Current and former Republicans who have opposed many of President Donald Trump’s actions applauded his decision to bomb three Iranian nuclear sites Saturday.
Conservative critics of the president, ranging from a former Trump official to an former governor, have issued their approval of the president’s decision in the hours since.
John Bolton, who served as Trump’s national security advisor, praised Trump’s decision ad nauseum on X following the strikes. “President Trump did the right thing for America in striking Iran’s nuclear-weapons program. Now, on to regime change,” he wrote in a Sunday morning tweet.
President Trump did the right thing for America in striking Iran’s nuclear-weapons program. Now, on to regime change.https://t.co/GAQt6KEKiJ
— John Bolton (@AmbJohnBolton) June 22, 2025
Bolton, who wrote that Trump was “unfit to be President” in his 2020 tell-all book, continued to pour on the praise Monday, adding “Trump made the right decision to attack the Iranian nuclear weapons program” in another tweet.
Joining Bolton in lionizing the bombing campaign was fellow conservative Trump critic Bill Kristol.
Kristol, quoting an article from “The Atlantic,” tweeted “‘We live in a dangerous world, and one that is going to get more so—and indeed, in other respects worsened by the president’s policies. But Trump got this one right.’”
“We live in a dangerous world, and one that is going to get more so—and indeed, in other respects worsened by the president’s policies. But Trump got this one right…”
— Bill Kristol (@BillKristol) June 22, 2025
Former Republican Illinois Rep. Adam Kinzinger, who called for Trump to be removed from office via the 25th amendment in 2021, also celebrated the bombing campaign. (RELATED: LOFTUS: Never Trumpers Finally Find Part Of Trump To Latch Onto)
“The US attack on the nuclear facilities is, in my opinion, the right call. We will see what the results are, but now the key is suppressing surface to surface missile fire, and then negotiate to end the fight with Iran. Good call by the President,” he tweeted shortly after Trump’s announcement Saturday.
The US attack on the nuclear facilities is, in my opinion, the right call. We will see what the results are, but now the key is suppressing surface to surface missile fire, and then negotiate to end the fight with Iran.
Good call by the President
— Adam Kinzinger (Slava Ukraini) 🇺🇸🇺🇦 (@AdamKinzinger) June 21, 2025
Kinzinger, a former Republican who claimed he’s closer to a Democrat in January 2025, even went so far as to criticize other Democrats like Connecticut Sen. Chris Murphy for their response to the bombings.
“My concern: Dems will go as crazy about this as they did with Soleimani strike. And they will be as wrong as they were with Soleimani strike,” he tweeted in response to Murphy’s Sunday morning criticism of the attack.
Former Republican New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie opposed Trump in the 2016 and 2024 Republican primaries and did not endorse him in 2024, calling his 2016 endorsement of the president “mistake.”
The former governor commended the president’s strikes Sunday. “The President deserves an enormous amount of credit,” Christie told ABC News. “This is against type for him. I’m sure it was a difficult decision, but what I think his analysis was was he cannot live with a nuclear weaponed [sic] Iran.”
Former NJ @GovChristie told @JonKarl that Pres. Trump “deserves an enormous amount of credit” for making the decision to strike Iranian nuclear sites.
“The president saw an opportunity that he might never have again.” https://t.co/Tn3pnj8BJg pic.twitter.com/3IBCNcvTPX
— This Week (@ThisWeekABC) June 22, 2025
