Donald Trump's influential advisor fears the Iran war may escalate to horrifying levels.
08:38, Sun, Mar 15, 2026 Updated: 09:19, Sun, Mar 15, 2026
An ally of Donald Trump claimed Israel may consider using nuclear weapons in the Iran war (Image: Getty)
An influential advisor of Donald Trump has claimed Israel may consider using nuclear weapons against Iran should Operation Epic Fury continue for weeks and the country take severe damage.
David Sacks, the US President's czar for artificial intelligence and cryptocurrency, made the chilling claim in the All In podcast as he said - seemingly without providing any supporting evidence - about Tel Aviv possibly considering an escalation. There is a worry, Sacks warned, "about Israel escalating the war by contemplating using a nuclear weapon, which would truly be catastrophic." This suggestion to use nuclear weapons has not been made by any Israeli official.
Israeli security forces assessed damage after a rocket strike in Holon, south of Tel Aviv (Image: Getty)
He said: "If this war continues for weeks or months, then Israel could just be destroyed."
According to Sacks, the best option was "de-escalation... involving reaching some sort of cease-fire agreement or some sort of negotiated settlement with Iran."
He is the first US administration official to publicly express concerns about the ongoing conflict and implied that the war needed to end.
"We should try to find the off-ramp," Sacks said, speaking out against President Donald Trump. "This is a good time to declare victory and get out."
The latest conflict in the Middle East is entering its sixteenth day, after Israel and the US launched ongoing and "massive" attacks on Iran on February 28.
However, on March 14, Donald Trump said he was not ready to end the war yet. Speaking to US outlet NBC News on Saturday, Mr Trump said Iran wanted to make a deal, but the terms were "not good enough yet".
Israeli airstrikes have caused major destruction in Beirut, Lebanon (Image: Getty)
Trump said that an Iranian commitment to abandon any nuclear ambitions would be part of a potential deal, without disclosing key details.
He also said that the US had "totally demolished" Kharg Island - a key hub for Iranian oil exports - but said that "we may hit it a few more times just for fun".
The latest news from around the world Invalid email
We use your sign-up to provide content in ways you've consented to and to improve our understanding of you. This may include adverts from us and 3rd parties based on our understanding. You can unsubscribe at any time. Read our Privacy Policy
Sacks' warning came after a night of exchanged strikes between Iran and Israel, with images showing destruction in the Israel city of Holon. The Israel Defense Forces announced this morning it had launched further "wide-scale" strikes against targets in western Iran.
Strikes were also intercepted overnight in the Gulf region. Saudi Arabia reported Iranian drones over its territory, the UAE said air defence systems responded to missile and drone attacks from Iran, sirens sounded in Bahrain, and Kuwait announced on Sunday that it had intercepted five Iranian drones over the previous 24 hours.
7 hours ago
6
English (US) · 