‘Not What We Thought MAGA Was Supposed To Be’: America First Skeptics Blast Iran Strikes

Avowed advocates of the right-wing America First movement had harsh words for President Donald Trump after he announced the U.S. military struck Iran on Saturday morning, with one alleging the president betrayed his MAGA base.

Trump announced at 2:30 EST a.m. Saturday the U.S. military had launched a “massive and ongoing” attack against the Islamic theocracy, vowing in a video posted to social media to “destroy their missiles and raze their missile industry to the ground.” Hours later, former Republican Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene — previously a staunch Trump ally and MAGA standard-bearer — posted a nearly-700-word reaction to X in which she said the president’s Operation Epic Fury “feels like the worst betrayal.”

“We said ‘No More Foreign Wars, No More Regime Change!’ We said it on rally stage after rally stage, speech after speech. Trump, [Vice President JD] Vance, basically the entire admin campaigned on it and promised to put America FIRST and Make America Great Again,” Greene began in her post.

The former lawmaker’s post includes a screenshot of a 2024 post by the Republican Party’s X account advertising Trump and Vance as “the pro-peace ticket.”

The Georgia Republican resigned from her apparently safe GOP House seat after Trump withdrew support for her, following the two Republicans’ feud over the release of the Jeffrey Epstein files.

We said “No More Foreign Wars, No More Regime Change!” We said it on rally stage after rally stage, speech after speech. Trump, Vance, basically the entire admin campaigned on it and promised to put America FIRST and Make America Great Again.
My generation has been let down,… pic.twitter.com/P0l90kaZFZ

— Former Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene🇺🇸 (@FmrRepMTG) February 28, 2026

“My generation has been let down, abused, and used by our government our entire adult lives and our children’s generation is literally being abandoned,” Greene’s post continues. “Thousands and thousands of Americans from my generation have been killed and injured in never ending pointless foreign wars and we said no more. But we are freeing the Iranian people. Please.”

The ex-congresswoman claimed the assertion “Iran is on the verge of having nuclear weapons” is “always a lie and it’s always America Last.”

“But it feels like the worst betrayal this time because it comes from the very man and the admin who we all believed was different and said no more,” she added. “We thought the victory won in 2024 would be finally time to put America First. And we thought that meant the common American man and woman and their children. Not the elites. America has suffered and they don’t even care.”

“Now, America is going to be force fed and gas lighted all the ‘noble’ reasons the American ‘Peace’ President and Pro-Peace administration had to go to war once again this year, after being in power for only a year. Head-spinning, but maga,” Greene concluded.

In a post from her separate, personal X account sent less than a half hour later, Greene wrote, “I did not campaign for this. I did not donate money for this. I did not vote for this, in elections or Congress. This is heartbreaking and tragic.”

I did not campaign for this.
I did not donate money for this.
I did not vote for this, in elections or Congress.
This is heartbreaking and tragic.
And how many more innocent will die?
What about our own military?
This is not what we thought MAGA was supposed to be.
Shame! https://t.co/qX6TKIUAMZ

— Marjorie Taylor Greene 🇺🇸 (@mtgreenee) February 28, 2026

The post includes a video showing a building burning as people gathered outside are heard shouted. The video’s caption alleges “US-Israel strikes” hit an Iranian girls school, killing dozens of children — a report appearing to have originated from the Iranian government, according to France 24.

“And how many more innocent will die? What about our own military? This is not what we thought MAGA was supposed to be. Shame!” she added.

Greene’s longtime congressional ally, Republican Kentucky Rep. Thomas Massie, wrote Saturday morning on X, “I am opposed to this War. This is not ‘America First.’”

The Kentucky Republican added that as soon as Congress meets again, he will work with Democratic California Rep. Ro Khanna — with whom he co-sponsored the Epstein Files Transparency Act — “to force a Congressional vote on war with Iran.”

“The Constitution requires a vote, and your Representative needs to be on record as opposing or supporting this war,” Massie stressed.

I am opposed to this War.

This is not “America First.”

When Congress reconvenes, I will work with @RepRoKhanna to force a Congressional vote on war with Iran.

The Constitution requires a vote, and your Representative needs to be on record as opposing or supporting this war.

— Thomas Massie (@RepThomasMassie) February 28, 2026

Massie is a libertarian-leaning congressman whom Trump endorsed against in Kentucky’s May 19 GOP House primary. He is known for often breaking with the president and the Republican party on key House votes.

Massie’s comments mark a stark contrast from his Trump-backed challenger, former Navy SEAL Ed Gallrein.

“Today’s action is also about deterrence. When America is strong, our enemies are deterred and the world is safer,” Gallrein said in a statement sent to the Daily Caller News Foundation.

Tucker Carlson, meanwhile, called Trump’s Iran operation “absolutely disgusting and evil,” ABC News’s Jonathan Karl reported in a video posted Saturday morning to X.

MAGA divide — Tucker Carlson tells me the attack on Iran is “absolutely disgusting and evil.” pic.twitter.com/1zz8YNGY2r

— Jonathan Karl (@jonkarl) February 28, 2026

Karl notes in the video Carlson was at Trump’s White House just a week earlier, and remains an influential figure in Trump’s movement.

“This is a momentous and potentially defining or maybe redefining move for President Trump,” the ABC News anchor added. “He got in to politics promising to end what he called ‘forever wars.’”

“He [Trump] was harshly critical of the war with Iraq,” Karl pointed out. “He claimed that he had always been against it. And now he finds himself starting what could be a major conflict with Iran.”

All content created by the Daily Caller News Foundation, an independent and nonpartisan newswire service, is available without charge to any legitimate news publisher that can provide a large audience. All republished articles must include our logo, our reporter’s byline and their DCNF affiliation. For any questions about our guidelines or partnering with us, please contact [email protected].