Politics
Days before the Iran war started Tucker Carlson warned Trump it was wrong. Trump agreed. Then Trump said it didn't matter because we all die anyway and started the war. Six Americans are dead. $38 billion spent. Carlson is calling for the 25th Amendment.
NewsOnScale Staff
September 28, 2026
Days before the United States and Israel launched strikes on Iran on February 28 2026 Tucker Carlson visited President Trump in the Oval Office. Carlson warned Trump that the war was not about Iran's nuclear program — that it was being pushed by Israel to take Iran off the map, diminish the Gulf Arab states, and ultimately push the United States out of the region.
Trump looked at him and said: Yes, you're right, but in the end we all die anyway, so it doesn't matter.
Carlson answered: But what about our kids and our grandkids and our country?
Trump made an ugh sound and offered no answer.
Six Americans are now dead. The conflict has cost $38 billion. Gas is $4.47 per gallon. The Strait of Hormuz remains disrupted. Trump declined Iran's latest ceasefire offer this week and his aides told the Wall Street Journal he plans to resume bombing after the November 3 midterms.
The president acknowledged the war was wrong before it started. He started it anyway. He said it did not matter because everyone dies eventually.
What Carlson Actually Said
Tucker Carlson disclosed the exchange in an interview with NPR's Steve Inskeep published September 24 2026. Carlson was a once-loyal Trump ally who traveled to Tel Aviv and interviewed US Ambassador Mike Huckabee before returning to warn Trump against the war.
I'll tell you exactly what he said, and I haven't said this, but I'm just going to tell you, Carlson told NPR. And he looked at me and said, Yes, you're right, but in the end we all die anyway, so it doesn't matter. That's exactly what he said. In the end, we all die anyway.
Carlson called the statement nihilism. I was shocked by that because it's nihilism. The future does matter. Who lives or dies does matter. I believe that. I have four children.
When NPR asked the White House about Carlson's account the White House did not directly address it. Instead it sent NPR to a Truth Social post where Trump called Carlson and other critics stupid people who want Iran to have a nuclear weapon.
The 25th Amendment
Carlson did not stop at calling it nihilism.
He should have been bundled up and taken out, Carlson said — directly invoking the 25th Amendment, which allows for the removal of a president who is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office.
Carlson — who spent years as one of Trump's most prominent media defenders — said Trump should have been removed from office immediately when he threatened nuclear war against Iran.
Tucker Carlson saying a sitting president should be removed under the 25th Amendment is not a statement from a political opponent. It is a statement from a man who visited the Oval Office, heard the president dismiss the lives of American children and grandchildren with we all die anyway, watched the war begin four days later, and is now saying publicly what he witnessed.
What the Quote Actually Means
The most significant detail in Carlson's account is not that Trump said we all die anyway.
It is that Trump agreed with Carlson's warning first.
Trump acknowledged — in the Oval Office, days before the war started — that Carlson was right. That the war was not about Iran's nuclear program. That it was being pushed by Israel for Israel's strategic interests. That it would harm the United States.
He agreed. And then he started the war anyway. Because in the end, we all die anyway, so it doesn't matter.
Six Americans have died in that war. Their names are on the record. They did not agree that it does not matter. Their families did not agree. The 89 percent of Americans who told Gallup that government corruption is widespread did not agree. The American families paying $4.47 for gas did not agree.
What a President Who Believes the Future Matters Would Do
JJ Johnson is a declared candidate for President of the United States in 2028. He was diagnosed with Adrenoleukodystrophy in 2017 and told he would not survive to 2020. He is raising two children alone. He is still here in 2026 — building, fighting, and running for president.
He does not agree that it does not matter.
His platform calls for ending the Iran war immediately by stopping all US financial and weapons aid. No more undeclared wars started on foreign intelligence without a congressional vote. No more conflicts timed around midterm elections. No more dismissing the future of American children with we all die anyway.
The future does matter. The children do matter. The country does matter.
A president who believes otherwise — who starts a war he privately acknowledged was wrong because he does not care about the consequences — is exactly what the 25th Amendment was written to address.
Tucker Carlson said so. In those words. On NPR.
DISCLOSURE: NewsOnScale is an independent media publication owned and operated by AMILLI AI CORP. JJ Johnson is the founder of AMILLI AI CORP and a declared candidate for President of the United States in 2028 and the plaintiff in Case No. 1:26-cv-00197-RH-HTC. All facts in this article are drawn from Tucker Carlson's September 24 2026 NPR interview with Steve Inskeep, Antiwar.com, Common Dreams, The New American, National File, and AOL News reporting published September 24-28 2026.