weeks, including new squadrons of F-16, F-22 and F-35 fighter planes, and the deployment of several destroyers to the Israeli coast. A second aircraft carrier, the USS Carl Vinson, is on its way to the Arabian Sea along with its own destroyer escorts and should arrive in the coming days, while a third carrier could soon be on the way, as the USS Ford is slated to leave port in Virginia in the coming days for a planned European deployment. One U.S. defense official said that there has been some concern in the Pentagon that significant open-ended deployments could bog down forces in the region and impact their readiness if they were kept there for an extended period of time. They added these worries weren't a reason for launching the strikes, but some military officials suggested a relatively quick decision on any possible strike in order to avoid keeping forces tied down with no clear mission. Two other U.S. defense officials said it was too soon for a battle damage assessment in the immediate aftermath of the strikes but the Pentagon was immediately turning its attention to protecting American troops still in the region as the Trump administration was guessing at Iran's next steps. There are about 40,000 U.S. troops in the region, with 2.500 in Iraq next door to Iran. The Fordo nuclear enrichment facility is buried deep inside a mountain to shield it from attacks. Israel has been lobbying the U.S. to get involved in the military effort against Iran's nuclear program for months, stepping up the effort after it launched unilateral strikes on Iran's nuclear sites earlier this month. Only the U.S. possesses the 30,000-pound bombs capable of reaching the deep underground site at Fordo, and those can be carried only by American B-2 stealth bombers because they are so heavy. It was not immediately clear if the strikes were successful or what weapons or aircraft the U.S. used. Earlier Saturday, the U.S. moved B-2s toward Guam in the Pacific Ocean, which some analysts saw as a sign the U.S. was preparing to strike Fordo. Jonathan Panikoff, a former senior intelligence official who is now at the Atlantic Council, said whether Iran decides to respond proportionally or not could 'quickly lead to an escalatory spiral.' 'One has to wonder if Iran missed its opportunity in its seeming unwillingness or lack of desire to engage diplomatically. Now Iran's reaction will drive how much further this goes,' he said. With no diplomatic cards left to play, experts said Trump resorted to the military option that was still left. 'Last-chance European diplomacy failed. This wasn't deception by Trump,' said Bilal Saab, who served in the Pentagon during the first Trump administration. 'Now we wait and ideally have planned for Iranian retaliation.' Iran's reaction, 'all depends on what Khamenei decides to do now,' he said, referring to Iran's supreme leader. 'Back down or fight probably until the end. We have signaled to the Iranians this is the extent of the attack but Iran gets a vote on what happens next.' Jon Hoffman, a research fellow at the libertarian Cato Institute which has been against American involvement, said U.S. participation will only bring 'disaster.' 'War with Iran is not America first – it is America last,' he said, adding that Israel's initial strikes on Iran's nuclear facilities were 'always a smokescreen designed to drag the U.S. into war as an active participant.' Nahal Toosi and Amy Mackinnon contributed to this report
Yahoo
16 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Are the Maga isolationists losing influence over Trump's Iran deliberations?
The Trump administration is managing internal dissent over deliberations on whether to launch a strike against Iran, breaking what many supporters saw as a campaign pledge not to involve the US in new conflicts in the Middle East. Trump for the second time this week disregarded testimony by his director of national intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard, that Iran had not been seeking to build a nuclear weapon as of March this year. 'She's wrong,' Trump said, then added: 'My intelligence community is wrong.' In a striking about-face, Gabbard late on Friday said her March testimony had been taken 'out of context' by the media and claimed there was no difference between her opinion and Trump's. 'The dishonest media is intentionally taking my testimony out of context and spreading fake news as a way to manufacture division,' she said in a post on X. 'America has intelligence that Iran is at the point that it can produce a nuclear weapon within weeks to months, if they decide to finalise the assembly. President Trump has been clear that can't happen, and I agree.' Gabbard was nominated to her position in large part because of her scepticism of the US intelligence community and its role in the US involvement in a series of 'forever wars' in the Middle East, especially the Iraq war. Her transition from Democrat to Trump supporter is indicative of the broad coalition that the president has united under his America First movement – and the potential for a schism as the US grows closer to launching an attack on Iran. Steve Bannon, an influential adviser who has been critical of the potential for a US-Iran war, was seen having lunch at the White House with Trump this week, after a series of podcast episodes in which he and other popular Maga pundits criticised what they saw as preparations for a preemptive US strike against Iran. Bannon came to lunch armed with talking points that the Iran strike would be a bad idea and the massive 30,000lb bunker-buster bombs that could target the Iranian uranium enrichment facility at Fordow may not destroy the target. The Guardian previously reported that Trump was not fully convinced the bombs would destroy the target, and has held off authorising strikes as he also awaits the possibility that the threat of US involvement would lead Iran to talks. Others close to the administration have pushed back forcefully in support of a strike on Iran. Republican congressmen including Mitch McConnell and Tom Cotton have lashed out against the isolationist wing of Trump's support; the radio host Mark Levin has personally spoken with Trump in support of stronger backing for Israel; and other top members of the administration – including secretary of state Marco Rubio – are avowed Iran hawks. Others, such as vice-president JD Vance, are public anti-interventionists but have limited their criticism of potential strikes to allow Trump the space to make a decision. But Bannon is believed to have an outsized influence on Trump's decision-making on the war. According to US media, he has warned the president he shouldn't trust Israeli intelligence that the Iranian government was seeking a nuclear weapon imminently. Others in the Maga wing of Trump's support have sought to rebuild ties after sharply criticising the president's positioning on the Israeli strikes against Iran. Tucker Carlson, the former Fox News host, had called Trump earlier this week in order to apologise after blasting those advising Trump to launch strikes against Iran as 'warmongers'. 'Tucker is a nice guy,' Trump said from the Oval Office on Wednesday. 'He called and apologised the other day because he thought he said things that were a little bit too strong, and I appreciated that.'
