(CNN) – As President Donald Trump prepared to leave the G7 Summit a day early amid the escalation of conflict between Israel and Iran, he dialed National Security Abdomen Lindsey Graham, who is also one of the GOP’s most vocal war hoks.
In that call, Graham said Iran personally urged Trump to use considerable U.S. military forces when needed to go “all” to end the hopes that Iran had hoped to acquire nuclear weapons. After months of talks with Iran ahead of last week’s Israeli strike, Graham warned Trump: the diplomatic window has passed.
“I said, ‘Mr. President, this is a historic moment. The four presidents have promised that they will not get nuclear weapons in your watch. You can fulfill that promise,” Graham recalled his conversation with Trump.
The call reflects Trump, who embraced a more isolated approach than many of his GOP predecessors, navigating competing forces within his party as he is thinking about whether to order Iranian forces to attack Iranian nuclear sites.
On the one hand, traditional Republicans like Graham, who the US wants to flex their military muscles. The other is a key Magur alliance like Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, who forced this week to intrude in Iran to this week that the US would not be in line with Trump’s politics. Green told CNN that she recently exchanged texts with the president, but she would not let the conversation go.
“We’ve all been very vocal over the days urging us to ‘Let’s be America’s first. Let’s go outside,'” Green told CNN on Tuesday about the Pressure campaign.
The lobbying is being developed publicly and personally, with Republicans aiming to each other as they are joking for Trump’s attention. In the first public appearance since his call with Trump, Graham pushed for specific plans to make Trump use the US troops to attack secret Iranian nuclear sites. Attacks Iran’s secret nuclear site. This kind of movement would require US bombers to enter Iranian airspace. This is a major escalation of America’s role in conflict. Two U.S. officials said on Tuesday that Trump is increasingly embracing the approach and is not very interested in pursuing a diplomatic solution.
“President, he’s his own man. Everyone who knows Donald Trump knows he’s creating his own mind. But I think we have to let him know what we think.” “A lot of Americans just don’t want to get involved, so I talk and I’m vocal about it.”
As the president hangs himself in the situation room with his top advisors on Tuesday, a small group of House and Senators, including at least one Republican, Rep. Thomas Massey, have personally mobilized one possible way to check Trump’s power in Congress.
In the last 24 hours, two lawmakers have introduced war power resolutions that officially limit Trump’s authority to deploy the military without the specific consent of Congress. Democrat Sen. Tim Kane is leading the Senate push, while Massey leads the House action.
Such efforts could face a tall probability in GOP-controlled Congressional rooms, especially if votes come before Trump’s actions in the Middle East. However, both the House and Senate measures are expected to be “privileged.” This means that leaders will be forced to bring it to the floor. It can be a major headache for both parties, and democratic progressives and GOP super-preservers are known to induce from their own party orthodoxy regarding the power of war.
Discussions about the Senate measures are expected to reach their heads in the coming days, following Wednesday, with a vote, Kane told CNN. It can gain robust democratic support.
“I believe Congress and Senate Democrats will not hesitate to exercise our authority when necessary,” Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer said whether he would support the measure.
In the House, the timeline for votes is less clear. According to several people familiar with the debate, Massey officially introduced the measure on Tuesday, but has not personally shown that he might push it to the floor as lawmakers on both parties are closely watching Trump’s next step.
In the House, GOP leaders are moving this time to prevent previously controversial measures coming to the floor, according to people familiar with the debate, but this time it’s not clear that the votes are there.
The calculus of lawmakers could also be overthrown by what Trump is doing in the coming days, sources from both parties told CNN. This includes whether Trump escalates the conflict by using US military assets to attack Iranian nuclear facilities such as the Fordow Fuel Richment Plant, a deep underground facility considered the key to Iranian desire to build unclear weapons.
“If that happens, it’s a game that changes calculations,” a council source told CNN.
Green and Massey are not the only hills that Trump has vocally opposed to increasing our involvement in the conflict.
Sen. Josh Hawley, another critic who intervened in the foreign war, spoke to Trump about the topic, including others in a recent call. He said Trump “wisely” did not talk about his aggressive behavior with Iran in their conversation.
Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul pointed out that Trump has held back in the past and said he hopes he will do so again.
“I think the prolonged opportunity for diplomacy comes from restraint. The president has shown restraint in the past,” Paul said. “The president’s instinct is good and I hope that the president will not be involved in the war. If the US actively bombs Tehran, I think the possibility of negotiations will go out the window.”
Trump has both Massey and Paulo on his domestic agenda, and several Republicans told CNN that the White House appears to be hearing more of a war hawks like Graham than his isolationist allies.
Several of these Republicans pointed to Trump’s digs with conservative commentator Tucker Carlson earlier this week after accusing Carlson of “complaining war” on Israeli Iran’s strike. Carlson also called on the United States to separate itself from Israel completely. They did not provide funds or weapons to support their longtime allies.
“I don’t know what Tucker Carlson is saying. Get a TV network and let people know to listen,” the president responded to the reporters.
The Republicans on the hill noticed the flap. Sen. Mitch McConnell, a veteran Kentucky Republican and a leading defense hawk, chose both Carlson and Bannon for CNN on Monday.
“I think what’s going on here is that some of the isolationist movements led by Tucker Carlson and Steve Bannon are suffering from the possibility that Israelis might help the Iranians beat the Iranians. That’s the same kind of grievance they had about helping Ukraine.” “For isolationists, I think it was a bit of a bad week.”
He was asked if he thought the GOP’s isolationist wings were too shaking with President Donald Trump. “I don’t think we can see that yet. The president still has the opportunity to do the right thing. I think he’ll do that,” McConnell said.
Manu Raju, Morgan Rimmer, Aileen Graef and Samantha Waldenberg of CNN contributed to this report.