Before the announced suspension of attacks, which a White House official said Israel was also a party to, plenty of Republicans were uncomfortable realizing that Trump might more deeply embed the US in Iran. Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., told conservative journalist John Solomon on Monday that he hopes and prays it’s just “bluster.”

“I do not want to see us start blowing up civilian infrastructure,” Johnson said. “We are not at war with the Iranian people. We are trying to liberate them.”

But congressional Republicans have also shown little interest in trying to restrain Trump. Only Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., has supported Democratic efforts to cease US hostilities overseas in recent Senate votes, even after eight GOP senators supported a similar effort in 2020.

There’s a big difference this time: The US is actively at war with Iran, unlike in 2020.

“I don’t believe most Republicans would be on board with that,” said one GOP lawmaker. “What happens if we were to just pull the plug … does that put our Gulf partners in a really precarious situation? Is that dangerous for the region? Is that dangerous, potentially for Americans?”

There’s also the question of how long Americans can tolerate the ongoing war, which has resulted in rising gas prices that the administration insists is short-term.

Rep. Nathaniel Moran, R-Texas, was a lonely voice of dissent among sitting congressional Republicans on Tuesday afternoon. He posted on X that, while he has supported Trump’s war with Iran, the US “has always conducted military operations for just causes and through just and moral means. This must continue in the future; otherwise we forfeit our legitimacy to lead the world.

“So, let me be clear: I do not support the destruction of a ‘whole civilization,’” he added, in direct response to Trump’s Truth Social post. “That is not who we are, and it is not consistent with the principles that have long guided America.”

The first person close to the White House summed up the concerns within Trump’s party: “For a lot of people, even on our side, that are giving the president a lot of benefit of the doubt, it makes you wonder: Where are we going? How much more of this do we have to endure?”

Nicholas Wu contributed.