Israel's war on Iran causes rift in Donald Trump's 'America First' MAGA movement

When US President Donald Trump ran for office in the 2016 election, he set himself apart from the other Republican candidates by positioning himself as anti-war, winning over a party eager to focus on taking care of Americans.

A decade later—as Sunday 16 June marked 10 years since Trump descended the golden escalator to announce his candidacy—some in the "America First" contingency of the party are at odds with establishment Republicans over whether the US should actively participate with Israel's war on Iran.

Some of the most prominent America First adherents and establishment Republicans have been publicly expressing their staunch, differing positions, and leaving Trump to bridge the Make America Great Again (MAGA) coalition between his original base and party veterans that brought him across the finish line in both presidential elections.

In an episode of The Tucker Carlson Show, which the former Fox News host pinned to his X, formerly Twitter, account, he and former Trump campaign manager Steve Bannon discussed what they saw as the potential collapse of the MAGA coalition over differences on Israel's recently-launched military campaign on Iran.

"Donald J. Trump gets elected in November on the back of this amazing coalition, unprecedented coalition, different parts of American society you never thought had anything in common. Trump paints a picture that makes it really obvious that the old structure–left versus right, Democratic versus Republican–basically BS and a control device," said Carlson.

"This coalition… kind of feels like it's being blown up over this war in Iran," he continued.

Bannon then expressed surprise over what he described as an "obsession" with forever wars and suggested that the party should focus on the southern border and mass deportations, with the goal of deporting 10 million people.

One prominent America First adherent, Representative Marjorie Talyor Greene of Georgia, took aim at what she called the "fake" America First leaders.

She wrote on X, "Everyone is finding out who are real America First/MAGA and who were fake and just said it bc it was popular. Unfortunately, the list of fakes are becoming quite long and exposed themselves quickly."

"Anyone slobbering for the US to become fully involved in the Israel/Iran war is not America First/MAGA. Wishing for murder of innocent people is disgusting. We are sick and tired of foreign wars. All of them," she continued. 

She went on to say that "the real America First/MAGA" want world peace, and the US should focus on spending money at home.

On the other end of the Republican spectrum, Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina has said he wants Trump to go "all in" in helping Israel attack Iran and its nuclear facilities.

Speaking on Fox News Monday evening, he said, "So here is the task at hand. Be all in, President Trump, in helping Israel eliminate the nuclear threat. If we need to provide bombs to Israel, provide bombs. If we need to fly planes with Israel, do joint operations. But here's the bigger question, wouldn't the world be better off if the Ayatollahs went away and replaced by something better? Wouldn't Iran be better off?"

"The question is: where is the president on all of this?" Michael Desch, professor of international relations at the University of Notre Dame, told The New Arab.  

"Trump is taking himself to the centre. But if he goes to the centre, where do the MAGAites go?" he asked.

"It seems that he is being pulled in a couple of different directions. I think Trump himself likes to talk tough, but I don't think he's eager to use military force," he said.

Indeed, this tough talk, combined with his reticence to get involved in a foreign war, could be Trump's strategy for navigating a fractured coalition.

"Trump is a master improviser. He waited 10 hours to comment on a strike on Iran. That's because he has to navigate between the America First movement led by Tucker Carlson and the white evangelical Christians led by Lindsey Graham," David Frank, a professor of rhetoric and political communication, told TNA.

"It's in the interest of all parties to remain loyal to Trump," he said.

Similarly, Richard Groper, a lecturer in political science at California State University in Los Angeles, doesn't expect the current rift in MAGA over Iran to break the coalition, given Trump's strong grip on the party.

"This is a cult of personality. I think they'll get through anything he does," he said.

"As far as a MAGA fight goes, I don't think it's a big deal. He's done a lot worse domestically that would make people think twice about supporting him," he said. "I don't think anything will crater the MAGA support until he's out of power."