Tucker Carlson unveils 10-point manifesto amid third-party speculation

Tucker Carlson used a highly promoted livestream Wednesday to unveil a 10-point vision for America — defining the worldview of a breakaway MAGA faction increasingly at odds with President Trump.

Why it matters: After vowing last month to "help build a third party," Carlson fueled further speculation this weekend by hosting MAGA dissidents at his home in Maine, where they urged him to run for president in 2028.

• The former Fox News host stopped short of a formal launch, instead presenting the manifesto as the foundation for "whatever comes next" — a new political order he said could "find all kinds of expressions."

Zoom in: Carlson said any successor to America's faltering political system should begin with a shared understanding of what the country "should be," which he distilled into 10 points.

1. Fair: The same rules should apply to presidents, federal agents and elites such as Jeffrey Epstein, whose impunity Carlson cast as emblematic of an "Epstein class" enriching itself through a corrupt system.
2. Sovereign: Carlson claimed Israel pushed the U.S. into the Iran war through "bribery or threat or both," while describing foreign lobbying, corporate control of government and high-interest debt as forms of "slavery."
3. Productive: America should rebuild farming, manufacturing and craftsmanship while rejecting an economy dominated by finance, real estate speculation, surveillance systems and weapons.
4. Beautiful: Carlson alleged that urban planners deliberately "uglified" American cities, and portrayed brutalist architecture, graffiti, public drug use and violent crime as deliberate attacks on the public.
5. Healthy: Carlson embraced RFK Jr.'s food agenda, called for universal sobriety and said widespread use of drugs such as Xanax, Adderall and SSRIs had left Americans "half-addled."
6. Honest: Government officials should be punished for lying to citizens, and most classified records — including on the JFK assassination and 9/11 — should be opened.
7. Optimistic: Carlson argued that having children is a biological imperative and the foundation of long-term thinking, while blaming aging and childless elites for policies that disregard future generations.
8. Wise: Schools should teach how the physical world actually works and what he called unchanging facts about human nature — including innate differences between men and women — rather than credentials, screens and technological fads.
9. Decent: The U.S. should apologize and pay restitution for killing noncombatants, reverse Trump's "Department of War" rebrand and stop funding allies that commit what Carlson called genocide, citing Israel.
10. United: Carlson called for halting immigration until the effects of AI become clearer, ending benefits for undocumented immigrants and making English the sole language of federal documents and ballots.

The big picture: Carlson has become the intellectual hub for a small but vocal faction of MAGA exiles who say Trump abandoned the "America First" agenda by launching the Iran war, mishandling the Epstein files and allowing Israel to exert too much influence over U.S. policy.

• The loose group includes former Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, Rep. Thomas Massie and Joe Kent, who resigned as Trump's counterterrorism chief in March to protest the war.
• The White House dismissed them as an "embarrassing collection of mostly whiny turncoats who dramatically overestimate their influence and relevance," while declaring Trump the "unequivocal leader" of the Republican Party.