Tucker Carlson has publicly called on White House aides and Pentagon officials to refuse President Donald Trump’s orders if they involve mass attacks on Iranian civilians or the possible use of nuclear weapons, telling them to "say no, absolutely not" directly to the president and, if necessary, to "figure out the codes on the football yourself." The remarks, made on his popular podcast, come amid the ongoing U.S.-Israel military campaign against Iran and have triggered an immediate backlash from the White House.
Carlson framed the potential escalation as “evil” and a desecration of Christian and Islamic values, specifically criticising Trump’s recent social-media rhetoric urging the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz and warning that “a whole civilization will die tonight.” Carlson argued that such actions would mark “the end of the American empire as we understand it” and run directly counter to the “America First” principles Trump campaigned on.
Carlson's comments come after the US and Israel's aggressive bombing of Iran, which began with airstrikes earlier this year and has escalated into broader operations aimed at degrading Iranian military infrastructure, chemical-weapons facilities and ballistic-missile capabilities. Trump has repeatedly threatened overwhelming force if Iran does not comply with U.S. demands, while critics inside and outside the administration have questioned the intelligence justifying the campaign and warned of unintended regional fallout.
This intervention is perhaps the most high-profile act of public dissent from within Trump’s former base since the war began - as Carlson explicitly told listeners in direct contact with the president: “Those people who are in direct contact with the President need to say, ‘no, I’ll resign. I’ll do whatever I can do legally to stop this, because this is insane.’” He added that officials should refuse to carry out any nuclear-related order and leave the president to handle the nuclear “football” (the briefcase containing launch codes) himself.
Trump responded swiftly, telling the New York Post that Carlson is “a low IQ person that has absolutely no idea what’s going on.” White House officials later clarified that nuclear weapons are “not under consideration.”
Needless to say, the neocons are buzzing.
Anti-war voices across the political spectrum have amplified Carlson’s long-running opposition to the Iran war. Independent journalist Glenn Greenwald, who has appeared multiple times on Carlson’s show to discuss the conflict and related free-speech crackdowns, described Tucker’s sustained pushback against endless Middle East wars as “herculean” in late March - noting that Carlson had already “sacrificed his relationship with President Trump” by taking a public stand.
Greenwald has slammed Trump administration’s rapid shift from campaign promises of restraint to “large-scale military destruction, including attacks on infrastructure and natural resources,” arguing that earlier talk of “liberating Iranians” has been replaced by regime-change rhetoric that echoes past neoconservative failures.
Comedian and political commentator Jimmy Dore, a longtime vocal opponent of U.S. interventionism, has used his show in recent weeks to hammer the Iran escalation as a betrayal of Trump’s “no more forever wars” pledges. Dore has linked the conflict to rising domestic costs - particularly gasoline prices - and accused both parties of falling back into the same “war machine” trap that plagued previous administrations. In episodes leading up to Carlson’s remarks, Dore has urged viewers to pressure officials to reject illegal or immoral orders, echoing Carlson’s call for internal resistance.
Dore points out that Iran has been doing some "epic" trolling of Trump with clips that are going absolutely viral.
Libertarian comedian and podcaster Dave Smith - a longtime anti-war voice and frequent guest on Carlson’s show - quickly amplified the moment on X, writing: “I can’t believe how hard Tucker just went at Trump and he is legitimately a modern American hero for doing it.” Smith has been consistently criticising the Iran escalation for weeks, including in his 1 April appearance on The Tucker Carlson Show, where the two discussed Trump’s “critical next move in Iran,” the influence of Mossad and neoconservative hawks, and the unsustainable costs of another Middle East war.
And here's Smith on Tucker from last Tuesday:
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