'Momentous': High-profile Trump Cabinet members benched as Iran decision looms
President Donald Trump is relying on a quieter group of experienced aides rather than his more high-profile Cabinet picks as he weighs whether to join Israel’s military campaign against Iran, according to a Washington Post report.
Despite being tapped for top national security posts, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Trump’s director of national intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard, have found themselves outside of Trump's inner circle as he weighs what the Post called “perhaps the most momentous” decision of his presidency.
He is instead leaning on “a small group of lower-key but more experienced aides,” which includes Vice President JD Vance, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Dan Caine, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and CIA Director John Ratcliffe – described as the “Tier One” group” – the Post reported Wednesday.
A Pentagon spokesman denied that Hegseth has been sidelined, calling the claims “completely false.” Still, multiple U.S. officials told the Post that Trump is receiving briefings directly from top generals, not his defense secretary.
“The generals are Caine, the Joint Chiefs chairman; and Army Gen. Michael “Erik” Kurilla, commander of U.S. Central Command, which has operational authority for the Middle East,” the Wednesday report said.
“Nobody is talking to Hegseth,” according to one official. “There is no interface operationally between Hegseth and the White House at all.”
Like Hegseth, Gabbard’s camp has also disputed any suggestion that she is not fully engaged in advising the president, even as reports have surfaced that Trump "has soured on Gabbard in recent months."
But Trump, who the Post noted “often operates on gut instinct,” is also “navigating the crisis without many of the support structures his predecessors have leaned on.” Last month, he dismissed much of the National Security Council’s professional staff, which is responsible for coordinating U.S. security agencies and preparing strategic options for the president.