Source: Politics<\/p>\n
Steve Bannon expressed his disapproval on Monday with the possibility of the U.S. pushing for regime change in Iran \u2014 an outcome President Donald Trump floated over the weekend \u2014 while reiterating his desire to prioritize \u201cAmerica first\u201d and stay out of foreign conflicts.<\/p>\n
Bannon, the longtime Trump ally and leading figure in the MAGA movement, praised Trump for the strike on Iran\u2019s nuclear facilities during an episode of his podcast \u201cBannon\u2019s War Room.\u201d But he questioned the \u201cregime change narrative,\u201d criticized the Pentagon for its messaging in the hours after the strike and urged Israel to \u201cfinish what you started\u201d without U.S. involvement.<\/p>\n
Trump indicated he\u2019d be open to seeing out regime change in Iran in a social media post Sunday evening, contradicting several senior administration officials<\/a> who had insisted earlier in the day that regime change was not a goal.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s not politically correct to use the term, \u201cRegime Change,\u201d but if the current Iranian Regime is unable to MAKE IRAN GREAT AGAIN, why wouldn\u2019t there be a Regime change??? MIGA!!!,\u201d Trump wrote on Truth Social<\/a> on Sunday.<\/p>\n The conflict in Iran has opened a rift with the GOP between interventionists like Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) and isolationists like Bannon, who argue against the U.S. entering an open-ended conflict in the Middle East.<\/p>\n Bannon congratulated Trump on the \u201cprecision, logistics, bravery, valor, boldness\u201d of the Iran strike, but warned a lack of clarity on whether the strike was successful could create a pretext for the U.S. to send military personnel to Iran.<\/p>\n \u201cNow it’s all about, \u2018Hey, we don’t know where the material is,\u2019\u201d Bannon said of the enriched uranium stockpile in Iran. \u201cWhat’s that going to lead us to, folks? ‘Hey, do we need the 75th Ranger Battalion to go in and find it?’ Oh, it’s coming. It’s coming.\u201d<\/p>\n Trump has repeatedly called the strike \u201cvery successful,\u201d but Pentagon officials on Sunday said it\u2019s too soon to know<\/a> if Iran still retains nuclear capabilities, and the extent to which Iran\u2019s enriched uranium stockpile<\/a> was destroyed remains unclear.<\/p>\n Bannon voiced concern that the Iran strike was a \u201cpsy-op\u201d and that the Trump administration\u2019s stated goal of preventing Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon was \u201ccosplay\u201d that could lead to further U.S. involvement in the war between Israel and Iran.<\/p>\n \u201cIs this because the ultimate goal is regime change? And if that’s fine, Israelis, have at it,\u201d he said. \u201cIf you want regime change, go for it, baby. Just no participation by the United States government.”<\/p>\n Bannon said he was \u201cdisappointed\u201d by Pentagon leadership for losing the opportunity to \u201cdrive the narrative\u201d around the strikes by not presenting an initial damage assessment on Sunday after the attack.<\/p>\n \u201cWe needed to see some grainy photographs,\u201d he said. \u201cI understand DOD that you don’t have the battle damage assessment. That’s going to take three or four weeks, as you said, but there’s enough there to kind of take and start to drive the narrative. We lost that opportunity.”<\/p>\n