Middle East crisis opens ‘major schism’ in Trump coalition

Establishment Republicans have backed Israel’s strikes on Iran, but the crisis is forcing President Donald Trump to walk a political tightrope between the hawks in his base and the isolationists who helped sweep him to power.

Trump ran for reelection as a peacemaker who distained the foreign adventures of his predecessors, boasting that he would have little difficulty ending conflicts in the Middle East and Ukraine.

Many Trump followers see Israel’s offensive as the sternest test yet of his…