U.S. White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt at the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., April 8, 2026. REUTERS/Evan Vucci
Almost two months have passed since U.S. President Donald Trump launched his war against Iran — a war that, according to many critics, isn't going well as all. But White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt vigorously defended the war during a late April appearance on Fox News, angrily lashing out at the media.
During an episode of The New Republic's podcast, "The Daily Blast" posted on April 22, host Greg Sargent discussed Leavitt's rant with his guest: former National Security Council (NSC) official Emily Horne. Sargent told Horne that Leavitt went "full cult" in defense of what The New Republic describes as Trump's "war blunders."
Horne laid out a variety of ways in which the war is going badly.
The former NSC official told Sargent, "Talks are off. There's no plan for when or if they'll restart…. The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, which is the real source of power in Iran, continues to control the Strait of Hormuz. You know, it's IRGC missiles and drones that killed 13 U.S. troops, attacked U.S. embassies and diplomatic facilities across the Middle East, attack gulf oil and data installations across the region — and whose damage Trump political leaders at the Pentagon continue to cover up even as they're insisting that victory is at hand."
Horne continued, "So, when you hear this administration talking about their conversations with the regime and how there may or may not be peace at hand, I think it's important to remember: They often don't know what the heck it is they're talking about. Because they confuse who really holds the power in Tehran these days. It's really striking to me when I hear this administration talking about the regime change that U.S. strikes have brought about and the destruction that they have wreaked on things like the Iranian navy and the Iranian air force; those were never power centers to begin with."
