Military action exposes rift within Trump's 'MAGA' base

WASHINGTON — Donald Trump's decision to strike Iran has been cheered by mainstream Republicans, but it has exposed deep fissures between the hawks and the isolationists in the "MAGA "movement that swept the self-styled peacemaker US president back to power.

Trump ran as an "America First "Republican who would avoid the foreign entanglements of his predecessors, tapping into his movement's unease about prolonged wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, as well as more recent conflagrations in Gaza and Ukraine.

Establishment Republicans — and in particular, the congressional party — rallied behind their leader after Saturday's military action, welcoming what many see as an about-face and rejecting claims that the president had violated the Constitution.