Trump's rebuke of MAGA isolationists is smart foreign policy. We must stop Iran. | Opinion
Trump's approach to the Middle East has been very competent. He has stood by Israel, continued to position the United States against Iran, and has not taken American military action off the table.
- President Trump rebuked Tucker Carlson's isolationist stance on the Middle East.
- Trump remains firm on preventing Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons.
- Trump's actions have distanced him from isolationist figures like Carlson and Gabbard.
President Donald Trump on June 16 called out fired Fox News host Tucker Carlson by his new nickname, “kooky Tucker Carlson,” who has called Trump "complicit" in Israel's strikes against Iran.
Trump also emphasized that “Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon.”
Carlson represents a faction on the right that is against American involvement in the Middle East, regardless of our interests. Despite his rhetorical embrace of these voices during his third presidential campaign, Trump’s approach to the Middle East has been very competent. He has stood by Israel, continued to position the United States against Iran and has not taken American military action off the table.
One of my chief concerns about a second Trump presidency was that he was embracing voices like Carlson and Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard. But Trump’s latest rebuke of the isolationist right is a welcome turn of events, and it improves my view of him as president.
Trump's stances on Iran have been commendable
Trump has been unwavering in his stance that Iran cannot obtain a nuclear weapon, and he has held the line against any compromise that allows them to enrich uranium.
While he initially pushed for a diplomatic resolution, it is clear that Iranian leaders will not willingly sign a deal that prevents their continued enrichment programs.
Whether Trump signed off on the Israeli strikes or not remains up for debate, but Trump has had no problem taking credit regardless and has said it's almost too late for negotiation.
Trump’s approach to Israel in his second term has been nothing short of stellar, and the fact that he has been consistent on this issue is rather remarkable considering how he has changed his mind in so many other areas.
Trump’s willingness to keep all options on the table in the Middle East marks a parting of ways from the isolationists who helped to shape his reelection campaign.
MAGA isolationists got played by Trump's 'America First' approach
The isolationist right thought they had a hero in Trump, but they really just fell for a campaign strategy. Isolationists thought they could mold Trump into their dream candidate, one who lets the happenings of the world go on without American intervention, regardless of our interests in the matter.
They were wrong.
Many chalked up Trump’s first term peace-through-strength foreign policy to the establishment Republicans advising him, and thought that his America First movement could be co-opted to meet their isolationist dream. It turns out that Trump still understands the value of America’s influence abroad, at least in some regards.
Carlson has been one of the chief skeptics of America’s relationship with Israel on the right, often even dipping into the very antisemitic tactics that he used to denounce.
Trump has been asked about Carlson plenty in recent days, and the president has been dismissive of his viewpoints.
Another such figure is Gabbard, whose appointment to be the director of national intelligence rightfully worried conservatives. Gabbard recently has been warning that we are “closer to the brink of nuclear annihilation than ever before” (which is ridiculous on its face), and suggesting that pro-interventionists are apparently fine with this because "they will have access to nuclear shelters for themselves and for their families.”
This type of fearmongering represents nothing more than an effort to influence the Trump administration back into her camp.
Trump also rejected some of Gabbard’s assessments of the Iran situation, telling reporters that “I don’t care what she said, I think they were very close to having" an Iranian nuke. He continues to put American interests above the views of these fringe isolationist voices, and I am pleasantly surprised that he is.
The isolationists do not have a true foreign policy ally in Trump. His second term has been reassuring to conservatives who feared the worst.
Dace Potas is an opinion columnist for Paste BN and a graduate of DePaul University with a degree in political science.