President Donald Trump is facing a furious MAGA backlash after embarking on an unauthorized strike in Iran that he admits will kill U.S. citizens.
After being urged by sections of his own base not to enter another foreign war, the president announced on Saturday morning that he had launched a major attack on Iran as he vowed to eliminate the country’s nuclear program—which he insisted months ago had been completely “obliterated”—and bring about a change in government.
Former Fox News host Tucker Carlson told ABC’s Jonathan Karl that the attack on Iran was “absolutely disgusting and evil.”
Former Trump ally Marjorie Taylor Greene took to X to blast the president, accusing him of abandoning his “America First” principles.
“Now, America is going to be force fed and gas lighted all the “noble” reasons the American “Peace” President and Pro-Peace administration had to go to war once again this year, after being in power for only a year,” she said.
“NOBODY WANTS THIS WAR,” said the Trump-aligned, self-proclaimed misogynist Andrew Tate, a friend of Donald Trump Jr and the president’s other son, Barron.
MAGA congresswoman Anna Paulina Luna wrote on X: “Hold our country in prayer right now. Hold our service members and their families in prayer right now. Hold the innocent people of Iran in prayer right now.”
Alt-right provocateur Milo Yiannopoulos was less diplomatic.
“Oh, how disgusting. F— you, Mr. President,” he wrote.
“This is so wicked and disgusting and vile,” added Cassandra Macdonald, a writer at the right-leaning Gateway Pundit. “He is sacrificing our best for a foreign nation. What comes after blackpilled because I’m that.”
Far-right figure Nick Fuentes posted on X: “@realDonaldTrump NO WAR WITH IRAN. ISRAEL IS DRAGGING US TO WAR. AMERICA FIRST.”
The strike took place in the middle of the night, without Congressional approval—which is required by law—as most Americans were asleep.
Only hours earlier, amid the biggest military build-up in the Middle East since the Iraq War, Vice President JD Vance had tried to assuage MAGA fears, telling the Washington Post that there was “no chance” the United States would end up in a years-long conflict without a clear end.
“Acts of war unauthorized by Congress,” noted Republican Thomas Massie, who had been trying to push through new laws that would force the president to seek approval before striking Iran.
But in an eight-minute video announcing the move, Trump sought to justify his “major combat operations” on the basis that Iran had refused to reach a deal to cease its nuclear program.
He then called on Iranians to overthrow their government when the U.S. military operation came to an end.
“It will be yours to take. This will be, probably, your only chance for generations,” Trump said.
He added: “My administration has taken every possible step to minimize the risk to U.S. personnel in the region. Even so, and I do not make this statement lightly, the Iranian regime seeks to kill. The lives of courageous American heroes may be lost, and we may have casualties. That often happens in war, but we’re doing this not for now. We’re doing this for the future, and it is a noble mission.”
The fact that American soldiers could die is set to infuriate the anti-interventionist wing of the Republican Party.
Only one day earlier, former Greene had posted an old video of Trump lamenting George W. Bush’s decision to go to war in Iraq.
“They said there were weapons of mass destruction. There were none, and they knew there were none,” Trump said at the time.
The strikes marked the second time in eight months that the Trump administration has used military force against the Islamic Republic.
Last June, the president boasted that the military had “completely and totally obliterated” Iran’s nuclear enrichment facilities and it would take “years” to rebuild.
In his video overnight on Saturday, he claimed the regime’s nuclear program would once again be “totally obliterated.”
The strike also came just weeks after Trump ordered a military operation to capture Venezuela’s president, Nicolás Maduro. On Friday, he also suggested another foreign intervention: a “friendly takeover” of Cuba.
Iran responded to the latest strikes by launching a wave of missiles and drones targeting Israel. It followed with strikes targeting U.S. military installations in Bahrain, Kuwait and Qatar.
Iran’s Foreign Ministry issued a defiant statement, saying the country “will not hesitate” in its response. In a statement posted on X, the ministry said: “The time has come to defend the homeland and confront the enemy’s military assault.”
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