What haunts this discussion is the memory of past conflicts in the Middle East that claimed the lives of many American soldiers over the years.
Concerns about the protracted conflict, rising U.S. death toll and unclear mission objectives are contributing to MAGA’s backlash against President Donald Trump’s Iranian military operations, putting him at odds with some of his most ardent supporters.
Overshadowing this debate is the memory of past Middle East conflicts that claimed the lives of thousands of American soldiers over the years.
President Trump’s campaign tapped into Americans’ disillusionment with the long and costly wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. He called the Iraq war a “disaster” and “one of the worst decisions in our country’s history.”
However, the president launched a series of dramatic military operations during his second term. The first two attacks, in Iran and Venezuela, were swift, resulted in no American deaths, and limited pushback from his political base.
But President Trump’s second attack on Iran has already killed six U.S. service members, and the president has warned that even more lives could be lost in a conflict whose timing is uncertain.
President Trump on March 2 discussed how long military operations could last, pushing back on the idea that he would get “tired” and move on quickly, saying, “From the beginning we expected it to be four to five weeks, but we have the capability to go well beyond that.”
“I’m never bored. Nothing is boring,” Trump said.
Trump allies discussed the U.S. military death toll in Iran and the possibility of extending the operation on Steve Bannon’s “War Room” podcast over the weekend. Bannon is a leading MAGA figure who served as White House chief strategist during Trump’s first term, and his show has become a hub of the “America First” movement rallying behind the president’s message of rescuing the country from “endless wars.”
When one of Mr. Bannon’s guests predicted a “tough situation” for Iran, the host warned that it could be politically costly for Mr. Trump.
“If it’s going to be a tough fight, it’s because it wasn’t proposed in the 2024 campaign. It just wasn’t,” Bannon said on March 1. “We will lose support.”
Mr. Bannon’s guests repeatedly returned to the American soldiers who were killed, explained the “blood price,” and questioned how that would be perceived by the American public.
“I’m not entirely sure, or even entirely sure, what the American public’s appetite is to absorb the death toll,” said Kurt Mills, executive director of American Conservative magazine.
Mills said Trump is in politically dangerous territory.
“I think it’s politically significant that he was the ‘end endless wars’ candidate, especially in 2016 and 2024. This seems like a blatant betrayal of the base,” Mills said.
Among the voices on the right questioning the wisdom of attacking Iran are prominent conservative media figures Tucker Carlson and Megyn Kelly. Mr. Carlson told ABC News that the Iran operation was “disgusting and evil,” while Mr. Kerry said, “I want to be more convinced that this is worth the sacrifice of American blood and treasure.”
In an interview with journalist Rachel Bade, President Trump dismissed Carlson and Kelly by saying, “MAGA is Trump. MAGA is not the other two.”
“MAGA wants our country to be prosperous and safe,” Trump added. “And MAGA loves every aspect of what I’m doing…Frankly, this is a detour we have to take to keep our country safe and keep other countries safe.”
Amid mounting criticism, the Trump administration has rejected any comparisons with past Middle East conflicts and has pushed back.
“This is not Iraq. This is not an open-ended thing,” Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth said at a March 2 press conference. “Our generation knows better, and so does this president. He called the nation-building wars of the past 20 years stupid, and he’s right.”
Hegseth added that the Iran operation is “the opposite” of what President Trump has criticized, and that it has a “clear, destructive and decisive mission.”
But some conservatives question whether the administration has presented a clear and consistent rationale for the Iranian operation.
“Is the goal to remove the Iranian regime, to liberate the Iranian people, to reduce its nuclear capabilities, to reduce its conventional weapons capabilities, to eliminate regional hegemony, to cut off oil supplies to China, to help Israel, or what?” Sean Davis, CEO and co-founder of the conservative web magazine The Federalist, wrote in a March 2 social media post. “The lack of a consistent message seems to suggest a lack of a consistent purpose.”
After conservative commentator Matt Walsh also described the administration’s message to Iran as “confused,” White House press secretary Caroline Leavitt responded to Walsh in a lengthy social media post on March 2, insisting that President Trump has “clear goals for the American people.”
The debate has divided the Republican coalition ahead of crucial midterm elections and could affect Mr. Trump’s ability to keep his base motivated as Republicans seek to maintain control of Congress amid signs that Democrats are gaining momentum.
Mr. Mills told Mr. Bannon that he was glad Mr. Trump was president, but believed he received “very poor advice” as he pursued “a new war in the Middle East, much like the Iraq war.”
