Trump Refutes Tucker Carlson’s Criticism He Abandoned ‘America First’ By Supporting Israel: ‘I Decide’

President Trump pushed back against recent remarks by Tucker Carlson, who accused him of betraying the America First doctrine by siding with Israel during its military actions targeting Iran.

Carlson, typically a staunch Trump supporter, criticized Israel’s offensive, suggesting that the United States had a role in it. He wrote that the country was “complicit in the act of war” and added, “politicians purporting to be America First can’t now credibly turn around and say they had nothing to do with it.”

Trump responded by emphasizing that he was the originator of the America First platform and therefore determines what the phrase truly means.

“Well, considering that I’m the one that developed ‘America First,’ and considering that the term wasn’t used until I came along, I think I’m the one that decides that,” Trump told The Atlantic when asked for his reaction.

He also addressed the broader debate around diplomacy and security, saying: “For those people who say they want peace—you can’t have peace if Iran has a nuclear weapon. So for all of those wonderful people who don’t want to do anything about Iran having a nuclear weapon—that’s not peace.”

Earlier on, Trump had indicated his reluctance about Israel launching any military operation against Iran. Before the assault took place, he told reporters that “I don’t want them going in because I think it [an attack] would blow” the ongoing nuclear negotiations between the US and Iran.

After Israel executed a series of attacks that targeted Iranian nuclear sites, eliminated key scientists, and killed top commanders, Secretary of State Marco Rubio made clear in a public statement that, “We are not involved in strikes against Iran.”

Following the strikes, Trump posted on Truth Social to remind Iran of the 60-day deadline he had set for reaching a new nuclear agreement and encouraged the regime to reengage in talks.

Carlson, who has long spoken out against interventionist foreign policy, reaffirmed his opposition to any involvement with Iran and blamed the U.S. for enabling Israel’s strike through military aid.

“While the American military may not have physically perpetrated the assault, years of funding and sending weapons to Israel, which Donald Trump just bragged about on Truth Social, undeniably place the U.S. at the center of last night’s events,” Carlson said in a newsletter he released afterward.

He continued his critique by saying, “Washington knew these attacks would happen. They aided Israel in carrying them out. Politicians purporting to be America First can’t now credibly turn around and say they had nothing to do with it.”

Meanwhile, the U.S. has assisted Israel in defending itself from Iranian retaliation. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared that the strikes were “just the beginning.”

Iran’s top leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, responded with a stark warning of his own: “Life will be dark for them.”

“They started it. They started a war.”

Israel’s offensive came at a moment when Iran was already weakened. Its regional allies and proxies had suffered extensive losses: the Assad regime collapsed in Syria, a major Israeli cyberattack took out senior Hezbollah figures, and much of Hamas’s command was eliminated in the recent Gaza war.

Talks that were planned between the U.S. and Iran regarding the nuclear issue—originally scheduled to take place in Oman—were scrapped after the Israeli strikes.

Trump has reiterated that America played no direct role in the attack on Iran, but at the same time, he warned Tehran of the consequences should they target the United States.

“The U.S. had nothing to do with the attack on Iran, tonight,” Trump wrote on Truth Social shortly after midnight on Sunday.

“If we are attacked in any way, shape or form by Iran, the full strength and might of the U.S. Armed Forces will come down on you at levels never seen before. However, we can easily get a deal done between Iran and Israel, and end this bloody conflict!!!”