Former Donald Trump White House strategist and media personality Steve Bannon outlined a pathway for the United States to enter into Israel‘s war against Iran without kicking up a full-scale MAGA revolt on Wednesday.
Bannon, who has opposed the U.S. going to war against Iran, said if Trump concludes there is no longer a diplomatic or economic alternative to ensure Iran doesn’t get a nuclear weapon, the president could use his skills as a communicator to convince his non-interventionist base that it’s the right call.
ISRAEL-IRAN WAR EXPOSES DIVIDE IN TRUMP’S MAGA BASE
“The vast majority of the MAGA movement will go, ‘Look, we trust your judgment,’” Bannon told reporters at a Christian Science Monitor breakfast in Washington, D.C. “You’ve walked us through this. We don’t like it. In fact, maybe we hate it, but, you know, we’ll get on board.”
Bannon, host of the War Room podcast and a loud voice in the right-wing populist movement, gave Trump some political cover as the MAGA world splits on whether the U.S. should aid Israel with its attacks on Iran to end its nuclear program. Israel wants the U.S. to get involved because it possesses “bunker-busting” bombs that could penetrate Iran’s underground nuclear facilities. However, vocal Trump supporters argue they backed the Republican to avoid more wars in the Middle East and beyond.
Still, Bannon said he’d prefer if Israel went solo on the military operation, which began on Friday with a barrage of air strikes that killed Iran’s top generals and destroyed infrastructure related to the nuclear program. Iran has struck back against Israel.
“The Israelis have to finish what they started. They started this. They should finish it,” said Bannon, who served in Trump’s White House during his first term.
Bannon criticized Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for going ahead with the strikes and seemingly expecting U.S. support, without getting buy-in from the American public.
“You have to think this through at this level. And the American people have to be on board. You just can’t dump it on them,” Bannon said.
Bannon’s comments reflect the divide within the Republican Party that was on full display recently between former Fox News personality Tucker Carlson and Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX), who has backed Israel. Carlson questioned Cruz about Iran’s demographics, and when the senator didn’t have a number off the top of his head, Carlson made the point: “You don’t know the population of the country you seek to topple?”
Trump has been pursuing diplomacy with Iran to make an economic deal to stop the country from obtaining a nuclear weapon. However, with the talks stalling and no deal despite Trump’s pressure, he is now weighing his military options.
TRUMP: ‘NOBODY KNOWS WHAT I’M GOING TO DO’ ON IRAN
Trump left the G7 summit in Canada early this week to huddle with his national security team at the White House. As of Wednesday morning, his expected decision has kept the world on edge.
“You don’t know that I’m going to even do it,” the president responded when asked when the U.S. might enter the fray. “You don’t know. I may do it. I may not do it. I mean, nobody knows what I’m going to do. I can tell you this, that Iran’s got a lot of trouble and they want to negotiate.”
