A growing chorus of disaffected Trump supporters fume about Iran war on Truth Social
The people logging into Truth Social each day tend to count themselves among the most ardent supporters of President Trump and his MAGA movement. In recent weeks, though, even some in the echo chamber have turned against his actions in Iran.
Thousands of users on the social media platform, which Mr. Trump created in 2022, have responded to the president’s drumbeat of posts with a mix of frustration, disbelief and outrage.
They have written that they feel betrayed by the expanding war in Iran and ashamed when Mr. Trump used an expletive on Easter to make demands of the Iranian government. Some were so perplexed by his military interventions that one declared they “make zero sense.”
The responses on Truth Social — numbering in the tens of thousands — offer a snapshot of a simmering criticism from the right that has intensified in recent weeks over Mr. Trump’s decision to go to war in Iran. While polling suggests that Republicans still broadly support the war, unease and anger are bubbling up on Mr. Trump’s own platform.
Mr. Trump’s approach to the war, which has disrupted oil shipments from the Persian Gulf and driven up gas prices, has clearly rattled parts of his base. Many voters were drawn to Mr. Trump in part because he had been deeply critical of global entanglements, and some supporters even spoke of him as “the peace president.”
Truth Social’s user base is relatively minuscule, with an estimated 6 million users compared to more than 550 million on X, owned by Elon Musk. It has never attracted enough advertisers to turn a profit, but it has served as Mr. Trump’s megaphone, even after he returned to the White House for a second term.
It is also one of the places where Mr. Trump’s most devoted supporters can interact with him, at least virtually, providing a glimpse of views of his political base.
An analysis by The New York Times of more than 40,000 comments on Mr. Trump’s posts showed the depths of the discontent over the war.
More than half of those responding to Mr. Trump’s warning on Tuesday morning that Iran’s “whole civilization will die,” were deeply critical of his comments. [Continue reading…]