Trump's Son Don Jr. Told His Father He Opposed

Donald Trump Jr. privately opposed the war in Iran from the start and told his father, President Donald Trump, according to a report published Tuesday by The Atlantic. The magazine cited two people who have spoken directly with the president's eldest son. He has not publicly broken with his father over the conflict.

According to the report, Trump Jr. has repeatedly criticized the war in private conversations, including ones with the president. A person close to him told The Atlantic that he has kept his views private because he would never publicly break with his father on an issue like this, and that no one who knows him would be surprised by his position. The reports say the opposition fits with his long-standing skepticism of foreign intervention. It also places him alongside the anti-war wing of the movement, as did the late conservative activist Charlie Kirk, a friend of Trump Jr., who opposed the war before his death.

The disagreement stands out because of what Trump Jr. has said in public. During the 2024 campaign, he portrayed his father as a leader who would keep the United States out of new wars in the Middle East. In April 2024 he posted on X that recent events should remind people how lucky the country was to have Trump, and he mocked the idea that Trump would take the country into a full-blown war with Iran. This June he defended his father's proposed settlement with Tehran, accusing Sen. Ted Cruz of lying about it.

The report comes weeks before the November 3 midterm elections, as the war and rising gas prices weigh on the president's approval rating and put pressure on Republicans in competitive districts. The coverage I found notes that the report does not establish a public rift between father and son and does not reveal what Trump Jr. said to his father. The White House's response was not included in the excerpts I could access. Details come from Benzinga, IBTimes UK and JFeed, all citing The Atlantic.