Will the war with Iran fracture the Trump coalition?

Some prominent MAGA voices are calling Trump's decision to go to war with Iran a betrayal. The isolationist vs. interventionist debate on the Right.

Air Date: March 16, 2026 12:00 pm

Is President Donald Trump’s coalition cracking over the Iran war?

Trump campaigned on ending the “era of endless wars” and putting “America first.” At a rally days before the 2024 election, he pledged: “You’re not going to have a war with me and you’re not going to have a Third World War with me.”

But now, with U.S. strikes on Iran, some of the loudest voices in the MAGA movement are calling that broken promise a betrayal. Tucker Carlson, Steve Bannon and Megyn Kelly are among those who have long championed anti-interventionism and are skeptical of regime change foreign policy. Joe Rogan, who endorsed Trump in 2024 on his widely popular podcast, is also calling the war “insane.”

Still recent polls show that the vast majority of President Trump’s supporters remain with him: 77% of Republicans voters support military action in Iran, while 89% of Democrats oppose it. But as this conflict widens and the costs grow, will that backing erode?

Within this debate is disagreement over America’s support for Israel, with both sides of the aisle facing factions that are deeply critical of the U.S. advancing Israeli interests.

On this edition of Studio 2: the growing tension between isolationism and interventionism on the right. How serious is this rift? Could it hurt Republicans in the November elections? We’ll get the perspective from two sides of the conservative movement.

Guests:

Curt Mills, executive director, The American Conservative magazine

Eli Lake, columnist for The Free Press, host of the podcast Breaking History

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