MAGA Brawls Over Prospect of Trump Joining Strikes on Iran
White House officials recently aimed to explain to influencers President Trump's possible shift away from a diplomatic solution on Iran.WASHINGTON—President Trump's political base is splintering over the prospect that the U.S. could join Israel's assault on Iran—and the White House is trying to quell the backlash.
In recent days, White House officials have quietly reached out to MAGA influencers, according to people familiar with the matter, aiming to explain Trump's possible shift away from a diplomatic solution.
Some prominent conservatives have toned down their rhetoric, but discontent has continued to burst into public view, as longtime Trump supporters voice concerns that the president is abandoning his campaign-trail pledge to extract the U.S. from foreign entanglements.
The fierce debate—unfolding online, across conservative media and on Capitol Hill—has pitted the more isolationist wing of Trump's coalition against hawkish Republicans who have called on the president to step in to ensure Iran doesn't develop a nuclear weapon. It marks the strongest challenge to Trump's iron grip on the Republican Party since he regained power in January. And it comes as Trump's base is also divided over immigration, with the administration wavering over whether to exempt farm and service workers from deportations to insulate the economy.
Some of the sharpest objections over Iran have come from avid Trump allies such as Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia. 'Anyone slobbering for the U.S. to become fully involved in the Israel/Iran war is not America First/MAGA,' she wrote on X. Appearing on former Republican Rep. Matt Gaetz's television show, Greene said, 'A Middle Eastern war will pull America back 20 years.'
Gaetz, a Trump ally, said in an interview that he believed Trump wouldn't drag the U.S. into a prolonged conflict. But, he added, 'President Trump rescued the Republican Party from the doom of neoconservatism. I think it's a fair question to ask those folks who want to entangle themselves in an Iranian war, what's your plan for the day after?'
Conservative activist Charlie Kirk was among those who heard from the White House, according to the people familiar with the outreach.
As Israel prepared to attack Iran last week, Kirk polled supporters about whether the U.S. should get involved. Nearly 90% said no. In recent days, as Trump has moved closer to military action, Kirk urged his 5 million followers to have faith in the president's ability to handle the crisis. 'His whole life has led to this moment,' Kirk wrote Monday on X.
He has also at times echoed White House messaging and defended the president, arguing that Trump is trying to make sure Iran doesn't get a nuclear weapon. 'It's totally FALSE to say that Trump ever wanted regime change,' Kirk wrote on social media.'
Trump is under pressure to launch U.S. strikes on Iran from allies such as Sen. Lindsey Graham (R., S.C.) and Fox News host Mark Levin, who said on his show this week, 'This is good vs. evil. You're either a patriotic American who's going to get behind the president of the United States, the commander in chief, or you're not.'
Levin has been publicly fighting with Tucker Carlson, the former Fox personality who, after Israel began its strikes, accused Trump of being 'complicit in the act of war.' Trump hit back on social media, saying 'Somebody please explain to kooky Tucker Carlson that, IRAN CAN NOT HAVE A NUCLEAR WEAPON!'
Vice President JD Vance jumped in to defend Trump against what he called a 'lot of crazy stuff on social media.' He said people are 'right to be worried about foreign entanglement after the last 25 years of idiotic foreign policy. But I believe the president has earned some trust on this issue.'
Steve Bannon, a leading conservative podcast host who opposes military intervention, said Wednesday that Trump needs to articulate his views 'not just to MAGA, but to the American people of why we would get involved in another war over there as a combatant.' He called on supporters to pray for Trump, and he predicted that the MAGA movement wouldn't fully splinter over Iran.
'We don't like it, maybe we hate it, but, you know, we'll get on board,' he said.
That is the view inside the White House as well, where red MAGA-style hats on desks read 'Trump was right about everything.' White House aides argued Trump can manage the crisis and his supporters will come around. Trump has built a broad coalition and disagreements have flared up before—over tariffs, for instance—but his supporters have largely stood behind him.
'America First has never meant America only, never meant isolationism, and there are people who are part of the MAGA base who are isolationist—I understand that—so it's complicated,' said Sen. Kevin Cramer (R., N.D.). 'But I have no doubt Donald Trump will do what he thinks is best.'
White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson said Trump has 'never wavered in his stance that Iran cannot obtain a nuclear weapon and repeated that promise to the American people since his victorious campaign.'
Trump conceded Wednesday that opinions on U.S. involvement in Iran are mixed, but insisted, 'My supporters are more in love with me today than they were even at the election.'
Military action on Iran isn't the only issue that has threatened to divide the president's coalition.
The administration's short-lived guidance to exempt workers in key industries from deportation also triggered deep frustration among allies of the president who have advocated for stringent immigration restrictions. After facing backlash from supporters, including inside the White House, the administration said there was no longer blanket guidance pausing immigration raids at farms, hotels and restaurants.
Asked if some exemptions would stay in place, Trump said Tuesday, 'Everyone is being looked at.' He also called for an expansion of ICE operations in Democratic-controlled cities such as Los Angeles, New York and Chicago.
But some of the president's backers said the damage to his immigration agenda had already been done because the possibility of exemptions muddied the administration's message.
'It's guaranteed to sabotage any efforts at self-deportation,' said Mark Krikorian, executive director for the Center for Immigration Studies, a group favoring immigration restrictions. 'It also increases the incentives to come illegally because you've heard they aren't going after restaurant employees anymore.'
Rosemary Jenks, co-founder of the Immigration Accountability Project, said there was widespread disappointment with Trump siding with businesses over his backers on deportations. 'It's essentially an amnesty for the employers,' Jenks said.
Even before the recent back-and-forth on exemptions for certain industries, many Trump allies were already frustrated with the slow pace of deportations. Some have been privately concerned for months that the president was watering down his campaign-trail pledge to oversee the largest mass deportation in American history.
'While the president remains focused on immediately removing dangerous criminal illegal aliens from the country, including those given safe harbor in Democrat-run sanctuary cities, anyone who is here illegally is liable to be deported,' said Jackson, the White House spokeswoman.
Write to Alex Leary at alex.leary@wsj.com, Tarini Parti at tarini.parti@wsj.com and Lindsay Wise at lindsay.wise@wsj.com
Get 360° coverage—from daily headlines to 100 year archives.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Time of India
15 minutes ago
- Time of India
From Jerusalem, Haifa to Tel Aviv, Iran unleashes missiles on Israeli cities
Projectiles appeared to be intercepted by Israeli air defence systems on Friday (June 20) over the skies of Haifa. Air-raid sirens sounded across Israeli cities and Jerusalem on Friday (June 20) while interceptions were seen in the sky after another apparent barrage of missiles launched from Iran. Israeli media said initial reports pointed to Iranian missile impacts in Tel Aviv, the Negev and Haifa. Israel said it had struck dozens of military targets overnight, including missile production sites, a research body involved in nuclear weapons development in Tehran and military facilities in western and central Iran. Iran launched a new barrage of missiles at Israel early on Friday, striking near residential apartments, office buildings and industrial facilities in the southern city of Beersheba. After air raid warnings later on Friday, Israeli media said initial reports pointed to missile impacts in Tel Aviv, the Negev and Haifa. Show more Show less
Hindustan Times
19 minutes ago
- Hindustan Times
Israel hasn't threatened any country with annihilation unlike Iran, says Ambassador Reuven Azar
New Delhi, Nuclear powers around the world, while possessing significant military might, do not pose the same threat as Iran does due to their lack of aggressive policies and extreme ideologies, Israeli Ambassador Reuven Azar said on Friday. Israel hasn't threatened any country with annihilation unlike Iran, says Ambassador Reuven Azar He also called on Iran to abandon its nuclear program and said "Israel hasn't threatened any country with annihilation." Speaking to PTI Videos, Azar said, "We have stated that Israel will not be the first country to introduce nuclear weapons to the Middle East." He emphasized that the situation is fundamentally different when it comes to Iran, a "regime that has repeatedly called for Israel's destruction". "We must be cautious with countries that have radical ideologies, especially those that deceive the international community repeatedly," Azar said. He also expressed gratitude to the US for its support but emphasized that Israel is committed to defending itself independently. He stressed that Israel's actions are rooted in self-defence. "We are a democracy, and we go to war, unfortunately, only when we are threatened, and in this case, we are threatened with our own existence. We had no choice, and this is a consensus in Israel. It comes from all the parties that we have to take action because we want to survive," he added. Azar asserted that Tel Aviv has definitive evidence that Iran's nuclear program posed a grave and immediate threat to Israel's security. "We acted at almost the last moment we had in order to foil and remove Iran's plan for the extermination of our state," he said. He claimed that Iran has been working for over three decades to build a strategy that could potentially destroy Israel. While many find this hard to believe, he said, the evidence is clear. "First and the most dangerous track is the nuclear track because this regime that has sworn to destroy Israel, has stated that, multiple times, was actually acquiring the means to have weapons of mass destruction. So, they have deceived the international community and the IAEA for many years and only last week, ten days ago, the IAEA issued a report saying that Iran is in a situation of non- compliance of the safeguard agreement of the NPT," he said. According to Azar, Iran's high-level uranium enrichment was unjustified by any peaceful, civilian nuclear programme and pointed directly to the weaponization of their nuclear materials. "We couldn't allow a country that has sworn to destroy us to acquire these capabilities," Azar said, adding. "That is why we took action against their nuclear programme." In addition to its nuclear pursuits, Azar said Iran's "ballistic missile programme is the second major threat". Over the years, Iran has developed an arsenal of thousands of ballistic missiles, capable of launching an unprecedented number of warheads, he claimed. Azar said that the Iranian missile program could potentially lead to the production of 20,000 ballistic missiles within six years, each carrying the destructive power equivalent to a nuclear bomb, he further claimed. The White House on Thursday said Iran could produce a nuclear weapon in "a couple of weeks" once given the go-ahead from Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. However on March 25, US President Donald Trump's director of national intelligence Tulsi Gabbard said Iran was not moving towards building nuclear weapons. Azar said Israel is "grateful to the US because it has given us the assistance that we need, first of all, to defend ourselves by ourselves". He, however, said his country's principle has been - "Israel defends itself, and we do not expect others to fight our wars." He made it clear that while Israel values American support, both military and moral, the country does not expect the US to take on a fighting role. "We are not requesting others to come to our defence. We are defending ourselves," he added. "Whatever the United States decides to do, and President Trump decides to do, is going to be according to American interests and American national interests," Azar said. The White House on Thursday said Trump will decide whether or not the US gets directly involved in the Iran-Israel conflict within the next two weeks. On whether Israel has found it easier to work with Trump's current administration compared to the previous one of Joe Biden, Azar said that their world view was more aligned with the current administration. "We've been working with all administrations because the US is not only the biggest ally of Israel, but it's really our friend, and we share values and we share interests. And sometimes, you know, this doesn't mean that we will agree on everything. There were administrations which found it harder to see things eye to eye. "Sometimes we had differences. So even by the administration that we, you know, had differences, we still enjoyed very generous assistance for which we are very grateful. I think that with the Trump administration, our world view is more in alignment, especially when it comes to dealing with elements like the Iranians." Israel and Iran entered into an open military conflict when Israel, on June 13, launched a major attack with air strikes, setting off explosions in Tehran following which Iran retaliated. This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to text.
Time of India
22 minutes ago
- Time of India
Once prosperous, Hungary is now the poorest nation in EU — meanwhile, this tiny nation tops the wealth rankings
Once seen as one of Europe's rising stars, Hungary has officially become the poorest country in the European Union in terms of household welfare , Kyiv Insider reported, citing the latest Eurostat data. The numbers show that Hungarian households now consume just 72% of the EU average, which is the lowest among all 27 member states, according to the report. Hungary's Fall to the Bottom of EU Living Standards Hungary's figure is in contrast to Luxembourg, as it now leads the European Union in the Actual Individual Consumption (AIC) per capita with 141%, followed by the Netherlands at 120% and Germany at 118%, reported Kyiv Insider. Even Poland has outpaced Hungary in real living standards by about 13 percentage points, and its AIC is at 85% of the EU average, according to the report. ALSO READ: Pro-Israel hackers nab $90 million from Iranian crypto exchange - then burn it all in symbolic blockchain move Luxembourg Leads, Hungary Lags Behind While Hungary's GDP is currently at about 77% of the EU average, which is above several low-income EU nations, its households continue to remain poorer in terms of consumption, as per a Kyiv Insider report. This gap reflects that Hungary's economic output is not transforming into real benefits for Hungarian families, according to the report. Economic Output Isn't Reaching Families The poor economic conditions come under the Prime Minister of Hungary, Viktor Orbán , who is an increasingly authoritarian and pro‑Russian Fidesz regime, which has been systematically pillaged, according to Kyiv Insider report. Live Events Under Orbán's leadership, "the state-owned industries have been hollowed out, public subsidies redirected to political allies, and EU funds commandeered by power networks close to the government," as reported by Kyiv Insider. Along with this, ordinary Hungarians are facing other issues like low real wages, high inflation, brain drain, and a hollowed middle class, according to the report. FAQs What does it mean that Hungary ranks last in AIC? It means Hungarian families have the least access to goods, services, and public resources like healthcare compared to others in the EU. How is this different from GDP? GDP shows how much a country produces, but AIC shows how much people actually benefit. Hungary produces more than some countries, but its people are getting less.
