The White House has helped MAGA influencers escape the Middle East on a private jet while more than a million ordinary Americans are still trapped with no way out.
Trump adviser Alex Bruesewitz, dog-walker Sarah Daither, and former lobbyist Jay Footlik were among six who managed to flee on a plane chartered by the former after US strikes on Iran unleashed chaos in the region.
‘This has easily been the craziest experience of my life,’ Bruesewitz told Politico.
‘I’m grateful for all of the people who played a role in getting us out of the active war zone and to safety. I can’t wait to get back to the USA, the greatest country in the world!’
Bruesewitz used his White House connections along with officials in Saudi Arabia and Qatar to get the group of six out of the Middle East safely after many airports were closed and the US Embassy told its employees to shelter-in-place.
The group flew to Greece, arriving around midnight local time, as it was the nearest city Bruesewitz had a close US connection in. Kimberly Guilfoyle, and former fiancé of Donald Trump Jr, is a US ambassador for the Mediterranean country.
White House Deputy Chief of Staff James Blair and Representative Anna Paulina Luna helped secure a safe route for the group, Bruesewitz said on X.
He also thanked Saudi officials for ‘ensuring that the other Americans and I could safely board our flight and depart the Gulf without incident.’
Guilfoyle’s staff made sure the crew had a safe landing in Athens, despite the ‘short notice,’ he said.
‘The past 72 hours have been utterly surreal, like nothing I’ve ever experienced before,’ he wrote. ‘Iranian missiles were flying directly over my head.’
Daither had been on an African safari and had a layover in Doha, Qatar, on her way back to the States when she got stuck there due to the military escalation in Iran, sources close to Bruesewitz told the Daily Beast.
She had posted on her social media about being stranded, which Bruesewitz saw before contacting her, offering her a ride home on his chartered jet.
Bruesewitz is staying in the region to help coordinate other private evacuations, the Daily Beast reported.
The Daily Mail has reached out to the White House, Luna, and Bruesewitz for comment.
Americans in 16 countries, including Israel, Qatar, Iran, and Saudi Arabia, were instructed by the US State Department to ‘DEPART NOW’ using commercial transportation due to the ‘serious safety risks.’
The US Embassy in Jerusalem has warned staff to shelter in place as it is unable to evacuate anyone. Tel Aviv airport remains closed and Jordan’s Queen Alia international airport is running limited service.
The Israeli Ministry of Tourism is running shuttle buses to get stranded Americans out of the country, US Ambassador Mike Huckabee said.
Multiple US embassies were on high alert on Tuesday.
Embassies in Saudi Arabia and Kuwait came under attack as the State Department ordered the evacuation of non-emergency personnel and family in Kuwait, Bahrain, Iraq, Qatar, Jordan and the UAE.
A government source said more than a million Americans are believed to be in the region.
It came as the US and Israel launched a fresh wave of strikes on Iran’s capital, Tehran, warning civilians in Persian to evacuate the Hakimiya Industrial Zone and the area around Payam Airport in Karaj, where they were striking military targets.
The announcement followed an overnight barrage that the Israelis said destroyed key government and security compounds in Tehran.
Donald Trump warned ‘the big one is coming’ and that ‘the big wave hasn’t even happened.’
The President announced the initial US strike on Iran at 2.30am on Saturday from his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida.
‘Our objective is to defend the American people by eliminating imminent threats from the Iranian regime, a vicious group of very hard, terrible people,’ the Republican said.
‘Its menacing activities directly endanger the United States, our troops, our bases overseas, and our allies throughout the world.’
Trump detailed some of the violence Iran has perpetrated against Americans, including taking over the US embassy in Tehran and holding US citizens hostage in 1979.
‘The regime’s proxies have continued to launch countless attacks against American forces stationed in the Middle East in recent years as well as US Naval and commercial vessels in international shipping lanes,’ the President said.
‘It’s been mass terror, and we’re not gonna put up with it any longer.’
