Fresh off of debuting a towering new flag pole—replete with an American flag so large it can probably be seen from outer space—on the South Lawn of the White House, President Trump met with Italian soccer team Juventus in the Oval Office Wednesday afternoon. The team, in Washington, DC, for a FIFA Club World Cup match, stood behind the president as he took questions from the press pool. Top of mind, of course, was the ongoing military action between Israel and Iran.
CNN's Kaitlan Collins took the opportunity to try and needle the president about what is perceived to be a split amongst the MAGA base when it comes to the United States taking military action against Iran. As we've talked about here on the pages of RedState, prominent "America First" voices like Tucker Carlson are against U.S. involvement, while Trump himself has hinted that action may need to be taken to prevent Iran from becoming a nuclear power.
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Collins asked about whether or not the topic of Iran was dividing Trump's supporters, referring to a recent contentious interview between Carlson and Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX), in which Carlson mocked Cruz, who is a "peace through strength" kind of guy, for not knowing the exact population of Iran. Trump told Collins in no uncertain terms that "my supporters are for me." He continued, "My supporters are America First and Make America Great Again. My supporters don't want to see Iran have a nuclear weapon."
President Trump then revealed that Carlson had called to apologize after earlier this week suggesting to Steve Bannon that Trump would torpedo his second term if he were to get the U.S. involved in the Israel-Iran conflict. In response, the president called Carlson "kooky" and, in a post to Truth Social, reiterated his conviction that Iran must not be allowed to possess nuclear weapons.
Trump had a very clear message Wednesday for those who are advocating for the U.S. to sit this one out:
It's very simple. If they think it's okay for Iran to have a nuclear weapon, then they should oppose me. But, nobody thinks it's okay. I don't want to fight, either. I'm not looking to fight. But, if it's a situation between fighting and [Iran] having a nuclear weapon, you have to do what you have to do.
He added, "You're going to have to make a choice. You're going to have to fight for them not to have nuclear."
While it remains to be seen if President Trump has made a final decision on getting the U.S. military involved, he certainly did not waffle on what would happen if Iran were to acquire nukes: "There's no way you can allow—whether you have to fight or not—Iran to have a nuclear weapon because the entire world will blow up, and I'm not going to let that happen."
Speaking of that fiery Tucker Carlson vs. Ted Cruz showdown, our sister site Townhall has put together an informative thread on Cruz's argument for peace through strength. It's worth a look.
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