It’s not the sort of sentiment that White House chief of staff Susie Wiles would likely share publicly, but according to a report from Time, Donald Trump’s longtime aide has expressed private concerns about the information bubble surrounding the president.
Two White House sources told the magazine that Wiles shared her fears with officials that White House aides were giving the president “a rose-colored view” of how the war with Iran was being perceived domestically, “telling Trump what he wanted to hear instead of what he needed to hear.” The report added that the chief of staff urged colleagues to be “more forthright with the boss” about the political and economic risks.
White House chief of staff Susie Wiles looks on at President Donald Trump in the White House on Oct. 17, 2025. Tom Brenner / AFP via Getty Images
While MS NOW hasn’t confirmed the reporting, this is very easy to believe. Whether officials intend to follow Wiles’ advice about being more candid, however, is another matter entirely.
The problem is not new. Two weeks into the conflict, The New York Times reported that some administration officials were feeling pessimism about the lack of a clear strategy to finish the war, “but they have been careful not to express that directly to the president, who has repeatedly declared that the military operation is a complete success.”
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Steve Benen
Steve Benen is a producer for “The Rachel Maddow Show,” the editor of MaddowBlog and an MS NOW political contributor. He’s also the bestselling author of “Ministry of Truth: Democracy, Reality, and the Republicans’ War on the Recent Past.”
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