Supporting Israel’s assault on Iran has caused the president to lose some of his longest-term acolytes.
One such loss apparently includes Tucker Carlson, who issued a newsletter to his audience Friday grimly titled: “This Could Be the Final Newsletter Before All-Out War.” In it, the ex–Fox News anchor accused Donald Trump of being “complicit in the act of war” and chastised executive decisions that he said had effectively launched U.S. soldiers into another war in the Middle East.
“Earlier this week, unnamed Washington sources expressed concern over Israel’s ability to fend off Iran’s retaliation, which would inevitably lead to Benjamin Netanyahu ordering the American military to step in and fight on his country’s behalf,” Carlson wrote. “On Thursday, Iran’s president threatened to ‘destroy’ any country that eliminates his government’s nuclear facilities. Now, the world will learn what that looks like.”
Carlson also rejected Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s insistence that the White House had not been involved in the bubbling tensions that preceded the attack, and that the administration was putting the safety of American forces in the region above all else.
“While the American military may not have physically perpetrated the assault, years of funding and sending weapons to Israel, which Donald Trump just bragged about on Truth Social, undeniably place the U.S. at the center of last night’s events,” Carlson continued. “Washington knew these attacks would happen. They aided Israel in carrying them out. Politicians purporting to be America First can’t now credibly turn around and say they had nothing to do with it. Our country is in deep.”
Prior to the election, Trump had won enormous support across America for pledging to swiftly end the wars in Ukraine and Gaza. Six months into his second term, he has not only failed to do either but has seemingly escalated the situation in the Middle East.
Israel bombed Iran early Friday morning, just days before Iran was scheduled for negotiations with U.S. officials regarding its nuclear program. The attack appeared to shut down potential talks, as Iran announced that it would withdraw from the discussions in the wake of the attack.
Iran has argued that it is seeking uranium for peaceful purposes. Iranian officials announced Thursday afternoon their intentions to expand their nuclear program, despite facing a censure from a U.N. nuclear watchdog for failing to uphold nonproliferation obligations.
Israeli strikes have so far killed four senior Iranian commanders, including Hossein Salami, the commander in chief of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, Iranian state media confirmed late Thursday, though regional sources told Reuters that up to 20 senior commanders had been killed.
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the supreme leader of Iran, said there would be “severe punishment” for the strikes.
“It’s worth taking a step back and wondering how any of this helps the United States. We can’t think of a single way,” Carlson wrote.
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