Trump swipes at Tucker Carlson over Israel-Iran criticism
President Trump on Monday took a swipe at former Fox News host Tucker Carlson, who has in recent days been critical of Trump's handling of the burgeoning conflict between Israel and Iran.
"I don't know what Tucker Carlson is saying. Let him go get a television network and say it so that people listen," Trump told reporters when asked about Carlson's comments during a meeting with the British prime minister at the Group of Seven summit.
Carlson has been an outspoken critic of any U.S. involvement in a potential war in the Middle East, and he voiced frustrations after Israel late last week launched missile strikes against Iran's nuclear facilities and killed multiple top Iranian military officials.
Carlson wrote that Trump was "complicit in the act of war" and said what occurs next in the region "will define Donald Trump's presidency."
In a post on the social platform X last week, Carlson called out "warmongers" who he said were calling on Trump to demand "direct US military involvement in a war with Iran." He specifically cited former Fox News colleagues Sean Hannity and Mark Levin, among others.
Trump has danced around the question of potential U.S. involvement moving forward. The administration said Israel's strikes on Iran were unilateral, but the U.S. assisted Israel with intercepting retaliatory Iranian strikes.
Carlson, who left Fox News in 2022, has been a longtime media ally of the president. Carlson spoke at the Republican National Convention last summer and hosted Trump as part of a speaking tour during the 2024 campaign.
The former Fox News host's opposition to U.S. involvement in any conflict in the Middle East underscores a looming divide among parts of Trump's base over how to proceed toward Iran.