Older and younger conservatives at the Conservative Political Action Conference outside Dallas are disagreeing sharply on President Donald Trump’s Iran war approach, as the party tries to project unity in a challenging midterm election year.
In interviews reported by The Associated Press, younger attendees said Trump’s decision to launch strikes against Iran runs counter to what they said were his pledges to oppose foreign entanglements. Benjamin Williams, a 25-year-old marketing specialist for Young Americans for Liberty, said he and others “did not want to see more wars” and that they expected “actual America-first policies.” Williams said the conflict “does feel like a betrayal, for sure.”
Williams said his concern also ties to personal stakes, including his friends in the military and his Air Force officer brother. He described the war as an unnecessary disruption to Middle East stability, with potential long-term negative effects on the U.S. economy. Williams also said Trump’s rhetoric mattered to his generation before the policy shift.
Other younger conservatives framed the issue through the question of whether the conflict could expand. Auburn University sophomore Sean O’Brien said his support for Trump has slipped, especially with talk of sending U.S. troops into the Middle East. O’Brien said he was “not happy” and called sending troops into Iran “full betrayal,” adding that the prospect “keeps me up at night.”
Older attendees at CPAC, by contrast, were generally more forgiving about the strikes and their political messaging. Joe Ropar, a 70-year-old retired defense contractor from McKinney, Texas, said he did not believe Trump started a new war, arguing instead that the action responded to a conflict Iran had sustained for decades. Ropar said, “Do nothing? I’m not on board with that.”
Kelle Phillips, a 61-year-old author and religious instructor from Frisco, Texas, echoed that theme, describing Trump’s decision as a pragmatic reaction to a real threat that overrides campaign rhetoric. Phillips said she believed a person “in the Iranian regime who wants to destroy America” could not be reasoned with, and that the dynamics of the world can change what candidates promise on the campaign trail.
Another older attendee, James Scharre, said he viewed Trump’s goals in Iran as short-term and suggested Trump’s early campaign opposition to government overthrow reflected a preference rather than an absolute promise. Scharre said Trump was “a wise leader” who “does what works,” and he said he was “for it.”
The generational split appears amid broader fissures among prominent conservatives during the Iran conflict, with cracks emerging earlier through influential voices and political figures. The Associated Press report cited the departure of Joe Kent, director of the Center for Counterterrorism at the Department of Homeland Security, who quit his Trump administration role and said in a statement that he could not support the ongoing war in Iran. The report also said right-wing podcaster Steve Bannon has raised concerns that a prolonged military engagement in the Middle East could cost Republicans support by motivating some conservatives to sit out the November midterms.
CPAC leaders acknowledged the disagreement and sought to manage it as the convention’s schedule moves toward its final day. CPAC Chairman Matt Schlapp told the AP that the annual straw poll will include a question about the Iran conflict, with results expected to be released Saturday. Schlapp said conservatives have not been “shak[en]” in their trust of Trump but also said there is “underneath” concern about where the war could lead.
Tiffany Krieger, a 20-year-old sophomore at the University of Pittsburgh, described her support for Trump as having dropped from what she said was a level-10 attachment to the president to about five, saying she saw the party splitting while it is supposed to stay united. Mercedes Schlapp, a senior fellow for the CPAC foundation, opened a Thursday session in Texas with a call for unity from the stage, telling the audience, “We cannot divide from within,” and also saying political opponents want conservatives divided.