Blockade of the Strait of Hormuz

U.S. President Already Calls It the “Trump Strait”

Time and again in the past, the U.S. president has toyed with the idea of renaming institutions, for example, and has in some cases put this into practice.(Bild: AFP/NATHAN HOWARD)

The war with Iran is putting the US president’s supporters to the test. At a convention in Miami, the Republican commented on the course of the bloodshed: “They have to open the Strait of Trump—I mean Hormuz.”

“Excuse me—I’m so sorry. Such a terrible mistake,” Donald Trump stammered before the laughing audience. He added that the “fake news” would report that he had said it by accident. The 79-year-old added: “With me, there are no accidents—at least not many.” Some media outlets subsequently concluded that he had meant all of this as a joke.

A Test Case for Trump’s “America First” Supporters
In any case, the war in the Middle East has created a rift in Trump’s MAGA movement (Make America Great Again). According to polls, support for the attacks on Iran has dropped nationwide. Prominent figures in the MAGA camp, such as former Fox News anchors Tucker Carlson and Megyn Kelly, have sharply criticized the conflict.

In the past, the U.S. president has repeatedly toyed with the idea of renaming institutions, for example, and has in some cases put this into practice.(Bild: AFP/NATHAN HOWARD)

In contrast, the MAGA base supports the action. Recent polls by CBS and the platform “Politico” show approval ratings of over 80 percent. According to the Pew Research Center, 69 percent of Republican voters approve of Trump’s handling of the conflict.

Many are looking for a distraction—in New York, people are enjoying the sunshine.(Bild: EPA/OLGA FEDOROVA)

“I trust him 100 percent,” says MAGA supporter Penny Crosby in Grapevine. Trump knows what he’s doing, and he wants to protect the U.S. from an Iranian nuclear bomb. 79-year-old Diane Hartgraves from Texas expresses a similar view. She is convinced that Iran cannot handle nuclear weapons “responsibly.” 

But there are also voices of caution. Ray Myers from the Dallas area does support Trump. However, he predicts that if the conflict drags on, it will alienate many in the MAGA camp. “When you start a war, there are risks, and you never know what might happen,” says the 81-year-old. Above all, rising gas prices could become a problem for Trump, he says. “That’s the barometer—gas prices,” he notes.

Open Rejection of the War Among Young Republicans
Former Trump adviser Steve Bannon is also critical. On his “War Room” podcast this week, he pointed to the thousands of troops Trump is currently deploying to the Middle East as reinforcements. This could make the war “really ugly,” he warned, especially in the event of a ground offensive.

The war is meeting with open rejection, especially among young Republicans. Nineteen-year-old business student Razi Marshall explained that the war “does not benefit the United States in any way. It is, in fact, a complete failure.” Trump’s talk of “regime change” in Iran could lead to a protracted ground operation. Trump won the presidential election because he was against the war in Iraq. “And now he’s doing exactly the same thing, following exactly the same script,” Marshall said angrily.