One of Donald Trump’s closest advisers has broken with the President over his war with Iran, warning the conflict risks spiraling into nuclear catastrophe.
David Sacks, Trump’s czar for artificial intelligence and cryptocurrency, said Israel was weighing whether to deploy a nuclear weapon against the Islamic regime.
Sacks, a close ally of Vice President JD Vance, made the remarks on the All-In podcast, cautioning there are ‘risks’ of an ‘escalatory approach’ by Israel.
‘Israel could get seriously destroyed,’ he said. ‘And then you have to worry about Israel escalating the war by contemplating using a nuclear weapon.’
Sacks urged Trump to find an ‘off-ramp’ and bring the war with Iran to a swift close.
‘This is a good time to declare victory and get out,’ he added. ‘I agree that we should try to find the off-ramp.’
The White House confidante noted the US had largely neutralized the Islamic regime’s military capabilities.
Sacks is the most senior figure in Trump’s White House to publicly break with the President over the conflict.
‘If escalation doesn’t lead anywhere good, then you have to think about, well, how do you de-escalate? De-escalation, I think, involves reaching some sort of ceasefire agreement or some sort of negotiated settlement with Iran,’ he said.
Israel is widely believed to possess nuclear weapons but maintains a policy of ambiguity and has never publicly confirmed its arsenal.
Sacks, who donated around $1 million to a super PAC backing Vance’s 2022 Ohio Senate campaign, appears to be aligned with the Vice President’s reported position on the conflict.
Vance privately warned against the Iran war, urging Trump that if action were taken he should ‘go big and go fast,’ according to reports.
He has kept a low profile while Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth have fronted the campaign publicly, after US-Israeli strikes killed Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on the opening day of the war, February 28.
Trump even acknowledged that Vance had been ‘less enthusiastic’ about the war while addressing reporters at his golf club in Doral, Florida, last week.
The US and Israel attacked Iran on February 28. Iran and its ally in Lebanon, Hezbollah, have responded with strikes on Israel and other countries in the Middle East.
The war has shaken global markets and raised oil prices.
Iran’s UN ambassador says over 1,300 people have been killed in Iran in US and Israeli attacks. Israel says 12 people have been killed in Israel by Iranian attacks. The US says 13 of its troops have been killed.
