Trump promised the MAGA base no new wars. Then he went to war with Iran

[Dulcinea]

Last edited Tue Mar 3, 2026, 08:05 AM - Edit history (1)

(NPR) The Trump administration's justification for war in Iran is exacerbating tensions within the president's political coalition and highlights an increasing disagreement on what "America First" means.

In the hours after the U.S. and Israel launched attacks that killed Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and let to an ongoing conflict that has seen the deaths of six U.S. service members so far, a vocal contingent of Trump's supporters have increased their criticism of the operation and the man who ordered it.

They include figures like conservative commentator Matt Walsh, who argued in a series of posts on X that efforts by the White House and other conservatives to massage the narrative around the attacks were, "to put it mildly, confused."

As Congress is set to vote on bipartisan war powers resolutions this week to curb operations in Iran, the administration's explanations for the new war have been met with displeasure by many of the president's supporters who believe the country should focus on domestic issues.

https://www.npr.org/2026/03/03/nx-s1-5732601/trump-maga-iran-war-israel

[no_hypocrisy]

1. Interesting dilemma for true MAGA followers.

They have a choice to continue to believe-without-thinking or to be true to their principles.

Cognitive dissonance can be so pesky.

[Skittles]

2. one would like to think they would finally wake up

but honestly, I don't give a fuck about them, they're a lost fucking cause - their allegiance was to TRUMP and not America, fucking DISGUSTING

[no_hypocrisy]

4. Here's the point: They CAN'T think unless someone they wholly trust tells

them HOW and WHAT to think.

Exhibit One: In 1979, my sister announced to our Jewish parents that she wanted to convert to Catholicism. They asked why. The real reason was that she was angling to marry her boyfriend (Catholic) and she figured it would grease the gears. What she told them: She wouldn't have to think anymore because The Church would tell her what to think, thereby no mistakes. Personally, I think the latter excuse was more accurate. Postscript: She broke up with her boyfriend and married a "nice Jewish boy".

[Woodwizard]

6. Principles?

The ones I know are fluid with their beliefs whatever trump and his circle decides that is what they follow.

My in laws are a perfect example.

Not even sure it's belief, it is just being part of the maga cult.

[no_hypocrisy]

7. Paraphrasing Karl Marx, MAGA is the opium for the masses.

[Whip-poor-will]

3. little child rapist

A rapist gotta rape little girls big country whatever..

[Skittles]

5. huh?

[MustLoveBeagles]

10. I don't speak gibberish

I think they've trying to insult trump but Im not sure.

[LetMyPeopleVote]

8. Maddowblog-On campaign promises about foreign wars, Trump rewrites recent history

The candidate who promised not to launch a war has been reduced to “I didn’t guarantee ‘no war,’” as if we don’t remember the events of two years ago.

On campaign promises about foreign wars, Trump rewrites recent history (Steve Benen/MS NOW)
#Trump

— TrumpWatch (@trumpwatch.skyfleet.blue) 2026-06-08T17:52:05.211Z

https://www.ms.now/rachel-maddow-show/maddowblog/trump-campaign-promises-foreign-wars

Before Donald Trump abruptly ended his latest “Meet the Press” interview, NBC News’ Kristen Welker asked the president to reconcile his pre-election assurances about not starting new wars with his decision to start a war with Iran. The host started to ask, “Did you break that promise to the American …” when the Republican interrupted to say, “No.”

Welker pressed forward, adding, “So you’re saying you didn’t break your promise. And yet, Mr. President, in your first term, you held to that promise, and it was so fundamental to who you were as a candidate, to a first-term president. What changed, because you insisted ‘no new wars’?”

Trump replied, “First of all, I didn’t guarantee no war. Why would I have built the strongest military in the world?” (As the exchange continued, the president tried to defend his position by referring to the stock market and then pivoted to attacking Welker’s professional integrity.),,,

But the underlying point is just as important, if not more so, since Trump’s record is unambiguous.

Trump: "I didn't guarantee no war."

Trump guaranteeing no more wars:

— The Bulwark (@thebulwark.com) 2026-06-07T16:26:26.795Z

Throughout the 2024 election cycle, Trump and his team went to bizarre lengths to present the Republican as the “peace” candidate who would “expel the warmongers” from the federal government and lead as a “peacemaker,” while rascally Democrats prepared to lead us into war. Common sense might have suggested any thinking adult would know better than to believe such obvious nonsense, but some voters accepted these absurdities at face value and cast their ballots accordingly, optimistic that the GOP nominee would pursue a foreign policy rooted in restraint.

In other words, many Americans believed Trump when he told voters, among other things, “I’m going to be the one that keeps you out of war”; “we’re not going to have war in the Middle East”; and “they said, ‘You will start a war.’ I’m not going to start a war. I’m going to stop wars.”...

I’m reminded of a George Orwell quote from “1984” that I emphasized in my book about GOP efforts to rewrite recent history: “The party told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears. It was their final, most essential command.”

[LetMyPeopleVote]

9. trump and his no new wars lie

Link to tweet

Link to tweet