Source: Semafor
by David Weigel
“MAGA loyalists trying to deter President Donald Trump from bombing Iran this week are at a disadvantage: They have only three real Republican allies in Congress, and Trump hasn’t been listening to them. ‘Unconditional surrender — that means I’ve had it,’ Trump told reporters on Wednesday as he acknowledged he’s openly wrestling with whether to directly strike Iran’s Fordow nuclear facility. ‘I give up, no more. Then we go blow up all the nuclear stuff that’s all over the place there.’ Trump, who campaigned on avoiding unnecessary US military entanglements and declared in 2019 that ‘GOING INTO THE MIDDLE EAST IS THE WORST DECISION EVER MADE,’ has scrambled the coalition that put him back in office as he weighs striking Iran. But even as some ‘America First’ pundits go on a tear, they’re standing relatively alone in official Washington.” (06/18/25)