Republican advocates of a harder line on Iran are increasingly clashing with US President Donald Trump's more non-interventionist MAGA movement over nuclear talks with Tehran, Politico reported on Tuesday.
Influential conservatives are ramping up a lobbying campaign to end a push for a nuclear deal with Tehran and instead allow its nemesis Israel to strike Iran's nuclear sites, Politico reported citing informed sources.
Those lines were advocated by popular right-wing talk show host Marc Levin in a private lunch with Trump at the White House on Wednesday also attended by the US envoy for the talks Steve Witkoff - whom Levin has frequently criticized.
Rupert Murdoch's media empire has also begun piling pressure on the outreach, Politico wrote, and the New York Post which he owns has lambasted Witkoff and suggested the real estate billionaire is beholden to Qatar.
“They’re trying to push the president to make a decision that’s not what he wants,” Politico quoted a senior Trump administration official as saying.
“There’s clearly a lobby for war with Iran vs. those who are more aligned with the president, that know he is the one that has been able to bring them to the negotiating table.”
Tucker Carlson, a top conservative commentator, became aware of Levin's White House meeting and blasted his efforts as likely to embroil the United States in a war that could draw in other powers and result in American defeat.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told the Politico that Trump listens to a broad array of voices but makes his own policy judgments.
“With respect to Iran, President Trump has made his own opinion clear: he would like to pursue diplomacy and make a deal, but IF Iran makes a deal impossible, President Trump has other options on the table,” she said.
The Make America Great Again movement founded by Trump prioritizes populist issues like jobs and economic growth over foreign entanglements, which the president has said led to defeat and disrepute for the country.
Stalwart MAGA influencers Charlie Kirk and Jack Posobiec have advocated for diplomacy to their broad online followings.
A longtime Trump ally quoted by the outlet questioned the wisdom of attempting to pressure the anti-war president into a conflict.
“The president is not going to support war… But I’m telling you, these guys won’t take no for an answer. This is why there’s a breach in the Bibi-President Trump relationship. ... Israel isn’t reading the room. The MAGA movement doesn’t support military operations.”
The latest US proposal in the nuclear talks proposed an international consortium to enrich uranium in which Tehran would take part in order to produce nuclear fuel.
Politico quoted a senior Trump administration official as saying the offer may provide a way for compromise: “It is a very creative proposal that allows both sides to claim a win."
