Donald Trump may be opening a rift with right-wing pundit Tucker Carlson over his policy on military interventions. Carlson recently criticized the president for his hawkish stance on Iran and claimed that the position is incompatible with “America First.” Trump shot back in an interview with The Atlantic’s Michael Sherer that his signature phrase means whatever he wants it to mean. “Well, considering that I’m the one that developed ‘America First,’ and considering that the term wasn’t used until I came along, I think I’m the one that decides that,” he told Sherer.
Sherer reports that Carlson had sent out an email to his supporters criticizing the president for his hawkish stance on Iran, saying that it was a betrayal of one of Trump’s fundamental policies. “Politicians purporting to be America First can’t now credibly turn around and say they had nothing to do with it,” Carlson wrote. “Our country is in deep.” He also posted to his over 16 million followers on X that right-wing pundits who support the president’s policy are “warmongers.”
Even before Israel’s allegedly “preemptive” attack, Donald Trump was already drawing an aggressive line against Iran, threatening military action if they cannot reach an agreement in the ongoing negotiations over the country’s nuclear enrichment program. In response, Iranian Defense Minister Aziz Nasirzadeh said that if the US were to attack Iran, they would target “all US bases within [their] reach.” Donald Trump has since stated that “it’s possible” that the United States becomes involved in the conflict.
When Trump was still just a candidate in 2016, one of the ways that he managed to distinguish himself in the field of Republican candidates was by criticizing previous administrations on their records of military action abroad. He famously fibbed on the campaign trail that he had been against the war in Iraq before it started, and as the general election grew near in September, he criticized Hillary Clinton for favoring “military adventurism.” Now he is being accused of the same kind of reckless policies.
