Why Isolationists Opposing the Conflict with Iran Have no Credibility in 2026

The current war with Iran has forced conservatives to come to terms with what America First really means. While in Trump’s first term, there were no major wars started by the 47th President, the last six months have led to some division within the MAGA movement. The administration’s decision to take decisive military action against both Venezuela and Iran has revealed what the President’s true foreign policy doctrine is predicated upon. Just as adversity usually forces clarity, these wars have shown what Trump’s core philosophy on war and the use of force truly is, and the President’s strategy has shown that he does believe the US needs to be actively engaged in the international community both economically and militarily.

The main criticism from the right on the current conflict America is engaged in with Iran has come from the libertarian and more isolationist wing of the party. Individuals such as Tucker Carlson and Marjorie Taylor Greene have spoken out loudly against the President’s military strikes on the Iranian regime, with some even claiming these actions are a betrayal of Trump’s pledge not to be involved in conflicts within the Middle East when the current President originally ran in 2016. These same individuals have absurdly claimed that Trump is doing Israel’s work, or that the President is somehow at the behest of current Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

The reality is that this criticism is simply not reasonable. America First was never an isolationist-based philosophy. President Trump has supported massively increasing the Pentagon’s budget for years, and the US is set to spend over $900 billion on defense this year alone. The core philosophy that Trump embraced was that the US should only enter conflicts in which America has a clear national security interest, and the United States also needs both a clear entry and exit plan. The President does not want to engage in the kind of open-ended conflicts seen in Iraq or Afghanistan, and Trump also is not interested in nation-building, as seen with Bush’s invasion and occupation of the Iraqi nation for nearly a decade. Trump’s decision to not take military action against Iran in his first term also shows Israel has no sway over his decision-making. The reality is that the President wants to use force decisively when such use of the military can be done to protect our national interests without significant loss of life, and this is exactly what Trump did in Venezuela when the US captured Maduro without a single casualty.

While obviously Trump’s use of force against Iran is more complicated than what was done in Venezuela, the President’s actions are again entirely consistent with his America First Doctrine. Trump engaged Iran diplomatically multiple times before using force, and the President has no plans to wage a wider war against the Persian country that would involve a larger ground force or a more permanent occupation of the nation. The US has already nearly completely destroyed the Iranian military and taken out most of the vile and radical regime of the country, with very minimal casualties or loss of life. Trump is also engaging the Iranian government in negotiations during the conflict.

Iran has long been one of the largest sponsors of terrorism in the world, and the Iranian regime has murdered thousands of American troops in Iraq, Lebanon and other countries, the nation’s vile leaders of this Persian country who have pursued nuclear weapons for years, are a clear threat to the national security of the United States. Indeed, while Saddam posed no significant threat to America’s security interests and there was no evidence that Iraq was financing or supporting terrorism in the Middle East or abroad, that is not the case with Iran. The entire idea of isolationism in a post-9/11 world is nonsensical, and the world is simply too interconnected for the US not to continually be engaged both militarily and economically. Even though the endless wars fought with little to no gains for the American people over the last several decades are not the answer, isolationism in today’s globalized economy is not an approach that makes sense either. The America First foreign policy developed by the MAGA movement was always about putting the security interests of the country ahead of any other priority, and Trump’s decisive yet limited actions in Iran and Venezuela are exactly the kind of leadership that the President both promised and has delivered.