Tucker Carlson calls Trump 'not in charge of his own life' and vows to build new party

WASHINGTON, DC: The conservative political podcaster Tucker Carlson said he has stopped speaking to President Donald Trump after the US and Israel struck Iran, calling the president "not a man in charge of his own life."

The remarks mark Carlson's sharpest public break yet with a longtime political ally. They also come as Carlson said he wanted to help create a new political party because he believed the country has become "a one-party state posing as a democracy."

Tucker Carlson ends contact with Trump

Carlson made the comments in an interview with the Columbia Journalism Review in a story published Wednesday, July 1, saying he has not spoken with Trump "since the regime-change war began."

"I'm not interested in talking to him," Carlson said, describing how he visited the White House three times before the strikes to urge Trump not to move forward.

According to Carlson, he warned the president, "The best you're gonna see there is just this suppurating wound." He said Trump replied simply, "I know."

Carlson argued that those conversations ultimately changed nothing.

"He's not a man in charge of his own life at this point," Carlson said of Trump. "I feel sorry for anybody who's enslaved, including him."

Tucker Carlson pushes new third-party effort

Beyond his criticism of Trump, Carlson said he intends to pursue a new political movement.

"I am going to do everything I can to bring about" a new political party, he said, arguing that the United States is "a one-party state posing as a democracy, and it needs to be broken."

Carlson, however, did not identify who he believes is influencing Trump.

"What is it really about, in Trump's mind? Why did he destroy himself? His administration? His legacy? The Republican Party and America? I don't know, but maybe someone at CJR should get on this and find out," he told the magazine.

If Carlson follows through, he would need to register the party with the Federal Election Commission.

From Trump supporter to Trump critic

Carlson built much of his political profile as a strong Trump supporter during his years at Fox News before the network fired him in 2023 following fallout from Dominion Voting Systems' $787.5 million defamation settlement. 

He now runs his own news platform and podcast, with episodes that regularly draw more than a million views on X.

Tesla chief Elon Musk previously floated creating an "America Party" during his own public feud with Trump, arguing the country was effectively controlled by one political party. 

That effort was never formally established, and Trump later described Musk as "a friend of mine again."

During the Iran conflict, Carlson also apologized for "misleading" his audience with his support for Trump, saying he had been "tormented" by it and adding, "We're implicated in this for sure."