Trump's advisers in silent standoff over Iran

Rather than leaning on his formal Cabinet, President Trump appears to be taking cues on Iran from outside forces, leaving his immediate advisors in a state of relative silence.   

Some of his closest advisers reportedly view his campaign as 'misguided.'

Privately, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, media magnate Rupert Murdoch, and several conservative voices urged Trump to strike Iran, according to sources familiar with the discussions who spoke on the condition of anonymity to Bloomberg.

But within Trump's Cabinet, some of the people closest to him were reportedly quieter about military engagement with Iran and deploying American soldiers to fight the war.

Those advisors include Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Vice President JD Vance, and White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles.

Direct dissent was virtually non-existent; rarely did anyone label the plan as misguided to the president's face, even if they disagreed with the direction he was taking the war. 

While Wiles focused on clarifying the President's strategic alternatives, Vance pushed for blunt honesty from senior officials, reportedly interrogating the logistical realities and long-term mechanics of a potential conflict.

State Department spokesperson Tommy Piggot responded to reports of a rift, saying it's 'an old familiar story of people not knowing what they are talking about, pretending that they do. There is no division. President Trump is making the world safer, and the entire administration is lockstep in that effort.'

'What he wanted for his advisers in his second term was people who were more amenable just to saying, 'Yes, sir' when he wanted to do X or Y, as opposed to people who said, 'Have you considered this or that or the other thing,' said Trump's former national security adviser John Bolton.

As the conflict crosses the one-month mark, the weight of the President's decision is becoming clear. His administration now teeters on the edge of a systemic crisis, grappling with alienated allies and volatile energy prices—all while Republican strategists eye a darkening horizon for the November midterms.

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt has argued against this, saying it's a well-known fact that President Trump always 'wants to hear the honest opinions of everyone in the room.'

'Anyone who has actually been present for meetings with him will tell you he often solicits the opinions of all of his advisers, no matter their title or expertise, asking, 'What do you think?' And he expects honest feedback,' Leavitt explained.

Like Trump said last Friday: 'I have much more power in my second term.'

Republican anxiety is mounting over the war's potential to cannibalize their electoral margins, particularly as the November midterms increasingly hinge on volatile economic sentiment and the rising cost of living.

The administration's shift toward conflict has drawn fierce backlash from influential voices like Steve Bannon and Tucker Carlson. For months, both have leveraged their video broadcasts to hammer the president for abandoning his 'America First' principles in favor of a new foreign entanglement.

On the flip side, some conservative figures in the media like Senator Lindsey Graham and Mark Levin continue to push a full-force for the war with Iran.

Even those within Trump's advisory circle who once voiced opposition to military action have stayed quiet. Testifying before Congress last week, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard deferred entirely to Trump, asserting that the President remains the 'only person' capable of determining if Iran continues to pose an 'imminent threat.

Meanwhile, Iran is now taunting Trump after he claimed the US was halting strikes on Iranian energy infrastructure following what he called 'very good' peace talks with Tehran.

An Iranian official told Fars News Agency, which is aligned with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, that there is 'no direct or indirect contact with Trump'.

The anonymous source said Trump backed down after 'hearing that our targets would include all power stations in West Asia.'

Iranian Major General Abdollahi said: 'The use of a new, secret weapon will begin soon and it will bring an end to the enemy's operations.'

The taunts came just minutes after Trump claimed the two countries had held 'productive conversations regarding a complete and total resolution of our hostilities.'

US and Iranian diplomats have previously clashed over the regime's ballistic missile and nuclear enrichment programs, as well as their current defense stockpiles.