Tucker Carlson, one of President Donald Trump’s most prominent allies, sharply condemned the administration’s joint military strike on Iran, calling the decision “absolutely disgusting and evil” in remarks that signal a growing rift within the MAGA movement over the Feb. 28 operation.
The former Fox News host made the stunning comments to ABC chief Washington correspondent Jonathan Karl on Saturday morning, just days after visiting the White House. Carlson also suggested the military action would reshape Trump’s political coalition, telling Karl the strike will “shuffle the deck in a profound way.”
The criticism comes as President Trump announced what he described as “massive and ongoing” military operations against Iranian targets, conducted alongside Israeli forces. Carlson, a primetime speaker at the 2024 Republican National Convention, has not publicly commented on social media about the operation, though he has previously been highly critical of U.S. military intervention in the Middle East.
The backlash from Carlson represents one of the most significant public breaks between Trump and his core supporters since his January 2025 inauguration. The administration has faced mounting criticism from MAGA influencers and political figures who argue the Iran operation contradicts Trump’s campaign promises to prioritize “America First” policies and end foreign wars.
Former Georgia Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, who resigned from Congress in January following a falling out with Trump over the release of Jeffrey Epstein files, unleashed a profanity-laced tirade on social media following the announcement. “The Trump admin actually asked in a poll how many casualties voters were willing to accept in a war with Iran??? How about ZERO you bunch of sick **** liars. We voted for America First and ZERO wars,” Greene wrote.
In subsequent posts, Greene argued that Trump and Vice President JD Vance campaigned extensively on promises to avoid foreign entanglements, only to betray those commitments. “It’s always a lie and it’s always America Last. But it feels like the worst betrayal this time because it comes from the very man and the admin who we all believed was different and said no more,” she wrote.
Pro-Trump podcaster Tim Pool also criticized the administration, while MAGA influencers Keith and Kevin Hodge declared that “President Trump has completely LIED to his voters, backstabbed our country and has disgraced his legacy beyond repair at this point.”
The criticism extended to Capitol Hill, where Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky declared “This is not ‘America First,'” and called for a congressional vote on the military action. Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky and Rep. Warren Davidson of Ohio also voiced opposition to the strikes.
However, the operation found support from other prominent lawmakers. Sen. Lindsey Graham praised Trump as “evil’s worst nightmare,” while Sen. John Fetterman, a Pennsylvania Democrat, said Trump “has been willing to do what’s right and necessary to produce real peace in the region.” Fetterman was the only Democrat to vote against a Senate war powers resolution aimed at constraining the operation.
The Saturday morning strikes came roughly eight months after Operation Midnight Hammer, launched in June 2025, which targeted three Iranian nuclear facilities at Fordow, Natanz, and Isfahan. The administration claimed those strikes had eliminated Iran’s nuclear capabilities, though Trump justified the new military action by asserting that Iran continued to pose a nuclear threat and was developing long-range missiles that “could soon reach the American homeland.”
Carlson’s criticism carries particular weight given his close relationship with the president. According to The New York Times, he met with Trump three times in the Oval Office in recent weeks, urging him not to launch the operation. He has maintained a prominent role as a conservative media figure despite leaving Fox News, and his previous criticisms of Israeli government policies and U.S. intervention in the Middle East have positioned him as a leading voice for non-interventionist conservatism.
A 2020 text message that emerged during the Dominion Voting Systems defamation lawsuit against Fox News previously revealed tensions in Carlson’s relationship with Trump, though the two appeared to reconcile during the 2024 campaign.
Karl characterized the Iran operation as “a momentous and potentially defining, or maybe redefining, move for President Trump,” suggesting the fallout from key supporters like Carlson could reshape the political landscape heading into the 2026 midterm elections.
The White House has not responded to requests for comment on Carlson’s remarks or the broader criticism from MAGA supporters.