The influential MAGA faction aligned with the “America First” slogan reacted sharply after Secretary of State Marco Rubio effectively placed responsibility on Israel for the United States being drawn into war with Iran. His remarks came at a moment when public support for Israel in the United States has reached historic lows and marked the first such direct acknowledgment by a Trump administration official of Israel’s role as a key driver of the escalation.
“We knew that there was going to be an Israeli action” against Iran, Rubio told reporters on Capitol Hill on Monday. “We knew that that would precipitate an attack against American forces” by the Iranian regime. He argued that had Washington not launched a preemptive strike before those attacks began, “we would suffer higher casualties…And then we would all be here answering questions about why we knew that and didn’t act.” Later, he added: “Obviously, we were aware of Israeli intentions and understood what that would mean for us, and we had to be prepared to act as a result of it. But this had to happen no matter what.”
Many interpreted his remarks as follows: the United States was unable to restrain an ally—a far smaller country that America arms, funds, and protects—from striking Iran on Saturday. As a result, Washington had to strike Iran itself. U.S. officials later insisted that was not the case. In their account, Trump authorized the strikes because he believed Iran was negotiating over a nuclear deal in bad faith, and the United States needed to dismantle the country’s offensive military infrastructure. “This operation had to happen,” Rubio said, arguing that Iran was rapidly expanding its missile capabilities and rebuilding its nuclear capacity.
Still, the secretary of state’s comments were widely taken as evidence of Washington’s dependence on Israeli interests. That perception intensified frustration within parts of the MAGA elite, some of whom spent the day criticizing Trump’s decision to enter the war. In podcasts and across social media, the president’s supporters suggested he had fallen under the sway of military “hawks” and neoconservatives he had campaigned against. Critics of Israel on the right, along with openly antisemitic commentators who in recent years have edged closer to the mainstream, saw the episode as vindication of their claims.
Even some of Trump’s traditional allies acknowledged that the White House’s messaging appeared muddled. Matt Walsh of Daily Wire wrote on X: “He is literally telling us that we’re at war with Iran because Israel forced us into it. That’s basically the worst thing he could possibly say.” At the same time, National Review Online editor Philip Klein argued that those claiming Rubio “said that Netanyahu dragged the U.S. into war” were conflating the questions of “Why?” and “Why now?” and that the secretary of state had not asserted that Israel pulled America into the conflict.
Rubio was speaking in Congress as he sought to rally support for the military operation and clarify conflicting explanations for the war. On Saturday, administration officials told a closed-door briefing that the United States had struck because Iran was preparing an attack on American forces in the region, though intelligence did not substantiate that claim. Nor was there any mention that Iran was bracing to retaliate because Israel intended to strike first.
Critics portray a scenario in which the United States was reluctantly dragged into war by a smaller ally, but that version overlooks the close coordination between the two countries in the preceding weeks. According to Israeli officials, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had been urging Trump since December to strike Iran, yet would not have acted without his explicit approval. Had Trump chosen to continue negotiations, the operation would have been postponed. Over the past year, the president has repeatedly restrained Netanyahu—including during bombing campaigns in Syria—and effectively compelled him to accept a Gaza plan under which Hamas released the remaining hostages and returned the bodies of those killed.
Netanyahu said Monday evening on Fox News with Sean Hannity that Trump “can’t be dragged into anything” and acts on his own judgment. Still, unease is surfacing among the president’s supporters. Mike Cernovich wrote on X: “Rubio’s comments are a screeching-halt moment. He said out loud what many suspected. The fact that this was stated openly…is a pivot in foreign policy. There will be massive demands to walk it back.” Megyn Kelly admitted on her program that she has “serious doubts about what we’re doing.” Trump donor Erik Prince warned that the decision “will unleash a significant box of problems, chaos, and destruction.” Former Trump adviser Steve Bannon, speaking on the “War Room” podcast, asked: “If we knew Israel would strike, and Iran would retaliate against us, where was the coordination? We need a strategic explanation.”