MAGA media titan makes sensational Iran U-turn as he tells Trump 'we'll get on board' with strikes
It's a massive flip from Trump's former chief strategist who has in the past been adamantly opposed to strikes against Iran.
Bannon said that the MAGA movement will stand behind Trump – even if they might not be fully on board with the idea of the U.S. backing Israel's attacks on Iran.
'If President Trump decides there's not a diplomatic alternative… because he's been consistent, no nuclear weapon,' Bannon said during a Christian Science Monitor event on Wednesday.
He continued: 'If President Trump decides to do that, I know, and particularly his skills as a communicator, that he will come and walk people through it and the MAGA movement—look, there'll be some— but the vast majority of the MAGA movement will say, 'look, we trust your judgment, you walked us through this.''
'Maybe we hate it but, you know, we'll get on board,' Bannon concluded.
There are clear divisions within the MAGAverse over whether Trump should involve the U.S. in Israel's escalating conflict with Iran.
Earlier on Wednesday, Trump dodged on whether the U.S. will get involved and strike Iranian nuclear facilities.
'I may do it, I may not do it,' the president said.
Bannon acknowledged that Trump's decision to take action against Iran might divide the movement even further.
'If the president as commander-in-chief makes a decision to do this and comes forward and walks people through it, the MAGA movement— they'll lose some— but the MAGA movement, the Marjorie Taylor Greenes, the Matt Gaetzs, we will fight it up to the end and make sure you get full information but if he has more intelligence and makes that case to the American people, the MAGA movement will support President Trump,' he said.
In an effort to stop Iran from gaining nuclear weapon capabilities, Israel launched earlier this month its so-called Operation Rising Lion.
The air campaign began June 12 and saw Israel strike Iran's leadership, nuclear facilities and military infrastructure. This included a targeted strike on the Natanz nuclear enrichment facility where several senior Iranian nuclear scientists and military commanders were killed.
Iran retaliated with launching ballistic missiles and drones on Israeli military targets and civilian populations, mostly in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem.
Most missiles headed for Israel were intercepted.
Trump returned from the G7 in Canada early amid the ongoing missile barrages between Iran and U.S. ally Israel.
In recent days, Trump's rhetoric has become more threatening towards Tehran.
On Tuesday he met in the Situation Room with members of his national security team.
The same day he called for Iran's 'unconditional surrender' and said Iran's Supreme Leader is an 'easy target,' though he sid there are no plans to target him in a strike – 'at least for now.'
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Metro
13 minutes ago
- Metro
Russia's sinister doomsday radio bursts into life days before Trump-Putin summit
To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video Russia's 'Doomsday Radio', a lonely rusted radio station in a forest north of Moscow, has woken up. UVB-76, used during the height of the Cold War by the KGB, has for decades been sputtering bizarre beeps and cryptic gobbledygook. The short-wave station broadcast the words, 'schesolub', 'druzhnost', 'kener', 'ryushny', 'dzhinochili' and 'lyukospas' yesterday. According to a Telegram account that monitors the station, it also bleeped: 'ZHTI 12687 TOLKOSRAM 9585 4510.' The transmission lasted one minute and 12 seconds, the account, UVB-76 logs, said. Telegram channel Militarist said the message was similar to one broadcast in the first 10 days of January 2022, just before Russia launched its war against Ukraine. It comes only days ahead of US President Donald Trump's high-stakes meeting with Vladimir Putin in Alaska. In a rambling news conference on Monday, Trump said he planned to hash out with the Russian president 'land swaps' in a bid to end the Ukraine war. 'I'm going to Russia on Friday,' Trump told reporters. Alaska has not been a part of Russia since 1897. UVB-76, in a military zone classified in Povarovo, goes by many names. For at least the decade leading up to 1992, it broadcast almost nothing but beeps before switching to buzzes, about 34 per minute, giving it the nickname 'The Buzzer'. The station sporadically emits garbled audio messages, which tend to peak around 1pm, which can include Russian names. In 2001, the station broadcast in Russian: 'I am 143. Not receiving the generator [oscillator]… that stuff comes from hardware room.' Crackly French conversations have also been signalled, as have popular songs like Ganhgam Style by K-pop star Psy. Observers say these strange words likely covert military orders, such as for the Kremlin to push the 'dead man's switch', to trigger a nuclear attack. More Trending This has given the monotone outpost the nicknames 'Dead Hand Radio' or 'Judgement Day Radio'. But officials have never disclosed what the radio's purpose is exactly. Roskomnadzor, Russia's censor-loving telecommunications regulator, only publicly acknowledged its existence in June. The agency told RT that information about the 'user of the radio frequency spectrum… is not publicly available'. Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@ For more stories like this, check our news page. MORE: What could the planned UFC fight at the White House look like? MORE: Could Putin be arrested in the US during Trump meeting? MORE: The islands where America and Russia are 2 miles and 21 hours apart
Metro
13 minutes ago
- Metro
What could the planned UFC fight at the White House look like?
It's a seismic moment in a sporting promotion that has had a stratospheric rise since its inception three decades ago. The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is set to be staged at The White House next year, when longtime fan Donald Trump is likely to be in the front row as the fighters battle it out on the lawn. Marking the July 4 celebrations, 250 years on from the founding of the United States, it promises to be quite a spectacle. And British and Irish MMA fighters will almost certainly be entering the Octagon if the history-making event goes ahead. UFC boss Dana White, whose friendship with Trump stretches back to the early 2000s, said: 'It is definitely going to happen.' White explained that he plans to finalise the plans with the US president and his daughter Ivanka at the end of the month. While the UFC has been staged all over the world, it would be the first time that it has been hosted in the seat of power. The main fight events are large arena shows drawing tens of thousands of people, and it's unclear where exactly where the show would take place, but it's thought it would be staged on the lawn. 'When he called me and asked me to do it, he said, 'I want Ivanka in the middle of this,'' White told CBS Mornings of his discussions with Trump. 'So Ivanka reached out to me and her and I started talking about the possibilities, where it would be and, you know, I put together all the renderings.' Trump previously said that a UFC event will take place 'on the grounds of the White House' on Independence Day. 'We have a lot of land there,' he added. The president, speaking at a rally in Iowa last month, said the event could be staged in front of between 20,000 and 25,000 people. An AI image produced by a picture agency shows the eight-sided cage in front of the presidential building in Washington DC. In real life, the arena would likely be comprised of thousands of seats, with room for light shows and performers. What is clear is that the UFC can put on extravagant shows, best exemplified by the dazzling spectacle at the Las Vegas Sphere for Mexican Independence Weekend in September 2024. British undisputed UFC heavyweight champion Tom Aspinall is the most obvious pick for a UK fighter to feature on the White House card. However, in conversation with combat sports broadcaster Ariel Helwani, it became clear that he is concentrating on his upcoming fight with Frenchman Ciryl Gane in October. Aspinall said the thought of a White House fight with Jon 'Bones' Jones, widely regarded as having ducked the Brit before leaving retiring, had occupied 'zero seconds in my mind.' The champion, from Wigan, explained: 'Not interested, and the world shouldn't be interested, because what's the point? It's false hope.' Asked if he would still be interested in fighting at the White House without Jones making an unlikely comeback, he replied: 'Not particularly, it doesn't not interest me, but it doesn't really interest me to be honest. I'm not really fussed by it, I'll fight anywhere, it doesn't really bother me. 'It would be a cool experience but I'm not like…I feel like the Americans should get the shot at the White House, I'm not American, Trump and the political stance in America doesn't really bother me. 'I'm not really a big Trump supporter or against that stuff is just irrelevant to me.' To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video Conor McGregor is another name from this side of the pond who has been linked with an appearance at the White House show. Also speaking to Helwani, UFC fighter Michael Chandler, who was soundly beaten by Scouser Paddy Pimblett in April, said he would 'love' to fight the Irish former two-times champion at the venue. More Trending 'That's the one everyone wants, that's the pinnacle,' he said of the yet to be announced White House card. 'As a fighter you want the biggest stages the brightest lights the biggest money you possibly can with the shortest window of opportunity you have in the sport and fighting on the White House lawn with the president of the United States… 'I was just with someone else from his team and he said people from England will be coming to pay their respects, it's going to be special.' MORE: Conor McGregor's 'Bucked Up' energy drink disappears after Wetherspoons pulls Forged stout MORE: MMA fighter shaken after man tracked her down to Dubai hotel from social media post MORE: Ex-UFC fighter in fresh bid for jail pardon after role in £53,000,000 Securitas heist Do you have a story you would like to share? Contact
Spectator
13 minutes ago
- Spectator
Zelensky prepares to woo Trump one last time
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky arrived in Berlin this morning, where at 3pm local time he will speak to Donald Trump and his vice president J.D. Vance over video alongside other European leaders to discuss an end to the war in Ukraine. The German Chancellor Friedrich Merz brokered the meeting following the news that the American president would be meeting Vladimir Putin in Alaska this coming Friday to discuss a peace deal – without Zelensky present. Ahead of Zelensky's summit with Trump and Vance, the Ukrainian president and Merz will first convene a virtual meeting with his strongest European allies. Scheduled for 2pm Berlin time, they will be joined by British PM Keir Starmer, French President Emmanuel Macron, Italy's Giorgia Meloni, EU and Nato chiefs Ursula von der Leyen and Mark Rutte, as well as the leaders of Poland, Finland and the European Council. The aim of this preliminary meeting is to agree on a joint position on how best to present Ukraine's case to Trump ahead of his meeting with Putin in two days' time. The American President's declaration earlier this week that he would be discussing 'land swaps' with his Russian counterpart has caused alarm with Zelensky and his allies, who are concerned that Trump could sign away Ukrainian territory to the Kremlin without consultation or permission. Ukraine's European allies are said to be weighing up an attempt to extract a promise from the President not to do so – although given his volatile nature, any such promise from Trump, even if it did materialise, would bear little weight. They reportedly also plan to warn Trump not to trust any promises made by Putin to stick to a ceasefire, as well as discuss how best to prepare Ukraine for eventual full peace negotiations. Merz and Zelensky will then debrief on the meeting with Trump and Vance alongside the other members of the 'Coalition of the Willing' – those countries, pulled together by Starmer and Macron, who have expressed a desire to back Ukraine financially and militarily in the event of a peace deal with Russia. The public won't have long to wait to hear how today's discussions go: Merz and Zelensky will hold a joint press conference at 4pm local time. Nevertheless, with the notoriously thin-skinned Trump holding Ukraine's fate in his unpredictable hands, don't expect either Merz or Zelensky to air any disagreements with the President that may surface in the coming hours.
