Republicans Divided Over Trump's Iran-Israel Conflict: President Clashes With Tucker Carlson

The conflict between Israel and Iran continues. Amid new serious threats from Tehran against the United States, disagreements are emerging in American politics over what US President Donald Trump should do next, writes Team.

Photo: Louis Mormile | Dreamstime.com

Trump's openness to possible U.S. involvement in the conflict has caused divisions within the Republican Party and has also had a significant impact on his relationship with a former Fox News host.

Tucker Carlson, who was fired from Fox News in 2023 and has since launched his own podcast, The Tucker Carlson Show, has maintained a friendly relationship with the current White House incumbent over the years. Trump gave Carlson an exclusive interview during the 2024 campaign. They even attended campaign events together.

On the subject: Trump demands Iran 'unconditional surrender': US intelligence officials say Tehran has not developed nuclear weapons

But on June 13, Carlson made clear his opposition to potential U.S. military intervention in the conflict between Israel and Iran, and has since reiterated his position on numerous occasions. Soon, the differences between him and Trump became personal and public.

Although the president told reporters in the Oval Office on June 18 that Carlson later called him to "apologize" for his "harsh" words, their positions on U.S. intervention in the conflict with Iran remain different.

In his initial social media statement on the Middle East conflict, published on June 13, Carlson argued that the “real divide” is between “those who easily incite violence and those who seek to prevent it — between warmongers and peacemakers.”

"Who are these warmongers?" he continued. "They are the ones calling Donald Trump today demanding airstrikes and other direct U.S. military intervention in the war with Iran."

Carlson listed several prominent Republicans, businessmen and media personalities, including Sean Hannity, Mark Levin, Rupert Murdoch, Ike Perlmutter and Miriam Adelson.

“At some point they will all be forced to answer for this, but you should know their names now,” Carlson concluded.

Trump dismissed Carlson's position when asked about it by reporters at the 16 G7 summit on June 2025.

"I don't know what Tucker Carlson says. Let him get himself a TV channel and say it there so that someone will listen to him," the president responded, and the argument became personal.

Later that day, Trump posted on Truth Social again criticizing Carlson: "Someone explain to idiot Tucker Carlson that IRAN CANNOT HAVE NUCLEAR WEAPONS."

By June 18, however, tensions had eased somewhat: Trump told reporters in the Oval Office that "Tucker is a good guy," and the podcast host called him to make peace.

"He called and apologized the other day because he thought he said something a little harsh, and I appreciated that," Trump softened.

He said he doesn't think Carlson wants Iran to have nuclear weapons, which means a forceful scenario might have to be used.

“Critics say, ‘We don’t want them to have nuclear weapons,’ and then they say, ‘But we don’t want to go to war.’ You have to make a choice, because you may have to go to war to prevent nuclear weapons,” Trump said. “It’s very interesting, because I asked Tucker, ‘Are you okay with Iran having nuclear weapons?’ He didn’t like that… And then I said, ‘If you’re okay with that, then you and I really disagree.’ But he’s not okay with that. So we may have to go to war. It may be over quickly, and it may not be.”

Meanwhile, other Republican commentators and lawmakers who typically support Trump's "America First" policies have sided with Carlson, including Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia.

She said Carlson is one of her "favorite people" and he "believes in what she believes without hesitation."

“Foreign wars, interventions, regime change put America last, kill innocent people, impoverish us, and will ultimately lead to our destruction,” Greene said on June 16. “That’s not nonsense. That’s what millions of Americans voted for. That’s America First.”

Carlson reiterated his position on another right-wing commentator, Steve Bannon's War Room podcast, on June 16, where he warned that meddling in the Middle East could "weaken" the United States: "I think we're going to see the end of the American empire."

Bannon, who served as the White House's top strategic adviser early in Trump's first term, also opposes U.S. involvement in Middle Eastern conflicts.

But Carlson has clashed with other Republicans over the conflict between Israel and Iran, most notably in a spat with Texas Sen. Ted Cruz on his podcast, which aired in full on June 18.

“How can you not know that?” Carlson asked in surprise when Cruz was unable to name Iran’s population (Carlson said it was about 92 million).

When Cruz noted that he doesn't "sit around and memorize population tables," Carlson countered, "Well, it's kind of relevant because you're calling for the overthrow of the government."

“We are striking right now,” Cruz countered. Carlson responded by noting that Cruz and other U.S. officials have previously said the Israelis are striking, making Cruz’s use of “we” an odd choice. But Cruz clarified, “With our help. I said ‘we.’ Israel is leading, but we are supporting them.”

"You just said 'we,'" Carlson countered. "This is a serious situation. You're a senator. If you say the U.S. government is at war with Iran right now, people hear it."

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After the interview with Carlson, Cruz said on social media that Carlson's question was a "stupid game" and that Carlson himself "attacked" Trump and the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) during their conversation.

Trump, in his posts on Truth Social, echoed Cruz's "we" logic: "We now have complete control of the skies over Iran. Iran had good tracking systems and other defensive equipment, and there was a lot of it, but it does not compare to American development and production," he wrote on June 17.

Read also on ForumDaily:

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