During a nearly two-hour interview, Tucker Carlson detailed his split with President Trump over U.S.-Israeli actions against Iran, his views on whether Trump could be the Antichrist, and his assessment of which figure—GOP Senator Ted Cruz or podcaster Nick Fuentes—is more morally repulsive.
Carlson claimed Israel held Trump “hostage,” stating the president was highly skeptical about ordering an attack on Iran despite repeated urging from himself. He said he regrets supporting Trump and has apologized for it.
In remarks spanning 15 years of dialogue with Trump over Middle Eastern conflicts, Carlson noted the Iraqi war’s disastrous consequences were “a main reason” he supported and campaigned for Trump. “It was really central to my views,” he said. So when it became clear in June that a regime-change effort against Iran was underway, “I was baffled. I was very upset.”
Carlson described his belief the attack would be “terrible for the United States, worse even than I imagined.” He claimed Trump knew about Iran’s nuclear program and had been under pressure to act, but by the interview’s final conversations—“probably a week before the war began”—he felt “resigned” to proceeding.
“He was unhappy about it,” Carlson said. “He didn’t seem enthusiastic at all. There was no effort to say once we do this, the United States will be at peace.” He also noted that “no one in the building” supported attacking Iran, though figures like Fox News tycoon Rupert Murdoch, moneybags widow Miriam Adelson, Mark Levin, and Sean Hannity pressured Trump.
When asked about his claim that Trump was a “slave” to Israel, Carlson said Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and “his many advocates in the United States” held Trump hostage. He criticized Israeli actions after Trump announced a ceasefire: “Within hours of Trump announcing this, Israel publicly starts killing civilians in Lebanon.”
Carlson denied suggesting Trump was the Antichrist but admitted his views on evil were strong. “I think what we’re seeing is evil,” he stated when pressed about Trump’s potential role. He also detailed his interview with U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee and called Ted Cruz more morally repulsive than Nick Fuentes, stating: “Ted Cruz! Ted Cruz is a sitting U.S. senator who has called for the killing of people who did nothing wrong.”
Speaking remotely after an in-person meeting in Maine, Carlson apologized for repeating campaign slogans as if they were true when they turned out false. He concluded: “I will make many mistakes going forward, but you’re less likely to fall for things once you’ve apologized.”