President Trump on Tuesday tried to tamp down an uproar over whether Israel had dragged the United States into a war with Iran, but he and top officials offered contradictory explanations for why, exactly, Mr. Trump had ordered military action.
Many of the president’s anti-interventionist supporters were already skeptical about the joint U.S.-Israel military campaign. The backlash exploded on Monday after Secretary of State Marco Rubio suggested the United States faced an imminent threat because Israel was about to attack Iran.
If Israel attacked, Mr. Rubio explained, Iran was poised to retaliate against U.S. forces.
Mr. Rubio’s comments suggested to some of Trump’s core supporters that Israel’s decision had led the United States into war. Many of those same allies for years have urged the president and the broader Make America Great Again movement to shift away from their close ties to Israel and military entanglements in the Middle East.
“Rubio’s comments are a record-scratch moment,” Mike Cernovich, a pro-Trump social media commentator, wrote on social media. “He said what most guessed was the case. That he said out loud this is a sea change in foreign policy. There will be massive calls for a walk back.”
Mr. Trump and Mr. Rubio both tried to smooth over tensions on Tuesday, but they continued to offer conflicting accounts of the events that had led the United States into its most expansive military conflict since the 2003 invasion of Iraq.
When asked Tuesday if Israel had forced his hand in attacking Iran, Mr. Trump said, “No, I might have forced their hand.” He added, “If anything, I might have forced Israel’s hand.”
Mr. Rubio also sought to walk back his comments that the operation had been triggered by Israel’s plans to strike Iran, insisting the decision had been made independently by Mr. Trump.
“The bottom line is this: The president determined we were not going to get hit first,” he said on Tuesday. “It’s that simple, guys.”
But in a letter to Congress, sent Monday and made public Tuesday, Mr. Trump wrote that he had ordered the military action in Iran to advance American national interests, eliminate Iran as a global threat and was carried out “in collective defense of our regional allies, including Israel.”
Israel, in particular, has led to cracks in parts of Mr. Trump’s base over how much support the United States should provide the country. Tucker Carlson, the former Fox News anchor, has been among the most vocal critics of the United States’ longstanding support of Israel. Mr. Carlson met with the president three times over the last month, urging Mr. Trump to restrain Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel.
Mr. Carlson has come under fire for conducting a friendly interview with the white nationalist Nick Fuentes, who has expressed admiration for Hitler and Stalin and opposes Mr. Trump over his support for Israel. Mr. Trump defended Mr. Carlson after the interview, though he has said neither his party nor his movement had room for people with antisemitic views.
“There’s a segment of the base that has become anti-Israel and they view Rubio’s comments as confirming their prior beliefs of how American foreign policy operates,” said Jack Posobiec, a conservative activist and prominent Trump supporter. “There’s no question that Rubio’s comment set them off.”
Many of Mr. Trump’s supporters say the president’s public disdain for military intervention and his vow to end, not start, wars was a key part of his appeal. They believed it formed the core of an “America First” foreign policy ideology.
Mr. Trump has often floated above the internal discord within his movement, but he has been consistent in supporting Israel and its leaders.
“I have been the best president of the United States in the history of this country toward Israel,” he told The New York Times in an interview in January.
Even as prominent supporters criticize the president for the decision to go to war, most acknowledge Mr. Trump is unlikely to lose much ground with his base. His support is too deep, they say, and his success in recent military operations in Venezuela and Iran has earned him good will.
But Mr. Posobiec, the conservative activist, predicted the intraparty fight over Israel’s future would only accelerate in the years ahead, especially as the party looks toward a future beyond Mr. Trump.
“There’s no way of getting through the 2028 Republican primary without answering the question: What role does Israel play in American foreign policy?” Mr. Posobiec said.
Tyler Pager is a White House correspondent for The Times, covering President Trump and his administration.
The post Trump Tries to Quiet Claims Among Supporters That Israel Dragged Him Into War appeared first on New York Times.
