Trump’s Iran dilemma: Strategy or uncertainty?
3 Min Read
President Trump faces a growing divide within his MAGA base over his ambiguous stance on Iran, with some allies accusing him of betraying his anti-war promises.
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US President Donald Trump speaks at a campaign rally at the Mohegan Sun Arena at Casey Plaza on August 17, 2024 (AP)
US President Donald Trump told reporters that Iran has reached out to his administration for talks, though he dismissed the gesture as coming “too late". According to Sky News' correspondent Mark Stone, Trump’s deliberate ambiguity serves two purposes.
First, he wants to keep everyone guessing, Stone explained. "It is useful to keep everyone guessing because that creates this sense of jeopardy."
But Stone also suggests that Trump’s vagueness may reflect a deeper issue: Trump does not know what to do.
"He doesn't know what he is going to do next. And he is in a real bind."
Trump campaigned on ending America’s involvement in so-called “forever wars", yet now he faces pressure, particularly from "Israel", that could draw the US into a new war in the Middle East, particularly against Iran.
This isn’t just a tough call for Trump, Stone said, but rather a "huge domestic challenge" that’s already dividing his base.
Stone noted that his strategic vagueness might be calculated, but it also seems rooted in the fact that he truly doesn’t know what path to take.
Trump faces MAGA rift over possible US role in war with Iran
A sharp divide is emerging within Donald Trump’s MAGA base over the war on Iran, with some of the president’s most vocal allies, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, commentator Tucker Carlson, and Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk, openly questioning whether he is abandoning his “America First” foreign policy.
Following a week of deadly strikes and Trump’s abrupt departure from the G7 summit in Canada, these conservative voices are warning that a deeper US role in the Middle East could fracture the coalition that helped propel Trump to power.
Trump, who has long campaigned on non-interventionism, is now facing backlash from within his movement.
On X, Charlie Kirk wrote, “No issue currently divides the right as much as foreign policy,” adding that he feared a “massive split among MAGA” could disrupt their progress. He and others warned that any perception of Trump backing US military involvement could unravel his core message and political future.
MAGA figures accuse Trump of breaking his anti-war promise
Trump’s consideration of a broader US role is facing strong resistance from the same voices who once championed him as a disruptive force in US foreign policy.
Tucker Carlson, a loyal supporter, warned that Trump is veering dangerously close to betraying the voters who backed him for staying out of foreign wars. "You’re not going to convince me that the Iranian people are my enemy," Carlson said on Steve Bannon’s War Room podcast.
Carlson also aimed at pro-Trump media allies like Sean Hannity, challenging them to hold Trump accountable for his foreign policy stance. Trump responded to the criticism by calling Carlson “kooky” and reiterating that “IRAN CAN NOT HAVE A NUCLEAR WEAPON!”
Furthermore, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene sided with Carlson, saying she shared his anti-interventionist principles. She posted, "Foreign wars, intervention, and regime change put America last, kill innocent people, make us broke, and lead to our destruction," adding, "That’s not kooky. That’s what millions of Americans voted for."
