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Tucker Carlson has claimed that President Trump would rather “run the world” than make life better for Americans.
The former Trump ally launched his latest attack on the commander-in-chief on Wednesday’s episode of The Tucker Carlson Show.
“You have not done a good job running this country,” Carlson said in a direct message to the president. “You don’t even care to try. You’d rather run the world or the empire.
“You don’t want to improve Baltimore. You don’t care about Gary, Indiana. Rural America makes you sick.
“Normal leaders would ask themselves, ‘Why are people mad? What are they dissatisfied with? How can I help them? They’re clearly in pain’.”
open image in gallery Tucker Carlson says that President Trump has 'failed' and that the commander-in-chief would 'rather run the world' ( The Tucker Carlson Show )
The podcaster went on to argue the U.S. war on Iran - which has now dragged into a third month - had been unsuccessful.
Referring to the Trump administration he added: “They’ve reached the point of maximum frustration, where the biggest thing they’ve ever done, which is try to regime-change the Iranian government, and it hasn’t worked.”
Trump is reportedly considering new military options to seize control of the key Mid East shipping route the Strait of Hormuz, Iran’s blockade of which has sent global oil prices soaring. Ordinary Americans have felt the impact of that at gas pumps, with the average price of a gallon surging to the highest in four years this week.
Carlson was previously a long-time Trump loyalist and supported him during the president’s 2024 campaign. He even spoke for Trump at a campaign event at Madison Square Garden in the days before election night.
However, during Trump’s second presidency, Carlson has become increasingly critical of his former ally.
open image in gallery Carlson supported Trump during the latter’s 2024 presidential campaign and even spoke for him at Madison Square Garden ( AFP/Getty )
During a previous episode of his podcast which aired last week, Carlson branded the Iran war - dubbed Operation Epic Fury - as “absolutely disgusting and evil.”
“You and I and everyone else who supported him, you wrote speeches for him, I campaigned for him, I mean we’re implicated in this for sure,” Carlson told his brother, Buckley, who joined him for the episode.
“In very small ways, but in real ways, you and me and millions of people like us are the reason this is happening right now.”
Carlson went on to say that he would be “tormented by it” and that he was “sorry for misleading people.”
During that same episode, he claimed that investigations into assassinations attempts against Trump had been “stymied” and questioned the president’s true loyalties.
“The only people he has been loyal to are the neocons and his donors,” he said.
Trump has in turn lashed out at Carlson since their friendship collapsed, describing him as “a Low IQ person – Always easy to beat, and highly overrated!!!” in a post earlier this month.