“I don’t care what she said,” Trump told reporters when asked about her earlier comments before Congress. “I think they were very close to having a weapon.”
She later accused the media of taking her comments out of context, telling CNN that she was on “the same page” as Trump.
Gabbard was not alone among Republicans in criticising potential US involvement in the conflict.
On Tuesday, conservative Republican congressman Thomas Massie of Kentucky sided with Democrats to introduce a bill that would block Trump from engaging US forces in “unauthorised hostilities” with Iran without congressional approval.
“This is not our war. Even if it were, Congress must decide such matters according to our Constitution,” Massie posted on X.
Several proponents of Trump’s “America First” doctrine pointed out that he vowed to keep the US out of “forever wars” such as those that led to the deaths of thousands of US troops in Afghanistan and Iraq.
Former Fox News host Tucker Carlson has called for the US to stay out of the conflict with Iran.
On his podcast, he lambasted Republican “warmongers”, provoking a rebuke from Trump, who called Carlson “kooky”.
Georgia congresswoman and Trump loyalist Marjorie Taylor Greene leapt to Carlson’s defence in a highly unusual break with the president.
She said anyone who supported such an intervention was not “America First”.
The tensions exploded into a shouting match on Tuesday during an interview between Carlson and hawkish Texas Senator Ted Cruz. Cruz became defensive when asked if he knew the population and ethnic mix of Iran.
Carlson said: “You’re a senator who’s calling for the overthrow of the government and you don’t know anything about the country!”
Cruz retorted: “No, you don’t know anything about the country!”
Steve Bannon, Trump’s former political strategist, argued on Carlson’s podcast that allowing the “deep state” to drive the US into a war with Iran would “blow up” the coalition of Trump supporters.
“If we get sucked into this war, which inexorably looks like it’s going to happen on the combat side, it’s going to not just blow up the coalition, it’s also going to thwart the most important thing, which is the deportation of the illegal alien invaders who are here,” he said.
On Wednesday, however, Bannon seemed to slightly soften his tone, telling attendees at a Christian Science Monitor event that the MAGA wing of his supporters would trust his judgement if he decided to commit US forces to the conflict.
“Maybe we hate it but you know, we’ll get on board.” he said.
Another conservative political commentator, Charlie Kirk – who describes himself as closer to the “isolationist” side of the debate – said on X that Trump is “pragmatic” and values “common sense”.
“I don’t know if President Trump will choose to involve America against Iran,” Kirk wrote. “But he is a man I trust to be making that decision.”
