Donald Trump has a Tucker Carlson problem. Since January, the president has privately urged the popular podcast host to end his battle with prominent pro-Israel MAGA influencers, according to multiple sources familiar with the conversations.
People close to Trump have routinely brought Carlson’s attacks on Israel to his attention. And they have warned, as one Republican fundraiser close to the White House said, that the split Carlson was creating in Trump’s coalition was “destroying the chances of winning the midterms and the next election.”
The interview that Carlson aired on Friday with Mike Huckabee, the U.S. ambassador to Israel, could have been a chance for Carlson to create a reset. But instead of marking a truce, Carlson used the combative three-hour interview to open up a new front.
Since the October 7, 2023 massacre, Carlson has condemned Israel’s response, and claimed that the Jewish state exercises a stranglehold on U.S. foreign policy. He has mused that Iran obtaining nuclear weapons would actually be a “stabilizing” force in the Middle East. Since last year, he has been engaged in a pitched battle with conservative media influencers like Ben Shapiro and Mark Levin, one that Carlson himself started in the spring when he lobbied the White House to block Israel from attacking Iran.
