And Donald Trump is caught in the middle.
The MAGA movement usually displays remarkable unity in attacking the left. But Israel’s military assault on Iran has splintered President Donald Trump’s coalition, as rival factions fight over the true meaning of an “America First” foreign policy.
Right-wing figures have descended into vicious debate over whether the White House should take a more active role in Israel’s bombardment of Iran—one that, with American help, could dismantle Tehran’s nuclear program or even lead to regime change. Tucker Carlson, Steve Bannon, and other isolationist voices are demanding that Trump stay out of another Middle Eastern war. Sean Hannity, Mark Levin, and other more hawkish conservatives are making the case that there has never been—and may never again be—a better time to take on Iran. That same split has surfaced among Republicans on Capitol Hill. Senator Lindsey Graham and others are pushing Trump to help Israel destroy Tehran’s nuclear program, a goal of American presidents dating back decades. Meanwhile, MAGA luminaries such as Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene have declared that further U.S. involvement would betray the president’s “America First” ideals.
Both sides in MAGA world have furiously lobbied Trump in recent days, and the president is very aware of the competing interests in his base, a White House official and an outside adviser told us. Trump initially opposed Israel’s plan to strike Iran last week. But after briefings from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as well as Trump’s own staff, the president came around to staying out of Israel’s way while helping it defend itself from Tehran’s counterattack. Now that Israel’s initial wave of strikes has proved a remarkable success, Trump has embraced the attacks, offering more support. He cut short his time at the G7 summit in Canada to return to Washington last night and ominously suggested that Tehran, a city of 10 million people, be evacuated immediately, sparking rumors that the U.S. was about to decisively enter the conflict.
The White House denied those reports and said that the U.S. military was remaining in a defensive posture. But part of Trump’s thinking is that such threats may scare Iran back to the negotiating table, the White House official and two other administration officials told us. (We granted them and others interviewed for this story anonymity to discuss internal deliberations.) The president now believes that Israel’s bombardment could push the Iranian regime, fearful for its survival, to re-engage with a U.S. proposal to abandon its nuclear-enrichment program, the officials said.
Trump will have to decide whether to fully join the conflict by authorizing the use of massive American bunker-buster bombs, of the sort needed to destroy Iran’s underground facilities. One of the officials told us that the weapons are “leverage” for Trump, who hopes to revive talks in the days ahead. Another person familiar with the discussions surrounding Trump’s hasty return from the G7 said defense officials were preparing options for the president.
“I’m not looking for a cease-fire. We’re looking at better than a cease-fire,” Trump told reporters on Air Force One on the flight back to Washington last night, adding that he wanted “a real end” to the conflict between Iran and Israel and a “complete give-up” by Iran of its nuclear ambitions. Trump has grown frustrated that the Iranians did not accept his administration’s most recent offer for a deal. “But remember, Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon,” Trump said. “It’s very simple. We don’t have to go too deep into it.”
Vice President J. D. Vance, part of the GOP’s isolationist wing, published a long post on X today that praised Trump’s reluctance to commit American troops to combat and said, “People are right to be worried about foreign entanglement after the last 25 years of idiotic foreign policy.” But the post read like a justification for potential military involvement, noting that Trump “may decide he needs to take further action to end Iranian enrichment. That decision ultimately belongs to the president.”
Trump has pulled back from striking Iran before. In June 2019, after Iran’s military shot down an American surveillance drone over the Strait of Hormuz, Trump authorized a retaliatory attack.
