Trump provokes a MAGA backlash as he wades into Middle East wars

Donald Trump is facing a backlash from some of his most loyal MAGA supporters over his decision to launch widespread airstrikes against the Houthis in Yemen and a threat to launch a wider war with Iran.

Trump ordered the U.S. military to launch “decisive and powerful Military action” against the Iran-backed group on Saturday in response to its attacks on global shipping in the Red Sea, which the Houthis claim are being carried out in solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza.

U.S. officials said the strikes could last for weeks, and Trump has raised the prospect of a much larger war after threatening Iran with “dire consequences” if the Houthi attacks continue.

But some key MAGA figures have spoken out against the expanding military action, arguing it contradicts his promises to end “endless wars” and his “America First” campaign slogan.

Tucker Carlson, the former Fox News star who is deeply embedded within Trump’s inner circle, warned the president this week that a strike on Iran could cause a war that would lead to “thousands of American deaths” in the region.

“The cost of future acts of terrorism on American soil may be even higher. Those aren’t guesses,” the MAGA podcaster added on Monday evening. “Those are the Pentagon’s own estimates. A bombing campaign against Iran will set off a war, and it will be America’s war. Don’t let the propagandists lie to you.”

Carlson’s intervention is all the more relevant because he was considered vital in talking Trump out of striking Iran during his first term.

Marjorie Taylor Greene, Georgia congresswoman and one of MAGA’s most loyal footsoldiers, also posted an indirect message that seemed to suggest her disapproval of threatening war with Iran.

“I have not heard a single American say they want another war in the Middle East or anywhere else. Not one. All I’ve heard is a loud cry demanding our government and its leaders ‘PUT AMERICA FIRST!’” she wrote on X on Monday.

“I don’t support going to war on behalf of other countries. I support peace and fixing our own massive problems for our own people. It’s literally my job title. U.S. Representative,” she added.

In a previous interview, Greene said Trump’s promise to end “never-ending foreign wars” was a major reason why she supported him.

Numerous other high-profile figures who supported Trump appear to have been taken aback by his action in Yemen.

Glenn Greenwald, a former liberal commentator who switched to supporting Trump primarily for his supposed anti-war views, expressed surprise that the president had reneged on a campaign promise.

He said that by bombing Yemen and making threats to Iran, Trump was “flirting with the real war that could blow up the entire Middle East, after a campaign that Donald Trump ran twice now, three times really, pledging to keep the United States out of Middle East wars.”

Ann Coulter, a former MAGA stalwart, and Ron Paul, a libertarian figurehead popular in the MAGA movement, and Grace Chong, a producer on Steve Bannon’s War Room, have also criticized the bombing.

Trump was critical of Biden when he launched military action in Yemen, saying on Tim Pool’s podcast: “Recently, they’re dropping bombs all over Yemen. You don’t have to do that.”

Trump’s involvement in Yemen is part of a much broader entanglement linked to Israel’s war in Gaza, which has been raging for nearly one and a half years.

The Houthis, an Iran-backed group that controls most of Yemen, joined the conflict some two weeks after Hamas launched a surprise attack that killed some 1,400 people in southern Israel.

As Israel’s bombing campaign against Gaza was well underway, the Houthis fired a barrage of missiles and drones toward Israel and said the attacks would continue until the war stopped and humanitarian aid was delivered to Gaza.

For weeks these missiles, supplied by Iran, continued to be fired towards Israel. Less than a month later, the group started attacking all ships that it claimed were heading to Israel. In reality, it also targeted ships with tenuous or no links to the country at all.

Trump’s predecessor, Joe Biden, launched a series of airstrikes against the Houthis with limited success. The Houthis had launched more than 100 attacks targeting shipping from November 2023, before suspended operations when the Gaza ceasefire came into effect in January.

The latest round of fighting began again when Israel launched a massive bombing campaign across Gaza killing hundreds and bringing an end to a two-month ceasefire that Trump played a role in brokering.

Trump has given his full backing to Israel in its bid to destroy Hamas, but he may now be drawn deeper into that war as Israel relaunches its assault on the beleaguered strip.

He is hoping that a much fiercer round of strikes against the Houthis will succeed where Biden failed in stopping the group targeting shipping.

The Yemeni health ministry said Sunday that dozens of people were killed by U.S. strikes over the weekend, most of them civilians, including women and children.

Houthi leaders said they would escalate attacks in response to the U.S. bombing.

Jamal Amer, the Houthi foreign minister, told Reuters on Monday: “Now we see that Yemen is at war with the U.S. and that means that we have a right to defend ourselves with all possible means, so escalation is likely.”

History has shown that Trump’s own supporters are the only group capable of convincing him to change course.

During Trump’s first term in office, Carlson — who has positioned himself as the leader of the American right’s isolationist wing when it comes to foreign policy — split from the rest of his Fox News cohorts and sharply criticized the president’s decision to authorize the killing of Iran’s top general Qasem Soleimani.

Following Iranian counter-attacks, Carlson hosted a show that appeared to be laser-focused on convincing the president to refrain from escalating the situation with the Middle Eastern country. “I continue to believe the president doesn’t want a full-blown war,” Carlson declared. “Some around him might, but I think most sober people don’t want that.”

Fourteen hours later, Trump told the nation in a televised address that he would not be retaliating against Iran over its missile strikes. According to sources close to the president at the time, Trump had indeed watched Carlson’s program the night before. Furthermore, the president told confidants “that Carlson’s strong advocacy not to escalate the situation in Iran played a role in his decision-making” regarding Iran at the time, according to the Associated Press.

Source: independent.co.uk