Tucker Carlson’s Dangerous Pivot: How Foreign Puppets Threaten the America First Movement

Over a year ago, following the events of October 7, 2023, Tucker Carlson began featuring guests who diverge from the America First stance.

Tucker Carlson’s recent interviews with economist Jeffrey Sachs, Qatar’s Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, and a previous interview with Palestinian Christian pastor Munther Isaac, mark a significant evolution in his foreign policy rhetoric, increasingly aligning with narratives that seek to dilute the emerging threats of Iran and its proxies, such as Hezbollah and the Houthis, to secure domestic national security—attempts to redefine President Trump's "America First" agenda. This perspective contrasts with traditional views that "America First" advances global interests when they align with our national security interests, suggesting instead a focus on avoiding foreign entanglements with adversaries that could jeopardize the homeland.

Tucker Carlson’s recent War Room appearance, amplifying the narrative of economist Jeffrey Sachs, risks fracturing the America First movement and weakening U.S. global dominance. Carlson’s claim that a U.S. war with Iran over Israel would be catastrophic ignores the dire consequences of allowing Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) to expand unchecked. Iran’s nuclear ambitions and proxy warfare threaten U.S. allies and global stability, and failing to counter this could embolden adversaries like Russia and China, eroding American leadership.

Sachs’ ties to adversarial regimes, exposed through Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) filings, suggest his narratives may serve foreign agendas, undermining U.S. resolve. However, Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) filings and investigations reveal that these guests have ties to foreign powers—Russia, China, and Qatar—indicating their influence may serve agendas that undermine U.S. interests. By amplifying their views, Carlson risks fracturing the America First movement, whether defined as global leadership or domestic security, as Iran’s nuclear ambitions and proxy warfare threaten stability across the world.

In November 2023, a FARA filing exposed Jeffrey Sachs’ appearance on Russia’s state-run Sputnik, operated by Rossiya Segodnya, where he highlighted a generational divide in U.S. support for Israel. This commentary, potentially fueling anti-Israel sentiment, aligns with Russian goals to sow discord in the West. Sachs’ early engagement with Carlson’s platform began to shape the host’s skepticism of U.S. foreign entanglements, particularly in the Middle East, laying the groundwork for a narrative that questions interventionism. This period also saw the emergence of Qatar’s structured influence campaign, as evidenced by a contract between the International Media Office of the State of Qatar (IMO) and Lumen8 Advisors, LLC, NSD/FARA received in November 2023, specifically for services benefiting the Tucker Carlson Network.

The Embassy of the State of Qatar pays Lumen8 Advisors for "media and communication coaching and consulting services." The agreement outlines specific terms under which Lumen8 Advisors is contracted to provide strategic communications consulting and media training for the Tucker Carlson Network. It includes a fixed monthly retainer of $180,000 USD, with 13 reserved days per month dedicated to Qatar. Additional days are billed at $16,000 USD each, and Rebecca Diaz-Bonilla is required to travel in business or first class on Qatar Airways. The contract also prohibits Lumen8 from working with other Middle Eastern or North African governments without Qatar’s prior written consent, ensuring exclusivity to Qatar’s agenda. This contractual arrangement forms the foundation for engagements that influence the Tucker Carlson Network’s platform.

On March 7, 2025, Carlson interviewed Qatar’s Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, a move that garnered over six million views within hours and marked a pivotal moment in his evolving stance on Iran. Al Thani warned that a U.S.-led strike on Iran’s nuclear facilities could ignite a regional war, stating, “It will just be a start of a war that will spread all over the region.” He questioned Iran’s passivity, asking, “Do we expect from any country to get attacked and to stay silent?” Advocating diplomacy, Al Thani cited Qatar’s engagements with Iranian leaders: “We were just there a few days ago, actually, and engaging with the president, engaging with the Supreme Leader, with the foreign minister over there, in order to find a diplomatic solution.” He referenced the Supreme Leader’s “fatwa or a declaration that Iran will never go for nuclear bomb,” urging a diplomatic solution to ensure peace.

The March Tucker Carlson interview, likely facilitated by Lumen8 Advisors’ efforts under the 2023 contract, aligned with Qatar’s strategic communications and raised concerns about Carlson’s susceptibility to foreign lobbying efforts. An investigation by the Washington Examiner further contextualized this interview, documenting how Qatar’s lobbying often results in favorable coverage from American journalists. The contract with Lumen8 Advisors, as noted, underscores this influence, with its detailed provisions reflecting a coordinated push that culminated in Carlson’s high-profile platforming of Al Thani. On March 23, 2025, Jeffrey Sachs appeared on China Global Television Network (CGTN), run by the Chinese Communist Party, declaring, “China is not an enemy. China is just a success story.” While not a Carlson interview, this statement underscores Sachs’ pattern of downplaying U.S. rivalries, a perspective Carlson has increasingly adopted. Sachs’ ties to both Russian and Chinese state media, combined with his potential alignment with Iranian interests, amplify concerns that his influence on Carlson promotes foreign narratives over American priorities.

By May 2024, Sachs’ influence on Carlson deepened during an interview cited in another FARA filing, where Sachs lauded Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov as a “remarkable, smart, and capable diplomat,” despite Lavrov’s role in Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which triggered widespread sanctions. Sachs’ ties to Ghebi LLC, a Washington, D.C.-based entity distributing Kremlin propaganda, raised alarms about his motives. Carlson’s willingness to platform Sachs suggested a shift toward amplifying voices that challenge U.S. leadership, potentially echoing narratives that could support diluting Iran’s threat to avoid broader conflict, though tainted by foreign influence.

Most recently, on June 11, 2025, Carlson hosted Sachs on The Tucker Carlson Show, asking, “Is Iran weeks away from building a nuclear weapon? Does Iran want a nuclear weapon?” Sachs firmly denied Iran’s nuclear ambitions, asserting that neighbors like Saudi Arabia and allies like Russia oppose Iran’s acquisition of nuclear weapons. He framed Iran’s actions as defensive, driven by fears of military defeat by Israel, bombings, or sanctions. This interview solidified Carlson’s shift toward questioning U.S. intervention against Iran, echoing Sachs’ and Al Thani’s calls for diplomacy over confrontation, undermined by foreign ties.

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has repeatedly expressed “serious concern” about Iran’s stockpile of uranium enriched to 60% purity, sufficient for nine nuclear bombs if further enriched to 90%. Iran’s obstruction of IAEA safeguards, including unreported uranium particles at undeclared sites like Lavisan-Shian, Marivan, and Varamin, suggests a past nuclear weapons program, contradicting Sachs’ and Al Thani’s assurances. Iran’s refusal to cooperate and its cessation of the Additional Protocol hinder monitoring, while a recent attack on its nuclear facilities underscores the risks of its program. These facts highlight the strategic necessity of countering Iran’s ambitions, which threaten U.S. allies like Israel and global trade routes through support for proxies like Hezbollah and the Houthis, challenging the notion that diluting these threats alone secures domestic safety.

Over a year ago, following the events of October 7, 2023, Tucker Carlson began featuring guests who diverge from the America First stance, including his interview with Munther Isaac, pastor of the Evangelical Lutheran Christian Church in Bethlehem, prompting strong criticism from faith leaders who urge Western Christians to educate themselves on the Israel-Palestinian conflict to counter what they describe as “propaganda.” Noa Tishby, who served in the Israeli army and authored Israel: A Simple Guide to the Most Misunderstood Country on Earth, stated "I am really confused by Tucker Carlson's recent behavior, honestly. He has made a turn to conspiratorial, not to mention woke, pro-Hamas, antisemite ideology when he gave a platform to Munther Isaac … it’s very easy to blame the Jews, and much of what Isaac's doing right now is blaming the Jews.” The faith leaders’ pushback highlights a broader call for discernment, encouraging Christians to examine historical and geopolitical contexts to avoid simplistic narratives that unfairly target Israel.

Tucker Carlson’s embrace of Jeffrey Sachs, Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, and Munther Isaac, a Palestinian Christian pastor, has steered his views toward isolationism, shaped by guests with ties to Russia, China, and Qatar, as exposed by FARA filings and investigations. If America First means diluting the emerging threats of Iran and its proxies to secure domestic national security, Carlson’s approach does not align with this goal, yet the foreign influences behind his guests, suggest a risk of serving adversarial agendas. Allowing Iran’s power to grow unchecked threatens allies, emboldens rivals, and could ultimately undermine both domestic and global U.S. interests. Hence, Carlson’s evolving rhetoric has the potential to fracture the America First movement and compromise national security.