
As tensions with Iran flare, Mitch McConnell is warning that the Trump administration is increasingly led by "pretty rabid isolationists," including J.D. Vance, and says now is the time to speak up about the risks of retreating from America's traditional defense posture.
Following the recent U.S. airstrikes on Iranian nuclear sites, strikes that quickly forced Tehran into a ceasefire, McConnell saw an opening to reassert his long-held belief in interventionist foreign policy. Though no longer Senate leader, the 83-year-old Kentucky senator now chairs the powerful Appropriations subcommittee on defense and is using his platform to shape the party's direction on national security.
In a rare interview and floor speeches this week, McConnell criticized what he sees as a growing tide of isolationism in Trump's national security team, naming Vance, real estate investor Steve Witkoff, and several Defense Department officials, Politico reported.
"None of those people... have read history," McConnell said bluntly. He's also expressed concern that the president is overly influenced by media voices like Tucker Carlson and figures like Steve Bannon.
Rather than engage Trump directly, McConnell says he's delivering his message publicly in an effort to build broader support. He's urging the president to connect the success of the recent strikes with the value of defense investments—like drones and next-gen stealth aircraft—and to apply the same logic to Ukraine.
On the Senate floor, McConnell pushed for higher military spending, citing that U.S. defense outlays as a share of GDP are now lower than in President Jimmy Carter's final year in office.
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