Video News Clips: In Their Own Words

Tucker Carlson Sounds Alarm On How US Going To War With Iran Would ‘End’ Trump’s Presidency

Screenshot/X/@Bannons_WarRoom

Daily Caller News Foundation co-founder Tucker Carlson warned on Monday that if the United States goes to war with Iran, it would ruin President Donald Trump’s second term in office.

Trump has issued mixed messages about whether the U.S. would join in Israel’s offensive operations against Iran, saying on Sunday that “it’s possible” America would ultimately enter the war, though it currently was not. Carlson said on “Bannon’s War Room” that American involvement would cripple Trump’s administration, comparing the potential fallout to how the Iraq War undermined former President George W. Bush’s tenure.

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“I am saying this because I’m really afraid that my country’s going to be further weakened by this. I think we’re going to see the end of American Empire, obviously,” Carlson said. “Other nations would like to see that — and this is a perfect way to scuttle the USS America on the shoals of Iran. But it’s also going to end, I believe, Trump’s presidency — and effectively end it — and so that’s why I’m saying this.”

Host Steve Bannon pressed Carlson to clarify his warning. Carlson referenced Bush’s presidency to underscore how war can overshadow a president’s policy agenda.

“[Bush] hates me — and he does — because I criticized him on Iraq, and that war is the sum total, from an historical perspective, of his administration,” Carlson said. “But I knew him, and he had all kinds of plans for the things that he wanted to do … domestically, to improve the country. And you may agree or disagree, but, like, in his mind, he wasn’t just about the invasion of Iraq in March of 2003.”

Bannon agreed, saying Bush was planning to “redo Social Security” and address entitlements. Carlson asserted Bush was sincere in believing his plans for entitlements would succeed.

“There’s a whole other question, which is how prepared is the U.S. military for a real conflict? And the answer is totally unprepared. Scary unprepared,” Carlson added. “I don’t think people understand that. But anyway, the only reason I’m saying any of this is because I really, really care.”

“I just don’t want my country to be further weakened or destroyed by another one of these wars,” he said.

Carlson made similar comments on a Jan. 29 episode of “Piers Morgan Uncensored,” warning that Trump must evade going to war with Iran and Russia in order to become “the most effective president” in U.S. history.

“In order to stop Trump, you need to massively derail not just him, but the country. You need a COVID and/or a war … if he can avoid a war with Iran and a war with Russia, a deepening war with Russia, he will be the most effective president really since the founding, I think,” he said. “He will really change the country for the better. Those are the, as of today, those are the two things I can imagine where it’s just not possible to govern because you’re so distracted, because you’re so broke, because there’s so much else going on.”

Trump campaigned on ending the Russia-Ukraine war and asserted in his second inaugural address that he wanted to finish wars and refrain from entering them, adding that his “proudest legacy will be that of a peacemaker and unifier.”