(CNN) — As President Donald Trump prepared to leave the G7 summit a day early amid an escalating conflict between Israel and Iran, he dialed up his go-to national security confidant Sen. Lindsey Graham — who’s also one of the GOP’s most vocal war hawks.
In that phone call, Graham said he personally urged Trump to go “all in” to end any hope Iran had of attaining a nuclear weapon, using the considerable might of the US military if necessary. After months of talks with Iran ahead of Israel’s strikes last week, Graham now warned Trump: The window for diplomacy has passed.
“I said, ‘Mr. President, this is a historic moment. Four presidents have promised that they won’t get a nuclear weapon on your watch. You can fulfill that promise,” Graham said, recalling his conversation with Trump.
The call reflects how Trump, who has embraced a more isolationist approach than many of his GOP predecessors, is navigating competing forces within his own party as he contemplates whether to order the US military to strike Iranian nuclear sites.
On one side: traditional Republicans like Graham who are eager to see the US flex its military muscle. On the other, key MAGA allies like Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, who has forcefully argued this week that anyone “slobbering” for the US to intervene in Iran is not in line with Trump’s politics. Greene told CNN she has traded texts with the president recently, though she would not divulge their conversation.
“We have all been very vocal for days now urging, ‘Let’s be America first. Let’s stay out,’” Greene told CNN on Tuesday of the pressure campaign, which she said has included more isolationist Republicans like Tucker Carlson, Steve Bannon and Matt Gaetz.
The lobbying has played out publicly and privately, with Republicans taking aim at one another as they have jockeyed for Trump’s attention. In public appearances since his phone call with Trump, Graham has pushed a specific plan for Trump to use the US military to attack a secretive Iranian nuclear site, which is so deep underground that the only way to destroy it would be using a massive bomb that only America possesses. That kind of move would also require a US bomber to enter Iranian airspace — a major escalation of the American role in the conflict. Two US officials told CNN Tuesday Trump was increasingly receptive to that approach, and less interested in pursuing a diplomatic solution.
“The president, he’s his own man. Everyone who knows Donald Trump knows he makes up his own mind. But I think it’s important to discuss. We have to let him know what we think,” Greene told CNN, adding that she’s been getting a flood of calls to her office supporting her position. “Many Americans just do not want to be involved. That’s why I spoke up and have been vocal about it.”
As the president huddled in the Situation Room with his top advisers to weigh his options on Tuesday, a small group of House and Senate lawmakers — including at least one Republican, Rep. Thomas Massie — have been privately mobilizing one possible way to check Trump’s power in Congress.
In the last 24 hours, two lawmakers have introduced War Powers Resolutions that would formally limit Trump’s power to deploy the military without Congress’ specific consent. Democratic Sen. Tim Kaine is leading the push in the Senate, with Massie taking lead on the House measure.
Such an effort could face tall odds in the GOP-controlled chambers of Congress, particularly if a vote comes before more Trump action in the Middle East. But both measures in the House and Senate are expected to be “privileged,” which means leaders will be forced to bring it to the floor. That could be a major headache for both parties, with Democratic progressives and GOP ultraconservatives known to veer from their own party orthodoxy on war powers matters.
Debate on the Senate measure is expected to come to a head in the coming days, with a vote as soon as next Wednesday, Kaine told CNN. It could have robust Democratic support.
“I believe Congress and the Senate, Senate Democrats, if necessary, will not hesitate to exercise our authority,” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said on whether he would support the measure.
In the House, the timeline for a vote is less clear. Massie formally introduced the measure on Tuesday but privately has not yet indicated when he might force it to the floor, as lawmakers of both parties closely watch Trump’s next steps, according to multiple people familiar with the discussions.
In the House, GOP leaders have moved to prevent contentious measures from coming to the floor before — but it’s not clear the votes would be there to do that this time, according to one person familiar with the discussions.
Lawmakers’ calculus could also be upended by what Trump does in the coming days, sources in both parties told CNN. That includes whether Trump escalates the conflict by using U.S. military assets to strike Iranian nuclear facilities like the Fordow Fuel Enrichment Plant, the deep underground facility that is seen as key to Iran’s desires to constructing a unclear weapon.
“If that happens, then it’s a game changing calculation,” one congressional source told CNN.
Greene and Massie are not the only Hill Republicans vocally opposed to Trump increasing US involvement in the conflict.
Sen. Josh Hawley, another critic of intervening in foreign wars, spoke to Trump about this topic, including others, in a recent call. He said Trump “wisely” did not talk about offensive action with Iran in their conversation.
Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky noted that Trump has in the past held back, and said he hoped he would do so again.
“I think the lingering chance for diplomacy comes from restraint. The President has shown restraint in the past,” Paul said. “The president’s instincts are good, and I’m hoping the President will not get involved with the war. I think, if the United States actively bombs Tehran, the possibility of negotiation goes out the window.”
Trump has sparred with both Massie and Paul over his domestic agenda, and multiple Republicans told CNN it appears that the White House is listening more to war hawks like Graham than his isolationist allies.
Some of those Republicans pointed to Trump’s dig at conservative commentator Tucker Carlson earlier this week, after Carlson accused the president of being “complicit in an act of war” in Israel’s strikes on Iran. Carlson also called on the US to decouple itself from Israel altogether — not providing any funding or weapons to assist its long-time ally.
“I don’t know what Tucker Carlson is saying. Let him go get a television network and say it so that people listen,” the president told reporters in response.
Hill Republicans took notice of the flap. Sen. Mitch McConnell, the veteran Kentucky Republican and leading defense hawk, singled out both Carlson and Bannon to CNN on Monday.
“I think what’s happening here is some of the isolationist movement led by Tucker Carlson and Steve Bannon are distressed that we may be helping the Israelis defeat the Iranians — it’s the same kind of complaint they had about helping Ukraine,” McConnell said in rare public remarks to reporters since leaving his leadership post. “I would say it’s been kind of a bad week for the isolationists.”
Asked if he thinks the GOP’s isolationist wing has too much sway with President Donald Trump, McConnell said: “I think that remains to be seen. The president still has the opportunity do the right thing. I think he will. … I think we ought to help the Israelis win and help the Ukrainians win. It’s in our interest to do that.”
CNN’s Manu Raju, Morgan Rimmer, Aileen Graef and Samantha Waldenberg contributed to this report.
