A former Donald Trump aide has questioned why the president is attacking Iran again after previously insisting the country’s nuclear capabilities had been “destroyed.”
Caroline Sunshine, a former Disney star who worked on the White House press team during Trump’s first term and for his 2024 campaign, tore into the administration’s claim that the U.S. entered a war with Iran to stop it from developing a nuclear program during an appearance on Fox News.
“The administration going forward needs to be very clear with the American people about what its objectives and timelines are,” Sunshine said.
“Six months ago, the American people were told that we used B-2 ‘bunker buster’ bombs to completely obliterate and destroy Iran’s nuclear program, and anybody who said otherwise was fake news.
“Now we have been told that somehow in six months, they were able to restart the program. Now we’re told we’ve completely destroyed it again,” she added.
In June 2025, Trump launched airstrikes targeting Iran’s nuclear sites in Fordow, Isfahan, and Natanz.
The president hyped up the military operation at the time, suggesting it had resulted in Iran’s nuclear capabilities being “blown up to kingdom come.”
However, a preliminary report from the Pentagon indicated the strikes did not fully destroy all three targeted nuclear facilities. NBC News also reported that only Fordow’s underground facilities were seriously damaged as part of Operation Midnight Hammer, and that Isfahan and Natanz could be operational again within a few months.
Despite this, Trump administration officials continued to claim the operation destroyed Iran’s nuclear facilities, with the White House still maintaining a webpage asserting the sites were “obliterated” in last June’s attacks.
Elsewhere during her Fox News appearance, Sunshine further questioned the rationale for “Peace President” Trump’s war, and whether its goals are actually in the interest of the American people.
“We’ve been told we’ve taken out 49 leaders who were on the chessboard to replace the Ayatollah. The president’s been very clear to the people of Iran: ‘I intervened, now I’m leaving it to you,’” Sunshine said.
“So my question to the administration—and I think it’s a question that a lot of American people, certainly under 35, have—is: If all of that has been done, why are we still there?” she added.
“Because we’ve lost six U.S. service members at our bases in the Middle East, and I don’t think the American people will have a very high tolerance for losing more U.S. soldiers unless those objectives are very clear and those timelines are clear.”
The Daily Beast has contacted the White House for comment.
