Democrats claim "America First" as antiwar politics go bipartisan ahead of 2028
A bipartisan convergence on "America First" rhetoric is reshaping the political calculus around U.S. foreign military spending and energy policy, with a small but growing cohort of Democrats now using the phrase Donald…
A bipartisan convergence on "America First" rhetoric is reshaping the political calculus around U.S. foreign military spending and energy policy, with a small but growing cohort of Democrats now using the phrase Donald Trump made famous. Progressive Michigan Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed told Axios he is "the most America First candidate in the country, proudly," a statement that would have been unthinkable three election cycles ago. The next concrete signpost: the Make More in America Act, introduced in June by Senators Mark Kelly of Arizona and Cory Booker of New Jersey, which frames domestic manufacturing revival in terms this bipartisan moment has made politically viable.
The catalyst: Trump's Iran war hands Democrats an opening
Trump's ongoing war with Iran, conducted in partnership with Israel, cracked open a slogan the right had long owned exclusively. California Representative Ro Khanna reintroduced legislation in April to ban gas exports during periods of high domestic gas prices, framing it as putting "America first." In February on the House floor, Khanna said "another war in the Middle East is not America First." Dan Osborn, a union leader running as an independent Senate candidate in Nebraska against the Republican incumbent, wrote last Friday that the country should be "putting America first, not Israel first," adding that no ally should "undermine the independence of the American military."
The fracture on the right
The war is splintering Trump's own coalition at the same time. Tucker Carlson, who introduced Trump at the 2024 Republican National Convention, lobbied the president against attacking Iran and has since apologized for "misleading people" about Trump. El-Sayed drew the contrast directly: the "MAGA version of America First is to make a show out of America First, only to sell you out," he said, arguing that Trump's political base remains beholden to "the interests of a foreign interest lobby like AIPAC" and "the corporate war machine."
Where the broader Democratic field lands
Most national Democrats still avoid Trump's exact phrase, but the argument is traveling fast. Campaigning in Memphis this month, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who is weighing a 2028 presidential or Senate run, said money spent on bombs abroad could instead go to schools. Former Vice President Kamala Harris, speaking to Arkansas Democrats in April, called for directing public dollars toward affordable housing, healthcare, and childcare rather than "reckless foreign wars that no one wants." Kelly, making the case for the manufacturing bill he co-introduced, argued it would "build more things here at home and create good-paying jobs while reducing our dependency on foreign adversaries."
What to watch
Trump's term runs through 2029. Polls show voter fatigue with Middle East conflict, sharpened by economic anxiety at home. The 2028 primary field is already sorting around this convergence, with Khanna, Ocasio-Cortez, Kelly, and Booker all positioned somewhere on the spectrum. The Make More in America Act is the first concrete filing that tests whether cross-party "America First" economics can travel from campaign language into actual legislation.