White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles is so worried that Donald Trump is being fed a rosy picture of his Iran war that she has privately urged his inner circle to stop telling the president what he wants to hear, and start telling him what he needs to hear, Time magazine reported Thursday.
Wiles, who is battling breast cancer while managing a chaotic West Wing, grew alarmed after Trump's own pollster Tony Fabrizio delivered a brutal reality check that the war cratered in public opinion as gas prices topped $4 a gallon and stock markets tumbled to multi-year lows. To boot, millions of Americans were preparing to protest.
Wiles told colleagues to be "more forthright with the boss" about the political and economic catastrophe unfolding around him, two White House sources told Time.
Thirteen American service members have been killed as Trump privately searches for an exit ramp while publicly vowing to bomb Iran "extremely hard" for another two to three weeks.
A senior official summed up the White House's predicament as a "narrow window."
"The President was left frustrated by the predicament, at odds with some of his own officials, and fuming at the negative impressions of the war. The mounting political and economic toll has left him looking for an off-ramp, according to two advisers and two members of Congress who have spoken to him during the last week," the report said.
Trump told lawmakers he wants to wind down the bombing campaign, worried that a protracted engagement could devastate Republicans at the midterms.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Time reported, was caught "off guard" by Iran's sweeping retaliation across the region — something the Pentagon flatly denies.
"There’s no question,” a person familiar with his thinking told the outlet.