Key Trump officials like Gabbard, Vance quiet on Israel's attack on Iran as WH insists cabinet ‘united'

New York Post

16 hours ago

WASHINGTON — Key Trump administration officials are keeping mum and instead boosting the president's statements about Israel's attack on Iranian — even as the White House insists the cabinet is 'united' about the US response.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio was the first to respond to the attack publicly with a statement Thursday evening that 'Israel took unilateral action against Iran' and the US was 'not involved in strikes' — but others have yet to comment.
'We remain committed to a Diplomatic Resolution to the Iran Nuclear Issue! My entire Administration has been directed to negotiate with Iran,' Trump posted on his Truth Social hours before the Israeli attack launched.
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5 Key Trump administration officials have been staying quiet or boosting the president's statements about Israel's airstrikes on Iranian nuclear facilities, missile sites and military leaders.
AP
'They could be a Great Country, but they first must completely give up hopes of obtaining a Nuclear Weapon. Thank you for your attention to this matter!'
Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard reposted Trump's statement hours before Israel's airstrikes that killed at least 20 senior military leaders and six nuclear scientists for the regime in Tehran.
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The White House and other cabinet officials like Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth also boosted Rubio's or Trump's messages without issuing statements of their own.
5 'The cabinet is united in the president's actions,' a White House official affirmed to The Post.
AP
'The cabinet is united in the president's actions,' a White House official affirmed to The Post.
Trump's comments Friday morning were far more aggressive — he tore into Iranian officials for having botched their 'chance to make a deal' while emphasizing how the US supplies 'lethal military equipment' to Israel.
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'I told them it would be much worse than anything they know, anticipated, or were told, that the United States makes the best and most lethal military equipment anywhere in the World, BY FAR, and that Israel has a lot of it, with much more to come – And they know how to use it,' Trump posted, in a statement that Vice President JD Vance reposted.
5 The White House and other cabinet officials like Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth also boosted Rubio's or Trump's messages without issuing statements of their own.
AFP via Getty Images
'There has already been great death and destruction, but there is still time to make this slaughter, with the next already planned attacks being even more brutal, come to an end. Iran must make a deal, before there is nothing left, and save what was once known as the Iranian Empire. No more death, no more destruction, JUST DO IT, BEFORE IT IS TOO LATE. God Bless You All!'
Rubio's comments had emphasized: 'Our top priority is protecting American forces in the region. Israel advised us that they believe this action was necessary for its self-defense.'
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'President Trump and the Administration have taken all necessary steps to protect our forces and remain in close contact with our regional partners. Let me be clear: Iran should not target U.S. interests or personnel,' the secretary of state also said.
5 Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard reposted Trump's statement hours before Israel's airstrikes that killed at least 20 senior military leaders and six nuclear scientists for the regime in Tehran.
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That statement had been crafted with White House input, with some disagreements arising about its precise phrasing, a Trump administration official later told Politico.
Trump's administration has been staffed with more officials who support a non-interventionist foreign policy than in his first term, with conflicts in the Middle East — including earlier US strikes on Houthi terrorists in Yemen — dividing some cabinet members.
'President Trump has pledged to end wars, not start them,' Gabbard said when announcing that she'd left the Democratic Party at a Trump rally last October weeks before the 2024 election.
5 Trump's comments Friday morning — which were boosted by Vice President JD Vance — were far more aggressive in tearing into Iranian officials for having botched their 'chance to make a deal.'
AP
In an ominous video posted Wednesday, the director of national intelligence had also cautioned that the world was inching closer to the 'brink of nuclear annihilation,' after visiting Hiroshima, Japan.
Former Fox News host Tucker Carlson, who heavily backed Gabbard's appointment, struck a similar tone in a morning newsletter for his eponymous network, claiming it could be his final dispatch 'before an all-out war.'
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Carlson also directly challenged Rubio's claim that the US was 'not involved.'
'The United States should not at any level participate in a war with Iran. No funding, no American weapons, no troops on the ground,' he wrote. '[T]here is another option: Drop Israel. Let them fight their own wars.'
National security hawks in Congress took the opposite stance.
'Game on,' Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) tweeted after the bombs started falling. 'Pray for Israel.'