Despite antiwar MAGA wing, Trump gets Republican support for Iran strikes

Conservative opposition to war on Iran remains minimal as hawks heap praise on Trump for bombing, killing Khamenei.

Donald Trump’s Republican allies in the United States have lined up to laud the strikes on Iran, as responses to the president’s war have largely split along partisan lines.

Despite the rise of a noninterventionist wing within Trump’s Make America Great Again (MAGA) movement, Republican opposition to the war on Iran remains scant, underscoring the persisting power of foreign policy hawks within the party.

“Today, Iran is facing the severe consequences of its evil actions,” Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson said in a statement backing the war.

“President Trump and the Administration have made every effort to pursue peaceful and diplomatic solutions in response to the Iranian regime’s sustained nuclear ambitions and development, terrorism, and the murder of Americans – and even their own people,” Johnson said.

The claim that Trump tried diplomacy first before bombing Iran and emphasising Tehran’s supposed threats to the US was a recurring theme in Republican statements welcoming the attacks.