President Donald Trump’s top goons are running scared of network TV appearances as his war on Iran spirals out of control.
The conflict has now stretched into its fifth week, and the Trump administration is contemplating sending thousands of additional ground troops into the region in a desperate attempt to move the needle.
But despite the potential for boots on the ground—stoking fear of another protracted war in the Middle East—Americans have not heard from top administration officials for quite a while.
Notably, both Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio seem to have grown allergic to media interviews since the war began on Feb. 28, with their absence from the airwaves fueling speculation that neither man sees any upside in defending Trump’s “excursion.”
The only interview Vance has granted of late was with MAGA influencer Benny Johnson for his YouTube channel. The softball sit-down saw Vance, seen by many as Trump’s eventual successor, rant about his belief that aliens exist, barely touching on the war that Americans object to en masse. “We’re gonna be out of there soon,” he did say, before quickly turning to the “UFO files” chat.
He also indulged in MAGA conspiracies with known peddler Johnson. Vance propagated the rumor that Somali-born Minnesota Congresswoman Ilhan Omar married her own brother to gain U.S. citizenship.
Lately, Trump’s United Nations ambassador, Mike Waltz, has been framed as the administration’s primary TV surrogate on the Iran war. He appeared on CBS’s Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan on March 22, the last notable TV gig from a top Trump official regarding the conflict.
“Well, it’s not the first Sunday where we’ve seen these administration officials absent. People like Marco Rubio, who would be very important to talk with, who would certainly have a lot of questions to field, they continue to decline those interview requests,” CNN media analyst Brian Stelter noted on Newsroom on Sunday evening.
He noted that no Cabinet member or senior White House official did the Sunday circuit. “It’s not the first Sunday this has happened, so we should continue to note it,” he said, “I checked in with several different network sources. These requests for officials from the White House and the Defense Department continue to be declined.”
Stelter also pointed out that there has been no full Pentagon briefing on “Operation Epic Fury” for almost two weeks. The last one came on March 19, when self-styled “Secretary of War” Pete Hegseth said the objectives had not changed, and spent minutes ranting against the press.
He said the media was guilty of trying to convince the American public that it was “spinning toward an endless abyss, or a forever war, or a quagmire.”
“Nothing could be further from the truth,” he said.
Stelter said: “People continue to have questions about the war effort.”
Matthew Miller, a former spokesman at the State Department and Justice Departments, raised similar concerns, saying it was tantamount to a lack of “ transparency and accountability.”
He posted on X on Sunday, “It has been 10 days since Hegseth and [Gen. Dan] Caine last briefed on Iran. No CENTCOM briefing since 3/10, and no Pentagon daily press briefing at all. We learn more of what the U.S. military has been doing from bystander videos than DoD. Historic lack of transparency and accountability.”
The Defense Department and the White House were contacted for comment. In a statement, Pentagon Press Secretary Kingsley Wilson said Hegseth last updated the nation on Thursday during a Cabinet meeting. However, much of his airtime was dedicated to ranting at the press, as has become customary for the former Fox & Friends host.
Wilson also touted social media updates, one of which she boasted had been viewed “nearly a million times.” The United States has a population of around 342 million people, many of whom don’t use social media.
“Last Monday, Secretary Hegseth spoke alongside President Trump in Memphis, Tennessee where updates regarding Operation Epic Fury were given. Last Tuesday, Secretary Hegseth publicly gave updates on the operation from the Oval Office following Secretary Markwayne Mullin’s confirmation. Last Thursday, Secretary Hegseth spoke at length at President Trump’s Cabinet Meeting and gave updates on the success of Operation Epic Fury to national media who covered the meeting as well as the rest of the White House press corps,” she said.
On the department’s social media strategy, she added, “CENTCOM Commander Admiral Brad Cooper last Wednesday gave a fifth video update on the operation via social media, which has been viewed nearly a million times. CENTCOM’s social media has been posting updates multiple times a day since the operation began. The Department has provided, and will continue to provide, regular updates on the total success of Operation Epic Fury to the media and the public.”
