Tucker Carlson joined Marjorie Taylor Greene, Rep. Thomas Massie, and former national security official Joe Kent at a weekend gathering in Maine to discuss launching a new “America First” political movement, signaling the next phase of their break from the Republican Party over foreign policy disputes with President Trump.
Greene posted a photo from the Saturday dinner at Carlson’s compound on social media, writing “We said no more foreign wars and we meant it and supported Donald Trump because he made that promise. But he’s betrayed us all. The movement has begun.”
Carlson left the Republican Party in June 2026 after more than three decades of support, citing Trump’s decision to continue military operations with Israel in the Middle East and the broader Iran war. Greene followed suit, declaring herself “fed up” with a party that “betrays its voters.” Massie has been a consistent critic of U.S. involvement in foreign conflicts, particularly the Iran war and what he views as Israel’s outsized influence on American foreign policy.
Joe Kent, who resigned from his position as a Trump national security official in March 2026 over disagreements about the Iran war, said the Maine gathering served as a strategic meeting to organize their shared opposition. “There’s a lot more nuts and bolts work that needs to be done there,” Kent told The Young Turks, a progressive talk show. “Running as a third-party candidate is challenging. Not impossible, but it is very challenging. But that’s kind of the consensus that we came to, that the current system just simply doesn’t work, and we have to find something new to save our country.”
Kent revealed that attendees at the Maine meeting urged Carlson to run for president in 2028 as the movement’s candidate, though Carlson declined. “Hopefully he wakes up one day and Tucker says he’s going to run,” Kent said. The group’s potential platform would focus narrowly on foreign policy, with Kent emphasizing their opposition to Israel dictating U.S. foreign policy and their commitment to ending foreign military entanglements. “We are going to disagree on a lot of domestic policy and a lot of social issues,” Kent acknowledged, but the group united around the principle that “we don’t want any more foreign wars.”
The challenge facing any third-party movement is substantial. Independent and third-party candidates must navigate signature requirements and filing deadlines that vary by state to appear on ballots. Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s independent presidential campaign in 2024 — the most recent third-party bid — collapsed months before Election Day after Kennedy endorsed Trump, at which point he was polling in single digits and facing legal challenges in multiple states seeking to block his ballot access.
Carlson, Greene, and Massie did not respond to requests for comment about the movement’s next steps or timeline. The group’s break with Trump marks a significant fracture within the MAGA movement, driven primarily by disputes over the administration’s military coordination with Israel and the continuation of the Iran war.
Sources
- Politico — reported on the Maine meeting, Joe Kent’s comments about third-party strategy, and the group’s policy platform
- CBS News — covered Greene’s social media post announcing the movement and the dinner gathering
- The New York Times — documented Carlson and Greene’s departures from the Republican Party in June 2026
- USA Today — provided context on the group’s anti-war stance and opposition to Trump’s foreign policy
- The Hill — reported on the movement’s announcement and its participants
