The people logging into Truth Social each day tend to count themselves among the most ardent supporters of President Trump and his MAGA movement. In recent weeks, though, even some in the echo chamber have turned against his actions in Iran.
Thousands of users on the social media platform, which Mr. Trump created in 2022, have responded to the president’s drumbeat of posts with a mix of frustration, disbelief and outrage.
They have written that they feel betrayed by the expanding war in Iran and ashamed when Mr. Trump used an expletive on Easter to make demands of the Iranian government. Some were so perplexed by his military interventions that one declared they “make zero sense.”
The responses on Truth Social — numbering in the tens of thousands — offer a snapshot of a simmering criticism from the right that has intensified in recent weeks over Mr. Trump’s decision to go to war in Iran. While polling suggests that Republicans still broadly support the war, unease and anger are bubbling up on Mr. Trump’s own platform.
Mr. Trump’s approach to the war, which has disrupted oil shipments from the Persian Gulf and driven up gas prices, has clearly rattled parts of his base. Many voters were drawn to Mr. Trump in part because he had been deeply critical of global entanglements, and some supporters even spoke of him as “the peace president.”
Truth Social’s user base is relatively minuscule, with an estimated 6 million users compared to more than 550 million on X, owned by Elon Musk. It has never attracted enough advertisers to turn a profit, but it has served as Mr. Trump’s megaphone, even after he returned to the White House for a second term.
It is also one of the places where Mr. Trump’s most devoted supporters can interact with him, at least virtually, providing a glimpse of views of his political base.
An analysis by The New York Times of more than 40,000 comments on Mr. Trump’s posts showed the depths of the discontent over the war.
More than half of those responding to Mr. Trump’s warning on Tuesday morning that Iran’s “whole civilization will die,” were deeply critical of his comments.
One user, who indicated on their profile page that they supported “President Trump 100%,” wrote that Mr. Trump had demonstrated a “lust for blood.” A “Trump loving conservative” wrote that such threats would destroy the president’s legacy. “I’m honestly heartbroken,” the user added. (While social media sites tend to have a large number of bot accounts, The Times highlighted only examples showing no obvious signs of bot activity.)
Only a quarter of the comments were supportive, including posts praising Mr. Trump’s “backbone” and asking him to “finish the job.” (The analysis used A.I. tools to analyze the sentiment of the posts, assigning them a rating from “very critical” to “very supportive.”)
The fact that the war has left Iran’s government in power, its nuclear stockpile in place and its leverage over the Strait of Hormuz intact has frustrated some who supported the war.
When Mr. Trump backed off his threat to attack Iran’s infrastructure, hours ahead of a Tuesday night deadline he set, some of the accounts that had been supportive of the war expressed outrage.
The roiling sentiment reflects the challenging conditions facing the president and the Republican Party ahead of this year’s midterm elections. Mr. Trump recently recorded the worst approval rating yet during his second term.
Mr. Trump drew strong rebukes for his expletive-filled post on Easter Sunday, which threatened to destroy the country’s power plants and bridges and was punctuated with a mocking “Praise be to Allah.”
Hundreds of critical responses followed. “Even if it was a joke, you’re actually so immature it’s sad and I voted for you twice, and stick up for you all day long on Facebook,” wrote one account with the username “Trumpwillsaveus2024.”
Mr. Trump’s announcement that he had reached a deal on a two-week cease-fire did little to assuage critics, the analysis showed. Thousands of comments criticized Mr. Trump for backing down on his threat while receiving little in return.
While the president’s deeply loyal base has shown a willingness to overlook points of disagreement, cracks have shown more frequently during his second term.
He previously faced criticism from the right over the handling of the files related to Jeffrey Epstein, the convicted sex offender. Many were upset after Mr. Trump dismissed the push to release documents as a Democratic hoax.
On Truth Social, the criticism over the Epstein files was more muted than the criticism over Iran, The Times’s analysis showed. A post in which Mr. Trump called it a “Jeffrey Epstein Hoax” divided commenters. About a third were critical, a third expressed support and a third appeared neutral.
After his post on Easter, a user called MagnumForce44 addressed him respectfully but with disappointment. “While I have been a staunch supporter of you, and voted for you all three times,” the user wrote, “I take exception to the vulgar language and the potential damage to the innocent Iranians who were asking for regime change.”
Stuart A. Thompson writes for The Times about online influence, including the people, places and institutions that shape the information we all consume.
The post Once ‘Ultra MAGA’, Trump Supporters Fume About Iran on Truth Social appeared first on New York Times.
