On Saturday, Tucker Carlson condemned President Donald Trump for backing U.S.-Israel strikes on Iran, with ABC News channel’s Jonathan Karl saying Carlson called the action “Absolutely disgusting and evil.”
The backlash landed as oil supply fears spread across markets, after Trump framed the campaign as preemptive military steps meant to block Tehran’s nuclear ambitions.
Karl contacted Carlson for a reaction to Trump’s decision, and then shared a video of his account on X. The report also noted Carlson had visited the White House the prior week, a move described as an attempt to preserve his pull with the president.
Carlson’s blunt condemnation, delivered after a White House visit aimed at keeping influence, put that internal political divide in stark relief as markets tracked the risk of further escalation.
Tucker Carlson’s Surprising Critique Of Trump
Carlson’s stance fits a long-running argument he has made against new Middle East wars and the costs that come with them. Karl, in explaining why he sought Carlson out, portrayed the Iran strikes as a major pivot for a president who entered politics promising to end what he called forever wars and who had attacked the Iraq war.
That split is sharper because Trump’s public case for the operation has been expansive, not narrow. He described the effort as “major combat operations” and repeated his view that Iran “can never have a nuclear weapon.”
Trump also pointed back to last June’s Operation Midnight Hammer, saying it “obliterated” three nuclear facilities and that the U.S. had warned Iran not to rebuild. In the same messaging, he described objectives that included degrading Tehran’s missile program and its network of proxy forces.
Geopolitical Turmoil: A Recipe For Market Volatility
Beyond crude, the shock hit markets already on edge, after a year marked by tariff-driven swings and a steep technology selloff. The VIX has risen by about a third in 2026, while the MOVE index tied to U.S. rate volatility is up 15%.
JPMorgan has warned that familiar patterns in currencies like Israel’s shekel could fail if risk premiums remain elevated, especially if fighting widens to Iran-aligned groups. Bitcoin has not traded like a shelter in the latest jolt, falling 2% on Saturday and dropping more than 25% over the past two months.
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