Pressure on Trump not to intervene in the war against Iran

WashingtonDonald Trump continues to bet on the rise in the war of nerves against Iran and maintains the suspense over the possibility of bombing the ayatollahs' regime. After demanding Tehran's "unconditional surrender" on Monday and not ruling out US military involvement in the conflict between the Islamic Republic and Israel, the president laid another card on the table on Tuesday: "Nobody knows what I'm going to do." "I might do it, I might not do it," the Republican told reporters from the White House lawns. This game of intrigue not only further inflames tensions in the Middle East, but also shifts the war of nerves to Washington. In an unusual move, and from completely opposing positions, Trump has managed to align the interests of the old MAGA guard and the Democrats in clear opposition to the country's involvement in the conflict.

The president not only faces a momentous decision for national security and the international stage, but he must also navigate the two waters within his party, risking a schism within the movement. In recent days, prominent MAGA figures, such as former advisor Steve Bannon and Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene, have taken it upon themselves to remind the congregation of the president's campaign promises. "Everyone is figuring out who the real America First/MAGA people are and which ones were fake and just saying it because it was popular," Greene wrote Sunday in a post on the social media platform X. "Unfortunately, the list of fakers is getting quite long and they are being exposed quickly." The lawmaker is part of the hardline Trump wing in the House and is known for her loyalty to the president. "Anyone who is clamoring for the United States to get fully involved in the war between Israel and Iran is not America First/MAGA," she said.

Trump has had to start sounding off some of his most loyal allies over their opposition to a possible attack on Iran. After far-right journalist Tucker Carlson clashed live with Republican Senator Ted Cruz to advocate for US intervention in the conflict with Iran, the president took a dig at him. "Please, someone explain to the idiot Tucker Carlson that Iran should never be allowed to have a nuclear weapon," the Republican said in a post on Truth Social.

A third way?

After the engagement, Cruz—known for being an Iran hawk—said on his podcast Wednesday that he and the president are in a third position beyond the classic foreign policy debate between isolationists and interventionists. "I think they're both wrong. I consider myself a third point in the triangle: I'm a non-interventionist hawk. I'm very reluctant to get involved in military conflicts, as is Trump. But I also believe in peace through strength. The best way to avoid war is to be strong enough that your enemies don't want to," Cruz said of a possible third outcome to the decision facing the president: whether or not to intervene militarily in Iran.

The incendiary rhetoric toward Iran is not only creating further rifts within the MAGA movement, but it is exposing the broken promises of the 2024 campaign. The president, who accused his predecessor, Joe Biden, of leaving the world on the cusp of "World War III," is practically on the verge of leading the United States into a scenario that all his predecessors have sought to avoid. The promise to bring peace to the region and end the conflict in Gaza has been confronted by the reality that, five months into the presidency, the The Middle East is on the brink of the abyss.

The 'influencer Far-right activist Charlie Kirk, who played a key role in evangelizing young people in the MAGA movement during the election, warned of the risks posed by the divisions the president has provoked. His "presidency," which he called "insane and incredibly successful,"

An unusual coalition in Congress.

Kirk's concern about losing that "momentum" is already playing out in Congress with the creation of an unusual coalition of Democrats and Republicans to try to limit the president's power to decide whether to engage in war. Kentucky Republican Thomas Massie and California Democrat Ro Khanna joined forces to try to force a vote on an executive branch war powers resolution, which would require congressional approval before the president could say whether the country would engage in a significant conflict.

With his intrigue games about a possible bombing in Iran, Trump is also jeopardizing the docility he had managed to impose on the legislature. Republicans' simple majorities in both chambers mean he cannot afford major divisions among his own.