It’s not the sort of sentiment that White House chief of staff Susie Wiles would likely share publicly, but according to a report from Time, Donald Trump’s longtime aide has expressed private concerns about the information bubble surrounding the president.

Two White House sources told the magazine that Wiles shared her fears with officials that White House aides were giving the president “a rose-colored view” of how the war with Iran was being perceived domestically, “telling Trump what he wanted to hear instead of what he needed to hear.” The report added that the chief of staff urged colleagues to be “more forthright with the boss” about the political and economic risks.

While MS NOW hasn’t confirmed the reporting, this is very easy to believe. Whether officials intend to follow Wiles’ advice about being more candid, however, is another matter entirely.

The problem is not new. Two weeks into the conflict, The New York Times reported that some administration officials were feeling pessimism about the lack of a clear strategy to finish the war, “but they have been careful not to express that directly to the president, who has repeatedly declared that the military operation is a complete success.”

Soon after, NBC News reported that U.S. military officials were compiling video updates for Trump on the war, filled with footage of explosions. The video montages, the report added, were “fueling concerns among some of Trump’s allies that he may not be receiving — or absorbing — the complete picture of the war.”

The problem, however, is institutional and structural. Wiles may very well like the idea of a White House in which officials are “more forthright with the boss,” but she has helped create an environment in which this does not appear to happen. The Times’ Jamelle Bouie had a great column along these lines about a month ago:

[O]ne of the fundamental realities of this administration is that the president has organized his White House in such a way as to prevent anything from ever troubling his precious mind. Having surrounded himself with sycophants — with men and women so eager to please that they’ll submit to practically any humiliation thrown their way — he has filtered out information that might challenge his preconceptions, his assumptions, or even simply his ego. […]

What he wants from his aides and allies … is the kind of praise, attention and constant affirmation that you might give to a child with low self-esteem.

During Trump’s first term, there was no shortage of sycophants, but there were high-ranking officials with access to the Oval Office who would, at least sometimes, tell the president the one word he does not like to hear: “no.” Indeed, one of Wiles’ predecessors, retired Gen. John Kelly, felt compelled to occasionally tell Trump that some of the things he wanted to do were illegal.

But in the second term, those voices have been purged. The result is a dynamic that White House officials seem to understand all too well: Tell Trump how right his assumptions are and receive praise and job security, or tell him the truth and face potential unemployment.

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