Tucker Carlson Pushes New Party, Breaks With Trump Over Iran

Tucker Carlson says he wants to help establish a new political party in the United States, marking a significant public split with President Donald Trump following the U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran. In an interview with the Columbia Journalism Review, Carlson said he has stopped speaking with Trump and no longer intends to communicate with him.

Carlson argued that the current U.S. political system functions as “a one-party state posing as a democracy, and it needs to be broken.” He said he is “going to do everything I can to bring about” a new political party, signaling a major shift from his years of support for Trump.

The conservative commentator, who has consistently opposed U.S. military intervention overseas, said he has not spoken with Trump “since the regime-change war began,” adding, “I’m not interested in talking to him.” Carlson also revealed that he visited the White House on three occasions before the U.S. and Israel launched strikes against Iran, warning the president about the potential consequences. According to Carlson, Trump responded, “I know,” after Carlson told him, “The best you’re gonna see there is just this suppurating wound.”

Speaking about the president, Carlson said, “He’s not a man in charge of his own life at this point,” adding, “I feel sorry for anybody who’s enslaved, including him.”

Although Carlson questioned Trump’s decision-making, he did not identify who he believes may be influencing the president. He told the magazine, “What is it really about, in Trump’s mind? Why did he destroy himself? His administration? His legacy? The Republican Party and America? I don’t know, but maybe someone at CJR should get on this and find out.”

Carlson’s comments come after Tesla CEO Elon Musk floated the idea of launching an “America Party” during his public dispute with Trump last year. Musk similarly argued that the United States operates as a one-party system “when it comes to bankrupting our country with waste & graft.” However, the proposed party was never formally created, and Musk’s relationship with Trump has since improved, with the president describing Musk as “a friend of mine again” last month.

Should Carlson move forward with creating a political party, it would need to be registered with the Federal Election Commission before participating in federal elections.

Carlson was one of Trump’s strongest supporters during his years at Fox News before leaving the network in 2023 following the fallout from Fox’s $787.5 million settlement with Dominion Voting Systems in a defamation case. Since then, he has operated his own media platform and podcast, regularly attracting more than one million views per episode on X. During the conflict involving Iran, Carlson also acknowledged he had been “misleading” his audience through his support of Trump, saying he was “tormented” by it and that “we’re implicated in this for sure.”