Tucker Carlson spent years building a reputation as one of the most skeptical voices in American media when it came to foreign wars. Healthy skepticism about military intervention is not a bad instinct. But his latest rant about Operation Epic Fury crosses the line from skepticism into something closer to historical amnesia.
During an appearance on Redacted with Clayton Morris and Natali Morris, Carlson suggested that the leaders responsible for the joint U.S.-Israel strike on Iran should be sitting in jail. That includes President Trump, the man who ordered the operation and publicly took responsibility for it. Carlson framed the mission as reckless, illegitimate, and dangerously influenced by Israel.
That accusation collapses the moment you look at what actually happened.
Operation Epic Fury was not some random bombing run cooked up in the middle of the night. According to Secretary of War Pete Hegseth, the campaign began “on President Trump’s orders” and became “the most lethal, most complex, and most-precision aerial operation in history.” The mission destroyed Iran’s nuclear infrastructure, crushed missile capabilities, and wiped out leadership responsible for decades of terror activity across the Middle East.
That includes the removal of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei and the network of regime figures who spent years funding militias, arming terrorist groups, and threatening American troops in the region.
Carlson’s complaint is that the United States partnered too closely with Israel. Apparently he believes that cooperating with a democratic ally against the world’s most aggressive terror sponsor is grounds for criminal prosecution.
That argument sounds dramatic on a podcast, but it ignores how alliances actually work.
Israel has been America’s closest strategic partner in the Middle East for decades. Intelligence sharing, missile defense coordination, and joint military planning have been standard operating procedure through multiple administrations. The difference this time is that President Trump decided to act decisively instead of pretending diplomacy with Tehran was going to magically work.
President Trump addressed that directly when asked whether Israel forced America into the conflict.
“No,” he said. “I might have forced their hand.”
He explained that negotiations with Tehran were collapsing and intelligence suggested Iran was preparing an attack. Waiting around for missiles to start flying is not exactly a brilliant national security strategy. Acting first, when the threat is clear, is how deterrence works.
Carlson also dismissed concerns about Iran’s nuclear ambitions as “silly,” which is a strange way to describe a regime that has spent decades chanting “Death to America” while racing toward nuclear capability.
Then came the most bizarre moment of the interview, when Carlson floated the idea that the United States should “secure Dimona,” Israel’s nuclear facility, to prevent Israel from using nuclear weapons.
Think about that logic for a second. Carlson is angry about cooperation with Israel, yet his proposed solution involves the United States seizing Israeli strategic sites. Apparently that is supposed to be the reasonable position.
Meanwhile Iran’s leadership is openly threatening to shut down the Strait of Hormuz, attack American bases, and avenge what they call the blood of their martyrs. Those threats did not start with Epic Fury. They have been the regime’s operating language for decades.
Carlson says he cannot take a victory lap. Fine. Nobody is asking him to celebrate war.
But dismantling Iran’s nuclear program and crippling its military infrastructure without a prolonged ground war is exactly the kind of outcome American presidents have been promising for years and rarely delivering.
President Trump delivered it. That fact seems to bother some people more than the Iranian regime ever did.
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