WASHINGTON — Donald Trump’s hints that he may dispatch the U.S. military to help Israel destroy Iran’s nuclear program has spurred a revolt from his typically faithful America First base, further dividing a party already struggling to unite around the president’s second-term agenda.

Trump continues to be non-committal on what he’ll ultimately decide, but his rhetoric toward Iran has grown more belligerent in the six days since Israel launched its offensive — pushing the U.S. closer to involvement in a foreign war.

That’s firmly at odds with a central tenet of Trump’s own “Make America Great Again” movement, fashioned during his political ascent amid voter frustration with decades of U.S. military involvement in Iraq and Afghanistan. Trump sharpened his anti-war stance during the 2024 election as he hit President Joe Biden over the haphazard U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan and pledged to avoid conflicts overseas.

As recently as last month — and speaking in the Middle East, where he’s currently building up U.S. forces for potential engagement — Trump lambasted the U.S. “neocons” for the wars they fought in the region. He said he wants the Mideast to be a place “where people of different nations, religions and creeds are building cities together, not bombing each other out of existence.”

Now, as Trump agitates on Iran, the intra-MAGA fault lines are deepening.

Trump and conservative media personality Tucker Carlson have traded barbs over the “America First” doctrine as the former Fox News host calls for the U.S. to steer clear of the Israel-Iran conflict. Laura Loomer, a right-wing social media influencer and staunch Trump supporter, jumped into the fray in Trump’s defense.

Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, who has long pushed for a U.S. attack on Iran, said that he’s spoken to Trump and urged him to act. Graham played down the GOP divide, saying 90% of Republicans support Trump helping Israel and most Americans believe stopping Iran’s nuclear ambitions is “absolutely essential,” even if it involves the use of force.

Graham’s numbers, however, may be overly optimistic. Even as half of Americans view Iran as an enemy of the U.S., some 60% say that the U.S. shouldn’t get involved militarily in the Israeli war, according to a YouGov poll conducted between June 13 and June 16. That includes 53% of of Republicans, the poll showed.

In a sign of how Trump is in some ways talking himself into the war — or at least rationalizing the option to do so — he’s increasingly pointing to his long-held position that Iran shouldn’t have a nuclear weapon.

While Trump himself during his first term pulled out of a global agreement aimed at ensuring that Iran can’t get atomic bombs, he’s cast the prospect that it might do so as an existential threat to the U.S. and its allies alike. Vice President JD Vance, a Marine Corps veteran who’s also advocated for a more isolationist U.S., has pointed to Trump’s consistency on the topic as he seeks to defend his boss against the base.

The president acknowledged the split among Republicans in response to reporters’ questions Wednesday morning on the White House lawn.

“So I may have some people that are a little bit unhappy now, but I have some people that are very happy,” Trump said. “And I have people outside of the base who can’t believe that this is happening, they’re so happy.”

Steve Bannon, a longtime Trump ally and early disciple of Trump’s populist doctrine, said there’s no urgency for the U.S. to join Israel’s campaign as it already succeeded in gaining control of Iranian airspace. He said that American involvement should be determined by U.S. intelligence and not Israel’s, and he stressed several times that this is Israel’s fight to finish.

But even as Trump’s base bristles at the notion of the president taking the U.S. into a war, Bannon said he’ll ultimately retain support.

“The MAGA movement, the Marjorie Taylor Green’s, Matt Gaetz, we will fight it up until the end to make sure he’s got the full information. But if he has more intelligence and makes that case to the American people, the MAGA movement will support President Trump,” Bannon said.

Tumult in the Middle East has driven oil prices higher. Under the most extreme scenario, should the U.S. join Israel in the strikes and the Strait of Hormuz is shut, crude could surge past $130 a barrel, weigh on the global economy and drive up consumer prices, according to a Bloomberg Economics analysis.

The debate between Trump allies calling for U.S. involvement in the conflict and those urging him to steer clear was encapsulated in a recorded exchange between Carlson and Ted Cruz for the Texas senator’s podcast. Carlson stumped Cruz on a question about Iran’s population, saying that it’s an important metric to know for anyone agitating for war with a country.

Cruz, who spoke to Trump about Iran over the weekend, on Wednesday told reporters he doesn’t envision U.S. troops on the ground in Iran, but suggested a limited bombing strike to take out a nuclear weapons facility could be on the table for Trump.

“And if he does so, it will make Americans substantially safer,” Cruz said.

The political ramifications will play out in Congress, either as part of the ongoing push-and-pull over executive branch powers or with the looming 2026 midterm election cycle.

Only Congress has the constitutional authority to authorize war, but lawmakers have ceded that power to the president for more than two decades. The last authorization for use of military force approved by Congress was in 2002 for the Iraq war, and that came back to bite lawmakers politically.

Senator Tim Kaine, a Democrat, has introduced legislation that would force a vote on any U.S. war with Iran. He was joined in the House by Republican Thomas Massie, who has already publicly sparred with Trump over the president’s legislative agenda.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune acknowledged the ideological split within his party and defended Trump’s war powers, signaling he doesn’t intend to take up Kaine’s bill anytime soon.

“We have people in our party, as you know, that have different views about America’s role in the world,” Thune said. “But I think the president is well within his authority, understands what’s at stake in insuring Iran never has a nuclear weapon, and will do everything he can to protect America and American interests.”

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