(Red State)—Fresh off of debuting a towering new flag pole—replete with an American flag so large it can probably be seen from outer space—on the South Lawn of the White House, President Trump met with Italian soccer team Juventus in the Oval Office Wednesday afternoon. The team, in Washington, DC, for a FIFA Club World Cup match, stood behind the president as he took questions from the press pool. Top of mind, of course, was the ongoing military action between Israel and Iran.
CNN’s Kaitlan Collins took the opportunity to try and needle the president about what is perceived to be a split amongst the MAGA base when it comes to the United States taking military action against Iran. As we’ve talked about here on the pages of RedState, prominent “America First” voices like Tucker Carlson are against U.S. involvement, while Trump himself has hinted that action may need to be taken to prevent Iran from becoming a nuclear power.
Collins asked about whether or not the topic of Iran was dividing Trump’s supporters, referring to a recent contentious interview between Carlson and Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX), in which Carlson mocked Cruz, who is a “peace through strength” kind of guy, for not knowing the exact population of Iran. Trump told Collins in no uncertain terms that “my supporters are for me.” He continued, “My supporters are America First and Make America Great Again. My supporters don’t want to see Iran have a nuclear weapon.”
President Trump: “I don’t want to fight either. I’m not looking to fight, but if it’s a choice between fighting and them having a nuclear weapon, you have do what you have to do. And maybe we won’t have to fight.” pic.twitter.com/lU882HbCdz
— CSPAN (@cspan) June 18, 2025
President Trump then revealed that Carlson had called to apologize after earlier this week suggesting to Steve Bannon that Trump would torpedo his second term if he were to get the U.S. involved in the Israel-Iran conflict. In response, the president called Carlson “kooky” and, in a post to Truth Social, reiterated his conviction that Iran must not be allowed to possess nuclear weapons.
- Read More: redstate.com