EXPLAINER – Why Trump’s MAGA movement is increasingly divided over Israel?

Six months into his second term, President Donald Trump is facing growing backlash from Make America Great Again (MAGA) conservatives over continued U.S involvement in Israeli wars.

Once a core tenet of Trump-era foreign policy, the “special relationship” is now being questioned by some of his most prominent supporters, who argue that backing Israeli wars contradicts the “America First” agenda.

The divisions sharpened after Trump approved Israeli strikes on Iran in June, with the U.S joining the conflict and striking three Iranian nuclear sites on 22 June.

High-profile MAGA figures, including Tucker Carlson, Steve Bannon, and Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene, have criticized the intervention, framing it as fighting “Israel’s wars” at America’s expense. 

Carlson urged the U.S to “drop Israel” and “let them fight their own wars,” while Greene echoed the sentiment, saying, “MAGA is not for foreign wars. We are not for regime change … We bombed Iran on behalf of Israel.”

In Congress, MAGA-aligned lawmakers are beginning to challenge long-standing bipartisan support for Israel. 

Greene voted with progressive Democrats Rashida Tlaib and Ilhan Omar to strip $500 million in missile funding to Israel — a measure overwhelmingly rejected by the House in a 422-6 vote. She also opposed legislation penalizing Americans who join boycotts of Israel, calling it an infringement on personal freedoms.

Some conservative voices remain staunchly pro-Israel. 

Radio host Mark Levin dismissed the movement’s isolationist faction as “more Bernie Sanders and Noam Chomsky” than MAGA, insisting Iran, not Israel, remains the real enemy.

Trump himself has stayed mostly consistent with his pro-Israel stance from his first term. 

He lifted Biden-era restrictions on 2,000-pound bomb shipments, reversed sanctions on Israeli settlers, revoked visas of pro-Palestinian students, and has hosted Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House three times since January. 

Yet Trump has occasionally signalled frustration. 

After an Israeli strike hit Gaza’s only Catholic church, killing three people, he phoned Netanyahu to express concern, calling it “a mistake by the Israelis.” 

U.S Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee condemned the recent killing of a Palestinian-American in the West Bank by Israeli settlers, calling for “accountability,” though he appeared in court days later to attend Netanyahu’s corruption trial.

Public opinion in the United States is also shifting. 

A Quinnipiac University poll in June showed Republican support for Israel dropping from 78% in May 2024 to 64%, while Democratic sympathy fell to just 12%. 

A Chicago Council on Global Affairs survey in May recorded the lowest U.S favourability rating for Israel since polling began in 1978, with 61% of Americans viewing Israel’s role in the region negatively and a majority saying the U.S should take neither side in the conflict. 

Even the conservative Heritage Foundation urged in March for the U.S to transition from a “special alliance” to an “equal strategic partnership” with Israel over the next two decades.

Trump’s balancing act between maintaining his long-standing pro-Israel record and placating an increasingly skeptical MAGA base is testing the cohesion of his political movement, raising questions about how far “America First” can stretch when foreign wars are involved.

Copied