Politico: “While Trump’s decision to join Israel in attacking Iran has rallied war hawks and his older supporters, it has alienated many of the young men who swung toward the GOP in 2024. That split is resonating among not only the rank-and-file, but also conservative media influencers and some corners of the White House.”

New York Times: “Speaker after speaker warned about the fissures that have emerged since Mr. Trump began a war with Iran. The conflict has split his base over the nation’s role in global affairs and how fervently the United States should back Israel in foreign conflicts. It has also opened debates over the resurgence of antisemitism from some on the right.”

Washington Post: “In interviews at Gaylord Texan Resort outside Dallas, where first-time Trump-voting college men roamed the same exhibit hall as boomer women buying bedazzled Trump jackets, the eclectic — and vulnerable — nature of his wide 2024 coalition was on display.”

“Most expressed a desire for the president to wrap up U.S. involvement in Iran, even those who were supportive of his actions so far. Some said that despite wanting a swift exit, they support Trump’s professed desire to free Iranians from an oppressive regime and trust his ability to handle the situation. Other young voters here were dismayed that a president who ran on ending wars has launched the U.S. into a new one.”

“Republicans will need all their factions to show up in November if the party hopes to maintain control of both chambers of Congress.”

Washington Post: “Leaks of offensive group chats and infighting over the bounds of acceptable political discourse are fanning anxiety in the party: Maybe the kids are not all right.”

President Trump insisted Republicans have momentum in the upcoming midterm elections, even as the party faces a harsh electoral landscape and pressure from the White House over legislative priorities, Bloomberg reports.

Jonathan Chait: “If the Iran war goes badly, the isolationist, anti-Israel wing of the party is likely to steer the GOP’s future.”

Peter Wehner: “The president has cultivated and encouraged the ugliest passions within the GOP, dousing the embers of hate with kerosene.”

The University of Florida’s College Republicans chapter has disbanded after a photo showing two members seemingly performing a Nazi salute circulated widely on social media, the Washington Post reports.

John Avlon: “Not so long ago, hugging Hitler was one of those lines you just didn’t cross in a decent democracy, and for good reason: fascism, the Second World War and genocide. Murdering millions of humans should never inspire admiration.”

“But that’s what’s been happening with increasing regularity, revealed by a recent string of unhinged text chains revealed among young Republican leaders. This isn’t an outlier or a one-off. It’s a pattern and a problem.”

“When Hill Republicans succeed, President Donald Trump serves as their center of gravity, helping quiet intra-GOP disputes and pulling the party together,” Punchbowl News reports.

“Yet Trump — dealing with a difficult war in Iran and other priorities — isn’t playing that part for the GOP right now. If that vacuum persists, it could send a crucial, hugely bipartisan push for housing legislation completely off the rails.”

NOTUS: “House Republicans have gathered in South Florida at one of President Donald Trump’s resorts for their yearly retreat, a tradition to discuss legislative priorities.”

“But only 105 of the 218 members were actually present at Trump National Doral Miami on Tuesday.”

None of the Republican incumbents currently holding statewide office in North Dakota will be seeking the Republican party’s endorsement at the state convention later this month, the Fargo Forum reports.

“A candidate or two choosing to skip a party convention for tactical reasons isn’t unusual, but the full slate of statewide candidates opting out sure is. Party leadership has been taken over by populist activists who are, in many ways, hostile to the sort of Republicans who have been winning elections in North Dakota for generations.”

“First, conservatives opposed to military intervention overseas put their trust in President Donald Trump as he swept back into power,” Politico reports.

“Then, the faction in his inner circle that backed the administration’s ‘peace through strength’ motto looked to Vice President JD Vance and Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth as their champions.”

“Now, as all three men are supporting the war in Iran, the pro-restraint wing of the Republican Party is searching for fresh leadership.”

“The secretary of Miami-Dade County’s Republican Party started a group chat primarily for conservative students last fall — and within three weeks it was filled with racist slurs, someone wrote dozens of ways of violently killing Black people and the chat was renamed after what one member described as ‘Nazi heaven,’” the Miami Herald reports.

“In WhatsApp conversations leaked to the Miami Herald, participants used variations of the n-word more than 400 times, regularly described women as ‘whores,’ used slurs to talk about Jewish and gay people and mused about Hitler’s politics.”