Trump's Iran escalation could erode his political support

Israel and the United States have launched a joint attack on Iran, an operation with no clear end that has already sent reverberations across the Middle East. Steve Hanke, former Reagan advisor and economics professor at Johns Hopkins University, warned the move is risky and could cost President Donald Trump support from his Make America Great Again base.

Israel’s aims appear aimed at expanding influence, while US motives remain harder to pin down. "We don’t exactly know what the thinking of the president of the United States is because he changes his mind a lot," Hanke said, and he pointed to the growing influence of pro-Israel lobbying in Washington: OpenSecrets shows AIPAC spent over $42 million on bipartisan contributions during the 2024 federal elections and $3.76 million on lobbying in 2025, its highest single-year total.

"The lobby has an enormous influence on what goes on with regard to foreign policy that’s taken by the United States in the Middle East," Hanke explained.

United States, Middle East

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