{"id":1227,"date":"2025-06-16T19:49:59","date_gmt":"2025-06-16T19:49:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.vecimasupport.com\/?p=1227"},"modified":"2025-06-17T00:29:48","modified_gmt":"2025-06-17T00:29:48","slug":"israel-iran-war-divides-democrats-but-trumps-diplomacy-also-splitting-republicans","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.vecimasupport.com\/index.php\/2025\/06\/16\/israel-iran-war-divides-democrats-but-trumps-diplomacy-also-splitting-republicans\/","title":{"rendered":"Israel-Iran war divides Democrats, but Trump's diplomacy also splitting Republicans"},"content":{"rendered":"

President Donald Trump<\/a> is urging Iran to return to talks with the U.S. over the Islamic State’s nuclear program “before it’s too late.”<\/p>\n

The president, making his comments on day four of the missile strikes and aerial attacks between Iran and Israel that were triggered by Israel’s initial attack <\/a>which killed top members of Iran’s military.<\/p>\n

“They should talk, and they should talk immediately,” Trump told reporters on Monday in Canada, where he was attending an annual meeting of top western leaders.<\/p>\n

The daily bombardments between the two countries, which have led to rising death tolls in each nation, have dominated global headlines and sparked concerns of an even wider war in the Middle East.<\/p>\n

CLICK HERE FOR LIVE FOX NEWS UPDATES IN THE ISRAEL-IRAN ATTACKS<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

And back in the U.S., the attacks have exacerbated already existing divisions within both the Democratic and Republican parties.<\/p>\n

Democrats, who have grappled with internal splits for a couple of years over Israel’s war with Hamas in Gaza, spoke with two voices in the hours after Israel’s initial attack on Iran<\/a> and Israeli leader Benjamin Netanyahu’s aggressive military strategy.<\/p>\n

ISRAEL AIRSTRIKE HITS IRANIAN STATE TV BUILDING<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, the top Democrat in the Senate, said soon after the first attacks that “I have long said that Israel has a right to defend itself and that Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon.”<\/p>\n

And Sen. Jackie Rosen of Nevada, a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said that “Israel acted in self-defense against an attack from Iran, and the U.S. must continue to stand with Israel, as it has for decades, at this dangerous moment.”<\/p>\n

But Sen. Jack Reed of Rhode Island, the top Democrat on the powerful panel, warned that “Israel’s alarming decision to launch airstrikes on Iran is a reckless escalation that risks igniting regional violence.”<\/p>\n

And Rep. Pramila Jayapal<\/a> of Washington State, a former head of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, said that “Netanyahu must not be allowed to pull America into another forever war. Instead, we must immediately push for negotiated de-escalation.”<\/p>\n

But it’s not just Democrats divided over the bloodshed in the Middle East.<\/p>\n

Trump, hours before the initial Israeli attacks, said: “I don\u2019t want them going in, because I think it would blow it,” as he referred to U.S. negotiations with Tehran over Iran’s nuclear program.<\/p>\n

ISRAELI LEADER SAYS TRUMP WAS MARKED FOR DEATH BY IRANIANS<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

And Secretary of State and National Security Adviser Marco Rubio<\/a>, in his initial statement, made clear that the U.S. had not assisted Israel and omitted any mention of support for Israel’s attack.<\/p>\n

But while Trump continued to push for negotiations – saying on social media Sunday that “Iran and Israel should make a deal” – he has also made clear U.S. support for Israel and has increasingly warned Tehran that “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.”<\/p>\n

The top two Republicans in Congress were quick to back Israel.<\/p>\n

“For too long, the mullahs in Iran have publicly aspired to wipe the only democracy in the Middle East off the face of the map via any means possible,” Senate Majority Leader John Thune said.<\/p>\n

House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., highlighted on social media immediately after the initial attack that “Israel IS right \u2014 and has a right \u2014 to defend itself!”<\/p>\n

And one of the most vocal GOP hawks – Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina – wrote “Game on” and praised Israel.<\/p>\n

“Hats off to Israel for one of the most impressive military strikes and covert operations in Israeli history.”<\/p>\n

But the military hawks have lost much of their clout in the GOP, thanks to the rise of Trump’s America First movement over the past decade, which pushes for extremely limited U.S. military involvement overseas.<\/p>\n

“Anyone slobbering for the U.S. to become fully involved in the Israel\/Iran war is not America First\/MAGA. Wishing for murder of innocent people is disgusting. We are sick and tired of foreign wars. All of them,” Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene<\/a> of Georgia, a top Trump ally in the House, wrote on social media on Sunday.<\/p>\n

And conservative political commentator Tucker Carlson took aim at what he called “warmongers” as he urged the U.S. to avoid any military involvement in the Israel-Iran war.<\/p>\n

Matthew Bartlett, a Republican strategist who served at the State Department during Trump’s first term, noted that “Donald Trump changed the direction of the Republican Party” when it comes to American military engagements around the world.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“That gave him a new coalition and new political power. This new war in the Middle East is certainly threatening that coalition. While we are not yet involved in a war, chances of escalation are dramatically increased and that certainly has ramifications with the MAGA coalition,” Bartlett warned.<\/p>\n

Stoking fears among some in MAGA world were Trump’s comments to ABC News on Sunday that “it\u2019s possible we could get involved.”<\/p>\n

Wayne Lesperance, a veteran political scientist and president of New England College, highlighted that “the divide in the GOP can be traced to Trump\u2019s promises to pull America back from its entanglements in the world.”<\/p>\n

But Lesperance noted that “the GOP has a long history of support for Israel and animosity towards Iran.\u00a0 So, addressing the current conflict between Israel and Iran represents a major decision point for the party\u2019s future outlook on foreign policy.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

President Donald Trump is urging Iran to return to talks with the U.S. over the Islamic State’s nuclear program “before it’s too late.” The president, making his comments on day four of the missile strikes and aerial attacks between Iran and Israel that were triggered by Israel’s initial attack which killed top members of Iran’s […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":502,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[9],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.vecimasupport.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1227"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.vecimasupport.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.vecimasupport.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.vecimasupport.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.vecimasupport.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1227"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/www.vecimasupport.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1227\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1228,"href":"http:\/\/www.vecimasupport.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1227\/revisions\/1228"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.vecimasupport.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/502"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.vecimasupport.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1227"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.vecimasupport.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1227"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.vecimasupport.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1227"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}