“Don’t know who to believe”: MAGA supporters are looking for a replacement for Trump

Republicans advocating military restraint believed Trump would back them up, given his campaign promises not to start new foreign wars. However, the operations in Venezuela and Iran played the cards. A former Trump administration official noted that the notion that the administration would set a high bar for military intervention is “completely dead.”

Trump, for his part, deflected criticism from his political allies, who were outraged at the abandonment of the “America First” doctrine. In telephone interviews he gave, he clarified simply: “MAGA is Trump.” The president’s expectations are that his supporters, including his senior advisers, will back his every move – even if it is a 180-degree U-turn from their historical positions.

Along with the fighting, the conflicting messages from the administration are puzzling in Washington. While a senior Pentagon official promised that the US would not be dragged into an “endless war” and the Defense Minister claimed that it was not a change of government, President Trump has already announced that the United States will be directly involved in choosing the next leader of Iran.

A foreign diplomat summed up the confusion that also prevails among the US’s allies, who believed that American involvement in the world is being reduced: “For months we were told that the US is gathering inward and a change of government is not the goal, but now two regimes have fallen in military action – so who to believe?”.