President Donald Trump dismissed Tucker Carlson as a 'low-IQ person' with 'absolutely no idea what's going on' after the commentator warned that Trump's rhetoric risked nuclear war with Iran. In a phone interview with the New York Post on Tuesday, Trump said: 'He calls me all the time; I don't respond to his calls. I don't deal with him. I like dealing with smart people, not fools.'
The rebuke followed Carlson's X post on Monday linking to his podcast, where he described Trump's threats to bomb Iranian infrastructure as 'the first step toward nuclear war'.
From Ally to 'Fool'
The fallout is notable given how recently Carlson was welcomed at the White House with open arms. In his Monday post, Carlson wrote that 'Christians need to understand where Trump is taking us,' and in his accompanying podcast urged White House and military staffers to refuse any order to launch a nuclear strike on Iran. 'Those people who are in direct contact with the President need to say, "no, I'll resign,"' Carlson said, adding that if given the order, staff should tell Trump to 'figure out the codes on the football yourself.'
Trump, for his part, has made clear he is not ruling out significant military action. In a news conference, he warned of 'complete demolition' if Iran failed to meet his deadline, and separately wrote that 'a whole civilisation will die tonight, never to be brought back again,' before adding that he hoped 'something revolutionarily wonderful' could still emerge from the standoff. He has specifically threatened to strike Iran's energy infrastructure and other targets if Tehran does not reopen the Strait of Hormuz.
The JD Vance Distraction
The row was further complicated when an X account amplified claims that Vice President JD Vance had implied Trump might deploy nuclear weapons. The claim stemmed from remarks Vance made in Hungary, where he said the US had 'tools in our toolkit that we so far haven't decided to use' and that Trump 'will decide to use them if the Iranians don't change their course of conduct.'
🚨🇺🇸🇮🇷 BREAKING: Tucker Carlson says Trump is considering to use NUKES against IRAN
— Jackson Hinkle 🇺🇸 (@jacksonhinklle) April 7, 2026
He publicly urges the US military and Pentagon officials to actively defy Donald Trump and refuse orders if he attempts to launch NUCLEAR WEAPONS against Iran pic.twitter.com/0DYbDLYTa8
The White House's rapid response account was swift in rejecting the interpretation, calling it nonsense from 'absolute buffoons'. Independent analysts have noted that Vance's comments referred broadly to the range of military and economic options available to the president, which experts say could include expanded airstrikes, strikes on Iranian islands in the Strait of Hormuz, or even ground operations on Kharg Island, which handles roughly 90 per cent of Iran's crude oil exports.
The public conflict between Trump and Carlson arrives at a deeply sensitive moment in US foreign policy. With Iran negotiations at a crossroads and military options actively on the table, the last thing the White House wants is prominent voices on the right fuelling panic about nuclear escalation. Carlson's influence among conservative audiences remains significant, making Trump's unusually personal attack — delivered through a phone call to a newspaper — all the more telling. It signals not just irritation, but a deliberate effort to discredit a voice that could undermine public confidence in the administration's Iran strategy at a critical juncture.
