03/02/2026
“Despite the bluster from Trump, who once promised that he would stop wars, the president’s grip on his base is being called into question after he started one on Saturday. His decision to partner with Israel to pursue regime change in Iran has, over the past 48 hours, sparked broad pushback from some high-profile supporters who have often fallen into line previously, as well as from adoptees of Trump’s “America First” philosophy, who are now criticizing the strikes and wondering how they align with his promises to put the United States and its interests ahead of everything else.
Curt Mills, an anti-interventionist and the executive director of The American Conservative, told us that this is “an elite-driven war, driven, frankly, by the ‘deep state.’” Former Republican Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene, an “America First” devotee who recently broke with Trump, called it “always America last.” The Trump ally and Blackwater founder Erik Prince said that he doesn’t “see how this is in keeping with the president’s MAGA commitment.” And Tucker Carlson, a far-right podcaster who has long promoted conspiratorial views about Israel, met with Trump three times in the Oval Office over the past month, using the meetings—each lasting roughly 90 minutes—to urge the president against striking Iran. Carlson’s pitch to Trump was simple: “You need to stand up to Israel, or else you’re going to be destroyed and the country is going to be destroyed,” Carlson argued, according to someone familiar with the conversation. Israel is a country of 9 million people with no resources, Carlson continued. Why are we taking orders from them? In an interview with ABC News’s Jonathan Karl, Carlson called the decision to strike Iran “absolutely disgusting and evil.” (The White House did not respond to a request for comment on the meetings.)” ~ The Atlantic
Trump promised to stop wars. His grip on his base is being questioned now that he’s started one.
