President Donald Trump attends an event in the White House Oval Office Nov. 6, 2025. (REUTERS) Jonathan Ernst
The stress cracks are undeniably starting to show in the White House, if explosions from White House staff are an indicator.
MS NOW anchor Nicole Wallace cited White House spokesperson Steven Cheung’s social media response to Mike Pompeo criticism of a deal being negotiated by the Trump administration to end the Iran war, telling the one-time Trump ally to “shut his stupid mouth.”
“Mike Pompeo has no idea what the f—— he's talking about. He should shut his stupid mouth and leave the real work to the professionals. He's not read into anything that's happening, so how would he know?” Wallace quoted Cheung saying.
“Yeah, that's some top notch communicating from the communications director right there,” said Atlantic Staff Writer Tom Nichols, adding that the White House is clearly at the point of breaking over their botched Iran war, which has inflamed voters’ fuel and food prices.
“[T]his was a little glimpse into what I think is kind of sweaty panic inside the White House that this is all going south on us, our own allies, and our own most sycophantic supporters,” said Nichols. “I mean, when you're getting scored on by [Sen.] Lindsey Graham, that that's got to sting.
“What were they thinking?” Wallace asked Nichols, regarding their war endgame.
“Donald Trump thought this would be a war that would bring him glory. I think that's what he was thinking. ‘I shall be the liberator of Iran.’ And I think the second thing they were thinking is this regime will collapse. … But once that didn't happen, they didn't know what to do and they still don't know what to do. And I think what you're seeing now, again, is the kind of panicky, sweaty search for a face-saving exit.”
And until they find it, Trump knows both he and his Republican Party will share the blame for the inflation hikes and resulting midterm damage.
“Are we really saying that if we don't get good terms from the Iranians that the president is going to restart a major war in the Middle East on what -- Labor Day? Just before an election? Good luck with that! I think the Iranians probably don't take that very seriously. And I don't think others do as well. I think that's probably why people like Sen. [Roger] Wicker (R-Miss.) and others are panicking about hearing that because they're in a box now, and the only people who can get out of it are in the White House.”